In this episode, Middlekauff explains why Melvin Gordon doesn't have any leverage in his standoff with the Chargers, why wide receivers are cashing in like never before, how Dabo Swinney is morphing into Nick Saban 2.0, answers listener questions in Middlekauff's Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to www.theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Subscribe now!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
What is going on? Everybody? It's me middle Cop. This
is three and Out podcast coming at you from my guy,
Colin Coward's podcast network. Appreciate everyone listening. I'm recording this
is about it as I pressed play about an hour
before the Hall of Fame game. Uh. You know, I
(00:30):
can't take the Hall of Fame game bad. Seriously. I
honestly didn't even realize this was Hall of Fame weekend.
It kind of crept up on me. I mean, I
knew it was coming. And maybe it's because I don't
really love this Hall of Fame class. I think we've
diluted it a little the last three or four years.
You know, Kevin Mawai ty law to me that they
fall much closer under the umbrella of Hall of really
(00:53):
good I mean really good players. But you know, and
I think Hall of Fame. I think Dion Sanders, I
think Jerry Right, I think Lawrence Taylor. You know, Kevin
Mawai again, good Tony Gazalez first ballot Hall of Famer
or not first ballot, or maybe he was, but Tony
gazalas Hall of Famer. But that's I'm not gonna talk
a much about the Hall of fame at least this class.
(01:14):
Uh not gonna talk about the game at least as
the plan of right now. But we're gonna dive into
the running backs because we've got a couple of guys.
We got zeke In Kabbo, San Lucas or Cancoon or
wherever the hell he is down in Mexico doing who
knows what training As rap sheet said, he's training with
(01:35):
other NFL players. No end, he's training with former NFL
players if anything, because actual NFL players are at training camp.
But Melvin Gordon officially asked for a trade. That's a problem.
We'll talk about that. Andrew Luck injured again. I got
some just concerns just about his long term future. And
(01:56):
I'm an Andrew Luck guy. You know, there's never been
a better time right now in in football history to
be a wide receiver. I think Michael Thomas showed us that.
And then the official top ten for I think the
ap USA today, not exactly. I just saw a top
ten list or maybe top twenty five list for college football,
Clemson number one. And I think you know most of
(02:18):
you already know this, but I don't think we quite
come to grips yet. What we're witnessing with Dabbo Sweeney
and the Clemson football program. But I was thinking about
this today. There's obviously a lot of you. Hit me
up and we'll end the show with the Middlecoff mail
Bag at John Middlecoff is my Instagram handle. I always
do a segment at the end Middlecoff mail Bag answer
your questions. I got a bunch of new questions. I've
(02:39):
answered a bunch, so where I interact and hang out
with you guys. Slide up into my direct messages and
we'll bullshot about football, whatever you want to talk about.
But I answered football questions here on the show. But
I wanted to start with this because this has been
truly the hottest topic at least today. Definitely is that
it became official today that Melvin Gordon asked for a trade.
(03:00):
He wants a trade. My first response to who for what? Uh?
To quote my guy Ricky Ricky Waters Uh. I just
think Melvin Gordon has no leverage. And I think it's
pretty simple. You hear this all the time. I'm sure
in your business, whatever you do in the business of football,
life's all about leverage. For eighteen years of my life,
(03:23):
like most people, growing up, you have no leverage. Your
parents control everything you do. You're dependent on them to eat,
to sleep, to do everything, or whoever you're growing up with.
If you didn't have parents, maybe your grandparents, your uncle,
your aunt, whatever, whoever you live with growing up, they
control your life. Then you got to college, and if
you do well in school and you have some high
accolades coming out, whether you're an athlete or whether you're
(03:45):
a student, maybe some people start coming for you. Maybe
you got a little leverage. Like Melvin Gordon had a
little leverage when he was coming out of Wisconsin. He
was a really good player. He became a top fifteen pick.
He was his first year, he was borderline royal bust.
But then in a short period of time in his
given profession, his position lost a ton of leverage because
(04:06):
it's been, you know, dramatically devalued. We devalue the running back, right.
It's just a fact because it's the easiest position to
replace in any business. If your value at something, you're
gonna be more valuable. If whatever you do, that position
is harder to replace. I think we all can relate
(04:26):
in whatever you know, industry you work in. The I
T guy have some leverage over every human right because
you need that guy. If your computer breaks, if your
phone messes up, there's nothing you can do. Like most
of us, even if those of us that have grown
up in the world of technology, we kind of know
(04:46):
the basic levels of stuff, but we are dependent on
the I T guy to fix our ship because we
can't function without a computer. Kind of like the NFL.
I can't function without a quarterback. I can't function without
a pass rusher. I can't function without some good wide receivers.
But I sure as hell can function without a good
running back because it's the one position that is replaceable.
(05:10):
Here's my problem with Melvin Gordon twofold one. I wanna
I wanna trade like Melvin. You're holding out right now.
So if someone trades for you one, No one's trading
a first round pick, obviously, and I used a first
round pick on you. Okay, maybe I trade you for
a second round pick. No one, no team in the
(05:33):
league is trading for a second a second round pick
from Melvin Gordon. That is that's that's not an opinion,
that's a fact. Maybe a third round pick. But if
I'm the Chargers, like I'm not giving up Melvin Gordon
for a third round pick. But even if you were
a team willing, let's say to give up a third
round pick, and let's say the charges were like, yeah,
we'll give them away for a third round pick, which
they wouldn't, you would then have to pay them. And
(05:54):
the Chargers are offering him a contract which I think
you could argue is bad business. I would not offer
him this, but they are somewhat emotionally tied. They drafted
him in the first round, they liked the guy. They
just want him around. I mean, he's a key part
to what they do. Even though it's proven. Then when
he's out, Eckler and just they can patch work together
like most running backs, and it's pretty clear there's an
(06:16):
elite tier of guys and Melvin coordinate in it. I
got news for you. So when Melvin, when they're offering
you nine and a half million dollars a year, I
don't know who's giving you advice. Whether you believe you're
worth more, whether you're greedy little agents telling you you're
worth more, whether you're friends from home or telling you
you're worth more, you're not. So you should run to
(06:37):
the Chargers facility right now. And sign that contract, and
you can ask for a trade all you want. But
here's the problem. No team is trading a high level
asset for you and then using that after they've used
that at pay you. Like Khalil Mack, he had a
ton of leverage and I completely supported his whole adout.
He knew he was worth a shipload of money, and
(06:58):
every team in the league was nd up to do
two things. Trade a lot and then pay him a
huge contract. Because when you trade for a player on
a holdout, well, once you trade for him, he doesn't
just show up for you. He still has the same needs.
Melvin Gordon's needs would not have changed once he was traded.
He would still want to be paid. So we teams
(07:18):
know that he's not showing up for them. That's a
problem for Clowney right now. It's I talked about this
a couple weeks ago. Not all holdouts are equal. Because
guess what, Michael Thomas for the New Orleans Saints, we'll
get to him a little later today. If he continued
to hold out and said I'm not coming, let's say
that the Saints refused to offer him a big contract,
there would be a lot of teams in the league
(07:40):
that would have no problem probably trading good teams. You know,
you don't think the Patriots would trade next year's first
for Michael Thomas and then pay him. They probably would,
maybe the Green Bay Packers, I mean, there would be
the forty Niners, there would be tea and then they
would pay him what he just got. Michael Thomas had leverage,
Khalil Mack had leverage, Aaron Donald has leverage. Do Davian
Clowney a little bit of a problem because a team
(08:04):
might be willing, let's say, to trade a second round
pick for Clowney, but they're not gonna pay him what
he wants. And that's the problem with these guys holding
out like, no one's trading for you, Melvin, of anything
of value that would make it worth the Chargers to
trade you. So that's not that's not an option. They're
offering you a contract. This victimhood of the running backs
(08:25):
are playing. I understand why players, certain players hate the
analytical movement because the analytical movement is basically saying one
of the most highly valued positions in the history of football,
the running back is kind of worthless right now. Now
if he can really catch the ball like Christian McCaffrey
or Alvin Kamara, they're not as worthless, but Melvin Gordon
(08:46):
does not those guys. Plus he is often injured, and
I think he's struggling to come to grips with Yeah,
I'm kind of closer to the middle tier than I
am the top tier. They're offering me money even though
I'm think I'm worth more, but I'm not worth more
because the market is the market. We just saw a
player who is dramatically better than Melvin Gordon hit free
(09:06):
agency this offseason, off a year where he's completely fresh,
and Levion Bell and the best offer by a mile
for my sources, and I have a source that was
in on the negotiations because they almost signed him a
team X because he was gonna come so cheap. Levian Bell,
who is dramatically better than Melvin Gordon, now some question marks.
(09:27):
Off the field, has been in trouble. Melvin never has,
and I think that's one of the positive things Melvin
has going for him. Good teammate, likable guy, no trouble.
The only really red flag or injuries, but Levian Bell,
every single person in the NFL, including the charges, would
rather have Levion Bell than Melvin Gordon. Well, we saw
one guy hit the open market where every team in
the league and there was a historic amount of free
agent money. I think there was three billion dollars worth
(09:50):
of money to spend, and the most money, again by
a mile, that he was offered is what Mike mccagnan,
who then was later fired for it, offered him basically
twenty seven million dollars guaranteed. And I think everyone listening
to this, I know a lot of NFL people listen
to this. We all know Levian Bell is much better
Melvin Gordon, and he got twenty seven million dollars. So basically,
(10:11):
from what I've heard, are the Chargers are offering him
give or take with incentives and stuff like nine and
a half to ten million dollars and basically in the
low twenties of guaranteed money. Melvin, I'm telling you, run
to the facility and signed that contract. Don't be an idiot.
Don't let your friends who act like you're getting screwed.
You're not getting screwed. And I tweeted this earlier day
and a lot of people freaked out. You know what's
(10:33):
funny is agents and players love to do when they
feel they're getting screwed, they hold out where where what
happened Year one, when Melvin Gordon was one of the
biggest bus in the league, was got awful and the
moment they signed him, they gave him seven million dollars.
Do you think Melvin gordon is agent never thought about
giving that money back? Like, hey, sorry, guys, we underachieved
this year. We'll give you a million dollars back. Hell now.
(10:53):
So it's not a two way street, and people always
forgot the players are always getting screwed. Someone was arguing
me on Twitter today Dean span Us and listen, I
think Dean Spanus is a clown. He's never met a
dollar that he doesn't want to save. I think he's
an embarrassment to rich people and an embarrassment to the
state of California. I'm not a Dean Spanos fan, but
Dean Spanus is worth two and a half billion dollars
(11:17):
and Melvin Gordon can't get a little bit. Yeah, just
because the guy's worth two and a half billion dollars,
does that mean he should pay every single player that
he has on his team? Because I think we all
acknowledge I would say this I'd argue that even offering
Melvin Gordon this contract is dumb business. I'd make him
play on the contract he's on, because again we have facts.
He's a replaceable player. They didn't skip a beat when
(11:39):
he wasn't in the game. They did skip a beat
when Keenan Allen's not around. When Bosa and Ingram get hurt,
they'd be in trouble. Melvin Gordon is not in whatever,
we can replace it as sure as hell. No, I
can replace Melvin Gordon at ten million dollars because I
can get a running back for one million dollars and
then get a couple an undrafted free agent, claim a
guy and at worst I put of his production together
(12:03):
for I don't know, an eighth of the price. Like
this is a business. You can't just pay everyone, especially
you know, solid players that play a replaceable position. You
know what the Chargers did. They'll pay Rivers, they'll pay
Keenan Allen, they'll pay boast In Ingram. They got no
problem doing that now, I mean they do because Dean
(12:23):
Spanish doesn't like paying anybody. But they paid those guys.
That's just a fact. So this notion that trade me,
no one's trading for you, Melvin. Any pick of value
that would make them trade you to that team if
they did trade for you, is not gonna give you
some contract. It's gonna make you super happy. I'm sorry,
(12:44):
you have no leverage. So when you have no leverage
in life, like dad, I'm I'm leaving the house. It's
easy to say that when you're fifteen, and then you
walk out of the house. I remember I did that
when I got in some knockdown, drag out arguments. You
walk down this read and you realize I got no money,
I got nowhere to go, and I'm kind of hungry,
so you walk back to the house. I'll promise you, Melvin,
(13:07):
you gotta swallow your ego, swallow your pride, go sign
this contract they're offering you, because I got news for you.
The contract they're offering you is kind of dumb on
their part. You're winning, You're You're not worth ten million
dollars and they're willing to pay that to you. Anytime
someone's willing to pay you more money than you're worth.
But just because your ego and as men, we get
(13:27):
all up in our feelings like I'm worth more. Just
take a deep breath, swallow your pride, go sign the
They're not gonna trade you. No one's trading for you
and then paying for you. So please, Melvin, I'm rooting
for you to get some more money. Go sign the
contract before they yank it, because the contract they have
on the table is a dumb one on their part. Okay,
(13:50):
let's get into Michael Thomas, who just signed. Uh, don't
don't buy the fake news. It's not the richest wide
receiver contract ever because Odell Beckham got more guaranteed money.
I don't care as much about the fluff like your
average per year. I care about real dollars. Odell Beckham
sixty million, Michael Thomas sixty one. Bottom line though, five
(14:14):
years a hundred million. That's he got a lot of cash.
And one thing is clear, there has never been a
better time in NFL history to be a wide receiver,
just like what I'm doing right now, There's never been
a better time to try to get into the media.
How I'm doing this podcast, I I literally met doing
(14:35):
because of Colin Coward. I met him because of Twitter.
People often ask me like, how did you get linked
up with Colin? I just met him through Twitter? Start
a d M and game buddies and that this was
twenty years ago, it wouldn't have been possible. Like the dude,
there's never been a better time to be a video
game player. The dude that won the Fortnite Championship, I
(14:57):
think just got three million dollars. Certain things in life
is all about timing. And if you were running back,
you can cash in twenty years ago. If you were
a video game player you could not cash in twenty
years ago, you sure as hell can cash in now.
Ninja just crushing it, just like Michael Thomas is crushing it.
There's never been a better time to be a wide receiver.
(15:20):
We talked about leverage. Wide receivers have a little or
excuse me, running backs have a little wide receiver, Sure
as he'll have a lot. And Michael Thomas had the
Saints by the balls. And one thing's clear is the
hierarchy of the way you build teams. And I said
it last week. Three positions are really really important. The
quarterback has been on the pedestal now for a long time.
(15:42):
The pass rusher now has been on the pedestal for
a long time. But I think the wide receiver has
taken a lot of the juice away from the running
back because the wide receiver. The way the game is officiated,
how easy it is for the top wide receivers to
dominate in the league. It's pretty clear that these top
guys and texting with a guy in the league was
(16:04):
it's never there's never been a better time financially for
a wide receiver. There's a group of guys. Julio Jones,
he ain't playing at night, but it's that the Falcons
tweeted out a video of him making this incredible jump,
one hand catch. It was awesome. He's a freak. Whenever
his new contract happens, it's gonna be enormous. If Tyreek
Hill can avoid the police for like ten minutes, He's
(16:26):
gonna get so much damn money. It's stupid. He's an
uncoverable player in two thousand nineteen, right. Maybe you couldn't
cover him in the seventies or eighties either, but you
could at least mug him back then. I can't even
touch the guy anymore. Think about that. Think about Odell
Beckham Jr. Got sixty five million dollars and I love
Odell Beckham Jr. But it was more really on hype
(16:47):
and potential than it was off production because he had
been hurt. He hadn't been producing when he got the contract. Now,
don't get me wrong, I think he's worth the money,
but the talent of Mike Mike Evans is you know,
he got paid recently. I think last year he's worth
every penny. These guys, you can't cover the player. And
(17:08):
when you look at the league, to me, it's all
about how you're building your team financially, because it has
changed dramatically the last three or four years. Quarterback has
been at the top of the of the hierarchy for
a long time. I think forever it was build your
team inside out. Okay, listen, here's what I know for
a fact. To win big in this league, you need
(17:29):
good wide receivers and you'd be like all the Patriots. Yeah,
I mean they had growk and Edelman's one of the
greatest slot receivers we've ever seen in a big game.
And Tom Brady there to me somewhat of an outlier.
When you consistently look at the teams that dominating the playoffs,
they get a lot of production from their wide receiver.
And when you have a star wide receiver, unlike when
(17:50):
you have a star running back, you have no choice
but to pay them. Remember it wasn't that long ago
you would get rid of guys like Terrell Owens, even
Antonio Brown, who's kind of been a pain in the
in The Steelers asked for a couple of years. They eventually,
just like they've paid hum multiple times before, they just
kind of had enough. But they realized how valuable he
was and they moved on from constant receivers over the years.
(18:13):
Think about all the guys over the last fifteen years
the Steelers moved on for he was the one guy
that they kept from multiple contracts because the rules and
the game dictated. And I think you're only gonna see
one thing. The other bill parcels. I think it might
have been another. Coach always said, you really can only
(18:34):
build your team around what college football gives you. What
college football now is giving you all these wide receivers.
Think about it. It's not giving you as many offensive
lineman anymore. The running backs, the league doesn't value it anymore.
The corners are very hit or miss. But every year
we're getting several top notch wide receivers in the league.
(18:55):
It kids play wide receiver because my other big theory
and the way I'd build a team financially, I wouldn't
pay cornerbacks big money anymore either, And they used to
be always a position that you'd have no problem giving,
you know, relative to the money now probably twelve thirteen,
fourteen million dollars a year, I wouldn't pay a corner
I wouldn't pay Jalen Ramsey fourteen million dollars a year,
(19:18):
not saying that he's not worth that as a player.
He's one of the best corners in the league. I
don't want high price corners. I'd rather have three or
four guys not making that much money. Why because my
corners that they're gonna get beat no matter what. Like
I said on Monday about building your team, i'm paying
defensive lineman. I'd rather allocate that money for defensive lineman
wide receivers to go along with my quarterback and a
couple offensive lineman. I'll patchwork my my cornerbacks. I'll pay,
(19:41):
I'll pay a safety. I'll go pay a honey badger
Earl Thomas, I ain't paying. I'm not doing that with
Jalen because if I'm the Jaguars and I got Nick Foles.
I'd rather have a top notch wide receiver right now
than Jalen Ramsey. I just would, especially if I'm already
paying another cornerback in a J Bouye a lot of money.
I'd go pay a safety. So the things just dramatically change.
(20:05):
And maybe it's cyclical, maybe maybe it's not, because if
the rules keep going the way there have been going
for the last several years, it's only going to dictate
the fact that it's easier for wide receivers to dominate,
and it's even harder for corners to play well and
running backs become more devalue. Again, a big reason this
(20:25):
is happening is because of the rules. But forever it
was like you paid your you paid your quarterback, which
will never change, You pay your pass rusher, which will
never change, and you know you wouldn't necessarily pay a
wide receiver, and that that was always a column big
rand for column. Like wide receivers diamond doesn't whatever. I
don't think they are anymore, especially when you have a
(20:45):
top guy, because you see it every year now, I mean,
look at these teams. When you have a top flight
wide receiver, he's unstoppable, and especially the Saints, who were
in a position where he was really their only good
wide receiver, felt like they target at him twelve times
a game. He kind of had him by the balls,
just like Julio has got. The Falcons well, not as
(21:06):
much because they they drafted Calvin Ridley. They might be
a good player. Maybe he's replaceable, but that would be
betting on the fact that Calvin Ridley is gonna be
a star. The Packers who got a really good deal
with Davante Adams, they need Davante Adams. That's when I'm
at forty practice, I go, I think the biggest issue
is here. I don't know the guy that they can
just hang their hat on at the end of the
(21:26):
day when it's third and seven that I know I
can go to. You can tell me all you want
about the Patriots not having a star wide receiver the
last ten years. They've had Grenkowski, who was paid a
premium because at the end of the day, he was
an unstoppable force in the passing game. And that's what
you have to be in two thousand nineteen. But you
didn't have to be that in nineteen, in Night four,
(21:47):
hell in two thousand seven. Nowadays, because I remember when
I was in Philly, it was like, should we pay
de Shan Jackson? Should we not? If you had a
young Deshan Jackson on your team, even if he was
a little bit of a pain in two thousand nineteen,
you wouldn't even think twice about it. He would get
the money that he wanted. And you know he you
could argue he was just three or four years early.
(22:07):
I mean it's like it's like the three point shot
in basketball. Think of his value now when you really
can't touch him, it would be a rap. And I
think Michael Thomas and all these wide receivers coming up
the pipe, or just a great example, the jujus, all
the young guys that have infiltrated this league the last
two or three years of just the game changing at
a perfect time for them to cash in economically. Okay,
(22:31):
let's get into uh into Andrew Luck and the Hall
of Fame game has started behind me And I saw
Fangio is he has a kidney stone and he's coaching
through it. And I remember my dad when I was
growing up. Maybe had a couple, but definitely I remember
the one he was bedridden for a couple of days
in so much pain trying to pass the thing. And
(22:52):
they just said, and Jo's on a couple of wonder drops.
Who knows what p ds he's on a great part
of being a coach. You can take pds to make
the pain go away. But but I also think, and
I say this all the time, any industry you're in,
whether it's football, whether it's talking for a living, like
a lot of people are on p ds in some
form or fashion, whether it's CBD, whether it's adderall, whether
(23:16):
it's something. I mean, everyone and every profession is looking
for an edge. Like most people don't naturally have a
ton of energy the older they get. But if you
think about it, like your your competition, you might be
going up against his five year old with a ton
of energy. He's probably on something you know, his doctor prescribed,
or maybe just sucking down ten cups of coffee. He's
doing something to gain an edge. That they always are.
(23:38):
And in football, there's never been an easier time for
quarterbacks to gain an edge in terms of playing into
their their latter years. Now it's pretty normal for a
quarterback to play like it feels like kind of Aaron
Rodgers young er rodg is thirty five years old. Back
in the day, this career would be over. I mean
it feels like Aaron Rodgers got three or four really
(24:00):
good years left. He's gonna probably play at least forty.
Drew Brees is forty. I mean, Brady is the all
time outlier forty two. Peyton Manning overcame that crazy neck
surgery and basically played until he was thirty thirty nine
years old. Like people, quarterbacks don't leave this league at
thirty five years old anymore. That they play until their
forty held. Eli man he hasn't even been good for
(24:20):
a while, and he's still cranking along at thirty six
years old, cranking along and be strong. But you get
my drift. Now, when you look at the younger quarterbacks,
there's like this middle ground of guys, right, because there's
the young quarterbacks, the Mahomes, the Watson's, the Baker's, that
whole crew. Then there's just middle crew, and it's really
kind of three standouts in my opinion, Luck Russell Wilson
(24:42):
in camp, and I'm not that confident that any of
them are gonna get to forty. Now, Cam Newton I
would definitely bet against because he's already had a ton
of injuries and just the physical nature and he plays
he feels like a thirty five year old that's actually
thirty Russell who somehow has never missed a game in
his career. I looked it up the other day. I
(25:02):
forget the exact number. It was like one twelve for
one twelve. You just go across his his you know,
uh NFL dot com page sixteen for sixteen all seven years.
The dude is just an ironman. Andrew Luck is somewhat
the opposite. He's much closer to camp. If anything, he's
been the most injured out of the three guys. He
missed an entire season in two thousand seven an entire seat,
(25:26):
excuse me, two thousand seventeen missed the entire season, and
in two thousand fifteen he missed seven games. And right
now is reported a couple of days ago that he
has a calf injury. Now, on the surface, a calf
injury isn't that big of a deal, right, just the
calf injury. You know, it's August one who cares whether
you practice or not. And yeah, at the end of
(25:46):
the day, I don't really But the one thing that
concerns me is because and it's not his fault, and
he actually has become a smarter player. But the team
that Ryan Grigson gave him and continued to build around
him most got him killed. We know that that coss
Ryan Griggson his job and he'll never be a GM
in the league again. But Andrew Luck, I hope, and
(26:08):
I think he's the best of that group, of the
Cam Newton, of the Russell Wilson group. And what's crazy
is you could argue he's accomplished the least. Right, Russell's
won a Super Bowl as a starting quarterback. Now, he
was nowhere near as good as he was now, but
he's super Bowl champion and he's been to another. Grantedy
through the pick at the at the goal line, but
you know what I'm saying, Cam Newton League, m v
(26:31):
P led a team to the Super Bowl. Now, granted
I profited because I bet the house against him, and
I want a lot of money of the Denver Broncos.
But m v P been to Super Bowl, Andrew Luck hasn't.
Farthest he got was then FC Championship game with a
terrible team. I mean, those guys have played on good teams,
his teams, how they made to the conference championship his
third year in the league is beyond me. But he's
(26:52):
had serious injuries and he consistently gets injured. I am
just nervous that the trajectory of his career, how does
he make it even close to forty years old. I'm
not even confident that he'll still be humming at thirty five.
It just feels like it's always something with the guy.
And again I don't totally blame him. He got destroyed
(27:14):
his first couple of years because his offensive line was
basically me, you and three other guys. I mean, it
was terrible. It couldn't have been any worse. But just
the style that he plays. Maybe it's just his body type.
And I don't mean actually his physical stature, because he's
everything you look for, right he's six five, he's two pounds,
he's building a linebacker. But for whatever reason, maybe his
(27:37):
bone density. I'm not a doctor. I don't quite understand
these things. Why Russell Wilson hasn't missed a game and
this guy's missed all these games. They both played a
terrible offensive line. It doesn't quite make sense. But I
know the one thing that does make sense if you
were treating Andrew look like a stock, and you said,
will he still be a starting quarterback at thirty eight?
When I say starting quarterback, like, will still be in
the league at thirty eight, He'll be thirty Here in
(27:59):
a month, I would bet no. I I would say
the number where I would feel confident going over would
be thirty four. Any number over that I would be
a little apprehensive. I would not be confident in taking
the over. Now. Doesn't mean I'm gonna be right, but
it's just it's always a nick. It's always a bruise.
It's been major injuries. Hell, it was the snowboarding accident,
(28:23):
whatever it was. It's kind of always something with Andrew Luck.
So if you're a Colts fan, I would really really
try to enjoy these next couple of years. Your team's equipped,
your GM's legit, your coach seems good. Your window is now,
Your window is one like the Carolina Panthers window with
cam kind of being might be a shot fighter, we'll
(28:44):
see it might already be over. Seattle's window feels like
it's longer just because Russell Russell more life is gonna
play just longer than most two guys. But if you're Indie,
you probably need to win a super Bowl in these
next couple of years. If it's gonna happen on the
Andrew Luck, watch because what we've seen, it'll be a calf,
then it will be an arm, then it will be
(29:04):
an oblique, then his shoulder will go out again. You
gotta put all your chips in the middle of the table.
And I give Chris Ballard credit. He's built a really
good team. They're equipped to take advantage of it. Right now,
I think they could be a They are a legitimate
Super Bowl contender this year, and next year they probably
should only be even better. But just the way this
this player has shown us that his durability is somewhat
(29:27):
a question mark, you gotta take advantage of it. I'm
bullish on the Colts. I I'd be shocked if they're
not a one or two seed. Probably at the end
of the day when you look at the Chiefs, you know,
I don't know if the Patriots are gonna be quite
as good. You know, I think that I think the
Colts could win thirteen games. But but the time is now,
and we got to enjoy Andrew Luck. When we have
(29:47):
them because we might not have them for that much longer. Well,
you know, most people, I think, assume this just an
NFL podcast, and I got news for you. It's not. Now.
I talk a lot of NFL because that at cash cow,
number one sport in America, but college football ain't far behind.
I love college football, big college football fan. For about
(30:09):
twelve straight weeks in the fall, I consume it from
sun up till sundown on Saturdays, well after the sun's
down because the Pact twelve games go late late into
the night. Uh. And you know, I'm always down to
talk college football. Obviously, probably the NFL takes precedent on
this show, and we got a little more going on,
and I'm all, I live on the West Coast and
(30:30):
the Pact twelves well down. But I love college football,
and I think a lot of people just in general
are somewhat down on it because they feel it's so
top heavy. It's kind of become like the NBA, only
two or three teams have a chance to win. And
I think there's some validity to that, which is fair.
Kind of feels somewhat like a two team race Alabama
(30:52):
and Clemson. Now, I think George is gonna be really
good this year. I think this is definitely the year
from Michigan and Jim Harbo to get the job done.
Wild State is loaded. I just don't trust the coach.
Oregon is somewhat of a wild card, but it can't
be disputed their teams really talented. Washington is obviously good.
But to me, when the top twenty five came out today,
(31:13):
I don't know if it's USA today, a po pole whatever.
I don't even look at it past five really, you know,
because it's irrelevant. But one thing that's pretty clear is
there's a new number one in town, and that's the
Clemson Tigers. And I think it's bigger than that. I
think there's a new big dog in college football and
that's Dabbo Sweeney. It with Urban Meyer retired at least
(31:36):
for the year, I think we all think he's gonna
be uh fraud Meyers I like to call them. We'll
be the head coach at USC next year. But when
it comes to college football, that there was one guy
that can match with Urban gone. I'm not a fan
of Urban off the field, but I've never disputed he
was an elite coach and every bit of Nick Saban's equal. Well,
once he fell off the map and left there was
(31:59):
you know, it's like, who's gonna be Nick Sabans equal.
What's pretty clear that the Dabbli Sweeney is his equal.
And a wise man once told me, and this is
always stuck with me. His name is Phil Savage. He
now works for the New York Jets. When he was
he when he was running the Senior Bowl. And you know,
I don't quite understand the southern geography. All I know
(32:20):
is you can drive everywhere. Like he lived in Mobile, Alabama.
He could drive to Florida State, he could drive to Atlanta,
he could drive to Tennessee. He could he could just
drive everywhere and it wasn't that far. Well, he used
to go when he was doing the Senior Bowl and
when he was scouting, but definitely doing the Senior Bowl
to all the major schools down there. And obviously he
was working for Alabama, but he used to go to
Florida State and he would always tell me, and this
(32:41):
when Jimbo kind of got them rolling, he said, the
big advantage and this was before Clemson took off, the
big advantage Florida st has. And remember when Jimbo won
the national championship. That team with Jamis Winston was absolutely
loaded with NFL players. He said they were recruiting an
sc C player, but they play an A C C schedule.
(33:03):
And once Jimbo, you know, some weird ship happened with
his wife and ex Florida football player, and he kind
of gave up on the program and left. Florida State
fell off the map. Clemson has even taken it to
a different level than Jimbo had it going to Florida State.
He's won two of the three last national championships. He's
five and two in the College Football Playoffs. But like Jimbo,
and even maybe slightly better, he's recruiting an SEC player
(33:28):
and he's playing an A CEC schedule, and he's kicking
the living crap out of everyone. And I think you're
looking at a guy. I did this a little research.
When Nick saban first one is national championship at l
s U in two thousand three, he was over fifty
years old. Davil Sweeney is forty nine years old and
already has two national championships and a team that's heavily
(33:49):
favored to win this year's and they're gonna be in
the mix these next couple of years because they have
a sophomore quarterback who is viewed as a Peyton Manning
Andrew Luck level prospect. And I think we'd all agree
he's pretty damn good. So for as much as you know,
we wish there was a little more parody in college football,
and I do. I wish fifteen teams have a shot
(34:09):
the reality maybe five do, right, Clemson, Bama probably on
a level by themselves, Georgia, Ohio State and and uh
and maybe maybe Michigan is probably maybe Oklahoma, I mean,
it's maybe maybe Texas. I mean, it's a very very
small group. But what Dabbo is doing right now should
(34:29):
be applauded because, you know what, in fairness to Dabbo,
like Jimmy Johnson was kind of a dick, Nick kind
of is an asshole. The one thing they say about Dabbo,
you know, he's pretty friendly. Everyone likes him. Now he's
a coach, so he gets on guys, but he runs
a family oriented program. His players clearly really like him.
And like Saban, he's an elite recruiter, and he's an
(34:52):
elite recruiter in terms of getting NFL guys like even
when Jimbo had Florida State humming, or he's gonna turn
around tex saying m One thing is clear, Jimbo is
kind of an ass like he's not the nicest guy
to deal with. The devil seems like a great guy,
and he's a big time football coach. His assistants like
working for him, the players play hard for him. They're
(35:13):
clearly really well coached. He's highly compensated. Wikipedia said he
makes over nine million dollars worth every penny. Forty nine
years old. His record is a hundred and sixteen and
thirty at Clemson, two natties five and two in the
College football playoffs. This, this guy is a winner at
the highest level. This guy's trajectory, like, how does he
(35:36):
not become Nick Saban of the sport? I don't see
how he doesn't sustain it, because clearly his standards are
sky high. He's probably arguably a little easier to play
for than Nick in the sense that you're not getting
yelled at, maybe quite as much by him. And I
don't see Clemson going away anytime soon. Now. The curveball
and this entire thing is he's an Alabama graduate. He
(36:00):
aid football at Alabama. Nick Saban sixty seven years old.
Let's say he coaches until he's seventy. Eventually he's gonna retire. Well,
who's gonna be Alabama's number one target? It's gonna be
Dabbo Sweeney. Now, with Clemson winning at such a high level,
money is not an issue for them. Dabbl's making nine
plus million, His defensive coordinator makes a couple of million
(36:21):
worth every penny the money they generate for the school.
I don't know if he takes a job or not.
And you know they usually say the person to follow.
You want to be the guy second to follow a Parcels,
you know, or a Saban. You never want to be
the first guy to do it. You want to wait
for that the guy to get fired, and then follow him.
But if your Dabbo in Holmes home, you know, I
don't know if you know it's at that point it's
(36:44):
not gonna be about the money. I don't know. If
you had a chance to see the athletic did an
in depth thing on Colin it was like a twelve
minute piece that you know, like a real sports type piece.
The athletics doing that, and I actually got a chance
to see Colin when I went down there in the
or during free agency, And the thing that stood out
to me the most was, I remember I was staying
(37:05):
I was staying in like a shittier hotel thirty minutes away.
I got up at four forty five. I didn't even
beat him there. He he was there like five thirty
in the morning. Like and Colin said on this athletic piece,
at this point in time in my life, I'm not
doing this for the money, like Dabble Sweeney, Nick Saban,
they ain't doing it for the money. They've already made
a ton of money. They've already had the accolades. Like
(37:26):
I'm a grinder because I just it's just woven in me.
What deep down something in me. It's still watching Colin
get ready for a show. At what time they get
there is up at this point in time in my life,
one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen professionally. Right,
it's just how hard that guy grinds despite being at
the highest level of his profession, the best talk show
(37:48):
radio host in America, obviously the most famous, most powerful voice,
and he grinds like he's a nobody. And that's always
what they tell you about Belichick, Dabbo Nick, if he
did want to follow Nick, Alabama would dominate. So I
do think that's on the table. But at the end
of the day, what we're witnessing is with Urban retiring,
(38:12):
at least for now, Nick coming down the home stretch.
This is the new Saban, This is the new Jimmy Johnson,
Tom Osborne. Now he has his own personality and like
as Matt Naggy writes on his play sheet, be you.
He doesn't fake it, like you don't be an asshole.
If you're not an asshole, whether you're a coach or
whether you're middle management, just be yourself. Be yourself now,
(38:34):
hold high standards, its professional environment, whatever you're doing, but
be you. And I give Dabble a lot of credit.
He's him. Now they win, and they win at a
high level, and they benefit. Like Phil says, they recruit
an SEC player, and he recruits at the highest level.
He goes right toe to toe with Alabama and Georgia,
and he plays an easier schedule. Now that Florida State sucks,
Miami sucks, Duke whatever, Pitt. You know, the schedule is
(38:57):
not that hard, but they take advantage of it, and
you can't say that they're not on the on the
level once they get there, because once they get to
the college football playoffs, they dominate. We're we're witnessing a
younger version of saving here that this is what we're witnessing.
It's happening in front of our eyes. So you can
root for parody, and in a perfect world, I'd like it,
(39:17):
But I also enjoy watching Dabbo's team play. I like
watching the joy and the fire that he gets out
of coaching football. I'm a huge Dabbo Sweeney fan, and
they're not going away anytime soon. The only question is
gonna be moving forward is would he ever think about
replacing Nick? And my gut, I don't know the guy,
just watch him from Afar. I would doubt that he
(39:40):
does because he could build a legendary he could build Alabama. Hell,
he has built Alabama at the University of Clemson. Let's
dive into the Middlecoff mail Bag, I got to the
Hall of Fame game on the background, volume down. It
just looks terrible, I mean looks absolutely awful. Fangio again
to somehow coaching with a with a kidney stone. John
(40:07):
loved the podcast in the In Your Insight Quick Question.
I have coached JUCO ball in Kansas, Texas and now
I'm in East Mississippi. Whoa season one to last chance?
To you? That's pretty cool? How does one get a
job in scouting professionally? I know talent. I recruited the
coach and coach guys like DeMarcus Lawrence, Michael Gallup, Chris Carson.
(40:28):
You've recruited a lot of people. I I always tell
people that get get involved in college football. You know,
college recruiting. Clearly you're already coaching the j C. So
when these college coaches come through your j C, try
to get just move up a program or when they
come through, especially if you're at now the JUCO in Mississippi,
(40:50):
that you have big time Division one prospects. Whenever you
get a coordinator or definitely a head coach, let them
know that you want in. Let them know that if
they want to recruiting, you know, ahead of recruiting, you'd
be interested. You know, you just sometimes you just gotta ask.
And the older I'm getting now that I could basically
run my own business, and now it's different, and I
(41:12):
understand when you're working for someone you're always looking for
another job. People get unsure. But as a wise man
once told me, the only person that truly cares about you,
you know, outside of your family professionally, is you. So
you you gotta worry about yourself first. Uh, get involved
in college football, college football recruiting. Then if you can
get to the right program, all the scouts come through
(41:32):
that program, and then you can meet him that That's
usually probably the best way to go. Okay, I'd be
interested in you're taking on Daniel Jones. I've not read
or heard anything positive from the on the Giants picking
this guy. Am I wishful thinking that he had a
lot of drops to Duke and can count them as
(41:53):
catches that he's on the se accuracy? True? Thanks, Yeah,
I mean I'll be the first one to be to
tell you that it's not like I was living and
dining with Daniel Jones and Duke. I relied on my
scouting buddies that had the sec And if I'm gonna
pick a positive thing for to tell you, the one
(42:15):
thing they all said was they liked him. He was
liked in the scouting community now number six overall. Pick liked,
of course, not but as a fringe first round prospect.
Hell yeah, I got Drew Lock on my television who
went early in the second round of the Denver Broncos.
I know a lot of people in the league that
like Daniel Jones more and Drew Lock. Now again, the
(42:36):
Broncos got Drew Lock in the second round. The New
York Giants and Dave Geentleman took Drew Lock as the
sixth overall pick, which is pretty nuts. So I I
think Daniel Jones the hardest thing for him to overcome
is the instant negativity is most fans fans have never
had more information. Fans are the You guys are lifeblood
of the sport, and now you're informed at levels that
(42:58):
you never were in the past. You guys aren't dumb.
Why everyone's so pissed is because they say, why would
we take this guy at the sixth overall pick, not
necessarily that he's a scrub, that he wasn't worth the
sixth overall pick. That's where all the anger comes from.
So it's gonna be hard for him to overcome that.
It's hard to general to overcome just your draft status.
(43:19):
When you're drafted really high, you know, it puts a
lot of unfair expectations on a lot of players. Now,
it's easy when you're Mahomes or Khalil Mack or Odell
Beckham Jr. But when you're a guy that probably should
have been taken in the second round and you go
in the top ten, it's even if you become a
good player, it's hard to overcome that. I'm watching it.
I have a front row seat with a couple of
(43:41):
guys here in the Bay Area. Solomon Thomas never should
have been taking it pick three. He may eventually become
a better player than he's been, but he's never gonna
live up to the third overall pick, just like Colton
Miller with the Raiders. No one thought Colton Miller with
the Raider is gonna go in the first round, and
then Gruden took him at fifteen. It's just it's hard
to overcome your draft round when it's really high. Do
(44:03):
you think the Raiders can actually surprise some people with
the signings this offseason? The offense should be much more
explosive if it is a bust who replaced his car. Well,
here's what I know about the Raiders. Their offense on
papers pretty good, you know, Derek has played well in
this league. He's got to play better. If he does
play better, though, they got a chance because their offensive
line is pretty good. Trent Brown's a monster, Rodney Hudson's stud.
(44:26):
Gabe Jackson's a good player. Richie and Canto is a
nut job, but he's a good player. Colton Miller question mark,
but he shouldn't be better than he was last year.
Offensive weapons, you go well. Antonio Brown is a superstar.
His feet are peeling off right now because I think
he worked too hard. But Antonio Brown's elite. Tyrone Williams
is a really good second receiver, Hunter Renfro, Ryan Grant.
(44:49):
They got some guys to throw in the slot. They
drafted some tight ends. They have a first round running
back in Joshua Jacobs. Yeah, I mean, I think they
often should be pretty good. Their problem is their defense.
Their defensive line on paper might be the worst in
the NFL, and honestly, it might not be that close
it is. It could be horrendous this year. Their linebackers
are pretty big question mark two now. Their secondary should
(45:11):
be solid. Garon Connley is a good player. LaMarcus Joyner
is a good player. They drafted Jonathan Abram in the
first round. They you know, they drafted a corner in
the second round from Clemson, So yeah, I mean, I
think they should be better than some people think. But surprise,
when you're when you can't rush the pastor at all,
you're gonna be in trouble. So that would mean their
(45:33):
offense would have to be a top five or six
offense in the league for them to be around eight
and eight. Now, that's a lot of pressure on Derek
and Gruden. Is there any real reason that as a
Colts fan I should be concerned about Andrew Luck being
held out? Are we looking at a Kevin Durant type
risk I talked about it earlier. Short term, I don't
(45:54):
think you should be concerned at all. I would just
say big term, it's just why does he get nicked
up so much? Some of that it's just a style.
Because the Kevin Durant thing, I wasn't there at practice.
I have no one's seen video on Andrew Lux calf injury.
When Kevin Durant had his calf injury, it sure looked
like he tores achilles the first time against the Houston
Rockets in the second round. That's why when he came
(46:15):
back and it ended up tearing his achilles. It was
almost like he partially tore his achilles the first time
where Andrew Luck, I I don't. It's just hard to
it's just so much unknown. I would just be worried
though a big picture like why can't the guy stay healthy?
I just wanted to see what your thoughts about the
Cowboys signing Alfred Morris given the timing, right after Jerry
(46:37):
said they can win rings without Zeke Listen. I think
it's Jerry's gonna want Zeke around. He's one of their
best players. Jerry drafted him, Jerry likes him. I think
it's more when a guy is injured or holding out,
you still need to practice. You need players to play
in preseason games to take practice reps. Well, it's much
(47:00):
easier once you're a weekend of training camp to sign
a veteran guy that knows your offense. I e. Alfred Morris,
who was in this offense a couple of years ago
when Zeke was suspended, then signed some random undrafted free
agent off the street. So I wouldn't put that much
stock into them signing Alfred Morris. More just the simple
fact you just need bodies now Alfred Morris has proven
(47:22):
he can function in this league. Uh. Question looks like
it was cut off there. I don't even know what
the guy was asking. You talked about Monday about the
diminishing value of cornerbacks. Would you pay big money for
a safety like Eddie Jackson. I think safeties are much
more valued than corners, so I'd say yes. Eddie Jackson
(47:43):
is a turnover machine and he plays in the middle
of the field, so I I think he has more
value than either one of their corners. If you had
to pick one defensive back on the Bears to keep,
I don't even think you'd hesitate. You pick Eddie Jackson.
So yeah, I mean I I'd have no problem paying
Eddie jack x And if I had to part with one,
I'd say see it a fuller and I'd keep Eddie
(48:03):
Jackson if it was between one of those two players. Uh.
Thanks for making a few days of sitting around the
office a lot more enjoyable. It makes a difference. Sincerely,
a sad Riskins fan. Thanks Bro, no question, just you know,
propping up my ego. Hello John. In your latest podcast,
you talk about corners and secondaries not really mattering anymore.
(48:26):
But why are smart ass teams like the Patriots investing
so much in Gilmore and nothing into the d line.
That's a great question, because someone hit me up and
I took a screenshot because I knew I was gonna
I wanted to find it. Once we started talking about
it that the Patriots listen, Belichick's the best in the business.
But this this uh Porter Collins five DM me and said,
(48:51):
I want to support your claim with the NFL secondaries
that have been the value. The Saints, Eagles, and Chiefs
ranked thirty first in total defense in total passing defense
last year, and the Patriots, despite having a really good
defensive back unit, rank twenty. Now. The Patriots played good
red zone defense one and for whatever reason, I don't
(49:14):
understand why Belichick discounts the defensive line so much. I
I just think the Patriots are somewhat of an outlier.
They don't build their team normally, and they make up
for it because Belichick is the greatest coach ever and
Tom Brady's the greatest quarterback ever. But Gilmore is a
really good player. He's an All Pro level player. He's
worth the money. Mccordy is really good. Their linebackers are
(49:35):
a little hit or miss, and their defensive line is
clearly gonna be worse with Trey Flowers being gone. What
do you think of Dallas moving off of Doc? I
can't help but feel he's a slightly better version of Tebow.
Let me stop you right there. He's much better player
than Tebow. I've had this idea kind of it's sad.
I mean, this is the type of stuff I think about.
But why don't the Cowboys do this? Dak Prescott, You're
(49:57):
not getting thirty million dollars a year? What if I
offered you four years eighty five million dollars, so twenty year,
twenty one a year. The entire contract is guaranteed, basically
like Kirk Cousins. Why wouldn't you take that? Especially if
I go Doc, I'll give you four years eighty five
million dollars. Every penny is guaranteed like an NBA contract.
And also you're saving me that twenty plus million dollars overall.
(50:21):
I'm gonna go sign a Marty, and I'm gonna go
sign Zeke and we're gonna show up week one plan
on winning the Super Bowl. How does Dax say no,
I've talked to before about Edelman and Brady. When you
win championships, especially with the Dallas Cowboys, you become a legend.
It's not like eight five million dollars is nothing. I
get Kirk Cousins makes more per year, but who cares.
(50:42):
You can become a much bigger deal in the league
than Kirk Cousins and be really rich and get another
contract in four years. Wanted to get your opinion on
the Panthers outlook this season. What do you think about
their past few draft classes and the overall view of
NFL's executives About Marty Herny. I've never asked anyone about
Marty Herny. But Christian McCaffrey. That's a home run. Kids
(51:03):
an absolute superstar. The wide receiver they drafted last year
is really good. I have a couple of buddies around
the league that are really high on DJ Moore. Then
this year Brian Burns to land that guy in the
late teens. I think that guy is a really good player.
I think they've hit back to back. Now we don't
know about Burns, but I'm gonna assume he was a
hit because I like him and it's my podcast. So
(51:24):
you got you got some impact players. Now Camp can
stay healthy and Keithley can stay on the field. I'm
getting a lot of pushback, like Middle Coffee, two down
on the Panthers, two down on the Panthers, and then
I watch All or Nothing, and I love Ron Rivera
and Cam kind of grew on me. I love Luke Keickley,
I love Christian McCaffrey, I like Dj Moore. I'm like, yeah, this,
maybe the team is not gonna be as bad as
I thought. So I'm a little more bullish on the
(51:47):
Panthers than maybe I was a month ago. I I
would be. I don't know. Again, I I can't really
tell you much about Marty Hernie, but I do like
their draft last the last couple of years. Is there
a difference for the first round us? I was comparing
a JaMarcus Russell to Joey Harrington and David Carr. It
seems like players bust for different reasons. Do you see
difference and adjust your view to the play of the players. Yeah,
(52:12):
I would say JaMarcus busted because he was lazy, and
a wise coach once told me, you can't. You can't
overcome dumb and lazy in this league. You can overcome lazy.
If you're really talented, you can overcome dumb if you
work really hard. But if you're dumb and you're lazy,
you will eventually fail. And JaMarcus did not work hard
(52:33):
at all. He was much more talented than the other guys.
I was pretty young for Joey Harrington and David Carr,
you know, I was like in high school when they
got drafted, So it's hard for me to I'd have
to go, like study their YouTube pages. You know, Derek
or I mean Dave just got destroyed by the defensive line.
I know a lot of people haven't been at Fresno
State that say he was really really good in college. Uh.
(52:57):
I think most guys in the first round it fail.
It's either because the organization fails them or they're super
lazy and they don't try and slash. They don't love football.
And I think when you found out when you hear
about Joey Harrington, the not loving football was a big
something interwoven into the way people described him. Gambling question
(53:20):
from a staff metric, what do you think is the
best to focus on. I've been looking at scoring, defense,
turnover ratio, yards per playing, third down conversion offense defense.
Maybe the reason I'm such a shitty gambler is because
I'm a gut field guy. I I don't know, I'm
the wrong guy to ask on this. I'm more just
I like this team, and that's why I lose a
(53:41):
lot of money. I'm one of the worst gamblers you'll
ever see, though. I gamble a lot of money now
by one strategy that my go to strategy that tends
to work is bet against the masses. So when the
masses are betting on one person, I go the other way.
When everyone's hanging the left, always hanging right, and you'll
win more than usual. Now that means when everyone's hammering
(54:02):
the Patriots or everyone's betting on the Eagles, you gotta
take the Jags, or you gotta take the Raiders. But
that ship works huge. Jacks fan, what's your take on
this season? I think they're good shot at the wild
card spot and being a sleeper. You know what's funny
is on my other podcast, we got done recording the
other day and I am like, do you know what's
(54:23):
crazy is I basically follow every team in the league
on Twitter, and I see videos seven from every team
in the league. Of highlights, of defensive highlights of press conferences.
I swear to God as I record this right now,
I haven't seen one highlight or read one comment on
the Jaguars. It's almost like on my Twitter feed they
(54:45):
do not exist. Now. My guy Flip is there as
the offensive coordinator. He's a big fools guy. Their defense
has a lot of talent. If Leonard Fournett can kind
of get his career back going, Marke's Lee comes back
from injury, yeah, I think they could be a really
competitive team for sure. I forgot to mention this take
is predicated on golden tape miss in the first four
(55:07):
games with suspension, something were raced. Whatever your comment was
before the race, or I would have read your question
what is the chief ceiling? I feel like if Mahomes
is still a god and the defense can create pressure
of the turnovers, they'd go fifteen and one or sixteen
and no. Their offense should be elite. So I don't
think their offense should come back to Earth at all.
(55:29):
If everyone can stay healthy, I don't see how their
defense doesn't improve. Frank Clark is better than the Ford.
They still got Chris Jones. They're running a four three defense.
Now they add the Honey Badger, which should only help
just the defensive backs in the communication. There's no way
their defense can be as bad as it was last
year in terms of coverage and if their defensive line,
(55:49):
they actually might not get the same amount of sacks
last year. I think they had fifty two. Let's say
they get in the mid forties. But I think their
overall defense can be better. That red zone defense can
be better. It's really hard in the NFL to go
fifteen and one. But if there was one team in
the NFL, if you're like Middlecoff, what's the one team
in the NFL they go fifteen and one? It would
probably be them. Yeah, so I would agree there. Uh,
(56:17):
Raiders fan Derek Carrs contract not fully guaranteed two first
round picks. Think they go after Clemson quarterback if he
comes out. He's only a sophomore. So no. But one
story today was the Derek Carr boyt a house right
next to John Gruden in Las Vegas. My response was bold,
moved Cotton. Uh, they can if they have a bad season,
(56:39):
they get out of his contract for basically no dead money.
It's risky now, it's never risky to invest in real estate,
and when you have as much money as Derek, you
can buy houses if you want to buy houses. But
for him to be on the Raiders when they moved
to Las Vegas, he has to play better because if
he plays like he did in two thousand nineteen, he
will not be on the team. Outside the box question
(57:01):
for the mail back mail bag, why wasn't Tedford a
candidate for the Packer's job. He worked with Rogers at
Cow and has been great with quarterbacks. He's also done
a good job at Freszl State the last couple of years.
One thing I had heard Tedford has had a lot
of health problems. He's in his sixties. He's just gonna
retire at Fresno State. I think his ambition days of
like he should have got the USC job, the Packers job,
(57:23):
that those days are kind of over because he's kicked
ascid Fresden State. They play USC, I think week one,
I think they beat him. I think Tedford is just
a dramatically better coach than Clay Helton. So I think
a lot of it is more based on him just
being old. Okay, that's gonna do it for the middlecoff
mail bag. If I didn't answer a question, I'll eventually
get to it either direct message you were, I'll read
(57:44):
it on the next podcast. Seven Nothing Denver. Right now,
I'm gonna go eat dinner. Got the Hall of Fame
game I tweeted this earlier is much better in theory
than it is in reality. We're like, oh, we got
football back, and then about two snaps in you realize
you're watching Matt Shop throw picks Like this sucks. You
know we can I something on Netflix because I'm not
(58:06):
watching this. Flacco didn't play. Drew Lock looks terrible. Uh.
When I said Drew Lock looks terrible, I've peeked up
and watched him throw about two passes. But the Hall
of Fame game one of those games better in theory
than it is actually is in reality. Keep hitting me up. Middlecoff.
Mail back at John middlecoff Instagram handle same thing as
my Twitter handle. Talk to you all later. Enjoy the weekend.
What is going on? Everybody? It's me middle Cop. This
is three and Out podcast coming at you from my guy,
Colin Coward's podcast network. Appreciate everyone listening. I'm recording this
is about it as I pressed play about an hour
before the Hall of Fame game. Uh. You know, I
(00:30):
can't take the Hall of Fame game bad. Seriously. I
honestly didn't even realize this was Hall of Fame weekend.
It kind of crept up on me. I mean, I
knew it was coming. And maybe it's because I don't
really love this Hall of Fame class. I think we've
diluted it a little the last three or four years.
You know, Kevin Mawai ty law to me that they
fall much closer under the umbrella of Hall of really
(00:53):
good I mean really good players. But you know, and
I think Hall of Fame. I think Dion Sanders, I
think Jerry Right, I think Lawrence Taylor. You know, Kevin
Mawai again, good Tony Gazalez first ballot Hall of Famer
or not first ballot, or maybe he was, but Tony
gazalas Hall of Famer. But that's I'm not gonna talk
a much about the Hall of fame at least this class.
(01:14):
Uh not gonna talk about the game at least as
the plan of right now. But we're gonna dive into
the running backs because we've got a couple of guys.
We got zeke In Kabbo, San Lucas or Cancoon or
wherever the hell he is down in Mexico doing who
knows what training As rap sheet said, he's training with
(01:35):
other NFL players. No end, he's training with former NFL
players if anything, because actual NFL players are at training camp.
But Melvin Gordon officially asked for a trade. That's a problem.
We'll talk about that. Andrew Luck injured again. I got
some just concerns just about his long term future. And
(01:56):
I'm an Andrew Luck guy. You know, there's never been
a better time right now in in football history to
be a wide receiver. I think Michael Thomas showed us that.
And then the official top ten for I think the
ap USA today, not exactly. I just saw a top
ten list or maybe top twenty five list for college football,
Clemson number one. And I think you know most of
(02:18):
you already know this, but I don't think we quite
come to grips yet. What we're witnessing with Dabbo Sweeney
and the Clemson football program. But I was thinking about
this today. There's obviously a lot of you. Hit me
up and we'll end the show with the Middlecoff mail
Bag at John Middlecoff is my Instagram handle. I always
do a segment at the end Middlecoff mail Bag answer
your questions. I got a bunch of new questions. I've
(02:39):
answered a bunch, so where I interact and hang out
with you guys. Slide up into my direct messages and
we'll bullshot about football, whatever you want to talk about.
But I answered football questions here on the show. But
I wanted to start with this because this has been
truly the hottest topic at least today. Definitely is that
it became official today that Melvin Gordon asked for a trade.
(03:00):
He wants a trade. My first response to who for what? Uh?
To quote my guy Ricky Ricky Waters Uh. I just
think Melvin Gordon has no leverage. And I think it's
pretty simple. You hear this all the time. I'm sure
in your business, whatever you do in the business of football,
life's all about leverage. For eighteen years of my life,
(03:23):
like most people, growing up, you have no leverage. Your
parents control everything you do. You're dependent on them to eat,
to sleep, to do everything, or whoever you're growing up with.
If you didn't have parents, maybe your grandparents, your uncle,
your aunt, whatever, whoever you live with growing up, they
control your life. Then you got to college, and if
you do well in school and you have some high
accolades coming out, whether you're an athlete or whether you're
(03:45):
a student, maybe some people start coming for you. Maybe
you got a little leverage. Like Melvin Gordon had a
little leverage when he was coming out of Wisconsin. He
was a really good player. He became a top fifteen pick.
He was his first year, he was borderline royal bust.
But then in a short period of time in his
given profession, his position lost a ton of leverage because
(04:06):
it's been, you know, dramatically devalued. We devalue the running back, right.
It's just a fact because it's the easiest position to
replace in any business. If your value at something, you're
gonna be more valuable. If whatever you do, that position
is harder to replace. I think we all can relate
(04:26):
in whatever you know, industry you work in. The I
T guy have some leverage over every human right because
you need that guy. If your computer breaks, if your
phone messes up, there's nothing you can do. Like most
of us, even if those of us that have grown
up in the world of technology, we kind of know
(04:46):
the basic levels of stuff, but we are dependent on
the I T guy to fix our ship because we
can't function without a computer. Kind of like the NFL.
I can't function without a quarterback. I can't function without
a pass rusher. I can't function without some good wide receivers.
But I sure as hell can function without a good
running back because it's the one position that is replaceable.
(05:10):
Here's my problem with Melvin Gordon twofold one. I wanna
I wanna trade like Melvin. You're holding out right now.
So if someone trades for you one, No one's trading
a first round pick, obviously, and I used a first
round pick on you. Okay, maybe I trade you for
a second round pick. No one, no team in the
(05:33):
league is trading for a second a second round pick
from Melvin Gordon. That is that's that's not an opinion,
that's a fact. Maybe a third round pick. But if
I'm the Chargers, like I'm not giving up Melvin Gordon
for a third round pick. But even if you were
a team willing, let's say to give up a third
round pick, and let's say the charges were like, yeah,
we'll give them away for a third round pick, which
they wouldn't, you would then have to pay them. And
(05:54):
the Chargers are offering him a contract which I think
you could argue is bad business. I would not offer
him this, but they are somewhat emotionally tied. They drafted
him in the first round, they liked the guy. They
just want him around. I mean, he's a key part
to what they do. Even though it's proven. Then when
he's out, Eckler and just they can patch work together
like most running backs, and it's pretty clear there's an
(06:16):
elite tier of guys and Melvin coordinate in it. I
got news for you. So when Melvin, when they're offering
you nine and a half million dollars a year, I
don't know who's giving you advice. Whether you believe you're
worth more, whether you're greedy little agents telling you you're
worth more, whether you're friends from home or telling you
you're worth more, you're not. So you should run to
(06:37):
the Chargers facility right now. And sign that contract, and
you can ask for a trade all you want. But
here's the problem. No team is trading a high level
asset for you and then using that after they've used
that at pay you. Like Khalil Mack, he had a
ton of leverage and I completely supported his whole adout.
He knew he was worth a shipload of money, and
(06:58):
every team in the league was nd up to do
two things. Trade a lot and then pay him a
huge contract. Because when you trade for a player on
a holdout, well, once you trade for him, he doesn't
just show up for you. He still has the same needs.
Melvin Gordon's needs would not have changed once he was traded.
He would still want to be paid. So we teams
(07:18):
know that he's not showing up for them. That's a
problem for Clowney right now. It's I talked about this
a couple weeks ago. Not all holdouts are equal. Because
guess what, Michael Thomas for the New Orleans Saints, we'll
get to him a little later today. If he continued
to hold out and said I'm not coming, let's say
that the Saints refused to offer him a big contract,
there would be a lot of teams in the league
(07:40):
that would have no problem probably trading good teams. You know,
you don't think the Patriots would trade next year's first
for Michael Thomas and then pay him. They probably would,
maybe the Green Bay Packers, I mean, there would be
the forty Niners, there would be tea and then they
would pay him what he just got. Michael Thomas had leverage,
Khalil Mack had leverage, Aaron Donald has leverage. Do Davian
Clowney a little bit of a problem because a team
(08:04):
might be willing, let's say, to trade a second round
pick for Clowney, but they're not gonna pay him what
he wants. And that's the problem with these guys holding
out like, no one's trading for you, Melvin, of anything
of value that would make it worth the Chargers to
trade you. So that's not that's not an option. They're
offering you a contract. This victimhood of the running backs
(08:25):
are playing. I understand why players, certain players hate the
analytical movement because the analytical movement is basically saying one
of the most highly valued positions in the history of football,
the running back is kind of worthless right now. Now
if he can really catch the ball like Christian McCaffrey
or Alvin Kamara, they're not as worthless, but Melvin Gordon
(08:46):
does not those guys. Plus he is often injured, and
I think he's struggling to come to grips with Yeah,
I'm kind of closer to the middle tier than I
am the top tier. They're offering me money even though
I'm think I'm worth more, but I'm not worth more
because the market is the market. We just saw a
player who is dramatically better than Melvin Gordon hit free
(09:06):
agency this offseason, off a year where he's completely fresh,
and Levion Bell and the best offer by a mile
for my sources, and I have a source that was
in on the negotiations because they almost signed him a
team X because he was gonna come so cheap. Levian Bell,
who is dramatically better than Melvin Gordon, now some question marks.
(09:27):
Off the field, has been in trouble. Melvin never has,
and I think that's one of the positive things Melvin
has going for him. Good teammate, likable guy, no trouble.
The only really red flag or injuries, but Levian Bell,
every single person in the NFL, including the charges, would
rather have Levion Bell than Melvin Gordon. Well, we saw
one guy hit the open market where every team in
the league and there was a historic amount of free
agent money. I think there was three billion dollars worth
(09:50):
of money to spend, and the most money, again by
a mile, that he was offered is what Mike mccagnan,
who then was later fired for it, offered him basically
twenty seven million dollars guaranteed. And I think everyone listening
to this, I know a lot of NFL people listen
to this. We all know Levian Bell is much better
Melvin Gordon, and he got twenty seven million dollars. So basically,
(10:11):
from what I've heard, are the Chargers are offering him
give or take with incentives and stuff like nine and
a half to ten million dollars and basically in the
low twenties of guaranteed money. Melvin, I'm telling you, run
to the facility and signed that contract. Don't be an idiot.
Don't let your friends who act like you're getting screwed.
You're not getting screwed. And I tweeted this earlier day
and a lot of people freaked out. You know what's
(10:33):
funny is agents and players love to do when they
feel they're getting screwed, they hold out where where what
happened Year one, when Melvin Gordon was one of the
biggest bus in the league, was got awful and the
moment they signed him, they gave him seven million dollars.
Do you think Melvin gordon is agent never thought about
giving that money back? Like, hey, sorry, guys, we underachieved
this year. We'll give you a million dollars back. Hell now.
(10:53):
So it's not a two way street, and people always
forgot the players are always getting screwed. Someone was arguing
me on Twitter today Dean span Us and listen, I
think Dean Spanus is a clown. He's never met a
dollar that he doesn't want to save. I think he's
an embarrassment to rich people and an embarrassment to the
state of California. I'm not a Dean Spanos fan, but
Dean Spanus is worth two and a half billion dollars
(11:17):
and Melvin Gordon can't get a little bit. Yeah, just
because the guy's worth two and a half billion dollars,
does that mean he should pay every single player that
he has on his team? Because I think we all
acknowledge I would say this I'd argue that even offering
Melvin Gordon this contract is dumb business. I'd make him
play on the contract he's on, because again we have facts.
He's a replaceable player. They didn't skip a beat when
(11:39):
he wasn't in the game. They did skip a beat
when Keenan Allen's not around. When Bosa and Ingram get hurt,
they'd be in trouble. Melvin Gordon is not in whatever,
we can replace it as sure as hell. No, I
can replace Melvin Gordon at ten million dollars because I
can get a running back for one million dollars and
then get a couple an undrafted free agent, claim a
guy and at worst I put of his production together
(12:03):
for I don't know, an eighth of the price. Like
this is a business. You can't just pay everyone, especially
you know, solid players that play a replaceable position. You
know what the Chargers did. They'll pay Rivers, they'll pay
Keenan Allen, they'll pay boast In Ingram. They got no
problem doing that now, I mean they do because Dean
(12:23):
Spanish doesn't like paying anybody. But they paid those guys.
That's just a fact. So this notion that trade me,
no one's trading for you, Melvin. Any pick of value
that would make them trade you to that team if
they did trade for you, is not gonna give you
some contract. It's gonna make you super happy. I'm sorry,
(12:44):
you have no leverage. So when you have no leverage
in life, like dad, I'm I'm leaving the house. It's
easy to say that when you're fifteen, and then you
walk out of the house. I remember I did that
when I got in some knockdown, drag out arguments. You
walk down this read and you realize I got no money,
I got nowhere to go, and I'm kind of hungry,
so you walk back to the house. I'll promise you, Melvin,
(13:07):
you gotta swallow your ego, swallow your pride, go sign
this contract they're offering you, because I got news for you.
The contract they're offering you is kind of dumb on
their part. You're winning, You're You're not worth ten million
dollars and they're willing to pay that to you. Anytime
someone's willing to pay you more money than you're worth.
But just because your ego and as men, we get
(13:27):
all up in our feelings like I'm worth more. Just
take a deep breath, swallow your pride, go sign the
They're not gonna trade you. No one's trading for you
and then paying for you. So please, Melvin, I'm rooting
for you to get some more money. Go sign the
contract before they yank it, because the contract they have
on the table is a dumb one on their part. Okay,
(13:50):
let's get into Michael Thomas, who just signed. Uh, don't
don't buy the fake news. It's not the richest wide
receiver contract ever because Odell Beckham got more guaranteed money.
I don't care as much about the fluff like your
average per year. I care about real dollars. Odell Beckham
sixty million, Michael Thomas sixty one. Bottom line though, five
(14:14):
years a hundred million. That's he got a lot of cash.
And one thing is clear, there has never been a
better time in NFL history to be a wide receiver,
just like what I'm doing right now, There's never been
a better time to try to get into the media.
How I'm doing this podcast, I I literally met doing
(14:35):
because of Colin Coward. I met him because of Twitter.
People often ask me like, how did you get linked
up with Colin? I just met him through Twitter? Start
a d M and game buddies and that this was
twenty years ago, it wouldn't have been possible. Like the dude,
there's never been a better time to be a video
game player. The dude that won the Fortnite Championship, I
(14:57):
think just got three million dollars. Certain things in life
is all about timing. And if you were running back,
you can cash in twenty years ago. If you were
a video game player you could not cash in twenty
years ago, you sure as hell can cash in now.
Ninja just crushing it, just like Michael Thomas is crushing it.
There's never been a better time to be a wide receiver.
(15:20):
We talked about leverage. Wide receivers have a little or
excuse me, running backs have a little wide receiver, Sure
as he'll have a lot. And Michael Thomas had the
Saints by the balls. And one thing's clear is the
hierarchy of the way you build teams. And I said
it last week. Three positions are really really important. The
quarterback has been on the pedestal now for a long time.
(15:42):
The pass rusher now has been on the pedestal for
a long time. But I think the wide receiver has
taken a lot of the juice away from the running
back because the wide receiver. The way the game is officiated,
how easy it is for the top wide receivers to
dominate in the league. It's pretty clear that these top
guys and texting with a guy in the league was
(16:04):
it's never there's never been a better time financially for
a wide receiver. There's a group of guys. Julio Jones,
he ain't playing at night, but it's that the Falcons
tweeted out a video of him making this incredible jump,
one hand catch. It was awesome. He's a freak. Whenever
his new contract happens, it's gonna be enormous. If Tyreek
Hill can avoid the police for like ten minutes, He's
(16:26):
gonna get so much damn money. It's stupid. He's an
uncoverable player in two thousand nineteen, right. Maybe you couldn't
cover him in the seventies or eighties either, but you
could at least mug him back then. I can't even
touch the guy anymore. Think about that. Think about Odell
Beckham Jr. Got sixty five million dollars and I love
Odell Beckham Jr. But it was more really on hype
(16:47):
and potential than it was off production because he had
been hurt. He hadn't been producing when he got the contract. Now,
don't get me wrong, I think he's worth the money,
but the talent of Mike Mike Evans is you know,
he got paid recently. I think last year he's worth
every penny. These guys, you can't cover the player. And
(17:08):
when you look at the league, to me, it's all
about how you're building your team financially, because it has
changed dramatically the last three or four years. Quarterback has
been at the top of the of the hierarchy for
a long time. I think forever it was build your
team inside out. Okay, listen, here's what I know for
a fact. To win big in this league, you need
(17:29):
good wide receivers and you'd be like all the Patriots. Yeah,
I mean they had growk and Edelman's one of the
greatest slot receivers we've ever seen in a big game.
And Tom Brady there to me somewhat of an outlier.
When you consistently look at the teams that dominating the playoffs,
they get a lot of production from their wide receiver.
And when you have a star wide receiver, unlike when
(17:50):
you have a star running back, you have no choice
but to pay them. Remember it wasn't that long ago
you would get rid of guys like Terrell Owens, even
Antonio Brown, who's kind of been a pain in the
in The Steelers asked for a couple of years. They eventually,
just like they've paid hum multiple times before, they just
kind of had enough. But they realized how valuable he
was and they moved on from constant receivers over the years.
(18:13):
Think about all the guys over the last fifteen years
the Steelers moved on for he was the one guy
that they kept from multiple contracts because the rules and
the game dictated. And I think you're only gonna see
one thing. The other bill parcels. I think it might
have been another. Coach always said, you really can only
(18:34):
build your team around what college football gives you. What
college football now is giving you all these wide receivers.
Think about it. It's not giving you as many offensive
lineman anymore. The running backs, the league doesn't value it anymore.
The corners are very hit or miss. But every year
we're getting several top notch wide receivers in the league.
(18:55):
It kids play wide receiver because my other big theory
and the way I'd build a team financially, I wouldn't
pay cornerbacks big money anymore either, And they used to
be always a position that you'd have no problem giving,
you know, relative to the money now probably twelve thirteen,
fourteen million dollars a year, I wouldn't pay a corner
I wouldn't pay Jalen Ramsey fourteen million dollars a year,
(19:18):
not saying that he's not worth that as a player.
He's one of the best corners in the league. I
don't want high price corners. I'd rather have three or
four guys not making that much money. Why because my
corners that they're gonna get beat no matter what. Like
I said on Monday about building your team, i'm paying
defensive lineman. I'd rather allocate that money for defensive lineman
wide receivers to go along with my quarterback and a
couple offensive lineman. I'll patchwork my my cornerbacks. I'll pay,
(19:41):
I'll pay a safety. I'll go pay a honey badger
Earl Thomas, I ain't paying. I'm not doing that with
Jalen because if I'm the Jaguars and I got Nick Foles.
I'd rather have a top notch wide receiver right now
than Jalen Ramsey. I just would, especially if I'm already
paying another cornerback in a J Bouye a lot of money.
I'd go pay a safety. So the things just dramatically change.
(20:05):
And maybe it's cyclical, maybe maybe it's not, because if
the rules keep going the way there have been going
for the last several years, it's only going to dictate
the fact that it's easier for wide receivers to dominate,
and it's even harder for corners to play well and
running backs become more devalue. Again, a big reason this
(20:25):
is happening is because of the rules. But forever it
was like you paid your you paid your quarterback, which
will never change, You pay your pass rusher, which will
never change, and you know you wouldn't necessarily pay a
wide receiver, and that that was always a column big
rand for column. Like wide receivers diamond doesn't whatever. I
don't think they are anymore, especially when you have a
(20:45):
top guy, because you see it every year now, I mean,
look at these teams. When you have a top flight
wide receiver, he's unstoppable, and especially the Saints, who were
in a position where he was really their only good
wide receiver, felt like they target at him twelve times
a game. He kind of had him by the balls,
just like Julio has got. The Falcons well, not as
(21:06):
much because they they drafted Calvin Ridley. They might be
a good player. Maybe he's replaceable, but that would be
betting on the fact that Calvin Ridley is gonna be
a star. The Packers who got a really good deal
with Davante Adams, they need Davante Adams. That's when I'm
at forty practice, I go, I think the biggest issue
is here. I don't know the guy that they can
just hang their hat on at the end of the
(21:26):
day when it's third and seven that I know I
can go to. You can tell me all you want
about the Patriots not having a star wide receiver the
last ten years. They've had Grenkowski, who was paid a
premium because at the end of the day, he was
an unstoppable force in the passing game. And that's what
you have to be in two thousand nineteen. But you
didn't have to be that in nineteen, in Night four,
(21:47):
hell in two thousand seven. Nowadays, because I remember when
I was in Philly, it was like, should we pay
de Shan Jackson? Should we not? If you had a
young Deshan Jackson on your team, even if he was
a little bit of a pain in two thousand nineteen,
you wouldn't even think twice about it. He would get
the money that he wanted. And you know he you
could argue he was just three or four years early.
(22:07):
I mean it's like it's like the three point shot
in basketball. Think of his value now when you really
can't touch him, it would be a rap. And I
think Michael Thomas and all these wide receivers coming up
the pipe, or just a great example, the jujus, all
the young guys that have infiltrated this league the last
two or three years of just the game changing at
a perfect time for them to cash in economically. Okay,
(22:31):
let's get into uh into Andrew Luck and the Hall
of Fame game has started behind me And I saw
Fangio is he has a kidney stone and he's coaching
through it. And I remember my dad when I was
growing up. Maybe had a couple, but definitely I remember
the one he was bedridden for a couple of days
in so much pain trying to pass the thing. And
(22:52):
they just said, and Jo's on a couple of wonder drops.
Who knows what p ds he's on a great part
of being a coach. You can take pds to make
the pain go away. But but I also think, and
I say this all the time, any industry you're in,
whether it's football, whether it's talking for a living, like
a lot of people are on p ds in some
form or fashion, whether it's CBD, whether it's adderall, whether
(23:16):
it's something. I mean, everyone and every profession is looking
for an edge. Like most people don't naturally have a
ton of energy the older they get. But if you
think about it, like your your competition, you might be
going up against his five year old with a ton
of energy. He's probably on something you know, his doctor prescribed,
or maybe just sucking down ten cups of coffee. He's
doing something to gain an edge. That they always are.
(23:38):
And in football, there's never been an easier time for
quarterbacks to gain an edge in terms of playing into
their their latter years. Now it's pretty normal for a
quarterback to play like it feels like kind of Aaron
Rodgers young er rodg is thirty five years old. Back
in the day, this career would be over. I mean
it feels like Aaron Rodgers got three or four really
(24:00):
good years left. He's gonna probably play at least forty.
Drew Brees is forty. I mean, Brady is the all
time outlier forty two. Peyton Manning overcame that crazy neck
surgery and basically played until he was thirty thirty nine
years old. Like people, quarterbacks don't leave this league at
thirty five years old anymore. That they play until their
forty held. Eli man he hasn't even been good for
(24:20):
a while, and he's still cranking along at thirty six
years old, cranking along and be strong. But you get
my drift. Now, when you look at the younger quarterbacks,
there's like this middle ground of guys, right, because there's
the young quarterbacks, the Mahomes, the Watson's, the Baker's, that
whole crew. Then there's just middle crew, and it's really
kind of three standouts in my opinion, Luck Russell Wilson
(24:42):
in camp, and I'm not that confident that any of
them are gonna get to forty. Now, Cam Newton I
would definitely bet against because he's already had a ton
of injuries and just the physical nature and he plays
he feels like a thirty five year old that's actually
thirty Russell who somehow has never missed a game in
his career. I looked it up the other day. I
(25:02):
forget the exact number. It was like one twelve for
one twelve. You just go across his his you know,
uh NFL dot com page sixteen for sixteen all seven years.
The dude is just an ironman. Andrew Luck is somewhat
the opposite. He's much closer to camp. If anything, he's
been the most injured out of the three guys. He
missed an entire season in two thousand seven an entire seat,
(25:26):
excuse me, two thousand seventeen missed the entire season, and
in two thousand fifteen he missed seven games. And right
now is reported a couple of days ago that he
has a calf injury. Now, on the surface, a calf
injury isn't that big of a deal, right, just the
calf injury. You know, it's August one who cares whether
you practice or not. And yeah, at the end of
(25:46):
the day, I don't really But the one thing that
concerns me is because and it's not his fault, and
he actually has become a smarter player. But the team
that Ryan Grigson gave him and continued to build around
him most got him killed. We know that that coss
Ryan Griggson his job and he'll never be a GM
in the league again. But Andrew Luck, I hope, and
(26:08):
I think he's the best of that group, of the
Cam Newton, of the Russell Wilson group. And what's crazy
is you could argue he's accomplished the least. Right, Russell's
won a Super Bowl as a starting quarterback. Now, he
was nowhere near as good as he was now, but
he's super Bowl champion and he's been to another. Grantedy
through the pick at the at the goal line, but
you know what I'm saying, Cam Newton League, m v
(26:31):
P led a team to the Super Bowl. Now, granted
I profited because I bet the house against him, and
I want a lot of money of the Denver Broncos.
But m v P been to Super Bowl, Andrew Luck hasn't.
Farthest he got was then FC Championship game with a
terrible team. I mean, those guys have played on good teams,
his teams, how they made to the conference championship his
third year in the league is beyond me. But he's
(26:52):
had serious injuries and he consistently gets injured. I am
just nervous that the trajectory of his career, how does
he make it even close to forty years old. I'm
not even confident that he'll still be humming at thirty five.
It just feels like it's always something with the guy.
And again I don't totally blame him. He got destroyed
(27:14):
his first couple of years because his offensive line was
basically me, you and three other guys. I mean, it
was terrible. It couldn't have been any worse. But just
the style that he plays. Maybe it's just his body type.
And I don't mean actually his physical stature, because he's
everything you look for, right he's six five, he's two pounds,
he's building a linebacker. But for whatever reason, maybe his
(27:37):
bone density. I'm not a doctor. I don't quite understand
these things. Why Russell Wilson hasn't missed a game and
this guy's missed all these games. They both played a
terrible offensive line. It doesn't quite make sense. But I
know the one thing that does make sense if you
were treating Andrew look like a stock, and you said,
will he still be a starting quarterback at thirty eight?
When I say starting quarterback, like, will still be in
the league at thirty eight, He'll be thirty Here in
(27:59):
a month, I would bet no. I I would say
the number where I would feel confident going over would
be thirty four. Any number over that I would be
a little apprehensive. I would not be confident in taking
the over. Now. Doesn't mean I'm gonna be right, but
it's just it's always a nick. It's always a bruise.
It's been major injuries. Hell, it was the snowboarding accident,
(28:23):
whatever it was. It's kind of always something with Andrew Luck.
So if you're a Colts fan, I would really really
try to enjoy these next couple of years. Your team's equipped,
your GM's legit, your coach seems good. Your window is now,
Your window is one like the Carolina Panthers window with
cam kind of being might be a shot fighter, we'll
(28:44):
see it might already be over. Seattle's window feels like
it's longer just because Russell Russell more life is gonna
play just longer than most two guys. But if you're Indie,
you probably need to win a super Bowl in these
next couple of years. If it's gonna happen on the
Andrew Luck, watch because what we've seen, it'll be a calf,
then it will be an arm, then it will be
(29:04):
an oblique, then his shoulder will go out again. You
gotta put all your chips in the middle of the table.
And I give Chris Ballard credit. He's built a really
good team. They're equipped to take advantage of it. Right now,
I think they could be a They are a legitimate
Super Bowl contender this year, and next year they probably
should only be even better. But just the way this
this player has shown us that his durability is somewhat
(29:27):
a question mark, you gotta take advantage of it. I'm
bullish on the Colts. I I'd be shocked if they're
not a one or two seed. Probably at the end
of the day when you look at the Chiefs, you know,
I don't know if the Patriots are gonna be quite
as good. You know, I think that I think the
Colts could win thirteen games. But but the time is now,
and we got to enjoy Andrew Luck. When we have
(29:47):
them because we might not have them for that much longer. Well,
you know, most people, I think, assume this just an
NFL podcast, and I got news for you. It's not. Now.
I talk a lot of NFL because that at cash cow,
number one sport in America, but college football ain't far behind.
I love college football, big college football fan. For about
(30:09):
twelve straight weeks in the fall, I consume it from
sun up till sundown on Saturdays, well after the sun's
down because the Pact twelve games go late late into
the night. Uh. And you know, I'm always down to
talk college football. Obviously, probably the NFL takes precedent on
this show, and we got a little more going on,
and I'm all, I live on the West Coast and
(30:30):
the Pact twelves well down. But I love college football,
and I think a lot of people just in general
are somewhat down on it because they feel it's so
top heavy. It's kind of become like the NBA, only
two or three teams have a chance to win. And
I think there's some validity to that, which is fair.
Kind of feels somewhat like a two team race Alabama
(30:52):
and Clemson. Now, I think George is gonna be really
good this year. I think this is definitely the year
from Michigan and Jim Harbo to get the job done.
Wild State is loaded. I just don't trust the coach.
Oregon is somewhat of a wild card, but it can't
be disputed their teams really talented. Washington is obviously good.
But to me, when the top twenty five came out today,
(31:13):
I don't know if it's USA today, a po pole whatever.
I don't even look at it past five really, you know,
because it's irrelevant. But one thing that's pretty clear is
there's a new number one in town, and that's the
Clemson Tigers. And I think it's bigger than that. I
think there's a new big dog in college football and
that's Dabbo Sweeney. It with Urban Meyer retired at least
(31:36):
for the year, I think we all think he's gonna
be uh fraud Meyers I like to call them. We'll
be the head coach at USC next year. But when
it comes to college football, that there was one guy
that can match with Urban gone. I'm not a fan
of Urban off the field, but I've never disputed he
was an elite coach and every bit of Nick Saban's equal. Well,
once he fell off the map and left there was
(31:59):
you know, it's like, who's gonna be Nick Sabans equal.
What's pretty clear that the Dabbli Sweeney is his equal.
And a wise man once told me, and this is
always stuck with me. His name is Phil Savage. He
now works for the New York Jets. When he was
he when he was running the Senior Bowl. And you know,
I don't quite understand the southern geography. All I know
(32:20):
is you can drive everywhere. Like he lived in Mobile, Alabama.
He could drive to Florida State, he could drive to Atlanta,
he could drive to Tennessee. He could he could just
drive everywhere and it wasn't that far. Well, he used
to go when he was doing the Senior Bowl and
when he was scouting, but definitely doing the Senior Bowl
to all the major schools down there. And obviously he
was working for Alabama, but he used to go to
Florida State and he would always tell me, and this
(32:41):
when Jimbo kind of got them rolling, he said, the
big advantage and this was before Clemson took off, the
big advantage Florida st has. And remember when Jimbo won
the national championship. That team with Jamis Winston was absolutely
loaded with NFL players. He said they were recruiting an
sc C player, but they play an A C C schedule.
(33:03):
And once Jimbo, you know, some weird ship happened with
his wife and ex Florida football player, and he kind
of gave up on the program and left. Florida State
fell off the map. Clemson has even taken it to
a different level than Jimbo had it going to Florida State.
He's won two of the three last national championships. He's
five and two in the College Football Playoffs. But like Jimbo,
and even maybe slightly better, he's recruiting an SEC player
(33:28):
and he's playing an A CEC schedule, and he's kicking
the living crap out of everyone. And I think you're
looking at a guy. I did this a little research.
When Nick saban first one is national championship at l
s U in two thousand three, he was over fifty
years old. Davil Sweeney is forty nine years old and
already has two national championships and a team that's heavily
(33:49):
favored to win this year's and they're gonna be in
the mix these next couple of years because they have
a sophomore quarterback who is viewed as a Peyton Manning
Andrew Luck level prospect. And I think we'd all agree
he's pretty damn good. So for as much as you know,
we wish there was a little more parody in college football,
and I do. I wish fifteen teams have a shot
(34:09):
the reality maybe five do, right, Clemson, Bama probably on
a level by themselves, Georgia, Ohio State and and uh
and maybe maybe Michigan is probably maybe Oklahoma, I mean,
it's maybe maybe Texas. I mean, it's a very very
small group. But what Dabbo is doing right now should
(34:29):
be applauded because, you know what, in fairness to Dabbo,
like Jimmy Johnson was kind of a dick, Nick kind
of is an asshole. The one thing they say about Dabbo,
you know, he's pretty friendly. Everyone likes him. Now he's
a coach, so he gets on guys, but he runs
a family oriented program. His players clearly really like him.
And like Saban, he's an elite recruiter, and he's an
(34:52):
elite recruiter in terms of getting NFL guys like even
when Jimbo had Florida State humming, or he's gonna turn
around tex saying m One thing is clear, Jimbo is
kind of an ass like he's not the nicest guy
to deal with. The devil seems like a great guy,
and he's a big time football coach. His assistants like
working for him, the players play hard for him. They're
(35:13):
clearly really well coached. He's highly compensated. Wikipedia said he
makes over nine million dollars worth every penny. Forty nine
years old. His record is a hundred and sixteen and
thirty at Clemson, two natties five and two in the
College football playoffs. This, this guy is a winner at
the highest level. This guy's trajectory, like, how does he
(35:36):
not become Nick Saban of the sport? I don't see
how he doesn't sustain it, because clearly his standards are
sky high. He's probably arguably a little easier to play
for than Nick in the sense that you're not getting
yelled at, maybe quite as much by him. And I
don't see Clemson going away anytime soon. Now. The curveball
and this entire thing is he's an Alabama graduate. He
(36:00):
aid football at Alabama. Nick Saban sixty seven years old.
Let's say he coaches until he's seventy. Eventually he's gonna retire. Well,
who's gonna be Alabama's number one target? It's gonna be
Dabbo Sweeney. Now, with Clemson winning at such a high level,
money is not an issue for them. Dabbl's making nine
plus million, His defensive coordinator makes a couple of million
(36:21):
worth every penny the money they generate for the school.
I don't know if he takes a job or not.
And you know they usually say the person to follow.
You want to be the guy second to follow a Parcels,
you know, or a Saban. You never want to be
the first guy to do it. You want to wait
for that the guy to get fired, and then follow him.
But if your Dabbo in Holmes home, you know, I
don't know if you know it's at that point it's
(36:44):
not gonna be about the money. I don't know. If
you had a chance to see the athletic did an
in depth thing on Colin it was like a twelve
minute piece that you know, like a real sports type piece.
The athletics doing that, and I actually got a chance
to see Colin when I went down there in the
or during free agency, And the thing that stood out
to me the most was, I remember I was staying
(37:05):
I was staying in like a shittier hotel thirty minutes away.
I got up at four forty five. I didn't even
beat him there. He he was there like five thirty
in the morning. Like and Colin said on this athletic piece,
at this point in time in my life, I'm not
doing this for the money, like Dabble Sweeney, Nick Saban,
they ain't doing it for the money. They've already made
a ton of money. They've already had the accolades. Like
(37:26):
I'm a grinder because I just it's just woven in me.
What deep down something in me. It's still watching Colin
get ready for a show. At what time they get
there is up at this point in time in my life,
one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen professionally. Right,
it's just how hard that guy grinds despite being at
the highest level of his profession, the best talk show
(37:48):
radio host in America, obviously the most famous, most powerful voice,
and he grinds like he's a nobody. And that's always
what they tell you about Belichick, Dabbo Nick, if he
did want to follow Nick, Alabama would dominate. So I
do think that's on the table. But at the end
of the day, what we're witnessing is with Urban retiring,
(38:12):
at least for now, Nick coming down the home stretch.
This is the new Saban, This is the new Jimmy Johnson,
Tom Osborne. Now he has his own personality and like
as Matt Naggy writes on his play sheet, be you.
He doesn't fake it, like you don't be an asshole.
If you're not an asshole, whether you're a coach or
whether you're middle management, just be yourself. Be yourself now,
(38:34):
hold high standards, its professional environment, whatever you're doing, but
be you. And I give Dabble a lot of credit.
He's him. Now they win, and they win at a
high level, and they benefit. Like Phil says, they recruit
an SEC player, and he recruits at the highest level.
He goes right toe to toe with Alabama and Georgia,
and he plays an easier schedule. Now that Florida State sucks,
Miami sucks, Duke whatever, Pitt. You know, the schedule is
(38:57):
not that hard, but they take advantage of it, and
you can't say that they're not on the on the
level once they get there, because once they get to
the college football playoffs, they dominate. We're we're witnessing a
younger version of saving here that this is what we're witnessing.
It's happening in front of our eyes. So you can
root for parody, and in a perfect world, I'd like it,
(39:17):
But I also enjoy watching Dabbo's team play. I like
watching the joy and the fire that he gets out
of coaching football. I'm a huge Dabbo Sweeney fan, and
they're not going away anytime soon. The only question is
gonna be moving forward is would he ever think about
replacing Nick? And my gut, I don't know the guy,
just watch him from Afar. I would doubt that he
(39:40):
does because he could build a legendary he could build Alabama. Hell,
he has built Alabama at the University of Clemson. Let's
dive into the Middlecoff mail Bag, I got to the
Hall of Fame game on the background, volume down. It
just looks terrible, I mean looks absolutely awful. Fangio again
to somehow coaching with a with a kidney stone. John
(40:07):
loved the podcast in the In Your Insight Quick Question.
I have coached JUCO ball in Kansas, Texas and now
I'm in East Mississippi. Whoa season one to last chance?
To you? That's pretty cool? How does one get a
job in scouting professionally? I know talent. I recruited the
coach and coach guys like DeMarcus Lawrence, Michael Gallup, Chris Carson.
(40:28):
You've recruited a lot of people. I I always tell
people that get get involved in college football. You know,
college recruiting. Clearly you're already coaching the j C. So
when these college coaches come through your j C, try
to get just move up a program or when they
come through, especially if you're at now the JUCO in Mississippi,
(40:50):
that you have big time Division one prospects. Whenever you
get a coordinator or definitely a head coach, let them
know that you want in. Let them know that if
they want to recruiting, you know, ahead of recruiting, you'd
be interested. You know, you just sometimes you just gotta ask.
And the older I'm getting now that I could basically
run my own business, and now it's different, and I
(41:12):
understand when you're working for someone you're always looking for
another job. People get unsure. But as a wise man
once told me, the only person that truly cares about you,
you know, outside of your family professionally, is you. So
you you gotta worry about yourself first. Uh, get involved
in college football, college football recruiting. Then if you can
get to the right program, all the scouts come through
(41:32):
that program, and then you can meet him that That's
usually probably the best way to go. Okay, I'd be
interested in you're taking on Daniel Jones. I've not read
or heard anything positive from the on the Giants picking
this guy. Am I wishful thinking that he had a
lot of drops to Duke and can count them as
(41:53):
catches that he's on the se accuracy? True? Thanks, Yeah,
I mean I'll be the first one to be to
tell you that it's not like I was living and
dining with Daniel Jones and Duke. I relied on my
scouting buddies that had the sec And if I'm gonna
pick a positive thing for to tell you, the one
(42:15):
thing they all said was they liked him. He was
liked in the scouting community now number six overall. Pick liked,
of course, not but as a fringe first round prospect.
Hell yeah, I got Drew Lock on my television who
went early in the second round of the Denver Broncos.
I know a lot of people in the league that
like Daniel Jones more and Drew Lock. Now again, the
(42:36):
Broncos got Drew Lock in the second round. The New
York Giants and Dave Geentleman took Drew Lock as the
sixth overall pick, which is pretty nuts. So I I
think Daniel Jones the hardest thing for him to overcome
is the instant negativity is most fans fans have never
had more information. Fans are the You guys are lifeblood
of the sport, and now you're informed at levels that
(42:58):
you never were in the past. You guys aren't dumb.
Why everyone's so pissed is because they say, why would
we take this guy at the sixth overall pick, not
necessarily that he's a scrub, that he wasn't worth the
sixth overall pick. That's where all the anger comes from.
So it's gonna be hard for him to overcome that.
It's hard to general to overcome just your draft status.
(43:19):
When you're drafted really high, you know, it puts a
lot of unfair expectations on a lot of players. Now,
it's easy when you're Mahomes or Khalil Mack or Odell
Beckham Jr. But when you're a guy that probably should
have been taken in the second round and you go
in the top ten, it's even if you become a
good player, it's hard to overcome that. I'm watching it.
I have a front row seat with a couple of
(43:41):
guys here in the Bay Area. Solomon Thomas never should
have been taking it pick three. He may eventually become
a better player than he's been, but he's never gonna
live up to the third overall pick, just like Colton
Miller with the Raiders. No one thought Colton Miller with
the Raider is gonna go in the first round, and
then Gruden took him at fifteen. It's just it's hard
to overcome your draft round when it's really high. Do
(44:03):
you think the Raiders can actually surprise some people with
the signings this offseason? The offense should be much more
explosive if it is a bust who replaced his car. Well,
here's what I know about the Raiders. Their offense on
papers pretty good, you know, Derek has played well in
this league. He's got to play better. If he does
play better, though, they got a chance because their offensive
line is pretty good. Trent Brown's a monster, Rodney Hudson's stud.
(44:26):
Gabe Jackson's a good player. Richie and Canto is a
nut job, but he's a good player. Colton Miller question mark,
but he shouldn't be better than he was last year.
Offensive weapons, you go well. Antonio Brown is a superstar.
His feet are peeling off right now because I think
he worked too hard. But Antonio Brown's elite. Tyrone Williams
is a really good second receiver, Hunter Renfro, Ryan Grant.
(44:49):
They got some guys to throw in the slot. They
drafted some tight ends. They have a first round running
back in Joshua Jacobs. Yeah, I mean, I think they
often should be pretty good. Their problem is their defense.
Their defensive line on paper might be the worst in
the NFL, and honestly, it might not be that close
it is. It could be horrendous this year. Their linebackers
are pretty big question mark two now. Their secondary should
(45:11):
be solid. Garon Connley is a good player. LaMarcus Joyner
is a good player. They drafted Jonathan Abram in the
first round. They you know, they drafted a corner in
the second round from Clemson, So yeah, I mean, I
think they should be better than some people think. But surprise,
when you're when you can't rush the pastor at all,
you're gonna be in trouble. So that would mean their
(45:33):
offense would have to be a top five or six
offense in the league for them to be around eight
and eight. Now, that's a lot of pressure on Derek
and Gruden. Is there any real reason that as a
Colts fan I should be concerned about Andrew Luck being
held out? Are we looking at a Kevin Durant type
risk I talked about it earlier. Short term, I don't
(45:54):
think you should be concerned at all. I would just
say big term, it's just why does he get nicked
up so much? Some of that it's just a style.
Because the Kevin Durant thing, I wasn't there at practice.
I have no one's seen video on Andrew Lux calf injury.
When Kevin Durant had his calf injury, it sure looked
like he tores achilles the first time against the Houston
Rockets in the second round. That's why when he came
(46:15):
back and it ended up tearing his achilles. It was
almost like he partially tore his achilles the first time
where Andrew Luck, I I don't. It's just hard to
it's just so much unknown. I would just be worried
though a big picture like why can't the guy stay healthy?
I just wanted to see what your thoughts about the
Cowboys signing Alfred Morris given the timing, right after Jerry
(46:37):
said they can win rings without Zeke Listen. I think
it's Jerry's gonna want Zeke around. He's one of their
best players. Jerry drafted him, Jerry likes him. I think
it's more when a guy is injured or holding out,
you still need to practice. You need players to play
in preseason games to take practice reps. Well, it's much
(47:00):
easier once you're a weekend of training camp to sign
a veteran guy that knows your offense. I e. Alfred Morris,
who was in this offense a couple of years ago
when Zeke was suspended, then signed some random undrafted free
agent off the street. So I wouldn't put that much
stock into them signing Alfred Morris. More just the simple
fact you just need bodies now Alfred Morris has proven
(47:22):
he can function in this league. Uh. Question looks like
it was cut off there. I don't even know what
the guy was asking. You talked about Monday about the
diminishing value of cornerbacks. Would you pay big money for
a safety like Eddie Jackson. I think safeties are much
more valued than corners, so I'd say yes. Eddie Jackson
(47:43):
is a turnover machine and he plays in the middle
of the field, so I I think he has more
value than either one of their corners. If you had
to pick one defensive back on the Bears to keep,
I don't even think you'd hesitate. You pick Eddie Jackson.
So yeah, I mean I I'd have no problem paying
Eddie jack x And if I had to part with one,
I'd say see it a fuller and I'd keep Eddie
(48:03):
Jackson if it was between one of those two players. Uh.
Thanks for making a few days of sitting around the
office a lot more enjoyable. It makes a difference. Sincerely,
a sad Riskins fan. Thanks Bro, no question, just you know,
propping up my ego. Hello John. In your latest podcast,
you talk about corners and secondaries not really mattering anymore.
(48:26):
But why are smart ass teams like the Patriots investing
so much in Gilmore and nothing into the d line.
That's a great question, because someone hit me up and
I took a screenshot because I knew I was gonna
I wanted to find it. Once we started talking about
it that the Patriots listen, Belichick's the best in the business.
But this this uh Porter Collins five DM me and said,
(48:51):
I want to support your claim with the NFL secondaries
that have been the value. The Saints, Eagles, and Chiefs
ranked thirty first in total defense in total passing defense
last year, and the Patriots, despite having a really good
defensive back unit, rank twenty. Now. The Patriots played good
red zone defense one and for whatever reason, I don't
(49:14):
understand why Belichick discounts the defensive line so much. I
I just think the Patriots are somewhat of an outlier.
They don't build their team normally, and they make up
for it because Belichick is the greatest coach ever and
Tom Brady's the greatest quarterback ever. But Gilmore is a
really good player. He's an All Pro level player. He's
worth the money. Mccordy is really good. Their linebackers are
(49:35):
a little hit or miss, and their defensive line is
clearly gonna be worse with Trey Flowers being gone. What
do you think of Dallas moving off of Doc? I
can't help but feel he's a slightly better version of Tebow.
Let me stop you right there. He's much better player
than Tebow. I've had this idea kind of it's sad.
I mean, this is the type of stuff I think about.
But why don't the Cowboys do this? Dak Prescott, You're
(49:57):
not getting thirty million dollars a year? What if I
offered you four years eighty five million dollars, so twenty year,
twenty one a year. The entire contract is guaranteed, basically
like Kirk Cousins. Why wouldn't you take that? Especially if
I go Doc, I'll give you four years eighty five
million dollars. Every penny is guaranteed like an NBA contract.
And also you're saving me that twenty plus million dollars overall.
(50:21):
I'm gonna go sign a Marty, and I'm gonna go
sign Zeke and we're gonna show up week one plan
on winning the Super Bowl. How does Dax say no,
I've talked to before about Edelman and Brady. When you
win championships, especially with the Dallas Cowboys, you become a legend.
It's not like eight five million dollars is nothing. I
get Kirk Cousins makes more per year, but who cares.
(50:42):
You can become a much bigger deal in the league
than Kirk Cousins and be really rich and get another
contract in four years. Wanted to get your opinion on
the Panthers outlook this season. What do you think about
their past few draft classes and the overall view of
NFL's executives About Marty Herny. I've never asked anyone about
Marty Herny. But Christian McCaffrey. That's a home run. Kids
(51:03):
an absolute superstar. The wide receiver they drafted last year
is really good. I have a couple of buddies around
the league that are really high on DJ Moore. Then
this year Brian Burns to land that guy in the
late teens. I think that guy is a really good player.
I think they've hit back to back. Now we don't
know about Burns, but I'm gonna assume he was a
hit because I like him and it's my podcast. So
(51:24):
you got you got some impact players. Now Camp can
stay healthy and Keithley can stay on the field. I'm
getting a lot of pushback, like Middle Coffee, two down
on the Panthers, two down on the Panthers, and then
I watch All or Nothing, and I love Ron Rivera
and Cam kind of grew on me. I love Luke Keickley,
I love Christian McCaffrey, I like Dj Moore. I'm like, yeah, this,
maybe the team is not gonna be as bad as
I thought. So I'm a little more bullish on the
(51:47):
Panthers than maybe I was a month ago. I I
would be. I don't know. Again, I I can't really
tell you much about Marty Hernie, but I do like
their draft last the last couple of years. Is there
a difference for the first round us? I was comparing
a JaMarcus Russell to Joey Harrington and David Carr. It
seems like players bust for different reasons. Do you see
difference and adjust your view to the play of the players. Yeah,
(52:12):
I would say JaMarcus busted because he was lazy, and
a wise coach once told me, you can't. You can't
overcome dumb and lazy in this league. You can overcome lazy.
If you're really talented, you can overcome dumb if you
work really hard. But if you're dumb and you're lazy,
you will eventually fail. And JaMarcus did not work hard
(52:33):
at all. He was much more talented than the other guys.
I was pretty young for Joey Harrington and David Carr,
you know, I was like in high school when they
got drafted, So it's hard for me to I'd have
to go, like study their YouTube pages. You know, Derek
or I mean Dave just got destroyed by the defensive line.
I know a lot of people haven't been at Fresno
State that say he was really really good in college. Uh.
(52:57):
I think most guys in the first round it fail.
It's either because the organization fails them or they're super
lazy and they don't try and slash. They don't love football.
And I think when you found out when you hear
about Joey Harrington, the not loving football was a big
something interwoven into the way people described him. Gambling question
(53:20):
from a staff metric, what do you think is the
best to focus on. I've been looking at scoring, defense,
turnover ratio, yards per playing, third down conversion offense defense.
Maybe the reason I'm such a shitty gambler is because
I'm a gut field guy. I I don't know, I'm
the wrong guy to ask on this. I'm more just
I like this team, and that's why I lose a
(53:41):
lot of money. I'm one of the worst gamblers you'll
ever see, though. I gamble a lot of money now
by one strategy that my go to strategy that tends
to work is bet against the masses. So when the
masses are betting on one person, I go the other way.
When everyone's hanging the left, always hanging right, and you'll
win more than usual. Now that means when everyone's hammering
(54:02):
the Patriots or everyone's betting on the Eagles, you gotta
take the Jags, or you gotta take the Raiders. But
that ship works huge. Jacks fan, what's your take on
this season? I think they're good shot at the wild
card spot and being a sleeper. You know what's funny
is on my other podcast, we got done recording the
other day and I am like, do you know what's
(54:23):
crazy is I basically follow every team in the league
on Twitter, and I see videos seven from every team
in the league. Of highlights, of defensive highlights of press conferences.
I swear to God as I record this right now,
I haven't seen one highlight or read one comment on
the Jaguars. It's almost like on my Twitter feed they
(54:45):
do not exist. Now. My guy Flip is there as
the offensive coordinator. He's a big fools guy. Their defense
has a lot of talent. If Leonard Fournett can kind
of get his career back going, Marke's Lee comes back
from injury, yeah, I think they could be a really
competitive team for sure. I forgot to mention this take
is predicated on golden tape miss in the first four
(55:07):
games with suspension, something were raced. Whatever your comment was
before the race, or I would have read your question
what is the chief ceiling? I feel like if Mahomes
is still a god and the defense can create pressure
of the turnovers, they'd go fifteen and one or sixteen
and no. Their offense should be elite. So I don't
think their offense should come back to Earth at all.
(55:29):
If everyone can stay healthy, I don't see how their
defense doesn't improve. Frank Clark is better than the Ford.
They still got Chris Jones. They're running a four three defense.
Now they add the Honey Badger, which should only help
just the defensive backs in the communication. There's no way
their defense can be as bad as it was last
year in terms of coverage and if their defensive line,
(55:49):
they actually might not get the same amount of sacks
last year. I think they had fifty two. Let's say
they get in the mid forties. But I think their
overall defense can be better. That red zone defense can
be better. It's really hard in the NFL to go
fifteen and one. But if there was one team in
the NFL, if you're like Middlecoff, what's the one team
in the NFL they go fifteen and one? It would
probably be them. Yeah, so I would agree there. Uh,
(56:17):
Raiders fan Derek Carrs contract not fully guaranteed two first
round picks. Think they go after Clemson quarterback if he
comes out. He's only a sophomore. So no. But one
story today was the Derek Carr boyt a house right
next to John Gruden in Las Vegas. My response was bold,
moved Cotton. Uh, they can if they have a bad season,
(56:39):
they get out of his contract for basically no dead money.
It's risky now, it's never risky to invest in real estate,
and when you have as much money as Derek, you
can buy houses if you want to buy houses. But
for him to be on the Raiders when they moved
to Las Vegas, he has to play better because if
he plays like he did in two thousand nineteen, he
will not be on the team. Outside the box question
(57:01):
for the mail back mail bag, why wasn't Tedford a
candidate for the Packer's job. He worked with Rogers at
Cow and has been great with quarterbacks. He's also done
a good job at Freszl State the last couple of years.
One thing I had heard Tedford has had a lot
of health problems. He's in his sixties. He's just gonna
retire at Fresno State. I think his ambition days of
like he should have got the USC job, the Packers job,
(57:23):
that those days are kind of over because he's kicked
ascid Fresden State. They play USC, I think week one,
I think they beat him. I think Tedford is just
a dramatically better coach than Clay Helton. So I think
a lot of it is more based on him just
being old. Okay, that's gonna do it for the middlecoff
mail bag. If I didn't answer a question, I'll eventually
get to it either direct message you were, I'll read
(57:44):
it on the next podcast. Seven Nothing Denver. Right now,
I'm gonna go eat dinner. Got the Hall of Fame
game I tweeted this earlier is much better in theory
than it is in reality. We're like, oh, we got
football back, and then about two snaps in you realize
you're watching Matt Shop throw picks Like this sucks. You
know we can I something on Netflix because I'm not
(58:06):
watching this. Flacco didn't play. Drew Lock looks terrible. Uh.
When I said Drew Lock looks terrible, I've peeked up
and watched him throw about two passes. But the Hall
of Fame game one of those games better in theory
than it is actually is in reality. Keep hitting me up. Middlecoff.
Mail back at John middlecoff Instagram handle same thing as
my Twitter handle. Talk to you all later. Enjoy the weekend.
Host
John Middlekauff
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