All Episodes

September 7, 2020 47 mins

Mike Blewitt and George Kurtz are joined by industry veteran and college football expert, Rich Cirminiello, for this episode of Football Full Circle! College football is finally back, but how will this season look as compared to others? Jamie Newman has decided to opt out of the season, how will this affect the Georgia Bulldogs going forward? Plus, Mike and George also discuss Joe Mixon's recent contract extension with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sports grid dot Com Betting insights and entertainment at your
fingertips as our team covers the most important topics in
sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks,
and more. Want the edge than get on the grid
sports grid dot Com. Everybody, Welcome to the grid football

(00:21):
full circle here with my guy rich Sermanello. We're talking
about college football and we're finally we we've begun Rich.
As I've said, the motto for the college football season
this year is college football. We're doing it, which means
that it could get a little weird. We're gonna go
over some of the things that have changed, but at

(00:42):
least we have. We've had some games on this past
Thursday night. We got b y U Navy coming up today.
So excited to finally get into some of these games. Obviously,
the Power Fives start next weekend. Yeah, you know. The
weird thing is sometimes I think about the motto that
you had and I just chuckle because it could be
taking a multitude of different ways. I still laugh over that,

(01:05):
but yeah, I mean it's exciting. We've had a tumultuous
off season. We don't know what's ahead. I think to
your point, it's going to be an odd season like
we've never seen before. I think there's gonna be a
level of attrition, whether it's players, full teams, units that
are impacted. But this is what we have right now,
and I'm ecstatic that we have an opportunity to talk

(01:28):
about games in the rear view mirror games up ahead.
You mentioned b y U Navy. Uh. Next week we
have a more expanded slate of games. A CC starts
to get into action. So you know, I'm beyond the
point of predicting what is going to happen from a
health perspective and just very happy that we can talk

(01:48):
about football on field. Yeah, so before we get to that,
Nicole our back of the Athletics did a nice job
breaking down of how the football season will be different.
As much as we make some lighthearted jokes about we're
doinging in and you and I have expressed our concern
about all of it, but understand that along the way. Look,
this has been a methodical approach for some of these conferences.

(02:09):
We have talked to epidemiologists and infectious disease experts in
order to get to a point where we think it's
safe college football, we've said many times, is in the
cross hairs because of the nature in which they live
there on campuses. We've seen outbreaks on these campuses, and
we're hoping that it doesn't transfer over to the players
and mass thus providing producing cancelations, postponements and everything else.

(02:31):
But here's some of the interesting things that are going
to be different. No tailgating at most stadiums. Florida State
is one of the few places expressly allowing it. Quote.
Patrons will be limited to individual tailgates at their own spaces,
So tailgates are on the decline, are eliminated in some instances.
Inside the stadiums, rich expect to see a lot of

(02:53):
prepackaged concession foods, some of which will be able to
be purchased contact free, with servers behind plexic lasts, along
with dots on the ground to attempt to socially distance
the lines outside of restrooms. So that's a couple of
changes to start. Last one and I'll let you comment.
Miami's hard Rock Stadium even upgraded its air conditioning filters
from Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value ten to MERV ten to

(03:19):
MERV fourteen, which is hospital grade. It's an attempt to
make its indoor spaces safer. So you can't say that
the schools in general aren't trying to keep people safer.
I don't know about the tailgates, I don't know about
the fans, but at least in most of these instances,
they're trying to keep them safer. Yeah. The one, uh,
that we didn't even talk about yet is the fact

(03:41):
that you know, these stadiums, the ones that will have fans,
obviously will not be at full capacity. I think we're
looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty percent capacity,
all of which, Mike, because you and I have been
talking about this on air for the past three or
four more, all of which is still probably better than

(04:03):
maybe at times we anticipated, certainly better than the alternative.
But you know, one of the things I'd like to
get your take on, Uh, I'm excited to be watching football,
and and every week that we get, every weekend that
we get to me is a gift considering the environment
that we're in. But with all of the changes, especially
for this particular sport, where there's so much tradition, so

(04:27):
much pomp and circumstance, so much is really a community
wide field. Go to Lincoln, Nebraska on a Saturday. It
is football based, obviously, but there's something there's almost a
church setting. There's almost a religious feeling about certain stadiums
on Saturdays. The fact that it has changed so dramatically,

(04:49):
We're gonna be happy to see football, but when you
realize that it's twenty capacity, no tailgating, a lot of
the traditions, you know, the grove at all, miss uh
may not be an existence this year. I just wonder
at what point do fans possibly sit back and say,
and this is really a week fac simile from what
I'm used to in the past. Yeah, you know, the

(05:12):
first the first time I felt that way because I
was so excited to have baseball back in these other sports.
Been watching the NBA, and the NBA doesn't seem terribly
impacted by it. You know that the play has been
um intense. Obviously we're in the middle of the playoff series.
But I was watching the Yankees, I mean Yankees fan.
I was watching the Yankees this past weekend and it

(05:33):
was beautiful. It's a beautiful, like eighty degree day. They
were playing a double header. It's a perfect day for baseball,
and there was nobody there. It was Yankees Mets and
there was nobody there, And it was the first time
I was like, ah, it's such a bummer that people
don't get to go there. I understand why. I'm not
trying to force people back. I probably wouldn't go personally

(05:53):
if there was thousands and thousands of people around, but
that was the first time I felt that way. But look,
I think everybody's gonna be happy to have them back.
I'll say one other thing, a CC is allowing crowd
noise to be pumped in. You a b which has
an average attendance which is well below the capacity, as

(06:15):
we welcome in our radio audience of where they play
at Legion Field, they're removing seats down some of the
aisles to allow for more room for people to pass
by each other. So these types of modifications and uh,
the n c A has adjusted its rules regarding spacing,
expanding team sidelines down to the fifteen yard lines from
the to allow for more distancing Officials whistles will be

(06:36):
electronic buttons, and officials and coaches will be masked up.
So lots and lots of precautions being taken, which I
do appreciate. Yeah, and and some of which you know,
sometimes we have these innovations. I wonder, Mike, moving forward,
how many of these will continue, just for safety, even
in a post COVID world. Yeah, agreed, Rich and I

(06:58):
will talk a little bit more about the Pack twelve
and what their latest plans are. Right here on the grid.
Will be right back with more football, full circle to
college hour. Be right back sports grid dot Com Betting
insights and entertainment at your fingertips as our team covers
the most important topics in sports wagering, real time odds,
predictive betting models, expert picks, and more. Want the edge

(07:20):
than get on the grid sports grid dot Com. M
you're watching sports green back on the Grid talking about

(07:42):
the Pack twelve and big news this week for the
Pack twelve, which is still what's the best way to
put it, they're still in a state of limbo right
they don't know exactly what's gonna look like. They're talking
about starting practices all throughout the fall and maybe getting
in an abbreviated in the spring really will be winter,
but potentially starting as early as January there in warm

(08:04):
weather climates, so they could potentially do a save Utah,
maybe Washington State, but nonetheless yeah in Oregon too. You know,
you start doing the math, you can eliminate six whatever.
It's not New York, it's not gonna be fifteen degrees exact.
Just play all the games there in any of it.

(08:25):
We're they're working on what this season could potentially look like.
They're obviously still in a I think they're the ones
in the in the most difficult position Arizona and California
states where the huge spikes in COVID cases and an
inability for the players to really practice, get on campus
or anything else. But big news is that rapid testing

(08:48):
seems like it's a real possibility. The Pack twelve is
distributing a Kiddell Sophia t S to each school by
the end of September, which means that rapid actor at testing,
inasmuch as in the nineties in terms of accuracy, will
be on hand for players, staff to be tested quickly.

(09:09):
A huge breakthrough. Yeah, you're talking about results in fifteen minutes,
a dramatic improvement over what we're seeing right now. And
and that's the kind of confidence that universities, administrators, players,
family staff all would need at this point, and and

(09:29):
it would be a major step in the right direction,
not just for college football, but from a societal standpoint
as well. And you know, I I know that Larry Scott,
commissioner of the Pack twelve, has heard him been talking
to Kevin Warren, commissioner of the Big Ten. There's a
lot of synergy there in terms of what they're learning
from a medical perspective, the testing from Quiddell that that

(09:52):
you just mentioned, and the possibility that their schedules, and
I would be excited if it's feasible. There has been
talked that possibly we could see Pack twelve Big Ten
football before we reached the new year, at some point
October November. A lot has been floated. There's a lot
of confusion right now, but that would be even a

(10:15):
better scenario. I'm still a little bit dubious, Mike. In
terms of spring football. There's so many hurdles to get over,
question marks about you know, playing even a condensed schedule
in the same calendar year as a full schedule later
in August and September. If they can somehow pull this off,
I think the win would be just exponential for both conferences.

(10:38):
And you know, Big Ten has really been the big
headline maker as far as the major conference is not playing.
Sort of interesting that the Pac twelve was finally able
to make a splash, because we really haven't heard much
out of the Pack twelve since they decided they weren't
going to play football so far this fall. Yeah, possibilities
is regarding the l A times in the last week.

(10:58):
Possibilities include six and eight schedules starting as soon as
January were discussed. One model involves only games within a
team's division as part of a highly truncated season that
would help the conference preserve a full falls schedule. That's
really the big challenge, right We've talked about this many times.
If you're gonna have these guys go out there in
January playing until March, how many games are you gonna

(11:21):
comfortable going to be comfortable with them playing before they
come back out there ready to go This time next year,
September five, we're doing it, and we're playing a full season,
no modifications whatsoever. I think that's what people are really
uncomfortable with. I personally am really uncomfortable with that. I
would not want to see players playing twenty two to

(11:42):
twenty six games in the course of a calendar year.
I think it was too much for anybody and just
has frankly, as many lawsuits written all over it as
does the COVID challenges. Well, let let me ask you
this question. And we we we all know we're adults.
We we all know we've been around this business long
enough to know that the primary driver to even have

(12:06):
football in January truncated schedule, as you said, Uh, January possible.
Every we know this is driven by money. Let's take
money out of the picture for just a moment. What
is the other motivation to have a season in January
when basketball is taking place. You've probably already crowned or

(12:29):
about to crown, hopefully a national champion, so you're not
competing for a national championship. It's an abbreviated schedule. Uh,
there's a very good chance that your stars have already
left for the pre draft pre NFL draft process. So
I get it. It's all about money. But beyond money,
can you think of any other reason why you would

(12:51):
even consider it at this point? Yeah, it's it does
not really make sense for me. Spring never made sense.
I understand the desperation to get games out there, get revenue,
coming in, but I would be more. I'll be more.
Look the Big twelve and packed Big Big ten and

(13:11):
Pac twelve made decisions pretty early. If there's one thing
that we've seen, and you can criticize whatever government agencies
you want, at a federal level or at a state
and local level for their responses to this. Rich and
I are in the New York, New Jersey area. We
had a lot of issues with the pandemic hitting this

(13:33):
area of the country, a heavy populated area. Early there
were as many therapeutic treatments vetted yet which they have
now been vetted in a pear to be working to
some extent in other parts of the country. Created a
lot of issues. But there's one thing that in New York,
New Jersey they were trying to do, and that was

(13:54):
before they any made made any major decisions like closing
schools for the rest of the year. Are going virtual.
They kicked the can down the road a little bit.
They didn't make hard decisions in March about school being canceled.
They moved it out a little bit. I didn't think
it was disingenuous. I thought they were honestly trying to
get kids back into school. If it was going to

(14:14):
work out. I felt like the Pack twelve and Big
Ten could have done that same thing. Now. Announcing it
in August wasn't egregiously early. I just thought it was
too early considering the other Power five conferences were still
in play, and frankly, we're making plans as to what
day to start. I agree with you. You know, I'm

(14:37):
not a doctor, so I and I'm not privy to
the information that the Big Ten Pack twelve presidents commissioners
had access to now just a couple of days ago.
On Thursday, Bleacher Report puts a report out saying that
the Big Ten learned that between thirty and thirty five

(14:57):
of players who tested UH COVID, even asymptomatic cases, thirty
to thirty had myo karditis, the the hard condition, which
sounds possibly a little bit worse than it is, but
it's essentially a situation where there's inflammation of the heart. Um.
So the point of the matter is, in terms of

(15:19):
the early decision, particularly from a Big Ten perspective, is
we're learning new things on a day to day, week
to week basis, and college football almost as a whole.
There are some exceptions. We have games UH this weekend,
just a couple of days ago, and then later on
we have b y U Navy. But by and large,
the major conferences have pushed their schedule back, so there

(15:41):
was more time. SEC doesn't start until September. Big tenant
Pack twelve could have done the same thing, So I
tend to agree with that. That's one of the gripes
that I agree with, which is could have waited a
little longer, could have gathered some more information. Maybe you
would have come to the same decision. But with more
time we could have learned a heck of a lot

(16:02):
more than we knew. What was it about a month ago? Now? Yeah,
you know, keep in mind the Pack to I was
canceled everything to January one. Do you think if I
asked you right now, do you think the Pact all
tries to roll this back like the Big Ten is
trying to do in order to get football started. Do
you think they'll try to do that. I think it's
a lot more likely to happen from the Big Ten. Uh.

(16:25):
You know, they're in the their mired in the midst
of um a lot of negative feedback or public relations disaster,
a lot of which was their own doing. Uh. Legal
cases Nebraska, now was it? Eight players from Nebraska filed
a lawsuit against the Big Ten seeking more transparency and

(16:45):
more information. We haven't really heard much of that from
PAC twelve country at all, So Larry's got in the pactwell,
But I think they have a lot more leeway to
work with and there just hasn't been the fewer that
we have seen out of the Big Tent. So I
think it far more likely that if someone you know
pushes this off makes UH an improbable decision to play

(17:07):
in October November, I think it would be the Big Ten.
I would be surprised if we saw the pact well
before New Year's Day. Yeah, I thought the Big Ten.
There was a variety of different factors. There are calls
from the president to the commissioner and everything else. But
I really thought, honestly, the worst optic of all of
it was that Ohio State wasn't playing and everybody else

(17:28):
in the state was high school's Cincinnati Bengals Browns. I
just thought that made them look ridiculous to a lot
of people. We'll come back, We'll talk b y U
Navy after this. Sports grid dot Com betting insides and
entertainment at your fingertips as our team covers the most
important topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models,
expert picks, and more want the edge than get on

(17:50):
the grid sports grid dot Com that we have football today, Rich,
we are actually previewing football games. We've got two FBS
games on the slate for this weekend, the first of which, Look,
we didn't you know, I always expect to kick off
this season with no Power five teams playing. But it

(18:13):
is what it is, and I'll take a little red
Wolves Tigers. Arkansas State versus the Memphis Tigers is spread
right now, recording this a little bit in advance, is
nineteen and a half right now. So Memphis laying a
lot of points today, the total a healthy seventy four
and a half. So tell me a little bit about

(18:34):
this game. But he got here. Yeah, so and I'm listen.
I'm not trying to. I don't um, you know, I
I don't b s. I I think I always tell
it like it is. This is a this is a
genuine feeling that I have. We have an abbreviated schedule,
not just this weekend, but every weekend. It kind of
excites me because it allows us. Normally, you know, when

(18:55):
you cover college football, you've got fifty sixty beginning of
the season, sometimes seventy games to have somewhat of a
finger on the pulse. Now with an abbreviated schedule, you
really can invest more time. Two teams from the Sun Belt,
teams from the A, A C like this, and I
really like that because you know, Memphis is gradually becoming

(19:16):
a powerhouse on par with the ucfs of the world.
High powered offense. Mike Norvel is gone. Uh. You know,
coach Silverfield now takes over Ryan Silverfield. Former assistant coach
Brady White is back under center. Kenneth Gainwell, the star
running back, decided to opt out just about a week ago.

(19:36):
Had a lot of instances of COVID and his family.
He became unsettled, decided to go, uh, start to prepare
for the NFL. But Brady White to Demanti COAXI one
of the better pitch and catch combos in the country.
It's a big number, Mike, but I expect to see
a lot of points in this game. Think about this.
Arkansas State last year began the season with Logan bond

(20:00):
Her as the starting quarterback, he was lost early for
the season. Lane Hatcher, former transfer from Alabama, comes off
the bench throws more than thirty touchdown passes for the season,
but he can't hold onto the job because Logan Bonner
has played so well this offseason that he has retained

(20:21):
his starting job. So both teams have potent offenses. They
get off the they get off the edge very quickly defensively.
Saw a lot of speed in this game. And I
think it's entertaining one other quick point. This is going
to be such an unorthodox season. I I don't think
you're going to you know, it's it's it's always a
chalk type of a situation when it comes to college football.

(20:43):
So you can count on your Alabama's, your Clemson's, your
Ohio States. Well, Ohio State is up in the air.
Looks like they're not gonna have a season. I would
not be surprised if one of these group of five
teams doesn't run the table and potentially sneak into a
playoff spot if we get that far into the season.
Memphis has the horses to potentially be one of those teams. Yeah,

(21:05):
I'm in twelve and two. Last year played Penn State,
in the cotton ball all this stuff that Brady White
last year four thousand yards, thirty three touchdowns, eleven picks.
If he can even fix that touchdown interception ratio, push
it up a little bit higher. What do you think
Brady White's prospects are long term? Yeah, Brady White, for
folks who don't know, actually was initially a Pack twelve quarterback.

(21:29):
So this isn't an under recruited you know, two star
kid who just you know, was fortunate to get an
opportunity began in the Pack twelve at a s U
has a live arm. I still think he has a
long way to go at this point. And listen, this
is why a lot of kids are like, hey, I've
got to play this season. This is my opportunity to

(21:51):
impress scouts. I can't opt out. I need to improve
my stock. I see Brady White as a Day three
kid right now, but I'll be as Lee with a
chance to play eight nine games then have the pre
draft process could move his way up. But I don't
think he's anywhere near that discussion of first round, second
round type quarterback. I think middle of the draft next year, Mike,

(22:14):
I think he could be a value pick. Okay, let's
go to the other game that we got for Saturday,
and that or for this weekend. B y U Navy
so excited about this one obviously occurring on Monday, on
Labor Day, so we get it to watch a little
something on the holiday weekend. And by the way, happy
Labor Day weekend to everybody else out there. So what

(22:37):
do you think this one? B y You hit by
some injuries here as we get a little bit closer
to the season. But and the game sits right now,
the line is currently a one and a half point spread. Navy,
uh is getting a point in a half at home. Yeah,
the injury you talked about was an unfortunate one. You're
probably referring to Matt Bushman's star tight end for b

(22:59):
y U to top target for Zack Wilson, was gonna
be one of the five or six best tight ends
in the country. Injury took him out for the season.
And and again, we've talked a lot throughout the off
season Mike about UH durability, UH depth and how important
depth is gonna be. A lot of a lot of
people will look and say, you know, Virginia a couple

(23:21):
of days ago, four kids decided to opt out for
two thousand and twenty, Big whoop. It was one starter,
but the other three were backups. That death could really
be a factor once the season starts to grind on
into the midway point. I've had ten players walk away
as well. Perfect example, Tay Gowan out of the secondary
was the star player and the other nine kids, You're like,

(23:41):
all right, you know, I'm not familiar with who they are,
but they were gonna get reps. And you know, if
the starter goes out, one of those other nine kids
might have been called upon to move into the lineup.
So losing Matt Bushman's a really big deal. I love
this matchup because you know, Kalani Sataki and his dicessors
always do a really good job of having a nasty,

(24:04):
bare knuckle defense in Provo. This year is no difference.
So they've had the entire off season to prepare for
Navy and the triple option. Navy breaking in a new quarterback,
Dalen Morris will be under center, uh, replacing you know,
a quarterback in Malcolm Perry who was spectacular throughout his

(24:24):
career in Annapolis. But b y you, I'm gonna throw
two names out defensive tackle Chiris Tonga linebacker Peyton Wilgur.
Wilgur in particular, as a freshman last year got better
and better and better, finished the season really on a
high note. I think he's a in a full season, Mike.
I think he's a hundred tackle guy. I don't feel

(24:45):
like doing the math right now what that equates to
right now. Maybe maybe a seventy five or eighty tackle
guy for this season. But that defensive b y U
versus the triple option of Navy, that's the game within
the game I'm really looking forward to. And Zach Wilson,
who was not healthy last year. I think he's a
big time quarterback who could potentially play his way into

(25:05):
the NFL draft if he could stay healthy throughout two
thousand and twenty. You did the math pretty good. B
y U playing eight games right now on their schedule
is Navy, Army, Troy, U, t s A, Houston, Texas, State,
Western Kentucky, and UH North Alabama. So it's a little
wit you win the opener in Annapolis, which is not

(25:27):
gonna be easy. Yeah, I mean, can you run the
table if you're b y U. Yeah, I think you can.
I don't think it's a daunting schedule. But I think
also I still we still don't know what the playoff
is going to look like, if there is one, what
it would look like. But I don't think anybody's gonna
look at that schedule even if they went eight no
and had an average UH points per game in the

(25:48):
fifties and they won every game by thirty five points,
and people are like, yeah, well you should do that.
It's not a it's not a legitimate championship level schedule.
But I don't want any of those complaints. Were trying
to be positive for all of you out there, saying,
just give me a chance. I am giving him a chance.
I'm watching them on Monday. So all right. So that total, though,

(26:10):
is forty nine and a half. What do you think
they're a lot of this one? Not really? Navy games
can be kind of tough, but higher scoring than a
typical service academy. Yeah, I would, um jeez, I mean
in this day and age of college football, I would
need to have my head examined to go with the under.
But I don't see a ton of points in this game. Um,

(26:30):
and again, Navy breaking in a new quarterback b y
U strength is on the defensive side of the ball. Uh,
you'll lose Matt Bushman from the B y U offense.
The running game for the past couple of seasons has
been inconsistent for the Cougars um and again, I I
would not bet on the under, but I don't think

(26:53):
there will be a lot of points in this game.
So let's wrap it up. Richard's gotta go after this segment.
Let's wrap it up with Jamie Newman. He decided to
opt out of his final season in college football. He
transferred from Wake to Georgia. I you and I have
discussed sort of texting back and forth. While he is

(27:15):
the number six ranked quarterback on Todd mcshay's quarterback list
right now, which generally doesn't have you in the first round.
Infect it never wounds very rarely six quarterbacks in the
first round. Uh. I thought he was the type of
guy that could play and push himself further up. I
don't know how much higher he would get. I don't
know if he's going over justin Fields and just Trevor

(27:35):
Lawrence and Trey Lance, but I thought he could have
pushed himself up with a big season there, and now
he's opting out, not criticizing him. I'm just saying I
thought he was the type that needed to play more
and not work out. Mike I would couch it exactly
the same way, which is to say, I can't question
his decision. I don't know the young man. I don't

(27:58):
know one went his head. I be a fool to
criticize him because I don't know the specifics. But what
I do know is where he sits today in the
eyes of NFL scouts. And then to your point, how
much higher the ceiling could have been with a big season? Right? Uh,

(28:18):
a little over a month from now, he's gonna be
facing the Alabama defense and Nick Saban. If he's spectacular
in that game, does he thrust himself into the first
round discussion? It's possible. I think he has a world
of talent. Loved watching him at wake Forest, but doing
it at wake Forest is one thing, and then sort
of tailing off. Look at the numbers pre Sage Surat's injury,

(28:42):
top wide receiver for wake Forest and post Serat last
year was kind of a different Jamie Newman. He was
not the same type of a quarterback, so he had
a lot to prove purely from a professional NFL perspective, Mike,
I was surprised he decided to opt out because the
opportunity to impress and then really catapult himself into that

(29:04):
late first round early second round discussion was there, So
it caught me by surprise. But again, I'm not going
to question his decision because I don't know what what's
in his heart and what his head right now. Yeah,
I appreciate it, So I wanted to say too, Rich Uh,
since this is the final edition of Football Full Circle

(29:24):
for this off season, thank you for joining me here
every other week. It was every week for a while,
then there's every other week. But appreciate it. Always a
pleasure to work with you. We'll catch you soon. You
find him on Twitter at rich here Manello. Always great
to work with you, buddy, I'll talk to you against him.
Sports grid dot Com Betting insights and entertainment at your
fingertips as our team covers the most important topics in

(29:47):
sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks,
and more. Want the edge than get on the grid.
Sports grid dot Com back on the grid, bringing George
Kurtz back in. Thanks Rich Dearmanello for taking us through
some major college stories. Will be transitioning sadly George away

(30:11):
from this show for the off season. George and I
will be together on various shows all throughout the year,
but Football Full Circle goes away for the time being.
We'll bring it back post football season, but we're moving
over to different shows. I'll be doing College Football Today
with Joe Leasy every Saturday morning from ten to twelve,

(30:32):
and Pro Football Today every Sunday morning. So I'll be
your game Day host basically all throughout the football season
ten to one on Sunday's Ariel Epstein, Dan Martinez, my
partners in Crime there and George. You'll be doing some
In Game Live and other shows as well. Yes, yes,
so we're doing on In Game Live back we saw

(30:52):
at one o'clock today, and then on the weekends we're
running In Game Live from what Saturdays I think it's
from noon to midnight and Sundays one to bridnight, I believe,
And I'll be a part of that at some at
sometime during the day evening. Yeah, Saturday's will start at
noon right after College Football Today, and on Sundays it
will start at one right after profitball today, so I'll

(31:12):
be the lead into those shows. I'll be hosting In
Game Live during the week covering other sports. Won't just
talk football, so let's talk. Let's focus back on football.
A few major stories this week. Uh, it feels because
the news cycle is generating so many stories right now.
This feels like it happened two weeks ago, but it
was really like three days ago. George Joe Mixon gets

(31:34):
the extension from the Bengals he was holding out with
my grains, which I didn't believe at any point. Uh,
four year deal worth forty eight million dollars and he's
a Bengal for the next five years. So Joe Mixon
essentially will spend the big chunk of his career with
the Bengals. Well, we can see what's happening here at

(31:54):
the running backs, right yeah, I mean when they they
started hold on he was held out last year. Now
mixing that, Dalvin Cook made some noise earlier, all right,
and now Alvin Kamar He's made some noisier. And I
don't blame them. It's almost like the running back to
their own union, Mike, because the Ceni A is terrible
for them. It's just terrible because a lot of these
guys won't get major second context. So there the teams

(32:17):
who are gonna be like they're already used up, so
will a lot won't. So you know, no one wants
to play four or five years without getting the big
money here. So I think let's see this more and more.
I'm very curiously woul end up having with Squan Barkley.
You know, next season could be the same sort of
situation where he wants to get paid, you know, and
not be locked up. So we'll see what happens here.
Good for the Bengals, Mixing is a very good running

(32:38):
back on a team that, let's face it, not so good.
I've had a line that issues for a couple of
years now, but he's still getting the job done here.
Uh fantasy yse, he's a first round back, you know,
top eight overall here in my mind, so good with
Joe Bison. Yeah, so where that puts some verses out
of their running backs. Let's seeing total guarantees. Uh, we

(32:59):
tried to do the math throws four year deal or
I don't have all the guarantees information yet on Mixing,
but the average for him is twelve. That puts him
behind McCaffrey, Zeke, Elliott, Levian Bell, David Johnson, Derrick Henry.
But keep in mind this is a four year deal.
His turnout is likely to be a little bit better
than at least a couple of those guys. We all

(33:20):
know that Bell is not going to play under his
current contract after this season. Derrick Henry is likely going
to play through his current contract through next year, and
then we'll see what happens after that. But Mixing still
a pretty young guy. We've talked about this a few times.
You talked about it with four Nette earlier in the
first hour, talking about how he's really just twenty five

(33:42):
years old. Joe Mixon not an old guy either. He
gets the extension. So look, I have really I'm bullish
on mixing this year as I was last year, I'm
more so this year. If for no other reason, George
that it's can census. Now what worried about mixing last
year's people really started jumping on the bad wagon. I

(34:05):
knew the Bengals were going to be terrible, and I
didn't know how those would match up. This year. I
think mixing gets a really healthy dose of touches. I
think the offense will be improved. Offensive line is better
at Joe Burrow at quarterback, So I just think that
helps the efficiency of mixing. I would agree, I want
to get a lot of of course, depend on Joe Burrow.

(34:26):
Can he be uh? Can he be better than what
Andy Dolton was last year? Was at one point an
average a good average quarterback and certainly not great. I
don't know Burrow is going to reach those heights immediately,
but he's got some weapons. Can a J. Green stay
healthy as well? Think that's a big thing here. This
guy's had lots of issues with help O the past
couple of years. Here, Stilly, the Bengals made a mistake

(34:47):
there not trading A J. Green. Once again, it was
a bad year to do it. He was heard it
was a wide recy the heavy draft. They may have
gotten a big return, but I still would have liked
them to see uh at least try maybe have talked
to the Packers at one point when they did a
wide receiver. But hey, it is what it is. But
the key there is that offensive line is better, and yeah,

(35:08):
important additions there for them on the offensive line over
the last couple of seasons. The first round picked from
last year, uh did not play due an injury. He'll
be back protecting the line and protecting Joe Burrow as
we go into the season. So that's really big news there.
Kamara still waiting on more news there. But another extension

(35:28):
that happened this week. You know what, George offensive lineman
are people too, and Ryan Kelly got a big fat
extension from the Indianapolis Colts. They're signing the former first
round pick to a four year, fifty million dollar extension.
It includes thirty four million guaranteed. It makes him the
highest paid center in the league, tying them to the

(35:50):
Colts for the next five seasons. And keep in mind
many of these contracts are extensions, so they'll pay them
the last year of their rookie deal and then tack
on another four years here. But Colts locking it up.
They're they're going to old school line play baby Brentson Buckner,
Ryan Kelly, They locked up Anthony Costanzo. They got guys
here that will help Phil Rivers and this core of

(36:14):
young wide receivers and obviously stable of running backs for
the next couple of seasons at least. You know how,
offensive line is a key to really your entire offense
if you have a good loine. This is why we
think that maybe, you know, Philiprods will played better this year,
right because the Colts one of the best offensive lines
in football, if not the best, So he'll have more
time to throw the wall, you know, and I think

(36:36):
that's gonna be a big thing for them. Listen, I'm
the Cowboy fan. Only is they doubt that the Cowboys
got better when Jerry Jones stopped drafting celebrity players are
high profile players and was told from the drafting the
Zack Martin's of the world, the Traffics Fredericks of the world,
and made them super Bowl contending. It made I don't
know I go that far, but it made him a
good team again, you know, it made him a good

(36:57):
team again. Where they can they watchable because they were
drafted on about they talked about in Super bowlters. Were
they actual super Bowl contenders? Obviously not. They didn't get
to the Super Bowl, They didn't get particularly close to
the super Bowl. But uh, there might be coaching issues
that were a part of that, which I'm sure should
be ownership issues. Details And they cut ha ha Clinton

(37:19):
Dicks this week. What do you think of that. Oh,
that would have been ruined for a little while now
that he wasn't playing all that well, you know that
they might move on from him. I know the speculation
is going to happen now, right, Oh, that means Enarl Thomas, right,
Earl Thomas must be coming in. It doesn't look like it.
I mean, maybe they could could be haggling going on,
either trying to get trying to wait Earl out, or
he has no other choice but to accept a lower

(37:41):
contract from the Cowboys or a one year deal when
you make a good deal incentive lady. We'll see what's
going on here. But I can tell you, once again
it's old coach speak, mind you, but I can tell
you the Cowboys are happy with their current safeties in camp.
I mean, once again, Woods, you can take up whatever
you want here, it's what they're saying. Yeah. The fact
that at least ha Clinton dicks, in my mind, means

(38:03):
one of two things. They're telling the truth about what
they like or haha, it was just that bad. I
wasn't told super impressed with him recently, and I wasn't
very impressed with it as a signing. He's bounced around
the league a bunch. It doesn't mean he's out of
the league. I'm sure he'll get a job somewhere, but

(38:23):
he wasn't. One of the offseason editions that I looked
at with Dallas was like, huh, they got Clinton Dix.
There's some problems solved Byron Jones out Clinton Dix in
I didn't really think of it in those terms. Uh.
I think he had to be that bad for them
to bring in a veteran like that and not even

(38:44):
make it to week one. He had to be pretty bad.
Maybe you would have thought McCarthey, I think one of
these he knows McCarthy. McCarthy's way, not that y system.
McCarthy is an offensive guy. He's got to be dealing
with an injury or being out of shape or something
along those lines. An injury that's making him out of shape.
It's got to be something like that. I didn't forget
how to play football. It just doesn't work. I think

(39:05):
you're right for them to let him go now, you know, no,
you know, for the season means something. Something's just not
right there. You know the Dallas has decided to move on.
But I've heard that. I've heard about this for at
least a week to ten days even before Earl thom
has got released that Dallas was not all that happy
with ha ha yeah, okay, last one for this segment,

(39:26):
zach Ertz contract talks have come to a halt, which
is weird because they had resumed talking about a contract extension.
I say it's weird because we've now had to read
over the last six months or so maybe longer George
a variety of different stories about Zach Gertz and be

(39:47):
like at the end of the year, he seemed to
be almost saying to media members, well, I'll see around.
I don't know how long I'm going to be around.
Those types of stories we're starting to surface, like, well,
we have Alice god Art now and we have all
these young receivers. We're gonna ultimately have to pay somebody.
And now one of the young receivers doesn't appear to
be working out at j j Artega. Whiteside is sort

(40:09):
of flushed away after the first year in Philly. We
know how Sean Jeffrey isn't working out because he can't
stay healthy. He won't be there long term. They got
Jalen Reagor in here. He's a rookie. He's already hurt
is God are going to be Earth's people like him,
But can he really be as good of a pass
catcher as Earth's. You know, we're dealing with a lot
of different stuff here concerning the Eagles, and when it

(40:32):
comes down to it, Arts has been incredibly reliable for them.
I think the problem is this, well, is that you're
a problem. Phildelphia's problem is this. We know Wheths is good,
He's really good, and you need him right because you're
only two reliable pass catches right now? Where Arts and
got it? That's it? Now? The girls already heard you mestioned,
Jeffrey has heard everyone see has to be heard and
that he were unreliable there. So you're asking a lot

(40:54):
of costs and wins to throw to these guys. So
you need Arts now. You insulted him with this latest
author right because I guaranteed money than the other offer.
I mean, what are you doing? Seriously, what are you doing?
I don't understand that why you would insult the guy.
It's not like he doesn't know what He'll get more
money to someplace else and why do that? But the
Eagles are also I believe they're one of the heaviest
cap mortgages coming up. Were there, Oh well, I mean

(41:16):
well over the cap and we know the caps coming down.
That's right. So they've got issues there. I'm sure they
love Arts and want to we sign them. But god,
it is good. He's not Arts, but he's good. Can
you afford to pay to top tight ends? And I
think that's what it comes down to for me, Mike,
can you afford to pay play two top tight ends?
And I don't know what they can. Yeah. So further

(41:38):
report via Ian Rappaport. The latest offer, as George said,
included less guaranteed money than a November offer included, and
it included less cash annually than the deal Austin Hooper
signed with the Bramps as a free agent in March.
Not to mention that Austin Hooper's deal has been surpassed
twice in recent weeks, with by the signings of George Kittle,

(42:01):
the greatest the largest deal ever, and Travis Kelsey, who
re upped with the Chiefs to keep him in Kanser
in Kansas City, likely for the rest of his career.
He is a base salary of six point six million
this year, set to make eight point to five million
in one so there is time here. But as you noted,
you start making offers like that and guys that are

(42:22):
on your team, you're going to create some animosity in
the locker room. Even if everybody understands that there are
salary cap issues, they don't want the issue to be them.
They wanted to be someone else. I agree, I said,
I I felt that handless terribly afterluts terribly. If you're
gonna insult them and don't make any offer, you know,
or I understand, Philly is probably thinking, Okay, we're in

(42:44):
trouble to cap here. We gus sign cheap, but we
turned down the last offer. What made you think he's
going to accept this offer? You know, it's weird thinking.
It's just weird thinking. Like you said, it's not only
offense Earth, but offense other people as well. People take
notice of this stuff when you do when you make
when you make cheap offensive workers like this. So they
have twenty three million in cap space now, which they're

(43:04):
trying to hang onto for the very reason George talked
about earlier. As of right now, the cap space for
the Eagles is negative forty seven million based on a
two d and fifteen million cap number. If that number
does come down to you can start doing the math.
That's another forty seven million in the hole. They will

(43:26):
not be able to cut that much without the team
looking drastically different. So again that's still in flux concerning
the cap for next year. But even with a two
hundred fifteen million dollar cap, they have to find nearly
fifty million dollars in extra room. So uh, tough place
to be, Georgia. I will come back to close out
this hour of Football Full Circle. Are the Jags not tanking?

(43:49):
Sports grid dot Com Betting Insides and entertainment at your
fingertips seven as our team covers the most important topics
in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models, expert
picks and more. Want the edge, then get on the
grid sports grid dot Com Football Full Circle closing it

(44:10):
out last three minutes, Thanks for watching, thanks for listening,
and George. Earlier this week, Doug Morone assured us all
that despite releasing Leonard four net and training Yannigan Gockway,
Yona can go way, I feel like I said that
weird nWay that they were not taking and he tried

(44:30):
to do regular man's logic, which is, hey, if we
lose a lot of games, I'm out of here, and
so's Dave Caldwell, to which I would say, yeah, you're
out of there. They traded yet another player after that,
Ronnie Harrison, this starting safety, to the Browns for a

(44:52):
fifth round. So they're really extracting tons of value out
of these picks. Two they released one guy who was
a first round running back. Hey, we couldn't get a fifth,
we couldn't get a sixth, we couldn't get a seventh. Yeah,
because you didn't do this the right way, and you
didn't get what you should have gotten for in gockway,
because you didn't do it the right way, and you've
come in last place eight of the last nine seasons.

(45:14):
I believe something like that. Seven of the last nine.
They lost double digit games every year for eight to
the last nine years, George, and it's going to continue.
They have the lowest total on the board on Vandal
at four and a half. I don't see how they're
going to get above that. I think they're not trying
to tank, because the players never are. Do I see
a Miami situation where they're own seven and then they

(45:35):
go five and four. Absolutely not. I think this team
is lost. I think you got a bunch of guys
that will be out there playing hard. It's not their fault,
but they got They went like the Philadelphia seventies sixers.
Trust the process route. There's not enough good players here
to win any games, so it doesn't matter how hard
they play. I agreed. Listen, you said that the players

(45:56):
don't tank because what's gonna plays deig jobs. They're always
gonna want to show up on film that that they're
trying and playing well. It's ownership that tanks. And by
ownership I mean the GM. They tank the course they're
gonna make these trades and not get anything helping back
this season. I don't think the Jack was doing anything wrong,
mind you. As far as training these players away, the
values not there. You know, I'm not gonna rehash what
you already did. You're you're right. They screwed that up.

(46:17):
But they're not playing for this year and there's no
way they're gonna be at the four and a half points.
They don't want to win this year. They want to
tank for Trevor, lose the Lawrence, whatever you want to
call it, get that number one pick next year and
get their quarterback of the future. That's what they're playing for.
We see this in all sports now right. You need
either need to be very either the playoff contender, well,
you need to be terrible and get the number one pick.
Remember last year, real briefly we talked about how few

(46:38):
fantasy assets were on the Jags this year last year.
How many do you think are there this year? Valuable assets?
D J Chark, who else that's it? Minshoe and super
Flex as a backup quarterback, Sure onstead Reserve, Sure bad
times in Jacksville. Thanks a Galaxy, George Kurtson, I'm like

(47:00):
blueod Thanks for watching at everything. Get on the Grind
sports grid dot Com betting insights and entertainment at your
fingertips as our team covers the most important topics in
sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks,
and more want the edge than Get on the grid

(47:20):
sports grid dot Com
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

24/7 News: The Latest

24/7 News: The Latest

The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

Therapy Gecko

Therapy Gecko

An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.