April 11, 2024 • 40 mins
On today’s episode, Jason discusses the latest reports indicating that federal investigators have determined that Shohei Ohtani had no involvement whatsoever in the illegal sports gambling ring that rocked the baseball world last month. Plus, The MMQB Senior NFL reporter Albert Breer swings by to discuss the league-wide perception around Caleb Williams’ character, Jayden Daniels vs Drake Maye in the race to be the second quarterback taken, the smoke around the Minnesota Vikings plans to trade up in the draft for a quarterback, how the New York Jets and Los Angeles Chargers could shake up the top-10, the latest on the Tua Tagovailoa and Dak Prescott contract negotiations and more!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Straight Fire with Jason MacIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
What is up?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Straight Fire from Pam. It's the Jason MacIntire Straight Fire
for Thursday, April eleventh. Got an awesome podcast, Got a
positive podcast for you, Well, at least at the start,
we know this much. We'll be talking about Otani briefly
and then get to our guest, Albert Breer, NFL draft
two weeks away. Lot of juice. It's interesting. I didn't
(00:35):
want to get into the whole. Caleb Williams paints his
fingernails stuff, but I've been asked about it several times lately,
so I had to ask Breer like, is there you
know a way to ask him about the painting figureals?
And frankly, for me, I don't. That's not something I
really noticed. I saw people talking about it. I didn't
even think about it. But then a few people asked
(00:55):
me pointedly and I was like, oh, I never even
really thought about that. So we'll talk about the draft.
Caleb Williams, there's a I think the most interesting thing
probably is what he says about Tua, but I don't
want to spoil it. I thought we would start with
the Otani news before we get to mister breer. So,
(01:16):
according to The New York Times, a veritable institution, Shohei
Otani had no clue whatsoever that he had been hoodwinked
out of four and a half million dollars or more,
the New York Times says, or more by his interpreter.
(01:36):
Who I mean, listen when you read the story in
the Times, and I know some people have the conspiracy
theory crowd already rolling their eyes. Oh it's the New
York Times. How could you believe the New York Slimes? Jason,
Come on, let's be real. If you want to be
honest about it, the least you can do. The least
you can do is actually read the story. So apparently
(02:00):
Khani's interpreter was so duplicitous. Once he got down bad,
he decided, I'm gonna go into Otani's bank and change
the alerts so he won't get alerts when large sums
of money or any sums of money are moving hands. Now,
I know some of you will say, could he do that?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Bro?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
He was like Otani's right hand man. They traveled together.
He trusted this guy. Otani comes from a very trusting culture. Okay,
you don't rob your best friends, and clearly this guy
was just a gambling machine and in a bad way
kept losing money. And the Feds again, again, the Feds.
(02:42):
This is not like Major League Baseball investigating. This is
the Feds. Okay, I don't I mean, I don't. They
haven't I set exactly which three letter organizations have done this.
But according to the New York Times, the investigation has
been going on for over three weeks and it's nearly done.
(03:03):
Apparently the interpreter is going to plead guilty and admit,
admit that it was him doing everything and Otani was
not involved at all. And I know some people say, oh,
he's just Otani's just paying it. Listen, if you want
to believe that that maybe that's happening, fine, go I
can't do it. I cannot help you. All we can
do is deal in the facts, okay. And what the
(03:25):
facts are, according to the investigation, is that the interpreter
stole more than four and a half million dollars. Okay.
And this changing of the settings about alerts and confirming transactions,
that's really dark stuff. And listen, I'm some people are
going to act like, oh, come on, how did Otani
not know? How did his accountants?
Speaker 2 (03:43):
What about his lawyers?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Let me tell me the last time your lawyer knew
exactly what was going on in your bank account, or
your accountant or your agent. They're not meddling. I mean,
I have an agent. You know, he deals with me
when we're doing deals. You know, if we're not doing deals,
he's not checking my bank He never checked my bank account.
Now again, obviously, I'm sure you get to Atani. Fine, Jason,
(04:06):
come on, there's real multiple layers. Fine, I gotta find it.
We gotta financial guy. Anytime we have to do something,
we look at the transaction, talk through it, get on
the phone, blah blah blah. On small potatoes. This is Otani.
You think he's on the granular level even needing to
talk to anybody about transactions. I got so much money
he doesn't even need to worry about transactions. I again,
(04:28):
I'm of the belief. Well, I guess he does need
to worry now that Otani's not He didn't, he didn't
wasn't gambling here, I'm sorry, And until you can present
to me evidence and again, maybe it's out there, maybe
someone will unearth it, but there's zero so far as
zero other than speculation. Who what who's gonna give off of?
Who's gonna let a guy gamble when he's four million
(04:51):
dollars down? Well, yeah, you could say I work with Otani,
he's good for it and he'll cover for me. And
there's his amateur hour criminal who clearly didn't cover his tracks. Yeah,
how did they get this done so quickly? Jason an investigation?
Three weeks? Come on, four point five million, guys, It's
very clear we're not dealing with some like sophisticated criminal here.
(05:15):
This was Otani's buddy, like good friend, and he just
did basic stuff and then robbed his friend because Otani
had no reason to think anything was going on here.
And Otani's never gonna talk about this. He's got to
be mortified. I don't know. I'm sorry, guys, I can't
rock with Yeah, no, no, Otani's in on this. He
must have paid the guy to take the fall. I
(05:36):
just can't. There's zero, literally no evidence other than what
about stuff? What about this? What about that?
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Sure, anything's possible, but we don't know any of that
to be true. I don't know that Otani stuff is fascinating. Anyways,
Let's get to our guest Albert Breer on the NFL
and the NFL Draft.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Jason likes to think he knows everything when it comes
to sport. I know what sports fans want, but for
everything he doesn't, he knows a guy who does. Let's
just say, I know a guy who knows a guy
who knows another guy.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
All right, let's welcome into straight fire a guy you
know well. Albert Breers Sports Illustrated. Albert's been at a
bunch of media stops, just utterly dominant wherever he goes.
And we're about two weeks to the draft, Albert, is
it getting to be go time for you? War rooms
are crystallizing their their boards. It's getting hot and heavy
in the NFL now, huh.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah, I mean it's like I would say, like next
week at some point, like teams start to come out
of their draft rooms and you start to get a
better idea of you know, how this team or that
team sees sees things playing out, you know, and so
you know, obviously it's it's there's a lot, there's a
lot of moving parts this year because of the quarterback
(06:52):
situation at the top of the draft.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
There's no question about that.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
And yeah, I mean, I think having quarterbacks at the
top definitely makes it a little more exciting.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Let's start with the quarterbacks. I know everybody wants to
meet him to death. There's not much for me on
Caleb Williams. I'll just say this, And this is like
a weirdly delicate topic. So you know, one way to
judge stuff is asking your non sports media friends or
people you talk to the sports media about sports and yeah, Albert,
I've gotten I think three times in like the last
(07:21):
couple of weeks. Hey, g what's this Caleb Williams fingernail painting?
What is this pink? What's going on?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
And again there's a new generation of young guys who
or whatever, And I don't totally get it. Initially I
thought it was nothing, but these are like sports fans.
Dad's asking me like, what's going on with this? I
don't want to be like a George Costanza, not that
there's anything wrong with that, but yeah, are people talking
about this in your circles at all? Or no?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (07:47):
I mean I don't think it's so much that you know,
like that's something that that that obviously is there and
is part of the equation, and you know there was
the jumping up to the stands of his mom thing.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
You know.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
So I don't think that that part of it is
as big a deal just because his teammates love him,
his coaches love him, like there's no problem there. And
that's usually the thing that you're looking at is like,
is this turning off people around him? And it's not,
you know, so I don't think that's a problem for teams.
I think the bigger question is just going to be
his dad's involvement and like how that plays into everything
(08:22):
when he gets to his NFL city, which will be Chicago,
and you know how involved the team around him is
going to be in everything that he does.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
And you know, like having.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
Talked to some people who are at USC and you know,
I know what Cliff told the Bears as far as
that goes, was that he saw him maybe once his
dad at the practice facility over the year that they
were together, so he wasn't around very much. And you know,
I think like when you really dig into it, it's,
you know, there's that whole thing.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Like I think at one point he said.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
I want to be the jay Z of football, right like,
and so you know, I think that there's the bigger
question here is his dad's involvement on the business end.
His dad's a very accomplished businessman, and then how that
weaves into his football career and what takes precedence over
what And so I think is as the teams at
the top, and obviously the Bears most intensely have studied
(09:15):
Caleb Williams and have started to dig into him.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
And do all the background work.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Like that's probably the biggest question from a personality standpoint
and an off field standpoint. I don't think the fingernails
or the jumping in the stands like I think at
the end, in the end, what fixes all of that
for him is how well liked and respected he was
by everybody who worked with him both at Oklahoma and
US six.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
And this is a silly question. I hate that we
have to even ask this, but like, toughness is a
thing in football, and Chicago is one of those towns.
I'll never forget the playoff game. I don't know if
you covered it, where Jake Cutler was in like an
NFC championship game and he was like supposedly injured on
the play, but there was no visible like hit or anything.
And then he didn't go back in the game. Do
you remember this game?
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Yeah, that was the game against the Packers ten and
he had like a mcl sprain I believe.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
But so he You're watching it and you're like, gee,
what it was? How's he not going back in the game?
Is he not tough? You know, like you saw the
Houston kid in the NCAA tournament turn his ankle. You're like, oh, geez,
he's done. You can't come back from that. But this
was like a weird thing in sports. Fans are weird.
And again, I know it's who cares about the fans,
But Albert, you know this, Chicago is a tough city.
You know, this is Midwest tough. How do you personally
(10:26):
think the fingernail paintings going over? I don't care about
the Standara.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Well, no, I don't think that. I don't think that.
I mean, I think Chicago's progressive from that standpoint. Like
one of the things the Bears I have looked at
is like like the quarterback's readiness to handle all of
the criticism that comes because it is a market where
you're going to be you know, your performance is going
to be litigated on a week to week basis, and
so like, I think more of it is like and
more of what they've tried to look into and dig
(10:51):
through is when he throws three interceptions in two weeks
and the Bears lose two games in a row and
he's getting crushed like on the radio, two sports radio stations,
all the TV stations there, How's he going to handle that?
Is he going to listen to it? Is it going
to be a problem for him? Because you know, in
usc usc he really wasn't in that sort of bubble.
(11:12):
Usc is different than some of the big football schools.
He wasn't Oklahoma, but you know, really at Oklahoma he
was just a new phenom and then he was gone.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
You know.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
So that's that's definitely been part of the equation for
for for Ryan Poles and Matti Ebraflus and the guys
there in Chicago as they've you know, dug into the
background on Caleb Williams, is you know, just how equipped
is he to handle everything that's going to come with
being the Bears quarterback as a result of you know,
the market that Chicago is.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
It's it feels like there's only a handful of those
in the league where the market can kind of dictate
things in the fans. If Philly, Boston, New York, that
New York order a DC to an extent, and then
I think Chicago would kind of be the only other one.
I don't know, it just does.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah, there are a few others.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
I mean, I think Cleveland's like that, Like Cleveland's like
Cleveland's very intense, and.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
That team is covered in Pittsburgh is the same way.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Yeah, So I would say Midwest, you know, Northeast, like
the pro sports markets. Yeah, I mean, I think, but
Chicago is certainly in that group, if not at the
top of it, you know, like they're right there with
Philly as far as the intensity with which the team
is covered and even maybe more so than Philly because
they haven't, you know, wanted a high level consistently in
a long long time. So there's a lot of healthy
(12:23):
skepticism in Chicago about every decision the Bears make, about
every you know, every every every game they lose, like
everything there is met with skepticism, and that's part of
the deal with being the quarterback there, and so yeah,
that's absolutely part of the part of what they were
looking at with Caleb and his readiness to be a problem.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
All right, So two years let's move on from Caleb.
Two years ago, Drake May starts to blow up. Oh, Drake,
he's going to be number two. He's definitely number two
behind Caleb with Oh he's this guy's a superstar. Last
year Drake made great player. Oh he got his receiver.
I think tes Table or whatever's name is Walker, thank you?
Oh geez, Drake make dominant, dominant. And now here we
go in the months leading. Oh, here comes Jayden Daniels
(13:05):
from the outside. Oh, Jayden Daniels, now better fit with
Cliff King three. And I'll be honest, I think a
lot of it's silly that the Cliff Jayden thing is
weird because it's like, what team is drafting a quarterback
based on their offensive coordinator? Like, come on that that
could be gone in two years. I'm just calling b Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
I don't think it's just that, though. I don't think
it's just Cliff though.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Oh, Like I think it's also like Dan Quinn and
like you know, I think for a defensive head coach,
and you always hear this is that the defensive head
coach is usually going to go for the guy that's
most difficult to defend. And you know that's just sort
of like baked into their DNA.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
It's you know, who was good. Who's going to keep
me at the.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Facility late on a Wednesday trying to game plan right,
And like I think Jayden Daniels is that guy. And
I think if you're dan Quinn, like and this isn't
like you know, I think we all know for for
for various reasons, he fits what Cliff's wanted in a
quarterbacks traditionally. But for dan Quinn, like, part of it
is who is going to give me the most trouble?
(14:05):
Like if this guy is on another team, who is
going to be the biggest problem for me? And because
of what Jayden Daniels can do in the run game,
And this is the way it is for a lot
of defensive coordinators having to deal with like that math
problem that a running quarterback gives you on top of
the fact that he's like a pretty high level pass
or two. You know, if you're dan you like look
(14:27):
at it, you say, okay, like now I'm putting this
together for the run game, and I've got to, you know,
deal with this off of the run game in the
passing game. And you know, so like that's part of
it too, is having a defensive head coach can impact that.
And then it goes beyond just how good a player,
how good a player he is, It goes to how
hard a player he's going to be for the other
team to defend.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Okay, so I looked at it differently, and tell me
if this is asinine. Dan Quinn had a lot of
success in Seattle, obviously, legion of boom led by the defense.
Russ was not a game manager, but somewhere between game
manager and star. I thought he was really good. And
then he goes to Atlanta, he gets a star quarterback,
a pocket guy, and he goes all the way to
the Super Bowl. Then he goes to Dallas and he's
got you know, again, not quite Rouss, but someone above
(15:08):
a game manager and Dak and the defense kind of
carried him last year and then it didn't in the end,
and dan Quinn is own has seen his biggest success
with a pocket quarterback, pure pocket, right, does that factor in?
And like Drake may to me looks more than maybe Ryan,
then Jaden Daniels looks like Russ or or Dak.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Yeah, maybe I think it's more like about the ceiling though,
And like what you're looking at in the NFL now,
if you want to compete at the highest level, and
you know, I think what it comes down to for
most of these teams is like at some point, you've
got to take that big swing.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
And you know, this maybe applies less.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
To teams in the NFC than the AFC, but you
know there's a group of teams that have quarterbacks like
that that are just a cut above, right, like where
if they lose a receiver or alignment or they're a
little less on defense, they can still kind of load
you on their back. And a big part of that
to having the physical ability to do that, having the
(16:07):
physical ability to put a team on your shoulders.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
And so who are we talking about.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
We're talking about Josh Allen, We're talking about Patrick Mahomes,
Joe Burrow, justin Herbert Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Like, if you're one of these other teams, how do
you scale that mountain?
Speaker 4 (16:22):
And you know, are you going to be at a
point where two or three years from now you're going
to look at it and say, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
We really like what we have right now?
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Like this is the mac Jones problem, right, It's like
he was really ready to play, and that's great.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Are you going to be looking to replace him in
three or four years?
Speaker 4 (16:37):
In fact, Jared Goff as good as he is, like
the Rams came to the conclusion where they had to
level up from him, you know, and Goff is a
really good quarterback, you know. So that's part of the
equation for all of these teams too, where it's like
do I pick the ceiling guy?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
And I actually think that's where Drake May like could.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
Be the guy for some of these teams, right, like
where Drake May is the one who has the highest
ceiling outside of Kleb Like, like I think of the
other guys, Drank May is maybe the most raw, but
probably has the highest scene.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yeah, I'm a big believer in May.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
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Speaker 3 (17:22):
It's weird. I read your thing about the New York
Giants and tell me if this is insane. So the Giants,
we've been hearing rumors no names attached to it, that
the Giants are looking at quarterback. The bringing in this guy,
they need a quarterback, they're desperate. They regret Jones. All
that stuff. You get Joe Shane on the record, correct right, saying, hey,
we're not wedded to anybody. Rarely, Albert, do you see
(17:44):
gms come out and almost respond to chattering rumors that's
out there, especially this close to the draft? Did he
do it because Daniel Jones is maybe a little pissed
off and voicing his displeasure to I don't know if
it's the owner of the coach somebody.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Hey, no, I think you do it to like tell everybody.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
You're you're leaving your options open, right, like you're doing
to tell everybody, like, hey, if you want to call
us about making a deal to come up and get
a quarterback, we might listen. Right, You're doing it because
you want to let other teams know like that maybe
we're a team you have to.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Get over to go and get a quarterback.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Right, Like maybe if you're you know, one of those
teams like right down there in that alley eleven twelve thirteen,
the Vikings, Broncos and Raiders, you have to go past
us to get a quarterback. And in that case, like
Molik Neighbors or Marvin Harrison falls to you, right, Like,
so there's a number of different reasons you would do it,
but it behooves you to leave your options open if
you're Joe Shane, not just because it will help lead
(18:40):
you to that to the best player, but also how
it could affect the actions of other teams, whether they're
calling you or somebody else about moving up.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Yeah, I just find it hard to believe that somebody's
trading up to six for likely the fourth best quarterback
in the draft, which is JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Maybe I mean that, I like, like so part of
that is supplying de Man, right, like, so the demand
for quarterbacks is like always there, and like, I think
the question becomes, you know, when you're talking about that equation,
how you view the class. And so if you're one
of those teams that needs a quarterback that's you know,
(19:16):
six picks back, seven picks back, eight picks back, and
you say to yourself, there's four quarterbacks in this draft
and then a drop off and we don't look at
Panics the same way we look at McCarthy.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
We don't look at Panics the same way we look.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
At may Well. You know, then like maybe you go
up and get them. Job security can sometimes play into it,
right Like, so I'm not saying any of the three
teams we mentioned had that issue, but you know, in
a lot of cases, it's well, I got to show
my own or something, and I can't walk away from
this job without taking a swing at a quarterback. So
(19:48):
let's go up and get one. And I think these
four are better than these three. So we need to
get in a position to get the fourth guy, or
at least the fourth guy.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
And then we'll make it work around him.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
You know, there are all these different dynamics that can
be at work if you're not if you're not in
position to get the one that you absolutely want.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Yeah, I guess this comes down to scouting and your
player personnel guy, because I'm looking at some of the
best quarterbacks in the league last year, and Dak Prescott
went in the finished second in MVP and he was
a mid round quarterback. Josh Allen went seventh. I think overall,
what was he second seventh quarterback taken Brockbirdy dead last
guy in the draft, Mahomes tenth on a trade up.
Jordan Love I think went like eighteen to twenty four,
(20:28):
twenty fourth.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Twenty four or twenty five, maybe twenty five.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Actually just Jalen Hurts went second round, Lamar Jackson into
the first round. I don't know, Albert, there's no we
still don't know how to draft quarterbacks. I'm sure the
league would agree. It just feels a little bit. And
I like McCarthy, I've been I've had him top ten
since like November, but I trading up feels a bridge
too far? Do you are you buying this Minnesota stuff?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Yeah? I am, I am.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
I think they're comfortable with four of them, Like that's
that's my sense is that they're like and look like
I can tell you for a fact, like that trade
with Houston to get the second first round pick doesn't
happen if they don't lose Kirk Cousins. So they made
that move with the idea that they were that they were.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Gonna move up.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
Now whether or not they can pull it off is
obviously another question. But you know, I think they view
four quarterbacks in the class as as plenty good enough,
and look, their situation is a little different too, Like
so like if you look at what the young quarterback
is going to be walking into in Minnesota's Christian darisaw
and Brian O'Neill's long term answers at the tackle position,
(21:36):
as Justin Jefferson and Jordan Atison at receivers, T J.
Hawkinson at tight end, and it's Kevin O'Connell, you know,
Wes Phillips and Josh McCown coaching you. So does a
guy need to be a superstar in that situation? And
I think that that's a fair question to ask, you
know so? And I think that that's what we forget
too often too. There are I mean, like, here's here'll
(21:58):
be my question to you. How many guys in your
lifetime have, like as quarterbacks, have gone to bad teams
and risen above bad circumstances and made.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
It very rare extreme.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
I think Andrew Luck.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Andrew Luck might be the only one. Were they that bad?
I mean, Peyton man, I know they were.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
They stripped the roster downy they were. They were the
worst team in the league the year before after Mannon
got hurt, right, and then after you know, like Poleon
and uh and Jim Calbell were fired, they went on
a spree cutting everybody. So if you go back and
you look at that roster they had, Reggie went at
the very end of his career. They had like t
Y Hilton as a rookie, I believe Costanzo at left tackle,
(22:43):
but not a whole lot else in the offensive line.
And luck got them to ten wins and so that
was like a pretty extensive rebuild. And luck got them
to ten wins that first year, made the playoffs, second year,
got to the division around third year, to the AFC
title game, and then he wound up so beat up
that it trove boy from the sport.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
But like he's the only one.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
That's what was so special about luck is luck overcame
bad circumstances. I mean as great as Mahomes is right like,
and I'm not saying he wouldn't have made it otherwise.
Went to a situation where he's playing for Andy Reid.
He's throwing to Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins. He's got
Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz at the tackle positions, and
they're in the year year five of their build.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
And Lamar Jackson walked into one of.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
The most stable situations in football right, one of the
most stable organizations maybe in all of sports. Buffalo, like
Josh Allen goes there. They were a playoff team the
year before he got there, Right, Buffalo traded up from
the twenties to go and get him, same as Kansas
City trade up to go and get Mahomes. Burrow's won
where you could make an argument, and he got hurt
that first year, and then year two he's got Jamar Chase. Yeah,
(23:47):
you know, so, like I like, there aren't a lot
of guys who if you look at it, like, yes,
this guy went the top five, went to a bad
team and the circumstances stayed bad, and like he made
it like it's really really rare.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Yeah, so you have to you like, this is just
one piece of the puzzle.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
I was walking off the field, it was it was interesting.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
I was walking off the field with the Seahawks coach
like two, I think this last summer. Yeah, it was
last summer and Gino had just had that had that
really great year in twenty two, right, and walking off
the field with him, he said to me, you know,
coaching Gino has made me wonder how many more guys
there are out there like this where the guy got
(24:32):
thrown out in the field too early into a bad situation,
got the crap knocked out of him got benched, then
wound up moving around to a few different teams and
really benefited from sitting for five or six years. And
then he comes back and he re emerges as a
much better player. It's I like, I think the nature
versus nurture thing is very.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Real, very very very real.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
Well, okay, even Justin Herbert, Justin Herbert was the fifth
pick in the draft, right, yeah, No, like Justin Herbert,
Justin Herbert like like out of the box is throwing
to Keenan Allen and Mike Williams now again, like the
offensive line was a mess. He went through a coach fire,
and so Justin did overcome some things. But I'm really
interested to see what happens now that he's got Jim Harbaugh.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Yeah no, no, right, well, he doesn't ever.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
See And I think I just think that there's that
part of it that we always like we just don't
spend enough time looking at that, you know. Yeah, Like
I've had people, I've had people with the Jets tell
me like they were they really messed up playing Zach
Wilson as a rookie. The problem is like sometimes it's
what's best for the kid to sit, but when you
(25:39):
get to zero and five, everyone's screaming to throw him
out in the field, and why aren't you just getting
him the experience? And I want to see him right
when maybe the best thing for the kid is for
the kid to sip for you.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
That wasn't happening to Mahomes. Nobody was saying should Alex
Smith when they were like going to the playoffs? Just
a quick word on Geno Smith. I know the Jets
are crap organization and do dumb things. You should talk
to Mark Sinchez about do Youno Smith? He would tell me,
And I hope I'm not talking out of pocket. Young
Gino Smith would like show up to team meetings and
like like hotel slippers and a robe. Right, he was
(26:10):
like just totally not like he wasn't ready. He wasn't mature.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Part of it is, But isn't that part of it though?
It's just need to grow up.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Some people grow up later later that I'm still growing up.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Like, but that's that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
It's like the right environment might have knocked him into shape, right,
Like the right environment, like all of those little things
who your teammates are, who's coaching you like, what are
your what environment, what culture are you walking into? All
that can affect them? Yeah, I mean they're twenty one,
twenty two years old. I know I was an inconsistent
person where a for sure.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
To put it mildly.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
While we're on the Jets, I gotta say, I know
there's been a lot of movement in the offseason. This
is undeniable. The Jets have the best roster in the
AFC East, that's for sure. There's no argument about that.
The Dolphins lost like five or six starters, The Bills
lose digs and maybe four or five starters on defense.
Patriots are trash. Let's be real, it's not just the afcast.
You look up at the starting eleven. I mean the
(27:01):
Jets added Mike Williams, the three starters on the offensive line,
They had Kin Law, who was the first round pick
hasn't done much. They add Reddick, they get the kid
Clark back. I think it's Clark or Adams, one of
them was hurt and missed all last year. Who they
were high on. This is a top five roster. It's okay,
top five league.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
I mean, like now, like part of the problem is
you're relying on older players, right, So if Mike Williams
and Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses In Hassan Reddick get
hurt and miss chunks of.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Time, Like no, I'm just tell but I'm just saying.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
I'm just saying, like if that happens, that's not like
bad luck, right, Like that's what you signed up for,
so like.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
That's part of it.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
But yeah, like there's no question, like they should be
going for it, and they've got good young players in
that roster.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
It's like not just the older guys.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
They've got a sending guys like Garrett Garrett Wilson, Oli
Vera Tucker if he can get healthy, Breese Pull, Jermaine Johnson.
Quentin Williams is down the prime of his career, but
he'd be in that category to Quincy Williams, like Sauce Gardner,
Like these are all guys who are still either right
in the middle of prime of their careers or are
sending players. So they've got a good amount of guys
(28:10):
that form the core where these older guys like is
the older these older guys are finishing pieces for them.
They're not like the core of the team. Now, Like again,
staying healthy, can they stay healthy at tackle, because if
I'm them, might probably take a tackle at quite what
you've already done.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
You would go tackle interesting.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
I think I would, Yeah, And I think that's what
Joe Douglas is probably gonna do now. Now part of
that depends on who falls to you. Like if Joe
Olt's there right for some weird reason like I don't,
there's no there's not even a question. You take them, right,
he could be that's your left tackle for the next
ten years.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Just take them. He won't.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
He won't be there at ten, but he probably won't
get past five. But like if he gets ten, you
take him older. Forshanu from Penn State, who's got an
incredibly high ceiling.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
You think about that, right.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
I think. So I even think that your h Oregon
State kid you take you consider?
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Yeah, so I do think.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
Like if you look at the Jets right now, it's
you still want to head your bet, you know what
I mean, Like that was such a trouble spot for
you last year, and you know, being able to take
care of a premium position long term, Like that's like
a move for post Rogers too, you know what I mean,
Like Tyrone Smith and Mogan Morgan. Moses isn't going to
be around when Rogers is gone. If you have a
(29:25):
guy with the tenth pick you take in that position,
he probably will be.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Yeah, I'm largely with you on the Jets. I do
want to I fast forward on accident past the Bears
because at nine Roma dounsay, I like him a lot.
I have him over neighbors, not by much, but I
like a doomsay. Do you think he's there attendant with
the Jets entertain him?
Speaker 4 (29:46):
Yeah, it's interesting because I think the number of quarterbacks
that go in the top ten could really kind of
clog things up. So like, let's just like workshop this
Kale to the Bears, Jaden to the Commanders, Let's give
let's give May to the Patriots. See the Cardinals trade out,
Minnesota comes up, takes JJ four and five, Chargers take.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
All, take all over Harrison.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
Maybe we was just like at like, how how how
of Jim Harbaugh's best team?
Speaker 2 (30:16):
I know, but album, hold on, hold on, Look, you
can play him in a different spot.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
This is the Chargers receiving depth chart as of this woman.
I know you can find receivers everywhere. Josh Palmer, Quentin Johnson,
Darius Davis simmy the worst.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
In the league.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
I mean, if you can develop Johnston, who, by the way,
like beat Jim Harbaugh in a playoff game, Like if
you can, if you can, if you can develop Johnston,
if you think there's something there, then you have some flexibility.
And if you look at Jim Harbaugh's teams from Stanford
where they had all those you know, all those guys
who wound up in the NFL, David Dicastro and all
of them right at San Francisco where they had the
(30:52):
best line.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
In football, Like that was full of first round picks.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
And then you know, you go to Michigan and how
they're lines were, their offensive lines were always his strength.
Like it wouldn't shock me if you see Joe go there.
And then the Giants take Carrison at six, right, So
then you're at seven with the Titans. Do the Titans
go receiver because they've already paid Calvin Ridley, they have
(31:16):
DeAndre Hopkins, right, so they probably go offensive line.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Also, you can see Olu going there. And now all
of a.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
Sudden, you're at eight, and do the Falcons take a
pass rusher or receiver?
Speaker 2 (31:26):
What do they need?
Speaker 3 (31:27):
They need a pass rusher badly. But I mean, you
just invested in Kirk coussins, why don't you get another receiver? Right?
Speaker 4 (31:32):
So you could, you could, but then like, oh my god,
neighbors is You're like, if you're the Bears, you're one
pick from getting Neighbors.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Holy kay give Allen and Dj Moore. That's sick.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Yeah, So look, I think that there's a scenario where
the receivers could slide. Just a little part of it, too,
is it's just much harder to find tackles and pass
rushers than it is receivers. And for some teams, like
the equation in their head's going to be, well, we
can get like Lad McConkey in the third round, Like
let's just do that and take a tackle high.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
And I'm not saying he's the same.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
I'm not saying it's the same, but I'm just saying,
like there's like this that equation where I mean, look
like even the last few years, right, Nico Collins was
a fourth rounder, a monros Saint Brown was a third rounder. Right, Uka,
I'm not saying you're gonna get Marvin Harrison in the
third round, but you're gonna get something a lot closer
to that at receiver than you will, you know, getting
(32:24):
something like that's even close to Joealt in the third
round attack.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Yeah, Okay, two quick macro things before we go, is Carolina,
do they have something next year with what you've seen
and heard? Obviously bringing in Canalis to work with Bryce
Young because otherwise, you know, I we had Bruce Felman
on a couple of weeks ago and he said, if
Carson Beck, the kid from Georgia, I think that's a name,
Carson Beck, if he was in this draft, he would
(32:50):
be the number two pick. He's that good of a prospect.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
I don't know if he would have been number two,
but I like I can say he would definitely be.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
In the discussion in the top ten.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Okay ten or so.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Now, like the knock against him if he had come
out this year would be like the lack of reps
that he just hasn't played enough, right, were becoming a
very real thing with the Brock party, you know, with
Brock Purdy and like the benefit he got from playing
so much.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
And there's analytics out there. I can send to you him
if you want.
Speaker 4 (33:17):
J Mack offline, but there's like analytics out there that
show like that the threshold for quarterbacks coming into the
pros is twenty five starts. It's like, you want to
have at least twenty five starts, and the lack of
successive quarterbacks who don't have twenty five college starts, like
it really sort of falls off a cliff.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Is that a part of thing?
Speaker 2 (33:37):
It was?
Speaker 4 (33:37):
Yeah, yeah it was, But like there's I mean, there's
real data that shows this. And you know, I think
Brock would tell you himself. I remember talking to him
about this last summer. Is like a huge part of
his success was the amount of things that he had seen.
He has this huge library and his head of things
that he's seen because he played so much in college
and then he'd play like the same defensive coordinator three times,
(33:57):
you know what I mean. So now he knows what
it's like somebody like really intensely game planning against you, right,
that knows you inside now, So like I think that's
a very real thing. But Carson Beck, certainly, I think
like he was looked at like maybe he'll come out
he's potentially a top ten type of talent. Yeah, and
I cut off your question, So what were you know?
Speaker 3 (34:17):
I was I was basically gonna say, like, is this
the year Like if Canalist doesn't see massive growth from
Bryce Young, do and Carolina Carolina and the Patriots talking
about in the league. I'm assuming it's Panthers and Patriots
as of right now fighting for the top two spots
in the draft next year? Would Carolina press reboot again
on a quarterback?
Speaker 4 (34:37):
I hesitate to do that quite yet because it's early,
but I would just say, like, based on the.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Impulsivity of the.
Speaker 4 (34:50):
Owner there is that probably the right way to put
how impulsive he's been. If you're Dan Morgan and Dave Canalis,
you don't know how much time you're gonna get. So again,
that's not saying that he's definitely gonna fire somebody after
two years, but like, if it doesn't look great this
year with Bryce Young, do you if you're them, do
(35:12):
you resk going into another year where, yeah, if it
looks bad again, like maybe the owners looking at you
and saying it's not Bryce Young's fault, it's your fault,
you know, Okay, So like I just like I think
that there's that part of it, like where yeah, I mean,
if they're the worst team in the league, j Mac,
then Bryce probably didn't make a ton of progress.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Yeah, no, I would agree. Oh all right, what two
more real? Quick? Uh? Why hasn't two have been paid?
What's really going on behind the scenes? And would they
consider Penix in the first round?
Speaker 4 (35:45):
I'll be very interested to see if Tuo shows up
next week? What do you mean, Well, they start their
offseason program on Monday, So does he show up or yeah?
Speaker 3 (35:56):
So what are you hearing? Dude?
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Clearly you know something.
Speaker 4 (35:58):
So like, I mean, I don't know, but I mean,
if he doesn't show up on Monday, like we sort
of know where things are at. So I just feel
like there's like this brewing thing with some of these
quarterbacks now, Like the price point of quarterbacks has gotten
to the point where you look at Joe Burrow at
fifty five, you know, right underneath him you got Justin
Herbert and Jalen Hurtz and Lamar Jackson all fifty one
(36:21):
or more. And you know, I think for the Cowboys
with Dak, the Niners with Purdy, the Dolphins with Tua,
the Packers with Love, it's like, you really like your guy,
but do you like him where you're willing to pay
him that much?
Speaker 2 (36:38):
And you know, I.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
I'm not sure we're going to say the game of
like quarterback leapfrog we saw ten years ago. If you remember,
like there was a point I think Drew Brees got paid,
and then Luck got paid, and then after Luck got paid,
where he was at like twenty four and change. Then
all of a sudden, it was like Derek Carr became
the highest past highest paid. Stafford became the highest paid.
Garoppolo became the highest paid. So it was like it
(37:01):
wasn't like even like you had to be in a
league quarterback, It's just the next starting quarterback that was up,
what would become the highest paid player?
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Is that going to happen? Because the numbers too big?
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (37:13):
Right, So if you're them, if you're if you're San
Francisco or Miami or Green Bay or Dallas, how do
you solve that?
Speaker 3 (37:20):
It's starting to feel like a bit of a Mexican standoff?
You know, I'm sure you've seen the image as a
guy pointing a gun at a guy and another guy's
pointing in it in like a circle. It's like Tua
Dak Jordan Love. It's like nobody wants to fire first
because they're going to end up looking like idiots and overpaying?
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Right?
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Is there anybody else besides those three who were expected
to get well?
Speaker 4 (37:40):
And if you're like one of those guys too, if
you're like the agent for one of those players, do
you want to go first?
Speaker 2 (37:46):
If it's not.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
Like if you look back, if it's fifty six Baker's deal,
Baker's deal is not incredible?
Speaker 2 (37:53):
No, no, I mean but but and that's the B
level contract.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
So how do you decipher, like who is like the
Baker Kirk Cousins, like Daniel Jones, right, and who's Joe Burrow?
Speaker 2 (38:07):
And you know, none of these guys are gonna want
to concede that they're not that they're less than the
guys at the very top.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Now you can't. Jordan Love cannot walk to the table
and come away with less than Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
No way, right, right, right right. And he played really
well at the end of last year, so he deserves
to be paid. The Packers want to pay him, you know,
the Packers want to reward him this offseason. I just
think it's tricky and how you do that because like
who he's being compared with is like a guy who
went to the Super Bowl in his second ear has
changed the face of a franchise and Joe.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
Burrow so this is the this is what I love,
and we're reaching that point. You made a point like
there's gonna be a correction, and I wonder if Miami's
the test case. Hey man, we were awesome with TUA,
but you know what, we can't pay you fifty mils. Sorry,
we're gonna go. Well, we were gonna reboot the positions
and move on.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Here's the bigger question. Does anyone have the balls to
churn in that position?
Speaker 4 (38:59):
Because like we've seen in the past where general managers
and coaches have been willing to churn other positions.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Oh I lose an all pro guard. I'll find another one.
There's a linebacker. We really love him, right, like C. J.
Mosley with the Ravens.
Speaker 3 (39:12):
Like love C. J.
Speaker 4 (39:13):
Mosley and the Ravens did. He was a perfect program
fit for them and everything else. But he got to
the market and that Jets paid him too much. So
we'll find a new one, right, Does anyone have the
balls to do that?
Speaker 3 (39:23):
In Coutant, I would love to see it, And like I.
Speaker 4 (39:26):
Remember having this discussion, Seattle actually considered this at one
point early in Russell Wilson's career where this was a
discussion point for them. It's like, do we pay him
everything he wants? Or can we churn in that position?
Because they knew they were going to have to pay
all the other guys, right, Wagner and Chancellor and Sherman
and Thomas and all those guys.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
April Bennett like they.
Speaker 4 (39:47):
Knew, like Lynch like they knew were We've got a
lot of mouths to feed. So instead of instead of
like churning one of these other positions, do we chair
in quarterback? Now they didn't wind up doing. It would
take real balls for someone to try to churn that position.
I'll be interested to see if that team is out
there in this group we've been talking about.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
Yeah, it's it's a big one. Now, you would need
somebody with job security.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
I mean Minnesota is doing add to a degree, right, Well,
they had a newse. They didn't just give Kirk everything
he wanted.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
That's fair, but he wasn't home grown. He was kind
of brought in. Tua's homegrown, Jordan Love is homegrown. Who
is the other guy?
Speaker 4 (40:28):
Dak is homegrown? And then Brock is her and Brown
homegrown they're all homeo grown. Yeah, so it's a little different.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
I could see her.
Speaker 3 (40:35):
Nobody would blink if they moved off Brock, but Tua
was like a top five pick. Yeah, that would be shot.
I think that's what the NFL need. Did way. I've
kept you too long, Arb Brier, great stuff as always,
Sports illustrated, still alive in kicking. Uh love s I
love all right, buddy, take it easy, thanks man,
This is Straight Fire with Jason MacIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
What is up?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Straight Fire from Pam. It's the Jason MacIntire Straight Fire
for Thursday, April eleventh. Got an awesome podcast, Got a
positive podcast for you, Well, at least at the start,
we know this much. We'll be talking about Otani briefly
and then get to our guest, Albert Breer, NFL draft
two weeks away. Lot of juice. It's interesting. I didn't
(00:35):
want to get into the whole. Caleb Williams paints his
fingernails stuff, but I've been asked about it several times lately,
so I had to ask Breer like, is there you
know a way to ask him about the painting figureals?
And frankly, for me, I don't. That's not something I
really noticed. I saw people talking about it. I didn't
even think about it. But then a few people asked
(00:55):
me pointedly and I was like, oh, I never even
really thought about that. So we'll talk about the draft.
Caleb Williams, there's a I think the most interesting thing
probably is what he says about Tua, but I don't
want to spoil it. I thought we would start with
the Otani news before we get to mister breer. So,
(01:16):
according to The New York Times, a veritable institution, Shohei
Otani had no clue whatsoever that he had been hoodwinked
out of four and a half million dollars or more,
the New York Times says, or more by his interpreter.
(01:36):
Who I mean, listen when you read the story in
the Times, and I know some people have the conspiracy
theory crowd already rolling their eyes. Oh it's the New
York Times. How could you believe the New York Slimes? Jason,
Come on, let's be real. If you want to be
honest about it, the least you can do. The least
you can do is actually read the story. So apparently
(02:00):
Khani's interpreter was so duplicitous. Once he got down bad,
he decided, I'm gonna go into Otani's bank and change
the alerts so he won't get alerts when large sums
of money or any sums of money are moving hands. Now,
I know some of you will say, could he do that?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Bro?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
He was like Otani's right hand man. They traveled together.
He trusted this guy. Otani comes from a very trusting culture. Okay,
you don't rob your best friends, and clearly this guy
was just a gambling machine and in a bad way
kept losing money. And the Feds again, again, the Feds.
(02:42):
This is not like Major League Baseball investigating. This is
the Feds. Okay, I don't I mean, I don't. They
haven't I set exactly which three letter organizations have done this.
But according to the New York Times, the investigation has
been going on for over three weeks and it's nearly done.
(03:03):
Apparently the interpreter is going to plead guilty and admit,
admit that it was him doing everything and Otani was
not involved at all. And I know some people say, oh,
he's just Otani's just paying it. Listen, if you want
to believe that that maybe that's happening, fine, go I
can't do it. I cannot help you. All we can
do is deal in the facts, okay. And what the
(03:25):
facts are, according to the investigation, is that the interpreter
stole more than four and a half million dollars. Okay.
And this changing of the settings about alerts and confirming transactions,
that's really dark stuff. And listen, I'm some people are
going to act like, oh, come on, how did Otani
not know? How did his accountants?
Speaker 2 (03:43):
What about his lawyers?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Let me tell me the last time your lawyer knew
exactly what was going on in your bank account, or
your accountant or your agent. They're not meddling. I mean,
I have an agent. You know, he deals with me
when we're doing deals. You know, if we're not doing deals,
he's not checking my bank He never checked my bank account.
Now again, obviously, I'm sure you get to Atani. Fine, Jason,
(04:06):
come on, there's real multiple layers. Fine, I gotta find it.
We gotta financial guy. Anytime we have to do something,
we look at the transaction, talk through it, get on
the phone, blah blah blah. On small potatoes. This is Otani.
You think he's on the granular level even needing to
talk to anybody about transactions. I got so much money
he doesn't even need to worry about transactions. I again,
(04:28):
I'm of the belief. Well, I guess he does need
to worry now that Otani's not He didn't, he didn't
wasn't gambling here, I'm sorry, And until you can present
to me evidence and again, maybe it's out there, maybe
someone will unearth it, but there's zero so far as
zero other than speculation. Who what who's gonna give off of?
Who's gonna let a guy gamble when he's four million
(04:51):
dollars down? Well, yeah, you could say I work with Otani,
he's good for it and he'll cover for me. And
there's his amateur hour criminal who clearly didn't cover his tracks. Yeah,
how did they get this done so quickly? Jason an investigation?
Three weeks? Come on, four point five million, guys, It's
very clear we're not dealing with some like sophisticated criminal here.
(05:15):
This was Otani's buddy, like good friend, and he just
did basic stuff and then robbed his friend because Otani
had no reason to think anything was going on here.
And Otani's never gonna talk about this. He's got to
be mortified. I don't know. I'm sorry, guys, I can't
rock with Yeah, no, no, Otani's in on this. He
must have paid the guy to take the fall. I
(05:36):
just can't. There's zero, literally no evidence other than what
about stuff? What about this? What about that?
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Sure, anything's possible, but we don't know any of that
to be true. I don't know that Otani stuff is fascinating. Anyways,
Let's get to our guest Albert Breer on the NFL
and the NFL Draft.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Jason likes to think he knows everything when it comes
to sport. I know what sports fans want, but for
everything he doesn't, he knows a guy who does. Let's
just say, I know a guy who knows a guy
who knows another guy.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
All right, let's welcome into straight fire a guy you
know well. Albert Breers Sports Illustrated. Albert's been at a
bunch of media stops, just utterly dominant wherever he goes.
And we're about two weeks to the draft, Albert, is
it getting to be go time for you? War rooms
are crystallizing their their boards. It's getting hot and heavy
in the NFL now, huh.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah, I mean it's like I would say, like next
week at some point, like teams start to come out
of their draft rooms and you start to get a
better idea of you know, how this team or that
team sees sees things playing out, you know, and so
you know, obviously it's it's there's a lot, there's a
lot of moving parts this year because of the quarterback
(06:52):
situation at the top of the draft.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
There's no question about that.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
And yeah, I mean, I think having quarterbacks at the
top definitely makes it a little more exciting.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Let's start with the quarterbacks. I know everybody wants to
meet him to death. There's not much for me on
Caleb Williams. I'll just say this, And this is like
a weirdly delicate topic. So you know, one way to
judge stuff is asking your non sports media friends or
people you talk to the sports media about sports and yeah, Albert,
I've gotten I think three times in like the last
(07:21):
couple of weeks. Hey, g what's this Caleb Williams fingernail painting?
What is this pink? What's going on?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
And again there's a new generation of young guys who
or whatever, And I don't totally get it. Initially I
thought it was nothing, but these are like sports fans.
Dad's asking me like, what's going on with this? I
don't want to be like a George Costanza, not that
there's anything wrong with that, but yeah, are people talking
about this in your circles at all? Or no?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (07:47):
I mean I don't think it's so much that you know,
like that's something that that that obviously is there and
is part of the equation, and you know there was
the jumping up to the stands of his mom thing.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
You know.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
So I don't think that that part of it is
as big a deal just because his teammates love him,
his coaches love him, like there's no problem there. And
that's usually the thing that you're looking at is like,
is this turning off people around him? And it's not,
you know, so I don't think that's a problem for teams.
I think the bigger question is just going to be
his dad's involvement and like how that plays into everything
(08:22):
when he gets to his NFL city, which will be Chicago,
and you know how involved the team around him is
going to be in everything that he does.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
And you know, like having.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
Talked to some people who are at USC and you know,
I know what Cliff told the Bears as far as
that goes, was that he saw him maybe once his
dad at the practice facility over the year that they
were together, so he wasn't around very much. And you know,
I think like when you really dig into it, it's,
you know, there's that whole thing.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Like I think at one point he said.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
I want to be the jay Z of football, right like,
and so you know, I think that there's the bigger
question here is his dad's involvement on the business end.
His dad's a very accomplished businessman, and then how that
weaves into his football career and what takes precedence over
what And so I think is as the teams at
the top, and obviously the Bears most intensely have studied
(09:15):
Caleb Williams and have started to dig into him.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
And do all the background work.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Like that's probably the biggest question from a personality standpoint
and an off field standpoint. I don't think the fingernails
or the jumping in the stands like I think at
the end, in the end, what fixes all of that
for him is how well liked and respected he was
by everybody who worked with him both at Oklahoma and
US six.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
And this is a silly question. I hate that we
have to even ask this, but like, toughness is a
thing in football, and Chicago is one of those towns.
I'll never forget the playoff game. I don't know if
you covered it, where Jake Cutler was in like an
NFC championship game and he was like supposedly injured on
the play, but there was no visible like hit or anything.
And then he didn't go back in the game. Do
you remember this game?
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Yeah, that was the game against the Packers ten and
he had like a mcl sprain I believe.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
But so he You're watching it and you're like, gee,
what it was? How's he not going back in the game?
Is he not tough? You know, like you saw the
Houston kid in the NCAA tournament turn his ankle. You're like, oh, geez,
he's done. You can't come back from that. But this
was like a weird thing in sports. Fans are weird.
And again, I know it's who cares about the fans,
But Albert, you know this, Chicago is a tough city.
You know, this is Midwest tough. How do you personally
(10:26):
think the fingernail paintings going over? I don't care about
the Standara.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Well, no, I don't think that. I don't think that.
I mean, I think Chicago's progressive from that standpoint. Like
one of the things the Bears I have looked at
is like like the quarterback's readiness to handle all of
the criticism that comes because it is a market where
you're going to be you know, your performance is going
to be litigated on a week to week basis, and
so like, I think more of it is like and
more of what they've tried to look into and dig
(10:51):
through is when he throws three interceptions in two weeks
and the Bears lose two games in a row and
he's getting crushed like on the radio, two sports radio stations,
all the TV stations there, How's he going to handle that?
Is he going to listen to it? Is it going
to be a problem for him? Because you know, in
usc usc he really wasn't in that sort of bubble.
(11:12):
Usc is different than some of the big football schools.
He wasn't Oklahoma, but you know, really at Oklahoma he
was just a new phenom and then he was gone.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
You know.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
So that's that's definitely been part of the equation for
for for Ryan Poles and Matti Ebraflus and the guys
there in Chicago as they've you know, dug into the
background on Caleb Williams, is you know, just how equipped
is he to handle everything that's going to come with
being the Bears quarterback as a result of you know,
the market that Chicago is.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
It's it feels like there's only a handful of those
in the league where the market can kind of dictate
things in the fans. If Philly, Boston, New York, that
New York order a DC to an extent, and then
I think Chicago would kind of be the only other one.
I don't know, it just does.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah, there are a few others.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
I mean, I think Cleveland's like that, Like Cleveland's like
Cleveland's very intense, and.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
That team is covered in Pittsburgh is the same way.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Yeah, So I would say Midwest, you know, Northeast, like
the pro sports markets. Yeah, I mean, I think, but
Chicago is certainly in that group, if not at the
top of it, you know, like they're right there with
Philly as far as the intensity with which the team
is covered and even maybe more so than Philly because
they haven't, you know, wanted a high level consistently in
a long long time. So there's a lot of healthy
(12:23):
skepticism in Chicago about every decision the Bears make, about
every you know, every every every game they lose, like
everything there is met with skepticism, and that's part of
the deal with being the quarterback there, and so yeah,
that's absolutely part of the part of what they were
looking at with Caleb and his readiness to be a problem.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
All right, So two years let's move on from Caleb.
Two years ago, Drake May starts to blow up. Oh, Drake,
he's going to be number two. He's definitely number two
behind Caleb with Oh he's this guy's a superstar. Last
year Drake made great player. Oh he got his receiver.
I think tes Table or whatever's name is Walker, thank you?
Oh geez, Drake make dominant, dominant. And now here we
go in the months leading. Oh, here comes Jayden Daniels
(13:05):
from the outside. Oh, Jayden Daniels, now better fit with
Cliff King three. And I'll be honest, I think a
lot of it's silly that the Cliff Jayden thing is
weird because it's like, what team is drafting a quarterback
based on their offensive coordinator? Like, come on that that
could be gone in two years. I'm just calling b Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
I don't think it's just that, though. I don't think
it's just Cliff though.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Oh, Like I think it's also like Dan Quinn and
like you know, I think for a defensive head coach,
and you always hear this is that the defensive head
coach is usually going to go for the guy that's
most difficult to defend. And you know that's just sort
of like baked into their DNA.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
It's you know, who was good. Who's going to keep
me at the.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Facility late on a Wednesday trying to game plan right,
And like I think Jayden Daniels is that guy. And
I think if you're dan Quinn, like and this isn't
like you know, I think we all know for for
for various reasons, he fits what Cliff's wanted in a
quarterbacks traditionally. But for dan Quinn, like, part of it
is who is going to give me the most trouble?
(14:05):
Like if this guy is on another team, who is
going to be the biggest problem for me? And because
of what Jayden Daniels can do in the run game,
And this is the way it is for a lot
of defensive coordinators having to deal with like that math
problem that a running quarterback gives you on top of
the fact that he's like a pretty high level pass
or two. You know, if you're dan you like look
(14:27):
at it, you say, okay, like now I'm putting this
together for the run game, and I've got to, you know,
deal with this off of the run game in the
passing game. And you know, so like that's part of
it too, is having a defensive head coach can impact that.
And then it goes beyond just how good a player,
how good a player he is, It goes to how
hard a player he's going to be for the other
team to defend.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Okay, so I looked at it differently, and tell me
if this is asinine. Dan Quinn had a lot of
success in Seattle, obviously, legion of boom led by the defense.
Russ was not a game manager, but somewhere between game
manager and star. I thought he was really good. And
then he goes to Atlanta, he gets a star quarterback,
a pocket guy, and he goes all the way to
the Super Bowl. Then he goes to Dallas and he's
got you know, again, not quite Rouss, but someone above
(15:08):
a game manager and Dak and the defense kind of
carried him last year and then it didn't in the end,
and dan Quinn is own has seen his biggest success
with a pocket quarterback, pure pocket, right, does that factor in?
And like Drake may to me looks more than maybe Ryan,
then Jaden Daniels looks like Russ or or Dak.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Yeah, maybe I think it's more like about the ceiling though,
And like what you're looking at in the NFL now,
if you want to compete at the highest level, and
you know, I think what it comes down to for
most of these teams is like at some point, you've
got to take that big swing.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
And you know, this maybe applies less.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
To teams in the NFC than the AFC, but you
know there's a group of teams that have quarterbacks like
that that are just a cut above, right, like where
if they lose a receiver or alignment or they're a
little less on defense, they can still kind of load
you on their back. And a big part of that
to having the physical ability to do that, having the
(16:07):
physical ability to put a team on your shoulders.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
And so who are we talking about.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
We're talking about Josh Allen, We're talking about Patrick Mahomes,
Joe Burrow, justin Herbert Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Like, if you're one of these other teams, how do
you scale that mountain?
Speaker 4 (16:22):
And you know, are you going to be at a
point where two or three years from now you're going
to look at it and say, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
We really like what we have right now?
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Like this is the mac Jones problem, right, It's like
he was really ready to play, and that's great.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Are you going to be looking to replace him in
three or four years?
Speaker 4 (16:37):
In fact, Jared Goff as good as he is, like
the Rams came to the conclusion where they had to
level up from him, you know, and Goff is a
really good quarterback, you know. So that's part of the
equation for all of these teams too, where it's like
do I pick the ceiling guy?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
And I actually think that's where Drake May like could.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
Be the guy for some of these teams, right, like
where Drake May is the one who has the highest
ceiling outside of Kleb Like, like I think of the
other guys, Drank May is maybe the most raw, but
probably has the highest scene.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yeah, I'm a big believer in May.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
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Speaker 3 (17:22):
It's weird. I read your thing about the New York
Giants and tell me if this is insane. So the Giants,
we've been hearing rumors no names attached to it, that
the Giants are looking at quarterback. The bringing in this guy,
they need a quarterback, they're desperate. They regret Jones. All
that stuff. You get Joe Shane on the record, correct right, saying, hey,
we're not wedded to anybody. Rarely, Albert, do you see
(17:44):
gms come out and almost respond to chattering rumors that's
out there, especially this close to the draft? Did he
do it because Daniel Jones is maybe a little pissed
off and voicing his displeasure to I don't know if
it's the owner of the coach somebody.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Hey, no, I think you do it to like tell everybody.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
You're you're leaving your options open, right, like you're doing
to tell everybody, like, hey, if you want to call
us about making a deal to come up and get
a quarterback, we might listen. Right, You're doing it because
you want to let other teams know like that maybe
we're a team you have to.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Get over to go and get a quarterback.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Right, Like maybe if you're you know, one of those
teams like right down there in that alley eleven twelve thirteen,
the Vikings, Broncos and Raiders, you have to go past
us to get a quarterback. And in that case, like
Molik Neighbors or Marvin Harrison falls to you, right, Like,
so there's a number of different reasons you would do it,
but it behooves you to leave your options open if
you're Joe Shane, not just because it will help lead
(18:40):
you to that to the best player, but also how
it could affect the actions of other teams, whether they're
calling you or somebody else about moving up.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Yeah, I just find it hard to believe that somebody's
trading up to six for likely the fourth best quarterback
in the draft, which is JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Maybe I mean that, I like, like so part of
that is supplying de Man, right, like, so the demand
for quarterbacks is like always there, and like, I think
the question becomes, you know, when you're talking about that equation,
how you view the class. And so if you're one
of those teams that needs a quarterback that's you know,
(19:16):
six picks back, seven picks back, eight picks back, and
you say to yourself, there's four quarterbacks in this draft
and then a drop off and we don't look at
Panics the same way we look at McCarthy.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
We don't look at Panics the same way we look.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
At may Well. You know, then like maybe you go
up and get them. Job security can sometimes play into it,
right Like, so I'm not saying any of the three
teams we mentioned had that issue, but you know, in
a lot of cases, it's well, I got to show
my own or something, and I can't walk away from
this job without taking a swing at a quarterback. So
(19:48):
let's go up and get one. And I think these
four are better than these three. So we need to
get in a position to get the fourth guy, or
at least the fourth guy.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
And then we'll make it work around him.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
You know, there are all these different dynamics that can
be at work if you're not if you're not in
position to get the one that you absolutely want.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Yeah, I guess this comes down to scouting and your
player personnel guy, because I'm looking at some of the
best quarterbacks in the league last year, and Dak Prescott
went in the finished second in MVP and he was
a mid round quarterback. Josh Allen went seventh. I think overall,
what was he second seventh quarterback taken Brockbirdy dead last
guy in the draft, Mahomes tenth on a trade up.
Jordan Love I think went like eighteen to twenty four,
(20:28):
twenty fourth.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Twenty four or twenty five, maybe twenty five.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Actually just Jalen Hurts went second round, Lamar Jackson into
the first round. I don't know, Albert, there's no we
still don't know how to draft quarterbacks. I'm sure the
league would agree. It just feels a little bit. And
I like McCarthy, I've been I've had him top ten
since like November, but I trading up feels a bridge
too far? Do you are you buying this Minnesota stuff?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Yeah? I am, I am.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
I think they're comfortable with four of them, Like that's
that's my sense is that they're like and look like
I can tell you for a fact, like that trade
with Houston to get the second first round pick doesn't
happen if they don't lose Kirk Cousins. So they made
that move with the idea that they were that they were.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Gonna move up.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
Now whether or not they can pull it off is
obviously another question. But you know, I think they view
four quarterbacks in the class as as plenty good enough,
and look, their situation is a little different too, Like
so like if you look at what the young quarterback
is going to be walking into in Minnesota's Christian darisaw
and Brian O'Neill's long term answers at the tackle position,
(21:36):
as Justin Jefferson and Jordan Atison at receivers, T J.
Hawkinson at tight end, and it's Kevin O'Connell, you know,
Wes Phillips and Josh McCown coaching you. So does a
guy need to be a superstar in that situation? And
I think that that's a fair question to ask, you
know so? And I think that that's what we forget
too often too. There are I mean, like, here's here'll
(21:58):
be my question to you. How many guys in your
lifetime have, like as quarterbacks, have gone to bad teams
and risen above bad circumstances and made.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
It very rare extreme.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
I think Andrew Luck.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Andrew Luck might be the only one. Were they that bad?
I mean, Peyton man, I know they were.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
They stripped the roster downy they were. They were the
worst team in the league the year before after Mannon
got hurt, right, and then after you know, like Poleon
and uh and Jim Calbell were fired, they went on
a spree cutting everybody. So if you go back and
you look at that roster they had, Reggie went at
the very end of his career. They had like t
Y Hilton as a rookie, I believe Costanzo at left tackle,
(22:43):
but not a whole lot else in the offensive line.
And luck got them to ten wins and so that
was like a pretty extensive rebuild. And luck got them
to ten wins that first year, made the playoffs, second year,
got to the division around third year, to the AFC
title game, and then he wound up so beat up
that it trove boy from the sport.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
But like he's the only one.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
That's what was so special about luck is luck overcame
bad circumstances. I mean as great as Mahomes is right like,
and I'm not saying he wouldn't have made it otherwise.
Went to a situation where he's playing for Andy Reid.
He's throwing to Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins. He's got
Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz at the tackle positions, and
they're in the year year five of their build.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
And Lamar Jackson walked into one of.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
The most stable situations in football right, one of the
most stable organizations maybe in all of sports. Buffalo, like
Josh Allen goes there. They were a playoff team the
year before he got there, Right, Buffalo traded up from
the twenties to go and get him, same as Kansas
City trade up to go and get Mahomes. Burrow's won
where you could make an argument, and he got hurt
that first year, and then year two he's got Jamar Chase. Yeah,
(23:47):
you know, so, like I like, there aren't a lot
of guys who if you look at it, like, yes,
this guy went the top five, went to a bad
team and the circumstances stayed bad, and like he made
it like it's really really rare.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Yeah, so you have to you like, this is just
one piece of the puzzle.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
I was walking off the field, it was it was interesting.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
I was walking off the field with the Seahawks coach
like two, I think this last summer. Yeah, it was
last summer and Gino had just had that had that
really great year in twenty two, right, and walking off
the field with him, he said to me, you know,
coaching Gino has made me wonder how many more guys
there are out there like this where the guy got
(24:32):
thrown out in the field too early into a bad situation,
got the crap knocked out of him got benched, then
wound up moving around to a few different teams and
really benefited from sitting for five or six years. And
then he comes back and he re emerges as a
much better player. It's I like, I think the nature
versus nurture thing is very.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Real, very very very real.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
Well, okay, even Justin Herbert, Justin Herbert was the fifth
pick in the draft, right, yeah, No, like Justin Herbert,
Justin Herbert like like out of the box is throwing
to Keenan Allen and Mike Williams now again, like the
offensive line was a mess. He went through a coach fire,
and so Justin did overcome some things. But I'm really
interested to see what happens now that he's got Jim Harbaugh.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Yeah no, no, right, well, he doesn't ever.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
See And I think I just think that there's that
part of it that we always like we just don't
spend enough time looking at that, you know. Yeah, Like
I've had people, I've had people with the Jets tell
me like they were they really messed up playing Zach
Wilson as a rookie. The problem is like sometimes it's
what's best for the kid to sit, but when you
(25:39):
get to zero and five, everyone's screaming to throw him
out in the field, and why aren't you just getting
him the experience? And I want to see him right
when maybe the best thing for the kid is for
the kid to sip for you.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
That wasn't happening to Mahomes. Nobody was saying should Alex
Smith when they were like going to the playoffs? Just
a quick word on Geno Smith. I know the Jets
are crap organization and do dumb things. You should talk
to Mark Sinchez about do Youno Smith? He would tell me,
And I hope I'm not talking out of pocket. Young
Gino Smith would like show up to team meetings and
like like hotel slippers and a robe. Right, he was
(26:10):
like just totally not like he wasn't ready. He wasn't mature.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Part of it is, But isn't that part of it though?
It's just need to grow up.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Some people grow up later later that I'm still growing up.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Like, but that's that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
It's like the right environment might have knocked him into shape, right,
Like the right environment, like all of those little things
who your teammates are, who's coaching you like, what are
your what environment, what culture are you walking into? All
that can affect them? Yeah, I mean they're twenty one,
twenty two years old. I know I was an inconsistent
person where a for sure.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
To put it mildly.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
While we're on the Jets, I gotta say, I know
there's been a lot of movement in the offseason. This
is undeniable. The Jets have the best roster in the
AFC East, that's for sure. There's no argument about that.
The Dolphins lost like five or six starters, The Bills
lose digs and maybe four or five starters on defense.
Patriots are trash. Let's be real, it's not just the afcast.
You look up at the starting eleven. I mean the
(27:01):
Jets added Mike Williams, the three starters on the offensive line,
They had Kin Law, who was the first round pick
hasn't done much. They add Reddick, they get the kid
Clark back. I think it's Clark or Adams, one of
them was hurt and missed all last year. Who they
were high on. This is a top five roster. It's okay,
top five league.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
I mean, like now, like part of the problem is
you're relying on older players, right, So if Mike Williams
and Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses In Hassan Reddick get
hurt and miss chunks of.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Time, Like no, I'm just tell but I'm just saying.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
I'm just saying, like if that happens, that's not like
bad luck, right, Like that's what you signed up for,
so like.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
That's part of it.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
But yeah, like there's no question, like they should be
going for it, and they've got good young players in
that roster.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
It's like not just the older guys.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
They've got a sending guys like Garrett Garrett Wilson, Oli
Vera Tucker if he can get healthy, Breese Pull, Jermaine Johnson.
Quentin Williams is down the prime of his career, but
he'd be in that category to Quincy Williams, like Sauce Gardner,
Like these are all guys who are still either right
in the middle of prime of their careers or are
sending players. So they've got a good amount of guys
(28:10):
that form the core where these older guys like is
the older these older guys are finishing pieces for them.
They're not like the core of the team. Now, Like again,
staying healthy, can they stay healthy at tackle, because if
I'm them, might probably take a tackle at quite what
you've already done.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
You would go tackle interesting.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
I think I would, Yeah, And I think that's what
Joe Douglas is probably gonna do now. Now part of
that depends on who falls to you. Like if Joe
Olt's there right for some weird reason like I don't,
there's no there's not even a question. You take them, right,
he could be that's your left tackle for the next
ten years.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Just take them. He won't.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
He won't be there at ten, but he probably won't
get past five. But like if he gets ten, you
take him older. Forshanu from Penn State, who's got an
incredibly high ceiling.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
You think about that, right.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
I think. So I even think that your h Oregon
State kid you take you consider?
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Yeah, so I do think.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
Like if you look at the Jets right now, it's
you still want to head your bet, you know what
I mean, Like that was such a trouble spot for
you last year, and you know, being able to take
care of a premium position long term, Like that's like
a move for post Rogers too, you know what I mean,
Like Tyrone Smith and Mogan Morgan. Moses isn't going to
be around when Rogers is gone. If you have a
(29:25):
guy with the tenth pick you take in that position,
he probably will be.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Yeah, I'm largely with you on the Jets. I do
want to I fast forward on accident past the Bears
because at nine Roma dounsay, I like him a lot.
I have him over neighbors, not by much, but I
like a doomsay. Do you think he's there attendant with
the Jets entertain him?
Speaker 4 (29:46):
Yeah, it's interesting because I think the number of quarterbacks
that go in the top ten could really kind of
clog things up. So like, let's just like workshop this
Kale to the Bears, Jaden to the Commanders, Let's give
let's give May to the Patriots. See the Cardinals trade out,
Minnesota comes up, takes JJ four and five, Chargers take.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
All, take all over Harrison.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
Maybe we was just like at like, how how how
of Jim Harbaugh's best team?
Speaker 2 (30:16):
I know, but album, hold on, hold on, Look, you
can play him in a different spot.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
This is the Chargers receiving depth chart as of this woman.
I know you can find receivers everywhere. Josh Palmer, Quentin Johnson,
Darius Davis simmy the worst.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
In the league.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
I mean, if you can develop Johnston, who, by the way,
like beat Jim Harbaugh in a playoff game, Like if
you can, if you can, if you can develop Johnston,
if you think there's something there, then you have some flexibility.
And if you look at Jim Harbaugh's teams from Stanford
where they had all those you know, all those guys
who wound up in the NFL, David Dicastro and all
of them right at San Francisco where they had the
(30:52):
best line.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
In football, Like that was full of first round picks.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
And then you know, you go to Michigan and how
they're lines were, their offensive lines were always his strength.
Like it wouldn't shock me if you see Joe go there.
And then the Giants take Carrison at six, right, So
then you're at seven with the Titans. Do the Titans
go receiver because they've already paid Calvin Ridley, they have
(31:16):
DeAndre Hopkins, right, so they probably go offensive line.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Also, you can see Olu going there. And now all
of a.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
Sudden, you're at eight, and do the Falcons take a
pass rusher or receiver?
Speaker 2 (31:26):
What do they need?
Speaker 3 (31:27):
They need a pass rusher badly. But I mean, you
just invested in Kirk coussins, why don't you get another receiver? Right?
Speaker 4 (31:32):
So you could, you could, but then like, oh my god,
neighbors is You're like, if you're the Bears, you're one
pick from getting Neighbors.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Holy kay give Allen and Dj Moore. That's sick.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Yeah, So look, I think that there's a scenario where
the receivers could slide. Just a little part of it, too,
is it's just much harder to find tackles and pass
rushers than it is receivers. And for some teams, like
the equation in their head's going to be, well, we
can get like Lad McConkey in the third round, Like
let's just do that and take a tackle high.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
And I'm not saying he's the same.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
I'm not saying it's the same, but I'm just saying,
like there's like this that equation where I mean, look
like even the last few years, right, Nico Collins was
a fourth rounder, a monros Saint Brown was a third rounder. Right, Uka,
I'm not saying you're gonna get Marvin Harrison in the
third round, but you're gonna get something a lot closer
to that at receiver than you will, you know, getting
(32:24):
something like that's even close to Joealt in the third
round attack.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Yeah, Okay, two quick macro things before we go, is Carolina,
do they have something next year with what you've seen
and heard? Obviously bringing in Canalis to work with Bryce
Young because otherwise, you know, I we had Bruce Felman
on a couple of weeks ago and he said, if
Carson Beck, the kid from Georgia, I think that's a name,
Carson Beck, if he was in this draft, he would
(32:50):
be the number two pick. He's that good of a prospect.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
I don't know if he would have been number two,
but I like I can say he would definitely be.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
In the discussion in the top ten.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Okay ten or so.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Now, like the knock against him if he had come
out this year would be like the lack of reps
that he just hasn't played enough, right, were becoming a
very real thing with the Brock party, you know, with
Brock Purdy and like the benefit he got from playing
so much.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
And there's analytics out there. I can send to you him
if you want.
Speaker 4 (33:17):
J Mack offline, but there's like analytics out there that
show like that the threshold for quarterbacks coming into the
pros is twenty five starts. It's like, you want to
have at least twenty five starts, and the lack of
successive quarterbacks who don't have twenty five college starts, like
it really sort of falls off a cliff.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Is that a part of thing?
Speaker 2 (33:37):
It was?
Speaker 4 (33:37):
Yeah, yeah it was, But like there's I mean, there's
real data that shows this. And you know, I think
Brock would tell you himself. I remember talking to him
about this last summer. Is like a huge part of
his success was the amount of things that he had seen.
He has this huge library and his head of things
that he's seen because he played so much in college
and then he'd play like the same defensive coordinator three times,
(33:57):
you know what I mean. So now he knows what
it's like somebody like really intensely game planning against you, right,
that knows you inside now, So like I think that's
a very real thing. But Carson Beck, certainly, I think
like he was looked at like maybe he'll come out
he's potentially a top ten type of talent. Yeah, and
I cut off your question, So what were you know?
Speaker 3 (34:17):
I was I was basically gonna say, like, is this
the year Like if Canalist doesn't see massive growth from
Bryce Young, do and Carolina Carolina and the Patriots talking
about in the league. I'm assuming it's Panthers and Patriots
as of right now fighting for the top two spots
in the draft next year? Would Carolina press reboot again
on a quarterback?
Speaker 4 (34:37):
I hesitate to do that quite yet because it's early,
but I would just say, like, based on the.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Impulsivity of the.
Speaker 4 (34:50):
Owner there is that probably the right way to put
how impulsive he's been. If you're Dan Morgan and Dave Canalis,
you don't know how much time you're gonna get. So again,
that's not saying that he's definitely gonna fire somebody after
two years, but like, if it doesn't look great this
year with Bryce Young, do you if you're them, do
(35:12):
you resk going into another year where, yeah, if it
looks bad again, like maybe the owners looking at you
and saying it's not Bryce Young's fault, it's your fault,
you know, Okay, So like I just like I think
that there's that part of it, like where yeah, I mean,
if they're the worst team in the league, j Mac,
then Bryce probably didn't make a ton of progress.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Yeah, no, I would agree. Oh all right, what two
more real? Quick? Uh? Why hasn't two have been paid?
What's really going on behind the scenes? And would they
consider Penix in the first round?
Speaker 4 (35:45):
I'll be very interested to see if Tuo shows up
next week? What do you mean, Well, they start their
offseason program on Monday, So does he show up or yeah?
Speaker 3 (35:56):
So what are you hearing? Dude?
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Clearly you know something.
Speaker 4 (35:58):
So like, I mean, I don't know, but I mean,
if he doesn't show up on Monday, like we sort
of know where things are at. So I just feel
like there's like this brewing thing with some of these
quarterbacks now, Like the price point of quarterbacks has gotten
to the point where you look at Joe Burrow at
fifty five, you know, right underneath him you got Justin
Herbert and Jalen Hurtz and Lamar Jackson all fifty one
(36:21):
or more. And you know, I think for the Cowboys
with Dak, the Niners with Purdy, the Dolphins with Tua,
the Packers with Love, it's like, you really like your guy,
but do you like him where you're willing to pay
him that much?
Speaker 2 (36:38):
And you know, I.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
I'm not sure we're going to say the game of
like quarterback leapfrog we saw ten years ago. If you remember,
like there was a point I think Drew Brees got paid,
and then Luck got paid, and then after Luck got paid,
where he was at like twenty four and change. Then
all of a sudden, it was like Derek Carr became
the highest past highest paid. Stafford became the highest paid.
Garoppolo became the highest paid. So it was like it
(37:01):
wasn't like even like you had to be in a
league quarterback, It's just the next starting quarterback that was up,
what would become the highest paid player?
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Is that going to happen? Because the numbers too big?
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (37:13):
Right, So if you're them, if you're if you're San
Francisco or Miami or Green Bay or Dallas, how do
you solve that?
Speaker 3 (37:20):
It's starting to feel like a bit of a Mexican standoff?
You know, I'm sure you've seen the image as a
guy pointing a gun at a guy and another guy's
pointing in it in like a circle. It's like Tua
Dak Jordan Love. It's like nobody wants to fire first
because they're going to end up looking like idiots and overpaying?
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Right?
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Is there anybody else besides those three who were expected
to get well?
Speaker 4 (37:40):
And if you're like one of those guys too, if
you're like the agent for one of those players, do
you want to go first?
Speaker 2 (37:46):
If it's not.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
Like if you look back, if it's fifty six Baker's deal,
Baker's deal is not incredible?
Speaker 2 (37:53):
No, no, I mean but but and that's the B
level contract.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
So how do you decipher, like who is like the
Baker Kirk Cousins, like Daniel Jones, right, and who's Joe Burrow?
Speaker 2 (38:07):
And you know, none of these guys are gonna want
to concede that they're not that they're less than the
guys at the very top.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Now you can't. Jordan Love cannot walk to the table
and come away with less than Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
No way, right, right, right right. And he played really
well at the end of last year, so he deserves
to be paid. The Packers want to pay him, you know,
the Packers want to reward him this offseason. I just
think it's tricky and how you do that because like
who he's being compared with is like a guy who
went to the Super Bowl in his second ear has
changed the face of a franchise and Joe.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
Burrow so this is the this is what I love,
and we're reaching that point. You made a point like
there's gonna be a correction, and I wonder if Miami's
the test case. Hey man, we were awesome with TUA,
but you know what, we can't pay you fifty mils. Sorry,
we're gonna go. Well, we were gonna reboot the positions
and move on.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Here's the bigger question. Does anyone have the balls to
churn in that position?
Speaker 4 (38:59):
Because like we've seen in the past where general managers
and coaches have been willing to churn other positions.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Oh I lose an all pro guard. I'll find another one.
There's a linebacker. We really love him, right, like C. J.
Mosley with the Ravens.
Speaker 3 (39:12):
Like love C. J.
Speaker 4 (39:13):
Mosley and the Ravens did. He was a perfect program
fit for them and everything else. But he got to
the market and that Jets paid him too much. So
we'll find a new one, right, Does anyone have the
balls to do that?
Speaker 3 (39:23):
In Coutant, I would love to see it, And like I.
Speaker 4 (39:26):
Remember having this discussion, Seattle actually considered this at one
point early in Russell Wilson's career where this was a
discussion point for them. It's like, do we pay him
everything he wants? Or can we churn in that position?
Because they knew they were going to have to pay
all the other guys, right, Wagner and Chancellor and Sherman
and Thomas and all those guys.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
April Bennett like they.
Speaker 4 (39:47):
Knew, like Lynch like they knew were We've got a
lot of mouths to feed. So instead of instead of
like churning one of these other positions, do we chair
in quarterback? Now they didn't wind up doing. It would
take real balls for someone to try to churn that position.
I'll be interested to see if that team is out
there in this group we've been talking about.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
Yeah, it's it's a big one. Now, you would need
somebody with job security.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
I mean Minnesota is doing add to a degree, right, Well,
they had a newse. They didn't just give Kirk everything
he wanted.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
That's fair, but he wasn't home grown. He was kind
of brought in. Tua's homegrown, Jordan Love is homegrown. Who
is the other guy?
Speaker 4 (40:28):
Dak is homegrown? And then Brock is her and Brown
homegrown they're all homeo grown. Yeah, so it's a little different.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
I could see her.
Speaker 3 (40:35):
Nobody would blink if they moved off Brock, but Tua
was like a top five pick. Yeah, that would be shot.
I think that's what the NFL need. Did way. I've
kept you too long, Arb Brier, great stuff as always,
Sports illustrated, still alive in kicking. Uh love s I
love all right, buddy, take it easy, thanks man,
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