Quarterback Island Season 3!

Gregg Rosenthal, Jourdan Rodrigue, Steve Wyche and Colleen Wolfe are back for the season three debut of Quarterback Island! Find out which 12 quarterbacks will start the 2026 season on the Island and who will have to work their way into a spot. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
12 of the NFL's finest quarterbacks have left the comfort

(00:05):
of their stadiums and luxury suites for.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
The adventure of a lifetime.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
These gridiron heroes are used to leading their teams on
the field, but can they outplay, outlast, and outthrow each
other in the ultimate survival challenge? You leave everything you
have for the guy beside you.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
We find a way to win the game no matter what.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Let's go, baby.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
The stakes are high, and the competition is fierce. Only
one can claim the title of the ultimate survivor. Who
will rise to the top, and who will be sacked?

Speaker 4 (00:33):
They wrote me off.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
I ain't right back, though.

Speaker 4 (00:35):
That's the problem.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
I ain't right back. Let's go. This is Quarterback Island.

Speaker 5 (00:41):
Welcome to season three of Quarterback Island.

Speaker 4 (00:47):
I'm Greg Rosenthal.

Speaker 5 (00:48):
Our producer, Eric Roberts, sent us a group text. And
when I say us, I mean Colleen Wolfe, Jordan Rodrigue,
and Steve Weiss. The core four on QB Island. And
that text said, the island is calling. New season.

Speaker 6 (01:02):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (01:02):
Greg cracked me already.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Greg cracked me. That was one.

Speaker 5 (01:06):
For everyone watching on YouTube, the first time my hands
got too excited and I hit Weiss right in the face.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
I could not have been more fired.

Speaker 5 (01:13):
Up to have all my friends back in the studio
for another season of quarterback.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Hey, great to see you guys. It's like I, you know,
never left.

Speaker 7 (01:20):
I'm so excited. Quarterback Island, we got Connie Fox back.
We got Steve Weiss back. Summer of Connie has now
turned into Quarterback Island Fall.

Speaker 4 (01:29):
You have a hat today, Connie. I do. Endless summer,
but it's not endless. No, but I'm.

Speaker 6 (01:36):
Trying to make it an endless summer, but I saw
this in a garage and I was like, hey, can
I borrow that hat for the podcast?

Speaker 3 (01:42):
I'll give it right back.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Just a random garage. So many questions about that garage.

Speaker 7 (01:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
Many questions.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:49):
Steve Weiss, of course. We are in the house. Doubleheader
today was on Good Morning Football.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
Literally, because you just hit him in the head with.

Speaker 4 (01:55):
Your hand today.

Speaker 5 (01:56):
ESPN employee and now a QB Island specialist here.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
A specialist? I thought I was part of that.

Speaker 4 (02:03):
For NFL Daily.

Speaker 5 (02:04):
I'm just saying, you come in here, you come in here,
and this is what you do best.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Let's go.

Speaker 4 (02:10):
And Jordan Roderig, of course, who was.

Speaker 5 (02:12):
Just on a show less than 24 hours ago, recapping cuts,
but also an executive producer on this show. Here's what
Quarterback Island is for people who are just tuning in.
It is an exercise where we determine the quarterbacks who
define the position. You can interpret that however you wish.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
And it never goes wrong. Uh, the quarterback, the challenge here.

Speaker 5 (02:37):
That define the NFL position, you know, that is most
important in all of sports. But one thing that's a
little bit of a twist on this first episode is
we're starting from scratch.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (02:48):
So new Island, you know, you heard Gino Smith at
the beginning there. It, the, That was taped when Gino
maybe had a more prominent part.

Speaker 4 (02:57):
Of the NFL.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
Shows you how long the show has been going.

Speaker 4 (03:00):
Ecosphere. I mean, we might have to update that at
some point. But who knows?

Speaker 5 (03:04):
He is a candidate as a starting quarterback to start
this season on Quarterback Island. Jordan, as an executive producer,
how do you look at this first episode where we
determine the first 12 differently than the rest of the year?

Speaker 7 (03:16):
Well, I know the island will shrink over time. I
want to remind everybody that the Riptide is available for
usage for all parties. The Riptide is a move that
every one of us has. We only have one of
them per entire season of Quarterback Island. And it is
where we can argue and just autonomously pull somebody off

(03:38):
the island.

Speaker 5 (03:39):
Also known as a ripcord, some people call it that.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
I was thinking we should introduce a ripcord as well.
It is super, super not the ripcord.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
What a rip off.

Speaker 4 (03:49):
So you could use that in this show.

Speaker 7 (03:51):
And then the group must collectively argue who the person
taking that place is.

Speaker 5 (03:57):
Yes. To get on the island, we vote. Four votes,
all equal. We have some placards that say yes or no.
It's by majority. If you get three votes, you're on
the island. If you want to table it, or if
we come up 2-2, you're kind of tabled until later.

(04:18):
And my question to start for throwing out there, are
we sure we want 12?

Speaker 3 (04:23):
You're already shrinking the island. No one's on it yet.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
I'm telling you, we might need 15. Look, this is
the first time we started the season where we haven't
had an injury, right? Jordan, the Jordan, one of the
Jordan rules is if somebody is injured, they are automatically
not available. So we've got healthy quarterbacks now.

Speaker 4 (04:40):
And I just like, is this like a participant?

Speaker 5 (04:43):
I kind of got to 10 and I was like,
are there even enough worthy to define the position?

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Here's the thing.

Speaker 7 (04:49):
I knew where you were going with it, Steve, and
I appreciate where you were going with it. More inclusivity
on quarterback Island where Greg, we know was going with
it as he wants cuts immediately. I want it to
be exclusive.

Speaker 4 (05:01):
I want it to be a good show.

Speaker 5 (05:03):
You know, it just felt like a, if everyone can
get on, there's no, there's no tension, but you seem
like you guys want 12.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yes. Oh, we want to.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
You see how he did.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
I think we have to start with.

Speaker 5 (05:14):
Okay, we'll start with 12. We'll start with 12. Could
always adjust it as the season.

Speaker 7 (05:18):
We just got a handle on the rules, people.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
Let's not change the rule.

Speaker 5 (05:23):
Let's before we dive into who's not going to make
the island. Let's just remind the listeners and the viewers
who ended last season on the island. And this is
in no particular order. except for the first man on
the list, Josh Allen, who I just wanted to give
a special star to.

Speaker 4 (05:43):
Eric gave us a great.

Speaker 5 (05:46):
Graphical representation of everything that's ever happened on Quarterback Island.
Josh Allen's the only man who's never been off Quarterback Island.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh, all right. So we're good.

Speaker 4 (05:57):
That says something about him.

Speaker 5 (05:59):
But it was Josh Allen, Dak Prescott, Matthew Stafford, who
is one of Three players, including Justin Herbert, who's finished
each of the two seasons on Quarterback Island. So them
two and Josh Allen. Brock Purdy was there. Justin Herbert,
who I mentioned.

Speaker 4 (06:18):
Drake May. And then two players in Trevor Lawrence and Caleb.

Speaker 5 (06:21):
Williams, who actually made their Quarterback Island debuts, I believe,
on the very last episode of last season. And they
finished it out there. Now, that's only eight quarterbacks. The
island shrinks significantly. as the season goes on, but we're
starting from scratch here on today's show.

Speaker 4 (06:39):
Just wanted to give water levels.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
They're rising.

Speaker 6 (06:41):
So the Island, it shrinks. So we need to pull
quarterbacks off. So we can't start there, Greg. We need
to have some land for everyone to be there.

Speaker 5 (06:48):
And we're going to start negatively because Eric, it'd be
just good to cross.

Speaker 4 (06:53):
Off some people first.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
I think he's right.

Speaker 4 (06:55):
So we'll get to the obvious ones. Who's on the Island. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
Come on.

Speaker 5 (06:59):
He listed 32. quarterbacks for 32 teams. We actually don't
know who's starting for the Falcons, which I think immediately
eliminates them.

Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yes.

Speaker 5 (07:09):
But I'm going to just throw out a number of
quarterbacks that I don't think we need to discuss at
length or vote on. If we want to have You know,
a few comments on these quarterbacks.

Speaker 7 (07:20):
Sure.

Speaker 5 (07:20):
But here are the quarterbacks I would propose do not
get voted on today and are just a no.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (07:26):
Malik Willis of the Dolphins. Geno Smith of the Jets.
Deshaun Watson is the week one starter for the Browns.
Aaron Rodgers of the Steelers.

Speaker 4 (07:35):
Cam Ward.

Speaker 5 (07:37):
Kirk Cousins, presumably the starter of the Raiders. Jackson Dart,
don't think he's quite at that level. Kyler Murray's an
interesting guy to keep an eye on this year. It'd
be tough to make an argument for him to start
the season to me. Jacoby Brissett, I'd put on this list.
And then, how about the entire NFC South?

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Thank you.

Speaker 4 (07:56):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
I was like, let's not even bull skate around here.
Let's just wipe out our division.

Speaker 6 (08:02):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (08:03):
Now, Jordan, you said....

Speaker 5 (08:06):
You were listening to the Greenlight podcast. Baker Mayfield was
on that. What was his quote today?

Speaker 3 (08:10):
Well, I'm going to paraphrase it.

Speaker 7 (08:11):
I could not quote him directly, but he said something
about how he has more chips now on his shoulder
to the point where his shoulders are getting heavier. But
he embraces chip watch, of course, you guys, because he's
Baker Mayfield. I agree with that. We should just wipe
the entire NFC South.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
That's rude.

Speaker 3 (08:28):
I agree with you here.

Speaker 7 (08:29):
However, I do think he is absolutely going to be
a talking point All season for us, because if he
starts as strong as he did last season, he will
be in conversation to make it on the island. And
at least one of the segments, we do this quote
unquote quarterly through the course of the season. So he
would be in contention to maybe make the island at
that point. He fell off a cliff, you know, by

(08:50):
the middle of last season and he's just streaky in general.
So we really have to, to see, and he's, he's
one of the quarterbacks who I would think is off
right now.

Speaker 3 (08:58):
But who we will be talking about.

Speaker 6 (09:00):
I'd like to say that even though we started negatively,
I think that all of us want to see all
of the starting quarterbacks succeed in this league. So how
do you get Baker to succeed? You give him another chip.
And that's what this is. We put another chip on
the heavy shoulders because we want him on the island.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
So this is what we're doing. It's a service to him.
What is weight to.

Speaker 7 (09:19):
Some is wings for others.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
Exactly.

Speaker 4 (09:22):
That's beautiful. These are some of the messages.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
Philosophically just inspiring.

Speaker 7 (09:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (09:26):
Colleen Wolfe learned well.

Speaker 3 (09:28):
Why is he just going to fall off his chair?

Speaker 2 (09:29):
I'm sitting here like, is that what you're going to
tell his offensive coordinator?

Speaker 3 (09:33):
Super not.

Speaker 5 (09:35):
Is this some of the wisdom, Colleen, you learned while
camping through Oregon?

Speaker 3 (09:40):
I'm a camper now, guys.

Speaker 4 (09:41):
And Sedona.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
Talking about.

Speaker 6 (09:44):
You want to do some dispersed camping? I got some
great sites for you. I'll give you the coordinates.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
Dispersed camping?

Speaker 5 (09:49):
We'll tease this out over the course of Quarterback Island
and over the course of the season. We can announce
now that Colleen Wolfe is back. Not that she went anywhere.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
I was worried. I thought that I maybe left. No,
I saw that I was back, but I'm back.

Speaker 5 (10:05):
So the NFL media PR did announce Colleen Wolfe is back.
Technically you were never really gone. No, you're here and
you're going to be with us weekly on NFL.

Speaker 6 (10:14):
But now I expect every season that I start to
have a press release.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
Well, I was about to say, This was a first.
The promo that NFL media gave anything. I was like, wait,
where has this been for 15 years?

Speaker 7 (10:28):
They were just grounding themselves based on your geographic location.
Fluctuated so much. They probably were just trying to make
extra sure.

Speaker 3 (10:35):
They were just grounding you a little bit.

Speaker 4 (10:37):
I know.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
And I was like, I'm also doing stuff for ESPN.

Speaker 5 (10:41):
It's very confusing. And Colleen is on a flight to Australia.
So she won't be on NFL daily news. Next week,
when she's off doing big-time things overseas, we'll get some reports.

Speaker 3 (10:52):
Right on.

Speaker 4 (10:53):
Melbourne.

Speaker 5 (10:53):
Okay, so those are the 13 players that I think
we all agreed do not belong on Quarterback Island. Shout
out to Tyler Shuck, who I mentioned on our previous
casting call, who I believe, like Baker Mayfield, might have
a moment this season where he is threatening to knock
on the QB Island door.

Speaker 4 (11:13):
But it's a zero-sum game.

Speaker 5 (11:14):
As much as you want Baker to be happy and
get on the island, that means someone's got to go off.

Speaker 6 (11:19):
Right.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
But we don't have anyone on right now.

Speaker 5 (11:23):
Baker actually finished season one on it and stayed on
it for much of last year.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (11:26):
Those are the 13 guys not on the list.

Speaker 3 (11:28):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (11:28):
That was efficient.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
So math, how many do we have?

Speaker 5 (11:32):
We have 19 players left for 12 spots. And I think,
The quickest way to do this, and I want to
talk about these players. Math is famously Colleen Strong's.

Speaker 3 (11:43):
I do words, but I don't do math. You know,
you're writing a lot down, Colleen, but I don't know.
We'll see how it goes. There's a lot of words
on here. I told you I do words.

Speaker 5 (11:52):
I think these guys would get my rubber stamp and
we can vote on any that anyone wants to. But
I actually believe there's a five pack of guys that
can go on pretty quickly. The defining quarterbacks of this decade,
to me, are still Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Patrick Mahomes.

(12:13):
I know there's some skepticism about how Mahomes is going
to play this year from you, Steve.

Speaker 4 (12:16):
I'd like to hear about that.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
No, not about that. Go ahead. Okay.

Speaker 5 (12:20):
I would also put Matthew Stafford, the reigning MVP, kind
of in that grouping now.

Speaker 2 (12:25):
One more.

Speaker 4 (12:26):
One more.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
One more.

Speaker 5 (12:27):
And ultimately, when Joe Burrow is healthy, he belongs on
this island. Do you guys all agree to vote these
five guys onto the island right off the bat? I'm
going to hold up my yes here.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
Yes for me.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (12:40):
Unequivocally.

Speaker 2 (12:42):
Or upside down on. On.

Speaker 3 (12:43):
Yes.

Speaker 7 (12:44):
No.

Speaker 4 (12:44):
That's a yes for Steve White.

Speaker 6 (12:46):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (12:46):
We got five guys on the island.

Speaker 7 (12:47):
I would just like to reiterate as the go-to rules
person here.

Speaker 5 (12:53):
Nobody likes a rules person, Jordan.

Speaker 7 (12:56):
You just seem to change or forget them so often, Greg, that,
so I love, I love the conversation that we open with.
Cause it is, these guys are of our, of really
our era right now. They are helping to define the position. Um,
once we get into the season, the conversation shifts a
little bit to who is defining the position right now

(13:18):
in this NFL season. That makes it tough for a
lot of us to talk about some of these guys,
I think, because when players like Patrick Mahomes, who did
dip a little bit last season, and then, you know, we,
we fairly criticized his supporting cast as well, like run game,
et cetera. Or when, you know, when Joe Burrow was
maybe struggling through the injury, we have to take them

(13:39):
off because of the quote unquote Jordan rules and all that.
But I just think we need to keep in mind, like,
it's great to have the overall legacy talk right now,
but in the context of what we're doing this season,
we have to remember it's going to be in segments
and pieces. Just saying, just throwing that out there.

Speaker 4 (13:54):
Good reminder.

Speaker 3 (13:55):
In no direction, but mostly your direction, Greg.

Speaker 4 (13:57):
No, good reminder.

Speaker 5 (13:58):
And honestly, none of these guys, other than potentially Lamar
at one point last season, was ever playing at a
level that I thought would have seriously taken them off
QB Island. Patrick Mahomes, at the end of the season,
before he got hurt, was getting into that territory. But
if you remember the first half of the season, he
was on my MVP list. He was fantastic last year.
So for him, it's more about staying healthy and wondering

(14:23):
about the surroundings that is giving you a sour face, Steve.

Speaker 2 (14:26):
Well, I mean, I think it's two pronged. I mean,
the receiving core, who are you doubling?

Speaker 7 (14:31):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 6 (14:32):
Nobody.

Speaker 2 (14:32):
And secondly, he's probably going to have to score at
least a touchdown more because that defense has been overhauled.
When you lose your entire defensive secondary and you're playing
teams like Denver and the Chargers in your division who
can hang some points up, he's going to have to
put more points up than he's had the past couple years.

Speaker 6 (14:47):
And obviously we'll be watching his mobility. Sure, we know
what he's done in training camp and stuff, but when
real games are happening, I think that This just happened
last year. Like, I would expect his mobility to not
be at the level that it was at his peak yet.
He'll build up to that, but I don't expect it
to be that right off the bat.

Speaker 5 (15:08):
Was doing some research for Trevor Lawrence, who we will
talk about a little later, and thought it was interesting.
He gave the fourth most value rushing last year by DVOA,
which I think would surprise some people. But then you remember, oh,
who was second on that list? Patrick freaking Mahomes, because
he had to run so much.

Speaker 7 (15:24):
Right.

Speaker 5 (15:25):
I'm excited to see what this is going to be
for Lamar and Joe Burrow. I think it's been a
really encouraging overall preseason for both of them. And then, yeah, it's,
it's every reason to believe Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford
is all systems go.

Speaker 2 (15:38):
Well, I think for Lamar, I'm interested in his receiving
core as well. Cause other than Zay Flowers, you got
the rookie, uh, from USC, who's Kobe Lane. Kobe Lane's
had a really, but again, we keep talking Declan Doyle.
I think we just like to say the name, um,
more so because there's, Yeah, he's coming in with a
lot of pedigree, but he's a tight ends guy. Other

(15:59):
than Mark Andrews, who's their tight ends? I mean, I'm
kind of like, let's figure out what this offense is
going to be. You know, guard to guard. They got questions.
Three people along the middle. They got questions there in Baltimore.
So Lamar is going to be on his horse.

Speaker 5 (16:13):
And he is going to be my pick. probably for
MVP when we make predictions later in this week.

Speaker 4 (16:21):
We'll see.

Speaker 5 (16:21):
I don't want to, I have to go through it
and I just think things are set up for him
to have one more great year.

Speaker 2 (16:26):
All right.

Speaker 5 (16:27):
We have five guys on the list. We've got 19
guys eliminated doing the math. Um, we have seven spots,
spots left. We have 13 guys, uh, eliminated rather. Uh,
we have seven spots left, uh, for 14 guys. Let's
take a break now just because it's a natural time.

(16:47):
And after we come back, we will start nominating all
the rest of the players for votes.

Speaker 4 (16:52):
This is where it gets sticky. It gets difficult. Eric
said the first show is always the easy one. We'll
see about that, Eric. Sticky, icky.

Speaker 5 (17:08):
Back on Quarterback Island. Frankly, the vibes are too good.
Too much agree.

Speaker 6 (17:13):
I know.

Speaker 3 (17:15):
I know it.

Speaker 4 (17:16):
I want arguments. That's my love language.

Speaker 3 (17:20):
That's true. It's a little stressful.

Speaker 4 (17:23):
It's good vibes early in the season.

Speaker 3 (17:24):
Less amica.

Speaker 5 (17:25):
I mean, this thing might go so fast that we'll
have time to talk about Colleen's dogs by the end
of the show. Have a nice dog update. Colleen, why
don't we get going with you? So we left it
with five players already on the island.

Speaker 7 (17:39):
And.

Speaker 5 (17:39):
seven spots to fill. We have 14 candidates for those seven.

Speaker 7 (17:43):
All right.

Speaker 6 (17:44):
Well, this is very easy for me. It's the classic
case of the forgotten one. And it's Justin Herbert. How
is he not on this list? I feel like he
is an elite level without all of the accolades that
some of these other quarterbacks have. And then he's just
never in the conversations because the chargers are never in

(18:05):
the conversations. But Now you have Mike McDaniel arriving in town.
I'm really interested to see what he's going to do
with this offense and Justin Herbert.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
And it just feels like this is a no-brainer. I
don't know.

Speaker 7 (18:18):
Does anyone have pushback? I don't have any pushback. We
voted him on the island at the end of last season.
So even though the team had totally collapsed, the offense...
their positions because of injuries, they totally collapsed. By the
end of the season, Justin Herbert was playing hero ball
and still.

Speaker 3 (18:34):
We voted him on the island.

Speaker 5 (18:35):
I thought it was his best year in three years
last year until it wasn't. Now we finished it at
the end of the regular season. That's why I had
to punish him a little. I don't think it's right
to put him in this category with Mahomes and Lamar
and now Stafford coming off of an MVP in Burrow.

Speaker 4 (18:52):
We just had to separate him out a little.

Speaker 5 (18:53):
But to Jordan's point, and something I said earlier, there's
only been three players that have finished both years on
the island.

Speaker 4 (19:01):
And it's the two L.A. quarterbacks and Josh Allen. Herbert's
in there.

Speaker 5 (19:04):
He's consistent. What more do you want to see out
of him specifically?

Speaker 2 (19:08):
Well, I think we're going to see fewer pass attempts.
With McDaniel in there, they're going to run that stretch
zone scheme. That's why I'm saying Omari and Hampton better
be in some early preseason projections for potential MVP. He's
going to have it.

Speaker 3 (19:19):
Whoa!

Speaker 2 (19:20):
Plus, they're going to be far more tight end centric.

Speaker 4 (19:23):
Okay. I think that'll help them.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
You got Gadsden. People forget Dave Njoku's on this team.
Right now, they've got three tight ends. Even in preseason,
they were showing some three tight formations with some dazzling
motion options. Like what they did on that big 65-yard
touchdown pass. It was beautiful to see. And that was
just eye candy for people to study because they may
not run it for five weeks.

Speaker 6 (19:46):
Yeah, David Njoku showed up at the volleyball court that
I play.

Speaker 3 (19:50):
At two days ago. And yes, I can confirm.

Speaker 4 (19:52):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (19:53):
What's the height difference there?

Speaker 5 (19:55):
Wow. It looks like he's actually lost weight too. He
loves to play beach volleyball. Did you play with him?
Did you tell him you worked.

Speaker 4 (20:01):
At the NFL?

Speaker 3 (20:01):
I sat that game out.

Speaker 4 (20:02):
Yeah, I did not. Because he famously... is often shirtless.

Speaker 5 (20:07):
He was throughout the postgame and pregame of the Browns
game last season overseas that I went to.

Speaker 4 (20:14):
He just, that's what he likes to do.

Speaker 6 (20:15):
Well, and also if you're on a beach and it's
like 85 degrees.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (20:19):
That's kind of.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
Kind of thing to do.

Speaker 7 (20:20):
All right.

Speaker 4 (20:21):
Yes on Justin Herbert.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (20:22):
Yes is all around.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
He's in.

Speaker 5 (20:24):
He occupies a weird space, whereas no matter how... Even
if we shrunk this to 10, he'd be on there easily.
He's been a top 10 quarterback since the day he arrived.

Speaker 4 (20:32):
It's just everyone wants just a little bit more.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Playing behind a wafer-thin offensive line.

Speaker 3 (20:36):
Always.

Speaker 7 (20:37):
Always.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
It could be better this year if they're healthier. Why
don't you go, Weiss?

Speaker 2 (20:43):
Oh, I'm going to go another slam dunk. Dak.

Speaker 3 (20:45):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
Dak Prescott. I mean, look, my whole thing is he's
got arguably the best wide receiver tandem. I think Shadi
knows what he's doing. That offensive line is real. I mean, Jordan,
you saw the joint practices. Alone, they've got something working
there offensively, and I just think Dak's going to continue
to put it up. And now he may actually have
a defense that's going to give him an extra possession

(21:07):
or two a game.

Speaker 7 (21:08):
I think that he does so many things well at
the line of scrimmage too. It really opens up offensive coordinator,
Clayton Adams playbook in order to say, Hey, I want
to do a lot of different things that can maybe
fool the defense pre-snap formations, motions, different, um, just changing
gaps on people in the run game, but also in
the past game too, and changing spatial assignments, doing a

(21:32):
lot of that work pre-snap requires such a artistry of,
of conductorship, I think from, um, a quarterback and it's
just a match made in heaven to me with, with
Dak Prescott there, because we know he can already throw
the ball really, really well. And this, to me, this
Brian Schottenheimer West coast, very traditional passing scheme, marrying with

(21:52):
this run game that Clayton Adams has brought to Dallas,
giving them so much dimension and Dak Prescott is the
quarterback who is capable of handling all of it. So, well,
I just think it's, it's one of those really cool
mutual relationships where you see it help the quarterback, but
you also see the quarterback turn it into this really
special thing. And I'm so high on the Cowboys this year,

(22:14):
which is kind of a weird sentence to say out loud,
but because watching all the pieces have come together over
the last year, I just really believe that they're going
to be a special offense led by Dak Prescott, who
I think is the one who will be an MVP
conversation early on in the year.

Speaker 6 (22:28):
You're pro God, Gotti. Is that the greatest offense there is?

Speaker 4 (22:33):
I feel like that needs some work stopping.

Speaker 7 (22:36):
That's too much of a take for me. But yeah,
I think they're going to be really, really fun.

Speaker 5 (22:41):
Spent all of last year on QB Island, by the way,
from the beginning. And he's coming right back.

Speaker 4 (22:46):
I think he's... Here we go.

Speaker 3 (22:47):
The mayor.

Speaker 4 (22:48):
He's kind of set up for his... Stafford year.

Speaker 5 (22:52):
At some point where if you kind of compare their
first 10 years in the league, I mean, Dax actually
I would say was more consistent at a higher level,
but he kind of needs that that one overwhelming MVP caliber.
And he did come in second a couple of years ago.
It's easy to forget, but where he has a little
more team success and then people.

Speaker 4 (23:11):
Start thinking about him for can.

Speaker 5 (23:13):
I'm going to throw out a guy that I'll just
say I'm voting no on just because I want to
cross some people off, put some people on, like we're going.

Speaker 4 (23:21):
To go through them all.

Speaker 5 (23:22):
It's more that, look, if you're looking at the class,
I do think about, we want to have diversity representation
of different young, old. And I think about the class of,
24 now as such an important moment in... like the
quarterback landscape of the future. And that includes Bo Nix

(23:42):
and Caleb Williams and Drake May. And Jaden Daniels is
the guy I want to say that I don't think
it would make sense to put Jaden Daniels on the
Island to start the year. But I also want to
recognize like he lived there for basically all of his
rookie year. We've seen the ceiling and he feels about
as unpredictable as any player we are going to talk

(24:03):
about on this entire show, because he, maybe he's going
to make us look stupid and maybe he's just going
to be that dude right away from the get-go and
he's going to be there week five. Like that, that
is an outcome. Or he could really struggle with this
new offense. There's concerns there. So he's a no for
me for now, but just recognizing the overall.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
Yeah, I would agree with that, especially because every day
you read about how bad this offensive line looks. I
do like them getting Stephon Diggs. It took him too
long to get him there. He's a bucket. Yeah, I mean,
but look, Jaden overcame, you know, he made, he overcame
a lot of the mistakes and the holes that were
there a couple years ago those were exposed last year
when he wasn't around but he can't start the season.

Speaker 5 (24:41):
On the island we talked about him at length on
the on the casting call just to have kind of
that conversation but yeah it's crazy to think about that
class where is coming into last year he probably would
have been like number one based off of his rookie
year and now you could make the argument just based
off how last season went That is number four, which
is great, you know, because Bo Nix played so well
last year.

Speaker 4 (25:01):
There you go. Someone to watch. No, I'm Jayden Daniels.
All right, we're crossing him off.

Speaker 5 (25:05):
We have seven guys officially on the island, and we
have 11 players, so we have to eliminate four and
put seven on. Jordan, you can go in either direction here.

Speaker 7 (25:17):
I'm going to vote for somebody to make the island
and a little bit of a justice being served for
this player in the, in a positive way, a little
bit of a mea culpa. I think we did not
have him on the island last year. He could have very,
very well made the island Jordan love. Hmm. I think
Jordan love needs to start the season on the Island.
I think that, and I know I said, I've just

(25:38):
said this about deck Prescott, but I think the same
thing about Jordan love. I think that especially getting Tucker
craft back and healthy, more clarity in the receiver's room
and just the way that he operates this offense. I
think Jordan love is trending toward being in that MVP
conversation early in the season. I love that he called
plays in the preseason game the other night. Uh, I

(25:58):
love that he called, uh, like basically a deep shot.

Speaker 3 (26:01):
On third and 21.

Speaker 7 (26:02):
Where most cowardly play callers would call a draw play.
Like I just love, I love everything about the confidence.
He has the mastery of this huge, major, major concerns
about this run game. Think their defense is possibly going
to really let them down early in the season, but
Early in the year is the key phrase here. I

(26:22):
think that he can come out of the gate hot
enough to where it might not matter as much. And
then they recalibrate down the stretch. I think Jordan Love
should be on quarterback.

Speaker 2 (26:30):
He's got a lighter schedule early on. He's going to
be throwing the ball 35 times a game.

Speaker 5 (26:34):
It'll be interesting to see his volume go up because
he's just thrown the ball so little over the last
couple of years.

Speaker 4 (26:39):
And yet... he would have been on the Island.

Speaker 5 (26:41):
Like if the Island was two spots bigger, he was
the last person to get cut off. He did spend
a little, I'm just saying he was on the Island
before that. And he had a couple of little injuries
that didn't help him right at the end of the
season where he just missed a little bit of time,
but I'm with you. The numbers would say he's right there.
And when I was saying diversity, I like, I mean,
like age, everything style, a quarterback. And to me, he

(27:04):
he is kind of the guy most smack in the
middle of his freaking prime. As crazy as it is
to think about Josh Allen and Lamar, like and and
they are now maybe they're still in their prime, but
they're now like they're not at the beginning of their prime.
Jordan Love should just be like reaching his apex as well.

Speaker 4 (27:22):
I'm with you on that.

Speaker 2 (27:23):
Jordan loves that. Nice call.

Speaker 4 (27:25):
Jordan loves on It's an Easy One.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
Ooh, eight. This is tough.

Speaker 4 (27:28):
We have eight players now.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (27:31):
We have four spots to go.

Speaker 6 (27:32):
Okay, yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:35):
Now it gets a little dicey. Does it?

Speaker 2 (27:38):
It does. It does.

Speaker 4 (27:41):
Greg wanted.

Speaker 2 (27:41):
All right, well, I'll throw one out there.

Speaker 7 (27:43):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
Dicey.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
Because he finished last season on the island, but are
we putting Trevor Lawrence?

Speaker 5 (27:48):
Ooh, this is the one I was thinking about. Okay,
this is one of the most interesting ones. I feel
like we got some easier no's still left.

Speaker 4 (27:54):
I guess that's what I'm talking about.

Speaker 7 (27:55):
Right.

Speaker 5 (27:55):
This one, I truly don't know where this will go.
What's your gut off the bat?

Speaker 2 (28:01):
What's my gut is no. And I think it's going
to be fantastic because the receiving core is better. He's
been in the system longer. But I look at some
of the other people on here, like, are we blowing
off Caleb Goff?

Speaker 4 (28:14):
We're going to get to that.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
Some of these other guys, like, now I'm looking at
some good players got to be put on the practice
squad on the practice island.

Speaker 6 (28:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
Okay, so there's... Because the numbers.

Speaker 6 (28:25):
There's four spots, and do we want to just, like,
verbalize the guys that are.

Speaker 4 (28:29):
Well, they got to get on.

Speaker 5 (28:30):
No, I think we talk to Trevor, and maybe Trevor,
if we think he's on the borderline, we table for now.

Speaker 4 (28:35):
The case would be.

Speaker 5 (28:37):
Down the stretch last year, I test numbers. It's all there.
That's how he got on the island as the last
player over Jordan Love. You were supporting that.

Speaker 7 (28:50):
Yes, but we actually voted Caleb Williams on as.

Speaker 4 (28:53):
The last player. Okay, so maybe Trevor was seventh.

Speaker 7 (28:55):
Because specifically of Caleb's high splash moments, the game enders,
the game winners, the fact that they won the NFC
North in part because of the major gamer plays he made.

Speaker 3 (29:05):
So continue. Continue.

Speaker 5 (29:07):
Fourth most valuable runner, as I mentioned, the last six weeks.
It's like, it's a guy that we have to ask,
do we trust that it's going to continue on an
offense that should be great?

Speaker 2 (29:18):
It should be just, I mean, especially his receivers are
so much better. You know, we don't talk about Brent
Strange as one of the elite tight ends, which he is.

Speaker 7 (29:25):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
But I'm just kind of like numbers wise, are we
putting him, are we going to bump a Sam Darnold?

Speaker 5 (29:31):
Let's table him for now and get some of the
people we feel stronger about. Because I think he has
a chance for that last spot or two.

Speaker 4 (29:38):
We'll see.

Speaker 3 (29:39):
If I could just say.

Speaker 7 (29:40):
I think that Trevor Lawrence represents like the highest variance
toward potential we are right or wrong starting this season.

Speaker 4 (29:48):
Oh, high risk, high reward.

Speaker 5 (29:51):
I agree with that because there is something about the
defining the positions that it does feel like Even with
Cohen there, it's like he's almost a bigger star than
Trevor Lawrence. There's always just something a little missing, which
is maybe unfair to him.

Speaker 7 (30:05):
Well, I'll nominate somebody that shed that. attachment or connection
maybe to the play caller and I'm going to nominate
Jared Goff to be on the island. Jared Goff has
been one of our most consistent quarterback island guys. He
was not on at the end of last season. The
Lions obviously had their struggles, went through a couple different
changes at play caller. Jared Goff played well through the stretch.

(30:27):
Obviously he still struggles a bit under pressure, but he's
brought the floor of that and the floor of what
he can be so much higher than he got credit
for earlier in his career when he was obviously connected, um,
in every sentence basically to Sean McVay and Sean McVay's success.
So I love that he's shed that reputation. I love
that he's coming to his own in Detroit. I think

(30:48):
he is very deserving being on the Island. And I,
I'm really excited to see what He does with Drew Petzing,
with Jameer Gibbs in this overhauled run game. Great receiving core.
Would love to have more confidence in Sam Laporta long-term
in terms of the health. But I just think that
this is a very, very high-ceiling group, and it's led
by Jared Goff.

Speaker 5 (31:08):
Yeah, and to be clear, for everyone that was listening
and might be wondering, we are supposed to take kind
of the quarterback out of their situations, their overcoming situations,
sometimes like a Justin Herbert.

Speaker 4 (31:17):
A year ago. It's about their play. Obviously, it's all interconnected.
Jared Goff.

Speaker 3 (31:21):
That's who Jared Goff is now. It's about him now.
It's not about the system. That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 5 (31:26):
And last year, he fell off the island partly because
of the players around him. He got pressured more and
he struggles when under pressure. And yet I'm with you.
I'm a yes on Jared Goff. This is not a ranking.
I have a few guys that would have made it
faster than him. But either way, I would be a yes.
There was a great stat from FTN where he was

(31:47):
I think top five in effectiveness on throw or top
six in effectiveness behind the line of scrimmage and on
short passes and on intermediate passes and on deep passes.
Like Jared Goff can get two buckets any spot on
the field. You just got to protect them a little bit.
And to your point about being on the island a lot,
other than Josh Allen, he actually lasted the longest and

(32:11):
Patrick Mahomes. from the beginning to where he got booted
eventually last season.

Speaker 4 (32:16):
I'm going to go.

Speaker 6 (32:17):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (32:17):
Our bills and lions listeners.

Speaker 7 (32:19):
Don't let it be said that we don't pay respects
to your, to your quarterbacks and your teams.

Speaker 3 (32:23):
Look at, look at the graph, look at the chart.

Speaker 4 (32:26):
All right. Defining the position.

Speaker 5 (32:27):
I think we got to go Drake May second and
MVP last year. You know, and if we're going to
go with someone very young. I mean, I should have
let Colleen, you were going to do that for me.
I was just like, no.

Speaker 6 (32:39):
No, I mean, it's the he was made it to
a Super Bowl. It was in the MVP second voting.
I mean, we saw how good he was in. high
leverage situations. And I mean, yes, you can talk.

Speaker 3 (32:51):
About the schedule that they faced last year.

Speaker 6 (32:53):
And I think that that could, you know, you could
put that into account with his output, but he played
really well. And I think that he grew every week
when you watched him play playoffs until the playoffs. But like,
I just think that he should be on, if you're
looking at this list and the guys that we've left off, uh,
Drake May proved himself enough, I think, last year for
him to be on the island.

Speaker 4 (33:13):
Yeah, and it's not a ranking, famously.

Speaker 6 (33:17):
Right.

Speaker 2 (33:17):
I love when you say that.

Speaker 7 (33:18):
And he has A.J.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
Brown at his disposal. Yes.

Speaker 5 (33:20):
I mean, if it was, he might have come on,
at least in my opinion, over Goff or Jordan Love.
But it didn't matter as long as you get there
in the end. And I do want some young players
on this list, too. And I think if you had
to choose between any of the class— Well, he's got 2024.

Speaker 4 (33:38):
He's got to be on.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
All right.

Speaker 6 (33:38):
He had no offensive line and he had like no weapons.
And he still he may still not work.

Speaker 5 (33:44):
And yet he somehow had like a 70 percent completion percentage,
despite having one of the deepest average depth of target.

Speaker 4 (33:50):
Let's go.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (33:51):
Go get that MVP.

Speaker 5 (33:52):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (33:52):
And take me.

Speaker 7 (33:53):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (33:53):
We already have 10 spots. Yeah, this is about to
get real. There's only two about to get real funky
to remain.

Speaker 3 (33:59):
And can we just shout out the names that are
on the list?

Speaker 5 (34:02):
Of who have not been talked about is what you're
talking about. Jalen Hurts has not been discussed. Caleb Williams
has not been discussed. Trevor Lawrence has sort of been discussed,
but been tabled. Sam Darnold, Brock Purdy, Bo Nix, CJ Stroud,
and Daniel Jones. I bring up those last two names.
Just to say, I think we have two names. I

(34:25):
think we can cross off, but we could have a
very quick discussion. Does anyone want to make the case
for Stroud or Daniel Jones to be on this list
to start?

Speaker 7 (34:32):
No.

Speaker 4 (34:33):
QB Island.

Speaker 5 (34:33):
Okay, so we're all no on CJ Stroud and Daniel Jones,
but Connie, Steve, Jordan, if you have any stray opinions
you want to have, and I know you're Mrs. Colts
over there on Daniel Jones coming into this season or CJ,
who we've talked about a lot on this show.

Speaker 4 (34:51):
Um, you know, now's your time.

Speaker 6 (34:53):
Just to go pro Colts again. Just, just, just, you just,
you want me to do this again?

Speaker 4 (34:57):
Just to make the point that we have.

Speaker 6 (35:01):
No, I have the scars and I can't do it again.
I'm not going to be able to do it again.
And maybe, and maybe they will flourish because of that.

Speaker 4 (35:11):
There it is. There's the rationale.

Speaker 3 (35:13):
The hope is there in her subconscious.

Speaker 5 (35:16):
To start last season, we were barely talking about it.
He was in a quarterback battle for parts of August
last year. Not too long before they gave him that job.
And numbers wise, you can take your freaking Herbert and
Stafford and Drake May and Jordan Love and all those guys.
He was right there with him or better for a

(35:36):
solid half a season.

Speaker 7 (35:37):
It's interesting you say that now, Greg, when in the
moment you were basically only commenting about how not real
that was.

Speaker 2 (35:43):
Well, what happened?

Speaker 4 (35:47):
He got hurt. He was struggling before he got hurt.
I do want that put down for the record.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (35:52):
We're going to cross those guys off. And so really
it's two spots for Lawrence, Nix, Purdy, Darnold, and Hurt.
I'm not forgetting anyone there, but that is.

Speaker 4 (36:07):
What, six different players. It's not going to be easy.

Speaker 5 (36:10):
Is there someone you find the easiest out of that
group to cross off?

Speaker 4 (36:14):
It is getting tough.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
To cross off?

Speaker 5 (36:18):
Or does anyone want to make the case for someone
who should definitely be on and then there's just.

Speaker 4 (36:23):
One spot left?

Speaker 3 (36:24):
It's Brock Purdy. To me, it's obviously Brock Purdy.

Speaker 7 (36:27):
He was on the island last year and he's improved
so much to the point where, again, detaching from the
system itself a little bit, the way he was connected
so much to it. He played so well last year
and there were some injuries and things like that. But
by the end of the season, you know, back on the,
you know, as the starter full time. And again, he,

(36:48):
he played so well. It's almost like to me, his
development arc and the way he throws the ball. Now,
the way that he takes risks, the way that he
can elevate an offense, um, not just play within the
structure of it and within the parameters of it. To me,
he does help define like his, his entire story does
help define, you know, the position right.

Speaker 5 (37:09):
Now, these other guys popping up regular Joe Brock birdie.

Speaker 7 (37:14):
And I think he's also one of the best examples
of like, I mean, shoot, of anyone you're going to
not have impacted by the many, many, many storylines surrounding
the football team, including on the field and off the field.
Like if you're going to detach someone completely from that
for the sake of this argument, I think he would
probably be one of those people.

Speaker 4 (37:34):
Colleen, would you pick Darnold or Purdy if you could
only choose one?

Speaker 3 (37:39):
You already know.

Speaker 6 (37:40):
I saw my love has not faded for Sam Donald.

Speaker 3 (37:44):
Don't fall into this trap. Like it has for the Colts.

Speaker 7 (37:46):
Don't fall into this trap, Colleen, because he's only giving
you two choices when we have four.

Speaker 4 (37:50):
He's only giving you.

Speaker 3 (37:52):
Two choices when we have four.

Speaker 4 (37:53):
We're trying to build drama here.

Speaker 3 (37:55):
You're trying to build drama.

Speaker 4 (37:56):
Because I'm thinking about the last spot.

Speaker 7 (37:58):
When I look at Sam Donald's last two years, he's
been lights out.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
Why would you put.

Speaker 7 (38:03):
It between those two when maybe another question is, do
Darnold and Purdy both belong on and Knicks and Lawrence
both belong off?

Speaker 4 (38:11):
Right.

Speaker 3 (38:12):
That to me is.

Speaker 4 (38:13):
A fair question. And Hurts is out there too. Absolutely.

Speaker 5 (38:15):
Then that might be how I'm leaning, but I'm sort
of thinking about these, like who is the guy out
of all the players left that has to be on
the island the most? And to me, our friend Eric
Roberts suggests Caleb Williams could be in that mix who
did finish last year on the island.

Speaker 3 (38:34):
He could be in the mix.

Speaker 4 (38:36):
To me, Darnold's actually the easiest one to put on.

Speaker 2 (38:39):
To have to put on Sam Darnold.

Speaker 4 (38:40):
Yeah. Well, I think they both are.

Speaker 3 (38:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:43):
When I look at the list, I mean, I'm going
three from the other.

Speaker 3 (38:46):
Let me be like super clear.

Speaker 2 (38:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (38:48):
Apparently now that I got it, it's changing.

Speaker 7 (38:50):
Like just because I'm saying I think Purdy is a
no brainer to be on doesn't mean I think Sam
Darnold should be off. I think Sam Darnold is a
no brainer to be on.

Speaker 4 (38:58):
OK, so do we all voting yes on Sam Darnold?

Speaker 2 (39:00):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (39:01):
Vote yes.

Speaker 3 (39:02):
Sam Darnold. Super Bowl winner, Sam Darnold.

Speaker 5 (39:07):
It is going to be interesting to see how he
like handles it. He's been so interesting to watch on
Hard Knocks. I mean, he's extremely likable. He almost feels
like he's forgotten of his new stature. And yet here
he is in year two also feeling clearly more comfortable
as the guy there.

Speaker 6 (39:26):
Well, I think that he's always known what he was
capable of doing.

Speaker 3 (39:30):
It's just everybody else hasn't. So nothing has changed for him, really.

Speaker 6 (39:34):
Yes, he has a ring, but that's just what he
gets for showing everyone finally.

Speaker 3 (39:39):
What his potential is.

Speaker 7 (39:40):
I keep thinking about after the Super Bowl, how hard
on himself he was too. Yeah. And it was like, man,
can we just like watch you enjoy this a minute?
You know, and to me, that shows a higher gear
of somebody who is intrinsically motivated is, yes, I wish
for him that he could just stand there and really
appreciate it instead of verbally and like publicly criticizing his

(40:02):
own play. But at the same time, like that just
shows that there's another gear to this guy that we
haven't even... seen yet and I'm so curious to see
how he continues because he's on the upward trajectory and
to me he's staying there.

Speaker 2 (40:15):
He's still one of the youngest quarterbacks in the NFL.
I mean he's been around for a while. He's 29.

Speaker 3 (40:22):
What is he spiritually?

Speaker 5 (40:23):
He's been in the NFL for a long time to
only be 29.

Speaker 2 (40:30):
When you look at it in terms of playing because
he's had those years where he's on the bench. That's
why I say he's still one of the younger quarterbacks
in the NFL so he's still an ascending player. He's
got JSN. You know, A.J. Barner is one of the
best tight ends in the NFL that we have not
talked about. He's got a good offensive line, but the
organization believes in it. And not just the people upstairs,

(40:50):
it's the guys in the locker room. And that's something
that he's got. You can see that whole culture in
that building. They all believe in each other. I think
Darnold's going to continue to grow and become one of
the better quarterbacks.

Speaker 5 (41:02):
I think because I believe in all the guys on
the list so much and I've looked at Darnold's career
that he is one of the more likely guys to
fall off because of what he said after the Super Bowl.
He didn't play that well in that game. He didn't
play that well in their first playoff game against the 49ers.
He didn't play that well down the stretch last season,
which is why he came off quarterback island for a
little bit after being gangbusters. He is a streaky up

(41:25):
and down player.

Speaker 2 (41:26):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (41:27):
In the game I left out.

Speaker 5 (41:28):
On purpose there was one of the best performances by
any quarterback all season and is the reason that he
should have been proud in that moment to win the
Super Bowl obviously he was so important to getting there
but there is something about him that has been a
little more up and down than let's say a Jared
Goff who we put on a little earlier I I.

Speaker 7 (41:47):
Have an idea if you guys will dream with me
here for a minute because we have is.

Speaker 6 (41:51):
It a ripcord we're gonna introduce a ripcord it's not Oh, yeah,
let's do it.

Speaker 7 (41:56):
So I'm curious. We have one spot left.

Speaker 6 (41:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (41:59):
And we have a lot of guys that we want
to talk about. I know, Greg, you're going to think
that I've been like body snatched by saying this out loud,
but should we rank our choices of guys who we
would want on that spot in terms of the order
we would feel comfortable putting them there before we make
our final decision?

Speaker 5 (42:17):
And I also think because, and we've talked about this
in the past, the show's not over here. like everything
is relatively written in pencil. If the, now that we
get down to these names, there is a majority of
people that for instance, think Caleb Williams should be on
over Jared Goff.

Speaker 4 (42:36):
We can still vote. We can vote a yes on everyone.

Speaker 5 (42:40):
And then ultimately, and we've done it in the past,
have to make a hard choice at the end of
this show. I think of the guys remaining, probably the
strongest feeling I have is, is actually that it's hard
to put Jalen Hurts.

Speaker 4 (42:54):
On right now.

Speaker 2 (42:55):
I would agree.

Speaker 7 (42:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (42:56):
Right?

Speaker 2 (42:57):
I would agree.

Speaker 5 (42:57):
So I think Jalen Hurts is a no right now.

Speaker 4 (42:59):
And yet... He's a no.

Speaker 3 (43:01):
Yeah, he's out there with Baker. He's another guy that I.

Speaker 4 (43:03):
I believe in you.

Speaker 7 (43:04):
He's another guy that, like Baker, to your point, I
think we're going to be talking about so much to
start the season because it's going to be a completely
new look. offense that we're finally going to see in
its totality over the first quarter of this season. And
he's another high variance. We may be wrong. We may
be right.

Speaker 3 (43:22):
Kind of guy.

Speaker 5 (43:23):
I mean, he is a guy with a Super Bowl
title and a guy who came in second in MVP.
How are you feeling about the mustache? The relatively felt
like he does look.

Speaker 4 (43:35):
Tremor. And they're saying he's running a lot more. Oh,
my God.

Speaker 3 (43:38):
Is it the offseason still or no?

Speaker 6 (43:40):
It is. It is.

Speaker 4 (43:41):
But a little neck.

Speaker 5 (43:42):
How are you feeling about the whole new Hurts vibe?

Speaker 4 (43:46):
Because he does seem happier.

Speaker 3 (43:48):
He does, which that makes me happy.

Speaker 6 (43:51):
That makes me believe that at least the vibes are
a little lighter around the team than they have been
in the past.

Speaker 4 (43:57):
But I.

Speaker 3 (44:00):
Feel like.

Speaker 4 (44:01):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (44:01):
It's like I'm a scorned lover. Like, I don't know
if I'm ready to trust again yet. But that's also
my nature in general. Like, this is my.

Speaker 4 (44:10):
Oh, you're from Philly?

Speaker 3 (44:11):
I put the ball real low on the ground.

Speaker 4 (44:14):
And then they win, like, two games. And anyone that...
We are so backed out.

Speaker 2 (44:19):
Go Birds!

Speaker 4 (44:19):
That he's the MVP. All right, put him on the island.

Speaker 2 (44:22):
My thing is, when it comes to Jalen Hurts, it's like,
are we ever going to know how good or not
good he is? Because they're changing offensive coordinators all the time.
They're a run-centric team. After this year, this offensive line
is probably going to go through an overhaul. There's a
significant variant season to season with him. He loses A.J. Brown.
They've got a first-time play designer and play caller in

(44:45):
there again.

Speaker 3 (44:46):
That's what I'm really.

Speaker 5 (44:47):
At a certain point, though, the offense always looks the same.
So I think this year is a good test because
the offense is going to look schematically so different.

Speaker 4 (44:54):
I'm going to have some grace for him in the
first month of the season.

Speaker 7 (44:57):
And I think I, I think I have a good
feeling for how good I think he is because we
saw it in that, that when that absolute ass kicking
over the chiefs in the Superbowl, the way he played,
the way he pushed the ball, the way he just
handled the entire game. And, and like, to me, that
was him at his absolute best and, And that is
MVP Jalen Hurts. He absolutely has that ceiling to me. Now,

(45:19):
his floor is all over the place, to your point.
And that's part of what we're trying to figure out here.

Speaker 5 (45:24):
Okay, so that's a no on Jalen Hurts. We have
Caleb Williams is really the only player here we just
haven't even talked about.

Speaker 4 (45:31):
And maybe, I think the ranking is a good idea.
But I do think just quickly... Quickly, if.

Speaker 5 (45:37):
Anyone has a feeling of of Caleb Williams is who's
the guy who it's talked about defining the position. He's
on the cover of Madden. I give him like a
little bonus point there. He does have something to him
that is more exciting than Trevor Lawrence, let's say. And
he was playing his best ball at the end of

(45:58):
last year. He's someone who has sneaky rushing value. I
think as well, I think that could be something, part
of his game that explodes this year.

Speaker 2 (46:03):
It's so hard because I'm a big Caleb guy. Like,
everyone on here.

Speaker 3 (46:06):
Is like, whoa. I know, and I know, too, and
I'll own this.

Speaker 7 (46:10):
I know I was really leading the charge on him
last season at the end of the year because of those,
just the dazzling variance plays and the high leverage plays,
how dazzling they were.

Speaker 3 (46:21):
The Bears, though, overall... really embodied.

Speaker 7 (46:24):
Him in so many ways where they lived in high
high leverage situations and statistically between those and then the
rest of their offense and defense you know their run
game was outstanding pass game completely high leverage dependent defense
completely high leverage play dependent so for me what I
actually am looking for for Caleb Williams is like more

(46:48):
of the mundane this year. Now I want to see
the crazy cool stuff.

Speaker 3 (46:52):
Let me be clear.

Speaker 7 (46:52):
Like I love, that was the most fun we've had.
That was so much fun. It was can't miss television
every time they played at the end of the last season. However,
I'd like to see more of the, just the taking
the efficient stuff and this offense overall being a little
bit more efficient.

Speaker 3 (47:08):
He already protects the ball incredibly well.

Speaker 7 (47:11):
One of the best in the NFL at not taking
sacks or making negative plays. He, he just, I'd like
to see them operate the entire passing game just a
little bit more efficiently.

Speaker 3 (47:21):
He doesn't always take the layups that are there for.

Speaker 6 (47:23):
Him, but if it's a fourth quarter comeback situation, trick
shots only.

Speaker 7 (47:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (47:28):
Like he's incredible. I can close. Incredible.

Speaker 5 (47:31):
He, he also improved. And you mentioned in terms of
preventing sacks, he also doesn't turn the ball over. That's
a very intriguing combination.

Speaker 6 (47:38):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (47:38):
Play is divided by negative plays.

Speaker 3 (47:40):
No fear. It's high.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
Can I, can I simplify things here?

Speaker 3 (47:44):
Please do.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
I'm going to white flag my guy, Bo Nix. I'm
going to go ahead.

Speaker 4 (47:49):
Frankly, we were all waiting for you to do that.
You know, all right.

Speaker 3 (47:54):
Steve's like, okay, I think I should speak up here.

Speaker 4 (47:57):
It's a no on Nick 26.

Speaker 2 (47:58):
I love Bo and Nick.

Speaker 3 (48:01):
Oh, my gosh.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
John Payton's going to shade this whole podcast now.

Speaker 4 (48:04):
Oh, I love it.

Speaker 3 (48:06):
Just add us to the list.

Speaker 4 (48:08):
I love that.

Speaker 3 (48:09):
I love John Payton.

Speaker 4 (48:09):
He called out Jeff Schwartz for... For not.

Speaker 2 (48:13):
Knowing that Bo Nix is the deepest thrower.

Speaker 5 (48:15):
It's so funny because it's the exact same conversation that
Drew Brees dealt with his entire career. Where, by the numbers,
Drew Brees is one of the best deep ball throwers
in NFL history. And everyone always said, like, oh, they
kind of have a cap on their offense because his
arm's not that good. And then now here Sean is
with this guy. I love, though, he's trying to make
up for getting in Bo's injury situation. designation business early

(48:39):
in the off season by standing behind this guy.

Speaker 2 (48:41):
Yes. Okay.

Speaker 5 (48:42):
So that's a no on Nick's, but I could see
Nick's Nick's getting there. That's a no on Jalen hurts.
Here's what I think we should do.

Speaker 3 (48:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (48:51):
Here's what I think we should do. I'm going to
throw golf into this mix just to be messy.

Speaker 3 (48:55):
Just to be messy, he said.

Speaker 4 (48:57):
Just in case. Because I want the accuracy.

Speaker 3 (48:59):
Goff's on though, right?

Speaker 4 (49:00):
He is, but we could vote.

Speaker 5 (49:02):
In theory, we could vote yes for Purdy and yes
for Caleb and then just have 13 guys and choose one.

Speaker 3 (49:08):
We're into the agent of chaos.

Speaker 2 (49:10):
Okay, so we've white flagged Trevor then too.

Speaker 5 (49:13):
Are we white flagging? Would Trevor come in third or
fourth on everyone's list? I would think so, but he's
the guy who's going to earn it.

Speaker 2 (49:20):
His way on.

Speaker 4 (49:20):
Okay. So that's a no on Trevor. We're going, I
vote no on Trevor.

Speaker 7 (49:25):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (49:25):
What do you think?

Speaker 3 (49:25):
What are you saying? He was third on everybody's list.

Speaker 5 (49:27):
Third or fourth. Like, so there's no way he's getting
on your island. Is Trevor Lawrence getting on anyone's island
right now?

Speaker 3 (49:33):
Not right now.

Speaker 2 (49:34):
Not right now. He'll earn, I think he'll earn his
way on.

Speaker 4 (49:37):
Trevor's not there.

Speaker 2 (49:37):
No, I have, Man, this is brutal, man. Those are
two dudes.

Speaker 5 (49:41):
I'm just making sure that Caleb or Purdy or, you know,
don't get punished for the fact that they weren't brought
up as early. And so I think using your ranking system,
I think we should each come up with a ranking
for each one of those three. If we feel like
the cases have all been made, if anyone has anything
else to say, I generally agree with you on Brock

(50:03):
Purdy's strength. If you look at the numbers, second in
completion percentage over expected, led the NFL in preventing sacks
when he was pressured, led the NFL in success rate.
He's just, he's just a good football player, Brock Purdy.
And so it's a, it's a tough, it was an
easier decision for me, Darnold over him. It's a tougher one,
him versus Goff versus Caleb. Now that I'm, now that

(50:25):
I'm down to it. And I voted yes on Goff too,
because I feel, I feel good about all three. Frankly,
I want to vote on all three.

Speaker 3 (50:30):
Me too, but we can't do that, Greg.

Speaker 6 (50:32):
No.

Speaker 5 (50:32):
So let's all make a rankings unless anyone has any
final words on those.

Speaker 3 (50:35):
So I'd like to introduce my ripcord.

Speaker 4 (50:38):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (50:40):
Hang on.

Speaker 6 (50:42):
Somebody's on the island and we already voted and he
tries to take them off and reconsider them.

Speaker 3 (50:48):
That's a ripcord. So I'm pulling the ripcord on you.
Golf is on the island.

Speaker 4 (50:53):
Oh, I like it.

Speaker 2 (50:56):
There we go. There's the loophole. There's the loophole.

Speaker 5 (50:59):
All right.

Speaker 3 (51:00):
I'm back.

Speaker 4 (51:01):
Yes.

Speaker 5 (51:02):
You cannot pull a member of the panel off the island.

Speaker 2 (51:08):
Oh, that is a strong loophole.

Speaker 7 (51:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (51:13):
All right.

Speaker 5 (51:13):
So everyone's no then on Caleb Williams. That's how you
have to do it. If Goff is on, I would
have Caleb Williams over Jared Goff, which is why I
was thinking about it.

Speaker 3 (51:23):
You should have voted then.

Speaker 5 (51:24):
Yeah, but we we've done this before where we've just
had a lot of yeses.

Speaker 4 (51:29):
And then at the end, we sort of.

Speaker 2 (51:30):
My opinion, you guys have yours. I mean, that's what
I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (51:33):
So, yeah, so I have.

Speaker 4 (51:35):
So ultimately, it's yes or no on Caleb Williams.

Speaker 6 (51:39):
Oh, well, I still stand by what I said about
Caleb Williams before.

Speaker 4 (51:46):
Okay, so you're voting yes.

Speaker 2 (51:47):
This isn't like it's easy.

Speaker 4 (51:49):
Okay, then I'll vote yes as well.

Speaker 7 (51:50):
So you're voting, I'm going to vote no because I
thought we already put golf on.

Speaker 4 (51:54):
You did.

Speaker 2 (51:54):
Yeah, I'm not taking golf off.

Speaker 4 (51:56):
Okay, so we're split on that.

Speaker 7 (51:58):
So let's talk about Brock Purdy and Caleb Williams because
that's really what this conversation has come down to. And
I think that's totally fine because honestly, their highs are
very similar. They take care of the football both. similarly
very very well they define now their franchises um i
i think for me i've seen more data with brock

(52:19):
purdy and i've seen more consistency over a couple of
years this last year for caleb was so exciting thinking
about what he can be and what he will be
into the future Um, I really, really like, I know
we're trying to separate these things, but I really, really
like for both of these players, the skill guys and
the coaching around them as well. Um, this to me

(52:40):
is incorrect. Like it's incredibly tough. I could talk myself
into or out of either of them. Truly.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
So what about the swing vote here? Cause earlier you
said that you'd like to see him do more of
the mundane. So here's, here's, I'm going to put the
categorized to swing vote who epitomizes running their coaches scheme best.

Speaker 7 (52:59):
Hmm.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
And to me, that's a slam dunk.

Speaker 3 (53:02):
Uh-huh.

Speaker 4 (53:03):
And Purdy also....

Speaker 5 (53:06):
Jumps out of that scheme, I think, in a way
that pleases Kyle Shanahan occasionally. Like, he does improvise. He
does have a lot of big-time plays, although last year
he made quiet growth in, like, preventing the big mistakes.

Speaker 6 (53:18):
I think that he's the more polished of the two options,
and the consistency, as you mentioned, that kind of got me.

Speaker 3 (53:26):
Like, we've seen more. We've seen the body of work
a little bit more, so we know.

Speaker 7 (53:29):
It's a similar argument that I made for what I
love so much about how I've seen Jordan Love grow, right,
is because.

Speaker 3 (53:36):
He.

Speaker 7 (53:36):
Can take in the entire, uh, like infrastructure and ecosystem.
He can run it and bring it to life at
a much higher level than maybe it would look like
with another quarterback. But when he can, when the coach
maybe fails or the coach maybe needs him to do
to help make him right, quote unquote, he can take
the pencil. and color all outside the lines, but it

(53:56):
all makes sense. And that's what I think. I think
Caleb is on his way to doing that. And certainly
the high, high splash play, like the really cool plays
are among the best in the entire league right now.
But I think over time, it's like, I'm really, I
love seeing Brock Purdy break out of this like system.

Speaker 4 (54:13):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 7 (54:14):
Like I love seeing him be able to take Kyle
Shanahan's pencil and like color outside the lines in a
way that still makes sense and lifts the offense.

Speaker 4 (54:23):
I agree.

Speaker 5 (54:24):
I am voting yes on Brock Purdy for the presumptive
final spot on Quarterback Island.

Speaker 3 (54:36):
Eric starts playing us off. Eric's really sweaty back there.

Speaker 4 (54:42):
I know. I feel like I need to exhale. I need.

Speaker 2 (54:45):
That was nerve wracking. I think because we've put some
slam dunks on so quickly.

Speaker 3 (54:51):
Should I make us martinis now or what? Yes.

Speaker 5 (54:55):
So we have Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson,
Matthew Stafford. We have Justin Herbert. That's number six. Dak Prescott.
Jordan Love. Jared Goff. Drake May. Sam Darnold. And Brock Purdy.

Speaker 2 (55:16):
More proof that the NFC West is the best division.

Speaker 4 (55:18):
And as much of a relief.

Speaker 5 (55:23):
that that all felt like, it's actually not over because
I'm going to use my ripcord right now.

Speaker 4 (55:28):
More riptide. Jared Goff, you're coming off.

Speaker 5 (55:33):
I just feel too strongly that I like Caleb Williams
and that he makes more sense for this exercise coming
into this season. And that once I got here, I've
actually never even used one, I don't think.

Speaker 4 (55:43):
So what the hell? Nobody has. Nobody has.

Speaker 3 (55:45):
This is the first ever riptide.

Speaker 5 (55:47):
It's like having challenges that you never use in your pocket.

Speaker 4 (55:50):
Let's go. I'm taking Goff on.

Speaker 7 (55:54):
Are you comfortable, Greg? This is the one time you
can use this.

Speaker 4 (55:57):
Never used it before.

Speaker 5 (55:58):
And I'm bringing Caleb Williams up for a vote that
this is the dude when we all convened at the
end of last season. It wasn't 12 quarterbacks. It wasn't
10 quarterbacks. It was eight quarterbacks.

Speaker 3 (56:13):
A lot of guys were hurt.

Speaker 4 (56:14):
He was one of the guys.

Speaker 2 (56:17):
That was there.

Speaker 5 (56:17):
You know who wasn't hurt and who wasn't on the island?
Jared freaking Goff. And you know who was? And since then,
all this kid has done, you said, you know, Sam
Darnold is one of the youngest quarterbacks in the league.
I mean, Sam Darnold was one of the worst quarterbacks
in NFL history when he was Caleb Williams' age.

Speaker 4 (56:34):
This kid is a true kid. I mean, he is
24 years old. He is ascending.

Speaker 5 (56:39):
If you ask all the sixth graders that my son,
you know, are in school.

Speaker 4 (56:44):
With, Caleb Williams or Jared Goff? Every single one of
them is saying Caleb Williams. You know what I mean?
They might not even know Jared Goff.

Speaker 3 (56:51):
We're going to need to put that to the test.
That is some real analysis right there.

Speaker 4 (56:54):
Caleb Williams, you're on.

Speaker 7 (56:57):
Listen.

Speaker 2 (56:57):
I mean, I'm down.

Speaker 3 (56:58):
I mean, you said it with your chest.

Speaker 7 (57:00):
Listen, if you are going to use the riptide, he
is the correct person to put on. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (57:04):
I mean, look, I've got no issue with Caleb Williams.
I think Jared Goff is the more refined. But the
splash plays, the excitement stuff. Okay. The Bears?

Speaker 4 (57:14):
Defining the position. The Bears. The Bears have a lot
of juice in them.

Speaker 2 (57:18):
I mean, it's... I don't have that... I have an issue,
but I don't have an issue like Jordan said.

Speaker 4 (57:24):
We can't... Look, I love Jared Goff. I voted yes.
I thought.

Speaker 5 (57:27):
I was definitely hot on him, and then I think
once we got the numbers down.

Speaker 4 (57:31):
Yeah, that's the thing.

Speaker 2 (57:31):
We have dunked a couple guys too soon on this.

Speaker 3 (57:34):
But note, if Jared Goff isn't on this list... I
don't know how I feel about the list.

Speaker 7 (57:39):
This is honestly some expert takesmanship by Greg because he
did vote yes for Jared Goff earlier in the show.
So technically he can't be wrong when this comes back
in a couple of weeks.

Speaker 3 (57:51):
So I just want that to be said also.

Speaker 4 (57:53):
I guess 12 was a good number. It ended up
being good.

Speaker 3 (57:55):
Oh, I guess it was. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (57:57):
Here's the one thing, though. On the island, is there
an adult swim since now we're including the sixth grade class?

Speaker 3 (58:02):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (58:03):
We have to have an adult swim there.

Speaker 3 (58:05):
Analysis.

Speaker 4 (58:06):
I'm just saying.

Speaker 7 (58:07):
Listen, I do think, to me, it feels like, I
wish we could have both. It feels right that both
of these are on the island. However, if you are
going to, and I have to be, it's my rule.
I have to respect my rule. You're going to use
the Riptide. and pull Jared Goff off, we can no
longer argue about Jared Goff. We have to argue who
goes on, and that would be Caleb Williams.

Speaker 2 (58:27):
Caleb's on.

Speaker 6 (58:28):
I think that we should note it on social that
Greg gives the riptide.

Speaker 3 (58:33):
Yeah, take golf off.

Speaker 4 (58:34):
I'm sure that'll translate easily.

Speaker 3 (58:36):
Yeah, people will know exactly what you mean immediately.

Speaker 4 (58:39):
I don't even know. Riptide, ripcord. Eric points out that I.

Speaker 3 (58:43):
We got both this episode.

Speaker 4 (58:45):
That I infamously used the Riptide for Gino.

Speaker 2 (58:48):
You did.

Speaker 4 (58:48):
Yes, you did.

Speaker 2 (58:50):
You did. Nice call.

Speaker 7 (58:51):
I do have to ask you this. Are you comfortable
with the fact that you.

Speaker 4 (58:55):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (58:55):
You've Riptided so early.

Speaker 4 (58:57):
It's one of those.

Speaker 5 (58:58):
It's one of those situations where if you've got a
good use for it, you use it.

Speaker 2 (59:02):
There you go.

Speaker 4 (59:02):
You don't want to go into the.

Speaker 2 (59:03):
Office and wonder. Start it off. Make everybody else play
their way on. See if they can pump them.

Speaker 3 (59:06):
Riptide it too soon.

Speaker 2 (59:09):
All right.

Speaker 4 (59:10):
No comment.

Speaker 5 (59:12):
Colleen, what a treat to have you back in this studio. Steve,
what a treat to have you back. We will try
to get this exact foursome together for every single quarterback island.

Speaker 4 (59:23):
And as Jordan mentioned earlier, it is quarterly.

Speaker 5 (59:26):
So we will be scheduled to meet Hopefully after week four,
if that jibes with Colleen's international schedule.

Speaker 4 (59:33):
Maybe week five.

Speaker 2 (59:34):
Week five is when the international stuff starts.

Speaker 4 (59:37):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (59:37):
We got to do it before Colleen goes overseas again.
Although she's going over to Australia.

Speaker 3 (59:41):
Down under.

Speaker 5 (59:43):
We'll be busy on NFL Network. He was on Good
Morning Football today. He's going to be on the Insiders.

Speaker 2 (59:48):
Talking ball.

Speaker 4 (59:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (59:50):
And Jordan will be back later this week when we
do all of our predictions.

Speaker 4 (59:53):
Let's hit the music. Let's get out of here. What
a treat to be back.

Speaker 3 (59:58):
Quarterback guys go birds

Speaker 5 (01:00:03):
How are the dogs by the way they're good