May 30, 2025 • 29 mins
On today’s episode, Jason discusses the likelihood that the New York Knicks can force a Game 7 after beating the Indiana Pacers to stave off elimination in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Later, USA TODAY NFL national reporter Tyler Dragon swings by to discuss why he expects rookie Shedeur Sanders will end the season as the Cleveland Browns QB1, where he stands on Jalen Hurts vs Jayden Daniels as the best quarterback in the NFC, why he's expecting big bounce back years are in store for the San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals, why Bill Belichick can't get a job in the NFL right now, and much 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 McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
What is up Straight fire fighting?
Speaker 3 (00:12):
It's me Jason McIntyre. Straight Foyer for Friday, May the thirtieth.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Folks feel the excitement. The New York Knicks force a
game six.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Ah. The Nicks show up big time at home at
the Garden, wire to wire win over the Pacers. Although
it was one of those you could tell early Pacers
didn't really have it, didn't look locked in. They were like, hey,
can we go just go back and win this a
game six at home? We'll talk about that shortly. Also,
new guest on the pod, Tyler Dragon, covers the NFL
for USA Today. We talk about the off season weirdly,
(00:49):
some interesting quarterback takes from Tyler Dragon.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I'll just leave it at that.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
We'll get to that, but I've got to start talking
about my Knicks and listen. I was amped for this,
not only because I'm hosting the herd to and oh
by the way all of next week and I.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Need some content. I need some good stuff to talk about.
Pacers win ends it and it would have been disappointing.
So the Knicks win now.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Game six set for Saturday in Indianapolis. Have not seen
a line. I would assume the Pacers are gonna be
small favorites. Listen, Indiana came out pretty lethargic and I've
got some staggering numbers for you. So they're starters for
the entire game.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Scored thirty five points. That's it. They were not locked
in early.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Remember Game four first quarter, the Pacers scored forty three
points in the first half. Last night they had forty
five points. So the Knicks actually played defense. It was
a combination of things. The Knicks were locked in defensively,
no doubt about that, for the first time all series.
They won the turnover battle first time. And number two,
(01:54):
the Pacers just they I don't want to say we're
going through the motions, but they weren't as dialed in
as you'd expect a team that could possibly close it
out and get some rest. Aaron Smith, the hero of
Game one, who had eight of nine threes, shocker, he
only played sixteen minutes, one of eight from the field.
It looked like essentially he was bench for poor defense
(02:15):
and inability to shoot. Miles Turner again, some silly fouls
limited to twenty four minutes, but the real story of
the Pacers was Haliburton. What the helly Terrese Haliburton coming
off the first thirty fifteen to ten game in NBA
playoff history with zero turnovers, right, he followed that up
(02:37):
with an eight six to two game. Yes, eight points,
six assists, two rebounds. I mean he didn't make a
shot for the first quarter and a third quarter and
a half.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
It just looked like one of those weird performances from
the Pacers. The good news, though, if you are in
Indiana fan looking forward, Ben Matherin had another really good game,
twenty three points in twenty five minutes. Two straight games
he's top twenty points.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
This dude is a bucket getter.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
And I'm just telling you the Pacers bench going home
is gonna have some added confidence. Obi Toppin was okay,
just couldn't make any threes. I don't know, man, I'm
nervous undeniably about the Knicks going to Indian Game six. However,
I mentioned the Pacer starter scored thirty five points. Jalen
Brunson himself had thirty two. He clearly heard Halliburton's better.
(03:28):
Halliburton had the greatest game ever in playoff history for
a point, card and Jalen Brunson came out thirty two
points in thirty four minutes, twelve of eighteen, shooting a
clean thirty two, five and five in total control, banging
the three. It was an outstanding game from Jalen Brunson.
He carried and the Knicks advance to a game six.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
That's all it is.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Survive in advance, get get to another game. You never
know what can happen right now. Last year, if you
guys remember, Nicks led the Pacers three to two, went
to Indye, lost, came back home and then the injuries
happened and it got ugly. Anything can happen. It is
the postseason. And Karl Anthony Town's knee looked fine. He
(04:08):
was a monster despite some goofy fouls. Goodness, Karl Anthony Towns,
clean it up, my guy, even Stan van Gundy. There
was a hilarious moment end of the third quarter. Essentially
the final five minutes of the quarter. Towns was bench
because he had four fouls, so like, we can't risk
getting the fifth. They put him on the bench, and
then there was like one second left after a travel
by Matherin and Thibodeau was like ooh oh, let's let's
(04:31):
try to get Karl Anthony Towns to three or so
whatever he was dialing up, and stan Van Gunny's like, ooh,
this is I wouldn't put Towns back in. He does
some crazy things out there. He might pick up, he
might set an illegal screen. I could not stop laughing.
I'll say this, stan Van Gundy has been tremendous in
the postseason, whether it was NCAA tournament or these NBA games.
(04:52):
I really like the cut of his jib. I think
he's a great announcer and I'm looking forward now. The
problem is, Saturday night is a a busy night in
the first weekend of June. You've got a lot of
high school starting to let out. You got high school
people are just busy, and this is a tough time.
And I'm gonna be honest with you guys. It's gonna
be difficult for me to watch the entire game. I
(05:15):
am I It's gonna be to I'll be Unfortunately, I
have my phone charge and I'll be ready to go. Also,
this weekend Dodgers Yankees, I am lucky enough that I've
been able to finagle some tickets, so I'm gonna be
going to one of those games. It's a huge sports
weekend ahead. I'm fired up. But without further ado, let's
get to our guest USA Today NFL writer Tyler Dragon.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live. You know, Jason likes to think he knows
everything when it comes to sports.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I know what sports fans want.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
But for everything he doesn't, he knows the guy who does.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Let's just say I know a guy who knows the
guy who knows another guy.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
All right, let's welcome into straight Fire a new face.
You know how we do up in here. We try
to get some new guys on the rise. Let's welcome
in Tyler Dragon. USA Today covers the NFL. You know, Tyler,
First of all, welcome to straight Fire. Great to have you.
But like it started to be a downtime in the NBA,
the playoffs winding down, the finals, that's all this left,
(06:27):
and then.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
We turned our attention back to football.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
And it's weird because I'm looking at like the quarterback
battles in OTA's in a round. There just aren't many
right now right other than Cleveland, maybe Indy, New Orleans.
Nothing real sexy out there right.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Well, Indianapolis for sure has a quarterback competition. You would
think Anthony Richardson should win that job. If he's the
quarterback who he thinks he is and whoever, I mean,
first round draft pick, he should win that job. But yeah,
in Cleveland, it's going to be interesting because a lot
(07:04):
of people think maybe it's Joe Flacco, the whole wiley
veteran gonna win the job. Cany Pickett, maybe a reclamation
project he learned under the wings in Philadelphia, or Shador
Sanders or Dylan Gabriel. And to me, if I'm the
(07:24):
Cleveland Browns GM head coach, I'm giving Shador Sanders every
reason to start. To me, he was the second best
quarterback in this year's NFL draft. I talked to a
lot of people around the NFL, a lot of sources,
and they were telling me that there were multiple reasons
why Chador fell down in the draft, and probably the
last in that list was his talent. So overall, I
(07:49):
do think he's probably the best quarterback.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
In that room.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
And that's not saying much because it's not a vaunted
quarterback competition in Cleveland at all. So yeah, I think
those are the two teams up the biggest quarterback competitions
heading into OTA's in mini camp.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
So that's weird.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
So I was all about Shador ahead of the draft.
I was like, you gotta take him, uh in the
top five. I would have taken him second. And then
he plummets to the fifth route and you're like, whoa.
There have to be red flags we don't know about.
Nothing has totally emerged.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
But here's my thing.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
If all these people you talk to love him and
think he's so talented, like, why wouldn't they draft him earlier?
Like even if you're like, hey, we could use a backup,
We'll take him third round. Like if that's the case,
if so many people loved him, why didn't anyone take
a chance on him before the fifth?
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Well there are a lot of off the field things,
like his personality that he got a larger than life personality,
him and his father.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
And you look when you're seeing all the rookies that.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Got drafted and this year's draft, who's getting the most
limelight now? Camillore is Changs and no matter where he's
going to be picked. So if you do wherever you're
going to draft him, he's going to take away from
a lot of spotlight. Then there's the Dion Sanders effect.
You know, his dad is out there, maybe his dad
wants to be a head coach in the NFL in
(09:09):
a couple of years, then a lot of teams were
turned off that he did not participate in NFL Combine,
nor the Senior Bowl or the East Rest Shrine Game.
And so when you're looking at all that, it was
a domino effect of a lot of things that happened
Todor now his film, I'm not going to say that
(09:29):
this year's quarterback class was one of the best as
we've seen in recent memory, or Shador Sanders is a
bona fide star in this league. To me, his NFL
is Teddy Bridgewater. Teddy Bridgewater was a pretty good starter
before he injured his knee. Pro Bowl type quarterback, fringe,
pro bole type quarterback. But you can win games a
(09:52):
game manager knew how to get delivered the ball.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
With accuracy precision.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Shador Sanders is like that now with him what that
bag is though people probably wanted to drafted Teddy Bidgwater
as high if he had a lot of that off
the field hoopla and a lot of scrutiny, a lot
of headlines, so that played a role in it.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
But Chador had.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
A really good quote during mini camp. He pretty much
said he doesn't have to prove people wrong. He has
to prove himself right. So if he's a quarterback who
he believes he is, and if he proves himself right,
he should be the starting quarterback, especially that Deshaun Wasston
is probably going to be out for all this coming
(10:35):
season with his achilles injuries. So I do believe when
it's all said, Shador is going to win that starting job.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
But here's my thing.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
So Kevin Stefanski knows quarterbacks, obviously, very sharp, offensive mind,
Coach of the Year, all that fun stuff. He decided
to take Dylan Gabriel earlier than anybody had him projected. Okay,
you know, like I do mock drafts for Fox Sports,
everybody doing their mates, they were all way wrong on
Dylan Gabriel. The guy who's one coach of the Year.
(11:04):
He wanted Dylan Gabriel and he got in two rounds
before Shaduur. To me, that's a clear sign that's the
guy I want to run my offense. So from my perspective,
it's like I think, not only does Shaudur have to
pass Dylan Gabriel, but he's also got to pass one
of the vets either Picket or Flackoh my guess his
picket gets flipped sometime when somebody gets injured before the season.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
At quarterback and somebody gets picket.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
But like, don't you think Shadour has to beat out
Gabriel And it's a tall order given that Sefenski clearly
liked Gabriel.
Speaker 5 (11:37):
Yeah, now, don't get me wrong, it's the competition.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Now.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
I'm not saying that he's a starter right now or
has doesn't have his work cut out for When even
rookie mini camps started, Dylan Gabriel was the first one
up getting those reps before Shador Sanders. So if Shadoor
is gonna win that starting job, he'll have to have
earned it, and I just believe that he is going to.
(12:01):
When I look at Dylan Gabriel, when you look at
his film in college, yes he was a productive quarterback.
Speaker 5 (12:07):
He was pretty good.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
But Shador Sanders' tape is night and day better, and
then can he Pickett now? Unless can he Pickett got
improved tremendously. I believe Shador is better than him, and
Joe Flacco is what Joe Flacco is. He's a show
of himself at this day in Asia, and he's passed
his prime.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
Yes he still has a big arm. Yes he can still.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Win you a few games, but he's a bridge quarterback
at this point, a short term answer. So I really
do think it's gonna be Shador that. I mean, it
may not be week one, maybe not even week two,
but give it to week four. I'm willing to bet
you Jason. By week four, Shador is gonna be a starter.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
So your guests, who starts more games this year? Shador
or Dylan Gabriel Shador?
Speaker 5 (12:53):
I'm positive of that.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Do you think over under Shador starts. I'll give it
like two and a half.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Work way over, really, way over.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
I think Shador starts at least six seven games.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
Wow, six seven games.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I get that's bold, and I like the bold takes,
but I just can't get over the fact that Kevin
Stefanski is the one calling the shots and he didn't
like Shador.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Or he would have taken him early or before Dylan gets.
Speaker 5 (13:23):
A strong word, didn't like him because they won the
draft him.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
If a Kosha just flat out didn't like, well that's
a strong word.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Now, I say didn't like because like you had the
opportunity at two and then in the second round.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
There so many opportunities.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
And then there's the take of hey man, he took
Dylan Gabriel. What if the owner said, hey man, we
got to take Shador.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
We could use the pop.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
It's going to get a social media I'm so you see, uh,
Ain't nobody talking about the New Orleans Saints quarterback battle
or the Colts.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
It's all Shadour in the Browns.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
So I wonder if Haslam was like, let's just draft
this guy just simply for the buzz and and all
that extra curricular stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Like owners love that. Coaches they don't like it as much.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
But if Kevin Sevanski liked Dylan Gabriel so much, why
did the Browns draft Shador A couple of rounds after?
You can go to the reverse of that as well.
It's gonna be interesting to see how how it plays out. Now,
I will say this, Dylan Gabriel is going to get
just as much of an opportunity to play as Shador Sanders,
because based on what I'm hearing out of Cleveland, Gabriel
(14:30):
has gotten reps before Shador, especially during you know, rookie
mini camp. We'll see what happens during mandatory mini camp
and you know when OTAs go on to Phase three.
But it is when you just when you just simply
just look at the tape, do the eye test. Jason,
you cannot tell me that Chador is not a better.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
I would have taken Shador early.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
I'm just saying I look at the coach and his
decision to me is more of a tell than I
don't care what the tape says.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
What you and I think are other teams.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Like Stefanski's the one calling the shots, and it's like
he must love Gabriel, which I don't totally get. And
I had a guest on I think was Tom pelosorrow
NFL Network. He's like, listen, Stefanski loves the guy's character,
quick release, quick red to the defense, Like that's the
kind of guy he wants. And now coaches, you know,
we struggle with the quarterback position. And I'm gonna ask
you something about this list in a minute, But like,
(15:24):
I don't know these coaches many they're weird, they're different animals.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
If I could just say that, Yeah, And there were
several factors that played out that made Shador Sanders ball though.
And you know, like we mentioned before, it was some
of the off field things, whether it's his personality, whether
it's all the attention that comes with his name, whether
he turned off people were not competing at the Combine,
(15:51):
the East West Shrine game, So there were multiple factors. Yes,
talent was among them, but what I heard and that
was way down the list.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
I'm curious, do you think, if let's just say week one,
can you Pikets the starter, Dylan Gabriel's the backup, Schador's inactive.
Do you think Dion will put a comment out there
in the media, because you know at the Colorado game
they're gonna ask Dion about it.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
Son.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Do you think he'll be able to hold back or
will he just be like, man, that's garbage. The Browns
are screwing him and that's the kind of thing that
may have steered teams away from it.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
I've never known Dion to hold back, so hey, Dad,
put a cork, Come on, Yeah, I would imagine he
was to say something, he might dial it back a
little bit. Maybe he won't call out the organization or
the code, but to me, he'll probably say have something
to say.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
So sticking with quarterbacks real quick. I got into a
big discussion with cow Hurt about this. So pro football,
for everybody does a list of the best quarterbacks. But
the weird thing is everybody agrees that there's four guys
head and shoulders of O the rest of the league, Mahomes,
Alan Jackson, and Joe Burrow. Those guys are the four elite.
I don't think anybody would argue that there's someone in
(17:20):
that group that's not in there.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
But since you do top fives, I having just.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Watched Jalen Hurts again get to the Super Bowl win
the MVP.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
I look at Hurts's numbers. He went from the pocket,
he was with his legs. I think Hurts is a clear.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Fifth best quarterback in the league. And I'm getting all
kinds of pushback from people. Well, he was a second
round pick, and some games he throws for ninety seven
yards and I'm just like, I don't get the Jalen
Hurts dislike, do you have a guy who is right
on the heels of those big four or maybe you
have somebody who just cracks that big four makes it
a big five.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
It's funny because I get asked this question a lot.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
A couple of years ago, I would have said without
a dall is just and Herbert, But justin Herbert's kind
of slipped a little bit. No playoff wins, that last
playoff lost in Houston, and what was a you know,
a black stain in his career.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
Is gonna have to come back from that.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
C J.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
Stroud.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I think before this had the start of the regular season,
especially coming off that rookie campaign, you could put him
at five.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
What about Jayden Daniels.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
I can't off one year. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
To me, it's probably Jaden Daniels and then Jalen Hurts.
Jaden Daniels, in my opinion, is better than Jalen Hurts
right right now based on what he did. But yes,
he has to do it again this coming season. Let's
see what he does in year two is sophomore year
year three. Uh, it's hard to knock Jalen hurtself. Now
(18:47):
he's a super Bowl champion. He's really out beforming Patrick
Mahomes twice. But he does have a lot of help
around Now. If Patrick Mahomes has Saquon Barkley in the
back field, who in that offensive line?
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Who knows what he can do?
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Patrick Mahone's only lost two Super Bowls because his offensive lines.
Speaker 5 (19:07):
Have failed him.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
So let's give credit where credits due. Jalen Hurts does
have a lot of talent around him. Arguably the best
receiving corps in NFL, especially in the NFC top five
tight end, one of the best defensive tackles in all football,
so he has a lot of that. Howie Roseman built
(19:28):
that team beautifully. The Eagles are loaded even again this year.
But I will probably say Jade and Daniels five and
then C. J. Stroud followed by Herbs Stroud.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Oh my god, think I took sixty three sacks last year?
What was terrible?
Speaker 3 (19:48):
But you know they do this charting of eating sacks
and Stroud it was responsible for a lot of those.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
He didn't have a great year.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
I gotta I gotta say that the one thing I
don't like is this. And I'm not saying you necessarily
did it or cowhard, but in general, if you're a
first round pick, you seem to get the benefit of
the doubt.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
All I hear with Hurtz and brock perty are well,
look at the roster. I mean, look look at it.
They got a stack deck.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
And I'm like, okay, Well, if Patrick Mahomes is drafted
by the Saints or some other bad organization, is he
Patrick Mahomes. I mean he got Andy Reid, Like that's
not bad. Justin Herbert, I love him. I went to Chargers,
took my kids to the Chargers Minnie camp. It was awesome,
Like Herbert's awesome. Like you said, he doesn't have a
playoff win. He just got gifted Jim Harbaugh and then
(20:37):
vomited all over himself in the playoff game on the road.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
And it's like, you know, I get Lamar Jackson two vps.
He's phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Every year they improved the roster, and it's the same
story every postseason.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
He just can't.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
He doesn't get it done. And so I know Mark
Andrews with the drop, Okay, but like It is weird.
These first round quarterbacks seem to get the extra benefit
of the doubt, whereas Brock Brock perty could win the
Super this year, win the MVP, and they're still well,
look at the team he's got.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Kyle Shanahan. I'm like, God, we greet Kyle Shannan's good.
What's Kyle Shanahan one? Tyler like he's a great coach?
What's he won?
Speaker 3 (21:13):
It's just these discussions are fun and the subjective, but
it just it always seems to like hurts his ding
because he was his second round pick.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
Well, I'm even dinging the top.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
All these quarterbacks have you know, black marks on their
career now.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
And it's what the exception.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
Probably Mahomes because really his two losses I don't even
put on him.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
But Josh Allen's never won.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
A big one. You've mentioned Lamar, the Ravens always flame out.
AFC Championship Game, Divisional round. Joe Burrow, he's gonna have
an injury prone bug on him now and he has
to remain healthy now.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
When he is healthy, he's productive.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
But the Bengals missed the playoffs last year, so that
fifth spot is fluid and right now, coming off.
Speaker 5 (21:59):
Of this past season.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Jayden Daniels impressed me probably more than any other new
coming quarterback. Probably the best rookie quarterback I have seen
in the NFL in recent memory. So that's why I
have him at that five spot, and then C. J.
Stroud has seas and seven is not bad. Seven best
quarterback in the NFL. If your top ten quarterback in
(22:23):
the NFL, in my opinion, you can win the Super
Bowl with that.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Yeah, Stafford obviously has a It's just weird that, like
Hurts has a Super Bowl win. He was phenomenal. Stafford
has a game winning drive in the Super Bowl. He's outstanding.
It makes you wonder with Stafford, what if he ever
had coaching or a team in Detroit. He was surrounded
by an aptitude some of the worst defenses ever. I
just have a hard time putting Stroud up there and
Jayden Daniels. It was one season, Tyler, come on.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
But did you see that one season?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
It was incredible.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
I mean it was phenomenal to the NFC Championship game
in that one season.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Yeah, I mean, I know they got smashed by Hurts
by like thirty, but nevertheles. You know, you're right, Daniels
was tremendous. I would have him top ten, but I
know it's just a tough one for me. All right,
let's move on from quarterbacks here for a sec. Do
you have and I know, again it's a summer, there's
a lot to go. Is there a team that didn't
make the playoffs in each conference who maybe you look
(23:16):
at this year and is like, that's a team I'm
buying because we know every year, I think if there's
like three or four new playoff teams every year, So
is there someone that you're eyeing as like, oh, keep
an eye on that team?
Speaker 4 (23:27):
Well, I mean, I hate to sound like a broken record,
but I'm going to say the forty nine ers in
the NFC. Yeah, people are overlooking the forty nine ers. Yes,
Deebo Samuel's gun. They lost a lot of talent on defense.
But if Christian McCaffrey comes back healthy, You've got George Kittle,
Brandon Au comes back healthy, Trent Williams.
Speaker 5 (23:47):
I mean, when those guys.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Are on the field, and now you re signed Brock
Perdy to a mega extension, the forty nine ers, check
their record, They're almost unbeatable. When those guys are healthy,
on the field. Yes, that defense has to jail. Yes,
Nick Bosa has to remain healthy as well. But the
forty nine ers, they're getting overlooked, and the AFC just
(24:09):
mentioned it. The Cincinnati Bengals, Yeah, I mean Joe Burrow
as long as see can stay healthy. They have the
best receiving corps in all of football, and Jamar Chase
and t Higgins. That defense is what everybody's gonna be
looking at. Can that defense not be historically bad? Can
you make some stops, two or three stops a game?
(24:29):
Because we all know that offense is going to score
twenty five thirty points a game. They're going to be
in the end though, and they're going to be a
high powered, potent offense with Joe Burrow and those guys
that receiver. But if that defense can just improve a
little bit. They got Golden the defensive coordin out of
Notre Dames, so you would think he can have some
(24:50):
tweaks to improve that defense. But yeah, I think the
Bengals are a team to look out for an AFC,
and they're a playoff team as well.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
I don't disagree with all although they got to fix
Hendrickson thing man without him I don't know if you
saw the numbers without him on the field, they're the
worst defense in the league in multiple categories, Like they're bad.
We could wrap up with this, and this is a
tough one because, like it is college football. But he's
an NFL legend and that's just Bill Belichick stuff. So
here's the problem, Tyler. It clicks through the roof. People
(25:18):
are obsessed, Oh shocker with a seventy three year old
dating some hot twenty four year old. Right, they're into that,
and you do it on a podcast, you write about it,
you talk about people are into it. I gotta be honest.
I don't know if he's ever going to coach in
the NFL again. I know that a lot of people
are like, always too old, he's to control freaky.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Do you think it's over for Belichick? It just feels
it strikes me.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
As weird that we give so many quarterbacks multiple chances.
Bill Bill Belichick's winning his coach in NFL history when
it comes to Super Bowls and success. Are you kind
of surprised he's not coaching in the NFL this year?
Speaker 5 (25:56):
It is funny. You have to get this all season.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
I feel like it's best now my timeline is all
like Stefan Diggs, Cardi B and Bill Belichick and his girlfriend.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
So it's like, man, this is the NFL content right
now during this time of year.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
But I mean to Bill Belichick, I think a lot
of NFL gms and owners kind of look at him
and say, is he passed his prime coaching wise? Because
it really ended kind of ugly in New England, it
did not end well. He really hires a lot of
guys that he knows cronyism. I mean, he hires his
(26:34):
guys that will do the Bill Belichick type Patriots way,
and teams are kind of moving on from that. These offenses,
these offensive coordinators are more innovative.
Speaker 5 (26:46):
Defenses are becoming more innovative.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
And Bill Belichick has that, you know, old school Bill
par Sales type of head coaching style. And I just
think a lot of these franchise a kind of moving
on and transitioning me out of that. Because when you're
seventy plus years old as a head coach, a lot
of these times these athletes kind of tune you out.
(27:10):
A lot of these NFL athletes are in twenty one,
twenty two, twenty three, and your head coach.
Speaker 5 (27:15):
Is not ten years older than him, not twenty.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
Years old, at fifty years older than you, like, he's
like your great grandpa's cage almost. So there becomes a
time where these head coaches their voice does not resonate
in the locker room as it once did before. Even
when you're Bill Belichick arguably the best coach in NFL history.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
That's interesting. So do you have any read on how
he'll do it?
Speaker 3 (27:40):
North Carolina college football has changed so much.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
I do think the Bill Belichick's name still has that
mystique and he's still even though his coaches are not
very successful as head coaches, they are successful, you know,
coordinate and assistant coaches.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
I do think they'll be competitive.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Now.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
Are they going to be a college football playoff team? No,
but they'll be better than they were in the previous years.
Went on the new other regimes.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Do you kind of blush when they're like, hey, can
you write about Belichick and the girl?
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Are you like?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
I don't know, because when they come to me and
they're like, hey, how about this segment, I'm like, I
don't want to touch it, guys, I just don't.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I don't like again, I know that Bill Belichick.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
I'm sure they're happy. I just find it a little
weird to talk about.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
I do not like talking about players personal lives, so
I rarely touch the Bill Belichick, the Stefan Dave's Cardi B.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
I don't oh wait, hold on, what's the Cardi B thing?
Speaker 3 (28:40):
I know that I saw the digs on a boat
with all these chicks, and he's offering him some sort.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
He's dating Cardi B now, and he was on the
boat with Cardi B.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
But he was with some chicks at the time when
Cardi B was somewhere else and passed along at substance
that nobody knows what sell.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Yeah, yeah, Stefan, I'm sure that vrabel absolutely loves that.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
And he's not at O T A S. By the way,
he's on the boat, you know, passing around.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
I'm sure he's rehabbing with with the with the the
I G batties.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
That's the way to rehab. They maybe quick way, quick recovery.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Yes, certainly, all right, Tyler Dragon USA today, great stuff, man,
Thanks for taking the time, buddy
Speaker 5 (29:20):
Thanks for having me, and have a good one.
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
What is up Straight fire fighting?
Speaker 3 (00:12):
It's me Jason McIntyre. Straight Foyer for Friday, May the thirtieth.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Folks feel the excitement. The New York Knicks force a
game six.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Ah. The Nicks show up big time at home at
the Garden, wire to wire win over the Pacers. Although
it was one of those you could tell early Pacers
didn't really have it, didn't look locked in. They were like, hey,
can we go just go back and win this a
game six at home? We'll talk about that shortly. Also,
new guest on the pod, Tyler Dragon, covers the NFL
for USA Today. We talk about the off season weirdly,
(00:49):
some interesting quarterback takes from Tyler Dragon.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I'll just leave it at that.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
We'll get to that, but I've got to start talking
about my Knicks and listen. I was amped for this,
not only because I'm hosting the herd to and oh
by the way all of next week and I.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Need some content. I need some good stuff to talk about.
Pacers win ends it and it would have been disappointing.
So the Knicks win now.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Game six set for Saturday in Indianapolis. Have not seen
a line. I would assume the Pacers are gonna be
small favorites. Listen, Indiana came out pretty lethargic and I've
got some staggering numbers for you. So they're starters for
the entire game.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Scored thirty five points. That's it. They were not locked
in early.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Remember Game four first quarter, the Pacers scored forty three
points in the first half. Last night they had forty
five points. So the Knicks actually played defense. It was
a combination of things. The Knicks were locked in defensively,
no doubt about that, for the first time all series.
They won the turnover battle first time. And number two,
(01:54):
the Pacers just they I don't want to say we're
going through the motions, but they weren't as dialed in
as you'd expect a team that could possibly close it
out and get some rest. Aaron Smith, the hero of
Game one, who had eight of nine threes, shocker, he
only played sixteen minutes, one of eight from the field.
It looked like essentially he was bench for poor defense
(02:15):
and inability to shoot. Miles Turner again, some silly fouls
limited to twenty four minutes, but the real story of
the Pacers was Haliburton. What the helly Terrese Haliburton coming
off the first thirty fifteen to ten game in NBA
playoff history with zero turnovers, right, he followed that up
(02:37):
with an eight six to two game. Yes, eight points,
six assists, two rebounds. I mean he didn't make a
shot for the first quarter and a third quarter and
a half.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
It just looked like one of those weird performances from
the Pacers. The good news, though, if you are in
Indiana fan looking forward, Ben Matherin had another really good game,
twenty three points in twenty five minutes. Two straight games
he's top twenty points.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
This dude is a bucket getter.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
And I'm just telling you the Pacers bench going home
is gonna have some added confidence. Obi Toppin was okay,
just couldn't make any threes. I don't know, man, I'm
nervous undeniably about the Knicks going to Indian Game six. However,
I mentioned the Pacer starter scored thirty five points. Jalen
Brunson himself had thirty two. He clearly heard Halliburton's better.
(03:28):
Halliburton had the greatest game ever in playoff history for
a point, card and Jalen Brunson came out thirty two
points in thirty four minutes, twelve of eighteen, shooting a
clean thirty two, five and five in total control, banging
the three. It was an outstanding game from Jalen Brunson.
He carried and the Knicks advance to a game six.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
That's all it is.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Survive in advance, get get to another game. You never
know what can happen right now. Last year, if you
guys remember, Nicks led the Pacers three to two, went
to Indye, lost, came back home and then the injuries
happened and it got ugly. Anything can happen. It is
the postseason. And Karl Anthony Town's knee looked fine. He
(04:08):
was a monster despite some goofy fouls. Goodness, Karl Anthony Towns,
clean it up, my guy, even Stan van Gundy. There
was a hilarious moment end of the third quarter. Essentially
the final five minutes of the quarter. Towns was bench
because he had four fouls, so like, we can't risk
getting the fifth. They put him on the bench, and
then there was like one second left after a travel
by Matherin and Thibodeau was like ooh oh, let's let's
(04:31):
try to get Karl Anthony Towns to three or so
whatever he was dialing up, and stan Van Gunny's like, ooh,
this is I wouldn't put Towns back in. He does
some crazy things out there. He might pick up, he
might set an illegal screen. I could not stop laughing.
I'll say this, stan Van Gundy has been tremendous in
the postseason, whether it was NCAA tournament or these NBA games.
(04:52):
I really like the cut of his jib. I think
he's a great announcer and I'm looking forward now. The
problem is, Saturday night is a a busy night in
the first weekend of June. You've got a lot of
high school starting to let out. You got high school
people are just busy, and this is a tough time.
And I'm gonna be honest with you guys. It's gonna
be difficult for me to watch the entire game. I
(05:15):
am I It's gonna be to I'll be Unfortunately, I
have my phone charge and I'll be ready to go. Also,
this weekend Dodgers Yankees, I am lucky enough that I've
been able to finagle some tickets, so I'm gonna be
going to one of those games. It's a huge sports
weekend ahead. I'm fired up. But without further ado, let's
get to our guest USA Today NFL writer Tyler Dragon.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live. You know, Jason likes to think he knows
everything when it comes to sports.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I know what sports fans want.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
But for everything he doesn't, he knows the guy who does.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Let's just say I know a guy who knows the
guy who knows another guy.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
All right, let's welcome into straight Fire a new face.
You know how we do up in here. We try
to get some new guys on the rise. Let's welcome
in Tyler Dragon. USA Today covers the NFL. You know, Tyler,
First of all, welcome to straight Fire. Great to have you.
But like it started to be a downtime in the NBA,
the playoffs winding down, the finals, that's all this left,
(06:27):
and then.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
We turned our attention back to football.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
And it's weird because I'm looking at like the quarterback
battles in OTA's in a round. There just aren't many
right now right other than Cleveland, maybe Indy, New Orleans.
Nothing real sexy out there right.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Well, Indianapolis for sure has a quarterback competition. You would
think Anthony Richardson should win that job. If he's the
quarterback who he thinks he is and whoever, I mean,
first round draft pick, he should win that job. But yeah,
in Cleveland, it's going to be interesting because a lot
(07:04):
of people think maybe it's Joe Flacco, the whole wiley
veteran gonna win the job. Cany Pickett, maybe a reclamation
project he learned under the wings in Philadelphia, or Shador
Sanders or Dylan Gabriel. And to me, if I'm the
(07:24):
Cleveland Browns GM head coach, I'm giving Shador Sanders every
reason to start. To me, he was the second best
quarterback in this year's NFL draft. I talked to a
lot of people around the NFL, a lot of sources,
and they were telling me that there were multiple reasons
why Chador fell down in the draft, and probably the
last in that list was his talent. So overall, I
(07:49):
do think he's probably the best quarterback.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
In that room.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
And that's not saying much because it's not a vaunted
quarterback competition in Cleveland at all. So yeah, I think
those are the two teams up the biggest quarterback competitions
heading into OTA's in mini camp.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
So that's weird.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
So I was all about Shador ahead of the draft.
I was like, you gotta take him, uh in the
top five. I would have taken him second. And then
he plummets to the fifth route and you're like, whoa.
There have to be red flags we don't know about.
Nothing has totally emerged.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
But here's my thing.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
If all these people you talk to love him and
think he's so talented, like, why wouldn't they draft him earlier?
Like even if you're like, hey, we could use a backup,
We'll take him third round. Like if that's the case,
if so many people loved him, why didn't anyone take
a chance on him before the fifth?
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Well there are a lot of off the field things,
like his personality that he got a larger than life personality,
him and his father.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
And you look when you're seeing all the rookies that.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Got drafted and this year's draft, who's getting the most
limelight now? Camillore is Changs and no matter where he's
going to be picked. So if you do wherever you're
going to draft him, he's going to take away from
a lot of spotlight. Then there's the Dion Sanders effect.
You know, his dad is out there, maybe his dad
wants to be a head coach in the NFL in
(09:09):
a couple of years, then a lot of teams were
turned off that he did not participate in NFL Combine,
nor the Senior Bowl or the East Rest Shrine Game.
And so when you're looking at all that, it was
a domino effect of a lot of things that happened
Todor now his film, I'm not going to say that
(09:29):
this year's quarterback class was one of the best as
we've seen in recent memory, or Shador Sanders is a
bona fide star in this league. To me, his NFL
is Teddy Bridgewater. Teddy Bridgewater was a pretty good starter
before he injured his knee. Pro Bowl type quarterback, fringe,
pro bole type quarterback. But you can win games a
(09:52):
game manager knew how to get delivered the ball.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
With accuracy precision.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Shador Sanders is like that now with him what that
bag is though people probably wanted to drafted Teddy Bidgwater
as high if he had a lot of that off
the field hoopla and a lot of scrutiny, a lot
of headlines, so that played a role in it.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
But Chador had.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
A really good quote during mini camp. He pretty much
said he doesn't have to prove people wrong. He has
to prove himself right. So if he's a quarterback who
he believes he is, and if he proves himself right,
he should be the starting quarterback, especially that Deshaun Wasston
is probably going to be out for all this coming
(10:35):
season with his achilles injuries. So I do believe when
it's all said, Shador is going to win that starting job.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
But here's my thing.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
So Kevin Stefanski knows quarterbacks, obviously, very sharp, offensive mind,
Coach of the Year, all that fun stuff. He decided
to take Dylan Gabriel earlier than anybody had him projected. Okay,
you know, like I do mock drafts for Fox Sports,
everybody doing their mates, they were all way wrong on
Dylan Gabriel. The guy who's one coach of the Year.
(11:04):
He wanted Dylan Gabriel and he got in two rounds
before Shaduur. To me, that's a clear sign that's the
guy I want to run my offense. So from my perspective,
it's like I think, not only does Shaudur have to
pass Dylan Gabriel, but he's also got to pass one
of the vets either Picket or Flackoh my guess his
picket gets flipped sometime when somebody gets injured before the season.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
At quarterback and somebody gets picket.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
But like, don't you think Shadour has to beat out
Gabriel And it's a tall order given that Sefenski clearly
liked Gabriel.
Speaker 5 (11:37):
Yeah, now, don't get me wrong, it's the competition.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Now.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
I'm not saying that he's a starter right now or
has doesn't have his work cut out for When even
rookie mini camps started, Dylan Gabriel was the first one
up getting those reps before Shador Sanders. So if Shadoor
is gonna win that starting job, he'll have to have
earned it, and I just believe that he is going to.
(12:01):
When I look at Dylan Gabriel, when you look at
his film in college, yes he was a productive quarterback.
Speaker 5 (12:07):
He was pretty good.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
But Shador Sanders' tape is night and day better, and
then can he Pickett now? Unless can he Pickett got
improved tremendously. I believe Shador is better than him, and
Joe Flacco is what Joe Flacco is. He's a show
of himself at this day in Asia, and he's passed
his prime.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
Yes he still has a big arm. Yes he can still.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Win you a few games, but he's a bridge quarterback
at this point, a short term answer. So I really
do think it's gonna be Shador that. I mean, it
may not be week one, maybe not even week two,
but give it to week four. I'm willing to bet
you Jason. By week four, Shador is gonna be a starter.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
So your guests, who starts more games this year? Shador
or Dylan Gabriel Shador?
Speaker 5 (12:53):
I'm positive of that.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Do you think over under Shador starts. I'll give it
like two and a half.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Work way over, really, way over.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
I think Shador starts at least six seven games.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
Wow, six seven games.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I get that's bold, and I like the bold takes,
but I just can't get over the fact that Kevin
Stefanski is the one calling the shots and he didn't
like Shador.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Or he would have taken him early or before Dylan gets.
Speaker 5 (13:23):
A strong word, didn't like him because they won the
draft him.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
If a Kosha just flat out didn't like, well that's
a strong word.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Now, I say didn't like because like you had the
opportunity at two and then in the second round.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
There so many opportunities.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
And then there's the take of hey man, he took
Dylan Gabriel. What if the owner said, hey man, we
got to take Shador.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
We could use the pop.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
It's going to get a social media I'm so you see, uh,
Ain't nobody talking about the New Orleans Saints quarterback battle
or the Colts.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
It's all Shadour in the Browns.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
So I wonder if Haslam was like, let's just draft
this guy just simply for the buzz and and all
that extra curricular stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Like owners love that. Coaches they don't like it as much.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
But if Kevin Sevanski liked Dylan Gabriel so much, why
did the Browns draft Shador A couple of rounds after?
You can go to the reverse of that as well.
It's gonna be interesting to see how how it plays out. Now,
I will say this, Dylan Gabriel is going to get
just as much of an opportunity to play as Shador Sanders,
because based on what I'm hearing out of Cleveland, Gabriel
(14:30):
has gotten reps before Shador, especially during you know, rookie
mini camp. We'll see what happens during mandatory mini camp
and you know when OTAs go on to Phase three.
But it is when you just when you just simply
just look at the tape, do the eye test. Jason,
you cannot tell me that Chador is not a better.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
I would have taken Shador early.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
I'm just saying I look at the coach and his
decision to me is more of a tell than I
don't care what the tape says.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
What you and I think are other teams.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Like Stefanski's the one calling the shots, and it's like
he must love Gabriel, which I don't totally get. And
I had a guest on I think was Tom pelosorrow
NFL Network. He's like, listen, Stefanski loves the guy's character,
quick release, quick red to the defense, Like that's the
kind of guy he wants. And now coaches, you know,
we struggle with the quarterback position. And I'm gonna ask
you something about this list in a minute, But like,
(15:24):
I don't know these coaches many they're weird, they're different animals.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
If I could just say that, Yeah, And there were
several factors that played out that made Shador Sanders ball though.
And you know, like we mentioned before, it was some
of the off field things, whether it's his personality, whether
it's all the attention that comes with his name, whether
he turned off people were not competing at the Combine,
(15:51):
the East West Shrine game, So there were multiple factors. Yes,
talent was among them, but what I heard and that
was way down the list.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
I'm curious, do you think, if let's just say week one,
can you Pikets the starter, Dylan Gabriel's the backup, Schador's inactive.
Do you think Dion will put a comment out there
in the media, because you know at the Colorado game
they're gonna ask Dion about it.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
Son.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Do you think he'll be able to hold back or
will he just be like, man, that's garbage. The Browns
are screwing him and that's the kind of thing that
may have steered teams away from it.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
I've never known Dion to hold back, so hey, Dad,
put a cork, Come on, Yeah, I would imagine he
was to say something, he might dial it back a
little bit. Maybe he won't call out the organization or
the code, but to me, he'll probably say have something
to say.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
So sticking with quarterbacks real quick. I got into a
big discussion with cow Hurt about this. So pro football,
for everybody does a list of the best quarterbacks. But
the weird thing is everybody agrees that there's four guys
head and shoulders of O the rest of the league, Mahomes,
Alan Jackson, and Joe Burrow. Those guys are the four elite.
I don't think anybody would argue that there's someone in
(17:20):
that group that's not in there.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
But since you do top fives, I having just.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Watched Jalen Hurts again get to the Super Bowl win
the MVP.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
I look at Hurts's numbers. He went from the pocket,
he was with his legs. I think Hurts is a clear.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Fifth best quarterback in the league. And I'm getting all
kinds of pushback from people. Well, he was a second
round pick, and some games he throws for ninety seven
yards and I'm just like, I don't get the Jalen
Hurts dislike, do you have a guy who is right
on the heels of those big four or maybe you
have somebody who just cracks that big four makes it
a big five.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
It's funny because I get asked this question a lot.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
A couple of years ago, I would have said without
a dall is just and Herbert, But justin Herbert's kind
of slipped a little bit. No playoff wins, that last
playoff lost in Houston, and what was a you know,
a black stain in his career.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
Is gonna have to come back from that.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
C J.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
Stroud.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I think before this had the start of the regular season,
especially coming off that rookie campaign, you could put him
at five.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
What about Jayden Daniels.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
I can't off one year. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
To me, it's probably Jaden Daniels and then Jalen Hurts.
Jaden Daniels, in my opinion, is better than Jalen Hurts
right right now based on what he did. But yes,
he has to do it again this coming season. Let's
see what he does in year two is sophomore year
year three. Uh, it's hard to knock Jalen hurtself. Now
(18:47):
he's a super Bowl champion. He's really out beforming Patrick
Mahomes twice. But he does have a lot of help
around Now. If Patrick Mahomes has Saquon Barkley in the
back field, who in that offensive line?
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Who knows what he can do?
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Patrick Mahone's only lost two Super Bowls because his offensive lines.
Speaker 5 (19:07):
Have failed him.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
So let's give credit where credits due. Jalen Hurts does
have a lot of talent around him. Arguably the best
receiving corps in NFL, especially in the NFC top five
tight end, one of the best defensive tackles in all football,
so he has a lot of that. Howie Roseman built
(19:28):
that team beautifully. The Eagles are loaded even again this year.
But I will probably say Jade and Daniels five and
then C. J. Stroud followed by Herbs Stroud.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Oh my god, think I took sixty three sacks last year?
What was terrible?
Speaker 3 (19:48):
But you know they do this charting of eating sacks
and Stroud it was responsible for a lot of those.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
He didn't have a great year.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
I gotta I gotta say that the one thing I
don't like is this. And I'm not saying you necessarily
did it or cowhard, but in general, if you're a
first round pick, you seem to get the benefit of
the doubt.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
All I hear with Hurtz and brock perty are well,
look at the roster. I mean, look look at it.
They got a stack deck.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
And I'm like, okay, Well, if Patrick Mahomes is drafted
by the Saints or some other bad organization, is he
Patrick Mahomes. I mean he got Andy Reid, Like that's
not bad. Justin Herbert, I love him. I went to Chargers,
took my kids to the Chargers Minnie camp. It was awesome,
Like Herbert's awesome. Like you said, he doesn't have a
playoff win. He just got gifted Jim Harbaugh and then
(20:37):
vomited all over himself in the playoff game on the road.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
And it's like, you know, I get Lamar Jackson two vps.
He's phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Every year they improved the roster, and it's the same
story every postseason.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
He just can't.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
He doesn't get it done. And so I know Mark
Andrews with the drop, Okay, but like It is weird.
These first round quarterbacks seem to get the extra benefit
of the doubt, whereas Brock Brock perty could win the
Super this year, win the MVP, and they're still well,
look at the team he's got.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Kyle Shanahan. I'm like, God, we greet Kyle Shannan's good.
What's Kyle Shanahan one? Tyler like he's a great coach?
What's he won?
Speaker 3 (21:13):
It's just these discussions are fun and the subjective, but
it just it always seems to like hurts his ding
because he was his second round pick.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
Well, I'm even dinging the top.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
All these quarterbacks have you know, black marks on their
career now.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
And it's what the exception.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
Probably Mahomes because really his two losses I don't even
put on him.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
But Josh Allen's never won.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
A big one. You've mentioned Lamar, the Ravens always flame out.
AFC Championship Game, Divisional round. Joe Burrow, he's gonna have
an injury prone bug on him now and he has
to remain healthy now.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
When he is healthy, he's productive.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
But the Bengals missed the playoffs last year, so that
fifth spot is fluid and right now, coming off.
Speaker 5 (21:59):
Of this past season.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Jayden Daniels impressed me probably more than any other new
coming quarterback. Probably the best rookie quarterback I have seen
in the NFL in recent memory. So that's why I
have him at that five spot, and then C. J.
Stroud has seas and seven is not bad. Seven best
quarterback in the NFL. If your top ten quarterback in
(22:23):
the NFL, in my opinion, you can win the Super
Bowl with that.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Yeah, Stafford obviously has a It's just weird that, like
Hurts has a Super Bowl win. He was phenomenal. Stafford
has a game winning drive in the Super Bowl. He's outstanding.
It makes you wonder with Stafford, what if he ever
had coaching or a team in Detroit. He was surrounded
by an aptitude some of the worst defenses ever. I
just have a hard time putting Stroud up there and
Jayden Daniels. It was one season, Tyler, come on.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
But did you see that one season?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
It was incredible.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
I mean it was phenomenal to the NFC Championship game
in that one season.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Yeah, I mean, I know they got smashed by Hurts
by like thirty, but nevertheles. You know, you're right, Daniels
was tremendous. I would have him top ten, but I
know it's just a tough one for me. All right,
let's move on from quarterbacks here for a sec. Do
you have and I know, again it's a summer, there's
a lot to go. Is there a team that didn't
make the playoffs in each conference who maybe you look
(23:16):
at this year and is like, that's a team I'm
buying because we know every year, I think if there's
like three or four new playoff teams every year, So
is there someone that you're eyeing as like, oh, keep
an eye on that team?
Speaker 4 (23:27):
Well, I mean, I hate to sound like a broken record,
but I'm going to say the forty nine ers in
the NFC. Yeah, people are overlooking the forty nine ers. Yes,
Deebo Samuel's gun. They lost a lot of talent on defense.
But if Christian McCaffrey comes back healthy, You've got George Kittle,
Brandon Au comes back healthy, Trent Williams.
Speaker 5 (23:47):
I mean, when those guys.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Are on the field, and now you re signed Brock
Perdy to a mega extension, the forty nine ers, check
their record, They're almost unbeatable. When those guys are healthy,
on the field. Yes, that defense has to jail. Yes,
Nick Bosa has to remain healthy as well. But the
forty nine ers, they're getting overlooked, and the AFC just
(24:09):
mentioned it. The Cincinnati Bengals, Yeah, I mean Joe Burrow
as long as see can stay healthy. They have the
best receiving corps in all of football, and Jamar Chase
and t Higgins. That defense is what everybody's gonna be
looking at. Can that defense not be historically bad? Can
you make some stops, two or three stops a game?
(24:29):
Because we all know that offense is going to score
twenty five thirty points a game. They're going to be
in the end though, and they're going to be a
high powered, potent offense with Joe Burrow and those guys
that receiver. But if that defense can just improve a
little bit. They got Golden the defensive coordin out of
Notre Dames, so you would think he can have some
(24:50):
tweaks to improve that defense. But yeah, I think the
Bengals are a team to look out for an AFC,
and they're a playoff team as well.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
I don't disagree with all although they got to fix
Hendrickson thing man without him I don't know if you
saw the numbers without him on the field, they're the
worst defense in the league in multiple categories, Like they're bad.
We could wrap up with this, and this is a
tough one because, like it is college football. But he's
an NFL legend and that's just Bill Belichick stuff. So
here's the problem, Tyler. It clicks through the roof. People
(25:18):
are obsessed, Oh shocker with a seventy three year old
dating some hot twenty four year old. Right, they're into that,
and you do it on a podcast, you write about it,
you talk about people are into it. I gotta be honest.
I don't know if he's ever going to coach in
the NFL again. I know that a lot of people
are like, always too old, he's to control freaky.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Do you think it's over for Belichick? It just feels
it strikes me.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
As weird that we give so many quarterbacks multiple chances.
Bill Bill Belichick's winning his coach in NFL history when
it comes to Super Bowls and success. Are you kind
of surprised he's not coaching in the NFL this year?
Speaker 5 (25:56):
It is funny. You have to get this all season.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
I feel like it's best now my timeline is all
like Stefan Diggs, Cardi B and Bill Belichick and his girlfriend.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
So it's like, man, this is the NFL content right
now during this time of year.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
But I mean to Bill Belichick, I think a lot
of NFL gms and owners kind of look at him
and say, is he passed his prime coaching wise? Because
it really ended kind of ugly in New England, it
did not end well. He really hires a lot of
guys that he knows cronyism. I mean, he hires his
(26:34):
guys that will do the Bill Belichick type Patriots way,
and teams are kind of moving on from that. These offenses,
these offensive coordinators are more innovative.
Speaker 5 (26:46):
Defenses are becoming more innovative.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
And Bill Belichick has that, you know, old school Bill
par Sales type of head coaching style. And I just
think a lot of these franchise a kind of moving
on and transitioning me out of that. Because when you're
seventy plus years old as a head coach, a lot
of these times these athletes kind of tune you out.
(27:10):
A lot of these NFL athletes are in twenty one,
twenty two, twenty three, and your head coach.
Speaker 5 (27:15):
Is not ten years older than him, not twenty.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
Years old, at fifty years older than you, like, he's
like your great grandpa's cage almost. So there becomes a
time where these head coaches their voice does not resonate
in the locker room as it once did before. Even
when you're Bill Belichick arguably the best coach in NFL history.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
That's interesting. So do you have any read on how
he'll do it?
Speaker 3 (27:40):
North Carolina college football has changed so much.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
I do think the Bill Belichick's name still has that
mystique and he's still even though his coaches are not
very successful as head coaches, they are successful, you know,
coordinate and assistant coaches.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
I do think they'll be competitive.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Now.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
Are they going to be a college football playoff team? No,
but they'll be better than they were in the previous years.
Went on the new other regimes.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Do you kind of blush when they're like, hey, can
you write about Belichick and the girl?
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Are you like?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
I don't know, because when they come to me and
they're like, hey, how about this segment, I'm like, I
don't want to touch it, guys, I just don't.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I don't like again, I know that Bill Belichick.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
I'm sure they're happy. I just find it a little
weird to talk about.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
I do not like talking about players personal lives, so
I rarely touch the Bill Belichick, the Stefan Dave's Cardi B.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
I don't oh wait, hold on, what's the Cardi B thing?
Speaker 3 (28:40):
I know that I saw the digs on a boat
with all these chicks, and he's offering him some sort.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
He's dating Cardi B now, and he was on the
boat with Cardi B.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
But he was with some chicks at the time when
Cardi B was somewhere else and passed along at substance
that nobody knows what sell.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Yeah, yeah, Stefan, I'm sure that vrabel absolutely loves that.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
And he's not at O T A S. By the way,
he's on the boat, you know, passing around.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
I'm sure he's rehabbing with with the with the the
I G batties.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
That's the way to rehab. They maybe quick way, quick recovery.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Yes, certainly, all right, Tyler Dragon USA today, great stuff, man,
Thanks for taking the time, buddy
Speaker 5 (29:20):
Thanks for having me, and have a good one.
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Jonas Knox
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