Mike Harmon & Jared Smith Talk NFL Preseason, Shedeur Sanders, & So Much More!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Where Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
A greetings and welcome in another beautiful Sunday underway, Fox
Sports Sunday. Here a lot from the Fox Sports Radio
studios in southern California with me this week. Jared Smith
at Jared Smith Betts joins me from beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada,
as we get ready to look across the vast sporting
landscape and set up your big sports day ahead. We

(00:26):
got a couple more preseason games a little later on tonight,
my beloved Yeah, that's right, the Chicago Bears and the
Miami Dolphins, two of the you know, six or seven
teams we've talked about a lot this preseason getting after it.
And while we haven't talked about either of those teams
in very glowing fashion, so we'll do more of that here.
We've got these Saints and the Chargers later on. Chargers

(00:48):
have some issues that propped up over the course of
the week themselves. So all of that to say, plenty
of activity, and yes, we've got other news here in
Los Angeles that's kind of a big deal for the
National foot Ball League as well. But first let me
welcome him in. You hear him every week on Countdown
Saturday Mornings with Brian and with Rich and you follow

(01:09):
all his work in the Twitter verse at Jared Smith
beats at Jared Smith, what's going on, buddy?

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Oh, Mike, we are We're in full full ball mode here.
I mean, I think we Yesterday was the first day
where it was like, you know, layered, you know, like
you get off the We got out there at noon
and then it was like right into the games and
then it was game after game after game after it
felt like and I know it was a Saturday, it
wasn't a Sunday, but it felt like it's finally back,

(01:37):
which obviously is amazing and it takes my attention away
from some of the other sports, but I feel like
it's it's a positive.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Well, but it was one of those things, right, I mean, look,
spring training for baseball, you head to the desert, you
head to Florida, whatever whatever floats you there, whichever team
you follow, and you get your month of getting yourself
in ready for game shape. Right, ball players, we've won
training camp the last couple of weeks. Got your teeth said,
Thing's got to happen for your viewing experience. Man, you

(02:05):
can't just go zero to ninety on a full college
football Saturday and think it's going to be, you know,
easy going. You gotta pace yourself. You know, the snacks,
the sugar and salt intake, how you slept the night before.
I mean, it all plays. And I'm not even talking
about it if you're actually actively wagering and watching the
inline in game betting and such. It's more just a

(02:27):
the endurance and marathon that it is. And for all
of you that are actually marathon runners out there, good
on you. It's never been a thing that has crossed
my mind for a minute that would be entertaining in
any way, shape or form. But for you, you do
that so I don't have to. But I can't sit
and watch twelve hours of football back to back to

(02:49):
back all the way on those saturdays into Hawaii football.
I mean, no matter what you got, you got great
inness wall to wall.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
It's fantastic. And you're right, like, you've got to stretch
before you can run. So I am or not marathons,
but I am a runner now and I finally unlocked
how to stretch properly, and you realize, wow, I actually
can can run a little bit further and faster if
I actually, if I don't just like bend over for
ten seconds and then like do a little bend left

(03:16):
and right and then to start running, do.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
That little lean left lee. Okay, I'm good to go.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, that's a little little torso twist.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
It's funny how it's evolved, right, you and I the
last time we got together here Fox Sports Radio filling
in for Jason Smith during the week, and we're chatting
a bit about you know, processes and what we're doing,
you know, outside of these walls. And part of that
is you come to the game. You'll always come back
to the game and some some capacity, right you're doing

(03:44):
some coaching. But I think back to the way we
used to do pre practice, stretching, callisthetics, whatever you want
to call it. And it was so half asked and
just all right. You almost like they had a running clock.
We got to do something for fifteen minutes. Yeah, and
then we actually get into straight into your practices because

(04:07):
you only had so many hours per day before people's
you know, folks started getting mad and whatever. And I
suppose there were some nebulous rules out there, but I
don't know that any guy from the district ever rode
by to see what the hell you were doing, but
it was more just a did you guys stretch out?
It's like, yeah, enough, but you're ten. You don't know
what the hell you're doing. So and then ten years

(04:28):
later you're trying to do athletic endeavors. They're like, you know,
you have the flexibility of a rock. I'm like, well,
let me tell you this whole stretching yoga, all the stuff.
As I watched the people go to hot yoga here
out you know, from the courtyard before I came in here, Jared,
it's a different world, man. We know so much more
than we did, even just in the recent rearview mirror.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah and listen. I think the two biggest things for
me that changed so when I got into my mid
thirties now I'm in my late thirties now. I lost
my dad in my mid thirties and he was sick
for a while, and that really changed my perspective on
how I view my own personal health and fitness. The
two things that I've changed the most in that short

(05:11):
period of time a few years was how I treat
my body, like on the rest days, like I used
to work out really hard and I would not take
rest days. Now it's like intentional with how I recover
and your diet like to die. I think that's the
part that you can work out every single day twice
a day. If you don't change what you put in
your body, you will never see results.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
No, it's like fat hydration.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
And the nutrition are the two things I think that
are more important than anything else.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, diet and sleep.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Sleep definitely sleep.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
Sleep is the big one because I've betrayed myself going
on alone and.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
We work weird hours. It's hard, right because through mornings night,
it's like it's hard to stay consistent. You know what helps? Naps?
Naps are so underrated.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
No that well, as you get older you love them more.
It's like you're again, do revert back to it? Well,
we'll talk about nocturnal activities. I went and saw Weapons
last night, so the quick and dirty review coming out
of that as one of the popular movies coming out
this summer. But talking about health and talking about greatness.
Don't worry, plenty of shador talk because it is still

(06:17):
the weekend cycle. Nothing else new and exciting is really
overtaken that story. But we are here in Los Angeles
and Chargers played later. But we've been waiting on some
news from the Rams because we've gotten a lot of
kind of I don't know, wishy wash, he might be
the right term to say. Updates from Sean McVeigh and

(06:37):
everybody around the RAMS for the last couple of weeks
as related to quarterback Matt Stafford and his back that
was keeping him out of workouts. Now he's older, we
get into the philosophical nature of once you're a long
tenured veteran in this league, Jared of I don't really
want to go to camp. I mean, I gotta be there,

(06:58):
and I get it. And he's around in whatever but
not being able to participate. But we got the update
on Saturday. McVeigh told reporters that he's finally getting back
into the full pun intended throws of his normal workouts
with sixty passes without limitations and no restrictions going down distance,

(07:18):
throwing the ball deep on the run, all that stuff,
and so he expects Stafford to resume practice this coming week.
Quote no limitations term of the type of throws deep, intermediate, short,
we're moving the launch point. He felt really good looking
forward to progressing him back to practice on Monday, is
what he told folks at so far, and it was

(07:39):
reported out from CBS Sports. Now we'd gotten the report
of an epidural shot to help him manage pain earlier
in the week, maintenance plan to alleviate discomfort, et cetera,
but that it's always been contended he'd be able to
go if he needed to, which is all finding good.
Once we're consistently talking about again guys back and a

(08:01):
guy that has already kind of talked to last couple
of years of am I done with this game? I
had rumors of retirement and all, and last year a
fantastic run at the back end of the season, they
got a bit healthier. His overall stats weren't mind mind blowing,
but they obviously had the run in the playoffs. And
we still look at that game of the Eagles. The
IFS has and butts about it all Jared, But for

(08:25):
Matt Stafford, I think the Rams have the blessing in disguise.
You know what he can do. You need to see
what Jimmy Garoppolo could do being put in this offense,
and I know he gets kind of pushed to the
wayside quite a bit. He wins. He generally wins games
incompetent systems. Uh. Past issues with DeVante Adams. Uh. Notwithstanding

(08:46):
you know they were in Las Vegas. So you go
to McVeigh and I've got to trust the process as
that were. But concerning with Stafford, any anything movement movement
wise in terms of their totals for the year, while
we're waiting on this back for proof of concept.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
I mean, I bet Stafford under thirty seven fifty and
a half passing yards. I mean, and that to me
was a two sided coin. A you could win the
bet just based off the fact that the Rams just
gave how much money to Karen Williams. Yeah, you might
want to get your money's worth out of that. And
then of course the injury factor is just a huge,

(09:25):
huge factor. I mean, even if he misses, like and
these these bets, these season long bets, I'm a big
fan of them, but only if you're willing to bet
unders and most people like to bet overs sure. The
reason of the shiny toy absolutely, And also there's a
there's a psychological factor, Mike. It's like, Okay, I'm trying
to reach this milestone. Once I get there, I'm done,

(09:45):
it's over. But on the other side of that, the
reason why the professional gamblers love unders. You are ahead
when the game starts, you have to be caught. It's
like that you ever see that a little uh promotion
they have, but that out of braves games mister Freeze
right or like they give the guy a head start.
He has to outrun this like sprinter and then mister

(10:07):
Freeze wearing this like goofy costume, like chases.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
Him down on frozone doesn't have a partnership or didn't sue.
But that's from the Incredibles exactly, the Incredibles or Silver
Surfer takeing stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yeah, but but that is the perfect metaphor for betting
and under you get the head start. If you're betting
under thirty seven to fifty and a half passing yards
to Matthew Stafford, he has to match that number. You're
ahead when the season starts, fit a short side on
the over year behind and you have to catch him right.
And so that's where I think unders make more sense

(10:41):
when I'm betting season long prompts because so many things
could go wrong. Injuries, teams could have big leads, you
have more outs there's more opportunities to win. And then
really with Stafford, the biggest part is his number got
I think a little bit overinflated because of the Devonte
Adams news and he don't get me wrong, that might
be the biggest offseason an acquisition. If everyone's healthy and

(11:02):
it's Coreum exactly in the backfield with Williams, and it's
it's Puka and and and then you throw Adams in there,
I mean, that could be a really potent offense. But
there's just a lot that could go wrong. So I
think that's the biggest move I've seen so far is
individual numbers on Stafford and maybe some of the receivers
take a little bit of the dip.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
His last massive season. You got to go back to
twenty twenty one, that forty one and seventeen season where
he threw for forty eight hundred and eighty six yards.
Last three seasons twenty eighty seven, ten and eight, thirty nine,
sixty five, twenty four and eleven, last year at thirty seven,
sixty two, twenty and eight, and to that point, you know,

(11:40):
it's a team that Kyron Williams in the defense man.
How much have we been lauding the defense. And they
didn't even need Aaron Donald to come out of retirement
like we kept wondering mid season. Nor did they do
the fire sale after the initial issues that they had, right,
waited for guys to get healthy, caught fire in a
that had everything else go wrong for the forty nine ers.

(12:03):
The Cardinals keep waiting on them. We'll have more on
them as the show goes on. And then you've got Seattle,
who won what ten games, but certainly in uneven runs.
So you looked at it that you were never really
out of it from a division standpoint. But yeah, all
of those factors add in to your point, Jared. It's
not sexy because you want him winging the ball all

(12:25):
over the yard, But I don't think the team is
constructed that they'll need to.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
I agree. I think the defense is a lot better
than people give them credit for, Like they were twenty
third in efficiency last year, but I think Chris Shula
the DC like on eye test they look better than that.
They're very young upfront, they're incredibly talented at the pass
rush position, and I think that is another like if
they have a lot of leads in games, if you're

(12:51):
the Rams, and you just gave and like, let's game
theory this out. You're the Rams. You just gave Stafford
a boatload of money. You replace Cooper Cup with the Adams.
You just gave Kyron Williams a boatload of money. The
regular season is not your goal.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
Nope.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
So any you know, exciting regular season output, in my opinion,
has a ceiling on it because it gets to a
certain point where you just want to win games and
put yourself in a position for January. You don't care
how sexy it looks. So that's to me another notch
in the I don't think Matthew Stafford is going to

(13:27):
have this elite statistical season because what is his incentive
to have an elite statistical season. He's not looking to like,
what does he have left to prove? He just got paid,
He's already won a super Bowl with this team. The
defense is I think the up and coming strength of
the team. That's how you want to win games. Run
the ball, play defense, have Stafford do and Devonte Adams,

(13:49):
who is not exactly a spry you know, young chicken anymore,
get to the postseason with his little tread on the
tires as possible so then you can empty the clip
in January. Because let's be honest, was there a closer
game the Eagles played in the Super Bowl run last
year than that divisional game against the Rams? No, like
that was it. That was the moment where maybe Philly

(14:10):
showed a little bit of inconsistency. So I think for
the Rams, just get through the season with Stafford healthy
and put yourself in the best position to win in January.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
Three of their final five games in division. As we
either love or hate the way the NFL does the schedules,
we could do a full hour, nine nine hour podcast
on that to come. But it also mixed in there
you've got the Lions and the Falcons, so a potential
for a tough back end of the stretch. But all

(14:42):
of that to say, you're playing for January, as you said, Jared,
like that, that's really what it all comes to and
if you really want to win. As much as I
may back Jimmy g selfless, you know, shameless plug. He
is a you know, Illinois guy and a white Sox fan.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
So is he really Yeah, you don't see many whites publicly, and.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
No, that's it. That is great. It's me and him
and because everybody else, you know, they jumped off ago.
Well you know what I mean. We got a world
series titled that a certain network it refuses to acknowledge. Uh,
But we'll talk about that another time. Plenty more to
come across the National Football League as we're in the

(15:21):
throes of week one of our preseason. What did we see?
What do we love? What do we hate?

Speaker 3 (15:26):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (15:26):
What are we still confused? At the hyperbole? And maybe
that's the next story as we go back to Friday
Night and the debut of one Shador Sanders. Yeah, we're
just beginning that cycle, folks. We'll try to make some
sense of it. Pragmatism. Maybe maybe we throw that out
the window and we do in a modest proposal. I
don't know. We'll figure out what we're doing with it. Next,

(15:47):
it's Jared Smith in with me this morning's Fox Sports
Sunday Dan Byer off. This week you can harass Dan
at Dan Byer on Fox, Find Jared at Jared Smith Beats,
find me over at Swollendom and as always, take us
with us, take us with you on the iHeartRadio app.
We'll get the synapses to fire. We'll continue looking at
Cleveland next year on Fox.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 4 (16:13):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning
on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't
your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down
your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions
on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help
you win big at the sports book, and all the
best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight

(16:35):
Fire with Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
Hey, welcome back in Fox Sports Radio. It's Fox Sports
Sunday Mike Harmon alongside Jared Smith. You hear him on
Countdown on Saturday mornings. Joining us this morning. Set up
the week ahead and to talk some of this preseason
football action that we've seen thus far, some big storylines
rolling through the rookies taking center stage right now. We

(17:08):
started with a veteran. We'll go to the other end
of the spectrum momentarily, but reminder, shortly after the show
the podcast goes up. You missed Eddy in today's show.
Be sure to check it out. Search Fox Sports Radio
where if you get your podcasts, look for Fox Sports Weekends.
Drill it down to Fox Sports Sunday, Smith and Harmon.
Be sure to follow and review the podcast righted. Give
it five stars, Evangelized, cend Defens Friends and family, because well,

(17:30):
we're looking for global domination again. Search Fox Sports Radio
wherever you get your podcast. You'll see today's show posted
right after we get off of the air. Talk about
warming up in the preseason, right stretching your legs, sitting
for hours on end making notes, changing your fantasy draft boards,
all of those fun things. I got a fun little
story that goes with one of the games from yesterday,

(17:52):
which we'll do as we roll forward. But we go
back to Friday night and highlight that has probably already
been viewed nine billion times. Shaudre playfake looking end, Zoe.

Speaker 5 (18:05):
Lofting back quarter of the end zone.

Speaker 6 (18:07):
Bed it is hot touchdown Cayden Davis and Shudor Sanders
has his first career NFL touchdown.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
And there it is. You get the rollout the dart
between two defenders, Davis concentration to look it in. I
think we need to give some more love to the
game he had. But Shudur Sanders finishes fourteen to twenty three,
completing sixty one percent of his past attempts, one hundred
and thirty eight yards and two touchdowns. We built they

(18:40):
built a giant statue of Tom Brady and put it
out and had a giant ceremony on Friday. You would
think after this performance, Jared, that Shador Sanders himself was
worthy of a statue and maybe Hall of Fame induction
after one preseason effort against the Carolina Panthers.

Speaker 1 (18:58):
Yeah, we don't over react to the preseason, Mike, but
we don't underreact either, And I think the biggest takeaway
for me was the poise and just his ability to
not look like a deer in headlights. Most fifth round
rookies when they play in their first preseason game, the
moment kind of wins instead of you know, them overtaking

(19:21):
the moment. The moment sometimes overtakes them. And have we
ever spoken more negatively and positively about a fifth round
rookie than shad or Sanders over the last three or
four months. I can't recall. I mean, maybe there has
been one, but you know, even Brady, who we talk
a lot about now. No one talked about him going
into the season, so I think his ability to handle

(19:43):
that and just play football, like at the end of
the day, it's a game. You go out there, you
run your checks, you know the plays, you slide the protections,
you read the defense, you make the throws, you go
back to the sidelines, you break it down, you do
it again. And I thought he did that pretty consistently.
Does that mean he's gonna be a pro bowler? I
have no idea, but it was a good first step.

(20:06):
And what you have in Cleveland is a quarterback situation
that is incredibly muddy. And the reason why it's so
mundy is because Watson is gonna account for thirty six
million against the cap this year, and the only reason
why it's that low is because they restructured the deal
and converted forty five million of a salary into a bonus.
Next year, he's on the hook for eighty one million
with a dead cap of one hundred and thirty one million.

(20:28):
I mean, they owe Watson an obscene amount of money
over the next two years before they probably can get
out I think in twenty eight I think again, I'm
not a cap expert, but based off of the next
two years, they owe him a ton of money. So
until twenty twenty seven, the Browns are gonna be paying
to Shaun Watson a lot of money. That means they've
got to have a cheap quarterback situation for that period

(20:50):
of time. Well, fifth round is pretty cheap if you
ask me. So I think Dylan Gabriel probably should have
been the fifth round pick and should or should have
been the third, But that's ancient story at this point.
Now it's just go play football and if the Browns do,
like if Shaudor takes another step forward next week. I mean,
he looked like a starting quarterback in the end. He
looked like he could play in the NFL. Like I
know it was against some backups, but he looked like

(21:11):
he could handle the position. And if he can continue
to improve and you have a fifth round rookie as
your starting quarterback for the next two or three years,
well then you can get out of cap hell from
Deshaun Watson and you could start to see the light
at the end of the tunnel for rebuilding a Browns franchise, which,
besides Watson has a pretty decent roster. So I think
it's a positive step, but it's just one small step.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
See for me, it comes down to perhaps the Amadist proposal,
right of the feet to the fire and looking at
what you are, recognizing what your aspirations are and what
is reality. And you've got five quarterbacks, right, you add
Huntley he plays a little bit. Everybody else is banged up,
So opportunity for Shador Sanders to step into that number

(21:57):
one spot and play as well as he did on Friday.
Take nothing from it, right, we can talk about backups.
You play who's on the field, get your learning, and
then you try to push forward. So if you're Kevin Stefanski,
and certainly if you're Andrew Berry, because you remember in
that presser that Jimmy has them did a couple of
weeks because like no, no, no, that was all him and
it was not a point of pride, or so it

(22:19):
seemed when it was talking about Shador. It's like, I'm
not answering any questions of that because it was his decision.
Point at Andrew Berry almost like all right, this is
on him if this, you know, becomes a circus and
a problem, which he already got a free pass on
all the Shawn Watson stuff. But that's the thing for
another time. But we've talked about this roster, Jared for
a couple of years. It was, well, they're a really

(22:41):
good roster except for the giant riddler like outfit on
the quarterback. Even going back to when Deshaun Watson showed up,
because remember he had sat out long before any of
the allegations and all of that. Right the end from
Houston was odd as well, before he signs the d
and comes over to the Browns. But we look at

(23:02):
it where they sit now, is what are you four
and a half or five and a half, depending on
where and when you got into the marketplace, if you're
betting the Browns on the season or just observing what
they are, your top heavy in your salary cap with
the aforementioned Watson and Miles Garrett, who I appreciate his

(23:23):
love of team after wanting a trade and all of
that fun stuff. They paid him a lot of money.
And what's the first thing he says, the thing you're
supposed to hey man, we got Super Bowl aspirations. Okay,
all right, let's tamp that down a bit. But coming
out of Friday and just looking at it from the
larger perspective of at some point you got to figure
out what you got right. And for Shador Sanders, we

(23:46):
watched him under fire, some of it caused by himself
trying to extend plays. We watched that a little early.
I think it's a rite of passage for guys coming
out of college that you need at least one of those.
I'm going to try to circle and out run three
guys that are chasing me down like it's a video game,
and eventually I'm going to sling the ball at one
hundred and eighty eight miles an hour down the seam,
and it's a completion bath every time because there's a

(24:09):
glitch in the matrix there. But you know, beyond that,
it held himself well, you've got a bunch of guys.
I mean, Kenny Pickett was in Pittsburgh and then he's
a backup and a cup of coffee there gets super
Bowl ring. So he was always going to be Super
Bowl champion Kenny Pickett, but he was part of the
post Ben Roethlisberger. We don't really know what we're doing
at quarterback Pittsburgh Steelers, so I don't know how good

(24:32):
or bad the guy really is I'm not gonna say
he's a world beater, but can he be a serviceable
NFL quarterback? Maybe? Maybe not. Dylan Gabriel is an unfortunate
victim of circumstance to be drafted by the Browns and
kind of be caught in just a numbers game, reps game, whatever.
But the Amodus proposal is, all right, are you any

(24:52):
worse off if you let him go out there and
take the lumps to where you can determine one hundred
percent that he is or isn't the game?

Speaker 1 (25:01):
I think Gabriel's trade bait. That's how I would view
Dylan Gabriel at this point. What like that situation? I
remember when they drafted him, and I think there was
a there was some time, right, I think it was
Gabriel first, and then I think yeah, because the second
in the third round was on one day or was

(25:21):
it the second round one day?

Speaker 2 (25:23):
The second day?

Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah, yeah, so it was the third So we had
a whole twenty four hours to digest Dylan Gabriel being
drafted by the Browns before they ended up taking Shador
and I didn't understand it. And it don't get me wrong,
I love Dylan Gabriel Absolutely love him, fantastic prospect, understands
the offense, smart as attack, sharp as attack, but physically

(25:48):
was never an NFL quarterback. Like he's less than six
feet tall, he's probably two hundred pounds. Maybe dripping wet
made probably closer to one to eighty one ninety. He
doesn't fit the criteria, especially when you're playing outdoors in
Cleveland in the AFC north of what you want your quarterback,
the physical traits you want your quarterback to have. Maybe
if you took Gabriel's humility and some of his intangibles

(26:12):
and you slapped them onto Shador, you'd have like the
perfect quarterback prospect. But the stuff that was negative about
Shador I thought was immaturity. And at the end of
the day, he's what twenty one years old, Like I
think that to me is more coachable. Then you're not tall, big,
or strong enough to play in the NFL. You can't
coach that. You either have that or you don't. So

(26:33):
I thought Gabriel should have been the fifth rounder in
terms of his physical tools, and Chador should have been
the third rounder based off of his physical tools. They
got swapped. Gabriel got put in a difficult spot because
he now is being paid more, not a lot more,
but a little bit more, and you have to give
up a little bit more to get him because he
has that third round pick grade next to him. But

(26:56):
I still think Gabriel should be traded. If I'm a
team with a roster spot open for a third string
quarterback that has a chance to maybe become a backup,
I would consider trading for Dylan Gabriel. I wouldn't give
up a lot for him, but I would consider trading
for him. He doesn't fit in Cleveland because unless he's
going to be the starter or the backup, I would
rather just give Shador the ret Like, let's be honest,

(27:18):
And I haven't watched Dylan Gabriel in training campet so
I guess this is maybe a little bit of back
dating my opinion, but I think Shador is a better
quarterback than Dylan Gabriel. I would have drafted Shador first.
If you took all the intangibles out and he was,
you know, he was an immature kid in the meeting,
all that stuff out and you just said, who's the
better quarterback skill wise, I would say Shador. So you've

(27:39):
already put him two rounds behind the eight ball by
drafting him in the fifth round. But I think he
has a chance to maybe be the starter this year
in Cleveland. I honestly do. So Gabriel becomes trade bait
because you're not gonna let Dylan Gabriel sit on the
third or fourth string bench as a third round pick
unless you have this grand plan for him. So I
would try to trade him, and I would allow Shador

(28:01):
to continue to develop because in my eyes, having Shador
Sanders as you're starting quarterback, considering what he's paid and
how talented I think he is relative to what he's
being paid and what his draft status was, to me,
that means value. Like you're getting more for him than
what you paid and what you gave up, which is
a fifth round pick. So I would try to put

(28:21):
like That's why the Lewis Riddick quote was crazy. There's
no way you're trying to set a guy for failure.
He's a fifth round pick. If he hits, you have
a fifth round pick as you're starting quarterback. That's like
gold in the NFL. So I think you just keep
putting the eggs in Shaudor's basket. Put him, give him
every chance to succeed and maybe you trade Dylan.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
Gabriel, you know, the drill, hot take nonsense. Yeah, this
is a guy that wanted to go run teams and
that's what he's putting out there. I'm very curious to
me in that regard, but we pushed that aside. The
number of folks that really want either extreme or really
took either extreme out of this effort. I appreciate it

(29:03):
because hyperbole sells and excitement, and certainly in Cleveland, you
know you're looking for hope. That's what the off season
is all about. Hell, they add a lot of it
in Chicago. They got their general manager and extension without
anybody having to do anything on a football field. The
difference in pay between Gabriel and schaudor Off a quick
search is about one point six million dollars over those

(29:24):
four years. So that's pretty big. Well, when you're talking
about back end of rosters and we talk about carrying
four quarterbacks, teams generally don't do it. Look if you
end up putting him on the practice squad, he gets
snatched somewhere, no question, can he Pickett. It's the worst
of scenarios, him not being available to at least go
through his paces and work, because we know the injuries

(29:45):
are inevitable. Maybe he would have been a guy that
would have had some substantive value because that tag of
being a first round pick is long in the rear
view mirror. But all that you know, selling hope and
dreams and all the dollars that come from a fan
that's thirsty to see schador is not the worst thing
of the world either. And once again, you would have

(30:05):
proof of concept. If it strikes right, you got a
bargain as a fifth round pick. If it doesn't, you're
going back to the drawing board next year anyway, and
you can still keep.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
Your door on your roster is a fifth round pick
for another two years before you have to even really
make a decision about him.

Speaker 2 (30:20):
But that's the beauty of it, right If someone else
is gonna become the shiny toy that he that he
fights with in training camp next year, so be it.
But you know, that's just kind of where we sit now.
You're looking at what your expectations are going into a
year versus you know, putting the potential. You know what's
behind the door or in the box, what's in the

(30:40):
box as they say, what's on the Well, you can
take that either from the fun of the game show
world or you can go seven depends how you feel
on a Sunday morning, folks, I'm gonna give you you
choose your own adventure. There he's Jared Smith at Jared
smith Bets. Where you find him on Twitter Find me
over at swollen Dumb. Now it's time to take a
turn to the news desk for a guy who before

(31:02):
he gives us the update, I mean, he's got to
play me his brilliance from last night. You gotta hear this, Jared.

Speaker 1 (31:08):
This is great.

Speaker 3 (31:09):
Thank you, Mike, appreciate it. And uh good torning you
Jared as well.

Speaker 5 (31:14):
Uh yeah.

Speaker 3 (31:14):
This was a National Women's Soccer League arch rivalry match
in San Diego last night, Angel City FC against the
San Diego Wave in San Diego. Holding a one nothing
lead over Angel City FC in second half stoppage time.
I hope you can enjoy the moment despite the patently
annoying announcer.

Speaker 2 (31:35):
You're about to hear it's nudge to the right court
of the Miyabi. Why did they are?

Speaker 3 (31:38):
Ata Yon's daughter to her left foot sends it across
headed a Chelseias tied again.

Speaker 6 (31:48):
A lot of Kennedy head to tie the score.

Speaker 2 (31:53):
It's second half stoppage time.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
Just part of a dramatic Saturday evening fellas in the
world of sports peace and speaking of well, that was
a header. But speaking of kicks. In the NFL preseason
on Saturday night, Jacksonville's Cam Little and a thirty one
to twenty five lost to the Steelers, kicked a seventy
yard field goal as time expired to the first half
would have broken the NFL record by four yards that

(32:18):
have been a regular season game. Zampa Bay Buccaneers over
the Tennessee Titans twenty nine to seven, Number one overall
draft pick cam Ward five out of eight for sixty
seven yards at his two drives. Jets quarterback Justin Fields
three out of four for forty two yards at a
thirteen yard touchdown run on his only series in a
thirty to ten victory at Green Bay. Kicking off at

(32:39):
the top of the hour, the Chicago Bears hosting the
Miami Dolphins and Mike This will be of particular interest
to you. Also trending right now is Soldier Field itself,
because the end zones at Soldier Field have been painted
navy blue, which is apparently a very big deal. They

(32:59):
used to not be painted at all, And that's coming
up at the top of the hour.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
And dady Go Park District.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
Is that reletive? Like, why is that relevant?

Speaker 2 (33:09):
We're gonna ferret this out as we continue.

Speaker 3 (33:11):
Yeah, yeah, So yeah, that's why that's why I think
Mike would have more on this, because yeah, people are
actually making a fairly big deal about it on social media.
Baseball Saturday Night, Cal Rawley is forty fourth home run
to lead the Majors and the Mariners seven to four
win over the Rays. Show Hey Otani is fortieth on
the Dodgers nine to one win over Toronto.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
Guys, appreciate you Ilo at Isaac Lowancrow where you find
him more. The Angel City calls important because they San
Diego scored with in the eighty fifth minute and it
looked dire, which is why Ilo was like losing his
mind because they were love seconds. So now his voice
is really ready for well charger talk later on today

(33:48):
where he's part of the broadcast team there and he'll
take calls after the game ends. So that voice in
fine fiddle, no question about it. Jared Smith to be
on by Carmen Here Fox Sports Radio. As we continue,
whether you're on the beginning of your sports journey or
the end. A reminder that the aches and pains the
rest of this feel, we're not alone. We're all athletes

(34:11):
in some way or another. I'll explain what that's all
about next here on Fox.

Speaker 5 (34:15):
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 2 (34:27):
Gratis, and welcome back in Fox Sports Radio. It's Fox
Sports Sunday, My Carbon Jared Smith with you here as
we continue. You've got super tone next hour. Maybe you're
waking up, you got you gotta touch to the gout,
you got something afflicting you, Maybe you took a bad
step getting out of bed. Reminder you're not alone. Professional
athletes feel the pains and aches well in a lot

(34:50):
of times. It's uh, it's problematic on a whole other level.
Because we had two stories come out yesterday, Jared that
really make you remind you of how fragile it all is.
In terms of our weekend warrior mentality right getting out,
whether you're taking a run, whether you're just going to
the gym, when you're on the soccer pitch, fielding balls

(35:11):
from your kids, whatever, that bad step, that gopher hole
is just out there for you. And we had two
instances in the sporting universe that will live in infamy.
The first one, well, we had the fun and excitement
of Mariano Rivera, one of the greatest of all time.
Right the music came in, you knew the game was over.

(35:33):
And at Yankees Old Timers Day, well, he tore his
achilles trying to shag balls in the outfield. While you
were a leaf pitcher, you walked to the mound, you
did your thing. Occasionally you covered first base instead. Roger
Clemens goes on Wfan and says, yeah, no, he had to.

(35:54):
He went to the hospital seventy seventh Old Timers game
and Yankee Stadium and he suffers in a kill. E's tare.

Speaker 1 (36:01):
It's unbelievable. And this is coming from a guy who
is a diehard Yankees fan since birth. So Mariano Rivera
to me is like, you know, royalty, and for that
to happen, it just it made It's a bizarre It's bizarre,
and I've heard Derek Jeter openly say now now, I

(36:23):
don't think he's commented since the rivera thing, but he
said in the past, I will never play in the
old Timer's state because of that. Like he just doesn't
want to be a embarrassed be hurt. I get it.
I like Old Teimer's Day is fun, Like it's it's
always something I keep an eye on. I actually didn't
watch it yesterday. I wish I did now, But it
just it's one of those bizarre scenarios that just proves

(36:45):
that father Time is undefeated. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:47):
I always love the pomp and circumstance of it. All
come out wave the cap. I mean, we know a
lot of guys make some pretty good coin doing the
fantasy camps right out in Arizona, Florida or wherever the
anytown USA. For a couple of days, everybody gets a uniform,
You get to play with some of your heroes. They
spend some yarns, make some money, sign some autographs, take photos,

(37:09):
and go home. Just like you know your kids can
go to a camp that a player hosts or whatever else.
You know, it's the the adult fantasy camp, and it's
been putting TV in movies forever. You've probably run into
it at more than a few circumstances. Certainly Kramer talked
about getting into it with the Mickey Mantle. Yeah right,
So you got that on the other end of the spectrum,

(37:31):
So we talk about Hall of Famers and greatness. Connors Zilich.
He wins the Exfinity Series race at Watkins Glenn, nineteen
years old. So he goes to get out of the car.
He wants to pump his fists and wave to the crowd.
He slips, falls and breaks his collar bone. Oh my gosh,

(37:54):
you win. You win a race, right, it's the sixth
win of him for the year. So he goes to
get out of the car and celebrate it and takes
the tumble and fall. The video is one that I
watched multiple times, going this really happened. His foot gets
caught at the end of a long endurance drive Watkins Glen.

(38:17):
You know a little extra on that course. So yeah,
we've got the double side of Weekend Warrior for you.
If you're feeling the aches and pains, just to remember
athletes have these things too, and sometimes they crop up
at the most inopportune and odd times.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
Well, the part about that is nineteen years old, couldn't
even celebrate with an alcoholic beverage after winning the race?

Speaker 2 (38:41):
Yeah, not in front of any cameras or.

Speaker 1 (38:44):
Yeah, at least not at least not publicly. No, nineteen
years old, I didn't. So I am not a NASCAR guy.
I don't think. I don't remember the last time I
watched NASCAR race, nor do I can I name you
know anyone who's currently racing. But that is a scenario
that is definitely going to live on in infamy when
you win a race like I don't know how many races.

(39:05):
He's won a six.

Speaker 2 (39:06):
Six six this year.

Speaker 1 (39:07):
Wyow, So he's like a product.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
He's the top. He's the top guy. Right now. You
got Justin aldy Are who's got three wins and eleven
top fives behind him. Sam Meyer, who he bested in
this one, is third. But yeah, you're talking about a
narrow points lead over those two guys, and now you've
got a broken collar bone.

Speaker 1 (39:26):
I mean, I guess the good news is at least
it's one of those stories where you're gonna laugh, like
hopefully you laugh about it later. And that's frankly, most
of the negative things that happen to us in life
like there's the spotlight effect is a real thing where
like you think everyone's watching you at all times, but
in reality, no one really cares. They're just worried about
their own, you know, their own stuff. That is a

(39:49):
scenario where hopefully you can laugh about it later.

Speaker 2 (39:51):
That's the hope, and get back out there and maintain
that seven point lead he has in the standings. That's
Jared Smith. I'm Mike Harmon. It's Fox Sports Sunday. Here,
Fox Sports. Ready, we'll take another turn back into the
National Football League. And yes, the big kick that is
changing perhaps the complexion of one team's offense. Is it
good for football? Certainly good for football. Cards he pulled

(40:15):
one of his rookies. I'll explain what the hell that's
all about next as we continue on Fox Sports Radio. Hey,
Green Eggs, welcome in. It's our two of the program.
Here a beautiful Fox Sports Sunday. So much getting ready
to go here in our sporting universe, we've had some
action on the pitch. They're lining up in pomp and
circumstance at Saratoga Race Course. If you've never been fun

(40:35):
little run out in upstate New York, you could do that.
You got baseball. We've got, of course, a couple of
National Football League preseason games to go, Bears and Dolphins
getting ready to get their game underway, and jared a
little bit of super sleuthing as we had the update
from Isaac Lowenkron of something that started to go viral

(40:56):
last hour is that the Bears have fully painted end zone,
which is an a regular thing in the preseason, not
something I would have ever noticed.

Speaker 1 (41:06):
But why does it matter? Is the question?

Speaker 2 (41:08):
Well, but I think you get if you get used to,
you know, a certain level of service to something and
and suddenly they're better. You know, like you go to
your local, uh, I don't know, dive bar and you
know it's the grunge look of ripped T shirts and
backwards ball caps. Now to our colleague, I you know,
and and all of that tour. You just say what
do you what are you doing? And then the next

(41:29):
day they come in with a tuxedo. I mean you're
gonna say, what changed?

Speaker 1 (41:33):
True?

Speaker 2 (41:34):
Right?

Speaker 1 (41:34):
But I guess the question is are Bears fans happy
or upset that it happened?

Speaker 2 (41:39):
I think they're just confused. Yeah, because here's the thing, right,
you got the long standing battle. Now you're talking about
Arlington Heights and the eventual move of a squad and
a new stadium and all of that fun stuff, and
the long standing cesspool that is what has become a
Soldier Field one when they put that toilet bowl on

(42:00):
the top of it, fully Southside Chicago kid editorializing here.
Literally the first time I went on and I'd seen
the artist renderings Jared, and I was, you know, going,
what are we doing right? The columns, yeah, I know
they're still there, whatever, But the structure, the historic Soldier
Field along Lake Michigan. You walk across that grand area.

(42:21):
It's a healthy walk getting back to the to the
bus lines and the train lines, but you make that
walk and it's so regal and historic. And then they
put that well, they put in all the luxury boxes
and all once you go inside, gorgeous on the outside
spaceship landed. To me, it looked like a giant toilet bowl.

(42:42):
And the first time I got my car rental going
down from Midway, I was gonna go up to Evanston
see some friends go wandering around the old Northwestern campus.
I literally had to pull over on Lake Shore Drive.
I was so overcome with a motion of it, like
what did you do to my stadium? What do you
do to me? Like history? Now, look, the White Sox
have had their retrofitting, they've done all their things, and

(43:04):
the name changes every year. Right now, it went from
guaranteed rate now it's just Rate Field. I'm used to it.
I'm used to the product. I'm used to all of that.
And certainly what folks haven't understood I don't think with
the Bears all these years, Jared, is that the park
district owns the place. It's not theirs interesting. So they
get no revenue when a concert comes in and sells

(43:27):
out three days, Taylor Swift, they don't see it.

Speaker 1 (43:29):
That's why they want to buy that.

Speaker 2 (43:30):
That's why they want their own, right. That's because the.

Speaker 1 (43:33):
Stadiums are marketing tools more than they are venues for
football teams. Now, they bring in super Bowls, they bring
in other events. That's the true value of having one
of those luxury stadiums.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
That's just it being able to have events year round. Right,
So get the dome up or retractable or whatever you're
going to do. But it's all about the ancillary revenues
that have seen.

Speaker 1 (43:52):
The stadium coming up real strong that that's going to
be what they said, there's not going to be any
wind at all. I saw that despite I thought that
was interesting and that you know, and I know that's
good for Josh Allen obviously, but is it bad for
the Bills brand of football in general? They're they're a
defensive team, and I remember a game against the Patriots
a few years ago it was like, you know, thirty

(44:13):
forty mile an hour, we couldn't even Peck throw the ball.
And that to me is Buffalo Bill's football more than
Josh Allen throwing at fifty yards in the air because
there's no wind.

Speaker 2 (44:22):
Well, that's it, right, becomes the competitive advantages or things
they can change.

Speaker 1 (44:27):
Or teams going out their way warm weather team's going
to cold weather, Like you've removed that element from your
from your home field advantage.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
No, And that's it. And it's also built to make
because Josh Allen's not playing.

Speaker 1 (44:36):
Forever, it's much suf and Josh Allen's strong and big
enough to cut through the win at least for as
it is for other quarterback.

Speaker 2 (44:43):
That's it. So yeah, So for Soldier Field, that's a
long been the thing for the McCaskey family and and
for you know, the generations of like well you know
in Chicago, you got this that. The other it's like
they're not getting any of that revenue. They got a
monster truck. And that's the other thing is like you
come in and Soldier Field Long has been one of
the most mocked fields for its condition. Well, you might

(45:06):
have a high school football game on the friday, you
might have a truck content. But like all of those
things right where it's not just their field to where
they can schedule in the offseason and not have an
effect the conditions of the field that they're going to
play on, whereas right now they're kind of handcuffed. So yeah,

(45:27):
all of that changes as the kickoff and game is
underway there in Chicago with the Dolphins, two teams that
we've talked about a lot, and we'll get into as
this game goes. Tyson Bagent coming out a lot of
talk about Okayleb Williams not taking any snaps here, but
since we're talking about wins and kickers and everything else,
be remiss if we didn't celebrate, denigrade, or at least

(45:49):
evaluate what's going on. After the cam little seventy yard
er yesterday, our own Bucky Brooks on the call with
that one as he just yells, Holy, he smokes like
he was out of the nineteen sixty six Batman as
they trot him out and eventually the kick. Now, obviously
in game experience, regular season, what the brush is and

(46:12):
you know, trajectories or whatever else it's you know, the
would it play the same, Well, maybe maybe not, but
it certainly for Liam Cohen and for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Changes the math on how you can run some of
your offense and maybe some of your play calling down
in distance as you get towards midfield, could lend you

(46:34):
a lot of let me roll the dice Brandon Staley
kind of moments for him there, Oh nod back to
the Chargers when it was well, it's fourth down, let's
go for it no matter where you are. But now
you have this circumstance, and it started long ago with
the game Super tow Yes, you all might remember the
Super Jocks series of toys from the seventies and eighties.

(46:57):
They've been redone and sometimes you can find him at
the end of the aisle as you're trying to get
those stocking stuffers around the holidays, where you had the
basketball guy had the one handed set shot and the plot.
You know, you'd set their basket up and see how
far you can make a shot, if you could even
get the acumen to make that even remotely accurate. You
had a baseball player that would swing eventually, there was

(47:19):
a hockey line a soccer player, but you had super
tow was the most popular, and you had to slam
the top of his little plastic head as hard as
you can. You know, position the ball just right in
front of his foot, and you try to see what
you can do.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
Well.

Speaker 2 (47:34):
We watched that with Sebastian Janakowski and the Raiders years ago.
Was the all right, are they anywhere near where it's
a sixty yard attempt? Because you know he's getting trotted out.
And now the Jaguars may have a little bit of
a help for Trevor Lawrence in that offense and a
guy that has the opportunity for distance. So first, what

(47:54):
did you think of the the cam little boot and second,
you know, take take me into the Jacksonville Jaguars. A
lot of expectations on Trevor Lawrence this year and what
is the division that seems to be wide open.

Speaker 1 (48:07):
Absolutely. I mean, I think first and foremost on the
little boot awesome that you know, it's exciting, about as
exciting as a field goal will ever be in the NFL.
But if the Jaguars are playing for seventy yard field
goals this year, then there's something else wrong like that
that should not be part of the game plan. It's
there if we need it, and it's nice to know
that it's there. But Trevor Lawrence going twenty two and

(48:29):
thirty eight while playing in the weakest division in the
NFL since he was drafted, as the main concern that
I have with the Jaguars this year. Over the last
two years, he's ten and sixteen as a starter. Last
year four and thirteen, and the Jaguars went four and thirteen.
He played in just ten games. So injuries and inconsistencies
I think are the most important things for this Jaguars offense.

(48:52):
Like when you look at Lawrence under pressure last year,
he was a bottom feed or quarterback. When you look
at downs. Out of thirty six qualifiers last year, he
was thirty first in efficiency, thirty fourth in yards per tempt,
Like that's not he was first quarterback drafted overall, Like,
that's not something that you can bank on year after

(49:14):
year when third downs and pressure rates are are high
in the NFL, Like, you've got to convert third downs,
You've got to convert when you're facing pressure, and those
are two things that Trevor Lawrence just has not done well.
I think when you examine what Liam Cohen did with
the Bucks one year with the Bucks last year, the
thing I noticed was the pass rate increased dramatically, especially

(49:34):
the early down pass rate. That's the most important aspect
of any offense. Third downs can be volatile. Usually the
defense knows you're passing or they know you're running. It's
rare you get those third mediums, like you kind of
know what's coming on third downs, So we throw those
out when we're analyzing offenses, it's how effective are you
on early downs? Well, the Bucks last year were not

(49:55):
only effective on early downs, but they also threw it
a ton top five pass right on early downs up
from twenty fifth and twenty twenty three. So I think
Liam Cohen being able to add a level of aggression
to this Jaguars offense is going to be very important.
You bring in Travis Hunter, you lose Christian Kirk, but
you also have Parker Washington and Diamie Brown, and I

(50:16):
think both of those guys are positives, and I'm excited. Honestly,
I think there is reason for excitement and optimism in Jacksonville,
no doubt about it. But you also have this element
of Trevor Lawrence just hasn't been able to get over
that last obstacle, which is when he's pressured and when
he's facing those critical third downs, he's shrunk. So those

(50:36):
are the two things to look out for this year.
Is Liam Cohen are they throwing it more in early
downs and are they avoiding those third downs? And when
you get to the third downs and the pressure is
gonna come, is Lawrence staring down the barrel of the
gun and delivering an accurate football Because if he's not,
I think the Jaguars will continue to struggle this year.

Speaker 2 (50:52):
Yeah. The curiosity also in the run game with the
bigsb etn whether you get adequate booge out of that. Also,
you know the tight end position, it's Brenton Strange and
Johnny munt At a cast of they currently have listed
on their depth chart no fewer than seven tight ends
in camp here Jared, but certainly nobody who's running amuck.

(51:18):
But you know, curious to see that balance in the
run game. Your point. I mean, Brian Thomas Junior was
an absolute beast last year. Travis Hunter one of the
giant question marks as we get into the year, we
watched ten offensive snaps, a couple of catches. A lot's
going to be made about the mistackle, like, don't it
a guy the guys side? Okay, fine, It's more important

(51:42):
to me. How does he stand up if he's got
to meet that guy five to ten yards down the
field in terms of being able to tackle slow things down,
or whether he makes business decisions in that regard. I'm
not as concerned about covering I think we need We've
seen a bit of that. Obviously a step up in class,

(52:04):
but you know a lot of talk about, you know,
how much he's going to be utilized, et cetera. And
DeVante Adams' message from earlier in the week. You know,
he got asked about it, and I think he got
the back end of his answer kind of got cut
off in the process. He was kind of making the
note that we always did with Cam Newton. If I

(52:25):
got six or seven years, like we've done with Josh Allen,
like we've done with Lamar Jackson. That's the style they play.
Do you want to more refined, Hey, he can operate
from the pocket kind of passer as your quarterback. Absolutely,
But what makes them special is their field vision, their size,
their aptitude to get that extra yard, their nose for
the end zone, et cetera. For Travis Hunter, if this

(52:47):
is what spurs him to, you know, another level, whether
it's for five years, seven years, whatever, however judiciously Jacksonville
does it, if it takes the back end of his
career off, because that's really where Devonte Adam kind of
did it, saying, well, long term, it's a problem that
you know, if it's gonna help spur Jacksonville in some way,

(53:08):
shape or form, all the better. But for Travis Hunter,
a decent start to things. But you know, Trevor Lawrence
even admitted, you know, selfishly, obviously I'd rather have him
in our room one hundred percent of the time. So
they've got to get past that first little mental obstacle there.

Speaker 1 (53:25):
Yeah, I don't want to overreact to anything that I
see from Travis Hunter in preseason Again, it goes back
to the Rams situation too, like what's the goal here?
Like why are you wasting bullets in the preseason with
a guy that's gonna play both ways? Like that'll be
the most intriguing thing is because he's gonna play both ways.
I don't know how much I think he's gonna play
more on offense. That's just my thoughts.

Speaker 2 (53:47):
Number two on the depth chart there, and then a
little further down as a cornerback.

Speaker 1 (53:51):
Yeah, yeah, I think he offers the most value to
this team as WR two behind Brian Thomas. And I
don't know enough about their defensive rotation to really make
that accurate claim on defense yet, but I know if
if you have two elite receivers and he looks like
he could be an elite receiver, if you have two

(54:11):
elite receivers, you really have three because you make the
defense decide which one you're gonna which one you're gonna guard.
And if you can't double team an elite receiver, go
watch one on one drills. When the receivers are going
up against corners, the receivers, the good receivers always win.
So if you're one on one and you've got Trevor
Lawrence and you've got Brian Thomas one on one. That's
a win every time for Brian Thomas most times. So

(54:35):
I like the idea of having Hunter on offense. The
question is is he going to play consecutive drives? Right?
That's the one thing we fail to sometimes wrap our
head around with just how absurd the Travis Hunter thing is.
Playing both ways. You go from running routes on offense
and then you gotta go right back on the field.

Speaker 2 (54:55):
We watch it in very small doses with Sho Hao
TONI right questions and then have to go pitch.

Speaker 1 (55:02):
So my question, but at least in baseball, it's a
slower game sure right where I think the conditioning isn't
as And now, don't get me wrong, it's still absurd
what he's doing. But are you missing drives? Because to me,
a good receiver is a guy that gets into a rhythm.
So you playing like let's say Jaguars get the ball first,
Hunters on the field for that entire drive on offense,

(55:23):
are you giving him the next drive off defensively and
then allowing him to kind of mix and match, or
is he going offense defense then taking a break on
offense and then going back out for defense, Like you
have to give him a blow at some point during
the game. He can't play both ways the whole time,
So what like times are you giving him off? Are
you giving him off on offense or are you giving

(55:45):
him off on defense. I would prefer to give him
off more defensive drives than offensive drives. But that kind
of two step is going to be very intriguing to
watch because then all of a sudden, if you take
his offensive drives away, then you don't get into as
much of a rhythm with Trevor Lawrence. And I think
that is more important to me than how effective he
is as a corner. Again, that's just my opinion. I'm

(56:06):
not in camp with them right now, so I don't
really know what his vibe is. But I'll be interesting
to see what the cadence is of how they use him.

Speaker 2 (56:12):
Snap counts and down distance and evanflow of a game.
We'll talk about that. We'll also talk some odds because
we'll pull back his old college teammate into a larger
discussion as we whip around the National Football League Week
one of the preseason. You've made it, everybody, so get
the last things on those lawn care chores or whatever
you got going on, because football's coming fast and furiously.

(56:36):
He's Jared Smith. I'm Mike Carmen. Hey, reminder, you can
stream the show all our Fox Sports Radio shows live
twenty four to seven the new and improved iHeart Radio app.
Search Fox Sports Radio in the app to stream us
live and one of the newest features in the app
is that you can select Fox Sports Radio is one
of your presets, just like you would the presets on
your radio dial. So be sure to preset Fox Sports
Radio in the iHeartRadio app. It'll always pop up at

(56:58):
the top of your screens. We appreciate you being part
of the extended family. However you're listening terrestrial radio the
iHeartRadio app. Whatever you do, please evangelize, tell the friends
and family the best going in sports radio, content, news
and information. Here at Fox Sports Radio twenty eight four seven,
He's Jared. I'm Mike. Will turn to the betting side

(57:19):
of things and look at the rookies in a different
angle next here on Fox Welcome back in Fox Sports
or Radio. Fox Sports Sunday by Carbon Jared Smith with you.
Thanks for being part of the extended family, give it
us a few minutes of your time. Thanks to Chris
Shay making us sound so pretty. Ilo over at the
news desk, we'll hear from Ilo and a little bit.
He's getting his voice ready. Chargers football a little bit

(57:42):
later on today we got the Bears and Dolphins already underway.
It's a beautiful thing. We're watching a horse racing from Saratoga. Jared,
I got it all. I'm king of the world.

Speaker 1 (57:53):
Wow, I heard you guys are having issues with the
TVs there in the studio.

Speaker 2 (57:57):
Well, you know, I mean, we don't need to lay
out too much much of the technical side of things.
It's a little glitchy.

Speaker 1 (58:02):
Glad you have it set up.

Speaker 2 (58:03):
Well, it's getting me a little bit of I feel
like I'm in an eight bit video game on one
of my monitors.

Speaker 1 (58:08):
Hey, listen, anything you gotta do to get the job done.

Speaker 2 (58:10):
No, that's just it. I'm gonna stand with like a
crane for the rest of the show because I think
I've found the proper angle for me to view it
in its proper terms. But yeah, it's uh, it's been interesting,
no question about it. Everybody knows the all the different
things in nature around the southern California parts and certainly
heat waves and all of that will have its effects.

(58:33):
So hopefully that gets remedied as we get ready for
what is an exciting term in time of year baseball
Pennant chases. Not that my team knows anything about those things,
Jared uh, I mean you're yeah, you're trying to figure.

Speaker 1 (58:51):
I'm not very confident that the Yankees are gonna make
a run this year. I thought that they had everything
in place, and it just seems like the buttons aren't
being pushed in the right sequence.

Speaker 2 (59:01):
Yeah, they made the aggressive moves that the deadline look
like a bolstered's gonna get healthy. Judge comes back Stanton. Yeah,
defense a lot of the things that plague them even
though they got to the World Series. But we're on
full display that sometimes you can push those to the
side and keep moving on. Like we're talking about our
favorite football teams, like, well, this is a problem, this

(59:23):
unit's not very good, but you know what, you won
succeed and proceed because eventually it'll come due, just a
question of when and how. But yeah, I feel for
you to a degree because you know, I'd love to
be competitive to at least say I'm in the race
for a minute. It's really bad when you know, at
the end of April you're saying, hey, we can play
spoiler for the next five months.

Speaker 1 (59:45):
Playing spoiler can be fun, but not for that long
a period of.

Speaker 2 (59:49):
Time every year, five months a year. That's where we're at.
They did make their bets years years ago, trying to
go the Braves model and the well they rolled snake
eyes on pretty touch. Every one of those guys, Lewis
Roberts shows some signs now and again, but no level
of consistency to reward you for your patients. Well, I
wonder if betting market will be reward people more kindly.

(01:00:14):
We saw a very brief appearance from Ashton Genty in
that tie game the other night with the Raiders. He
is the favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.
We're talking about Travis Hunter and projecting and trying to
figure out exactly his roll down distance, how many snaps
will he take on either side of the ball, how
much does he rotate out receiver versus cornerback, and where

(01:00:39):
they mix between. You got Genty ahead of cam Ward
who had his debut. He's at plus three point fifty
Omarion Hampton of your Los Angeles Chargers, and I say
that collective you are. I mean, I'm trying to make
him America's team because I mean, who can't get behind
the calculating Jim Harbaugh. You know, he's got nearly as
many billboards as several of the ambulance ambulance chasing attorneys

(01:01:01):
out here. I believe though, if you drive down the highway,
it's like you call me if you're hurt, call me
if you're hurt. Hey, there's Jim Harbaugh. It's pretty cool.
Omaron Hampton at nine to one right now, I know
those odds were much longer, always away, and we'll get
to why he may have to overcome something big in
a moment. But Travis Hunter is next on the board

(01:01:23):
at ten to one. You got to go down a
ways for some of the other principles and the guys
that you would expect. Shdor Sanders at last check thirty
to one, now fifteen to one to start opening week
for the Browns after his debut on Friday Nights. So
at least some movement there. But for Travis Hunter, a
little bit telling here. He is the fourth favorite, so

(01:01:45):
the expectation because he's ahead of McMillan, who we saw
a little bit of as well. He's at sixteen to one.

Speaker 1 (01:01:53):
Yeah, I think genty here. I think there's overreaction to
his lack of carries the other night. Again goes back
to the incentive. He is by far and away the
best back on the team. You should give him two
hundred plus carries this year. Why are you wasting bullets
in the preseason? Like I would be giving him the
minimal amount of preseason reps needed to make him feel

(01:02:15):
like he did something. And I was actually talking about
this with Chris Purphett before the show. The preseason games
are irrelevant compared to the joint practices like.

Speaker 2 (01:02:27):
Years ago.

Speaker 1 (01:02:28):
Yeah, Like what are Junti's numbers in the joint practices?
Like how does he look in those practices? The preseason
games are just, hey, we're gonna go through the motions.
And I actually talked about this yesterday on Countdown. If
I was the head coach of a football team, every
single starter would play at least one snap in the preseason.
The reason is you're going through the motions in your

(01:02:48):
warm ups. You warm up differently if you're playing compared
if you're not playing. Even if you're only playing for
one drive, you warm up differently. I want my players
every week in preseason you have three opportunities to go
through the process of playing, which is you get dressed,
you'll warm up, you roll out the ball and play,

(01:03:08):
even if it's just the one drive. I want my
players going through that process as many times as possible
before we do it for real. And the amount of
reps you get in the game, to me, is irrelevant
compared to just the process of going through it. Genty
I talked about this. I think we discussed it the
last time we did a show together. The Chip Kelly

(01:03:31):
offense is very running back friendly. The Pee Carroll offense
historically has been very running back friendly. Look at Marshawn Lynch,
look at Lahawn McCoy for chip Kelly, like those are
the types of backs those two coaches prefer to have.
If Genty has even close to a Marshawn Lynch Lashawn
McCoy type of season, he's running away with that award

(01:03:52):
Offensive Rookie of the Year. Now you want to say cam
Ward has a chance, because he's going to be the
starter from day one. He's probably the only rookie quarterback
that I can really pencil into the starting quarterback job
day one, maybe at Shad or maybe it's not, probably
Flacco and then shaudor later in the year. I think
you wait on a guy like Shador, I think you
wait on a guy like Travis Hunter. Let me see

(01:04:13):
what the rotation will be like before I make this wager.
Whereas Genty, I can pretty much, barring injury, of course,
I can pretty much pencil him in for two hundred
plus carries and feel very confident that he's gonna get
the workload needed to win that award. That's why he's
the favorite. That's why he deserves to be the favorite.
I don't love betting favorites in these markets early, but

(01:04:34):
if you have to make a play today, like you know,
guy comes up, he says, here's a hundred bucks. You
gotta bet the offensive rookie the year market or I'm
taking it away. I would put that hundred bucks on genty.

Speaker 2 (01:04:43):
Yeah, you look at genty at plus two sixty plus
two seventy five. Hampton is curious the loss of Rashaan Slander,
not only personally, is you know, I don't I don't
have a lot of Northwestern guys running around in the NFL,
certainly not guys who are acknowledge it as one of
the best at their respective positions. But that injury is
he backpedaled in that practice and went down. I immediately

(01:05:04):
threw through a pen at I'm glad it wasn't a
coffee cup as my initial reaction. Like Gambitt, he got paid.
And I'm curious because we've got a lot of folks
like Ilo will talk to him in a minute. You
know that work in and around the team, and you
hear that, and you know local squad. Look, I'm a
Bears guy, but locally you pick up at least watching

(01:05:26):
these games. And then when you've got one of the
guys again from Northwestern, I don't have a lot of guys.
You're one of those big SEC schools, maybe one of
the other Big ten schools you graduated from. You've got
plenty of guys that are representing your squad. I have
a lot of them, So I was hanging my hat
on him. Now, Joe Alt move to left tackle with
his departure, and you shuffle up and deal. So it'll
be curious to see how much that impacts thing and

(01:05:49):
what was supposed to be the big breakout season for
Justin Herbert and these Chargers.

Speaker 1 (01:05:54):
I'm not buying the Herbert stuff. I'll give you some
numbers on Herbert that might change your tunes. Let's go
Herbert fan. Last year, the Chargers would have had the
second best record in the league if the games ended
after three.

Speaker 2 (01:06:06):
After three. Sure, It's just you can't.

Speaker 1 (01:06:09):
Be taken seriously as a quarterback in this league if
you struggle in close games and in the fourth quarter.
Through four picks against the Texans in the playoffs, I
think most of those were in the second half oh
to two. In games decided by a field goal, they
were zero to five and twenty three. So over the
last two years, and I know hardball matters here, the
culture might change a little bit, but over the last

(01:06:31):
two years with Herbert, you're own seven in games decided
by a field goal. I mean that's that's brutal, absolutely brutal.
Six and thirteen overall with Herbert three point games. You
just cannot lose close games at that high of a
level and still be taken seriously as a starting quarterback
in this league. Fourth quarter of one score games out

(01:06:53):
of thirty five qualifying quarterbacks. Herbert was twenty fifth in accuracy,
I mean, below average in fourth quarter one score games.
You cannot perform at that level and be taken seriously
as a starting quarterback. Now, if you want to just
isolate last year because last year was the first year
under Harbaugh, okay, sure, sixty six dropbacks last year in

(01:07:17):
the fourth quarter of one score games out of twenty
nine qualifiers twenty fifth and accuracy twenty fifth and success
rate He's a bottom five quarterback in the fourth quarter
of one score games. I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 (01:07:29):
Change that and then.

Speaker 1 (01:07:31):
I'll take you seriously as a team that maybe can
compete in the postseason. Now, I think Greg Roman is
good at his job. He got Herbert comfortable early in games.
The early down pass rate was solid, the first half
pass rate was above average. But then you get to
that tricky fourth quarter, Mike, and that's when it all
goes to crap.

Speaker 2 (01:07:53):
Yeah, the curiosity right, and bring back whatever's left of
keenan Allen guy that can move the chains. I guess,
Mike Williams, you were expecting him to be out there
for those eight games running deep routes because that's about
what you're gonna get right over under was probably nine
for the season, and then he abruptly retires. You do
bring in Trey Harris to bolster the receiving cor McConkey

(01:08:16):
was fantastic last year. But yeah, to your point, we've
watched it and melt down and at some point it's
no longer the coaches full because you had an easy
scapegoat with some of the down distance and decision making
of the prior regime. Look, everybody talks up a big
game and certainly there's everybody's looking for someone to go

(01:08:37):
and upend the Chiefs, and it seemed like the Chargers
were in the catbird seat to do that. Well, now
you have Denver and what Sean Payton and bow Nicks
have cooking. We didn't even talk about. RJ. Harvey is
one of those deep shot kind of guys. Now, Willy
get enough.

Speaker 1 (01:08:56):
Last year with Gavonte Williams. You take away Javonte Williams's
runs and you put r J. Harvey in that spot.
I think the Broncos rush offense is really good.

Speaker 2 (01:09:03):
So that he's a curiosity because I think he's like
thirty to one in terms of Rookie the Year because he's.

Speaker 1 (01:09:09):
A guy I would take a little long shot fly
on I would you.

Speaker 2 (01:09:11):
Know what I mean, because you're looking at you know,
the acumen of what that offense and potency is there.
It's just always a question of depth chart. And I
know there was a lot of nod win because he
was listed as fifth on the depth chart and then
took the first snaps for the preseason. It's like we've
seen this with coaches and running backs forever, but Harvey
looks like he could be that special guy there. But

(01:09:33):
and then you got the Raiders, who will be pesky
enough to be a thorn in the side of everybody.
How many games they win, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:09:40):
You know, when they go over six and a half,
I'll see there. You leave it there.

Speaker 2 (01:09:44):
I know that you need to say anything more that
way right there.

Speaker 1 (01:09:48):
So here's another interesting nugget on the Chargers, because you
know you want to say, well, their defense is going
to be really good this year. Okay, last year they
faced the sixty the easiest schedule of opposing quarterbacks. Here
are the quarterbacks they faced last year. And I know
their defense looked good on paper last year, but again,
here's who they were facing Week one, Gardner, Minshew benched
Week two, Bryce Young benched Week three, Justin Fields benched

(01:10:11):
Week six, Bonnicks rookie Week eight, Hayin Rattler backups Week nine,
Winston backup Week ten, Levis terrible Now backup Week thirteen,
Cousins benched Week sixteen, bon Nicks rookie, Week seventeen, Drake
may rookie Week eighteen, eight O'Connell back up. So over
the course of the seventeen games last year, they faced
twelve quarterbacks who were either benched, backups, rookies, or Will Levis.

(01:10:34):
The six games they played against good quarterbacks Mahomes, Kyler, Murray,
Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes again, Baker Mayfield, they
went one in five in those games. Speaks for itself
right there.

Speaker 2 (01:10:46):
Other than that, how is the play, Missus Lincoln. He's
Jared Smith. That Jared Smith. That's where you find him.
You hear him on Countdown each and every Saturday, alongside
Brian Know and Rich Ornberger. It would be today Dan
Beyer taking a weekend away. As we continue here on
Fox Sports Sunday, I want to do the schedule game
with you for another team that people have great hopes

(01:11:07):
and aspirations for because we can play that game in
terms of, well, who did you beat? And I'm looking
at one of the teams that they beat on my
pixelated screen right now, I don't know. They beat the
Bears and that might have been the hallmark to what
became a fantastic season. We got that. We got a
couple of coaches looking to return. But first it's our guy,
Isaac Lohenkron ready to go do Charger work after that

(01:11:30):
great breakdown for Jaredsmith.

Speaker 3 (01:11:32):
Indeed, then the Saints are going to come up marching in.
It's going to be a branded s Daily revenge game. Yeah,
Sofi Stadium preseason style. I know a lot of Charger
fans on social media looking forward.

Speaker 2 (01:11:42):
To that one.

Speaker 3 (01:11:43):
When we do have another NFL game going on right now,
it's Soldier Field, Chicago. The Miami Dolphins of seven to
nothing over the Bears forty nine seconds into the second
quarter to a tongue of iloa. One driving went five
out of six for twenty seven yards.

Speaker 2 (01:11:55):
Done for the day.

Speaker 3 (01:11:56):
Zach Wilson just led a touchdown drive that culminated in
a one yard touchdown run by Alexander Madison.

Speaker 2 (01:12:03):
We sing the song Isle, there's an alex Alexander Madison.
Oh right, gotcha to steal it from Hamilton.

Speaker 1 (01:12:11):
I'm gonna go bear down Chicago Bear No, they.

Speaker 2 (01:12:13):
Gave up a touchdown. What are you talking about?

Speaker 3 (01:12:16):
Is there gonna be a Hamilton movie? I heard coming out?

Speaker 5 (01:12:18):
Well?

Speaker 2 (01:12:19):
They pro shot it in twenty sixteen, oh and are
finally released. It's the tenth anniversary.

Speaker 1 (01:12:24):
Oh god, I saw it off Broadway. Fun fact, not
with the original crew, but I pretty good on Broadway.

Speaker 3 (01:12:28):
I saw it here in Los Angeles. It was It
was awesome stuff. In Major League Baseball right now, the
Kansas City Royals have a one nothing lead over the
Minnesota Twins and the bottom of the second and just
underway at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees and Astros no score.
In Atlanta, the Braves and Marlin scoreless just underway And finally, guys,
speaking of Marlon and Marlins, we have big deep sea

(01:12:53):
fishing news activity. Let's go at this weekend's fifty second
annual White Marlon Open in Ocean City, Maryland. Team Catch
twenty three is in second place after reeling in a
seventy one pound Marlin. And the reason I'm bringing this
up at all is because one of the team members
of Team Catch twenty three is named Michael Jordan.

Speaker 2 (01:13:16):
Oh, that guy, the Michael Jordan.

Speaker 3 (01:13:19):
The team is using his eighty two foot custom fishing boat,
and the catch of the seventy one pound marlin puts
them in line for prize money. Of get this, three
hundred and eighty five thousand dollars?

Speaker 1 (01:13:34):
Is that a lot for fisciating?

Speaker 2 (01:13:36):
See?

Speaker 3 (01:13:36):
It seems to me the three hundred and eighty five
thousand dollars for a seventy one pound fish. I mean,
I'm headed to the pier after the show to start
practicing that. That's pretty good bang for your buck.

Speaker 2 (01:13:47):
Back to you guys, well I get seventy pounds. Yeah,
and down the shores here you might catch yourself at
juvenile great white the way they're swimming down to Southern California.
Might find one of those while you're at it. How
about that over in Santa Monica they had a fifteen
foot that was spotted Jared?

Speaker 1 (01:14:02):
Wow? Is that so like I'm I'm not a fishing
I'm not a fishing guy. So I don't know if
that's is that not normal for southern California? It's that
you don't have those things around.

Speaker 2 (01:14:13):
Oh no, no, they're there. It's it's just now they're uh
well being more readily apparent. Yeah, so we always know
the juveniles run, and so that's when they get in
like the big debates of you know, trying to ferret
out where they're spawning and all mating and all of
that fun stuff in the deep science part of it.
But you you regularly see juveniles which it's illegal to

(01:14:36):
catch and try to take away with you and you
will be sanctioned. But now you've seen some full grown
up and down the coast where maybe they're a little
further north than they have there normally down down south
towards San Diego and Mexico or up near Alcatraz Island,
you'll run into stuff there. There's usually a gap in

(01:14:57):
the middle where they kind of go out to deep
sea and you don't see them. They're creeping closer to shore.
And there is your ecology moment of the day, brought
to you by Isaac Lohenkron and Michael Jordan at Isaac
Lohenkron where you find and to catch them with all
the chargers action of course, go back and he posted
and I reposted his highlights from Angel City FC and

(01:15:17):
that goal that nabbed them a tie. Yeah, I know
it's a tie, but you know what, every point counts
and we'll talk about that. But we've got a couple
of coaches eye in her returns and I want to
do one more schedule watching thing of what do we
take from last year and carry over. We'll explain what
it's all about as we continue here on Fox Sports Sunday.

(01:15:38):
Welcome back in Fox Sports Sunday at Fox Sports Radio.
Fast two hour sprint, almost like Jared's going to do
in the heat of Vegas here as the day gets going.
Jared Smith with me on Mike Carbon. Thanks for being
with us, being part of the extended family. However you're listening,
however you consume the content here Terrestrial radio Serius XM
channel eighty three, the iHeartRadio app Curious with you wherever

(01:16:01):
you go. You can also check out the Fox Sports
Radio YouTube channel a ton of great videos from many
of our Fox Sports Radio shows. Search Fox Sports Radio
on YouTube see a whole bunch of highlights from the shows.
Be sure to subscribe, and of course send to family
friends on say here it is so you have in
send access to all of our Fox Sports Radio videos
on YouTube, and if you watch in the evenings, you

(01:16:23):
may see me lean towards Smith in a threatening way.
Not you, Jared Smith, Jason Smith, by the other j
Smith seven to eleven weeknights here at Fox Sports Radio,
when the Mets and Jets talk sometimes gets to be
a little bit much. We got Hartman and Husky coming
up in about ten minutes from now. As we continue
here Fox Sports Radio, a brilliant Sunday ahead, Saratoga running.

(01:16:46):
We've got major League Baseball action, Houston and the Yankees.
Early on, Houston already won nothing. As I know you're
keenly aware of. Jared two Day's.

Speaker 1 (01:16:55):
Crushed us in this series, destroyed.

Speaker 2 (01:16:58):
Still getting it done, still crazy after all these years.
We had the great matchup the other night, just in
baseball as a whole. When we can get Sureser and
Kershaw together, everybody wins. But you know, one of the
things I've been looking at, you know, is we talked
about the quarterback situation that the Chargers you got last year.

(01:17:21):
I want to go to Washington for a second, right,
great expectation year two, Jaden Daniels, you bring in Deebo Samuel.
Eventually things get sorted out one way or another. With
Terry McLaurin year two, Cliff Kingsbury, congratulations to him. It
didn't fall apart in the second half of the season.
We'll see if we can make that a trend. But
they got to twelve and five and the list of

(01:17:43):
some of the quarterbacks, Daniel Jones, Andy Dalton, Caleb Williams,
Daniel Jones again, Cooper Rush. They lost that game, Will Levis,
Jake Hayner, Spencer Rattler, Kenny Pickett, Trey Lance, Deshaun Watson,
and then you get Joe Burrow for a win. So
not exactly the murderers Row and one of that was

(01:18:06):
the big tip ball against the Bears that seemed to
take them to a whole other level. So for an encore,
great expectations are there one of the favorites in the
NFC is this one where you look at their over
under total and maybe get to your underplay here.

Speaker 1 (01:18:21):
Well, you go from hunter to hunted. I think that matters.
I think you're facing a really tough schedule. So they're
facing three teams coming off a bye. That's tough. That's
really tough. Nine games against teams expected to win eight
and a half or more. Six of those nine on
the road at Green Bay, at the Chargers, at the Chiefs,
at the Dolphins, at the Vikings, at the Eagles, and

(01:18:43):
they had a really favorable i'll call it luck metric
last year, eight and four and one score games against
the very easy schedule opponents. You mentioned the quarterbacks, and
they converted eighty seven percent of fourth downs and that
is obscene the most successful team in NFL history on
four downs, So you think some of those bounces of

(01:19:04):
the ball are going to go the other way. The
defense really struggled, especially stopping the run. Last year thirtieth
in yards per carry against running backs, thirty first in
yards before first contact, which is really a metric I
look at because it shows how much push your defensive
line is getting and just how quickly they're able to
make contact with the ball carrier in the backfield. The
pass rush was good, not great. I think it's all

(01:19:26):
gonna come down to Jane Daniels continue to play at
that high level, and can the defense take a marginal
step forward, like instead of thirtieth in yards per carry,
maybe go up to like twentieth and then I think
they've got a chance to maybe compete for that division.

Speaker 2 (01:19:41):
At Jared Smith, That's where you find him on Twitter.
Here him on Countdown Saturday mornings here Fox Sports. Right now,
the Bears are in the red zone. The Bears are
in the red zone and Jep Gains, we've got the
over there. You go. We will take it as we go.
Thanks so much, Jared. Enjoy the rest of Week one
of the preseason. Harmin and Husky coming up next year
Fox Sports. Right, you go out and do great things.

(01:20:01):
You got another chance to be great. We'll see you

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Fox Sports Radio News

Host

Jonas Knox

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;} Mike Harmon & Jared Smith Talk NFL Preseason, Shedeur Sanders, & So Much More!