Hour 2 - Jeff Saturday in The Ted Lasso Effect

Jason Smith and Mike Harmon discuss whether or not the Nets did the right thing by settling for Jacque Vaughn, talk about what the Lakers need to do moving forward to salvage the season early on. There’s a supposed player the Lakers are targeting, but who can it be? Plus, Jason and Mike tell you why Colts HC Jeff Saturday can be a real life Ted Lasso!

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Episode Transcript

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(00:23):
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(00:47):
dot com the way tire buying should be. Well, we
got Rick Buker come in your way in about twenty minutes.
All the latest news from the NBA and maybe the
most shocking story of all, The Lakers have tied the
game with the Clippers. They were down to two. They
just went on a forty six Okay, it felt like
they were down. They were down huge thirty eight twenty

(01:09):
one after the first quarter. They have come back to
tie it now the Clippers just take the lead eight,
but it is now a two point game. Just before halftime,
Lebron sixteen points so far for the Lakers. Meanwhile, Paul
George seventeen to lead the Clippers. And I'll tell you, Mike,
it's this is where the Rubbers gotta hit the road

(01:31):
for the Lakers really soon because everybody is fed up.
Fans are fed up, everybody the Lakers need, they need
something now there two and eight. They can't wait. They go,
we'll get into December into January. I know now, but
they all they gotta do seven and twenty nine. What
do you care about twenty seven and twenty nine go?
It's it's like you can't say, by the time Christmas

(01:52):
Day gets here, the season could be over right there
not five and five. They're not five there, two and eight,
and they have no answers. They need to either say
we are going for it this season and we're going
to make a couple of moves and bring guys in
that are gonna help so we don't waste Lebron James,
or it's going to be we are now going to
completely tank for next year. But you already extended Lebron

(02:13):
which would have made it even easier had you not
extended them in the in the off season, so you
could have moved on from him. But now there's a
d and Russell Westbrook and something's got to happen soon.
They just can't sit here and keep rolling this team
out because you're gonna see empty seat after empty seat.
Uh at at at they are, They're gonna see. You're

(02:34):
gonna see, boy, this looks like this looks like a
Clipper game from the nineteen nineties. No, it's a Laker game.
In two you're gonna see fans just cut bait on
the Lakers if if something doesn't happen soon, and it's
gonna be embarrassing, and it's gonna be even worse for Lebron,
who's gonna have to play out this year where he's
gonna pass remab dul Jabbar and no one's gonna care,
No one's gonna come watch. I mean it. You know,

(02:55):
fans are forgiving and they'll wait a while. But this
Lakers team has been bad for a little You long
when you're bad for a year and a half, that's
a long time. In places like New York and Los Angeles.
In Chicago. Uh, they have to do something. Either we
are going for it now and we're gonna make moves,
or we're gonna trade and get younger pieces in. We're
gonna get exciting support us through this big change, and

(03:15):
we're gonna try to win and get assets. But something.
They can't just keep doing this in perpetuity, because that's
where it's just gonna meet with apathy. Yeah, there's a
couple of things. Number One, you made it sound like
the Clippers are like some Juggernauts squad. No, but I
just I just wanted to make sure that we put
that in proper perspective of they came back against the Clippers.

(03:38):
Kawahi Leonard is on the side of a milk cart. Okay,
For as much as we talk, and we want to
go against this player, that player, the other player. This
guy is not a factor anymore. And we have no
idea when he went once he played forty three minutes
this year or something like that, played in the first
couple of games, and that was the end of it.
And I hope he's all right. I do. But the

(04:01):
idea that this was your title favorite in most betting
markets for a good chunk, Uh, is laughable with what
you watch on a nightly basis right now, and I
don't think Kauai have three to four years ago is
walking through that door, uh now to the Lakers um. Look,
the prevailing thought is that those twenty seven and twenty

(04:25):
nine picks are untouchable, like they're the Willy Wonka golden
tickets to some prosperity down the line. And it's funny,
right you. You might as well have Steve Carrell show
up in the suit and run around, uh with with
the cane in the whole nine yards. But it's it's
the type of thinking with this squad part of it.

(04:47):
You know, there might be the hey, Lebron, we built
this as you wanted it as best we could based
on your salary and bringing russ in, so what do
you want us to do? You could also say it's
the point the finger back at Lebron James and Anthony
Davis to say, hey, guys, you were supposed to be

(05:07):
this dynamic duo to lead us to greatness, to cover
up for some of the roster moves we couldn't make
based on your deals. So you've got that. And bringing
Russell Westbrook in because it always goes dot dot dot
and Russell Westbrook being part of the mix because if
any of these trades legitimately could have been done this
offseason without the draft pick considered, he'd be gone. But

(05:31):
clearly they cove it, the idea of having this mythical
draft pick six years from now, which really tells me,
you don't have a lot of confidence you're ever gonna
get this right. And that post Lebron, it's going to
be a clown show and a disaster as well, because
that's the other thing for Lakers fans. While they will
get really mad at you and Frostbrook one of them, uh,

(05:53):
and they should because the title still counts, right, the
Bubble title, uh that they won will still count. But
that was the blip in another one what's been otherwise
a miserable decade of basketball. Right, It's not just one
or two years. This is a long standing run of futility,
even with some of the biggest names in the game

(06:13):
out there. So while we watched this battle at crypto, uh,
at the crypt just call it the crypt Just call
it the crypts easier, just call it the crypt. Yeah,
I can't do the crypt keeper laugh anymore. But that's
all right, just call it the crypt it I did
see uh in my timeline, aren't their fake accounts, but
a lot of people citing loud chance from Clipper Darryl.

(06:34):
But it's Uh, it's a situation where there's really no
easy win. Until someone breaks into a boardroom meeting. It
just says, the picks suck. They mean nothing. Okay, Lebron
and a d will eventually go. You will eventually move
into the next phase of your ownership and the roster

(06:57):
that you have. If you have to suffer, you have
to suffer. But you can't anticipate that and let these
years go by the wayside as well, well, something, something's
gotta happen, So we'll see, not how much better than
they get. Yeah, because because these guys have been healthy
and they still stink. I know, I know that's why
they got. Something's gotta happen, something's gotta give. Can't just
keep existing, it's gonna get even worse, and go get

(07:19):
somebody else that's gonna show up to be able to
carry them. Ryan, You'll see, you'll why, you see what's
gonna happen to Lakes will hire Jeff Saturday as their
head coach. He's got as much uh coaching basketball as
he doesn't jokes. Joke joke maker. I can do this
because the Jets are good. I can make jokes like this.

(07:40):
Uh so, yeah, we'll have more with Rick Poker coming up.
But seriously, Jeff Saturday, Right, so today he spoke for
the first time. It's being named cold said coach, and
everything you have heard has been true, Right, Jeff Saturday?
Does he deserve this job? No? Is it a slap
in the face to other coaches who worked their whole lives?
Yes it is, But the fact remains. He is the

(08:01):
coach of the Colts and today he met the media
and he was exactly the reason why the Colts hired him.
Take a listen to this, and then we're gonna take
this conversation in a different direction. This is Jeff Saturday
from yesterday. Here's a deal. Everybody talks about Mike. I'm
completely comfortable in who I am as a man bro.
I know I can lead men. I know I know

(08:23):
the game of football, and I'm passionate about it. I
have no fear about our us qualified as somebody else,
but I spent fourteen years in the locker room. I
want the playoffs twelve times I had. I got five
dudes in the Hall of Fame that played with You
don't think I've seen greatness. You don't think I've seen
how people prepare, how they coach, how they gm how
they work. I mean one super Bowl has been to too. Like,

(08:44):
here's the deal man. None of us are promised a
good job. I may be terrible at this, and after
eight games I'll say, God bless you, I am no good.
I may be really good at it. I got no idea,
but I dang sharing't gonna back down. I can tell
you that. So everything he said today, I liked what
I heard, Right, I like what I heard. He didn't.
He didn't try to be something he's not, didn't try

(09:05):
to come in and say, hey, now this is the law,
we're gonna do things differently here. No, he was exactly
the reason why they hired him, right, you you heard it.
He's very charismatic. Players like him, and maybe players want
to play for him. Now to take this conversation a
little bit of a different direction, right, instead of the
contract to how this isn't going to work because you've
seen it. The guy's got no experience. The guy calling

(09:27):
the plays, doesn't have experience, how can it work? Like,
what's a scenario in which I can see it working?
And Jeff Saturday turns the fortunes around. Masterminds win in
the NFL, they always do. Guys like Bill Belichick who
know the game in and out, the X and nos,
they always win. But so can inspirers. Right, the ted
Lasso effect is real. Right if you if you're a

(09:50):
head coach and you're able to come in and make
a player the best version of himself, you can win. Right.
A happy player is a good player. Anyone can look
up drills on the internet and say this is the
offensive philosophy I want. We're gonna go to a West
Coast office. We're gonna be a vertical office. Anybody can
do that stuff. But when you know how to play

(10:11):
already and and and you have guys in that are
gonna be doing things for you, like calling the defense
and calling the plays, and you can be the CEO
type head coach and you can inspire. You can get
players who want to play for you. That can work.
I've seen it work. I've seen it work many places
you know and and from. And you talk about a
guy coach coaches high school, is bringing this high school

(10:32):
to the NFL. I mean that's kind of how I
like to coach in youth sports. Anybody can look up drills,
but I want to try to say, Okay, what's gonna
make you a happy player? What's gonna make you the
best version of yourself you can be? And there's different
things you can do that way. And that's something that
goes from you sports all the way to the NFL.
And this just happens to be his thing. He's like
a real life ted Lasso, except it's an NFL coach.

(10:55):
And if the players want to play for him, and
you heard players today say I like what I heard.
I'm in him. He was really good. He was real
with me. He didn't try to be s me, and
that's the one thing the players are looking for right away.
He's gonna be s me. No, he wasn't. He was real,
and the players might want to play for him. And
sometimes that's worth its weight a lot. You saw Russell
Wilson leave Seattle. Suddenly the cloud has lifted. Everybody loves

(11:17):
playing football. I don't care who gets the credit. I'll
look at the Seahawks at the top of the division.
Let's hold out the hope that maybe, you know, yes,
doesn't look like it's going to be a disaster, but
how can it work? This is how it works. He's
someone that comes in and he knows his role and
he doesn't try to do too much. He inspires, he
makes people happy, they listen to their position coaches, and

(11:38):
suddenly the Colts have what they have been missing for
a while. There's a way it can work. It doesn't
need to be something that's bad. There's a way it
can work. Yeah. I mean the plus side, you know,
to take your lasso thing a little bit further, is
that he actually played football at a pretty high level here.
So yeah, yeah, he's got that going for him. He's
not working from scratch and and and all of that.

(11:59):
And obviously I know you were, you know, using that
as the extreme example, uh, from the fictional world but
brought in. But we we know the coach speak and
the speeches. Hell, everybody bought into Detroit because they watched
Hard Knocks. Look at Dan Campbell, he's gonna get no,
none of them are gonna be able to play defense

(12:20):
worth a lick. But that's okay. Uh. Then they go
and pete Aaron Rodgers as he tries to throw the
ball over a defender to an offensive lineman. That's the
state of affairs. But we've got plenty of time to
talk about Aaron Rodgers before the night is done. But
he is a guy who's known quantity around the league,
certainly in the locker room, and he he knows what

(12:45):
prompts the BS meter to go up among players, and
that's one of the things. Talk to a lot of
the guys that wander the halls here for Fox Sports Radio.
Don't lie to me, right, just just be a man
and be straight up with me or a woman, uh
in those situations, but just be straight up with me
of what's going on, what's the evaluation, and how we're
looking at at moving forward. So, yeah, there's a positivity there,

(13:07):
Frank Reich, I don't I don't know where where the
locker room was at the end, but clearly on the field,
no results, Ballard still getting the benefit of the dat
at least for another eight games, and it could go
terribly wrong. Well, you couldn't get a better opponent to
come into for your first game. Now good? Yeah, right,
here are the Raiders who are every bit as bad

(13:29):
as you are with less, with more talent in theory
on the field. Josh McDaniels got fake fired today on
the internet. I mean, yeah, they got problems. Well, they'll
just be able to recycle that in seventy two hours
after they lose to the Colts. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon
weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific on Fox

(13:51):
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. Dear Mr,
I'm too important, higher real head coach, but instead I
go get Jeff Saturday. This is a alst time I
ever call your ass. By the way, this is Andrew
Luck Flock Boards Radio. Jason Smith Show with my best
friend Mike Harmon. We could talk about how complicated other
banks make it to radeem credit card rewards, or we

(14:13):
could talk about how with Discover you can redeem your
rewards for cash in any amount at anytime. I mean
talk about amazing learn more at discovered dot com slash
redeem rewards. That's discovered dot com slash redem rewards terms
they do apply well. A big night in the NBA
after no games a night ago, a game that just
finished in double overtime, the Bucks beat the Thunder one

(14:36):
thirty six to one thirty two. Who had the big
game tonight? Was it? No? No, no, no, no, no no. Uh. Seriously,
Javon Carter. Javon Carter. The thirty six points and twelve
assists for the Bucks in its victory just for one

(14:58):
is really some man, I'll tell you, that's amazing, amazing.
Uh So, meanwhile, the Knicks lowes to the Nets. It
happens the Lakers trail the Clippers by two at halftime.
I'm gonna catch up with Rick Buker, uh coming up
next hour on the show to break these stories down

(15:21):
as Rick has uh you know, look, I know he's
got big stuff and he's on the Ball podcast on Kyrie.
We'll have stuff on the Warriors, the Lakers, and the Nets. Again.
We'll have that coming up in about an hour here
on the show. Well, he's I mean, he's taken aback
by the first half. He just watched him greatness between
the Clippers, and I thought I knew what was going on.

(15:42):
The Clippers were up by seventeen after the first quarter.
Oh no, wait, the Lakers made a run. Oh here
they are. Now it's a close game at halftime. Hey,
it's working. Ory, it's happening. It's happening. It's happening. But look,
we spent a lot of time. Look we're talking a
few minutes ago about Jeff Saturday and how it could work.
You don't need to be a coordinator. You don't need

(16:03):
to be someone who, look, I I have this system
that's coming in. Sometimes you can be the CEO type
head coach and you can succeed. And you know, talking
about the ted Lasso effect for him. Look, it's it's
a real thing, right, it's a it's a real thing.
Not every coach is the same. And I don't know
that Jeff Saturday is a guy that's a long haul
head coach. That's someone who, hey, I can do this

(16:25):
for years and years and years. Could he strike could
he strike it hot the rest of this season and
another year? Okay, yeah, maybe sure, because if you free
up the players and they're happy to play, you know
it could happen. But to think that you have to
be someone that is an X and O S guru
to have a system to have this. No, the CEO
head coach is coming back more in vogue because every

(16:49):
year you can't just say, well, who's the next great
offensive coordinator? Right, Who's the next great defensive coordinator? Who
put in a system that works so well? Right? Who's
Robert's slow? Who has you dresses fifteen defensive lineman every
week and is able to have a great defense with
the Fortins And in two years he's got a great
defense with the Jets. Not every year is like that, right,

(17:10):
And not every team needs that. Not every team needs
a system. You know, you know, a guy to come
in to grab hold. Okay, here are the players we have,
we've already had town. Sometimes you need the CEO head coach.
You need someone to come in who's gonna be able
to command the room and command the team and and
command everything and be the guy that's in charge. And
not everybody is cut out to do that, right. That's

(17:31):
why O C and d C s to get promoted
to head coach get fired so fast. But I wasn't
up to the job. I didn't have the CEO type capability. Now,
the best head coaches are both of them. Guys like Belichick,
guys like Mike Tomlin. Hey, they could be the CEO.
They also have everything in what they want to do
and and and this is how the team works, and
we're gonna be successful for a long time on it.

(17:51):
But sometimes if if you're that kind of head coach,
that can work, and the CEO guy is going to
become more and more invoked because those eyes are easier
to find. You can find players, You can find guys
like Jeff Saturday who command a lot of respect in
the locker room. Right. I'm surprised people haven't gone after
Rod Smith and hired them because of the respect that

(18:12):
they've had from former Broncos wide receiver. Uh, there's guys
out there that this can wind up being a boom for. Yeah.
I was never a coordinator, didn't have my own system,
but yeah I was able to inspire players and inspire
the team and and and work out all the problems
and let everybody just go play football. You know, the
the CEO head coach is really going to start coming
back in vogue, and it's gonna be now well, I

(18:32):
think a lot of it comes back to we talked
about disruption in all forms of business, right, electric cars
or uber and lift and all of these things, the
grub hubs and all of these different ways your lives
have changed all the things that we do online. Uh
that used to be into a brick and mortar store.

(18:53):
Uh to get done that you can do and transmit
electronically right paying your bills. Something is simple, is that
someone had to be the first to put that kind
of encrypted software out there and then get people to
adopt it. The same thing here when it comes to Brady, Oh, sorry,
too soon, too soon for that. Let's jackass now, now

(19:14):
you're just being mean, Like at this point, you gotta
find a different example. Quit your jobs. Hey, this crypto
is gonna be great. Okay, Hey, he never said quit
your jobs. What do you do now you're putting no, no, no,
because that that becomes slander and and an actionable item
in a court of law if he don't he didn't
actually he didn't actually say okay. Although I think a

(19:36):
lot of a lot of folks are getting drawn in
on the potential of the pump and dump, and well
Brady would be among them. But the idea is that
you have to look at the way things have always
been done and then look to potentially make a change.
And if you're dissatisfied with the performance there and you've

(19:56):
looked at all the data points, you've got a guy
you trust, a guy you like, a guy that played
there for his entire NFL career, right, is there over
a decade great winning streaks and a guy that was
revered as a locker room guy. Then you say, okay,
let's let's go outside of the normal path of coaching. Now.

(20:18):
Is it to some scene as the slap in the
face to what has always been the mantra? Sure? But again,
if it works, then you have a new path. If not,
you don't suddenly see a bunch of owners. It's like analytics, right,
and the use of them. It's always been there, folks.
This is not a new concept. It's just now we

(20:41):
talk about it on broadcasts and we we highlight more
of the the statistical advantages, disadvantages whatever to play calling,
trying to give it a different spin at a different color.
And so with with this, you're you're looking at a
break the mold potential opportunity. And as you said, you've

(21:04):
got other teams that have long respected people around their organizations.
Maybe they're ambassadors or whatever bogus title you would throw
on them now, but would be up for this type
of job. If Saturday has any level of success, and
you mentioned the coordinators. That was exactly what I had
drawn up. It's like, how many guys get promoted, You

(21:26):
get promoted to the level of incompetence. What is that?
The Peter principle is that what it's called just the
idea of all right, you got one more because you've
been doing well, and then that's where you fall flat
on your face. And that goes in any type of business.
And so we've seen numerous cordiners. Hell, we spent a
lot of time talking about McDaniels and Hackett for the
first half of the NFL season, guys that have been

(21:48):
coordinators and then you get the head coaching job and
it just doesn't look like the time is right, doesn't
look like they're ready, and that the lights got too bright,
and then they can go back. And I mean Daniels
is interesting because he remember he was going to be
the Colts head coach at some point, so it all
ties together, uh in that way as well, and then
you can go back to your comfort zone and become

(22:10):
a coordinator again and move on. Wade Phillips was a
plus five guy, but the perception is always that he
failed as a head coach and then he went back
to being the defensive guru, and just go on and on.
There's so many Uh North Turner and so many other
examples of guys that were brilliant until they were supposed
to be the lead guy and then for whatever reason,

(22:32):
it didn't come to fruition. And that's okay, So why
go back down that road if you're if you're Jim
Rsay and you want to be the rebel readigade, you
want to play some of all those great musical instruments
that you've bought through the years and say, you know what,
I'm just a different guy. I'm a maverick. This is
a way to do it. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays

(22:55):
at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific. Well, so last
night we talked about the reality for Aaron Rodgers in
that Aaron Rodgers the best thing for the Packers is
to trade him in the off season. We went through
all different reasons, told you that Geno Smith is is
a big thing. The Seahawks have shown you can get
along well without a star who's kind of a pain

(23:16):
in the a s. So the Packers are gonna see
that and go okay, yes, we bring talent and we
do all of the we we did it last night.
Congratulations to everybody who did that today. Congratulations and I
hope it worked for you. Um. But I got a
lot of people saying to me, hey, say smartass, because
you know that's me. Where are they going to trade
him to? Okay? Okay, asked? And this is gonna be

(23:41):
a shock. But I will tell you the two teams
that will go in on Aaron Rodgers for next season,
and it's gonna surprise you all right. Now, first of all,
you could sit back and say, okay, well but what
about the Giants? What about Carolina? What about Note they're
not going to trade him into too the NFC. Not happening.
They're not going to potentially watch him for the next

(24:03):
two years, win a super Bowl, go far in the playoffs,
have to play that. They're not going to trade him
in the NFC. It's just not gonna happen, right, So well,
it's a great story. Hey, Aaron Rodgers to the Giants,
Aaron Rodgers to the Panthers, Aaron Rodgers to the forty Niners.
Yet no, they're not going to trade him in the conference. Right,
they're gonna trade him to the a f C. Okay,
so where right, while he was linked to the Colts

(24:24):
last year, they would have made a move for him.
Oh what a bit. No, the Colts are gonna finish
at the bottom of the NFL and they're gonna wind
up taking a quarterback early in the draft. They've been
down the road of let's go get that veteran quarterback
who's a little bit past his prime, and it hasn't
worked the first two times. I don't think they're gonna
do it a third time. But you want to know

(24:45):
the two teams that are gonna go in on Aaron Rodgers.
And a big aspect of this is having the cap
space being able to absorb that contract that it's fifty
million dollars that you have to either say, hey, we're
gonna suck it up and and and have it be
forty million dollars this year, or we're gonna break it
up over a couple of years. But there's a couple

(25:07):
of teams that are gonna have a lot of money
that will be able to do it, that will believe
they are Aaron Rodgers away from contending for the Super Bowl,
Right because you've gotta have that. It's not just gonna
be anybody. It's gonna be Hey, we have it every place,
but we kind of need a quarterback. You also have
to be two teams that can wait until after June one,

(25:27):
because if the Packers trade Aaron Rodgers after June one,
it's a lot easier money wise for everybody. If you
do it before June one, it's a lot more difficult.
So what teams Wait a minute, but what that means
teams got to go through the draft. Yes, teams have
to go through the draft, not get their quarterback of
the present and wait and go in on Aaron Rodgers.
Here's the two teams gonna surprise you. But here's the

(25:48):
two teams that can do that. Number One is the
Steelers because they have the cap space, they'll be able
to go through this offseason saying no, can he pick it?
Gear two, Okay, they have a really good defense when t. J.
Watt is healthy, they have playmakers. They are gonna give
more carries to Jalen Warren. We saw that earlier today.
The Pittsburgh Steelers maybe in Aaron Rodgers away from jumping

(26:13):
back into contention. If you're not sold on Kenny Pickett.
Aaron Rodgers could be your guy. If you don't get them, Okay,
you know, we will still go into year two with
Kenny Pickett. Figure it out from there. If it doesn't work,
it goes forward. The other team that could wind up
doing this that I can see doing it entirely because
they'll take a big swing because they'll see they'll see
their eyes getting really big. Are the Jets. Because if

(26:36):
they go through this hole and the defense is great,
and the running backs are really good, and you've got
some really good wide receivers. Man, you got Garrett Wilson,
you have Corey Davis. You may be convinced or turn
Elijah More back into something. They'll move here and move
him back to the slots. Hopefully that'll be better for him. Uh.
Watch the Jets. If they're not happy with Zack Wilson.

(26:56):
They can be a team that waits. Right, we got
Zack Wilson going into year three. We're gonna see what
he's like. But they can wait and if Aaron Rodgers
becomes available, they can pounce on Aaron Rodgers. We have
a Super Bowl window right bleeping now. We've got a
great defense, we have a really good offense. We don't
need Aaron Rodgers to be forty five touchdowns a year.
We need Aaron Rodgers to be Aaron Rodgers and throw

(27:17):
the football that MetLife wind. Trust me, those are the
two teams that you will see pony up for Aaron Rodgers.
Those are the fits counting everything, the money, the opportunity,
the teams that can wait till after June one. Steelers
and the Jets. Boy, I really like that that first
one because I actually wrote to Steelers right as you
started to take pit pit pit pit pit. Uh friar

(27:40):
muth the wide receivers h you mentioned war Look not nag.
Harris has been a disappointment as a back. Uh. Some
of that is the offensive line. The other Let's go
back to even last year he averaged three point nine
yards pop. His primary value was as a receiver, and
I don't just mean for those of people in PPR
fantasy leagues that where he made his biggest h contribution

(28:02):
as a player a year ago. Hope would be that
it was going to get better, but clearly, uh, that
is not, which is why you have the timeshare you
do now and more big plays coming off Warren's legs.
How about I had another team and it's it's more
because you just trade quarterbacks to uh reunite him in
with Davante Adams in Vegas. Derek Carr, you got paid,

(28:25):
you got a big deal. You go to Green Bay,
you go work that out, and you haven't done much
with great talent around you. Let's you go work with that, uh,
and then and then Aaron Rodgers can go finish his
career in Vegas. But yeah, once you start getting into
the salary cap and looking at projections and what teams
are gonna need to do, uh to try to make

(28:46):
space right. It's one thing sited in division when we're
trying to look at the future for Rogers and the Packers,
is you're seeing growth from Justin Fields and the Bears
and Darnell Mooney after a slow start, has been more
efficient and the run games efficient and you've got tons
of money to spend right over well over a hundred

(29:09):
uh fift hundred twenty million dollars are gonna be on
the books for them to spend now. Convincing receivers and
other different makers to come there, well, that'll be another
part to the equation. But the Vikings you know, organizationally
there there and not falling apart, right Kirk Cousins like
him or hate um. They win games, and they've got

(29:30):
plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. And
the Lions somehow can't get out of their own way
even if things look to be better talent wise. Right,
Jamison Williams hasn't played yet. DeAndre Swift can't stay on
the field. Golf is golf, and your and your defense
can't stop you. Me Frostburg and eight of our closest friends,

(29:50):
including Alex Teischer, who would be not only giving us
the sound and making sure we can communicate plays, but
given us some sick beats to run our routes to.
But it's the idea that going forward. You got problems
Twitter and how about a Presca Mike gets swollen down
the Jason Smith Show with my best friend Mike Harman.

(30:11):
Book at Steelers or the Jets. Just think about that. Now,
I gotta be nice to Aaron Rodgers again. You can
still hate and if he don't care, I might have to.
Coming up next, we have more on this and more
on the biggest fantasy football development of the week. Easy
It's next right here. Fox. Be sure to catch live

(30:32):
editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike harmon weekdays
at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio and the I Heart Radio app Fox Sports Radio.
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Carmen. All, I've been
thinking of his boy. If Aaron Rodgers actually tell Aaron,
if Aaron Rodgers plays for the Jets next year, I mean,
I would have to be. I'd have to be nice

(30:54):
to him like the entire time. Now you wouldn't. I
would have to be. Now, you gotta be offend. Yeah,
but I just keep going. Remember who you are? Yes,
he remember who he is. You See, here's the thing is,
I don't care who plays. I just want to win.
Like I'm Jim Beheim, I don't care who plays. I
just want to win. I don't care who plays. I mean,

(31:16):
I wat Saws Gardner to play and play great. But
if Sauce Garner doesn't play and the Jets win, okay,
that's all right, man. I don't care who plays. Rooting
for laundry. We've been saying that for years and people
get mad at if Mike White plays. Mike White plays,
It's okay, it's all right if that happens, if Joe
Flacco plays that, Joe Flacco plays, it's all right. He's

(31:37):
still convinced he can start all over the well when
you watch, when you when you see people falling all
over themselves to say, what a great game, Zach Wilson
had eighteen out of dred and sixty nine yards in
a touchdown. Wait what, No, that's an okay game, managing game.
That's not a great game. It's a great game. It's

(32:00):
a great it's great in in retrospect to what he did,
but it's not great universally. It's great for him, but
when you compare him to other quarterbacks, he's average to
below average. But sometimes you just have to look look inward.
It's a problem. We all compare ourselves to everybody else.
Tell you what you read that thought piece nine thousand

(32:20):
times stick about the Jets, Steelers of the Jets. I
don't know what would be better. Aaron Rodgers on the Steelers.
Aaron Rodgers on, because those are the two teams that
can do it. They can do everything to get him.
Telling you, but speaking of the Steelers, the big fantasy
news of the week this week and this is gonna
make everybody who's got Nagy Harris unhappy. And if you
have Jalen Warren sitting on your bench, going, when is

(32:42):
he gonna get his chance? Well, if you've been listening
to the I Want Your Flex podcast, we've been banging
the drum on this for a while. That could be
happening soon. As Mike Tomlin said today that uh, they're
looking to get him more carries and Jalen Warren could
take over as the feature back in Pittsburgh because the
Steelers need something there at a time where their season

(33:05):
ends with another loss. You know, you're you're you're looking
at You're looking at the team that is in last
place in the n f C North. They get to
two and seven, they're done. They're cooked right now. They
get t J. Watt back, so maybe they can go
on a run. They had to buy. They had time
to clear their head. Maybe they can alter the offense
a little bit. But this is it, like this is

(33:25):
the game. There is no team under more pressure to
win a game this week than the Pittsburgh Steelers because
the team that we've watched contend for the next for
for for the last twenty years. It doesn't finish under
five hundred. That always makes the playoffs. There is no
team under more pressure to win a football game this
week than the Pittsburgh Steelers, because they win and maybe

(33:48):
they start something. T J. Watt is back. We're feeling good.
We figure out uh some sort of division of labor
with the running backs. Kenny Pickett plays better. We're running
the offense a little bit differently than we did than
by throwing Kenny pick it in um. But this is
the week every other team if you lose, okay, you lose,
but teams that have aspirations to be good. No team

(34:09):
has more pressure than the Steelers to win this week. Yeah,
this is one of the if you were to look
at the mid season good bad uglies. One of mine
that was ugly, and it wasn't a hey, they're gonna
be juggernauts. I didn't think they'd be as bad as
they've been. Hundred and twenty points scored and t J.
Watt should not define how well or poorly a defense

(34:31):
plays overall. You should be able to move on and
scheme out to where you're still functional without him. That said,
Kenny pick It's been atrocious. Right, you want to talk
about Zach Wilson or whatever. And I know Picket's a
rookie as opposed to a second year guy, but you
want to talk about looking absolutely lost despite what was,

(34:51):
at least on paper, a nice little grouping of skill
position guys, including when you bring in George Pickens while
they trade Claypool away to the Bears. You've got Friar
Muth when he's healthy. You've got the other receivers as
well as the two headed backfield, and and you've done
really not much of anything. You look at the schedule,
You've got New Orleans at home, and then Cincinnati at home,

(35:14):
on the road at Jeff Saturday's Indianapolis Colts had to
do it. I can't call him Sam Lingers. It doesn't
matter anymore. He's he's irrelevant to this. It's now the
Jeff Saturday coach. And then on the road at the
surprising and plucky Atlanta Falcons went down in defeat to
Frostburg's Chargers, but still a team that's a tough out.
Then you still have two more against Baltimore, but then Carolina,

(35:37):
Vegas and Cleveland. So yeah, this one's huge because you
could still have a puncher's chance at a five hundred
plus season Twitter at how about a Fresca? Mike gets
swollen down The Jason Smith Show with my best friend
Mike Harmon Coming up next, Oh boy, get ready for
a big clown show after what happened today regarding one
head coach in the NFL. That's next right here, Fox

(35:59):
Sport Radio, The tirect dot Com Studios,