January 1, 2026 • 40 mins
Jason Fitz and Buck Reising in for Covino & Rich, react live as Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers start strong vs Bama in the Rose Bowl. Lamar Jackson returns for a win-and-in game vs the Steelers. Plus, could Malik Willis earn a huge payday on the last day of the regular season?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, thanks for listening to the Cadno and Rich Podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from five
to seven Eastern to the four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Find your local station for comedo Rich at Foxsports Radio
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Speaker 1 (00:19):
I mean, if you really wanted to take Cavino and Rich,
make it a little bit dumber, but a hell of
a lot better looking, that's what we've got right now.
He's buck rising on Jason Fitz. It's a bucket fits
takeover on Fox Sports Radio, hanging out with you. Indiana
up ten to nothing over Alabama in the second quarter,
Bama with the ball and the entire state of Alabama
(00:41):
starting to feel a little bit puckered up. But here's
the thing. Here's the thing. We haven't seen a lot
in this game, but here's one common thread that we've
seen throughout the course of the college football playoff. Over
the last twenty four hours, we've had a bunch of
playoff games, and it's been really easy quickly to figure
out which team was gonna win. All you have to
do is ask yourself, which defense is flying to the
(01:01):
ball more because I would argue at the end of
the day, I wouldn't even are I don't think anybody
would argue with me. Miami's defense flat out out played
Ohio State's defense as good as they are, and in
the game earlier today, as much as we were touting
the greatness of Texas Tech, my god, that Oregon defense
was even better. Right, And so far in this game,
Indiana's defense has stepped up and made the plays they
(01:23):
need to make. If I'm Bama, I'm starting to get
a little bit nervous. Buck.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
We love it.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
We love anytime we can cause great discomfort to the
state of Alabama. Respectfully, to our Fox Sports radio affiliates
in the state of Alabama, I am actively rooting on
your downfall today as in Indiana, Alum. It makes me very,
very happy to see my team up ten to nothing.
But I also remember that Oklahoma was up seventeen to
nothing on Alabama, and so I fear that in the
back of my mind at this point in time, like
(01:49):
I'm just waiting for that moment. And maybe that's just
the way that that sports fans exist. Like you don't,
you don't ever feel good about it until it's over right.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Why is explain this to me? Why is it that
when your favorite team is ahead by ten, you're like,
no lead is safe, And when your favorite team is
down by ten, you're like, well we can never come.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Back from that.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Like, it's it's the same point differential, it's just a
total different mindset.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Well, it's it's easier to do I think it's just
like it's an easier way to do the analysis that way,
rather than be rational or or or remove emotion from
the situation, because that's you know, at that point, you're
not being a fan. I am fascinated to see today,
in this particular game, with this matchup. I've been and
(02:33):
I've talked to you about this before. I've talked locally,
I've talked nationally about it. The idea that Indiana's talent
profile is so much lower, so much less than Alabama's
is so at what point am I gonna see? You know,
these stud wide receivers for Alabama just turn it on
(02:54):
and do something that Indiana's secondary is not capable of
competing with because they're just physically less. Now, Ty Simpson
has to make more throws. Ty Simpson has to be protected.
They have to be able to run the ball for
Alabama to be able to have a balanced offense. They
can't just get in these dropback situations and expect to win.
I mean, I suppose they can because they did it
(03:15):
for a good chunk of the season, but lately, no,
I can't go ahead.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
That point, though, buck is an important one. Like we're
watching Alabama right now get no balance in their offense.
And I said earlier the better defense is won every game.
I could take the flip side of that and say
the quarterback that was incapable of getting comfortable lost every game.
Like Dante Moore was never really comfortable, but he handled
the game a hell of a lot better at Texas Tech. Right,
(03:42):
So you know there is some moment of you know,
Carson Beck. One of the most surprising parts about the
game that we saw, Like is how many times have
I said I don't really trust Carson Beck? Right, But man,
Carson Beck flat he didn't look like the moment it
was too big for him, Julian saying, did look overwhelmed
for Ohio State. Right, So your point in this game,
what I saw in the second drive was a Fernando
(04:03):
Mendoza that it's starting to get a little bit comfortable.
What I just saw on the response drive for Alabama
was that we don't have that same level of comfort
here right now in Alabama. So there is some I
think you're onto something with quarterbacks in.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
This Well, it's just it's something that we've seen for Alabama,
like they've kind of been living dangerously for a while now,
right And at some point you have talked about this
at great length, I'm sure, not just on Yahoo, but
in every other place you're being asked college football question
when you do interviews or appearances or things like that.
(04:36):
The idea of Alabama they can they win. I'm not
saying that they're outright one dimensional, but there is one dimensional.
I mean, is there a more one dimensional offense in
the postseason right now based on what their season has
been than Alabama and their inability to run the football
and their perpetual existence in third and six plus.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
No. No, you're a thousand percent right.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
No.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
And you know that's why I thought this was an
Indiana in a matchup opportunity before the injury to the
defensive line from the Big Ten Championship, because all you
got to do is get after the quarterback you can
beat Alabama.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Yeah, So at that point, I just don't think that's
a successful formula.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I mean, I know that's a not successful.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Formula to having any kind of meaningful impact on a
game unless you just get into a situation where Oklahoma,
for example, isn't equipped to score with you and starts
to play a little more. I wouldn't say lacks on defense,
but starts to kind of ease up, ends up playing
a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
I mean, not to.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Cliche it too much, but the idea of bend, don't
break defense that allows you to continue to kill clock
versus being hyper aggressive and dictating matchups and sending pressure
and jamming at the line of scrimmage and all these
different things depending on game situation. I just don't think
that Oklahoma handled that moment particularly well, and Alabama was
(06:00):
able to make them pay. Alabama is good enough to
still make you pay in that situation. I just don't
think Indiana's gonna underestimate anybody at this point in time,
because this is the team.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
This is the program of perpetual underestimation.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
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(06:35):
He's Buck Rising. I'm Jason fitzbucking Fits taken over for
the guys. And you know it's interesting too, because everything
you're talking about is why this gets more and more difficult.
I know, I understand that Alabama was just down seventeen nothing,
and I was ready to talk my talk. I was
ready to go out there totally.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
This Alabama team, You've tried to kill them so many
times this season, I have, I have.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Look it's because here's here's where I am on Alabama.
I think Alabama's a very good foot and statement. Alabama
fans haven't realized yet that they're just a very good
football program, like they're no longer this separate. Like I
always go back to what Michael Junior told me about
Notre Dame walking off the bus. And we've heard this before,
but Mike told me first, and he said, when you
(07:16):
just watched the guys walk off the bus. They were
so huge, and the way they walked off the bus,
you just felt like, man, that's Alabama. Something was different,
and I think that's the certain little seasoning that was
left off when Saban left. So now you're just a
very good football team, and very good football teams are fallible.
I don't think as a program today for the next
(07:37):
five years, there's any real indication that Indiana will be
worse off than Alabama is. So it's not that I'm
trying to leave them for dead. It's just that I
no longer think they're special. So if I don't think
they're special, then I think they can be beat by
special teams. Not special teams and special teams, but by
a special football program. This gets interesting now because to
your point, they lose, this is a big drive for
(07:59):
Nanna Mendo's has the ball back. We'll see what Indiana
can do with it. But at some point you don't
feel like you want to drop down to a two
score deficit to Indiana, because particularly this defense is good.
This defense is going to make it a nightmare. If
they lose any semblance of balance. They being Alabama, this
is going to get really tricky for them, So their
defense is going to have to step up and keep
(08:21):
them in the game until their offense can get any
dang rhythm.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Is there any sense to the idea or any would
you buy anything to the effect of Alabama has faced
a good defense and come back from down seventeen to
nothing on a good defense in Oklahoma and they've had something.
I mean, they did it again. Auburn is bad this year, right,
Auburn is not any kind of any kind of competitive
(08:47):
at least in terms of the kind of teams that
we're talking about, right, But they had to come back
in the Iron Bowl against Auburn Alabama did. Is there
any logic to the notion that Alabama has been in
a lot of these situations and so just because they
find themselves in these situations, that they are battle tested
(09:08):
and that they would just to play again Devil's advocate.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I'm actively rooting against this idea.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
I hope that Alabama that this is finally the place
where they slip up too many times and Indiana is
the team that gets past them. I have an active
rooting interest in this game, but I will acknowledge that Alabama,
with a good coaching staff and a lot of talented
players and a quarterback who is above average. I wouldn't
I wouldn't say that Ty Simpson is excellent, but he's
above average in the right circumstance. I just I don't
(09:37):
want to myself underestimate their ability to do this, even
though every time I watch them, I look at them
and say, yeah, but like, Alabama is the definition of
the yeah butt team to me this.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Year, and I think all of that is fair. In
the Sabman era, part of what made Alabama so hard
to beat is that everybody involved on both sidelines believed
that out Alabama was gonna find a way to get
it done. So it didn't matter if you were beating
them or if they were getting beat on the sidelines,
it's like, now, we're fine, we are Alabama. We're gonna
(10:09):
be just fine. I don't think this version of Alabama
has that same level of swagger, and even if they do,
I don't think that they have that same level of
intimidation factor to the opposite sideline, to just where their
belief carries over. I think part of where belief gets
really scary is when both sides look at it and say,
oh my god, man, here. Like one of the things
(10:30):
about play of the Chiefs for years has been the
minute Matt Patrick Mahomes gets the ball. With a minute
and a half, the players on the other sideline are
just like us watching it home. They're like, oh, son
of a biscuit, there goes Mahomes. He's got the ball
back right like, there's belief all the way across the board.
So I think that's where intimidation can actually that vibe
can turn into a result for these Indiana guys. I
(10:52):
just don't think they've been watching Alabama on film over
the course of this season and said, oh man boy,
we can't let this team back in like this. You'd
make the easy argument to me that Alabama is at
best their third best opponent this year. Alabama was not
tougher than Alabama neutral side at the Rose Bowl, not
tougher than going to Oregon, not tougher than take it
(11:13):
on Ohio State. I'm not even sure in their minds
it's that much tougher than going two Penn State.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
Was, which, by the way, it's winning at Penn State
is something Indiana has never done as a program.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
That's the first time it's happened in history. And they
almost slipped up there, right.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
That was the Amari Cooper Mendoza comeback situation where Mendoza
didn't play his best game through an interception, put them
behind and had to dig themselves out. But to again
talk about battle tested, that was the stub your toe
moment that they were able to survive in ways that
for example, Vandy at Texas or at Tuscalosa was not
able to do, or Tennessee had some moments like that
(11:47):
missing a field goal against Georgia where they had them
in a back and forth overtime game, like so many
different moments of this where Indiana has broken through that way,
and so many other programs, so many other teams this
season have fallen short. I think that Signetti has Indiana
thinking that they're Nick Saban's Alabama, and not just because
Signetti was on that Nick Saban Alabama staff as a
(12:08):
wide receivers coach and assistant head coach like he is.
He is a figure here who gives them that kind
of what's the word ethos and it permeates everything that
they do. And like you know, Mendoz is a bit
of a a I don't even know how to describe him.
I was talking to an NFL executive about him today
(12:30):
as a matter of fact, and just the the the
quirkiness of him that is going to be picked at
a little bit in the upcoming draft process, Like can
somebody with that kind of a personality And it's not
a bad thing, right, He's just a goober, you know,
and he's clearly highly intelligent and very serious about football.
And if you're those two things, then you have a
(12:51):
good chance as long as you're you know, tough enough
to handle going to bad organizations like cam Ord with
the Titans, or potentially Mendoza with the Raiders, or any
of these other brands wash out quarterbacks that we've seen
over the past couple of years.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
I am.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
I am looking at the idea of Signetti and just
how ready he has them at every turn. They seem
prepared for every scenario under the sun. And it's because
that is very rare context that a I mean, what
a Signetti's sixty two, he's sixty three. He's a very Again,
this is a very unicorn type of situation. Have that
(13:26):
kind of a veteran coach only in year two of
his tenure at a Power four program that has them
winning and clicking at the highest levels because he's he
has seen it and experienced it all at a different
version of that, but getting to do it from the
back seat and watching Nick Saban go through it, and
then taking that to where did he go? He was
(13:47):
at like India, some kind of Indiana Directional school, and
then he went to JMU, and then he's at Indiana
and people are laughing at.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Him because, oh, what are you going to do in Indiana?
What do you mean?
Speaker 4 (13:55):
Ohio State and Michigan suck to not just Purdue. When
he's getting people gassed up at a basketball game, like
who is this guy?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
You know, That's what I said. I was, like, who
the hell is this guy? The Google meet guy?
Speaker 4 (14:04):
Right turns out Google results when your Google cards agnetic
pretty good?
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Now, Google Me and the Google quarterback together are ahead
ten to nothing. Right now, Google Alabama, We'll keep you
updated on that game. Oh, by the way, don't forget
New year. Your new success can begin sooner than you think.
At University of Maryland Global Campus, undergraduate and most graduate
classes start January seventh, so you still have time. Apply
(14:32):
now and save with no application fee. Learn more at UMGC,
like University of Maryland Global Campus MGC dot e Edu.
All right, coming up, we mentioned it earlier, Lamar is
back Sunday night football loser goes home? What does it
mean now that we know that we're going to have
Lamar in for this matchup for the Steelers and the
Ravens will tell you about it next. Bucking Fits on
(14:54):
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
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 1 (15:09):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
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.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Throat every day.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at
the sportsbook, and all the best guests. Do yourself a
favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz Bucking Fits hanging out
with you. I'm Fox Sports Radio in for Caveno Enrich.
Happy New Year's to all of you guys. Cavino Rich
close close friends of ours. I've known the guys for
a very long time, so I don't know how much
it means that you guys hang out with them, and
it means a lot that you're hanging out with us today.
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(16:03):
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Shipped free and fast back by free road hazard protection,
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com the way tire buying should be. We have a
starting quarterback update for this weekend's Big Loser Leaves Town
match between the Ravens and the Steelers. Specifically, Okay, Buck,
(16:24):
I'll be in eighties wrestling nerd for a second. I'm
a nerd anyway, but I'll be an eighties wrestling nerd.
In the eighties, they used to do these loser leave
town match right, and none of us knew at the
time because the Internet didn't even exist when I was
a kid. What none of us knew is that the
loser wasn't really leaving town. It was just that they
were going to go wrestle in a different territory. So
like I grew up in Vegas, Well maybe the wrestler
(16:45):
was going to go wrestling Tennessee for a while, so
you know, they had a different contract. So they do
a loser leaves Town match, right, But that's where we
have Sunday Night loser leaves Town between the Steelers and
the Ravens. And I do mean leaves town because certainly
both fan bases, as you and I have talked about,
seem to want their head coach fired and you have
no idea what the ramifications are going to be for that.
So now you get Lamar healthy enough to go in
(17:07):
this even though Tyler Holly hasn't looked terrible, hasn't looked terrible.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Look, Tyler Holly doesn't have to do anything when Derrick
Henry has a four touchdown performance.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I think the part of that that is because that's
what everybody keeps going to and they're right, you've covered
Derrick Henry and you know his body like the way
he takes care of himself. I should say that carefully.
You don't know his body, well, you know the way
he takes care of himself. Well, or maybe you do,
and I'm not here to judge one with the other.
But here's what I would say.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
It's very impressive.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Think thirty six thirty six carry. I know, thirty six
carries for a man that is just he's not a
spring chicken in running back. Eres right no to bounce
back and have to get hitting. I am genuinely curious
to see for everybody, because I was watching Mad Dog
the other day. On first thing, he was like, they're
going to give the ball to him thirty five times
(17:53):
a game. He's the new Earl Campbell. I'm like, you're
presuming that his body can handle that. I don't. A
week and a half removed from thirty six carries? Is
he gonna thirty six carries again? Because that's an easy
way for them to win? Can his body take that?
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Who?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Who?
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yes, he's he's.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Mike Keith once called it half man, half amazing Derrick Henry,
the former play by play guy for the Tennessee Titans
and now doing the play by play for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Mike Keith broadcasting legend, but half man, half Amazing is
Derrick Henry, and I just you know I did cover
him his well, what.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Was he in Tennessee for eight years?
Speaker 4 (18:32):
His first eight years, maybe his first seven years, I
can't remember exactly, but yeah, from the guy who was
losing snaps as a third string running back to David Fluellen.
For anybody who ever paid attention to depth fringe running
back players on you know, Madden or wherever else, David
Fluellen was getting snaps over Derrick Henry in twenty eighteen,
(18:53):
as recently as twenty eighteen. It's an insane thing to
say Dion Lewis and David Fluellen, Right, And so Derrick
Henry really becomes Derrick Henry in twenty nineteen when the
Titans go on that unbelievable playoff run that sees him
lose to Patrick Mahomes in the AFCU Championship. That's the
first Super Bowl that Mahomes goes on to win. Derek
(19:16):
has evolved his body. We talk about the way that
players evolve to adapt their various circumstances. Derrick Henry in
twenty nineteen versus Derrick Henry in twenty twenty five, or
I guess technically now twenty six, not the same player
Derek doesn't pull away from guys anymore, but he has
so hyper focused his training, and I know that he
(19:36):
spends the vast majority of his offseason in Dallas, where
he's been working with the same trainer for many, many
years at this point in time, and I can't read
David Sanders. I want to say he's the name of
the trainer. I know a lot of other athletes work
out with him too, but Derek his muscle mass at
this point in time. I'm not saying that Derek Henry
doesn't get sore the way that the rest of the
(19:57):
football world gets sore. But this is a man and
who spends six figures on his recovery, on his preparation,
on all of the things around beyond just the workouts,
like the things to get Derrick Henry ready for workouts
he spends six figures on.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
And I want to say it's not low.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
Six figures on making sure that he is physically able
to handle the kind of workload that Derrick Henry knows
he can do, but he has to take very specific,
a very specific approach to be able to do it.
Derek is he seems to get physically wider, wider, wider
(20:37):
every time I see him, because he has so configured
his preparation to play a different style of football.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
And yeah, he still has.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
The moments where he gets in the open field and
you see his eyes get big and it's almost like,
you know, vintage Derrick Henry type stuff. Maybe he doesn't
get all the way to the end zone anymore ninety
nine yard touchdown runs against the Jags or something like that,
but he can still bludge in the holy hell out
of it, and he can still stiff arm you into
the center of the sun, and he can still do
all of these things to carry your offense. Which is
why if you're a Ravens fan, you want to grab
(21:08):
Todd Monkin by the shoulders and just kind of shake
him and be like, hey, look at him. Hold like Birdbox.
You've seen bird Box, Hold the movie where there's a
creature that nobody can see, but apparently it takes over
your body, turns into these kind of like zombies that
you have to then go you as a zombie, then
go and hold somebody's eyes open so they have to
(21:28):
look at this creature and then they become a zombie
and the whole thing, right, So somebody needs to take
Todd Munkin and bird box him while facing the direction
of Derrick Henry and be like, hey, look at him,
look at him and understand that this is the guy
that you're gonna ride if you are to be successful,
if the Ravens want to win, give Derek the rock.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
And what stands out to me when you're talking about that,
Like you covered Derrick Henry and Tennessee. I've only talked
to him a few times, but I've talked to him
this offseason and we did an interview piece for Yahoo
and it was funny because after the interview piece, I
was just picking his brain. You know, I've been on
this fitness journey that is so I love talking to
people that have really dedicated their life to it. I
want to find out kind of what you do, you know.
(22:09):
So afterwards we were just after the interview was done,
we were shooting you know what, and I asked him,
I said, so, what's a splurge day like for you? Calorically?
What does a splurge day look like? And he laughed
and he said, I during the season, I don't have them.
And I was like, so once once you once you
hit the beginning of like training for the season. He's like, yeah,
(22:29):
I mean, obviously somebody cooks it for him, but he's like, yeah,
I eat exactly the same macros every single day. That's
all decided by a trainer and there's literally no splurge
and I won't splurge from the day we report to
camp until the day the season is over. That is
a level of discipline that it's funny to me because
you know, I think ninety nine percent of the world
(22:50):
turns around and says, oh, I want these things like
I want so many people in the NFL. There are
running backs in the NFL that want to have the
career that Derrick Henry have had, but they will not
have the discipline that Terry Henry has had to have
that career. So what you're speaking to just speaks to
what makes him great. It also speaks to why Todd
Munkin is constantly being questioned as whether or not he
should be an offensive coordinator because if they go in
(23:13):
and he doesn't get the ball thirty times, I think
there's real questions to answer as to why that was
the decision making process. I want to get your thoughts
on what all of this means for the future of
the head coaching position. But in the meantime, Martin get
us caught up on the scoreboard. What's going on right
now across the landscape.
Speaker 6 (23:31):
Kurt Signetti has a scowl on his face, but maybe
he's not watching the game. That's the reason because the
second and goal right now for the Indiana Hoosiers ten
nothing to score. They've been dominating this first half thus
far in the rolls Ball, Alabama has nothing on the scoreboard.
It's sixty four passing yards for Alabama, thirty rushing for
the Crimson Tide, their ninth seed in this Indiana was
(23:54):
the one seed, undefeated, Fernando Mendoza ninety two yards passing
eighty six yards rush for the Hoosiers thus far. With
that Charlie Becker touchdown catch and again about twenty three
seconds left, second in goal, Indiana knocking on the door,
trying to make this a seventeen to nothing lead. If
it happens while I'm still talking to you, I'll make
sure you know about it. Oregon advances to twenty three
(24:16):
to nothing over Texas, teching the Orange Bowl. Defensive masterpiece
by the Ducks, shutting down that Red Raider offense that
have been.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Prolific pretty much all year.
Speaker 6 (24:25):
Miami beut Ohio State and the Cotton Bowl twenty four
to fourteen.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Miami in the Final four.
Speaker 6 (24:29):
Now, after all that consternation about them needing an at
large bid to make the playoff, Notre Dame Miami, that
took a lot of time. Well they are in the
Final four now, so there you go. Ole, Miss and
Georgia will play in the Sugar Bowl in the nightcap tonight.
Lamar Jackson expected to start for the Ravens on Sunday
against the Steelers. Saints receiver Chris Lave out for the
finale of the season due to blood clots. Jordan Love
(24:51):
has cleared concussion protocol, but the Packers are still shutting
the quarterback down until the playoffs start.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
They've already kind of locked their in. Buccaneers have not.
They need to win to get in.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
They won't have cornerback Ja Meldan or linebacker Anthony Nelson
against the pack avaits the Panthers. Speaking of the Packers,
Matt Lafleur said former Dallas cornerback Trayvon Diggs could play
for Green Bay against the Vikings on Sunday. He was
playing off waivers last I mean earlier this week. Jalen
Carter misspractice today with a hip injury, and J D
(25:23):
McCarthy was a full participant in today's practice.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Back to you guys, well, I can tell you Martin,
we did get a touchdown, just not quite in time
for you. We now have seventeen seconds left to go,
sixteen nothing pending the extra point. Is the current score? Yeah,
Bananda Mendoza with a little playfake throw across the body
coop at the touchdown. We are penning the extra point.
(25:48):
The kick is up, the kick is good. We are
seventeen to nothing with seventeen seconds to go in the
first half of this game. Indiana absolutely thumping Alabama as
we sit right now. I'll keep you updated on that.
He's Buck Rising. I'm Jason Fitzbuck and Fits hanging in
for Cavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. So here's
where it gets tricky with the Ravens and the Steelers.
(26:12):
Buck I because this is what everybody's gonna do on Monday.
Whichever team loses this game on Monday, the top, the
top story on most TV shows is going to be
is losing coach about to be fired? Is the Tomlin
era over in Pittsburgh. Is the Harbaugh era over with
(26:32):
the Ravens? And you and I have talked a lot
about why we both think that's asinine. But here's the thing.
I don't think that Sunday will actually be the moment
that everybody thinks it will be, because if the argument
is that the Steelers and the Ravens are unhappy with
where their coaching situation is, I don't think simply making
the playoffs changes that. If they are on the If
(26:54):
anybody truly believes that the Steelers or the Ravens are
on the precipice of firing their head coach, my question
is if all they do is make the playoffs and
then they get boat raced by three touchdowns, what really changed.
I'm not sure that the Steelers are a good football team.
I don't think they are this year. The Ravens have
played like a poor football team. They are who they
are at this point. Neither of these football teams have
been good enough. So I think where some people are
(27:17):
getting lost is they're turning it into loser leaves town,
coach lose his job. I'm not sure if you believe
that either franchise is truly on the precipice of that
sort of change. I'm not sure simply winning this weekend
will change that. You'd have to go in and at
least look competitive in the playoffs to sort of stop
whatever this conversation is. And even that, I don't know
(27:38):
who's going to work.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
No.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
I mean, if Pittsburgh, for example, were to get into
the playoffs and win the first playoff game since twenty seventeen,
does that really stop the Mike Tomlin stuff.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
If they win a playoff game.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Yes, you think it stops the Tomlin stuff. I don't
think so.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
Like if he wins our playoff game but then loses
in the say they're the wild card or a they're
playing wild Card weekend, hosting wild Card Weekend, and they
advance to the divisional round and they get smacked by
whomever is waiting for them in the divisional round or
and I mean theoretically they don't have to get smacked,
but say they lose a close game or something like that.
I don't think that quiet sound Pittsburgh fans about Mike Tomlin.
(28:14):
I don't think it does at all. I think it
you know, I think it's probably whatever grace he has
from the organization, and by the way, he should get
every grace in the world. I understand that Steelers fans
have higher standards than the vast majority of the NFL
fan basis. I respect them for it. I respect them
tremendously for it. I can also slightly disagree with the
(28:35):
idea that they can improve their standing by moving on
from Mike Tomlin, because I know what the rest of
NFL coaching looks like. I cover the Tennessee Titans. Okay,
there's a lot of bad coaching out there. It can
go very very sideways, very very quick. If you think
that Mike Rabel's not a good enough coach and you
move on from him because you want the next Sean
McVay Kyle Shanahan, offensive play caller, head coaching type, and
(28:57):
you hire Brian Callahan, and then you proceed to poop
yourself for the preceding two years, and Mike Rabel comes
back as the Patriots coach and whips your ass. Wouldn't
you hate that if you were a Pittsburgh Steelers fan
and Mike Tomlin, maybe he doesn't jump right back in.
So let's just let's play this hypothetical out a little
bit Mike Tomlin organization decides, you know, Mike, we're gonna
let you leave on your terms. We're not gonna announce
(29:18):
it as a firing, but if you would like to
go in a different direction, we would also think that
it would be beneficial for us. Like you don't have
to like it doesn't have to be a firing squad
type of situation.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
So Mike Tomlin, maybe he looks around and says, nah, Raiders, Titans, Giants.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
I don't feel good about any of that.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
And even if I did feel okay about cam Ward
or Jackson Dart, maybe I just take a year. Maybe
I do what Mike McCarthy's done a couple of times
at this point in time and sit out a year.
Maybe I do what Ben Johnson did. Ben Johnson went
back to the Lions and was the coordinator again for
a year. After looking around at some of the job openings,
(29:56):
it said, you know what, it's not better than what
I've got going on here in Detroit. Let me go
and win a Super Bowl. I'll put my name back
in at the appropriate time when the appropriate job becomes available.
Mike Tomlin, will I think have a similar path, And
I think It's far more likely for the thirsty ass
fan bases who are out here thinking that Mike Tomlin
would be available for them than to hire. I think
Mike Tomlin's gonna look it around at some of the openings,
(30:18):
and I'm sure there will be one that surprises us
this year. Vegas isn't open yet, but I don't know
it really. It feels like it's starting in that direction.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
And you would know better than I I am. I
am looking at Mike Tomlin, who would have the opportunity
to rejuvenate himself after many, many years of doing this
and one of the toughest divisions in football, takes a
year off, comes back and just beats a snot out
of the Steelers at the first opportunity. I think that
is a disaster scenario. I feel the same. I feel
less so that way about Harball. Not like I don't
(30:50):
think John Harball's a bad coach or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
I just think Mike Tomlin is going to be the
next Mike Vrabel in that type of situation. Don't be
so quick to move on from something that you think
has hit a ceiling unless you think that the perpetual
level of competitiveness is keeping you from one bottoming out
the way that you need to completely reset the board
and actually build back up towards your championship window.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
This is again that where I will remind the world
I don't think the Steelers have a Mike Tomlin problem.
I think the Steelers have a quarterback problem, and nothing
this year is going to change that. Now. I know
Aaron Rodgers isn't the reason that they've lost games here,
but hear me out. The whole argument is that at
some point you had to reset at the quarterback position,
and they simply haven't. As we've talked about before, they
drafted Kenny Pickett. They tried. They drafted Kenny Pickett, who
(31:37):
is the best available of a bad crop of quarterbacks
in their mind. At that point, they got it wrong.
The quarterback spot happens to franchises all the time. Ever
since then, they haven't been in anywhere near a remote
opportunity to select a quarterback. The only real quarterback that
has been attainable for them in the rookie classes that
they did not draft was Jackson Dart all right. Obviously,
the Giants chose to trade back up in the bottom
(31:59):
of the first So there's really a Jackson Dark conversation
if you if you think that not drafting Jackson Dart
was so consequential that you should fire your head coach,
then yeah, you fire Tomlin. Otherwise, I think where it
gets failed as everybody says, well, you gotta go get
a quarterback, Okay, who And maybe the answer to to
many Steelers fans is well, you didn't go out and
get Sam Darnold. You didn't go out and get Baker Mayfield.
(32:22):
Like there are guys that may be in free agency
you could have reached too. I think a lot of
people didn't see that the right way. So for me,
the hardest part about this is that you're not gonna
get suddenly like nothing is going to be fixed for
the Steelers. And that's just a blanket statement, y'all. Like
the Steelers at the end of this season. Let's let's
say they win the division, they go to the playoffs,
they get their asses kicked in the first round. Okay,
(32:44):
you still have a three seven and twenty two year
old quarterback, and you still don't have the things that
you need around the explosive play making. You still have
the most expensive defense in the NFL that didn't diddlely
poop with it, right, so you've got all right.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Fine, the lung of the star pass rusher. Let's let's
that's a rear clarification.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
The defense was playing poorly before they you know, but
I look around at all that they think, okay, great,
so you fire Tomlin? Now what yeah, what do you
do if if we are in a and we don't
know right now, if we are in a spot where
you know, Ty Simpson decides he's going to come back,
and Dante Moore decides he's going to come back, you
(33:25):
could make the argument there is only one quarterback that
would be worth taking in the first round of the
NFL draft this year. Steelers are not going to have
any remote shot at that number one quarterback no matter
who their coaches next year. So all of a sudden,
you don't like I hate to be the bearer of
bad news here, guys, but if you look at the
list of free agent names available at the quarterback position
next year, Malik Willis, you think Malik Willis is going
(33:46):
to fix the Pittsburgh Steelers. Also, you willing to pay
Malik Willis top dollar because there are so many teams
that need a quarterback. Malik Willis is going to end
up in that forty to fifty million dollar ach.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
I don't know, stop it, he's not there.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
He'll let it fort it. He'll end up in forty million.
Watch it. You just watched some this off season. Some
dumbass is gonna give Milik Willis a two year forty million. No,
come on, it's gonna happen. It's gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
Well, what what did Fields get? Did did Fields get
that deal? No?
Speaker 1 (34:11):
He got no? No, it feels got like twenty million.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Yeah, okay, he's more. He's way more likely to get
a justin Field. Get out of here. Forty million dollars.
You drossed.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Someone's gonna do. There's nobody, there's no work.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
You quit drinking, but there's nobody available.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
There's nobody.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
No, that doesn't mean that you just pay the guy
that is available. Forty million dollars. That's insane.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
You know, I'll look it up. We'll look I'll look
up what the cap numbers look like. We'll figure out
what Malik Willis is actually gonna get paid. He's buck
rising out. Jason Fitzer hanging out with you on Fox
Sports Radio you're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio. Welcome
back to Cavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. It's
a bucking Fits takeover Buck Rising Jason Fitz. For over
(34:50):
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The way tirebody should be. Okay, maybe not forty million
for Malik William will Malik Willis, I'll give you thirty
million by the card we get to the inflation next year,
I'll get you. I mean, Gino next year was scheduled
(35:13):
to make twenty six and a half. Right, so you know,
if you look at right where the the level of
suck teams are. I'm just here's the thing. Here's the thing.
Here are the list of free agent quarterbacks as we
stand right now. Now, look, some people will say, Kyler
Murray's going to be added to this list. Fine, Cardinals fans,
tell me who you're replacing Kyler Murray with. Again, in
my scenario of only one quarterback comes out for the draft,
(35:36):
who are you replacing Kyler Murray with if you don't
have a shot at Nana Mendoz So we're not.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Going to turn this into Malik Willie said, Willis is
gonna make forty million dollars from the bumb ass team,
then just looks are thirty is insane? You are insane.
I love Malik. I I again, Malik got drafted here
in Tennessee. I they did wrong, but I mean they
did wrong by a great many players, and Malik Willis
was viewed as you can't be a bust as a
(36:02):
third round flyer at quarterback. But I would be so
happy if Malake Willis would be able to be vindicated
that way, would be able to perform at that level
and would be paid thirty million dollars a year. I'm
telling you that there is not a snowballs chance in
hell that that actually happens this offseason. I know you
don't drink anymore, I'm still gonna ask you if you're drunk.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
I am not drunk, and I think the edibles from
last night have left my system, but I'm not sure.
The list of free agent quarterbacks available for next season
for everybody that needs a quarterback, Daniel Jones, who I
believe is going to resign with the Colts, so I'm
gonna take him off the list. Aaron Rodgers, Wait.
Speaker 4 (36:34):
Wait, wait, wait, slow down, Slow the hell down. You
think Daniel Jones is going to end up back in Indianapolis?
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Yes, yea yeah, why why not? I think Shane Steiken
found the guy that he thinks can be the quarterback
for him.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
Does that matter if Chris Ballard finally gets fired the
way that he should have been fired many many years ago.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
Oh yeah, I think they're going to use the meltdown
of injury as a reason to keep all the same Daniel.
And also I would.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
They bring it in?
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Who they bring it in? Who they getting instead? Malik Willis?
All right, now we got a bidding war from Malik Willis.
Daniel Jones can't play next year anyway in all likelihoods,
so I think they do a very friendly two year
deal with the third year option. Aaron Rodgers available next year,
likely only going to go back to Pittsburgh. And that's
who we're talking about replacing in this situation. The rest
(37:22):
of your available quarterbacks next year in free agency, Russell Wilson,
Marcus Mariota, Zach Wilson to Rod Taylor, Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco,
Mitchell Trubisky, Trey Lance. Oh sorry I left Case, Keenum
and Trey Lance off the list.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
Trey Lance, I'll hear you on Trey Lance.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Oh my god, Oh my god. This is where we are.
That's why Malik Willis is gonna get overpaid. Because there's
gonna be seven teams that need a quarterback. They're all
going to try and trade for mac Jones. The forty
nine ers aren't gonna let mac Jones be traded for
because they need the backup quarterback. What about who?
Speaker 3 (37:58):
What about your door?
Speaker 4 (38:00):
Like if the if the I don't think Shador Sanders
has been great by any stretch of the imagination, and
maybe he's good enough that Cleveland would.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
Just be like, now you know what, We'll keep him
around as a fifth round pick.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
It didn't really cost us anything to draft the guy,
beyond maybe some bad headlines and some accusations that you
can say are fair or unfair of Kevin Stefanski in
the organization about the way that they handled that entire
situation the whole way through. But if I'm the Browns,
I'm looking around at Shadoor and be like he played
well enough for us to get something better a pick,
(38:31):
a better pick back for him, then we spent on him.
The rare situation where you could actually do that, because
you've got a quarterback who's outperforming his I think he's
outperforming it anyway, his fifth round draft slot. Why wouldn't
you just try and trade for Shador.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Who's going to be their quarterback? Then? Yeah, Dylan Gabriel
or Deshaun. I mean, here's the funny thing. Last year.
Last year was the last year of Deshaun's real hell
for the for the Browns. He's thirty one years old,
with the salary cap number of eighty point seven million dollars,
(39:07):
it goes, it goes way down after. Like I'm telling you,
I genuine to your point. I think that next year
we're gonna walk into a situation where Deshaun Watson and
Shador Sanders are competing to be the starting quarterback for
the Browns. They don't have a clear path to another one.
Ste fancy he's going to be back and he's gonna
be dealing yet again with the nightmare scenario at the
quarterback position.
Speaker 4 (39:27):
Oh eureka, I've got another another Titans cast off.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
That will do somewhere else? What about Will Levis? Who
wants Will Levis?
Speaker 4 (39:32):
Somebody give Will love, Somebody trade a seventh round pick
for Will Levis?
Speaker 3 (39:35):
How about that?
Speaker 1 (39:36):
I want to be clear here, Buck. This weekend, I'm
gonna watch Kenny Pickett and Aidan O'Connell split reps for
the Raiders against the Chiefs. I would rather watch that
than Will Levis.
Speaker 4 (39:46):
Like, that's I am so far stopping.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
I mean that, I mean that I would what you've
just said. I would take Aidan O'Connell over Will Levis
twice awesome days. That's where we are, Like, that's.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
Where I'm not that bad.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
He's just a little hit chaotic that maybe needs to
rewire his brain. Yeah, so what I need to get
him and you get him in the bottomy, You're fine.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
I need a quarterback that doesn't play well but needs
to be emotionally supported even through that. That's my worst nightmare.
There is not a chance that I want Will Levice
as my favorite team's card is started quarterback. We'll get
you updated on an actual football game taking place right now.
Bama losing to Indiana. What does it mean for the
college football playoff? We'll answer that next up Fox Sports Radio,
Hey, thanks for listening to the Cadno and Rich Podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from five
to seven Eastern to the four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Find your local station for comedo Rich at Foxsports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app like searching FSR.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I mean, if you really wanted to take Cavino and Rich,
make it a little bit dumber, but a hell of
a lot better looking, that's what we've got right now.
He's buck rising on Jason Fitz. It's a bucket fits
takeover on Fox Sports Radio, hanging out with you. Indiana
up ten to nothing over Alabama in the second quarter,
Bama with the ball and the entire state of Alabama
(00:41):
starting to feel a little bit puckered up. But here's
the thing. Here's the thing. We haven't seen a lot
in this game, but here's one common thread that we've
seen throughout the course of the college football playoff. Over
the last twenty four hours, we've had a bunch of
playoff games, and it's been really easy quickly to figure
out which team was gonna win. All you have to
do is ask yourself, which defense is flying to the
(01:01):
ball more because I would argue at the end of
the day, I wouldn't even are I don't think anybody
would argue with me. Miami's defense flat out out played
Ohio State's defense as good as they are, and in
the game earlier today, as much as we were touting
the greatness of Texas Tech, my god, that Oregon defense
was even better. Right, And so far in this game,
Indiana's defense has stepped up and made the plays they
(01:23):
need to make. If I'm Bama, I'm starting to get
a little bit nervous. Buck.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
We love it.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
We love anytime we can cause great discomfort to the
state of Alabama. Respectfully, to our Fox Sports radio affiliates
in the state of Alabama, I am actively rooting on
your downfall today as in Indiana, Alum. It makes me very,
very happy to see my team up ten to nothing.
But I also remember that Oklahoma was up seventeen to
nothing on Alabama, and so I fear that in the
back of my mind at this point in time, like
(01:49):
I'm just waiting for that moment. And maybe that's just
the way that that sports fans exist. Like you don't,
you don't ever feel good about it until it's over right.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Why is explain this to me? Why is it that
when your favorite team is ahead by ten, you're like,
no lead is safe, And when your favorite team is
down by ten, you're like, well we can never come.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Back from that.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Like, it's it's the same point differential, it's just a
total different mindset.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Well, it's it's easier to do I think it's just
like it's an easier way to do the analysis that way,
rather than be rational or or or remove emotion from
the situation, because that's you know, at that point, you're
not being a fan. I am fascinated to see today,
in this particular game, with this matchup. I've been and
(02:33):
I've talked to you about this before. I've talked locally,
I've talked nationally about it. The idea that Indiana's talent
profile is so much lower, so much less than Alabama's
is so at what point am I gonna see? You know,
these stud wide receivers for Alabama just turn it on
(02:54):
and do something that Indiana's secondary is not capable of
competing with because they're just physically less. Now, Ty Simpson
has to make more throws. Ty Simpson has to be protected.
They have to be able to run the ball for
Alabama to be able to have a balanced offense. They
can't just get in these dropback situations and expect to win.
I mean, I suppose they can because they did it
(03:15):
for a good chunk of the season, but lately, no,
I can't go ahead.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
That point, though, buck is an important one. Like we're
watching Alabama right now get no balance in their offense.
And I said earlier the better defense is won every game.
I could take the flip side of that and say
the quarterback that was incapable of getting comfortable lost every game.
Like Dante Moore was never really comfortable, but he handled
the game a hell of a lot better at Texas Tech. Right,
(03:42):
So you know there is some moment of you know,
Carson Beck. One of the most surprising parts about the
game that we saw, Like is how many times have
I said I don't really trust Carson Beck? Right, But man,
Carson Beck flat he didn't look like the moment it
was too big for him, Julian saying, did look overwhelmed
for Ohio State. Right, So your point in this game,
what I saw in the second drive was a Fernando
(04:03):
Mendoza that it's starting to get a little bit comfortable.
What I just saw on the response drive for Alabama
was that we don't have that same level of comfort
here right now in Alabama. So there is some I
think you're onto something with quarterbacks in.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
This Well, it's just it's something that we've seen for Alabama,
like they've kind of been living dangerously for a while now,
right And at some point you have talked about this
at great length, I'm sure, not just on Yahoo, but
in every other place you're being asked college football question
when you do interviews or appearances or things like that.
(04:36):
The idea of Alabama they can they win. I'm not
saying that they're outright one dimensional, but there is one dimensional.
I mean, is there a more one dimensional offense in
the postseason right now based on what their season has
been than Alabama and their inability to run the football
and their perpetual existence in third and six plus.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
No. No, you're a thousand percent right.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
No.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
And you know that's why I thought this was an
Indiana in a matchup opportunity before the injury to the
defensive line from the Big Ten Championship, because all you
got to do is get after the quarterback you can
beat Alabama.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Yeah, So at that point, I just don't think that's
a successful formula.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I mean, I know that's a not successful.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Formula to having any kind of meaningful impact on a
game unless you just get into a situation where Oklahoma,
for example, isn't equipped to score with you and starts
to play a little more. I wouldn't say lacks on defense,
but starts to kind of ease up, ends up playing
a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
I mean, not to.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Cliche it too much, but the idea of bend, don't
break defense that allows you to continue to kill clock
versus being hyper aggressive and dictating matchups and sending pressure
and jamming at the line of scrimmage and all these
different things depending on game situation. I just don't think
that Oklahoma handled that moment particularly well, and Alabama was
(06:00):
able to make them pay. Alabama is good enough to
still make you pay in that situation. I just don't
think Indiana's gonna underestimate anybody at this point in time,
because this is the team.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
This is the program of perpetual underestimation.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Be sure to check out your brand our brand new
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(06:35):
He's Buck Rising. I'm Jason fitzbucking Fits taken over for
the guys. And you know it's interesting too, because everything
you're talking about is why this gets more and more difficult.
I know, I understand that Alabama was just down seventeen nothing,
and I was ready to talk my talk. I was
ready to go out there totally.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
This Alabama team, You've tried to kill them so many
times this season, I have, I have.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Look it's because here's here's where I am on Alabama.
I think Alabama's a very good foot and statement. Alabama
fans haven't realized yet that they're just a very good
football program, like they're no longer this separate. Like I
always go back to what Michael Junior told me about
Notre Dame walking off the bus. And we've heard this before,
but Mike told me first, and he said, when you
(07:16):
just watched the guys walk off the bus. They were
so huge, and the way they walked off the bus,
you just felt like, man, that's Alabama. Something was different,
and I think that's the certain little seasoning that was
left off when Saban left. So now you're just a
very good football team, and very good football teams are fallible.
I don't think as a program today for the next
(07:37):
five years, there's any real indication that Indiana will be
worse off than Alabama is. So it's not that I'm
trying to leave them for dead. It's just that I
no longer think they're special. So if I don't think
they're special, then I think they can be beat by
special teams. Not special teams and special teams, but by
a special football program. This gets interesting now because to
your point, they lose, this is a big drive for
(07:59):
Nanna Mendo's has the ball back. We'll see what Indiana
can do with it. But at some point you don't
feel like you want to drop down to a two
score deficit to Indiana, because particularly this defense is good.
This defense is going to make it a nightmare. If
they lose any semblance of balance. They being Alabama, this
is going to get really tricky for them, So their
defense is going to have to step up and keep
(08:21):
them in the game until their offense can get any
dang rhythm.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Is there any sense to the idea or any would
you buy anything to the effect of Alabama has faced
a good defense and come back from down seventeen to
nothing on a good defense in Oklahoma and they've had something.
I mean, they did it again. Auburn is bad this year, right,
Auburn is not any kind of any kind of competitive
(08:47):
at least in terms of the kind of teams that
we're talking about, right, But they had to come back
in the Iron Bowl against Auburn Alabama did. Is there
any logic to the notion that Alabama has been in
a lot of these situations and so just because they
find themselves in these situations, that they are battle tested
(09:08):
and that they would just to play again Devil's advocate.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I'm actively rooting against this idea.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
I hope that Alabama that this is finally the place
where they slip up too many times and Indiana is
the team that gets past them. I have an active
rooting interest in this game, but I will acknowledge that Alabama,
with a good coaching staff and a lot of talented
players and a quarterback who is above average. I wouldn't
I wouldn't say that Ty Simpson is excellent, but he's
above average in the right circumstance. I just I don't
(09:37):
want to myself underestimate their ability to do this, even
though every time I watch them, I look at them
and say, yeah, but like, Alabama is the definition of
the yeah butt team to me this.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Year, and I think all of that is fair. In
the Sabman era, part of what made Alabama so hard
to beat is that everybody involved on both sidelines believed
that out Alabama was gonna find a way to get
it done. So it didn't matter if you were beating
them or if they were getting beat on the sidelines,
it's like, now, we're fine, we are Alabama. We're gonna
(10:09):
be just fine. I don't think this version of Alabama
has that same level of swagger, and even if they do,
I don't think that they have that same level of
intimidation factor to the opposite sideline, to just where their
belief carries over. I think part of where belief gets
really scary is when both sides look at it and say,
oh my god, man, here. Like one of the things
(10:30):
about play of the Chiefs for years has been the
minute Matt Patrick Mahomes gets the ball. With a minute
and a half, the players on the other sideline are
just like us watching it home. They're like, oh, son
of a biscuit, there goes Mahomes. He's got the ball
back right like, there's belief all the way across the board.
So I think that's where intimidation can actually that vibe
can turn into a result for these Indiana guys. I
(10:52):
just don't think they've been watching Alabama on film over
the course of this season and said, oh man boy,
we can't let this team back in like this. You'd
make the easy argument to me that Alabama is at
best their third best opponent this year. Alabama was not
tougher than Alabama neutral side at the Rose Bowl, not
tougher than going to Oregon, not tougher than take it
(11:13):
on Ohio State. I'm not even sure in their minds
it's that much tougher than going two Penn State.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
Was, which, by the way, it's winning at Penn State
is something Indiana has never done as a program.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
That's the first time it's happened in history. And they
almost slipped up there, right.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
That was the Amari Cooper Mendoza comeback situation where Mendoza
didn't play his best game through an interception, put them
behind and had to dig themselves out. But to again
talk about battle tested, that was the stub your toe
moment that they were able to survive in ways that
for example, Vandy at Texas or at Tuscalosa was not
able to do, or Tennessee had some moments like that
(11:47):
missing a field goal against Georgia where they had them
in a back and forth overtime game, like so many
different moments of this where Indiana has broken through that way,
and so many other programs, so many other teams this
season have fallen short. I think that Signetti has Indiana
thinking that they're Nick Saban's Alabama, and not just because
Signetti was on that Nick Saban Alabama staff as a
(12:08):
wide receivers coach and assistant head coach like he is.
He is a figure here who gives them that kind
of what's the word ethos and it permeates everything that
they do. And like you know, Mendoz is a bit
of a a I don't even know how to describe him.
I was talking to an NFL executive about him today
(12:30):
as a matter of fact, and just the the the
quirkiness of him that is going to be picked at
a little bit in the upcoming draft process, Like can
somebody with that kind of a personality And it's not
a bad thing, right, He's just a goober, you know,
and he's clearly highly intelligent and very serious about football.
And if you're those two things, then you have a
(12:51):
good chance as long as you're you know, tough enough
to handle going to bad organizations like cam Ord with
the Titans, or potentially Mendoza with the Raiders, or any
of these other brands wash out quarterbacks that we've seen
over the past couple of years.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
I am.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
I am looking at the idea of Signetti and just
how ready he has them at every turn. They seem
prepared for every scenario under the sun. And it's because
that is very rare context that a I mean, what
a Signetti's sixty two, he's sixty three. He's a very Again,
this is a very unicorn type of situation. Have that
(13:26):
kind of a veteran coach only in year two of
his tenure at a Power four program that has them
winning and clicking at the highest levels because he's he
has seen it and experienced it all at a different
version of that, but getting to do it from the
back seat and watching Nick Saban go through it, and
then taking that to where did he go? He was
(13:47):
at like India, some kind of Indiana Directional school, and
then he went to JMU, and then he's at Indiana
and people are laughing at.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Him because, oh, what are you going to do in Indiana?
What do you mean?
Speaker 4 (13:55):
Ohio State and Michigan suck to not just Purdue. When
he's getting people gassed up at a basketball game, like
who is this guy?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
You know, That's what I said. I was, like, who
the hell is this guy? The Google meet guy?
Speaker 4 (14:04):
Right turns out Google results when your Google cards agnetic
pretty good?
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Now, Google Me and the Google quarterback together are ahead
ten to nothing. Right now, Google Alabama, We'll keep you
updated on that game. Oh, by the way, don't forget
New year. Your new success can begin sooner than you think.
At University of Maryland Global Campus, undergraduate and most graduate
classes start January seventh, so you still have time. Apply
(14:32):
now and save with no application fee. Learn more at UMGC,
like University of Maryland Global Campus MGC dot e Edu.
All right, coming up, we mentioned it earlier, Lamar is
back Sunday night football loser goes home? What does it
mean now that we know that we're going to have
Lamar in for this matchup for the Steelers and the
Ravens will tell you about it next. Bucking Fits on
(14:54):
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
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 1 (15:09):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
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.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Throat every day.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at
the sportsbook, and all the best guests. Do yourself a
favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz Bucking Fits hanging out
with you. I'm Fox Sports Radio in for Caveno Enrich.
Happy New Year's to all of you guys. Cavino Rich
close close friends of ours. I've known the guys for
a very long time, so I don't know how much
it means that you guys hang out with them, and
it means a lot that you're hanging out with us today.
For over forty years, tire Rack's been helping customers find
(16:03):
the right tires for how, what and where they drive.
Shipped free and fast back by free road hazard protection,
but convenient installation options like mobile tire installation tirac dot
com the way tire buying should be. We have a
starting quarterback update for this weekend's Big Loser Leaves Town
match between the Ravens and the Steelers. Specifically, Okay, Buck,
(16:24):
I'll be in eighties wrestling nerd for a second. I'm
a nerd anyway, but I'll be an eighties wrestling nerd.
In the eighties, they used to do these loser leave
town match right, and none of us knew at the
time because the Internet didn't even exist when I was
a kid. What none of us knew is that the
loser wasn't really leaving town. It was just that they
were going to go wrestle in a different territory. So
like I grew up in Vegas, Well maybe the wrestler
(16:45):
was going to go wrestling Tennessee for a while, so
you know, they had a different contract. So they do
a loser leaves Town match, right, But that's where we
have Sunday Night loser leaves Town between the Steelers and
the Ravens. And I do mean leaves town because certainly
both fan bases, as you and I have talked about,
seem to want their head coach fired and you have
no idea what the ramifications are going to be for that.
So now you get Lamar healthy enough to go in
(17:07):
this even though Tyler Holly hasn't looked terrible, hasn't looked terrible.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Look, Tyler Holly doesn't have to do anything when Derrick
Henry has a four touchdown performance.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I think the part of that that is because that's
what everybody keeps going to and they're right, you've covered
Derrick Henry and you know his body like the way
he takes care of himself. I should say that carefully.
You don't know his body, well, you know the way
he takes care of himself. Well, or maybe you do,
and I'm not here to judge one with the other.
But here's what I would say.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
It's very impressive.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Think thirty six thirty six carry. I know, thirty six
carries for a man that is just he's not a
spring chicken in running back. Eres right no to bounce
back and have to get hitting. I am genuinely curious
to see for everybody, because I was watching Mad Dog
the other day. On first thing, he was like, they're
going to give the ball to him thirty five times
(17:53):
a game. He's the new Earl Campbell. I'm like, you're
presuming that his body can handle that. I don't. A
week and a half removed from thirty six carries? Is
he gonna thirty six carries again? Because that's an easy
way for them to win? Can his body take that?
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Who?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Who?
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yes, he's he's.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Mike Keith once called it half man, half amazing Derrick Henry,
the former play by play guy for the Tennessee Titans
and now doing the play by play for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Mike Keith broadcasting legend, but half man, half Amazing is
Derrick Henry, and I just you know I did cover
him his well, what.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Was he in Tennessee for eight years?
Speaker 4 (18:32):
His first eight years, maybe his first seven years, I
can't remember exactly, but yeah, from the guy who was
losing snaps as a third string running back to David Fluellen.
For anybody who ever paid attention to depth fringe running
back players on you know, Madden or wherever else, David
Fluellen was getting snaps over Derrick Henry in twenty eighteen,
(18:53):
as recently as twenty eighteen. It's an insane thing to
say Dion Lewis and David Fluellen, Right, And so Derrick
Henry really becomes Derrick Henry in twenty nineteen when the
Titans go on that unbelievable playoff run that sees him
lose to Patrick Mahomes in the AFCU Championship. That's the
first Super Bowl that Mahomes goes on to win. Derek
(19:16):
has evolved his body. We talk about the way that
players evolve to adapt their various circumstances. Derrick Henry in
twenty nineteen versus Derrick Henry in twenty twenty five, or
I guess technically now twenty six, not the same player
Derek doesn't pull away from guys anymore, but he has
so hyper focused his training, and I know that he
(19:36):
spends the vast majority of his offseason in Dallas, where
he's been working with the same trainer for many, many
years at this point in time, and I can't read
David Sanders. I want to say he's the name of
the trainer. I know a lot of other athletes work
out with him too, but Derek his muscle mass at
this point in time. I'm not saying that Derek Henry
doesn't get sore the way that the rest of the
(19:57):
football world gets sore. But this is a man and
who spends six figures on his recovery, on his preparation,
on all of the things around beyond just the workouts,
like the things to get Derrick Henry ready for workouts
he spends six figures on.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
And I want to say it's not low.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
Six figures on making sure that he is physically able
to handle the kind of workload that Derrick Henry knows
he can do, but he has to take very specific,
a very specific approach to be able to do it.
Derek is he seems to get physically wider, wider, wider
(20:37):
every time I see him, because he has so configured
his preparation to play a different style of football.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
And yeah, he still has.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
The moments where he gets in the open field and
you see his eyes get big and it's almost like,
you know, vintage Derrick Henry type stuff. Maybe he doesn't
get all the way to the end zone anymore ninety
nine yard touchdown runs against the Jags or something like that,
but he can still bludge in the holy hell out
of it, and he can still stiff arm you into
the center of the sun, and he can still do
all of these things to carry your offense. Which is
why if you're a Ravens fan, you want to grab
(21:08):
Todd Monkin by the shoulders and just kind of shake
him and be like, hey, look at him. Hold like Birdbox.
You've seen bird Box, Hold the movie where there's a
creature that nobody can see, but apparently it takes over
your body, turns into these kind of like zombies that
you have to then go you as a zombie, then
go and hold somebody's eyes open so they have to
(21:28):
look at this creature and then they become a zombie
and the whole thing, right, So somebody needs to take
Todd Munkin and bird box him while facing the direction
of Derrick Henry and be like, hey, look at him,
look at him and understand that this is the guy
that you're gonna ride if you are to be successful,
if the Ravens want to win, give Derek the rock.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
And what stands out to me when you're talking about that,
Like you covered Derrick Henry and Tennessee. I've only talked
to him a few times, but I've talked to him
this offseason and we did an interview piece for Yahoo
and it was funny because after the interview piece, I
was just picking his brain. You know, I've been on
this fitness journey that is so I love talking to
people that have really dedicated their life to it. I
want to find out kind of what you do, you know.
(22:09):
So afterwards we were just after the interview was done,
we were shooting you know what, and I asked him,
I said, so, what's a splurge day like for you? Calorically?
What does a splurge day look like? And he laughed
and he said, I during the season, I don't have them.
And I was like, so once once you once you
hit the beginning of like training for the season. He's like, yeah,
(22:29):
I mean, obviously somebody cooks it for him, but he's like, yeah,
I eat exactly the same macros every single day. That's
all decided by a trainer and there's literally no splurge
and I won't splurge from the day we report to
camp until the day the season is over. That is
a level of discipline that it's funny to me because
you know, I think ninety nine percent of the world
(22:50):
turns around and says, oh, I want these things like
I want so many people in the NFL. There are
running backs in the NFL that want to have the
career that Derrick Henry have had, but they will not
have the discipline that Terry Henry has had to have
that career. So what you're speaking to just speaks to
what makes him great. It also speaks to why Todd
Munkin is constantly being questioned as whether or not he
should be an offensive coordinator because if they go in
(23:13):
and he doesn't get the ball thirty times, I think
there's real questions to answer as to why that was
the decision making process. I want to get your thoughts
on what all of this means for the future of
the head coaching position. But in the meantime, Martin get
us caught up on the scoreboard. What's going on right
now across the landscape.
Speaker 6 (23:31):
Kurt Signetti has a scowl on his face, but maybe
he's not watching the game. That's the reason because the
second and goal right now for the Indiana Hoosiers ten
nothing to score. They've been dominating this first half thus
far in the rolls Ball, Alabama has nothing on the scoreboard.
It's sixty four passing yards for Alabama, thirty rushing for
the Crimson Tide, their ninth seed in this Indiana was
(23:54):
the one seed, undefeated, Fernando Mendoza ninety two yards passing
eighty six yards rush for the Hoosiers thus far. With
that Charlie Becker touchdown catch and again about twenty three
seconds left, second in goal, Indiana knocking on the door,
trying to make this a seventeen to nothing lead. If
it happens while I'm still talking to you, I'll make
sure you know about it. Oregon advances to twenty three
(24:16):
to nothing over Texas, teching the Orange Bowl. Defensive masterpiece
by the Ducks, shutting down that Red Raider offense that
have been.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Prolific pretty much all year.
Speaker 6 (24:25):
Miami beut Ohio State and the Cotton Bowl twenty four
to fourteen.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Miami in the Final four.
Speaker 6 (24:29):
Now, after all that consternation about them needing an at
large bid to make the playoff, Notre Dame Miami, that
took a lot of time. Well they are in the
Final four now, so there you go. Ole, Miss and
Georgia will play in the Sugar Bowl in the nightcap tonight.
Lamar Jackson expected to start for the Ravens on Sunday
against the Steelers. Saints receiver Chris Lave out for the
finale of the season due to blood clots. Jordan Love
(24:51):
has cleared concussion protocol, but the Packers are still shutting
the quarterback down until the playoffs start.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
They've already kind of locked their in. Buccaneers have not.
They need to win to get in.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
They won't have cornerback Ja Meldan or linebacker Anthony Nelson
against the pack avaits the Panthers. Speaking of the Packers,
Matt Lafleur said former Dallas cornerback Trayvon Diggs could play
for Green Bay against the Vikings on Sunday. He was
playing off waivers last I mean earlier this week. Jalen
Carter misspractice today with a hip injury, and J D
(25:23):
McCarthy was a full participant in today's practice.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Back to you guys, well, I can tell you Martin,
we did get a touchdown, just not quite in time
for you. We now have seventeen seconds left to go,
sixteen nothing pending the extra point. Is the current score? Yeah,
Bananda Mendoza with a little playfake throw across the body
coop at the touchdown. We are penning the extra point.
(25:48):
The kick is up, the kick is good. We are
seventeen to nothing with seventeen seconds to go in the
first half of this game. Indiana absolutely thumping Alabama as
we sit right now. I'll keep you updated on that.
He's Buck Rising. I'm Jason Fitzbuck and Fits hanging in
for Cavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. So here's
where it gets tricky with the Ravens and the Steelers.
(26:12):
Buck I because this is what everybody's gonna do on Monday.
Whichever team loses this game on Monday, the top, the
top story on most TV shows is going to be
is losing coach about to be fired? Is the Tomlin
era over in Pittsburgh. Is the Harbaugh era over with
(26:32):
the Ravens? And you and I have talked a lot
about why we both think that's asinine. But here's the thing.
I don't think that Sunday will actually be the moment
that everybody thinks it will be, because if the argument
is that the Steelers and the Ravens are unhappy with
where their coaching situation is, I don't think simply making
the playoffs changes that. If they are on the If
(26:54):
anybody truly believes that the Steelers or the Ravens are
on the precipice of firing their head coach, my question
is if all they do is make the playoffs and
then they get boat raced by three touchdowns, what really changed.
I'm not sure that the Steelers are a good football team.
I don't think they are this year. The Ravens have
played like a poor football team. They are who they
are at this point. Neither of these football teams have
been good enough. So I think where some people are
(27:17):
getting lost is they're turning it into loser leaves town,
coach lose his job. I'm not sure if you believe
that either franchise is truly on the precipice of that
sort of change. I'm not sure simply winning this weekend
will change that. You'd have to go in and at
least look competitive in the playoffs to sort of stop
whatever this conversation is. And even that, I don't know
(27:38):
who's going to work.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
No.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
I mean, if Pittsburgh, for example, were to get into
the playoffs and win the first playoff game since twenty seventeen,
does that really stop the Mike Tomlin stuff.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
If they win a playoff game.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Yes, you think it stops the Tomlin stuff. I don't
think so.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
Like if he wins our playoff game but then loses
in the say they're the wild card or a they're
playing wild Card weekend, hosting wild Card Weekend, and they
advance to the divisional round and they get smacked by
whomever is waiting for them in the divisional round or
and I mean theoretically they don't have to get smacked,
but say they lose a close game or something like that.
I don't think that quiet sound Pittsburgh fans about Mike Tomlin.
(28:14):
I don't think it does at all. I think it
you know, I think it's probably whatever grace he has
from the organization, and by the way, he should get
every grace in the world. I understand that Steelers fans
have higher standards than the vast majority of the NFL
fan basis. I respect them for it. I respect them
tremendously for it. I can also slightly disagree with the
(28:35):
idea that they can improve their standing by moving on
from Mike Tomlin, because I know what the rest of
NFL coaching looks like. I cover the Tennessee Titans. Okay,
there's a lot of bad coaching out there. It can
go very very sideways, very very quick. If you think
that Mike Rabel's not a good enough coach and you
move on from him because you want the next Sean
McVay Kyle Shanahan, offensive play caller, head coaching type, and
(28:57):
you hire Brian Callahan, and then you proceed to poop
yourself for the preceding two years, and Mike Rabel comes
back as the Patriots coach and whips your ass. Wouldn't
you hate that if you were a Pittsburgh Steelers fan
and Mike Tomlin, maybe he doesn't jump right back in.
So let's just let's play this hypothetical out a little
bit Mike Tomlin organization decides, you know, Mike, we're gonna
let you leave on your terms. We're not gonna announce
(29:18):
it as a firing, but if you would like to
go in a different direction, we would also think that
it would be beneficial for us. Like you don't have
to like it doesn't have to be a firing squad
type of situation.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
So Mike Tomlin, maybe he looks around and says, nah, Raiders, Titans, Giants.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
I don't feel good about any of that.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
And even if I did feel okay about cam Ward
or Jackson Dart, maybe I just take a year. Maybe
I do what Mike McCarthy's done a couple of times
at this point in time and sit out a year.
Maybe I do what Ben Johnson did. Ben Johnson went
back to the Lions and was the coordinator again for
a year. After looking around at some of the job openings,
(29:56):
it said, you know what, it's not better than what
I've got going on here in Detroit. Let me go
and win a Super Bowl. I'll put my name back
in at the appropriate time when the appropriate job becomes available.
Mike Tomlin, will I think have a similar path, And
I think It's far more likely for the thirsty ass
fan bases who are out here thinking that Mike Tomlin
would be available for them than to hire. I think
Mike Tomlin's gonna look it around at some of the openings,
(30:18):
and I'm sure there will be one that surprises us
this year. Vegas isn't open yet, but I don't know
it really. It feels like it's starting in that direction.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
And you would know better than I I am. I
am looking at Mike Tomlin, who would have the opportunity
to rejuvenate himself after many, many years of doing this
and one of the toughest divisions in football, takes a
year off, comes back and just beats a snot out
of the Steelers at the first opportunity. I think that
is a disaster scenario. I feel the same. I feel
less so that way about Harball. Not like I don't
(30:50):
think John Harball's a bad coach or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
I just think Mike Tomlin is going to be the
next Mike Vrabel in that type of situation. Don't be
so quick to move on from something that you think
has hit a ceiling unless you think that the perpetual
level of competitiveness is keeping you from one bottoming out
the way that you need to completely reset the board
and actually build back up towards your championship window.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
This is again that where I will remind the world
I don't think the Steelers have a Mike Tomlin problem.
I think the Steelers have a quarterback problem, and nothing
this year is going to change that. Now. I know
Aaron Rodgers isn't the reason that they've lost games here,
but hear me out. The whole argument is that at
some point you had to reset at the quarterback position,
and they simply haven't. As we've talked about before, they
drafted Kenny Pickett. They tried. They drafted Kenny Pickett, who
(31:37):
is the best available of a bad crop of quarterbacks
in their mind. At that point, they got it wrong.
The quarterback spot happens to franchises all the time. Ever
since then, they haven't been in anywhere near a remote
opportunity to select a quarterback. The only real quarterback that
has been attainable for them in the rookie classes that
they did not draft was Jackson Dart all right. Obviously,
the Giants chose to trade back up in the bottom
(31:59):
of the first So there's really a Jackson Dark conversation
if you if you think that not drafting Jackson Dart
was so consequential that you should fire your head coach,
then yeah, you fire Tomlin. Otherwise, I think where it
gets failed as everybody says, well, you gotta go get
a quarterback, Okay, who And maybe the answer to to
many Steelers fans is well, you didn't go out and
get Sam Darnold. You didn't go out and get Baker Mayfield.
(32:22):
Like there are guys that may be in free agency
you could have reached too. I think a lot of
people didn't see that the right way. So for me,
the hardest part about this is that you're not gonna
get suddenly like nothing is going to be fixed for
the Steelers. And that's just a blanket statement, y'all. Like
the Steelers at the end of this season. Let's let's
say they win the division, they go to the playoffs,
they get their asses kicked in the first round. Okay,
(32:44):
you still have a three seven and twenty two year
old quarterback, and you still don't have the things that
you need around the explosive play making. You still have
the most expensive defense in the NFL that didn't diddlely
poop with it, right, so you've got all right.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Fine, the lung of the star pass rusher. Let's let's
that's a rear clarification.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
The defense was playing poorly before they you know, but
I look around at all that they think, okay, great,
so you fire Tomlin? Now what yeah, what do you
do if if we are in a and we don't
know right now, if we are in a spot where
you know, Ty Simpson decides he's going to come back,
and Dante Moore decides he's going to come back, you
(33:25):
could make the argument there is only one quarterback that
would be worth taking in the first round of the
NFL draft this year. Steelers are not going to have
any remote shot at that number one quarterback no matter
who their coaches next year. So all of a sudden,
you don't like I hate to be the bearer of
bad news here, guys, but if you look at the
list of free agent names available at the quarterback position
next year, Malik Willis, you think Malik Willis is going
(33:46):
to fix the Pittsburgh Steelers. Also, you willing to pay
Malik Willis top dollar because there are so many teams
that need a quarterback. Malik Willis is going to end
up in that forty to fifty million dollar ach.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
I don't know, stop it, he's not there.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
He'll let it fort it. He'll end up in forty million.
Watch it. You just watched some this off season. Some
dumbass is gonna give Milik Willis a two year forty million. No,
come on, it's gonna happen. It's gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
Well, what what did Fields get? Did did Fields get
that deal? No?
Speaker 1 (34:11):
He got no? No, it feels got like twenty million.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Yeah, okay, he's more. He's way more likely to get
a justin Field. Get out of here. Forty million dollars.
You drossed.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Someone's gonna do. There's nobody, there's no work.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
You quit drinking, but there's nobody available.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
There's nobody.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
No, that doesn't mean that you just pay the guy
that is available. Forty million dollars. That's insane.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
You know, I'll look it up. We'll look I'll look
up what the cap numbers look like. We'll figure out
what Malik Willis is actually gonna get paid. He's buck
rising out. Jason Fitzer hanging out with you on Fox
Sports Radio you're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio. Welcome
back to Cavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. It's
a bucking Fits takeover Buck Rising Jason Fitz. For over
(34:50):
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The way tirebody should be. Okay, maybe not forty million
for Malik William will Malik Willis, I'll give you thirty
million by the card we get to the inflation next year,
I'll get you. I mean, Gino next year was scheduled
(35:13):
to make twenty six and a half. Right, so you know,
if you look at right where the the level of
suck teams are. I'm just here's the thing. Here's the thing.
Here are the list of free agent quarterbacks as we
stand right now. Now, look, some people will say, Kyler
Murray's going to be added to this list. Fine, Cardinals fans,
tell me who you're replacing Kyler Murray with. Again, in
my scenario of only one quarterback comes out for the draft,
(35:36):
who are you replacing Kyler Murray with if you don't
have a shot at Nana Mendoz So we're not.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Going to turn this into Malik Willie said, Willis is
gonna make forty million dollars from the bumb ass team,
then just looks are thirty is insane? You are insane.
I love Malik. I I again, Malik got drafted here
in Tennessee. I they did wrong, but I mean they
did wrong by a great many players, and Malik Willis
was viewed as you can't be a bust as a
(36:02):
third round flyer at quarterback. But I would be so
happy if Malake Willis would be able to be vindicated
that way, would be able to perform at that level
and would be paid thirty million dollars a year. I'm
telling you that there is not a snowballs chance in
hell that that actually happens this offseason. I know you
don't drink anymore, I'm still gonna ask you if you're drunk.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
I am not drunk, and I think the edibles from
last night have left my system, but I'm not sure.
The list of free agent quarterbacks available for next season
for everybody that needs a quarterback, Daniel Jones, who I
believe is going to resign with the Colts, so I'm
gonna take him off the list. Aaron Rodgers, Wait.
Speaker 4 (36:34):
Wait, wait, wait, slow down, Slow the hell down. You
think Daniel Jones is going to end up back in Indianapolis?
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Yes, yea yeah, why why not? I think Shane Steiken
found the guy that he thinks can be the quarterback
for him.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
Does that matter if Chris Ballard finally gets fired the
way that he should have been fired many many years ago.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
Oh yeah, I think they're going to use the meltdown
of injury as a reason to keep all the same Daniel.
And also I would.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
They bring it in?
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Who they bring it in? Who they getting instead? Malik Willis?
All right, now we got a bidding war from Malik Willis.
Daniel Jones can't play next year anyway in all likelihoods,
so I think they do a very friendly two year
deal with the third year option. Aaron Rodgers available next year,
likely only going to go back to Pittsburgh. And that's
who we're talking about replacing in this situation. The rest
(37:22):
of your available quarterbacks next year in free agency, Russell Wilson,
Marcus Mariota, Zach Wilson to Rod Taylor, Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco,
Mitchell Trubisky, Trey Lance. Oh sorry I left Case, Keenum
and Trey Lance off the list.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
Trey Lance, I'll hear you on Trey Lance.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Oh my god, Oh my god. This is where we are.
That's why Malik Willis is gonna get overpaid. Because there's
gonna be seven teams that need a quarterback. They're all
going to try and trade for mac Jones. The forty
nine ers aren't gonna let mac Jones be traded for
because they need the backup quarterback. What about who?
Speaker 3 (37:58):
What about your door?
Speaker 4 (38:00):
Like if the if the I don't think Shador Sanders
has been great by any stretch of the imagination, and
maybe he's good enough that Cleveland would.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
Just be like, now you know what, We'll keep him
around as a fifth round pick.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
It didn't really cost us anything to draft the guy,
beyond maybe some bad headlines and some accusations that you
can say are fair or unfair of Kevin Stefanski in
the organization about the way that they handled that entire
situation the whole way through. But if I'm the Browns,
I'm looking around at Shadoor and be like he played
well enough for us to get something better a pick,
(38:31):
a better pick back for him, then we spent on him.
The rare situation where you could actually do that, because
you've got a quarterback who's outperforming his I think he's
outperforming it anyway, his fifth round draft slot. Why wouldn't
you just try and trade for Shador.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Who's going to be their quarterback? Then? Yeah, Dylan Gabriel
or Deshaun. I mean, here's the funny thing. Last year.
Last year was the last year of Deshaun's real hell
for the for the Browns. He's thirty one years old,
with the salary cap number of eighty point seven million dollars,
(39:07):
it goes, it goes way down after. Like I'm telling you,
I genuine to your point. I think that next year
we're gonna walk into a situation where Deshaun Watson and
Shador Sanders are competing to be the starting quarterback for
the Browns. They don't have a clear path to another one.
Ste fancy he's going to be back and he's gonna
be dealing yet again with the nightmare scenario at the
quarterback position.
Speaker 4 (39:27):
Oh eureka, I've got another another Titans cast off.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
That will do somewhere else? What about Will Levis? Who
wants Will Levis?
Speaker 4 (39:32):
Somebody give Will love, Somebody trade a seventh round pick
for Will Levis?
Speaker 3 (39:35):
How about that?
Speaker 1 (39:36):
I want to be clear here, Buck. This weekend, I'm
gonna watch Kenny Pickett and Aidan O'Connell split reps for
the Raiders against the Chiefs. I would rather watch that
than Will Levis.
Speaker 4 (39:46):
Like, that's I am so far stopping.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
I mean that, I mean that I would what you've
just said. I would take Aidan O'Connell over Will Levis
twice awesome days. That's where we are, Like, that's.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
Where I'm not that bad.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
He's just a little hit chaotic that maybe needs to
rewire his brain. Yeah, so what I need to get
him and you get him in the bottomy, You're fine.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
I need a quarterback that doesn't play well but needs
to be emotionally supported even through that. That's my worst nightmare.
There is not a chance that I want Will Levice
as my favorite team's card is started quarterback. We'll get
you updated on an actual football game taking place right now.
Bama losing to Indiana. What does it mean for the
college football playoff? We'll answer that next up Fox Sports Radio,
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