Best of Wednesday 8/27: Colts roster at 53 but more help on the way? + fantasy football & ND!

00:00 – 23:37 – Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce engaged, Colts roster decisions: Juju Brents, Wesley French, more secondary help coming?, the misses in Ballard draft classes, roster gymnastics, Carson Steele released by Chiefs

23:38 – 37:23 – – ESPN Colts reporter Stephen Holder joins us and he and Kevin could not be less confident in either of their football teams ahead of Notre Dame/Miami, Anthony Richardson’s future, Mike Hilton getting a workout with the Colts today, Shane Steichen’s thoughts heading into QB competition, does Lou Anarumo deserve so much say on the Colts roster?

37:24 – 49:08 – CBS Sports fantasy expert Dave Richard joins us to discuss draft strategies, sleeper picks, rookies, breakouts, Chrisitan McCaffrey concerns?

49:09 – 1:01:16 - The Athletic Notre Dame reporter Pete Sampson joins the show to preview the Irish season as they get ready to take on Miami, how they look on offense, special teams, Jeremiyah Love’s expectations this season, Colts thoughts and what we want to hear from Anthony Richardson

 

Christian McCaffrey – should I be concerned? I had a draft and he was staring me in the face and I passed on him because he’s been injured

Support the show: https://1075thefan.com/the-wake-up-call-1075-the-fan/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You were listening to the Best of the Fan Morning
show on ninety three five and one oh seven five
the Fan.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Mark. Does Taylor Swift live stream that wedding whenever it
takes place?

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Probably not, but I'm looking for my invite though I
would like to attend that wedding. It's going to be
a who's who all the pjs that will be flying. Yeah,
i'mouna agree, that's Sabrina Carpenter.

Speaker 4 (00:24):
Honestly, if it did get streamed, it would probably break
every streaming record ever.

Speaker 5 (00:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
I think they said the podcast that she was on
with the Kelsey Brothers broke like is a Guinness World record, which.

Speaker 4 (00:34):
Yeah, I know YouTube had to be just smile from
ear to ear like, Yes, I'm glad you used our
platform for this.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Apparently they were engaged when she was on that show
about that.

Speaker 4 (00:44):
Hey again, India for her, Good.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
For them, happy for him.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
I saw some video circulating yesterday too. Back in twenty
twenty three when they were first dating. Somebody asked Caitlin
Clark when she was at Iowa if she thought that
this would be a real relationship. He goes, yeah, they're
gonna get married. So he was playing that all day
long yesterday. So she's psychic too.

Speaker 4 (01:03):
I was gonna say, don't say that about me. So
something you want to tell us, James, No news, I'm
dead serious.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Good morning everyone, Welcome in to the Fan Morning Show.
Yesterday was cutdown day in the National Football League. The
Colts have an initial fifty three man roster. If you're
just joining us, we'll give you some thoughts on that.
I know, Kevin Bowen, you had put a couple of
thoughts updating what you were predicted. Initial fifty three man
roster was yesterday, and you went back and updated those things,
and probably the one or two biggest thoughts you have are.

Speaker 6 (01:36):
Well definitely the juju Brents. You know, anytime he caught
a second round pick selling on his rookie contract, it's news.
Jilani Woods, I don't think he's a former third rounder,
so yes, it is news. But again I didn't think
he was trending to be on the roster. I would
say one certain positive over the last month. I mean,
if you look at the Colts starters a week from

(01:58):
Sunday against Miami, me really they're going to trot out
twenty one of the twenty two expected starters I would
say the only guy that got hurt to the degree
where he will not be out there Week one, unfortunately,
won't be out there at all this season is Justin Wally,
the third round pick out of Minnesota. So when you

(02:18):
think about that from an injury standpoint, I know, obviously
there were some ups and downs and some roller coaster
moments over the last month. That's a pretty good bill
of health. And you know, Wally, while he was having
a nice camp, I mean, he still was a rookie starter.
It's not like whatever. It's one of the side of
Lucas Oil Stadium guys that you have up there. So
I would say, overall, a pretty good bill of health. James.

(02:39):
They only put one guy on IR. They could have
put two on IR to back Jalen Carlies. And it
doesn't sound like he's going to be out for too
too long. You got to be out for at least
a month with those rules there. So you know, that's
a very popular topic training camp, preseason injuries, injuries, injuries,
and if you look around the league, there are a
lot of teams that are in far worse shape than
the Colts. So all in all, it's it's pretty good

(03:00):
bill of health over the last month.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
James, is that you on Twitter yesterday that I saw
tweeting out the old picture of Wesley French and Will
Freeze standing next to each other and said, it's officially
all gone now the French fries are out.

Speaker 5 (03:11):
Was it?

Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (03:12):
Yeah, uh fries. Yeah, that was my editor Jim i
Elo who tweeted that out after I got the scoop
that Wesley French had been cut. So yeah, no more
French fries for the Colts. However, that is a nature
of the business, and it's Kevin is alluded to. It
doesn't mean that your career is over or you're done.
A lot of these veterans, guys like Lawan Treadwell, I

(03:35):
know Wesli French was technically wide because he hasn't reached
the four year threshold just yet to be considered a
veteran or a vested veteran. However, these are familiar names.
I sent him to at least end up on a
practice squad somewhere, if not in Indianapolis. So that's the
next step is just figuring out, Okay, who's gonna get
brought back on that practice squad and how does that
affect the rest of your team, because, as we've seen,

(03:56):
you can call those guys up, you know, and use
them on Sundays a few times a year. So that
is the next step, Kevin.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
You any surprise at all that Khalil Herbert, a veteran
running back that was brought in, has had some success
in the league. You were talking about concerns that they
don't really have a pass catching running back at this
point in time. Not that he's a dominant pass catcher,
but a guy with some NFL experience. We're surprised that
he was one of.

Speaker 6 (04:19):
The cuts a little bit. You know, he battled the
hamstring injury in the month of August. Yeah, I do
have some questions about what you're going to do on
third down week one. Jonathan Taylor to me just as
great of a first and second und runner. He is
as good as anyone in the league third down, not
as forte. I mean, I've probably watched Taylor drop i
don't know, five six seven balls here over the last month.

(04:40):
That's just not what he does very well. So, you know,
that's a waiverclaim area that I'll be curious about today.
Anything there, you know, off of the tackle would be
another spot, and then certainly depth at linebacker. Typically the
waiver claims, I think they tend to shy away from
positional need versus are there guys in the draft that

(05:03):
you missed out on that are now available to you?
You know, when you think about it. The Colts, you know,
they had a nice hit rate on their six and
seventh round picks, Riley Leonard, you know, Hunter Wohler. Were
there any guys in that range where they wanted to
get them but they just didn't have enough picks? And
now are they on the open market. Obviously they've really
found I know Kenny Moore and Jack Doler are like

(05:25):
the poster childs of unbelievable waiver claims. But you know,
even like Pierre de Seer or al KaDee Mohammad. You know,
last year Samuel Wollmack came in and played an important
role form Luke Tanuda made this fifty three man roster
as an offensive tackle. He was a formal waiver claim.
So yeah, that'll be something to keep an eye on
again around noon today. As usually when you see those

(05:47):
and guys like Juju Brentz will have to clear waivers.
We'll see about what exactly the future holds for him
Jalannie Woods, you know clearing waivers, what is a future
hold for those guys there? And is the marriage officially
over for those guys? You know, they could come back
to your practice squad. Yeah, but you know, do they
you know, get claimed and go somewhere else, and do

(06:08):
they look at the situations and say, hey, I don't
like how I was looking here. You know, I've had
my four years for July one, three years for Juju.
I think it's time that somebody else gets their eyes
on me.

Speaker 4 (06:19):
Yeah, and just to piggyback off of the running back
pass catching running back comment certainly something to look into
because looking at Cleiar Herbert's career, he's just not a
pass catching back overall. He had ten catches last year
for twenty five yards, so that is obviously not going
to be a lot. He only has fifty three catches
in his career for four years, so without that element

(06:41):
in his game and then being injured, I think his
the idea of him making the team would have been
more so for like special teams purposes and being another
back that can you know, take some workload off of JT.
But yeah, I think that is an area that can
certainly pursue because DJ Gidding's proved it in college. They
he can catch pass out of the back feel, but
it's different than the pros and you probably want some

(07:02):
more insurance there, you know.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
You talk about the influence that lou Ana Rumo has
had on the shaping of this roster and all the
cornerbacks that are coming in, guys that he has worked
with in the past, and we're seeing what they've done
in the free agency by bringing in a corner and
a safety and really beefing up that side of the football.
And you talk about the age, it kind of makes
another indication, Kevin, does it not that this group certainly

(07:25):
Chris Ballard I would think, and maybe even Shane Steichen
like they got to win right now. There there's not
a lot of development there on the on the defensive
side of football and the secondary.

Speaker 6 (07:33):
Well, yeah, that part of me wants to say, duh.
I mean when you have the resume of second and Ballard, yeah,
you better win out. And you know, really, Anna Rumo
has never been a big playing the young dudes in Sincy.
You know, there's kind of always a little bit of
a pushback and I mean, if you look at it
and James, you had this report yesterday. I've been working
out Mike Hilton today, thirty one year old Nickel Corner, who, honestly,

(07:54):
I feel like he's had some games where he's kind
of wrecked the Colts in his career. Although I'm a
little concerned that he got cut by the Dolphins. Don't
the Dolphins need all the corners in the world right now?

Speaker 4 (08:03):
Revenge tour. He's going to join the Colts and beat
down the Dolphins week one and say, hey, I told
you I can still play.

Speaker 6 (08:09):
So him and Xavier Howard both, Yeah're gonna be wagging
their fingers week one at the Dolphins. I mean, if
they make that signing, they will have a twenty nine
year old Tavaria's Howard, thirty year old Kennymore, thirty two
year old Xavier Howard, thirty one year old Mike Hilton
at corner get the Canes out. I mean, when you
think about the Ben Gay out, if I had a

(08:29):
rank positions around the NFL, you ideally don't want to
be old at I would think Corner would be one
of them. Yeah, So boy, that is again it's a
total infusion of guys, and there's plenty of resume with
all those guys, obviously.

Speaker 4 (08:44):
Theah, but also the young guy they brought in, twenty
six year old Mika black Man is coming off in
acl correct, so you're not sure how he'll exactly respond
to that. So there are some question marks there with
those resumes.

Speaker 6 (08:56):
Yeah, mean you could be playing two guys in week one, Howard,
I don't think it's played football twenty one months and
Blackman might be the same sort of calendar. Yeah, so
it is very very It's a huge change. But again,
like I said to lead off the show, I think
a genuine credit to Chris Ballard. If you are going

(09:16):
if you are bad in an area and you're going
to bring in a new defensive coordinator, you need to
make sure that the ingredients in the kitchen are what
he is looking for. So at times you might have
to swallow your pride and make some cuts that you
don't want to. But in a pass happy league, the
Colts felt it last year. Their depth of corner got
real thin, real early. This is an attempt and we'll

(09:38):
see if it works again. It's more of an aging attempt.
We'll see if it works. But definitely, they have overhauled
that entire corner group, right, Kenny Moore and Jalen Jones.
Is that it James, those are the only two coming back.

Speaker 4 (09:50):
Yeah, which honestly that sounds crazy when you put it
out loud, but yep, that is true.

Speaker 6 (09:56):
Johnason Edwards, we should mention that name. Undrafted free agent
Jonathan Edwards does make the team. I know, the undrafted
free agent streak is something that Colts fans have gotten.

Speaker 7 (10:05):
Used to it.

Speaker 6 (10:05):
It ended a few years ago. But at number thirty five,
two lane cornerback, he does make the team. So theoretically
he kind of made it over Juju. In my eyes, Yes,
it's probably how I would view it. And he had
a really nice camp and was getting a lot of
run and the biggest thing for him is he was
largely available, which unfortunately has been so much of Juju.

Speaker 4 (10:25):
Yeah, and if you think about it, he kind of
has a similar bill to Juju, a taller guy, kind
of longer defender. And so if the Colts feel like, hey,
we can get a guy who's less injury prone, you know,
less you know, medical history, and someone who I think again,
to your point, Kevin had some moments through our camp
shout out to him, and I'm glad he's also you know,

(10:45):
I know he was out for a minute there with
the concussion, but hopefully he's on the men there too.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
Yeah, that was one thing at and Zionsville on the
text line two three, nineteen seventy, want to ask you
about Kevin. You kind of answered that there and you
set up a text back too, which we often do sometimes.
But he wants to know what he missed? What did
Juju Brents at this level of performance, what did he
do that they would cut him as a second rounder
on his rookie contract, And I think just not being
available that catches up to you.

Speaker 6 (11:10):
In the NFL, Yeah, played in eleven of thirty four games.
You know, we talk a lot about Anthony Richardson's injury history.
Richardson two games miss due to benching, but he still
has played in fifteen of thirty four. So you know, Juju, James,
I forget the list. It's way I think we might
be close to eight injuries. I think in his two

(11:31):
NFL seasons, Like, it's not like you've had Jolney Woods
has had just the two big season enders. Juju, it's
just been a lot of not little things so as
they've sided by him of course a lot of times,
but just a lot of injuries period. I mean we're
talking six seven, eight injuries for him. I actually think
when Juju is played, it's been decent. It's not like
it's looked like a bust on the field here. But

(11:54):
you know, availability has just been an issue. And you know,
the Chris Ballard draft record at corner you just can't ignore.
I mean, Quincy, Wilson, Rock, you Seene, Juju, Brentz. I
mean those are three second round corners that you know,
I guess Rock turned into Yanick and Gokway. I don't
know if that's necessarily a good thing or not, but it.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
Just but it all for different reasons too, whether it
was injury, Rock just all the time, and.

Speaker 6 (12:23):
Yeah, Quincy probably just fell more into kind of the
bust category. But you know, Ballard y, I think back
to the draft, James, I mean, he really backed Juju
this year, like after they took Justin Wally, you know,
pretty bullish on Hey, no, no, no, I don't want to
flush Juju at all. You know, I still think he
can play good football, et cetera, et cetera, and so
this kind of goes back to a really common theme

(12:45):
over the last day or so. I mean, Loui An
Rumo has got a ton of say in defensive personnel,
and I think the Juju Brents move, because again it's
year three of a rookie contract. Think it easily have
him be the sixth They could have Juju brent on
the roster and try to get Jonathan Edwards to the
practice squad, like they could easily have done that. Yeah,
but they chose not to, and I think it's ballad

(13:06):
certainly listening to the new defensive coordinator.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
Can we take a look at two things though, I
do want to kind of mention we can probably get
into it later on throughout the show and revisit it.
But I know people are crushing the Juju Brince pick
because now obviously he's off the team. And really, that
twenty twenty three draft class was a rough one looking
back at it, Kevin, they had twelve picks in that
class and the only two proven starters you got out

(13:29):
of that were Josh Downs and Jalen Jones, and Jaylen
Jones may have even been started this year. Josh Downs
is kind of carrying that class, your first pick that year.
Anthony Richardson benched, Julius Brince, Juju Brince no longer here.
Josh Downs, like I said, played well. Blake Freeland. He's
injured right now. But last season I thought he regressed

(13:50):
and really got exposed. He was not your at least
trending or tracking to be your backup swing tackle. ODDI
Taimawadabar a fine player. Darius Rush. You cut Daniel Scott.
He's finally healthy this year. He missed his first two
years due to injury. Will Mallory okay, fine player. Evan
Hall no longer here, Titus Leo no longer here. Jaylen Jones,
like I said, is here and fighting for our starting role.

(14:11):
And then Jake Witt, the experimental seventh round lineman, no
longer here as well. I think he might have retired
fro football. Actually so rough class. Yeah, rough class. But
then also to give some credit where credit is due.
I know people are like man Johnny Woods, I was
a miss by you know, Shane Stiking or I'm sorry
not Shane sacking Chris Ballard, and they should have picked
somebody else. That twenty twenty two class has been pretty solid.

(14:34):
They didn't have first pick that year, but their first
pick in the second round was Alec Pearce. Solid player,
should get paid this offseason as long as he doesn't
get hurt. Johnny Woods, like I said, was the third
round pick that year. The next pick, he's out. But
Bernard Ryman, you found a franchise left tackle in the
third round. Paid him one hundred million dollars because he's
really good at his job. You got Nick crossing that
class as well, another starter. So to me, that class

(14:58):
looks just totally different than the twenty twenty three class.
And that's kind of how it goes sometimes. Man, you
can't predict these things in real time, because obviously if
you could, you would change some things. But man, going
back to that class from two years ago, it is
looking pretty spooky. And Josh Downs it wasn't for him.
You really be in a mind.

Speaker 6 (15:15):
Well, I think, what's truly damning about the twenty twenty
three draft, James's you suffered so much in twenty twenty
two to reap the benefits that next April. You know,
think back in the twenty twenty two season, four to
twelve and one, Jeff Saturday, Matt Ryan, all the embarrassment.
The light at the end of the tunnel is you're

(15:37):
drafting high. You know, you had the fourth overall pick.
You're obviously drafting high in each subsequent round after that.
So the thought there is it's not like a normal
draft where the culture in the middle of the pack
and it's harder maybe to find hits in that. No, no, no,
you're hot. I mean you are top five in every round,
and you got a bunch of picks too, and yet

(15:57):
you have the misses of you know, James just pointed
out there pretty much three of your first four picks
is how you would summarize it right now. And honestly,
you go back to twenty twelve, like the twenty eleven
embarrassment of going to and fourteen and that entire season
it turned into Ryan Grigson's first draft being filled with
tons on fleeen Er Allan vic Ballard contributed for you

(16:18):
early on that helped you have eleven wins out of
the gate, eleven wins the next year, eleven wins the
next year. So when your teams have bad years, the
again benefit of that is all right, the NFL rewards
you from a draft standpoint. Now you have to cash
in on that. And I think if I were carl Er,
say Gordon, that would really be staring at me this

(16:42):
morning of We suffered so much in twenty twenty two,
we thought, hey, we're going to create this new window. Well,
twenty twenty three has got to be the limestone of
that foundation. And again, when you're drafting as high as
you were in that draft, it should offer plenty of
opportunities to rebuilding. Yeah, and you know at some premium

(17:02):
positions cornerback, cornerback and offensive tackle, that doesn't appear to
be the case.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
It's The Fan Morning Show ninety three five one h
seven five The Fan westpeaks for a lot of folks.
When he wants from each of you guys, he's curious,
who's the one guy that you'd still like to see
back with the cults if you had a perfect world.

Speaker 4 (17:19):
Shout out to West from the text line, I chose
chrys La Monz, and I was kind of grasping at
straws there. There weren't a lot of people where I'm like, man,
I want this guy back no matter what. But I
thought chrys La Mons was going to make the fifty
three man roster because one he is a proven veteran,
I will say a little bit older. I think he's
twenty nine, so I guess I would have added to

(17:39):
the theme of the older cornerback room. But someone who
was around last year, respected in the locker room, super
Bowl champion and I thought had a really strong preseason, Kevin.
And so again that lets you know that I think
Lou and Roumo's voice holds weight, but also the coach
to do feel like they can maybe upgrade at that
backup slot position, which is what Chris Lamon's kind of

(18:01):
projected as. And he also offered some special teams capabilities
there as well.

Speaker 6 (18:05):
Yeah, that's a good one. You know, I'll probably go
just a guy that I think deserve or the guy
earned the right to be on the fifty three man roster.
I get why he's not, but I just thought coleman
Owen had a great, great training camp, and you know, James,
you're out there and you watch. I just feel naturally
the wide receivers oftentimes happen to be in front of

(18:25):
the media during practice, and like Reggie Wayne, he loves
that dude, I mean like he loves himself. Some coleman
Owen and again God I think.

Speaker 4 (18:34):
It's the technician part, because Reggie was like that work.

Speaker 6 (18:38):
He caught one the other day to and one of
their final practices before the preseason finale, and Reggie just
goes over to him and just gives them kind of
one of those like low high fives. And for Reggie, Wayne,
that's like, you know, me hugging you after Notre Dame's
first touchdown on Sunday night. Gosh, I really hope Notre
Dame scores early in that game and kind of calms
my nerves.

Speaker 4 (18:55):
But I'll take a FaceTime hug.

Speaker 6 (18:57):
What did you say?

Speaker 5 (18:58):
Mark?

Speaker 6 (19:00):
But Coleman Owen like he did everything you would want,
and he's just he's in arguably the most crowded room
with the entire team. And I don't know Anthony Gould
as a return man. I just get a little nervy.
So Coleman owners they can get him to the practice squad.
I think that would make a lot of sense.

Speaker 4 (19:15):
Jef, who would you pick up if you had to
make an addition to the guys that they let go?

Speaker 2 (19:20):
The guy I would have said the same thing, Lama's
because I really liked you and I had talked about
it when I was at the game at the home game.
I liked the way that he had played so far
this year. I think he'd been making plays, he was
around the ball, seemed like he was in the right
place at the right time. But he's got crowded out,
it felt like. And I wonder they'll bring in the
guy today. But I just wonder in that secondary if

(19:40):
they could use at some point a guy like that.
He's at least a practice squad guy if he doesn't
get claimed by somebody else.

Speaker 4 (19:46):
Yeah, he's a veteran though, so he got released and
so he could go where he pleases, which probably gives
the Colt's a good chance to retain him if they
want to, and if he doesn't want to move, perhaps
around the country. And then another one so throughout there, Kevin,
I thought about just now Isaiah Land. I thought that
he had a really good training camp numbers game at
the defensive line spot. So didn't make the cut, but

(20:08):
I think that's a guy who actually probably gonna get claimed.

Speaker 6 (20:11):
Yeah, I thought if they wanted to, they could have
kept Land and cut one of the defensive tackles. They
actually cut. They kept one more defense balls big boys
would even they kept eleven, which is even a big
number for Ballard. It's usually like ten. So again, as
we get into today and some of the roster gymnastics
start to play out, that would be an area where

(20:31):
I think, Okay, you know, do they cut one of
those defensive tackles. Do they add elsewhere? That'll be something
to keep an eye on.

Speaker 2 (20:40):
One more thing to a lot of people wondering about
Carson Steel, and you had mentioned him at the very
beginning of the show. We're looking for pass catching running back.
I mean, is Carson Steel a guy that that could
be brought back?

Speaker 5 (20:51):
Uh?

Speaker 6 (20:52):
Yeah, I I I'll be honestly, I don't really know
Carson Steele's history as a pass catching running back there.

Speaker 4 (20:57):
I just had seven catches last year and soeen games
for twenty.

Speaker 2 (21:01):
Six yards, But how many snaps did he even get?

Speaker 4 (21:03):
Though he would have got more snaps as a pass
catcher if he was a better pass catcher.

Speaker 6 (21:09):
So yeah, probably I'll just take him for the pet alligator.

Speaker 4 (21:12):
I was gonna say, you want a bruiser, now, you
want somebody who can get down. Now, he can definitely
do that. But yeah, he got two hundred and one
snaps last year on offense eighteen percent of the snaps
and again just seven catches last year for not a
lot of yards.

Speaker 6 (21:26):
I think were the harder decisions for guys like Steel
or anybody really around the NFL is now that you've
gotten cut, how do you view it if that team
wants me back on the practice squad? Do I say,
you know what, all right, it's a little bit of
a hurdle. Practice squad Life's pretty good. Look the amount
of money I can make, I can get promoted seemingly,
you know, rather easily given the new rules there. Or

(21:48):
do you sit there and say, hey, the team's telling
me something. I need to go to another situation. I
need to get myself in front of you know, different eyes,
because there are you know, success stories on both ends
of it, guys that have just gone to the practice
squad and then reproven themselves and then they're a mainstay.
Or the Kenny Mooores and the Jack Doyles where you
know those teams. You know Doyle specifically, Tennessee wanted him back,

(22:12):
the Colts claimed him, and boom, the rest is history.
It's one of the more impressive careers given where he
was drafted or not drafted, that you'll, frankly ever see
with the Colts.

Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah, and I just wonder too, if it's the way
you delivered that message. Hey, numbers game you got caught
up in that. Wouldn't be surprised if you got claimed
by another team. You're a good football player. But if not,
don't be surprised if we call you back for practice squad.

Speaker 4 (22:34):
Yeah, I'm sure there's a lot of conversations like that.
You've got to see how it all shakes out.

Speaker 5 (22:39):
All right.

Speaker 2 (22:39):
Coming up in a moment, we will speak with Steven
Holder ESPN about his thoughts on the initial fifty three
man roster. Dave Richard gonna join us from CBS Fantasy
Football later on in that hour, and Pete Sampson Kevin
Pete Sampson coming up in the nine o'clock hour for you,
my man, he's my therapist, your therapist or your favorite
guy to talk to you.

Speaker 6 (22:58):
I don't think he knows that, but every year, like
I make this like creepy, like awkward intro with him
and he's kind of like, yeah, I look forward to that, dude.
I'm just doing this because you know, I'm trying to
be a nice guy. Can we just get through the segment, and.

Speaker 3 (23:10):
I do ask him to be on the show. I'm like,
Kevin bones on the Show's like, God, I guess I'll
do it.

Speaker 6 (23:14):
He has no idea who I am.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
He's glad that there's a.

Speaker 4 (23:15):
Restraining credit card.

Speaker 5 (23:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (23:18):
And by the way, Pete Sampson covers the Notre Dame
fighting Irish to clear up why Kevin Bowen is exciting.

Speaker 6 (23:24):
Saying everybody doesn't know who he is.

Speaker 4 (23:26):
James, I mean not everyone outside of you know, South Bend.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
Kevin's gonna have a good day, That's all I can
tell you. We'll talk about it next. On ninety three,
five and one oh seven, five of the Fan weregeting
and welcome into the Fan Morning Show along with Mark Tychton,
James Boyd, Kevin. But when I'm jeff Rickard and we're
talking about the Colts initial fifty three man roster, they
made that announcement, Yeah, talking about beef. Well, I know
we're getting there.

Speaker 4 (23:51):
I was talking about beef. I just smell it cooking there.

Speaker 5 (23:54):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
You're trying to start trouble early. Oh yeah, here for that.
Kevin Bond wanted nothing to do with the trouble, but
you're pushing the Oh.

Speaker 4 (24:00):
No, you can't. You can't duck it six three. He
can't be over that ducket. We still see you in
the bushes.

Speaker 2 (24:06):
Come on, man, would you like to introduce our next guest,
Kevin Bonen.

Speaker 6 (24:09):
A lot to get to Steven Holder with roster cuts
and certainly a quarterback storyline that is very, very important
for the Yeah, and in a big game.

Speaker 5 (24:19):
Might I add.

Speaker 6 (24:23):
I got a great team down there.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
Help Dame Notre Dame Miami coming up this weekend? Steven,
did you have any words for mister Notre Dame Kevin
bowing over here?

Speaker 5 (24:32):
Hey, listen, I don't trust my guys enough to be talking.
Trash is trash.

Speaker 4 (24:40):
Neither you deserve to have ranked teams that you cheer for.

Speaker 5 (24:43):
What is this?

Speaker 2 (24:43):
I just told that Jim can make it to the kicker.

Speaker 4 (24:46):
I'm disgusted. I have seen trash talk from both of you,
Like now high school dances. They're both leaning against the walls.
Ye want to go out there exactly?

Speaker 5 (24:54):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (24:54):
Yes, you know sportsmanship? You just playing yuck? What are
we teaching the game?

Speaker 6 (24:58):
Trying to win?

Speaker 5 (24:58):
Trust her? Oh? Let me let me be clear, this
is not about sportsmanship. No, I love kV, but this
is not about sportsmanship. This is about I don't want
to give anybody any ammunition because I don't trust my guys.
I've been hurt enough times. This is about me.

Speaker 6 (25:14):
Stephen watched this team play defense too often last year
for Thank you Miami Hurricanes. Yeah, Steve and I at
first time starting quarterback for Notre Dame and going into
that environment, that's given me a little bit of pause.
But I do like Notre Dame in some other areas
on the team. Uh, should we dive into roster cuts here?

Speaker 2 (25:33):
Let's go.

Speaker 6 (25:34):
I suppose Steven hold their ESPN with us here on
the Payless Liquors hot Line. I guess I actually kind
of want to go in a different different direction because
when you joined his last Wednesday, you were fresh off
the news of, you know, your conversation with Derek Jackson,
Anthony Richardson's agent about you know, and I want to
make sure I get the words right. But you know,
there was some trust questions, and you know, we've got

(25:55):
a lot to talk about. I think I'm paraphrasing a
little bit of that quote. Any update on Richardson his
standing within the team, how his team, his own team
kind of views where he's at right now franchise wise, No,
I don't.

Speaker 5 (26:08):
I wouldn't say that there's much that's changed. I think
there is a little bit of wait and see, you know,
to to kind of see how this plays out. I mean,
clearly the Colts are taking that approach, and I think
just wanting to see what Daniel Jones looks like, you know,
does he does he meet expectations and those kinds of things.
I mean, they're not trading Anthony Richardson, you know, certainly

(26:32):
not right now. Could things change? I guess, you know,
if let's say Daniel Jones takes off, I don't know,
right I mean that maybe there's a scenario, but right
now there's no there's no intention on their part of
trading him, And I don't know that a trade demand
has even quote unquote been made to my knowledge. Would
would his agent be welcoming of such a thing if

(26:55):
it were to come to pass? I think so. But
but that's not even been discussed that as far as
I know, so, I don't think much has changed there.
But but I don't think it's necessarily I it's gotten
necessarily better either, you know, for lack of a better word.

Speaker 4 (27:14):
Stephen will hear from Chris Ballard later today and again
Stephen Holder ESPN joining us on the Payloff Stickers hotline.
What questions do you have for the coach GM that
are really top of mind for you and you think
pertinent to this upcoming season or really the future of
the team as well.

Speaker 5 (27:34):
Well. I think there's two separate matters, I guess for
for the current team, I think, well, this is a
you know, they cut certainly too, two draft picks from
a couple of recent drafts. I think Juju Brents in particular.
I mean, I'm not saying it's just shocking new It's not.
He hasn't helped them at all, But you know, I

(27:55):
think he's got to. He's got to speak publicly about that.
For or that's the guy that's a second round pick.
I mean, that's a really high pick. Okay, I don't
want gloss over that. I mean, I know people are like, well, yeah,
he's never done anything for him, so of course they
cut him. Yeah, but a second round pick, it takes
a lot of It takes a lot of putting your

(28:16):
ego aside to have to cut a second round pick
or maybe it's a blow to your ego. I should say,
you know, to have to cut a second round pick.
And then I think, just like the composition of his teams,
does he how does he feel about the depth? The
depth is what has gotten them, I feel like to
a large degree in recent years, or it's been a
big part of their problem at least. So what's the depth? Like,
I mean, are you really confident in your offensive line depth?

(28:37):
Because I have questions, you know, are you confident in
your in your linebackers? You got like one linebacker I've
ever seen play football that's available, you know. I mean,
I'm exaggerating, but not a lot. So the depth is
a question I have. And then I think the separate
matter is obviously the quarterback situation. I want his take

(28:58):
on the decision. We have not heard from him on this,
to be completely fair and blunt. Frankly Shamestikeen is sometimes
the worst person to talk about these things because he
doesn't give you any answers. And I would say, I
think if you're a skeptic of the quarterback situation. One
thing that we keep hearing about Daniel Jones is the operation.

(29:19):
The operation, the operation, the pre snap all this, et cetera.
Shanstiken has yet to say that Daniel Jones does X
really well after the snap. Everything he's talked about is
before the snap. Well, I think we need more than that. Okay,
I think at some point does the talent not have
to matter? So I want I want clarity on that. Okay,

(29:41):
what does Anthony Richardson's does Anthony Richardson's ability measure or
how does it measure up against Daniel Jones and what
he does pre snap and walk us through the decision,
I think with a little more clarity, I don't I
don't think shame Stikeen did that by just repeating the
same thing about the pre snap stuff repeatedly.

Speaker 2 (30:00):
One of the biggest things you think you might see
by the end of the day today.

Speaker 5 (30:05):
Well, I'm wondering about this Mike Hilton situation. I mean,
he was he was cut by the Dolphins. I think yes,
And so he's a corner. It's played for lou ed Rumo,
and apparently anyone who has ever, ever ever played for
Lou Edin Rumo is is a prospect to sign with
the Indianapolis Colts if if recent history is any indicator.

(30:27):
So I'm interested to see if that goes anywhere and
if that does happen. I believe if the report I
read is correct, I think he's supposed to work out
today if he if he signs, they probably have to
cut a corner there, and I'm wondering who that is.
So you know, we'll see what happens there. But that
could be a domino that falls today potentially.

Speaker 6 (30:49):
And Steven Holder went to see her from me SPN
on the Payloss Lickors hot Line. Steven, how would you
describe what you think how long the leashes for Daniel
Jones compared to Joe Flacco's leash last year.

Speaker 5 (31:04):
It's interesting because I think if you're if you're the Colts,
I mean, it shouldn't be like super long, right, I mean,
if Daniel Jones looks like the Daniel Jones we fair
and the one that we've seen a lot of, I mean,
you've got to be terrified, right if that happens early
in the season. On the other hand, you were very clear,

(31:26):
Shane was very clear that he's our guy. So if
you walk that back, I mean, you know, you kind
of lose some credibility there. I don't know, so I
think he's I'm not saying he's boxed himself in, but
but he did kind of he did kind of lay
down a gauntlet there by saying he's a quarterback, He's
our quarterback for the season. Of course, they did say

(31:46):
that about Joe Flacco when they benched him, and two
weeks later we were having a different conversation. So I
don't know. I really just think it boils down to
is he is he helping them win? Are they winning?
Is he helping them win? And you know, is it sustainable?
And we have no idea right now. I think the
range of possibilities for what Daniel Jones can be is

(32:10):
pretty wide. Frankly, you know that spectrum is pretty big
for me. So I'm very interested to see how it
plays out.

Speaker 6 (32:17):
I heard you say earlier in the week that you
felt like Shane Steichen was like a pretty early Daniel
Jones lane in this whole you know, quarterback competition, quarterback battle.
Is there a particular time in the offseason you felt
like that he started to I guess side with Jones.
I mean, obviously we saw Anthony miss seven of those

(32:37):
nine spring practices. Is there any like I guess just
kind of further context around that general thought.

Speaker 5 (32:46):
Well, it's interesting. It's funny. It's kind of like after
the fact, you sometimes get clarity when you go back
and you you know, I would say, hindsight is twenty twenty,
but you know, you might see something at the time
but not understand the totality of it or the context
of it. And I would say a couple of things,
even back to the owner's meetings and James was there.

(33:07):
We were Where were we? James? Yeah, that's right down
on Palm Beach. We asked him, I mean you sat there,
I sat there. We all said that breakfast with Shane
Styke in where they have the coaches availability, and we
tried to grill him on like what was going to
decide this quarterback battle. They had just signed Daniel Jones
like two weeks before this, so it was a very

(33:29):
fresh story. First time we're talking to Shane and he
just said, well, you know, it's going to boil down
to who's more consistent. And we asked the question in
seven different ways. I mean, I'm only exaggerating a little here,
and every single time he said the exact same thing. Nope,
it's going to boil down a consistency, consistency, consistency, And
I walked out of there thinking, well, he ain't talking

(33:49):
about Anthony Richardson. Yeah, and I at that very moment,
so like the last week of March, I walked out
of there like, wait a minute, he's talking about Anthony.
He's talking about Daniel Jones, which we could debate whether
he's consistent, but he certainly wasn't talking about the guy
who completed forty seven percent of his passes. So why
did I maybe back off of that thinking well, Anthony

(34:12):
was having a pretty good camp by his standards, he
was his best camp, so I thought it was competitive
and I said, well, you know what, you know, maybe
this thing is really up for grabs. And then of
course it went a different way. But there were other
instances I think about, just conversations and little things that
I picked up on that I don't know that he

(34:34):
ever got out of that lane. Shane. I really believe
he was always leaning toward Daniel Jones. I'm not saying
that's wrong, I'm not criticizing it. I'm just just putting
it out there. I think he was always leaning that way.

Speaker 4 (34:47):
So Steven, when you looked on the defensive, side of
the ball. We've seen a lot of movement in the
cornerback room and a lot of these guys coming in
are older players. And Mike Hilton, as you mentioned, is
working out for the Colts today. He's an older cornerback.
How much faith do you put into that and how
much faith can the Colts put into that when potentially
you could be starting a guy like Xavin Howard who

(35:09):
hasn't played in over a year.

Speaker 5 (35:12):
I'm skeptical. I gotta be honest. I mean, I guess
I want to trust lou An Rumo. I mean, I
think he's earned it.

Speaker 4 (35:19):
But do you think he's earned that just because I mean,
the last time we saw his defense it wasn't good. Now,
he was good a few years ago with some better players, granted,
but has he earned that? Like, because if you're Gus Bradley,
you got to be thinking, yeah, my defensive schemes might
have been different, but you never gave me this kind
of help.

Speaker 5 (35:35):
Well, that's that's fair, right, And I think there's also
a knock that that's a little bit of a knock
on Amo that's been out there, which is that he
doesn't uh, he doesn't favor young players and that clearly
seems to have credibility, that accutation, because if you ain't
thirty years old, you know, he's probably looking at you

(35:56):
a little sideways around here, it looked like, and that
is perhaps because the reality is he wants to do
a lot of different things within his defense, and young
players they don't usually respond well to that, which is
you know, I think we were talking about this recently,
which is why Justin Wallly emerging the way he did
was so impressive, because that doesn't typically happen with Lou

(36:17):
and Rumo. So so some of the personnel stuff that
maybe happened with him, some of it may have There
may be some some I don't know if fault is
the right word, but there may be some Some of
that may trace to how he uses his personnel and
maybe his his preference for not really putting young players
out there and maybe catering to to their you know,

(36:40):
making a little simpler for those young players. So I
don't know, I just I do think it's a question,
and and we'll have to see. They're giving him a
lot of latitude, Chris Ballard and Saint Stackin are giving
Lou and Umo a lot of latitude here and we'll
see whether they're right or wrong about that.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
Steven Older, thanks for stopping by, as always tries he
James Boyd couldn't get any any traction going on the.

Speaker 4 (37:03):
Yeah, you know, both of you guys. We got to
bring back hatred in sports. Okay, ah DoD sports mianship talk. Yeah,
teach the kids.

Speaker 2 (37:15):
Better have a good day, Steven. We'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 5 (37:21):
We'll pick this up in the media room.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
Do we have two new players in the fan morning
show Fantasy Football League? Mark Dyton? Is we get ready
to talk about this?

Speaker 5 (37:33):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (37:33):
Yeah, I have to get all their information. I just
have phone numbers to go off of, so I have
to parse through that while you guys do this.

Speaker 2 (37:39):
All right, Well, we will do this. Dave Richard is
a fantasy football expert at CBS kind enough to join
us here in the midst of what I can only
assume is a very busy time for him, as we
are just a week in a day away from the
first NFL football game of the season. Dave, thanks so
much for joining us on the Payless Liquors Hotline. How
many leagues do you think you'll be doing this year?

Speaker 1 (37:59):
The numbers to be about ten, and I haven't drafted
most of them yet. I just figured out why I
was waiting to talk to you guys. I have five
drafts in the next six days, and the one day
when I don't have a fantasy draft is when I
go to hard Rock Stadium to see the Miami Hurricanes
take on the Notre Dame. Boy and I know that
that's going to be a topic of discussion at some point.

(38:21):
Maybe we don't go deep into that, but uh, you know,
as the Hurricanes alum, I just had to bring it
up that I think Arcanes are going to give the
Irish game.

Speaker 5 (38:34):
Yes, we are not the same team.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
The Hurricanes are not the same team that they were
last year. Much better defense, obviously a quarterback change. But
from you know, I talked to people who watch practice
and sounds like Carson Beck is his old self and
that could be a problem for the Irish.

Speaker 4 (38:56):
Kevin, Yeah, you know what, Dave, keep talking that song
because this guy the studio with a way too.

Speaker 2 (39:04):
Nice an Da've given that?

Speaker 6 (39:05):
Are you surprised that Vegas has the line where it
is Notre Dame favors on the road with a starter
that's played four snaps in college football.

Speaker 1 (39:13):
Public perception is king and the way that it works
in Vegas is that whatever the public thinks is what
they want to try and bank on. And it almost
tells me that they think that a lot of money
is going to come in on Notre Dame, and it
probably will, and so they probably think it's going to
be a lot closer and maybe goes down to the wire.
And when it's a game like that, of course there's
a chance that the underdog can win. So you know,

(39:36):
they're probably looking to get like sixty forty, fifty to fifty.
They do that on a lot of games, but sometimes
they want to have the line a little bit funky
and to give themselves just a bit of an edge,
and I think this could be one of those games.

Speaker 2 (39:49):
All right, let's talk some fantasy football day. That's why
you're here. So I have a couple I have a question,
really kind of a two part question, which I'm not
a fan of, but I've got to ask it this way. Sure,
as fantasy football philosophies evolve, you know, with zero running back,
where you wait until you get your first running back,
until you've filled up all your top receiving spots. That
seems to be out of favor. Now, what's the best

(40:11):
general philosophy moving forward these days?

Speaker 1 (40:13):
So I still think getting at least one really good
running back is a really good idea. But it does
depend on how big your league is. What do catches
count for? How many receivers do you start? The real
key for me, and I don't mean to kind of
change the direction of your question is how you feel
about the receivers at the top of the draft board.

(40:34):
How many receivers when you look at a rankings list,
how many wide receivers do you look at and you go, oh, yeah,
that's a stud I would start that guy every week,
no questions asked, and I would expect somewhere around like
seventeen to twenty PPR points from that receiver. And for me,
that answer is like nine. There's like nine receivers that

(40:55):
are like that, and so I want to try and
get as many of those guys as I can without
necessarily having to give up the chance of getting one
of the elite running backs that are at the beginning
of a fantasy draft. So you kind of have to
make the decision about how badly you want or need
one or two of those nine wide receivers, and maybe
for you it's not nine. Maybe the number for you

(41:16):
is seventh. And however that number is, if it's small,
you need to take the receiver, even if it means
passing up on the John Robinson, a Saquon Barkley, a
Jamier gives you. Gotta go that route because the receivers
that you'll see later on, you'll go. Okay, you know,
Demonte Adams is good, but he's old and I don't
know if I could expect him to get seventeen points
per game. Tyreek Hill was good, He's stunk last year

(41:38):
and he's kind of old, and I don't know where
he's had a And we could go on and on
with receivers. I think that that's really the crux of
what your draft strategy should be. Before you walk into draft,
find out how many receivers you really love, and then
try to get as many of those guys as Chicking.

Speaker 4 (41:52):
In again, we have Dave Richard joining us. He covers
fantasy football in the NFL Draft at CBS Sports. Dave,
when you look at the Colts's quarterback change, going from
Anthony Richardson to Daniel Jones's QB one how do you
think that affects their receiver as both I guess in
real life but also in fantasy, which we're talking to

(42:14):
you about, Like, do you feel like some players have
been pushed stock up and others have been pushed stock down?

Speaker 1 (42:18):
You know, let us know it's not gonna be by
a lot, but yeah, it's up a little bit because
we're talking about a quarterback. Not that Daniel Jones has
set the world on fire, but he does have a
higher completion rate over his career than Anthony Richardson does,
and I mean most quarterbacks do. It's just the way
that Anthony Richardson's career has worked out so far. And

(42:40):
so I think it does give a little bit of
a boost to Josh Downs, to Michael Pittman, to Tyler Warren,
who I am a huge fan of, and I actually
think it gives a boost to Jonathan Taylor as well,
because now Taylor won't have quite the same type of
competition for touchdowns at the goal line when Anthony Richardson
is back there. What a nightmare for defenses because they

(43:01):
could run an RPO and it could go to Taylor,
could go to Richardson. Richardson could throw it like there
were a number of different ways to go, and yeah,
they could still do that with Daniel Jones, but it's
not quite as threatening and it helps John and Taylor
kind of boost his upside for touchdowns. Maybe he scores
fourteen this year after having I believe twelve last year,
and so I think you feel a little bit better

(43:22):
about those receivers. I don't know if it means that
you actually go out and target any of those guys
before round seven, for example, but you'll know that, all right.
Daniel Jones seems like he has a long leash, looks
like he'll be the Colts quarterback. You can feel good
about Pittman. Maybe five catches a game down same thing
once he's healthy. Warren, I mean, you can tell me
you've watched all the practices. I loved him in college,

(43:45):
and I think he's a great fit for what the
Colts really want to do and need to do as
far as the middle of the field goes and finding
those one on one matchups. I could see him getting
four or five catches per game as well.

Speaker 6 (43:56):
And that's Dave Richard from CBS Fantasy Expert. He's with
this year on the Paylofs likes hotline Dave rookies that
we like. I had a draft the other night, and
I feel like, all of a sudden, you start looking
on the old Oh, these are the next best available,
And when the rookie names pop up, you're always kind
of like, huh, I guess I remember that dude from college,
but I have no idea his NFL fit. So maybe

(44:17):
a rookie at running back, maybe a rookie at wide
out to keep an eye on.

Speaker 1 (44:20):
Okay, so Omar and Hampton as a chance to be
potentially as good as Ashton Gent and you can get
him a full round later. And everybody knows about genty
because he's had so much hype and you know, tried
to break Barry Sanders record at Bois and State and
all that stuff. At Amara and Hampton it's a good
three down back, and he landed in a great scheme
for running backs with the LA Chargers. It's a team

(44:42):
that wants to run the football. It's a team that
clearly notices good running back talent and will lean on
that running back. So I don't think he's going to
lose too many touches to Najie Harris and I'm excited
about getting him. I think a round three pick is fine,
but if you really really wanted him in late round two,
you could take Omar and Hampton at receiver. I keep

(45:03):
hearing from my friends about how good Matthew Golden looks
in Green Bay. And I know we're not used to
the Packers having a bona fide number one wide receiver,
but the way that Golden finished his career at Texas,
it sounds like that's the dude that the Packers got
and the number one receiver that can stretch defenses, earn
a big target share, be the number one target geter
in Green Bay. And that's the Packers' offense that was

(45:25):
forced to run a lot last year. Now I think
they're going to be able to throw a lot more
because Jordan Love is healthy aside from his left thumb issue.
I definitely think that there's a chance that we could
see Matthew Golden play very well. He's probably maybe like
my second or third favorite rookie wide receiver, but I
like the draft value better than I do for Travis
Hunter and for tedle Roy McMillan, and then at tight

(45:46):
end it's Tyler Warren just the after catch ability that
he has the power and strength scenes to have translated
to the NFL after what he did at Penn State.
And again, I think he could be penciled in for
four or five catches a game.

Speaker 4 (45:58):
Dave, this is Mark.

Speaker 2 (45:59):
I got a question for you.

Speaker 6 (46:00):
I had to draft the other day.

Speaker 3 (46:01):
Christian McCaffrey was staring me right in the face, and
I passed on him because of just the injuries that
he's had the last couple of years. Am I Am
I in the minority there? Or is there concern with
Christian McCaffrey just giving the how he's getting older, he's
had injuries. Sure, what's the plan with him?

Speaker 5 (46:17):
So?

Speaker 1 (46:17):
Mark, you've got cmc PTSD. And that's something that about
half the people in fantasy football has, because about half
the people in fantasy football have had Christian McCaffrey and
then lost him to an injury. It happened three times
now over the last five years. It's kind of a
problem when you think about it, But he's if you
know that he's healthy and you know that the forty

(46:37):
nine ers offense is kind of staying on talent outside
of McCaffrey, Kittle, Ricky Piersoll's a breakout wide receiver. I
really like him a lot too. His game is great
when they're missing so many other guys like Uk and
Juwan Jennings, and you can't help but think that McAffrey
is going to get more work. And McCaffrey has potential
to be just as good as a fantasy quarterback when

(47:01):
he's playing running back, especially if those sketches count. So
I don't mind taking the chance on Christian McCaffrey. It
means spending a later pick on Brian Robinson, who's the
backup running back in San Francisco. You want to lock
up that back and do what you can't to have
a piece of that forty nine ers run game because
usually it's really good. But there's no concern about McCaffrey
having another injury based on anything other than history, and

(47:26):
that's a bad way to draft.

Speaker 5 (47:27):
I just think that if he was a little.

Speaker 1 (47:29):
Banged up now and you know, nursing a hamstring injury
or something like that, then sure we could head for
the hills. But other than that, like he's ready to go,
sounds like he's got enough gas in the tank for
one more huge season. I would take him in the
first round.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
Dave Richard CBS any Miami to Notre Dame parting shot
before we let you go this morning.

Speaker 1 (47:47):
No, not at all, because you know I'm gonna be
on the air again someday and I don't want you
guys to remember just in case Notre Dame crushes the games.
I think it'll be a great game. It's always a
great atmosphere. The rivalry has been huge for a long
time time. And uh, let's go. Can.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
I think we're just gonna get you and Steven Holder
from ESPN, who's also Miami guy. And Kevin. You'll just
invite him over watch the game. You'll have cupcakes and milk.

Speaker 6 (48:10):
Just sayas unbelievable fantasy info. Uh but man, he can
kiss my ass when it comes to Sunday.

Speaker 2 (48:19):
There we go, bullet you into it, Kevin, There you
go day.

Speaker 6 (48:23):
Thank you for the time you got it.

Speaker 5 (48:25):
Guys, good luck on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (48:26):
There you go, Thank you.

Speaker 5 (48:29):
Now.

Speaker 4 (48:29):
Yeah, I'm very happy, you know me. You know, I
wake up and I.

Speaker 6 (48:32):
Got to see Stephen every day. I don't have to
see Dave Richard maybe ever.

Speaker 4 (48:35):
Man, that's the best part about it. You gotta start.

Speaker 6 (48:38):
That's how you do it, you just hide behind the
mic exactly.

Speaker 4 (48:40):
But no, you just got to come in with some
shades on if your team doesn't do exactly as well
as you want.

Speaker 6 (48:45):
That's some great fantasy.

Speaker 5 (48:48):
It was.

Speaker 4 (48:49):
I keep forgetting the game is Sunday. That's a unique setup.

Speaker 6 (48:52):
Belichick Monday, right, the Belichick maybe is Monday.

Speaker 2 (48:56):
We will tell everybody what it is. The latest as
far as trees into our fantasy football league coming up
in a moment here is Mark has been working furiously
on that during the interview. We'll do it next at
ninety three five. And when I seventy five, you're moving

(49:30):
James Boyd with that music. I'll tell you that right now.

Speaker 4 (49:33):
Yeah, I feel so triumphant right now. It's like that
Heaven's gates have opened. Notre Dame has won Sunday nights. Kevin,
it's all happening.

Speaker 6 (49:42):
He's definitely moving me below the waist in between the
legs right now. Thank you Mark Dyton for that.

Speaker 4 (49:50):
He's made man both of y'all. You just made Mark
Clifton both of them them guys.

Speaker 6 (49:55):
Yeah, I think I'm saving a Why do you want
me not to paint some vivid imagery?

Speaker 2 (49:59):
No, I don't want you to.

Speaker 6 (50:00):
No, no, well, I'll just turn my mic off.

Speaker 2 (50:05):
Then welcome into our next guest, Pete Sampson from The Athletic.
He covers Notre Dame football and Pete, all I can
tell you is Kevin Bowen is excited to speak with
you about Golden Dome football.

Speaker 7 (50:16):
Yeah, it's at a little early for some of the
imagery we've got.

Speaker 4 (50:20):
That's what I'm trying to tell him.

Speaker 5 (50:22):
Pete.

Speaker 6 (50:22):
I apologize, but you know I was trying to resemble
maybe some of your vivid imagery. As a writer, you
do a tremendous job, so thank you for the content.
I don't know if that's the smoothest transition that I've
ever tried for, but nonetheless, here we are one of
your late Well, actually let's go here because we're fresh
off a quarterback battle in our market with the Indianapolis Colts,

(50:42):
and I think largely that quarterback battle went. I don't know,
I don't think there's anything too too shocking. Whereas as
I observed the Notre Dame quarterback battle from afar, it
sounded like a bit like a roller coaster. Could you
maybe describe it for our audience that hasn't been glued
to the athletic Yeah, it.

Speaker 7 (51:00):
Was because I think it started where CJ. Carr felt
like the inevitable winner of it, and then as camp unfolded,
you're talking to people who are practicing, like, actually, Kenny
Minch has been really good, and then you just kept
hearing that, kept hearing that, kept hearing that. Uh So
it was almost like the expect the guy who won it,
you expected to win it anyway, but how he got

(51:20):
there was a surprise. So you know, what, do they
have both ready on Sunday night at Miami? I think
they absolutely do. You know, they're they're hopeful that car
will be able to answer the call and you know,
handle the environment and all that stuff. But I think
you gotta be you gotta be ready with both.

Speaker 2 (51:38):
What are they on special teams this year?

Speaker 5 (51:41):
Uh?

Speaker 7 (51:42):
Not as good as they were last year because they
kind of threw a perfect game for pretty much all season.

Speaker 5 (51:48):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (51:49):
You know, they lose Mitch Jeter, the kicker who at
the game winning kind of walk off against Penn State.
You know, it was huge against A and M earlier
in the year. So Noah Burnett's a transfer kicker they
have coming in I think I think what I'm mostly
sort of see and social teams is they're gonna stick
Jeremiah Love at kickoff return and that that would get
you out of your seat if you're a notre name

(52:10):
fan to watch. So that's probably the most interesting thing
to me on special teams is Jeremiah Love back there.

Speaker 4 (52:16):
So along those lines, Pete, we know that Jeremiah Love
is coming in with a lot of hype, and deservedly so.
He's been a great player for the Fighting Irish. But
you had a piece recently in the Athletic kind of
going inside the mind of him and r piece by
the way, Yeah, you know, and I guess that's the
unbiased opinion of my colleague there, Kevin Bone. But here
it's a great piece to kind of go on depth

(52:38):
and what kind of makes him who he is and
how much do you think he cares about the heisman?
But more so just for what that will present from
a team standpoint, because obviously being that conversation you got
to be wonh.

Speaker 7 (52:51):
Yeah, I mean he cares about it on an individual level,
you know. That's I don't think he's gonna come out
and tell you that, but you talk to people that
know him, and yeah, he cares about it a lot it,
you know, but notre Name's going to have to go
what eleven and one for him to win the Heisman
at a minimum, And I think how his Heisman campaign,

(53:12):
you know, does he get off the ground Sunday night
or not. I think it's gonna have to be kind
of more highlight driven than stat driven, if that makes sense,
Like he's going to have to have a bunch of
wild plays and considering he can hurtle over you or
run through you or run around you, like he's very
capable of it. But yeah, he's I don't think people

(53:33):
like I think people nationally have caught onto him based
on the playoff, but like, I don't think people understand
just how athletic and talented he is. I mean he is.
He could start on any team in the country anywhere,
almost at any time. Like he is a absolutely freak athlete.

Speaker 6 (53:48):
And Pete Sampson with us here the Pride of DePaul
de Paul product. There some rudy and interests comeing on
Bell Season does great work covering the fighting Irish for
the athletic. One of the other pieces I enjoy from
it here recently Pete was you know, you basically described
Notre Dame under Marcus Freeman right now as a durable
national title contender, And I think I probably speak for

(54:10):
a lot of sports fans. What you want out of
your team is how do you have a five, I
don't know, seven year window where you feel like annually
your team can be one of the last one standing.
Obviously very difficult to achieve. I think in some ways
it's become harder in college sports to maybe get there,
just with how much rosters turn over year and a
year out. But in what ways do you feel like

(54:32):
Notre Dame has become a little bit more of a
you know, constant team up their top five, top ten
in recent years, because it wasn't that really for you know,
the better part of the two thousands.

Speaker 7 (54:43):
Yeah, I think that they've done a good job of
getting the foundation right. And you know, everyone uses the
word alignment in college football, like Brian Kelly used it
at LSU as the reason they left Notre Dame, and
I think he was in some ways right, Like I
don't think Notre name was aligned the way that it
needed to be. And from the trustees to the president,
to the ad to the head coach. I think even

(55:04):
to the like the campus like this is a complicated
PA place with admissions and residentiality stuff. Like I think
everyone at not everyone, but more people inside Notre Dame
understand that when Notreame football is good, like the University
of Notre Dame is winning too, And that's not always
been the case, but you know the taste of it

(55:25):
last season. You know, Marcus Freeman is somebody that's pretty
easy to support around here. That helps. But I think
even at the highest level, they looked at it and
be like, we want to go for this, Like let's
not apologize for trying to be great at football and
having a high end academic experience so that it took
a while for not Dame to get there. But I
do think this is as all in on football as

(55:46):
not Dame has been since I've started covering the team.

Speaker 2 (55:49):
Curious question, A little bit of a different some changes
along the offensive line after some transfers out, believe it
or not, but it was a strength and always is
a strength the offensive line seems to be for Notre Dame.
And what's it look like right now?

Speaker 7 (56:02):
I mean a lot better than it was last year.
They I mean, they went to A and M with
six career starts. Their starting offensive line. You know, both
their tackles are back. They're good. You know, their center returns,
he's the Indiana guy, ash and Craig he's back from
an ACL. Billy Shrouss is the left guard. You know,
he's a captain. So they have four starters back last

(56:22):
year they had essentially one and a half. And then
you know the question is their right guard. Gurby Lambert
probably wins that job. He's a sophomore six seven three
twenty looks like a you know, power forward, you know,
center on a basketball court, like very athletic, huge guy.
So they should be good. You know, this should be

(56:43):
a really good offensive line. And it needs to be
good because I think that last year they kind of
were bailed out by Riley Leonards Legs a little bit
if they gave up pressure or CJ. Car Kenny Mitchee.
They're not as escapable. So line's got to take a
step forward. They have the material to do it.

Speaker 4 (56:58):
Pete, this is more of a selfish question because I
covered him when he was in high school at and
Drayane up in Northwest Indiana. Drake Bowen named the team captain.
How do you view his upcoming season and what could
be the jump that he takes? Because I saw this kid.
I mean when we played two way football, it was
like good luck. And now I'm seeing him, you know,
show up on the bigger stages, obviously coming off that

(57:20):
national championship run last year.

Speaker 7 (57:23):
Yeah, I think he's kind of classic Notre Dame middle
linebacker of the last you know, thirty years or so.
Like it's you know, J. D. Bertrand's with the Falcons,
Jack Kaiser Indiana guys with the Jaguars now like Bowen's
like those guys. You know, is he get in a
freak athlete who's going to cover Jeremiah Love out of
the backfield every down? Probably not, but knowing where to

(57:44):
be when to be there, filling gaps like getting everyone aligned.
Like he's just he's kind of a throwback linebacker. And yeah,
I think he is in line for a very very
good season.

Speaker 2 (57:54):
Well, any words to pump Kevin Bowing up and get
all fired up for Miami before we move on today.

Speaker 6 (58:00):
Pete's just as long as the athletic subscriptions paid for
from a different Bowing account, That's all that matters with
the I just got to get this creepy Indian interview
to preview the Nerdame season every year.

Speaker 7 (58:11):
Yeah, as long as you know it's not twenty seventeen again,
there's no turnover chain. I don't think that the atmosphere
at Miami is going to be as like knock you
back on your heels as it was. I think it
will be loud and it will be intense. But I
think Notre Dame is built much better than the last
time they went down there to play Miami, and like
it's just a manner of like, hey, car, let's hand

(58:33):
the ball off the four. Let's take the easy you know,
completions to Reardon or you know, the other receivers they've got.
So if they can get the quarterback just to play
like a B minus game, I think that they will win.
But you know, I've seen quarterbacks go down there and
not quite hit it be minus.

Speaker 6 (58:49):
Did I see you're still looking for Catholics versus convicts
attendees for a potential story?

Speaker 7 (58:53):
Did I see that I have found enough. It's been
hilarious to to tract on people who went to the
game down in eighty nine, because that's sort of what
ended this series way back when some of them, like
were seven years old when they were there, and I
think they got they heard some words they'd never seen
heard before, maybe had some drinks thrown at them and
they've ever had thrown at them before. You know, kind
of ale traumatic experience, I think for some notrain fans

(59:17):
back in the day.

Speaker 4 (59:18):
So Pete, I do want to kind of go back
to CJ.

Speaker 1 (59:21):
Carr.

Speaker 4 (59:22):
There is a lot of pressure on him obviously to perform.
So how do you think he has prepared himself as
best as he can before he's really thrown into that fire,
because I don't know how much you can prepare.

Speaker 6 (59:33):
Four snaps of Purdue last year. Are you saying that
that didn't prep him?

Speaker 4 (59:37):
I mean Purdue football last year was you know, not
exactly riveting stuff to say the least.

Speaker 6 (59:43):
But with CJ.

Speaker 4 (59:44):
Carr on all seriousness, you know, he's replacing a guy
and Ry Leonard, who is now here with the Colts,
who you know, did a great job. He helped them
get to the biggest age of the sport and now
you got to fill that guy's shoes.

Speaker 7 (59:55):
Yeah, it's tough because the offense is going to change.
He doesn't move like Leonard moves, throws a much better ball.
I think the thing with car is like, how do
you make the game plan not revolver around the quarterback,
which is hard to do is for a coach, because
quarterback just makes everything happen. But like, you got love,

(01:00:15):
you got a good receiver group, really good tight end,
multiple backs, good offensive line, Like just keep it as
simple as possible. And it's like, maybe you have to
not check out us some plays that you run into,
some bad looks. That's fine. Just like if you don't
make the catastrophic mistake at quarterback in cars first start,
I think it'll be okay. But you know he is

(01:00:38):
kind of more of a gun slinging quarterback, like he
wants to take some chances. So like how does notarame balance? Like, okay,
let's be aggressive, but not too aggressive. That's a that's
a tough line to walk in a pretty tough environment.

Speaker 2 (01:00:50):
Biggest notable thing is no Northern Illinois on the schedule
this year, right.

Speaker 7 (01:00:54):
Yeah, I mean they finally got out of playing Max schools.
It wasn't working out for them, so some people will
accuse them of ducking the MAC. I think that's probably unfair,
but you know it's uh, you know, get get the
let's get a little more sec power for conference opponents
on there, makes it more interesting for everybody.

Speaker 2 (01:01:11):
Always good to talk to you, Pete. Thanks so much
for stopping by.

Speaker 7 (01:01:14):
Thank anytime.

Speaker 5 (01:01:16):
Thank go