3 & Out - Mock Draft Day

John does his Top-10 Mock Draft and tells you what he thinks is going to happen during Thursday's NFL Draft. John also dives into the news that the 49ers might be open to trading Brandon Aiyuk, and the importance of hiring the right head coach

Lastly, John answers your questions for this episode's mailbag segment.

6:29 - Mock Draft

7:15 - Bears Pick

8:44 - Commanders Pick

10:12 - Patriots Pick

11:59 - Cardinals Pick/Trade

14:25 - Chargers Pick

16:13 - Cardinals Pick

17:05 - Titans Picks

19:12 - Falcons Pick

21:58 - Bears Pick/Trade

24:12 - Jets Picks

28:13 - Could the 49ers trade Brandon Aiyuk

35:37 - The importance of hiring the right coach

45:05 - Mailbag

Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #Herd

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
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Speaker 2 (01:29):
What is up everybody? John Middlecoff three Now Podcast. It
is mock Draft Wednesday, so this will be the last
podcast till the draft. We'll have stuff out Friday morning
and up on YouTube live during Thursday night, but I'm
not gonna do anything for Thursday, just because the drafts
come so fast. So this will be the last pod

(01:51):
till the draft. And we're doing a mock draft Top
ten mock Draft, Top ten mock draft, but uh, we
will do that today as well. Some Brandon Aiyuk rumors
about a potential trade coming Thursday night, and Andy Reid
and Brett Veach sign extensions with the Chiefs. I want

(02:12):
to talk a little bit about that, because no brainer
for the Chiefs, but just in general, kind of crazy
looking back at when Andy was fired from Philly, he
didn't have that many options, and that's one that probably
didn't aids that well because a lot of teams i'm
sure regret the opportunity to hire Andy. And then of
course we'll do a little mailbag at John Middlecoff at

(02:34):
John Middlecoff is the Instagram, just firing those dms. Firing
those dms and get your question answered here on the show.
We will get back to go Lo do something next
week because a lot of has happened, but so much
football going on right now, we didn't have time. So
if you got any golf questions at Golo Pod, it's
separate from my Instagram and you can fire in there

(02:56):
and we'll get golf questions on next week's show. But
a lot of football here. Mock draft mail bag, You
guys know the drill. If you listen on Collins Feed,
subscribe to three and Out YouTube. We got all of
our content up there, the volume dot com. We got merch.
I'm wearing a three and out at right now, so
go get yourself one of those. And let's get ready
for the draft, baby, because it's it's almost here, and uh,

(03:19):
the mock drafts will be a thing of the past.
But I wanted to play around a little bit today
and put my own little spin on things. So we
will get to that coming up. But first, you know,
I got to tell you about my close personal friends,
my partners, and the official ticketing gap of this podcast.
They're known as game Time. What I need you to

(03:41):
do is go to your smartphone mine's charging uh over
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(04:03):
not a huge hockey guy, do want to watch the
Lakers lose? But this is awesome and playoff hockey, playoff basketball.
I went to a playoff NBA game last year in Sacramento,
Sacramento Warriors. It's fantastic. Anyone that saw the highlights of
Jamal Murray hitting the game winning shot. It's a pretty
special atmosphere. Anyone living in the Northeast, in New York area,

(04:27):
I can't even imagine what MSG was like last night.
If you live in southern California and you want to
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Download that game Time app promo code John j o
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(04:51):
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mock Draft Time. We will no longer have to guess hear.
In about twenty four thirty six hours, we will know
where all these players actually go. But until then, it's

(05:14):
fun to guess, and I'm taking educated guesses. I've talked
to a lot of people Beside the Caleb Williams thing,
I would even say Jaden feels pretty locked in, but
I don't feel great about it, like I wouldn't bet
my life's savings. The Jayden Daniels is gonna be the
Washington quarterback, even though it does feel like that. I
just Adam Peters ain't some big talker, so until he's

(05:37):
his name comes across, I won't feel great, even though
probably gonna put him there. So let's just start the
Chicago Bears. Do you know the cool part about this
draft is no one even has to guess. There's not
even a question this guy would have been the number
one pick last year the Bears because of Ryan Poles.
One of the great trades potentially in NFL history, of

(05:58):
Caleb just becomes a top ten quarterback. Everyone keeps talking
about this guy becoming a superstar. If he can just
become a top ten quarterback. I truly believe it's one
of the great trades of all time, right, I mean
not even close. You traded essentially Bryce Young for DJ
Moore and Caleb Williams and some other picks. Doesn't get

(06:19):
any better than that. And the one thing I will say,
I watched the pivot Ryan Clark and Fred Taylor and
Shannon Crowder. They sat down with him, and I've watched
a couple interviews with Caleb. He's really smart. I enjoy
watching him talk and I think, listen the intangible stuff,

(06:41):
how much he wants it, his drive to be great.
He says all the right things. It's not Life's not
about what you say, it's about what you do. And
he's gonna have to prove it ton of pressure. But
get to go to a place with a ton of
offensive weaponry. I mean, you got two wide receivers who
are legit. He got a solid, tight end, you got
some solid offensive lineman. Your team has another pick, which

(07:03):
we'll get to you later in this draft. Just a
cool spot, a historic franchise that just gets jolted with
some buzz. Kayleb Williams number one pick, I mean it's
I didn't even need to say anything. The number two pick,
I'm giving Jayden Daniels to Washington. But I do think
there's a chance that Drake may goes there. I just
think that these draft picks, because just based on last season,

(07:26):
can't be argued. You could argue Jayden had the best
season of all the quarterbacks, him or Michael Pennix, but
it's about projecting. Now if you factor in the offensive
coordinator that he's worked with a much more mobile quarterback
before in Kyler Murray. But Cliff Kingsbury also coached Baker
Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes. So I also think you gotta
be careful about picking a player for your offensive coordinator

(07:51):
because there's a chance in a couple of years of
Washington has success, Cliff Kingsbury gets a job in like
the Big twelve or the SEC. As crazy as that
sounds like, get right, it could happen. I'm giving him
Jayden Daniels don't feel like I don't definitely don't feel
like Caleb like that's one hundred percent happening. I'm kind
of being influenced by what everyone says now. Granted, a

(08:13):
lot of my friends in the NFL think that that's
the right pick. I just put a bigger picture view.
If you go back to twenty twenty two, Drake May
was a guy that Nick Saban not for five million dollars.
And I saw someone in the YouTube comments on a
video the other day was like, is that the dumbest
decision anyone's ever made, not to go to Alabama for

(08:33):
five million dollars instead of staying at North Carolina. But
he made the decision, and ultimately he's gonna be rich
no matter what. And we'll get to Drake here in
a minute. The New England Patriots are fascinating. I wanted
to chock them up for a trade back because I
think there's been a lot of bus but my theory
is not going to change. On the owners are getting

(08:55):
destroyed constantly, shit on and a lot of it is
self inflicted. They produced the documentary that everyone hates. They
produced the documentary that made Belichick look like an idiot.
They did that Craft productions. We know that Jonathan Craft,
not a big Belichick guy, couldn't wait to get his hands,

(09:16):
you know, basically run the organization that Bill did for
almost two and a half decades. And I think that
you can get a little cute and try to trade
back a couple picks and then move back up for
a quarterback. I don't even think it's worth it. Even
though they have a million holes, their roster is easily
you could argue it's bottom two or three in the NFL.
It's probably one of the worst in all of professional

(09:39):
team sports. It's that bad. So just drafting a quarterback here,
even if it was Peyton Manning, is not gonna make
you good for the next couple of years. But the
way these teams think there are some talented quarterbacks in
this spot, let's just take it. Last time a team
took the third quarterback off the board, his name was
Trey Lance. I do think the Patriots played a little

(10:02):
safer here because Drake may viewed a little more as
a project, a guy who's gonna need some work. Well,
if your team sucks, you're not in position to like
risk that JJ McCarthy. My comp for him as Alex
Smith a little in theory, higher floor. They've had a
Michigan guy before. This guy's a proven winner. Obviously, the

(10:23):
intangibles are off the charts. I'm going JJ McCarthy here
With the New England Patriots pick four. Manti Austin Ford
has been saying forever we are open for business, we
want to make a trade. He doesn't have to worry
about a quarterback. He's got Kyler Murray, who will see
over these next couple of years if that's the right

(10:44):
move or not. But obviously Kyler Murray is going to
be their quarterback for the foreseeable future, and they have
a lot of needs. They also have an extra first
round pick because of the trade last year with the
Houston Texans. I think that the Arizona Cardinals make a trade,
and I think they traded with the New York Giants.

(11:04):
The New York Giants just had a disastrous season. They've
had a lot of those in the last six seven years.
I mean, kind of embarrassing. They got excited for Tommy Devido.
If you remember when the Buffalo Bills drafted josh Allen,
Ryan Daboll was the offensive coordinator you drafted who this

(11:25):
guy who can't complete, who couldn't hit water if he
was sitting in a boat, who was the assistant gm
oh the GM of the New York Giants as well,
Joe Shane, So Shane and day Ball come from Buffalo
where they took a major project who was a way
bigger project and had never done anything close to what

(11:46):
Drake May had done in twenty twenty two, and it
changed all their lives. It changed Buffalo's franchise trajectory. It
got those two guys the head coach and the GM
job of the New York freaking Giants. And let's face it,
they need, they have a million needs. Their quarterback situation sucks.

(12:08):
They have Daniel Jones coming off an ACL who isn't
that good, making a ton of money, and they're just
kind of a lifeless franchise. You take Drake May and
you say in the press conference, this guy reminds us
a lot of Josh Allen. Now, whether that you know,
comes to fruition and becomes true over time, who knows.

(12:29):
But I'll tell you what it does. It gets people
excited and it's the right, Like what else are you
gonna do take a wide receiver sit there at six.
You have no who's gonna throw them the ball. So
this is my first trade. The Arizona Cardinals only have
to move back a couple spots. They can still get
one of the top players on their draft board. They
accumulate an extra you know, early second day pick, and

(12:54):
they're feeling good. The Chargers. Everybody and their mother receiver,
wide receiver, wide receiver. I've been watching Jim Harbaugh's career
since I went with my dad to watch the University
of San Diego play UC Davis when I was home
for Thanksgiving break. Jim Harbaugh went to Stanford and San

(13:15):
Francisco and won a ton of games and didn't depend
on wide receivers. Think about some of his teams in Michigan. Hell,
his great teams in Michigan not a wide receiver dependent operation.
He has dependent on the line of scrimmage, the running game,
in the quarterback playing under control. He has never looked

(13:40):
for Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen type play out of
his quarterback. That's not the way he coaches, that's not
the way he builds a team. And at the owners
meetings he went on a long long kind of diatribe
about the importance of the offensive line. I think the
Chargers go offensive lineman here. I'm gonna give him Olt,

(14:01):
move him to right tackle, got Slater at left tackle,
and all of a sudden, you know, in theory you
have one of the better, better tackle tandems in the NFL.
I was listening to a podcast where Daniel Jeremiah gave
them the dude from Alabama. I'm gonna go with allt
but ultimately I think they go offensive lineman here when

(14:22):
everyone is gonna be saying, why didn't you take Marvin Harrison?
Because Jim Harbaugh hasn't had Marvin Harrison's that's not the
way he plays. Boy, He's got Justin Herbert. He's gonna
try to make Justin Herbert a way more efficient quarterback.
He's going to try to take pressure off them. I
think the Chargers go O line here at five six.

(14:45):
This is an easy one. Cardinals moved back a couple spots.
They just take Marvin Harrison. It's a no brainer. They
turn in the card with eight minutes left on the clock.
Now the league won't read it till there's one minute
left on the clock because they want to play the out,
help their partners out. Everyone make money. If you notice
in the first round that they don't turn in picks

(15:07):
for the most part, with like seven minutes left on
the clock, there's a television show. I think that decision
would be made in a New York minute. Marvin Harrison,
Arizona Cardinals. All of a sudden, you get Kyler Murray,
a legitimate weapon to go with the tight end who's
already good. And then you continue to build it with
your other picks, you know, your second overall pick or

(15:29):
your second pick later in the first round. All of
a sudden, you go, God, Arizona's got some young talent
on the team. Seven. This is another one, a lot
like the Chargers. Everyone said the Charger is gonna take
wide receiver. Everyone said the Titans are going to take
an offensive lineman. You know the first guy I heard

(15:49):
what was I listened to? Oh was Diana Rassini. I
was at the gym today and I threw on the
Athletic podcast and she just went through her notes. I
had heard the same thing. To keep an eye on
the Tennessee Titans taking Malik Neighbors at seven. I think
everyone just assumes because they have a huge need. Well,
what did Brian Callahan when he got the job due

(16:11):
he hired his father, who was under contract with the Browns,
but because of the situation, they let him out of
his contract and he went to work with dad, a
lot like what happened with Koubiak once upon a time
with Kyle Shanahan letting him go work with Mike. Well,
part of having that asset is being able to get
guys in the second, third, fourth round and having your
dad turn them into players. But I also think they

(16:35):
believe that Malik Neighbor's talent. He is probably a top
three or four guy in this entire draft non quarterback.
You put him with Calvin Ridley. They got DeAndre Hopkins,
who's a little older, whose contract I think runs out
after the season. They signed Tony Pollard. They need to
find out immediately will Ewis is getting one year and

(16:57):
is this year prove you can play, because if you
can't removeing on, that's how fast we operate in the NFL.
No one waits anymore. And there's gonna be no question
mark if I give you Milik Neighbors, Calvin Ridley, DeAndre Hopkins,
and Tony Polter like, we got enough and then it's
on my pops to we'll draft some more offensive linemen.
Coach those guys up. Brian Callahan, where does he come from?

(17:22):
Cincinnati Bengals? What do the Cincinnati Bengals have early on
the offensive line wasn't great? What did they do invest
in the wide receiver position? Remember everyone said, including me,
I wouldn't go Jamar Chase. I would take Pina Sual.
I'll promise you this. The Bengals do not regret that selection. Now.

(17:44):
These players aren't exactly alike, but I think if Melik
Neighbors is on the board and they can't trade back,
I think he's the pick at seven, pick eight. The
Atlanta Falcons. They've picked every skilled guy under the sun
in the last three or four years in the top ten.
There obviously don't need a wide receiver, tight end, or

(18:07):
running back. They view their offensive line as pretty good.
Pass rush sucks. Many people in the in the league
don't believe there's an edge rusher that is worthy of
a top ten pick. Dallas Turner all the attributes kind
of a project given where you'd have to pick him.

(18:28):
Latto lat two medically retired because of a neck and
Jared Verse more of a power rusher and they play
in a dome. Ideally, Dallas Turner makes more sense. But
who's their coach? Raheem Morris? Where Raheem Morris come from?
The Rams? Who's the Rams best defensive player? Aaron Donald?

(18:54):
Byron Murphy who I know multiple people that have spent
a ton of time at Texas. He's one of their
favorite players in the draft. Checks all the boxes on
the field and checks all the boxes off the field.
What's the knock on them? A little smaller, a little
under six to two saw One of the Lancer lines
comp to him was Ed Oliver who went to Houston,

(19:15):
big recruit. Well what pick did out Oliver go to
the Buffalo Bills. Oh, he was the ninth pick. I
think the Atlanta Falcons just take the best defensive lineman
on the board. And I think a lot of people,
a lot of teams in this draft will have Murphy
as their top defensive lineman. And in twenty twenty four,

(19:36):
obviously you know, edge rushers are great, but that's the difference.
Like Aaron Donald was the best defensive player in the
league for a long long time.

Speaker 1 (19:46):
J J.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
Watt In his prime was like this hybrid interior exterior
rusher Fletcher Cox is gonna go to the Hall of
Fame lined up over guards. So if I think this
guy is an impact player, I'm not saying he's going
to be Aaron Donald, but I just have a track
record of working with a player that has similar measurables.

(20:09):
What separated Aaron Donald Obviously he's really talented. His just
freakish work ethic, desire and drive and level football and
he just played his ass off well. I think a
lot of people think Murphy falls into that category. So
I'm going in Atlanta Falcons, take Byron Murphy here with
the eighth pick. We have a trade at nine. The

(20:31):
Bears easily could take Roma Doonesday right here easily, and
no one would fault them if they did that. But
I also think if you're at nine and some of
these teams, now we got Caleb off the board, Jade
and off the board, JJ off the board, Drake May
off the board. The Raiders are pretty desperate and for
a long long time. If you go to YouTube and

(20:52):
you just type in Al Davis Raiders and just some
of the videos that have been made over them in
the history of the franchise from NFL films. He hung
his hat on press coverage, athletic dbs and speed wide
receivers and throwing bombs. He loved going deep. That was

(21:15):
the Raider way. Just win baby, and they've obviously gone
far away from that and been a pretty average to
below franchise for a long long time. Well, Michael Pennix
is a fascinating guy. Because if Pennix didn't have the
injury history, even if he was his age, been in
college a little longer some of these other guys, I

(21:37):
think we would all agree universally is a top ten pick.
Then he goes to the Pro day and works out
if al Davis was alive, Michael Pennocks would be a Raider. Now,
Antonio Pierce keeps saying, I'm a Raider, I know the
Raider Way. Well, where does Telesco come from the Chargers

(21:57):
and what do they just get that kind of changed
their franchise? Justin Herbert what does he do? Pretty well?
Big arm throws the ball down the field. The Raiders
are pretty desperate. They have a team with some talented
elite impact guys. Crosby, elite DeVante, elite Colton Miller. Damn good.
Like they got some pieces there. They're also in a

(22:19):
division now with the best team in football, and Jim
Harbaugh just showed up for the Chargers, Like you're not
going to be competing to make the playoffs with Gardner Minshew.
I don't care what he just did in Indianapolis. He's
a really good backup and I feel pretty good about it.
I think the Raiders trade up to pick nine with
the Chicago Bears. They just moved back a couple spots,

(22:41):
still can get a sweet player add I don't know,
a third round pick or something, and Michael Pennix is
drafted and he becomes rad ten. I didn't even need
to think about this. This one was easy. This one's
been out there for a long time. I've talked to
people in the league that say, yeah, it's gonna happen.
Jets are desperate. They have to win right now. They

(23:05):
do not have a choice. If you just based on
what this guy did over the course of career, I
don't think you could argue that he's been one of
the best players in college football for three straight years
and he didn't play at some random school. He literally
played at a school that won back to back national
championships and was right there for the playoffs till Nick

(23:27):
Saban upset him in the SEC championship game. He played
on a team with what felt like fifty NFL players.
I think over the course of two years, like fifteen
of their defensive players were drafted. He went up against
these guys every day in practice, and he started immediately.
Kid from NAPA goes to Georgia, dominates immediately. I don't

(23:47):
see how Brock Bauers isn't good. He's not your nineteen
eighty eight tight end. He is really more of a
slot wide receiver hybrid well who's gonna go down as
one of the greatest tight end of all time. Travis
Kelce plays that role. Put them with Aaron Rodgers, Garrett Wilson,
Breisee Hall, put all of our chips in the middle

(24:08):
of the table. Like you've already listened. I think it'd
be easy to go tackle here. Here's the problem, though,
and I could easily talk myself out of it. If
I'm Joe Douglas. What if our two tackles stay healthy,
which is a big if, then that guy doesn't even
help us out. So I think the Jets go brock
Bowers sort to recap klem one Jaden two, JJ McCarthy's

(24:31):
gonna shock some people. Three Drake May Because of a
trade up, New York Giants get their quarterback, Joe Walt Chargers,
Marvin Harrison Cardinals, Malik Neighbors Titans. Byron Murphy defensive tackle
from the University of Texas goes to the Atlanta Falcons.
Pennix Raiders at nine, and brock Bowers rounds out the

(24:55):
top ten, which I saw you get some tasty odds
on DraftKings plus all for him to be a top
ten pick. That's my mock draft.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
The NBA playoffs. Aer here will be breaking down all
the action on the Colin Coward podcast. You'll get my
best takes, great guests like my buddy Nick Wright. Check
out the Colin Coward Podcast, part of the Volume Network,
available on Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 2 (25:28):
A couple other quick things. Rap Sheet said today from
Detroit that it is still up in the air if
the forty nine ers were to trade Brandon Ayuk on
Draft Day. Michael Silver wrote something in the San Francisco
Chronicle basically reiterating that same thing. Trading Ayuk on Thursday

(25:49):
is in play, could be Friday, depending on the picks
you get for. To me, this gets back to the
Trey Lance trade. For three years they got nothing. They
drafted Trey Lance in twenty twenty one, started four games,
wasn't any good. They didn't have a first round pick
in twenty two or twenty three. Now they have been

(26:14):
really good over that period of time, but in that
Chiefs game, you felt their lack of depth because they
have missed on some third and fourth rounders and even
a second rounder in recent memory. The pressure on those
guys were essentially their first round picks, and Drake Jackson's
nowhere to be found. Danny Gray done nothing, ty Davis

(26:36):
Price the running back from LSU practice squad. Because of
their lack of draft capital has hurt their depth. But
the problem with their team is they already had some
really high end players. They had to pay a lot
of money. Debo ton of money. They acquire McCaffrey a
ton of money, Trent Williams a ton of money, Hardgrave

(26:56):
a ton of money, Bosa historic money, Fred Warner of money,
Tarvarius Ward ton of money. They're paying guys a lot
of cash, so you can tell me, oh, brock Purty
makes something or makes nothing. Totally agree. But they have
six seven other guys. They're being paid premiums and because
of their lack of draft capital over the last couple

(27:17):
of years, and with it on some second and third
round picks which were their first round picks, Like, they're
kind of in a weird spot. Do they love Brandon Ayuk?
How could you not? Guy's a fucking stud. Brandon Ayuk
could play for all of our teams every day of
the week and twice on Sunday. You want that guy
in the trenches. But this is a business and you
have to build your team. And I think if they

(27:39):
could choose at if it was just scratch and you
can just get rid of one and keep one for
the next five years, they would keep Ayuk over debo.
But because of the money they they pay Deebo, they're
kind of stuck with them. So now you look at
it and you go, well, how do we gain some
draft capital? Trent Williams thirty five years old, like, how
are we ever gonna get another offensive tackle? Well, I
think we got to think now you're not gonna give

(28:00):
him away. Ideally, you'd like a pick in the late
teens early twenties. Are you gonna get that? I don't know,
because if you think of a recent comp of a
guy that was traded on Draft Night, was Aj Brown
pick seventeen. Well, Aj Brown's a better player than Brandon
Ayuk last year. I think they did entertain it in
that like mid twenty stretch. I think they were kind

(28:22):
of hoping the Ravens would be interested in doing a deal.
But the Ravens got Zay Flowers, who's excellent and now
makes way less because part of the problem is and raps.
She'd said, this is the Niners are prepared to pay him.
I'm sure they're cool with paying them like twenty three
million dollars, but I you and his representation, no, right now,
there are other teams prepared to pay him more. This

(28:44):
is like the lugerious sneed situation. It's like the player
has a little leverage once he knows these other teams
are willing to pay me more, then it's on you
to figure out the compensation. So would you take And
here's the thing, if you do make the trade, the
pressure on you to nail the picks is everything. Because

(29:05):
I know Brandon Ayuk is good. The Chiefs traded tyreek Hill,
who's obviously better than Aiyuk and one of the greatest
receivers of all time. But what did they immediately do.
They got picked one in the early twenties and won,
and you know their own pick. They got two impact starters.
One guy in Trent McDuffie that looks like one of
the best DB's in the league. And Karlovskis is just

(29:27):
a really good player starter on a Super Bowl team
one two. So I think the Niners, if they knew
they'd get that, they would do it. But that's where
the risk is, Like they've done it before. They're like,
you know, we don't really want to pay Buckner twenty
plus a year five years ago, so we'll trade him
for the thirteenth overall pick. Was the right move at

(29:49):
the time, celebrated I'd trade DeForest Buckner all day long
and every day for the thirteenth overall pick. The problem was,
is they got cute? Is they traded with the tam
Bay Buccaneers backup pick. The Buccaneers took Tristan Wurfs, who's
become a pro ball, pro level talent and stalwart for
their franchise, and they took Javon Kinlaw, who they thought

(30:12):
would be Buckner's replacement. Well in twenty twenty four, kin
Laws no longer on the team. For the most part,
was a disaster for them. Not all his fault. His
knee doesn't work. He was constantly battling injuries. So I
think you get to these points where your previous history
impacts you. It just does. It's why is there a

(30:37):
chance that Adam Peters really likes Drake may Hell? Yeah,
but he goes You know, I just saw what a
project if it doesn't go well, and we had Kyle
Freakin Shanahan and it was a disaster. I've just saw
Jaden Daniels dominate. I know, if I just plan on
the trajectory, I feel that's safer. So the safe thing here,
keep ayyuk. But you can't always do that. For a

(31:00):
long period of time. Belichick didn't do the safe thing,
and he benefited from it, and he was able to
reset his salary cap. Andy Reid since trading Tyreek Hill
has won two freaking Super Bowls. That was definitely not
the safe thing. Look at the Packers. In a two
year span, they traded DeVante Adams and Aaron Rodgers, and

(31:25):
now it looks like I would imagine most people are
gonna pick them to have ten plus wins this year.
So if you want to play it safe in life,
you're probably if you're gonna drive in the slow lane,
you're probably gonna avoid more rex than those driving in
the fast lane. But those guys are gonna consistently lap
you if they don't get res So I see where

(31:45):
they're coming from. I just know this. If you make
the trade for whatever, pick twenty two, a couple second
round picks, whatever it turns out to be, you better
fucking be right on the guys you pick, and they
better have an immediate impact because you're trying to win
the super Bowl now. And here's the other thing. Your

(32:06):
young quarterback who has been a revelation history of the NFL.
We've never seen anything quite like it last picking the
draft being this good him and Brandon at you have
pretty good chemistry, like kind of works. You know, he's
his number one target, So you remove that, you also
risk throwing off brock Parties game, which would have, you know,

(32:29):
a snowball effect of negativity. It's one thing just to
lose eye. You can try to replace him. It's another
thing then if it bleeds into your quarterback, if he
doesn't have a repertoire with whoever you bring in. So
that's what I like about the That's what I like
about life. Take some big swings, some work, and when
you get extra credit. When they do and when they don't,

(32:49):
people talk a lot of shit. It's like you didn't
have to do that last but not least the power
of getting your coach right changes your franchise. And I
think coaching hirings. Hiring a coach is a lot like
draft picks. No one actually knows, No one does. No

(33:11):
one had any clue that when Kyle Shanahan and Sean
McVay signed with the Rams and the Niners in twenty seventeen.
In twenty twenty four, we talk about those two the
way we do, even though both of them, especially Kyle,
had been an offensive coordinator for a long time. But
we have seen countless up and coming offensive coordinators just
being overwhelmed and failing right. It happens all the time.

(33:36):
Mike Tomlin was in his early thirties, most people hadn't
even heard of the guy. No one saw that coming.
Even John Harbaugh was a special teams coach whose brother
had played in the NFL. For a long time, the
Harbaugh name wasn't quite as sexy in coaching circles in
two thousand and six and seven as it is now,

(33:57):
but sometimes guys are available. It's kind of a no brainer.
Jim Harball when Michigan hired him, of course he was
successful the Chargers. Of course he's gonna be successful. Pete
Carroll when Seattle hired him, it's like, well, he's won
before in the NFL. He just had one of the
great programs in the history of college football. It's probably

(34:19):
gonna work, and it did. Andy Reid. It had ended
so ugly in Philadelphia. Trust me, I know I was
there with a four win season. I think everything he
had accomplished, people in a weird way like forgot about
or thought that was something of the past because he

(34:40):
had proven for over a decade, I'm gonna win, maybe
not the Super Bowl, but we're gonna be in the
playoffs the majority of times and win playoff games. We
are going to be a high end franchise. And looking
back when he signed with the Chiefs, there has to
be if we went back and broke it down. Twenty

(35:02):
five plus teams that regret not firing their coach immediately
and hiring but I think Andy Reid was viewed as
likes best days are behind him, not that good, losing touch.
What's he like without Donovan McNabb, what's he really done?
Took Michael Vick out of elevenworth and almost won the MVP.

(35:23):
We had a bunch of injuries in twenty twelve and
it was ugly, and the Dream Team, because it was
so hyped up, clearly was somewhat of a black mark.
I guess at the time on his resume. Well, he
took Alex Smith and they immediately made the playoffs like
five of six years in a division with Peyton freaking

(35:46):
Manning and Philip Rivers in the prime of his career.
And then, like any good coach, if you get the
right quarterback, Belichick Brady Walsh Montana the equivalent of parcels
with Lawrence Taylor. I know he's not a quarterback, but
his impact essentially was it's not going to be a

(36:07):
fair fight. And because of Brett Veach, who has been
Andy's right hand man for like twenty plus years, who
after the John Dorsey situation with the owner fell apart
and they named veach. It hasn't really been a fair fight.
They might have rough stretches during the season, but we
have seen now for over half a decade in the

(36:29):
playoffs they are the clear cream of the crop. And
here's the other thing. Over that period of time, the
AFC has been better in the NFC because I gotta
play Josh Allen every year. I think how many times
the Chiefs have played Josh Allen in the playoffs Back
to back years. We played Joe freaking Burrow. He even

(36:50):
got us one time. Last year we played Lamar Jackson
on the road. It's reported that and Reid will now
be the highest paid coach in the league. Sean Payton
makes eighteen million dollars. Andy's going to make more than that.
Whatever Andy Reid is making, it's a deal for Clark Hunt.

(37:13):
I don't think Andy should make more than maybe Patrick Mahomes.
You could argue the talent more important than the coach,
But is there another guy, including Chris Jones, that he
should make less than? At worst, he should make the same.
If I told you right now that he makes thirty
plus million dollars, no one would bat An Eye. If

(37:36):
he was a free agent tomorrow, would a team give
him four years, one hundred and twenty million dollars thirty
million dollars a year. Bet you're asked, they would. So
Clark Hunt just got a deal with Andy Reid. He
did because Andy and now Veitch and Mahomes have turned

(37:57):
the Chiefs into like, you know, this kind of historic franchise,
one of the original franchises. Hank Stram, big part of
all the old films, you know, the NFL films, and
Steve Sable to one of the biggest brands in the NFL,
to the Marquee team in the National Football League with

(38:19):
the Marquee player, and the reason that player is there
is because of each and Andy. So props of those
guys forgetting extensions. One thing I always say is I'll
never be around another human that I've ever seen work longer.
His work stamina is unparalleled. Maybe there are people that

(38:42):
have the same, but I think it's impossible to have more.
I think it would be impossible to have more. And
I hear stories whenever I go to the combine. I
obviously know the majority of people and the coaching staff
and just around him, they say his love for football,
and I'm not talking during the season. I'm talking like May.
I'm talking to like June, texting people, Hey, swing by

(39:04):
the office. I got an idea, and I get back
all the time. Or I mean I say this all
the time, is find what you love to do and
attempt to do that for your profession, because it's so
much easier to just be passionate about working, because I
don't care what you do. Working becomes a job, whether

(39:24):
you're a football coach, whether you're a car salesman, whether
you're digging ditches. Obviously, some are more difficult physically on
your body. But Andy Reid's love a football, his passion
for football, and obviously he's a very talented coach. And
I think what makes him unique a little like Pete
Carroll and why he's perfect for this day and age

(39:46):
of players. But he's had success with old school players
as well, is he's a California kid, so his disposition
is not angry screaming all the time. He's not a
swearer and a cusser, and he can be hard and
he runs a tight ship like the if you're not
sitting out many practices during the season, it's not a

(40:08):
country club. Kelsey Travis on his podcast has reiterated that
over the years, this is not a place for everybody,
even though he's not screaming at you all the time
like maybe Belichick or on you like that. But what
he's done with the Kancy Chiefs absolutely remarkable and you know,

(40:31):
fun to watch. He's not going anywhere him and Beach.
So if I'm in the AFC, buckle up because the
Chiefs are gonna be the clear favorite until they're not. Okay,

(40:51):
Middlecoff mailbag time, you guys know the drill DM's wide
open at John Middlecoff Instagram fire in those messages start
with Mitchell mail bag question. The Trey Lance experiments obviously failed,
but as a concept athletic quarterback boosting an already high

(41:11):
floor Shanahan's system is it a good one? If we
theoretically drop Josh Allen onto the Niners, do both Allen
and the offense as a whole actually get better or
would they sacrifice the timing that makes them special to
accommodate the other If the forty nine ers had Josh Allen,

(41:36):
they would one hundred percent have a Super Bowl. If
not multiple I mean they made it to the NFC
Championship with a banged up Jimmy Garoppolo a couple years ago.
So I don't even think it's a question mark that
if would the forty nine ers want Josh Allen. He actually,

(41:56):
specifically Josh Allen, I think is a big reason that
they drafted Trey Lance. The problem with Trey Lance is
his athleticism actually isn't that great. He didn't run very
fast when you watched him run, he was a hesitant runner.
His play speed wasn't great. So like, Perty is a
more functional athlete on the field. And look what he's

(42:18):
done for the Niners. He made some huge plays with
his legs in the playoffs and over the course of
his career. So yeah, I mean to me, Josh Allen
is easily the second best quarterback in the NFL. Uh
Bill Joe about Joe Burrow. Yeah, let's see how he
comes back from injury. But yes, the answer is yes.

(42:39):
Packer fan here from Ireland. Over the last few years
in the NFL, it seems like there is always a
new story about some shitty owner ruining their team. I
wonder how much the Packers sustain success over the decades
comes down to its unique corporate structure, having one unpredictable

(42:59):
guy in charge. I understand a great deal of success
comes from back to back great quarterbacks. But you could
make the argument that the owners would have flat out
overruled Ted Thompson and Goody and refused to move on.
I don't think you can make that argument. I think
we would all agree there is no chance that they

(43:22):
trade Brett farv and after the MVPs trading Aaron Rodgers,
because one thing the owner would have done is attempt
to facilitate an improved relationship. So when it comes to
those specific situations, one percent, it has benefited the Packers

(43:44):
because the football people, with no influence from the money,
got to influence the right football decision. It's very rare,
very rare that Robert Craft is a complete outlier. He
basically led Belichick, well, he kind of overruled him with

(44:04):
Jimmy Garoppolo, and then he let him make the decision.
I guess, actually it's happened before. I mean Bill Wallas
traded Joe Montana. Uh pollion. I guess it was Grigson
when they cut, but it was really the owner when
they cut Peyton Manning It's a very tough decision. It
really is, because you get a transcendent player, the popularity

(44:28):
they have in the league at that position, the popularity
they have for the business of your football team. But
the Packers are a great example if you trust your
football people, let them cook and then just enjoy the dinner.
Thoughts on the Jets pick at number ten. Do they
take a tackle that probably won't start until someone gets hurt,

(44:49):
or do they take the best pass catcher available, which
is probably Powers Well I said it in the mock draft.
I think they would pass on a tackle, and a
lot of people in the NFL believe that too, because,
in fairness to their thinking, if again big if capital letters,
I capital letter F your two tackles stay healthy, and

(45:11):
you draft the tackle and he can't really play guard,
that guy wouldn't play much at all. So all of
a sudden, you've used this high valued asset. Pretty sure
they don't have a second round pick because the Packers
have it, and you don't get anything out of it.
Win now mode. I think Bowers their pick, unless Bowers
is off the board. This is a golf podcast, but

(45:33):
it's about Tiger Woods. I'll answer it. What would Tiger
have shot at Augusta had he been able to use
a cart? Would he have been competitive? Well, Gusta doesn't
let you use carts, so any other course that that
would work, but there's just no golf carts at Augusta.
So hypothetically thinking yes, he would play better as someone

(45:57):
who's walked a little bit in golf. When I'm trying
to get back in shape, especially in the summer, it
takes a little bit out of you. Now, granted you
know me, or you carrying your own bag or pushing
your own bag. A little different when you have a caddy,
but still a lot of wear and tear on those
legs that are fused together. As a fellow millennial thirty

(46:17):
eight your perspective on sports life finance. I granted out
in a shitty industry for ten years, making no money,
and then took the skills I developed and jumped into
the tech industry. Six years later, I'm making four times
what I used to make and have it look back. Gratulations, Kobe,
awesome to hear, keep up the first takes Okay, onto

(46:38):
the mailbag. What would be required to make a small
market team like the Panthers into a major player. I
know the owner kind of sucks, but does the smaller
market make it inherently more difficult to attract high end
free agent talent or does money ultimately talk in the
eyes of players? And second, when scouting college players, how

(47:02):
much does the rest of the team factor in through
the process. For example, big sc fan here South Carolina
and saw firsthand Rattler and Xavier Legit Legett carry a
truly bad team. On your first question, if you're really
good and you have star player like you once did

(47:24):
with Cam Newton, you guys were a major player. I mean,
you guys were playing on prime time Sunday night Football,
Monday night football. The Panthers with Cam Newton and the
good years mattered in the NFL, the market size doesn't
dictate that this is not basketball, where the NBA is
kind of screwed because Curry got bounced after a playing

(47:45):
game and Lebron's gonna get swept in. For the equivalent
in football, if OKAC was the one seed, it would
be it doesn't matter we watch. I'm not watching OKAC, right,
I'll watch the Lakers and I have even the Knick Sixers.
You couldn't pay me to watch some of these other series.

(48:05):
In football, the Chiefs aren't a big market. They get Mahomes,
they get Andy Reid, they become immediately a major player.
The Packers for decades, Farv Rogers now Jordan Love major player.
You guys, Cam Newton major player. If Bryce Young becomes
a star, you'll be a major player. When it comes

(48:27):
to the money on free agents, for the most part,
star players don't really hit free agency, so like, you're
not really missing out that often on guys. I would say,
if you don't quote unquote sign a guy, but the
NFL money talks, guys are gonna go where the most
money is offered. Your market size is irrelevant. Rattler, the

(48:49):
wide receiver definitely factor in the team, right. I think
sometimes you're more critical when a guy's on a really
good team. You kind of nitpick them. They're like, God,
he should have done more of this than that. When
a guy excels on a team that is the underdog
in the majority of the games you're playing, right, Like,
think of who you're the underdog against Clemson, Georgia, Tennessee,

(49:14):
uh BAM, LSU, any of those teams. If you play
Ole miss Yeah, factors and it's hard. I mean you
got to this is why you got to know as
a scout or a college scouting director. The conferences and
the talent on all the teams really well be cause
to h I would say, dissect that stuff. You can't

(49:37):
have surface knowledge, right you fallow South Carolina football, right,
so you have a really good idea of your team,
and if you've been following them long enough, you've seen
good and bad teams. Right with Spurrier, you know what
it looks like. And then you definitely know what it
looks like because you play arguably the best team in
the country every single year in Georgia. Your rival is Clemson,

(49:59):
who's been one of the teams in the country for
a decade. So you got a pretty good feel. So
like if I'm the West Coast scout, I might not
know the sec inside and out. So it's if I'm
just watching a player, I could evaluate that player his skills,
but his competition it can be a little more difficult.
There's a lot of contacts in college scouting. That's what

(50:23):
makes it difficult. Like a guy, if I play it,
let's just pick a school Oklahoma and I'm a pass
rusher and I have ten sacks in a season, and
I'm coming out, I have ten sacks and I'm one
of the better, more productive pass rushers in the conference.
Well what if five of those sacks came in non

(50:46):
conference games against non Power five opponents, and three of
those five sacks came against a D one double A team.
And when I played two teams in our conference, Texas
and let's just say Kansas State, and they both have
an a draftable tackle and I went against both those

(51:07):
guys and I was not productive. That's where you really
got to kind of nitpick it, and it's hard, and
then you got to figure out is like does he
have the skills to translate? Is he taking advantage of
shittier competition. It's why the SEC is relatively easy to evaluate.
Like if you're doing it on a weekly basis, you're

(51:27):
just seeing them constantly against NFL teams or NFL players, Right,
You're like, well, that guy's a second rounder this week,
he's going up against a fourth rounder. Last year, he
smoked the dude. That guy went in the second round,
or that guy kicked his ass, and that dude was
a top ten pick. So you can kind of put
all the contexts the piece of the puzzle together. That's

(51:48):
kind of what you're attempting to do. I'm listening to
your most recent mailbag and currently hearing you talk about
choosing between an O lineman and a wide receiver. You
said it, for an O lineman and a wide receiver
were the same grade, you would choose the lineman every
single time. That had me reflecting on the twenty one
draft when the Bengals selected Jamar Chase over Pine Seol.

(52:13):
I know Burrow suggested to the organization that they draft Chase,
who was his college teammate and good buddy. But do
you think the Bengals now look back and regret the decision,
especially considering Burrow's injury concerns. I don't think they regret
it at all. I think we all agree Jamar Chase
is the top two or three wide receiver in the NFL.

(52:34):
And yeah, I think you would rather have Jamar Chase
than not. I like Pine School, he's a good player.
But I think if you just said who would you
rather have in that scenario for that team, you would
take Chase. Now, if you look at the would the
Lions trade Sool for Chase? Probably not. I think it

(52:56):
kind of depends. I think Chase has a chance to
be a Hall of Famer and Sewell doesn't, So I
think you could argue should they Are they the same
grade as a player? Now, if you told me I
got Trent Williams or Jamar Chase, Tyron Smith coming out
of college, all these guys, yeah, if I'm just getting

(53:16):
a starter offensive lineman, I think the way you would
look at it like this, The Chargers are a good example.
If you think Marvin Harrison and Joel are both gonna
be Pro Bowl level players. Obviously, if you do one
guy turns out to be one of the greatest of
all time, you would rather take that guy. But if
you just view those guys as the same, and especially Harball,

(53:38):
you just take him, meaning the old lineman. So maybe
I contradicted myself a little bit there because I said
the Bengals would take Chase, But I don't think Panay Sewell,
who is good. I think the Bengals feel pretty good
about that one. Are we sure? Robert Kraft is an
elite owner. I'm not saying he's a bum, but people

(54:02):
forget that before Brady and Bill, he was known for
constant medaling Furthermore, he ran two Hall of Fame coaches
Parcels Pete Carroll out of town and later after going
to the playoffs two of three years, Craft didn't medal
when Belichick wanted to keep Brady as a starter in
on one, but after that we give him credit for

(54:24):
not medaling when the Pats were going to the Super
Bowl basically every other year. Not exactly a difficult task
if the team isn't in the conference championship, he gets
extremely hands on. What are your thoughts on Robert Jonathan
Craft as owners in twenty twenty four? Can you describe
what makes an elite owner and are there any sub

(54:45):
five hundred teams that you would say have elite ownership.
I think the key to any owner, the number one
key to a good owner, hire and pay a premium
for you. Try to hire the best people possible and
then don't do anything beside the business side of the team.
When you start getting involved and there's a difference, like

(55:09):
a guy hits his girlfriend like hey, we're cutting this
guy and the coach doesn't want I have no problem
with that. I'm talking about being in the draft room,
like Jonathan Kraft currently is with Elliott Wolf and like
giving his feedback on what he wants to do. I
think that is a recipe for a fucking disaster. We
saw it with Dan Sneyder for twenty years. We see

(55:31):
it happening with David Tepper right now telling them what
plays to run. Jimmy Haslam was way too involved. You know,
he's actually a pretty good owner. You're gonna in terms
of Mark Davis. You get hired, you get to do
whatever you want, which is a coaches and GM's dream. Now.

(55:51):
Part of also being a good owner is hiring the
right people. And you could argue he has not done that,
but you go work for him. You get to do
whatever you want. You work for Jonathan Graft right now,
no chance. So I'm with you, Like he owned the
team during that period of time, but he's constantly and

(56:11):
I'm putting this more on Jonathan than Robert because Robert's
eighty two years old or whatever. Now I think Jonathan
wants to play jam. I think Jonathan's been dreaming about
this day since the moment he could kick Bilt out
of the building. Then I get to run the show.
And look what they did. Elliott Wolf, longtime personnel guy

(56:33):
son of Ron Wolf one of the most legendary gms
in the history of the league. You think Elliott Wolf's
in charge. Fuck no, He's doing whatever Jonathan tells him
to do or has to run it by him. It's
why Diana Rassini I listen to her talk on the
podcast saying, when you talk to other gms, they say
that Jonathan Crafts the guy who run the show. And

(56:55):
I think where they find that out is they ask Elliott, Hey,
would you be interested in this? What about this? What
about this deal? He's like, I gotta run it by
Jonathan and listen, There's nothing wrong with like running something
by your owner when you're making a big trade or
a big signing. But it does feel like he wants
to be the Grand Pooba. So it's one of the
reasons that I'm shorting the Patriots for the foreseeable future.

(57:20):
Coward once said after Stafford won the Super Bowl, Stafford
doesn't get the respect he deserves because he stayed in
Detroit too long. I agree, Do you agree? I think
if Matt Stafford would have played for a winning franchise

(57:41):
during the bulk of his career, I think we would
talk about him like we talk about Josh Allen and
Joe Burrow. I don't know if we would ever been
considered the top dog because of Manning and Brady and Rogers,
but I think he would have been constantly considered a
top five quarterback. And I would say for the most part,

(58:02):
he never was considered that. You know, his number one
supporter over the years, Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers constantly talked
him up. Why playing the same division and when you're
studying your divisional opponents, you just watch their games. Well,
who do you think he saw a ton on cross
tape over a decade, Matt Stafford and he's thinking, God,

(58:26):
this guy kind of looks like me. So yes, I agree.
The good thing for Stafford is he's made two hundred
and fifty million dollars, So super Bowl champion, one of
the richest guys in league history. Say it all worked
out for him. It's to the point where I can't
even watch some of these other shows because their analysis

(58:46):
is so bombastic and lazy just for hot takes. Question,
what about Antonio Pierce as a leader is so I
don't even know what we already shooting for here, so
specific it seems like the players are outspokenly committed to
him more than what we've seen with most coaches. Well,

(59:10):
I think, I mean I've never I don't know the guy,
but I think he was a team captain level guy
as a player as a middle linebacker. So when you
play middle linebacker, when you play free safety, when you
play quarterback, and you like the one of the leaders
of the team, you just have some natural ability to

(59:32):
connect with people on and off the field. Obviously in
the NFL you got to be a really good player
to be, you know, not just a team captain starter,
and then on a really good team. Well, he was
that level guy on a really good team under a
really good coach. So I would imagine if I had

(59:53):
to guess, Antonio Pierce, who played under Tom Coughlin, has
a good balance of being really intense and holding people
to a high standard, but then just relating to guys
like That's what good coaches are able to do. They're
able to form a powerful relationship. I saw this thing
that went viral from Dan Quinn in a team meeting

(01:00:18):
with his coaches, and basically what he said is I
need all you guys to form good relationships with your players,
because when you have a good relationship with the guy
you're coaching, you can coach him harder, which is just
kind of common sense. Right. Why can your parents ride

(01:00:41):
you more than some random person on the street. Have
a lot of equity with those people? Why can Andy
Reid and Travis Kelcey shove each other on the sideline.
And he's coached him for a decade. So when you
know a guy intimately as a with a relationship no

(01:01:01):
different than your friends from high school or college, as
you get older, your relationship with those individuals are just
kind of unique. You have a lot of built up
just personal equity and knowledge of these people. And essentially,
with Dan Quinn saying is like, get to know these guys.
And I think Antonio Pierce has a natural ability of

(01:01:21):
connecting with guys. That's going to be the least of
his worries. He's good at that. Clearly, it's gonna be
running the team, which is clearly a really really hard
thing to do on Sundays in the sport of football,
right because it's the game becomes a little less about

(01:01:42):
that on Sunday and more about we're playing chess. And
he has to coach the coaches from a chess standpoint.
How do we focus on the weaknesses the strengths. I'll
give him credit. He brought Marvin Lewis, who's his boy,
longtime head coach, Like these guys are surrounding him. I'm

(01:02:04):
always impressed when impressive people like a certain individual. It's
why I bought into Dan Campbell. It's like, wait, Sean
Payton loved this guy for this guy was assistant head coach.
Parcels was the guy that drafted this guy and got
him into coaching. Here's an interesting question for you. How
do teams evaluate front office talent? It seems as though

(01:02:25):
organizations that continuously go through brain trains still hold up
over time. Ravens, Eagles, Niners. Do they know how to
develop scouts and analysts better or do they simply get
better people to come work for them through reputation and
higher salaries combination of both. Obviously, if you're willing to

(01:02:49):
pay the most, you can steal the best talent, Like
if Google, Facebook, Apple, they want a top engineer, they
can outbid any company. If Howie Rosman wants to get
the cream of the crop, he did this years ago
with Joe Douglas Andrew Berry, he will cut a check
from Jeffrey Leary. I think the Ravens are a good

(01:03:11):
example of and I talked to Darius Hayward Bay who
now works for them. They have a culture of what
they look for, of how the front office works, and
it's been like that for twenty five years. So if
you go there to work, they teach you what to do,

(01:03:33):
and you either shape in or shape out. And we've
seen a ton of guys over the years shape in
and become very very successful organizations. Same thing the Niners
are doing now. It starts at the top and then
it bleeds down and you teach what you want, what
you look for, the type players we like, what's expected

(01:03:55):
of you. It's very very clear, So there's not a
guessing game, and I think a lot of teams don't
have any identity. All all football programs, college and pro
say the same. Shit want tough, hard nos guys that
love ball, family, faith and football. Everyone said, we want

(01:04:17):
tough guys, guys that are passionate football's life. It's like, yeah,
we get that, but do you know the actual players
to look for that actually have that. Because the Ravens
have figured that out over the years. Kyle Shanahan and
John Lynch have a pretty good idea, right how we
learn this from Andy A lot of emphasis on the
line of scrimmage. And if you just build up the

(01:04:39):
line of scrimmage defensive an offensive line for the most part,
you're going to be competitive. So I think, like, let's
use the Panthers as an example and the Browns. For years,
you just run through people and run through ideas, like
what does your organization stand for? Beside like God Family football,

(01:05:00):
There's not like a clear identity. The Ravens have had
two guys running the organization and Ozzie's still there for
since the nineties. Da Costa has been there forever. He
worked under Ozzie for all that time. Packers are a
good example, pretty sure. Brian Gutikins has been with the
Packers for a long long time, from Ron to Ted

(01:05:23):
to Goot. It's like their identity hasn't changed philosophically. They
have an idea of exactly what they're looking for. I
think a lot of these teams are just constantly kind
of trying to reinvent the wheels starting from scratch. It's
not really how it works. And part of it you
got to be willing to go through some tough times

(01:05:44):
if you believe in the vision. And this probably works
at any walk of life in terms of an industry,
if you're constantly changing management. We're all different humans, we
all have different beliefs. But any organization that's able to
hire from within promote from within because you're able to

(01:06:06):
train those guys. It's why Bill's coaches were so successful.
For him. They all started at the bottom in the
mail room. He taught them everything they needed enough so
by the time they became coordinators or college directors or
you know, the his GM and Casario or whatever, they

(01:06:28):
knew exactly what he wanted. So it was all like
one vision. There wasn't any guessing games. How many times
in your office or your job when positions change and
new ownership or new management and no one's on the
same page, it's like, what are we doing in Everyone

(01:06:51):
below the top guys like this doesn't make any sense.
No one says that with the Ravens when they changed
from Ozzie to to DaCosta, because nothing changed. Obviously he's
a different human, but pretty clear he just watched their
team it looks exactly the same. So I think part

(01:07:11):
of it and look at Andy and Veach. I think
there's just a clear vision of what is needed and
everyone's on the same page. I think that goes a
long long way of no guessing, of complete understandment, not
just you know, throwing shit at the wall hoping some
of it sticks. I think you'd be shocked. It's the NFL.

(01:07:36):
How many I don't want to say, incompetent, how many
people are in roles that they have no business for
and then it eventually shows for us when we're watching
the games. I'm a partner at a wealth management investment firm,
that management that manages assets for wealthy families. I love
my job, but the worst part is dealing with those

(01:07:58):
that didn't do shit to earn it and yet expect
everyone to treat them like they did.

Speaker 1 (01:08:04):
So.

Speaker 2 (01:08:04):
Your take on Jonathan Kraft couldn't be more relatable. As
a Cowboys fan, I have nothing to look forward to,
considering we got bounced in the first round and our
team has only gotten worse. Is there any moves you
can see Jerry making that would give us any optimism
for the next two or three years. Also, if this

(01:08:26):
makes it on the pod, please don't say my name
didn't say his name. It's funny, you know, because let's
just say, your dad made a lot of money, you
spend a lot of time around your dad. It just
becomes like thrust Moses. I am my dad too, and
we've all been around these people. And I've been around

(01:08:48):
people on both sides, people that act like you would
never know the kid, and the kids that just are
fucking like, are you serious right now what Jim Harbaugh
say about Ryan Day born on third base, homie? Some
people were born on home plate. And listen, you can't
control who your parents are. I could have been born

(01:09:08):
in you know, poverty stricken area somewhere around the world.
Or I could have been born in you know, Manhattan.
My dad's a billionaire. It's all out of all of
our control. But it is in your control how you
operate and how you think. And you know, Jonathan Kraft
to me, I just think you can see this coming

(01:09:28):
from a mile away. I would say with Jerry, I
think the best thing at this point in time, why
resign Dac, Why extend Dak. You're already under the cap
with his massive cap number played out. If that happens again,
we got to make a different decision, but this notion
that you have to extend him. He's better than mediocre,

(01:09:53):
but he's slightly above at when you sign guys like
him constantly and then you complain and it wasn't his fault.
You lost to the Packers. Even though he did not
play well. The defense was abysmal. I mean, it was
probably one of the worst defensive games of the entire playoffs.
Actually had to be the worst. Thinking about it, I
just think you hope you nail some draft picks. You

(01:10:15):
got Micah Parsons, you got some good defensive lineman, you
got some good dbs, you got Dak, you got Ceedee Lamb.
Maybe hit on a running back, hit on another offensive lineman,
and just hope your team, I mean, Jerry's drafted well.
You probably have some young players you've never even heard of,
most of you didn't know who Bland was two years ago,
so that they do a good job in the draft.

(01:10:37):
And I hope you don't shit the bed in the playoffs.
And part of it would be maybe Mike Zimmer the
defense a little better, especially in big spots. But your
roster's kind of your roster, and I don't expect some
huge like all of a sudden, Tyreek Hills on the
team or something. So you just got to hope he
hits on the draft picks, which if you're going to

(01:10:59):
defend Jerry for one thing, he hits on picks. So
if you could land several starters and impact players, maybe
a couple of your practice squad guys step up and
make make big steps, which has happened a lot for
you guys over the last several years. Guys could be
very competitive, but at this point in time, let's face it,
we're all judging you. On the playoffs. McCarthy's in his

(01:11:21):
last year. Can't be getting you can't be getting bounced
in the first round as a massive, massive home favorite.
It can't happen. It's also one thing to lose, another
thing to get your ass kicked. It's one of the
worst playoff losses in a recent memory. I would say
the worst playoff loss of the last five years gotta
be the Bills. I mean, they're up with thirteen seconds left.

(01:11:44):
You can't lose that game. You can put the Cowboys
right up there. You really could. They find a way
to win the division, get a home game. Jordan Love
comes in drops If you said John, what was the
score of the Cowboy Packer first round game? It feels
like it was seventy five to ten. I mean, seriously,

(01:12:06):
that's what it feels like. I mean seriously, it feels
like fifty five to fourteen. I don't know. I feel
like the final score was actually like forty four to
twenty five, but it felt much more like, yeah, fifty
five to seven something like that. And Jerry, you trust

(01:12:27):
the volume