May 15, 2024 • 29 mins
After another impressive playoff performance Colin is ready to officially put Nikola Jokic on a short list of greatest players in the history of the sport. He defends Caitlin Clark from criticisms after her sluggish WNBA debut where she had 10 turnovers. Plus, NFL reporter Dianna Russini joins the show in anticipation of the release of the NFL's regular season schedule
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for the Herd at
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Oh, here we go on a Wednesday lot to discuss
Let's bring the energy, Uncle Colin the pilot. At the
end of yesterday show, ready to land this plane wherever
you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for
making us part of your day. All right, So last night,
(00:47):
after landing the plane at the end of yesterday show,
got off the plane, went home and was gonna commit
myself to about six hours of NBA basketball. That's a commitment.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Six hours.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Nixed Pacers, I watched Indiana fever. I watched Nuggets t Wolves,
three blowouts. It was but there was to me, there's
a moment I'm watching late in the third quarter and
it wasn't an epiphany. It's a reality. I want to
talk about it. So Jokic was unbelievable if you had
the list and let's let's let's talk. I mean, I'm
(01:26):
talking greatest players in my life that I've seen in basketball.
I saw Wilt, but he was old Wilt. He wasn't
great the greatest players I've seen. I'm not talking just
really really special like doctor j K. D. Barkley. You
know these are special players. I'm talking about people, the
greatest of all time that have controlled this league for
(01:46):
at least two three minimum often five six seven controlled
the league. Just not stat guy or All star guy
controlled the league. There's only ten since I've been watching basketball.
Kareem Bird, Magic, Toby, Steph Duncan, Lebron, Michael Jordan, Shaq
and Akeem Olajawan. A Keem would have won more, but
you know, Jordan dominated the league. Again, Dirk Barkley KD.
(02:12):
Yannis is close, but they all lack something right like
Barkley wasn't as committed. Maybe it's a leadership thing with KD.
Yannis from the perimeter, there's limitations. I think Jokich, if
they win the title, has to be put his second
title has to be put in that elite all time
top ten class. First of all, if you watch that
(02:34):
game last night. The difference between the Western Conference teams
in the Eastern I mean, it's kids table, Indie Cleveland,
the Knicks, that's the JV table. I know New York
love them, but give me a break. The size, the skill,
the depth, the talent. I mean, Yokich is a notch
above them. That's how I felt watching mj or Lebron
(02:56):
in his prime. Magic. It's just different. Even among Minnesota Denver,
It's Gordon and Murray, an Ant and Noads Reed and
go Bear and Karl Anthony Towns and Michael Porter. These
are great, great talented players. He's like next level. That's
how I felt watching Michael Jordan, even against Berkley or Magic,
(03:19):
even against his other great contemporaries. I mean, the guy.
Forget the thirty points, thirteen rebounds, ten assists and the
insane efficiency over fifty percent. He's shooting like Steph Curry
from threes forty one percent. Minnesota was the best defensive
team in the league, and at one point third to
(03:41):
fourth quarter, Denver made thirteen to fourteen shots. That's like
going up against Lawrence Taylor and the Giants and saying, yeah,
bring it on and you can't get pressure. The quarterback
has six seconds to throw. I mean, it's it's it's insane.
That's the Mahomes, Kelsey, Tyreek Hill, Andy Reid offense not
(04:01):
being able to pick up first downs thirteen of fourteen
against this defense. Jokich was seeking out the defensive player
of the year multiple times, Rudy Gobert looking for him
on the floor. That is so Jordan, that is so Shack.
Who's the best guy. Bring him on and dominate him.
(04:23):
I mean, you're watching the Eastern Conference Indiana and the Knicks.
Nicks are a great story. Come on, they're five hundred
against Western teams. That counts to bad Western teams. Minnesota
and Denver are stacked rosters, smartly coach well constructed. You
got Hall of Fame level talent on the floor in
(04:44):
some of these instances. The next great player in ant
Go Bear, a dominant defensive player. I mean, look up
and down those rosters. It is it's the grown up table,
and Jokich is a notch better than all of them.
That's watching great shooters and then Bird and to Steph
like Bird is going to the All Star three point
contest and mocking the league's other great shooters. You guys
(05:08):
are playing for second place. That's all time stuff. That's
not that's not Dirk, that's Bird and magic stuff. That's
like Magic Johnson against great Celtic teams, showing off, going
against the Sixers, playing center in scoring forty two. What
you're watching is just different. Forty one percent on threes.
(05:29):
Come on against against the best defensive team in the league,
give me their best player. Even Ant said, this is
all time stuff.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
I just laugh.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
That's all I can do.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
I mean, I can't. I can't be mad because he's
just he good man. I think I said that after
game won, when we won in Game two, like ead MVP,
he's best player in the NBA, and.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
He showed it the last three games, three games in
a row.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
And yeah, tonight he was special tonight.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
I gotta give him this.
Speaker 6 (06:00):
It was.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
I mean, I don't know, I don't know what we
were supposed to be. Yeah he was.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
He was that guy at night. Best defensive team in
the league, best defensive player, YO could just like, bring
it on, I'm gonna dominate you. You don't get that.
When Mike Tyson was scaring other good heavyweights like they
didn't want a piece of Mike Tyson, like Tiger Woods
would take Phil Mickelson other great players and they would
(06:25):
shrink on a late Sunday afternoon. Like that's different. That's
what That's what Joker's doing. These these Denver Minnesota, those
are well coached, well constructed dudes, length, size, skill everywhere.
This is in junior varsity Eastern Conference stuff, and that
is next level. So I watched Caitlin Clark. It's being
(06:49):
dubbed a very shaky debut. She was playing against college kids,
you know, a month ago. She's twenty two. I watch
she looked a little tight, a little nervous. Bad first half,
better second, finished with twenty points. The betting line over
under she'd score twenty and a half. She scored twenty.
(07:11):
If that's her stinker against the Connecticut Sun team that's
supposed to be I wouldn't know, but supposed to be,
I'm told, one of the top two or three defensive
teams in the sport WNBA. Yeah, she had too many turnovers.
She's gonna be fine. The greatest prospect ever Wemby's first game,
five turnovers, fifteen points, and he has a little genetic advantage.
(07:32):
He's seven to four. Listen, she has carried the weight
of women's basketball for a month. I keep hearing about, oh,
women's basketball growth. It's been fine. But seven hundred thousand
people watch the WNBA finals. Okay, that's significantly less than
UFL football games, regular season games, and that sports a
(07:52):
month old. So I thought she looked tight, little nervous,
you know, teammates given her hard coaching. It's okay. Watch
le Bronze first basketball game, Wemby's first basketball game. Caitlyn Clark. Listen,
the NBA media was trying to sell me his jaw,
trying to sell me John Morant as the face of
(08:13):
the league for two years. He couldn't get his personal
life in order. I was sold that Zion was going
to be something special. He can't figure out his diet,
like Caitlin Clark having a tough first half shooting. I'm
okay with it. She's got to get her sea legs.
I mean the WNBA the length, the size of the speed.
(08:34):
You know, you watch these quarterbacks their first couple of
years in the NFL. It takes a while for the
light to go on. So she's gonna be fine. She
was just a little sloppy, a little tight, But I
think to myself, twenty two years old, the weight of
women's basketball on her shoulders. Let her get her sea legs.
Not to mention again, Connecticut supposed to be a good team,
(08:55):
and they were traps and double teams all night long.
In the end, it is a bad basket. That's why
they've had the number one picked last couple of years.
This may have been a little bit of Andrew Luck
getting sacked in towing interceptions. Remember when Andrew Luck came
into the NBA or NFL, everybody's like a it throws
a lot of interceptions. He had the worst roster or
the worst offensive rung, the line in the worst well,
(09:15):
one of the worst front offices. Yeah, and he would
win eleven games. It's like, now you're complaining about Andrew
Luck's interceptions. Did you see the roster he took over.
He won eleven games, and then eleven games and then
eleven games with no protection. She's gonna be just fine.
Here's Caitlin.
Speaker 5 (09:35):
I'm disappointed, and nobody likes to lose. Like that's how
it is. But I don't think you can beat yourself
up too much about, you know, one game I think
I don't think that's gonna help this team. I don't
think if you know, no matter who it is on
this team, nobody can do that with how they played
and just learned from it.
Speaker 6 (09:51):
And move on.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Debut twenty two, horrible team. She's gonna be just fine.
She got me to turn to a television ESPN two
to watch the Indiana fever. I didn't know they were
a team three days ago, before the draft or whatever
it was. So I'm fired up, jmc. So, you know,
everybody has loved you know, as a guy from the
(10:16):
East Coast, and when you were, you know, trolling all
those midtown Manhattan bars, doing your things with dual ear rings,
when you were out there hitting it and New York Sports,
there were some cool things going on. And then about
the time you left the East Coast eight nine years ago,
it's been it's been lean. It has been bad. In fact,
(10:39):
you could argue now the Jets and Giants, I mean,
thank god for Aaron Rodgers, but the Jets and Giants
run about a ten year heater, both of them, which
is like really embarrassing. Thank God for Carolina. Even the
Texans now looks like they're really good so, but I'm
watching the Knicks and Pacers last night. I don't mean
to be a buzzkill on this, but New York standards
(11:00):
now are so low in sports. I'm watching that game
and I'm like, the Knicks aren't any good. They're just
a good story, a great story. An be good because
after I watch them, immediately I watched the Nuggets and
the Tea Wolves. I just sat there and I'm like,
come on, man, these teams would sweep New York. Like
(11:22):
I'm forget about Indiana, the worst defensive team maybe in
the league. I know it sounds harsh, but I think
the Knicks are a great story. I love all the
celebrities and all the fun and the Villanova guys. Can
we be honest about that team? There's one yeah, one dude.
Well they try really hard.
Speaker 7 (11:41):
Hartenstein twelve offensive rebounds, which is like.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Double with the facers. That they try hard, and you
gotta love that.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
This is the best Knicks team.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
They've got a great personality. That's what they are. You know,
when you were out there trolling, I got a great
personality over anything. Carmelo Anthony put forth with, all right, yeah,
Brunson's great. That's the most likable team they've had in
a quarter century. Well it's the most It's hard to
be New York likable and an underdog, and they pull
off all three. So I have some thoughts on that
(12:13):
coming up. And Tom Brady, thank you for saying what
you said yesterday. I'll get to that too.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern not a im Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
So, Jalen Brunson dropped forty four and it is a remarkable,
remarkable accomplishment. But he's not facing like Michael Jordan who
also did it, the Pistons or the Celtics dynasties. Brunson's
doing it. We have to be honest here, all the
fanboys in New York, this is amazing. It's not an
amazing team. When Miles McBride becomes a player. I mean,
(12:50):
what are we doing here? I mean, folks, come on.
The Eastern Conference is awful. Indiana is the worst defensive
team in the playoffs. They're one of the worst defensive
teams I've ever seen. If it wasn't for Miles Turner
that could occasionally block a shot. I mean the border
on pathetic. The bottom of five defenses in the NBA
were all Eastern teams. The Pacers allowed opponents to shoot
(13:12):
fifty percent of the floor fifty percent, and that's against
bad Eastern teams. I love Jalen Brunson, but I mean
he'll make one little quick move and have a wide
open thirteen footer. It's like practice. You watch OKC in Dallas,
that's trench warfare. You watch Denver in Minnesota, it's Redwoods
moving fast and blocking shots. Brunson can make marginal quick
(13:36):
moves and is wide open. I don't remember the East
being this bad. The Knicks are missing half of their
top eight players, and their top eight players aren't Yannis
and Dame. They're missing half of them, and they're gonna
get into the Eastern Conference finals. I mean, this is
(13:57):
like the secs, the West and and the East. I
thought it was the pac twelve. It's more like the
Mountain West. It's terrible. I mean in the West, before
the game, you heard that Mike Conley was out, and
you're like, uh oh, like you need all hands on
deck to beat Denver. One injury out West Jamal Murray, well,
(14:21):
he gets suspended. It changes this. I mean, these teams
are loaded out east. The Knicks are starting four guards
the lineup. Let me get these deaths. The Knicks started
four guards, not big guards. No magic's here, six one
six two, six, four sixty four. It's like a high
school team. And they still dominated the glass with four guards,
(14:47):
tiny guards, and some of those guys, those guards that
started were bench guys during the regular season. I know
Brunson's great, but he scored forty four against a pathetic defense.
Don't blame Rick Carr. Guy's been around, he could coach.
I mean, even he last night was embarrassed about his team's.
Speaker 6 (15:06):
Defense, annihilated on loose Paul's and rebounds, gave up twenty
offensive offensive rebounds in twenty nine more shots. So we
all own it. But very embarrassing, very embarrassing, and a
(15:30):
hard lesson.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
When you're starting four guards, none of them big guards,
many of them bench guys in the regular season, and
you're dominating the glass. You don't even have Julius randl
Er Mitchell Robinson. You're big, tough guys. I mean, I
know everybody always wants credit. I'm not Visa. That's what
they do. I don't do credit. Brunson's doing nice things,
(15:56):
but who he's doing them against has to be noted.
Jannis Dame out and bead hobble, Jimmy Butler out the
East is the kids table. The difference between watching that
game and watching the West Stark, it's the Grand Canyon.
It's not even the same sport. How many open shots
(16:17):
to the Knicks get like wide open? If the Pacers
were a defensive team, they would have a blown assignment
on two out of three plays wide open. You can
make quick little stutterstep move. You got a wide open
fourteen footer that ain't happening in the West. I mean
you watch the West. If Jamalgar Murray gets a wide
open second half, look, you're like, wow, blown assignment. It
(16:40):
stands out Indiana Pacers defense is just one big blown assignment.
They're just all blur into the next one.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
and Noon Easter not a im Pacific.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Hey, it's Ben, host of the Fifth Hour with Ben Maller.
Would mean a lot to have you join us on
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(17:16):
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Speaker 1 (17:22):
All right, I get into the schedule release. Not everybody does.
I remember years ago, I get into the draft. Peter
King doesn't like the draft. He was like, that doesn't
do a thing for me. You and I like the
schedule release. Not everybody does. I get it. I just
I like order. I said this, like a day has order.
I like getting stuff done, and tonight I get order
to all my games. So it's like it's like majoring
(17:45):
in architecture. I like the order of stuff. I'm a
creature of habit, so I tend to like that. You
artists out there don't need order. You know, I'm not
that anyway. Diana Rassini, is this nonsense? Whatever?
Speaker 8 (18:04):
Okay, I'm listening to this nonsense because I know you're
talking about me.
Speaker 6 (18:07):
There.
Speaker 8 (18:07):
You're taking a shot at me because you know, I'm
not the biggest schedule freak.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
You know.
Speaker 7 (18:11):
I mean, I know the fans love it, and I
do understand having the answers right, like, have an idea
what your fall is gonna look like, what you're gonna
be in two week, and get ready for I know,
from the player perspective.
Speaker 8 (18:22):
They don't really get that into it as much.
Speaker 7 (18:24):
They really are just about when's the bye week, when's
the Thursday night game?
Speaker 8 (18:29):
When are we on short weeks? When do I have
to go to bad weather?
Speaker 7 (18:32):
You know, those are really the things that players care
about at this point.
Speaker 8 (18:36):
I mean, you know who you're playing, You have an
idea at this point.
Speaker 7 (18:39):
So I just talked to a GM this morning though
that he's got a holiday game, and holiday games are tough,
I think, even though everyone knows what the season's about,
and that's pretty much sacrificing everything in your life.
Speaker 8 (18:52):
I don't think anyone really truly wants to play on
Christmas Day. But we'll see how that turns out.
Speaker 6 (18:57):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Yeah, I thought I thought the Jets getting because they're
rebuilding their O line, and as you well know, if
you talk to general managers, they will tell you, the
hardest group to get to play well together is the
O line. That's why having veterans. So the Jets have
three new veterans, a rookie left tackle and by the way,
(19:18):
veterans don't play in preseason much anymore, and they open
up with a VOSA on the road, and I'm like,
that's a that like a tough opener, right for the Jets.
Speaker 7 (19:28):
Yeah, you would think the NFL would just want to
give Aaron an easy first game, considering what we saw
him have to go through and what Jets fans had
to suffer through last year. Just a few plays in
it obviously all going down the drain from there. So yeah,
I definitely see this being a little bit of a
gauntlet coming out for the Jets. Definitely not an easy
(19:49):
I wouldn't I wouldn't think of it as an easy
schedule for the Jets opening up.
Speaker 8 (19:54):
I happen to know some of the games that they
have coming up after that, and they're not great either.
Speaker 7 (19:59):
So look, I think, just in general, I said this
to you probably this time last year, the New York
Jets have the potential to be great if Aaron stays healthy.
We know that they've tried to make some changes in
this offseason. Here they move the staff around a bit.
They made some changes on the offensive side of the
ball with the coaches, with some assistants, and you know,
(20:20):
it's the same story here in New York though Colin
Aaron Rodgers is running the team.
Speaker 8 (20:24):
They're listening to him, and they're.
Speaker 7 (20:25):
Comfortable with it because they know that they're banking on
his success.
Speaker 8 (20:30):
They're banking on his improvements that he's made. I think
he's also learned a lot.
Speaker 7 (20:36):
And I've spoken to some people in that building about
who Aaron is right now, and he's not a point
in his life. We're going to see this tremendous amount
of growth, right. He is who he is at this point, right,
But he had a little bit of an adjustment right
all those years in Green Bay and then coming to
New York and dealing with what he had to deal
with and seeing the things he had to say. But
obviously we've seen from the roster standpoint and even through
(20:56):
the draft process, Aaron Rodgers was well aware everything that
New York Jets we're doing there.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
There are two teams in this league and they feel different.
They almost feel like the seventies the Packers and the Steelers.
They don't make a lot of changes. Packers don't even
have an owner. They're really uh and I say this respectfully.
They're old school, but yet smart enough and well run
enough to win now, especially Green Bay. They get the
(21:22):
quarterbacks right. And then all of a sudden, you take
Russell Wilson Ciara Pittsburgh and I'm just fascinated to watch
it because he's not really on brand. I mean, Big
Ben could have drama, but Big Ben kind of felt
like Pittsburgh. They got the scruffy bear in the motorcycle
and it kind of felt like Pittsburgh. What do you
(21:46):
make Russell Pittsburgh? What are you just kind of your
vibe on it? I think it could go sideways. I
think it could be excellent. What do you make of
are people talking about it?
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (21:57):
I remember the Saturday morning getting the text that he
was there and that this was going to work out,
and just thinking that I was making a mistake because
I was multitasking, that maybe I misread it.
Speaker 8 (22:08):
That Now, like.
Speaker 7 (22:09):
Tomlin and Russell Wilson, I know they like each other,
like I'd seen them on the field before after games
when they would play one another there was always just
a mutual respect that you could see and understanding. But
just when I think of who my Tomlin is, what
he's about.
Speaker 8 (22:24):
But I've even.
Speaker 7 (22:24):
Learned as a reporter from him just observing him as
a leader and how he conducts his team with that
locker room looks like, and then I think of Russell.
Speaker 8 (22:33):
They're just very different.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
People, right.
Speaker 7 (22:36):
So you have this marriage now, and everything I gather
in terms of just having tons of conversations since this
went down is that they want him there. So that
to me immediately says like this is fabulous for Russell Wilson.
Knowing the environment he was in in Denver, which was
as bad as it possibly could get in terms of
(22:56):
him being just wanted.
Speaker 8 (22:57):
Right, it was very clear there was no low burn there.
Speaker 7 (23:01):
It was a pretty hard breakup and it's probably better
for both sides.
Speaker 6 (23:05):
Right.
Speaker 8 (23:05):
So now here he is, they want him there, They're
excited by him, they enjoy.
Speaker 7 (23:09):
Him, and I really believe in terms of the roster
he is set up to succeed here. Yeah, And I
think if he learned from his last experience, which let's
hope he has, I think if he just puts the
confidence and trust and belief in Arthur Smith. I think
that's where he can probably take off here and do
(23:29):
well in Pittsburgh. But it's really going to come down
to whether or not he's going to have that ability
to trust a coach again after what he went through
with Champagne.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
So the Houston Texans, this is one of the things
in baseball, you know, it tends to take years and
years of drafting and then hitting on a few players
to go from bad to good. It takes a while
to process. Same in the NBA you get a nineteen
year old played one year of college. But in the
NFL you can be the Texans, awful, laughable in a
playoff team. Get the coach right, get the quarterback right.
(24:00):
Tom Brady was talking about c J. Stroud on the
Pivot podcast, talking about his humility, his maturity is he's
got a plan there. And Tom talked about there is
a way to last in this league, not just count
there's a way to do it, and I just wondered
if you had any thought. I mean c J Stroud,
(24:20):
I mean his comp was Jared Goff. That's a good comp.
It's kind of blew everybody away, myself included, blew me away,
how good he was? Yeah, like day one, Like what.
Speaker 7 (24:29):
Well, I have a lot of interest. I have a
lot of interest in this in terms of how coaches
and gms, even owners that are really involved, how they
judge these young quarterbacks coming out in the draft, how
they decide, how do they sit there?
Speaker 8 (24:42):
And you know, we just mentioned Sean Payton.
Speaker 7 (24:44):
He's a great example of somebody he knows right away,
right away, this is the guy.
Speaker 8 (24:47):
This is the guy. This is the guy. This is
the guy.
Speaker 7 (24:48):
He's very gray, he's very rarely gray on people. And
I've asked him before, like what do you look for?
Speaker 6 (24:54):
What is it?
Speaker 7 (24:55):
What is the thing that says, yes, this person has
the maturity, they have the leadership, you know, And so
much of it is just that toughness. It's the ability
to take the criticism, the openness, it's the humility. And
it's what makes it so difficult and so rare to
find because it's you're asking a lot of characteristics in
(25:16):
playing the hardest position in sports to be able to
have the physical makeup and then also have that emotional
mental maturity to go along with it.
Speaker 8 (25:25):
And I actually think there's separate things here. Y.
Speaker 7 (25:26):
I think you can be a leader, because I think
most people think leader maturity. I don't believe all quarterbacks
in the NFL right now are mature. There's a few
immature ones that I've come across, but they're really good leaders.
Speaker 8 (25:39):
That's okay. And then you have those few.
Speaker 7 (25:42):
You've got the Jared Goffs, the Matthew Stafford, the Dak Prescott's,
the Justin Herberts, the Patrick Mahomes, who they're the whole thing,
They're the whole brand. It's really I think what what
Tom Brady pointed out though, and CJ. Shrad what makes
him really just quite a unicorn, is that he is
so young and is already able to conduct himself and
(26:04):
understand how this works, which is really adding to the
story of why that was such a shock in terms of, yes,
there were people around the league who knew he'd be good,
but to have that mental emotional maturity to go with it,
I think that's really where Houston hit a grand slam.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
I want to ask you finally about an organization that
you know, well, for just years there was just everything
about Washington felt wrong. Now they've got a new owner,
a new jem, a new coach, and the Jade and
Daniels stuff I'm hearing is so encouraging. He's intentional, He's
got a plan for everything. And you know by the
way he went from you know, Arizona State to LSU,
(26:41):
so we went from kind of a nondescript program to
a star program, never in the news for the wrong stuff.
Productive worker been very easy in college football to get distracted.
Now in the NIL era, he never did. I don't know.
It just sometimes is he gonna be not capable? Is
the number two quarterback gonna be the hit like last year?
(27:01):
Are you hearing anything on what the early indications and
talk of Jayden Daniels is.
Speaker 8 (27:07):
Yeah, And here's the thing.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
It was the talk of Jayden Daniels before if the
commanders took them. It was the popularity and truly just
how much he connected with so many different head coaches
and gms that met with him during.
Speaker 8 (27:19):
The process, just rave reviews across the board.
Speaker 7 (27:24):
I had dinner with the head coach at the combine
who had met Jayden earlier in the day, and we
spent the whole dinner just talking about this kid. And
that was not the intention of us having dinner and
catching up. We really had tons of other things that
we wanted to get to, but he really was shocked
how impressive he was in that meeting.
Speaker 8 (27:41):
Now where we are now.
Speaker 7 (27:42):
And how he's been able to conduct himself. I always
listened to players that to me, like, yes, the coaches
are all gonna say.
Speaker 8 (27:47):
He's learning, we got a long way to go, and
you know, they.
Speaker 7 (27:50):
Give you all the coach talk, but the players are
the ones who know, and the veteran guys, and when
you hear the things that they're saying already in Washington
about the leadership already it's been a month, you know,
and the fact that he's been able to already make
an impression there. You know, you mentioned Caleb Williams, and
I think what happened along the way here at CALEBS,
because yes, the Daniels buzz is phenomenal, and I do
(28:12):
think he's gonna have tons of success in Washington.
Speaker 8 (28:14):
I do think they made the right pick here.
Speaker 7 (28:17):
But the Caleb Williams to me, is the best pick
Chicago has made in terms of surrounding or the timing
of when they picked Caleb and what they did to
build around It's the best Chicago's ever done, probably for
any quarterbacks since June. I've been covering the league, so
when we constantly asking the question which working quarterbacks gonna
come out here and have the most success based on
(28:38):
the roster, to me, it's Caleb Williams because of what
they've been able to do. Commander's offensive line still worries me.
Speaker 6 (28:44):
Colin.
Speaker 7 (28:44):
That's where I feel like we're going to see the
snag in some of their game. But you know, we'll
see if they can coach that up and make some
of those fixes, and maybe Jalen is able to work
around that. But we've seen it over and over, even
the Great Struggle, if their lines on, if their on
lines on strong.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Diana Russini, the athletic, Great to see you. I like
the background. I like the mood of the background. It's
kind of very soothing, very nice take.
Speaker 7 (29:11):
I go for the last time we were on, we
fought a little, so I thought that I'd bring a
little bit calm to the show, yelling at me, accusing
me to why you know, you know what it was.
You just didn't want to you believed you believed my reporting.
You didn't want to believe my reports.
Speaker 8 (29:25):
You were mad about it.
Speaker 7 (29:27):
And then when Peter Schrager said it, You're like, oh, yeah, yeah,
that's true.
Speaker 8 (29:30):
That's you. I'm like, I said it on the show,
but it's all right. Forgive you. I love you, guys,
love you.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for the Herd at
Foxsportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day on
the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Oh, here we go on a Wednesday lot to discuss
Let's bring the energy, Uncle Colin the pilot. At the
end of yesterday show, ready to land this plane wherever
you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for
making us part of your day. All right, So last night,
(00:47):
after landing the plane at the end of yesterday show,
got off the plane, went home and was gonna commit
myself to about six hours of NBA basketball. That's a commitment.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Six hours.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Nixed Pacers, I watched Indiana fever. I watched Nuggets t Wolves,
three blowouts. It was but there was to me, there's
a moment I'm watching late in the third quarter and
it wasn't an epiphany. It's a reality. I want to
talk about it. So Jokic was unbelievable if you had
the list and let's let's let's talk. I mean, I'm
(01:26):
talking greatest players in my life that I've seen in basketball.
I saw Wilt, but he was old Wilt. He wasn't
great the greatest players I've seen. I'm not talking just
really really special like doctor j K. D. Barkley. You
know these are special players. I'm talking about people, the
greatest of all time that have controlled this league for
(01:46):
at least two three minimum often five six seven controlled
the league. Just not stat guy or All star guy
controlled the league. There's only ten since I've been watching basketball.
Kareem Bird, Magic, Toby, Steph Duncan, Lebron, Michael Jordan, Shaq
and Akeem Olajawan. A Keem would have won more, but
you know, Jordan dominated the league. Again, Dirk Barkley KD.
(02:12):
Yannis is close, but they all lack something right like
Barkley wasn't as committed. Maybe it's a leadership thing with KD.
Yannis from the perimeter, there's limitations. I think Jokich, if
they win the title, has to be put his second
title has to be put in that elite all time
top ten class. First of all, if you watch that
(02:34):
game last night. The difference between the Western Conference teams
in the Eastern I mean, it's kids table, Indie Cleveland,
the Knicks, that's the JV table. I know New York
love them, but give me a break. The size, the skill,
the depth, the talent. I mean, Yokich is a notch
above them. That's how I felt watching mj or Lebron
(02:56):
in his prime. Magic. It's just different. Even among Minnesota Denver,
It's Gordon and Murray, an Ant and Noads Reed and
go Bear and Karl Anthony Towns and Michael Porter. These
are great, great talented players. He's like next level. That's
how I felt watching Michael Jordan, even against Berkley or Magic,
(03:19):
even against his other great contemporaries. I mean, the guy.
Forget the thirty points, thirteen rebounds, ten assists and the
insane efficiency over fifty percent. He's shooting like Steph Curry
from threes forty one percent. Minnesota was the best defensive
team in the league, and at one point third to
(03:41):
fourth quarter, Denver made thirteen to fourteen shots. That's like
going up against Lawrence Taylor and the Giants and saying, yeah,
bring it on and you can't get pressure. The quarterback
has six seconds to throw. I mean, it's it's it's insane.
That's the Mahomes, Kelsey, Tyreek Hill, Andy Reid offense not
(04:01):
being able to pick up first downs thirteen of fourteen
against this defense. Jokich was seeking out the defensive player
of the year multiple times, Rudy Gobert looking for him
on the floor. That is so Jordan, that is so Shack.
Who's the best guy. Bring him on and dominate him.
(04:23):
I mean, you're watching the Eastern Conference Indiana and the Knicks.
Nicks are a great story. Come on, they're five hundred
against Western teams. That counts to bad Western teams. Minnesota
and Denver are stacked rosters, smartly coach well constructed. You
got Hall of Fame level talent on the floor in
(04:44):
some of these instances. The next great player in ant
Go Bear, a dominant defensive player. I mean, look up
and down those rosters. It is it's the grown up table,
and Jokich is a notch better than all of them.
That's watching great shooters and then Bird and to Steph
like Bird is going to the All Star three point
contest and mocking the league's other great shooters. You guys
(05:08):
are playing for second place. That's all time stuff. That's
not that's not Dirk, that's Bird and magic stuff. That's
like Magic Johnson against great Celtic teams, showing off, going
against the Sixers, playing center in scoring forty two. What
you're watching is just different. Forty one percent on threes.
(05:29):
Come on against against the best defensive team in the league,
give me their best player. Even Ant said, this is
all time stuff.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
I just laugh.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
That's all I can do.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
I mean, I can't. I can't be mad because he's
just he good man. I think I said that after
game won, when we won in Game two, like ead MVP,
he's best player in the NBA, and.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
He showed it the last three games, three games in
a row.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
And yeah, tonight he was special tonight.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
I gotta give him this.
Speaker 6 (06:00):
It was.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
I mean, I don't know, I don't know what we
were supposed to be. Yeah he was.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
He was that guy at night. Best defensive team in
the league, best defensive player, YO could just like, bring
it on, I'm gonna dominate you. You don't get that.
When Mike Tyson was scaring other good heavyweights like they
didn't want a piece of Mike Tyson, like Tiger Woods
would take Phil Mickelson other great players and they would
(06:25):
shrink on a late Sunday afternoon. Like that's different. That's
what That's what Joker's doing. These these Denver Minnesota, those
are well coached, well constructed dudes, length, size, skill everywhere.
This is in junior varsity Eastern Conference stuff, and that
is next level. So I watched Caitlin Clark. It's being
(06:49):
dubbed a very shaky debut. She was playing against college kids,
you know, a month ago. She's twenty two. I watch
she looked a little tight, a little nervous. Bad first half,
better second, finished with twenty points. The betting line over
under she'd score twenty and a half. She scored twenty.
(07:11):
If that's her stinker against the Connecticut Sun team that's
supposed to be I wouldn't know, but supposed to be,
I'm told, one of the top two or three defensive
teams in the sport WNBA. Yeah, she had too many turnovers.
She's gonna be fine. The greatest prospect ever Wemby's first game,
five turnovers, fifteen points, and he has a little genetic advantage.
(07:32):
He's seven to four. Listen, she has carried the weight
of women's basketball for a month. I keep hearing about, oh,
women's basketball growth. It's been fine. But seven hundred thousand
people watch the WNBA finals. Okay, that's significantly less than
UFL football games, regular season games, and that sports a
(07:52):
month old. So I thought she looked tight, little nervous,
you know, teammates given her hard coaching. It's okay. Watch
le Bronze first basketball game, Wemby's first basketball game. Caitlyn Clark. Listen,
the NBA media was trying to sell me his jaw,
trying to sell me John Morant as the face of
(08:13):
the league for two years. He couldn't get his personal
life in order. I was sold that Zion was going
to be something special. He can't figure out his diet,
like Caitlin Clark having a tough first half shooting. I'm
okay with it. She's got to get her sea legs.
I mean the WNBA the length, the size of the speed.
(08:34):
You know, you watch these quarterbacks their first couple of
years in the NFL. It takes a while for the
light to go on. So she's gonna be fine. She
was just a little sloppy, a little tight, But I
think to myself, twenty two years old, the weight of
women's basketball on her shoulders. Let her get her sea legs.
Not to mention again, Connecticut supposed to be a good team,
(08:55):
and they were traps and double teams all night long.
In the end, it is a bad basket. That's why
they've had the number one picked last couple of years.
This may have been a little bit of Andrew Luck
getting sacked in towing interceptions. Remember when Andrew Luck came
into the NBA or NFL, everybody's like a it throws
a lot of interceptions. He had the worst roster or
the worst offensive rung, the line in the worst well,
(09:15):
one of the worst front offices. Yeah, and he would
win eleven games. It's like, now you're complaining about Andrew
Luck's interceptions. Did you see the roster he took over.
He won eleven games, and then eleven games and then
eleven games with no protection. She's gonna be just fine.
Here's Caitlin.
Speaker 5 (09:35):
I'm disappointed, and nobody likes to lose. Like that's how
it is. But I don't think you can beat yourself
up too much about, you know, one game I think
I don't think that's gonna help this team. I don't
think if you know, no matter who it is on
this team, nobody can do that with how they played
and just learned from it.
Speaker 6 (09:51):
And move on.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Debut twenty two, horrible team. She's gonna be just fine.
She got me to turn to a television ESPN two
to watch the Indiana fever. I didn't know they were
a team three days ago, before the draft or whatever
it was. So I'm fired up, jmc. So, you know,
everybody has loved you know, as a guy from the
(10:16):
East Coast, and when you were, you know, trolling all
those midtown Manhattan bars, doing your things with dual ear rings,
when you were out there hitting it and New York Sports,
there were some cool things going on. And then about
the time you left the East Coast eight nine years ago,
it's been it's been lean. It has been bad. In fact,
(10:39):
you could argue now the Jets and Giants, I mean,
thank god for Aaron Rodgers, but the Jets and Giants
run about a ten year heater, both of them, which
is like really embarrassing. Thank God for Carolina. Even the
Texans now looks like they're really good so, but I'm
watching the Knicks and Pacers last night. I don't mean
to be a buzzkill on this, but New York standards
(11:00):
now are so low in sports. I'm watching that game
and I'm like, the Knicks aren't any good. They're just
a good story, a great story. An be good because
after I watch them, immediately I watched the Nuggets and
the Tea Wolves. I just sat there and I'm like,
come on, man, these teams would sweep New York. Like
(11:22):
I'm forget about Indiana, the worst defensive team maybe in
the league. I know it sounds harsh, but I think
the Knicks are a great story. I love all the
celebrities and all the fun and the Villanova guys. Can
we be honest about that team? There's one yeah, one dude.
Well they try really hard.
Speaker 7 (11:41):
Hartenstein twelve offensive rebounds, which is like.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Double with the facers. That they try hard, and you
gotta love that.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
This is the best Knicks team.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
They've got a great personality. That's what they are. You know,
when you were out there trolling, I got a great
personality over anything. Carmelo Anthony put forth with, all right, yeah,
Brunson's great. That's the most likable team they've had in
a quarter century. Well it's the most It's hard to
be New York likable and an underdog, and they pull
off all three. So I have some thoughts on that
(12:13):
coming up. And Tom Brady, thank you for saying what
you said yesterday. I'll get to that too.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern not a im Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
So, Jalen Brunson dropped forty four and it is a remarkable,
remarkable accomplishment. But he's not facing like Michael Jordan who
also did it, the Pistons or the Celtics dynasties. Brunson's
doing it. We have to be honest here, all the
fanboys in New York, this is amazing. It's not an
amazing team. When Miles McBride becomes a player. I mean,
(12:50):
what are we doing here? I mean, folks, come on.
The Eastern Conference is awful. Indiana is the worst defensive
team in the playoffs. They're one of the worst defensive
teams I've ever seen. If it wasn't for Miles Turner
that could occasionally block a shot. I mean the border
on pathetic. The bottom of five defenses in the NBA
were all Eastern teams. The Pacers allowed opponents to shoot
(13:12):
fifty percent of the floor fifty percent, and that's against
bad Eastern teams. I love Jalen Brunson, but I mean
he'll make one little quick move and have a wide
open thirteen footer. It's like practice. You watch OKC in Dallas,
that's trench warfare. You watch Denver in Minnesota, it's Redwoods
moving fast and blocking shots. Brunson can make marginal quick
(13:36):
moves and is wide open. I don't remember the East
being this bad. The Knicks are missing half of their
top eight players, and their top eight players aren't Yannis
and Dame. They're missing half of them, and they're gonna
get into the Eastern Conference finals. I mean, this is
(13:57):
like the secs, the West and and the East. I
thought it was the pac twelve. It's more like the
Mountain West. It's terrible. I mean in the West, before
the game, you heard that Mike Conley was out, and
you're like, uh oh, like you need all hands on
deck to beat Denver. One injury out West Jamal Murray, well,
(14:21):
he gets suspended. It changes this. I mean, these teams
are loaded out east. The Knicks are starting four guards
the lineup. Let me get these deaths. The Knicks started
four guards, not big guards. No magic's here, six one
six two, six, four sixty four. It's like a high
school team. And they still dominated the glass with four guards,
(14:47):
tiny guards, and some of those guys, those guards that
started were bench guys during the regular season. I know
Brunson's great, but he scored forty four against a pathetic defense.
Don't blame Rick Carr. Guy's been around, he could coach.
I mean, even he last night was embarrassed about his team's.
Speaker 6 (15:06):
Defense, annihilated on loose Paul's and rebounds, gave up twenty
offensive offensive rebounds in twenty nine more shots. So we
all own it. But very embarrassing, very embarrassing, and a
(15:30):
hard lesson.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
When you're starting four guards, none of them big guards,
many of them bench guys in the regular season, and
you're dominating the glass. You don't even have Julius randl
Er Mitchell Robinson. You're big, tough guys. I mean, I
know everybody always wants credit. I'm not Visa. That's what
they do. I don't do credit. Brunson's doing nice things,
(15:56):
but who he's doing them against has to be noted.
Jannis Dame out and bead hobble, Jimmy Butler out the
East is the kids table. The difference between watching that
game and watching the West Stark, it's the Grand Canyon.
It's not even the same sport. How many open shots
(16:17):
to the Knicks get like wide open? If the Pacers
were a defensive team, they would have a blown assignment
on two out of three plays wide open. You can
make quick little stutterstep move. You got a wide open
fourteen footer that ain't happening in the West. I mean
you watch the West. If Jamalgar Murray gets a wide
open second half, look, you're like, wow, blown assignment. It
(16:40):
stands out Indiana Pacers defense is just one big blown assignment.
They're just all blur into the next one.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
and Noon Easter not a im Pacific.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Hey, it's Ben, host of the Fifth Hour with Ben Maller.
Would mean a lot to have you join us on
our weekly auditory journey. Dressed one and God's name is
the Fifth Hour. I'll tell you, it's a spin off
of it. Ben Mather Show a could hit overnights on FSR.
Why should you listen? Picture if you will a world will.
We chat with captains of industry in media, sports and
more every week explore some amazing facts about human nature
(17:16):
and more. Listen to the Fifth Hour with Ben Mather
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get
your podcast Saturday.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
All right, I get into the schedule release. Not everybody does.
I remember years ago, I get into the draft. Peter
King doesn't like the draft. He was like, that doesn't
do a thing for me. You and I like the
schedule release. Not everybody does. I get it. I just
I like order. I said this, like a day has order.
I like getting stuff done, and tonight I get order
to all my games. So it's like it's like majoring
(17:45):
in architecture. I like the order of stuff. I'm a
creature of habit, so I tend to like that. You
artists out there don't need order. You know, I'm not
that anyway. Diana Rassini, is this nonsense? Whatever?
Speaker 8 (18:04):
Okay, I'm listening to this nonsense because I know you're
talking about me.
Speaker 6 (18:07):
There.
Speaker 8 (18:07):
You're taking a shot at me because you know, I'm
not the biggest schedule freak.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
You know.
Speaker 7 (18:11):
I mean, I know the fans love it, and I
do understand having the answers right, like, have an idea
what your fall is gonna look like, what you're gonna
be in two week, and get ready for I know,
from the player perspective.
Speaker 8 (18:22):
They don't really get that into it as much.
Speaker 7 (18:24):
They really are just about when's the bye week, when's
the Thursday night game?
Speaker 8 (18:29):
When are we on short weeks? When do I have
to go to bad weather?
Speaker 7 (18:32):
You know, those are really the things that players care
about at this point.
Speaker 8 (18:36):
I mean, you know who you're playing, You have an
idea at this point.
Speaker 7 (18:39):
So I just talked to a GM this morning though
that he's got a holiday game, and holiday games are tough,
I think, even though everyone knows what the season's about,
and that's pretty much sacrificing everything in your life.
Speaker 8 (18:52):
I don't think anyone really truly wants to play on
Christmas Day. But we'll see how that turns out.
Speaker 6 (18:57):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Yeah, I thought I thought the Jets getting because they're
rebuilding their O line, and as you well know, if
you talk to general managers, they will tell you, the
hardest group to get to play well together is the
O line. That's why having veterans. So the Jets have
three new veterans, a rookie left tackle and by the way,
(19:18):
veterans don't play in preseason much anymore, and they open
up with a VOSA on the road, and I'm like,
that's a that like a tough opener, right for the Jets.
Speaker 7 (19:28):
Yeah, you would think the NFL would just want to
give Aaron an easy first game, considering what we saw
him have to go through and what Jets fans had
to suffer through last year. Just a few plays in
it obviously all going down the drain from there. So yeah,
I definitely see this being a little bit of a
gauntlet coming out for the Jets. Definitely not an easy
(19:49):
I wouldn't I wouldn't think of it as an easy
schedule for the Jets opening up.
Speaker 8 (19:54):
I happen to know some of the games that they
have coming up after that, and they're not great either.
Speaker 7 (19:59):
So look, I think, just in general, I said this
to you probably this time last year, the New York
Jets have the potential to be great if Aaron stays healthy.
We know that they've tried to make some changes in
this offseason. Here they move the staff around a bit.
They made some changes on the offensive side of the
ball with the coaches, with some assistants, and you know,
(20:20):
it's the same story here in New York though Colin
Aaron Rodgers is running the team.
Speaker 8 (20:24):
They're listening to him, and they're.
Speaker 7 (20:25):
Comfortable with it because they know that they're banking on
his success.
Speaker 8 (20:30):
They're banking on his improvements that he's made. I think
he's also learned a lot.
Speaker 7 (20:36):
And I've spoken to some people in that building about
who Aaron is right now, and he's not a point
in his life. We're going to see this tremendous amount
of growth, right. He is who he is at this point, right,
But he had a little bit of an adjustment right
all those years in Green Bay and then coming to
New York and dealing with what he had to deal
with and seeing the things he had to say. But
obviously we've seen from the roster standpoint and even through
(20:56):
the draft process, Aaron Rodgers was well aware everything that
New York Jets we're doing there.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
There are two teams in this league and they feel different.
They almost feel like the seventies the Packers and the Steelers.
They don't make a lot of changes. Packers don't even
have an owner. They're really uh and I say this respectfully.
They're old school, but yet smart enough and well run
enough to win now, especially Green Bay. They get the
(21:22):
quarterbacks right. And then all of a sudden, you take
Russell Wilson Ciara Pittsburgh and I'm just fascinated to watch
it because he's not really on brand. I mean, Big
Ben could have drama, but Big Ben kind of felt
like Pittsburgh. They got the scruffy bear in the motorcycle
and it kind of felt like Pittsburgh. What do you
(21:46):
make Russell Pittsburgh? What are you just kind of your
vibe on it? I think it could go sideways. I
think it could be excellent. What do you make of
are people talking about it?
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (21:57):
I remember the Saturday morning getting the text that he
was there and that this was going to work out,
and just thinking that I was making a mistake because
I was multitasking, that maybe I misread it.
Speaker 8 (22:08):
That Now, like.
Speaker 7 (22:09):
Tomlin and Russell Wilson, I know they like each other,
like I'd seen them on the field before after games
when they would play one another there was always just
a mutual respect that you could see and understanding. But
just when I think of who my Tomlin is, what
he's about.
Speaker 8 (22:24):
But I've even.
Speaker 7 (22:24):
Learned as a reporter from him just observing him as
a leader and how he conducts his team with that
locker room looks like, and then I think of Russell.
Speaker 8 (22:33):
They're just very different.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
People, right.
Speaker 7 (22:36):
So you have this marriage now, and everything I gather
in terms of just having tons of conversations since this
went down is that they want him there. So that
to me immediately says like this is fabulous for Russell Wilson.
Knowing the environment he was in in Denver, which was
as bad as it possibly could get in terms of
(22:56):
him being just wanted.
Speaker 8 (22:57):
Right, it was very clear there was no low burn there.
Speaker 7 (23:01):
It was a pretty hard breakup and it's probably better
for both sides.
Speaker 6 (23:05):
Right.
Speaker 8 (23:05):
So now here he is, they want him there, They're
excited by him, they enjoy.
Speaker 7 (23:09):
Him, and I really believe in terms of the roster
he is set up to succeed here. Yeah, And I
think if he learned from his last experience, which let's
hope he has, I think if he just puts the
confidence and trust and belief in Arthur Smith. I think
that's where he can probably take off here and do
(23:29):
well in Pittsburgh. But it's really going to come down
to whether or not he's going to have that ability
to trust a coach again after what he went through
with Champagne.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
So the Houston Texans, this is one of the things
in baseball, you know, it tends to take years and
years of drafting and then hitting on a few players
to go from bad to good. It takes a while
to process. Same in the NBA you get a nineteen
year old played one year of college. But in the
NFL you can be the Texans, awful, laughable in a
playoff team. Get the coach right, get the quarterback right.
(24:00):
Tom Brady was talking about c J. Stroud on the
Pivot podcast, talking about his humility, his maturity is he's
got a plan there. And Tom talked about there is
a way to last in this league, not just count
there's a way to do it, and I just wondered
if you had any thought. I mean c J Stroud,
(24:20):
I mean his comp was Jared Goff. That's a good comp.
It's kind of blew everybody away, myself included, blew me away,
how good he was? Yeah, like day one, Like what.
Speaker 7 (24:29):
Well, I have a lot of interest. I have a
lot of interest in this in terms of how coaches
and gms, even owners that are really involved, how they
judge these young quarterbacks coming out in the draft, how
they decide, how do they sit there?
Speaker 8 (24:42):
And you know, we just mentioned Sean Payton.
Speaker 7 (24:44):
He's a great example of somebody he knows right away,
right away, this is the guy.
Speaker 8 (24:47):
This is the guy. This is the guy. This is
the guy.
Speaker 7 (24:48):
He's very gray, he's very rarely gray on people. And
I've asked him before, like what do you look for?
Speaker 6 (24:54):
What is it?
Speaker 7 (24:55):
What is the thing that says, yes, this person has
the maturity, they have the leadership, you know, And so
much of it is just that toughness. It's the ability
to take the criticism, the openness, it's the humility. And
it's what makes it so difficult and so rare to
find because it's you're asking a lot of characteristics in
(25:16):
playing the hardest position in sports to be able to
have the physical makeup and then also have that emotional
mental maturity to go along with it.
Speaker 8 (25:25):
And I actually think there's separate things here. Y.
Speaker 7 (25:26):
I think you can be a leader, because I think
most people think leader maturity. I don't believe all quarterbacks
in the NFL right now are mature. There's a few
immature ones that I've come across, but they're really good leaders.
Speaker 8 (25:39):
That's okay. And then you have those few.
Speaker 7 (25:42):
You've got the Jared Goffs, the Matthew Stafford, the Dak Prescott's,
the Justin Herberts, the Patrick Mahomes, who they're the whole thing,
They're the whole brand. It's really I think what what
Tom Brady pointed out though, and CJ. Shrad what makes
him really just quite a unicorn, is that he is
so young and is already able to conduct himself and
(26:04):
understand how this works, which is really adding to the
story of why that was such a shock in terms of, yes,
there were people around the league who knew he'd be good,
but to have that mental emotional maturity to go with it,
I think that's really where Houston hit a grand slam.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
I want to ask you finally about an organization that
you know, well, for just years there was just everything
about Washington felt wrong. Now they've got a new owner,
a new jem, a new coach, and the Jade and
Daniels stuff I'm hearing is so encouraging. He's intentional, He's
got a plan for everything. And you know by the
way he went from you know, Arizona State to LSU,
(26:41):
so we went from kind of a nondescript program to
a star program, never in the news for the wrong stuff.
Productive worker been very easy in college football to get distracted.
Now in the NIL era, he never did. I don't know.
It just sometimes is he gonna be not capable? Is
the number two quarterback gonna be the hit like last year?
(27:01):
Are you hearing anything on what the early indications and
talk of Jayden Daniels is.
Speaker 8 (27:07):
Yeah, And here's the thing.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
It was the talk of Jayden Daniels before if the
commanders took them. It was the popularity and truly just
how much he connected with so many different head coaches
and gms that met with him during.
Speaker 8 (27:19):
The process, just rave reviews across the board.
Speaker 7 (27:24):
I had dinner with the head coach at the combine
who had met Jayden earlier in the day, and we
spent the whole dinner just talking about this kid. And
that was not the intention of us having dinner and
catching up. We really had tons of other things that
we wanted to get to, but he really was shocked
how impressive he was in that meeting.
Speaker 8 (27:41):
Now where we are now.
Speaker 7 (27:42):
And how he's been able to conduct himself. I always
listened to players that to me, like, yes, the coaches
are all gonna say.
Speaker 8 (27:47):
He's learning, we got a long way to go, and
you know, they.
Speaker 7 (27:50):
Give you all the coach talk, but the players are
the ones who know, and the veteran guys, and when
you hear the things that they're saying already in Washington
about the leadership already it's been a month, you know,
and the fact that he's been able to already make
an impression there. You know, you mentioned Caleb Williams, and
I think what happened along the way here at CALEBS,
because yes, the Daniels buzz is phenomenal, and I do
(28:12):
think he's gonna have tons of success in Washington.
Speaker 8 (28:14):
I do think they made the right pick here.
Speaker 7 (28:17):
But the Caleb Williams to me, is the best pick
Chicago has made in terms of surrounding or the timing
of when they picked Caleb and what they did to
build around It's the best Chicago's ever done, probably for
any quarterbacks since June. I've been covering the league, so
when we constantly asking the question which working quarterbacks gonna
come out here and have the most success based on
(28:38):
the roster, to me, it's Caleb Williams because of what
they've been able to do. Commander's offensive line still worries me.
Speaker 6 (28:44):
Colin.
Speaker 7 (28:44):
That's where I feel like we're going to see the
snag in some of their game. But you know, we'll
see if they can coach that up and make some
of those fixes, and maybe Jalen is able to work
around that. But we've seen it over and over, even
the Great Struggle, if their lines on, if their on
lines on strong.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Diana Russini, the athletic, Great to see you. I like
the background. I like the mood of the background. It's
kind of very soothing, very nice take.
Speaker 7 (29:11):
I go for the last time we were on, we
fought a little, so I thought that I'd bring a
little bit calm to the show, yelling at me, accusing
me to why you know, you know what it was.
You just didn't want to you believed you believed my reporting.
You didn't want to believe my reports.
Speaker 8 (29:25):
You were mad about it.
Speaker 7 (29:27):
And then when Peter Schrager said it, You're like, oh, yeah, yeah,
that's true.
Speaker 8 (29:30):
That's you. I'm like, I said it on the show,
but it's all right. Forgive you. I love you, guys,
love you.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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