3 & Out - Mailbag

John opens the week with a massive mailbag. He answers your questions during today's podcast that is exclusively mailbag questions. Should NFL players play in the Olympics when Flag Football becomes a competition, is the hype surrounding the Texans justified, and does Bryce Young have a shot at ever being a franchise QB? Those questions and more answered in this mailbag episode.

08:18 - Mailbag

13:25 - Hype surrounding the Texans

23:25 - What is Dallas doesn't re-sign Dak

26:50 - Can Bryce Young be a franchise QB

38:51 - So much Raiders hate

43:13 - Should the league get rid of the franchise tag

52:31 - NFL GM's vs. NBA GM's

56:14 - Why are the Eagles looked at as a shoe in

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (02:00):
What is going on everybody? John Middlecock three and out podcast.
Hopefully you guys all had a good weekend. I made
it back to Scottsdale, Arizona, and in the office right now,
and I thought, you know, I went out with Coward.
We talked a lot of football. You can find it
on his feed on his YouTube channel, and I thought,

(02:22):
you know what, I have a million male bag questions.
Let's do an all mail bag podcast. So you guys know.
The drill at John middlecoff is the Instagram fire into
those dms, very very easy to do. Hopefully everyone had
a good weekend. I'll be honest, I have not done much.
I made it to the gym twice. But other than that,

(02:45):
I watched some Olympic basketball. I watched Simone Biles battle
through a little calf injury. Talking about an athlete, she's
she's a badass. Watch swimming. Watch this one dude on
Germany who in the you know, before they dive in,
they kind they kind of go left to right. And
this guy looked like seven feet tall. I'm like, this

(03:05):
guy's gonna win, and he did, almost broke the world record,
but but he he won the goal. And so I
watched some Olympics. Peyton Manning. There's a lot of Peyton Manning,
who's just all over the snoop dogg Peyton Manning. It's
a bunch of Tom Cruise. You never know who you're
gonna see in Paris. Never been to Paris, but told

(03:25):
Maria maybe one day we'll go. If you've been to Paris,
let me know firing those dms, tell me how it is,
because kind of looks cool. Eiffel Tower, good coffee, museums.
But yeah, I don't know. Maybe I'd probably if I
go to Europe again, i'd probably go to Italy because
I like Italy. I feel like Italy's more my speed,

(03:46):
my style than old Paris. But you know, City of Love,
Brotherly Love Philly. But we're gonna talk a lot of
football plan this week, football podcast, football pots, and more
football podcasts because the pads will be popping. I know
the forty nine ers put on pads on Monday, which

(04:08):
I would imagine a lot of teams either Monday or
Tuesday we'll have the pads on. So we'll be getting
a lot of viral videos, a lot of takes to
be flying about, guys looking good, guys looking crappy, and
you never quite know. But it's better nothing tell you
that and fun time of year. But you guys know
the drill. Subscribe to the podcast if you listen on

(04:29):
Collins YouTube channel. I put out something when Jordan Love
signed his contract YouTube only so that I think I
put that out Friday night. I think that that's up
there if you want to check that out. But just
my initial reaction to that into a Colin and I
talked about that as well, and yeah, let's rock and roll.
But first, before we dive in, I got to tell

(04:51):
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be action. Then I'm going to go to a college

(05:12):
football game, either this year or next. I'm talking a
big one, and that still has potential. Some may say
it's my fortieth birthday this fall, so I gotta do
something fun and enjoyable for that. So we might have
to make it to a big college football game. And
if you want to do one of those things, concerts
all I hear about. I've been to Vegas and seen

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prices guaranteed. Fire into the bag. We will start with
our Man Reese mail bag. Twenty twenty eight Olympics in

(06:16):
Los Angeles will feature flag football. How will owners, GMS,
coaches and players handle this. I'm sure the All Pro
players would love to go to the Olympics and add
a gold medal to their resume, but the Olympics will
overlap with an important portion of offseason practices. Will we

(06:37):
send veteran players who have earned it and can't afford
to miss some off season time, or will we send
practice squad players who can achieve the highlight of their career,
dominate the international competition, pick up some publicity, and not
cost the team key pieces during an intense portion of

(06:59):
season prep. I'm sure this helps that the games are
in LA this year, but can you imagine GMS wanting
to send All Pro players to a place like Tokyo
in August? Full disclosure. I obviously seeing stuff on social
media over the last year about flag football and guys
like Tyreek, you know, their interest in being involved. I

(07:21):
do think it's really complicated. You know, when you think
about basketball and watching this morning, it's kind of crazy
on Sunday morning. You know, obviously Lebron top two or
three player of all time, Curry and Durant top fifteen players.
I think Jokich is gonna go down as one of
the top fifteen players of all time. I mean, he's
fucking incredible. Excuse my language for all the little kids listening.

(07:44):
But you don't get injured a lot in basketball, right,
or at least the injury rate is much smaller. And
I get it's flag football, but Taran and Achilles, Taring
and acl I think the risk is so much high,
even in a seven on seven environment. I had the
thought I was clicking around the Olympics, and it's crazy

(08:07):
with the Olympics. One, it's been diluted, like surfing and skateboarding,
and I'm not trying to be some boomer hater, but
those are Olympic sports. But regardless, I was watching some handball,
which I've never watched before until I think I was
flipping around the channels on like Saturday, and you just
go on Peacock and they just got a million things

(08:27):
that you've missed in the middle of the night, and
I watched handball and one it's just it feels like
a sport you would have played when you were ten
years old at recess. But I was thinking if I
was like a retired athlete in the NBA or definitely
the NFL, you would dominate that. You're so much faster,
You're so much more physical, And I think that would
be a sport where I don't understand why some of

(08:49):
these retired guys, especially if you retired or kind of
forced a retirement in your late twenties early thirties. Rugby
obviously is a little more physical. But I've said this
forever because when I was in college, I lived with
a bunch of rugby players that obviously, if are Americans
trained from a young age, we would annihilate people. Can

(09:09):
you imagine like Fred Warner in the open field tackling people,
or Christian McCaffrey or Tyreek Hill. But obviously those guys
aren't gonna play. But what if guys that were fringe
NFL guys started training for that? And I know it's
the sevens, it's a little more open. It's like seven
on seven football. But I think that's what we should
focus on. I think it's gonna be a little more

(09:30):
difficult of like Justin Jefferson wants to go play flag football.
It's like, hey man paying me like forty fifty million
dollars a year. And like I said, you can say
the same thing in basketball. But is anyone really worried
about any of these guys getting injured in the NBA,
you know, playing four or five games of international play.
We have a long history now. I think in football,
these gms and owners would be terrified. And I think

(09:52):
from a player standpoint, it's pretty risky, right if you
have a major injury, something freaky happens, you're playing. Who
are you playing? So a guy landing on your leg
or hitting you across the middle part of when you
go And I learned this when I was at Frisone
State and definitely in the NFL, and I've been going
to camps forever and you see this. Coaches are always

(10:14):
a little nervous early on in OTAs and early on
in training camp when it comes to younger players transitioning
with the Vets because the speed, the ability to like
not bring a guy to the ground, but still hit
and move and there's just an unease with kind of
everyone watching, and I think that would be on full

(10:38):
display in this flag football situation. So my recommendation, if
you're a sweet athlete and you play like Division I
college football, maybe a couple of years practice squad, go
dominate handball. You could become a handball legend. I'm talking
a legend. And if you really kind of want some
more physicality there's a little physicality handball, go play the

(10:58):
sevens rugby for America. You would immediately if you start
training for a couple of years, you'd make the team.
Who knows, maybe resurrect our program. I guess resurrect probably
be the wrong word, because I don't think we've ever
been good, but you know what I mean. Question for
the podcast. Hey John, I'm thirty one years old and
being a lifelong Texans fan. I can't lie when I

(11:20):
say I'm definitely excited for this upcoming season, but at
the same time, I feel like the hype surrounding our
team has been a bit too high. I'm glad the
Texans realized what they hadn't Stroud early and surrounded him
with talent. I think surrounding a good young quarterback and
still on his rookie deal with talent is the best
way to win a Super Bowl. What should the expectations

(11:41):
be for the Texans this year and say the next
five years. I agree with the hype on the Texans.
A lot of people think that they're just a Super
Bowl contender. I would pump the brakes. I would kind
of expect something similar to last year, which playoffs win
a playoff game. But I think for the next two
to three years, your expectations can be really high. The

(12:04):
number one thing you always have to find out, I
think at the pro level is sustaining high level success
is really really difficult, right, So for CJ. Stroud to
be a top five quarterback over the next five years
means he's just gonna dominate and it's really really hard. Now,
his resume would say he was awesome at Ohio State,

(12:24):
came to the NFL at one of the truly great.
I know, statistically he might have had the best rookie season,
but times are a little different in twenty twenty four
than maybe they were in nineteen eighty three. But regardless,
like one of the great rookie seasons in the history
of the league for any position, and if he just
continues to improve. They anytime you have a quarterback who's
that good, you got a chance to win it off.

(12:47):
You build the team right, And like you said, the
greatest asset they have is the rookie contract, which not
all rookie contracts are the same. He is the second
pick in the draft, like his rookie caract and brock
Perty's rookie contract. Or if you get a guy and
you know Dak Prescott and some of the guys Russell
Wilson early on, those guys are making like a million

(13:08):
dollars a year. CJ was drafted second overall, so his
cap number changes a little year by year, but it's
still like seven eight million dollars. But relative to what
these quarterbacks are making, it's nothing. I think them and
the Colt should make the playoffs. Like to me, new
teams in the playoffs for the AFC would be I
think the Texans should make it again, the Colts should

(13:29):
make it, and I think the Chargers make it as well.
But listen, it's really really hard to win AFC playoff games.
Right You're playing Patrick Mahomes. You know, if Jim Harbaugh
and Justin Herbert are there, if Lamar Jackson the Ravens,
you got to go on the road there. That's difficult.
If the Bengals are back in action and Joe Burrow like,

(13:49):
it's a it's a very tough tough conference to succeed
in because of the talent at that position. Right, I
forgot about the Bills. I mean Josh Allen, who I
think is easily the second best quarterback in the NFL.
So your expectations will be really high. But like you said,
if you go back to back years, win a playoff game,

(14:10):
win the division again, that is really really successful. But
like you only get these moments so often where you
have this team perfectly set up financially, I think, you know,
competing to be in the conference championship game would be
a huge, huge success. Pretty sure you guys have never
been there, right, huge fan of the pod for offensive coaches.

(14:34):
This is from Jacob. Like McVeigh and Kyle, what does
their weekly film study look like when they are preparing
for games? How much film do they typically watch in
number of games and how long does it usually take
and do they watch both sides of the ball for
just the opposing defenses. Well, I think it changes coach

(14:56):
to coach when you are a play caller and the
head coach. I follow the Niners much more closely in
terms of this type stuff than I do McVeigh. But
let's just assume Kyle and Sean do very similar things.
Kyle not only watches I would say at minimum four
games on the previous opponent. Now, it also changes when

(15:19):
you play divisional opponents because you've played them so often.
So when you play uncommon opponents, like if you are
the Rams or the Niners and you're playing I don't
know the Ravens or the Chargers, I'm just picking different
AFC teams that you play once every four years. You
might do more, but I know Kyle watches practice on

(15:40):
both sides of the ball. So you're watching your own team, right,
You're preparing as an offensive play caller watching the opponents defense.
If you're the offensive play caller, and I would say
four to six games minimum. Now you have a staff
working on situations, right, So when you see an offensive
play caller, who's the head coach, who has a run

(16:01):
game coordinator, a pass game coordinator, the offensive line, like,
they have certain roles they play in the game plan, right,
so when it comes to protections, the offensive line coach
is all over that. So in terms of blitzes, that
might be his breakdown. Your pass game coordinator is obviously
breaking down weeks of coverages on the opponent. And then

(16:23):
you have a quality control guy and an analyst that
are always a week ahead. So if it's week two
and let's just pick a game, let's just say the
Rams and the Niners are playing this week, and the
following week the Rams and the Niners play the Bengals
and the Ravens. Where your quality control guy is usually

(16:43):
working a week ahead as well as your advanced scout,
so you have a lot of help that can get
you cut ups and stuff like that. But you have
to watch the team, right, so you break down practice
offense and defense. And I know Kyle and I would
imagine McVeigh as well helps with the defense. I'm not
saying they are that involved, but they are definitely watching

(17:05):
and have philosophical ideas of the way we should attack
an opponent. Belichick was the master of that right, literally
watched everything. Now Bill was probably more involved in the
kicking game as well as offensive defense. Like Kyle's not
involved in the kicking game at all. He's just not
I've never seen such a talented head coach give less.

(17:25):
You know what's about kicking and punting. He just wants
you to punt it well and kick it well, and
if you don't, we got a problem. But he's not
very active in that. But he's very active because part
of it you got to constantly be evaluating your own team,
because if a guy gets injured, who were bumping up,
who's playing well? How can you help out? How can
you coach the coaches the forty nine ers. I mean

(17:48):
this is well documented at this point, film everything. So
Kyle Shanahan in his office while he's getting ready and
just doing his weekly work on a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,
when the team is obviously with their position coaches, he
can press a button and watch their meeting. He's microphone
and video so he can watch and listen to everything

(18:10):
that's being said in that in that video or in
that room on video, and you know, if they're having
a serious conversation. I've heard assistant coaches say we have
access to turn it off. The players know, like you
are miked up in your room twenty four to seven,
three sixty five unless you manually turn it off, and
he knows when you turn it off. So it's in

(18:33):
football these coaches, and I can only speak I've only
been around one. But Andy Reid, I would say, is
putting a one hundred hour weeks because think about that's
just preparation for the game. What about all the other stuff.
You're dealing with the GM, You're dealing with the owner,
if a player gets in trouble, players' personal issues. You're
dealing with the trainer, You're dealing with the equipment staff,
you're dealing with travel. There's just not enough time in

(18:56):
the day. It's why so many coaches love to get
to the office super early because no one really bothers
you from like five to seven thirty. But once kind
of breakfast time hits and everyone's in the building, you
have no clue what's coming. But no one's gonna really
fuck with you unless someone got a DUI the night
before at five point forty five in the morning, so
you kind of have that time to yourself. But I

(19:17):
heard McVeigh talk about this is he used to think
I was never one of those people, and I'm still
to this day, I need some sleep. I can one.
I get really grouchy, I get really edgy, my mind
doesn't work like I just can't operate back to back
to back days off like four or five hours sleep.
I need seven to eight, right, Ideally I go to

(19:39):
bed at ten if I can get up at six
six thirty, but I need sleep to operate at my
highest level. Andy Reid does not. Andy REI can operate
at a really high level off like four or five hours.
Some coaches can. Some people can't, you know. They say
some athletes are like that, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods. They
don't sleep, they don't need much sleep. Michael Jordan historically

(20:01):
needs no sleep. So it just depends on who you are.
Even McVeigh has talked about, like listen, I need to
go home and get some rest. I guess the answer
the long winded way of saying, it's a lot. It
takes a lot of time watching it, and they really
don't stop until probably like Sunday morning. I mean they're
watching film Saturday night on the road on the plane.

(20:22):
Just you're just kind of and there's a balance, right,
because you can like polarize yourself with too much information.
Paralysis by analysis, I think is the way a lot
of people put it stuff. I just think you get
in a groove. These guys are such kind of creatures,
a habit. They're just a routine. But as the he
you know, as a coordinator, as a true OC or DC,

(20:45):
if you're not the head coach, it's there's not that
crazy much on your plate. If something goes crack off
off the field, like wrong off the field or as
the head coach, you have to deal with that, and
you have to deal with that immediately. Plus you're talking
to the media. You always have to deal with the owner.
It's a lot going on. Question for the mailback. First off,

(21:06):
I'm not a Cowboys fan, but does everyone forget that
Dak was in the MVP conversation last season? Lamar Jackson
also hasn't done anything in the playoffs and he got paid.
Don't even get me started on Tua, Lawrence and cousins. Anyways,
if they don't keep Dak dot that dot, then what

(21:26):
it's rough? Starting over coming from a Patriot fan, the
difference here is this would be Dak's second huge contract, right,
So if like Lamar keeps doing what he's doing now.
He won the MVP last year, even though it was
kind of a weird MVP season, but keeps failing in
the playoffs, people are gonna start talking about him like

(21:47):
James Harden because after a while, no one cares what
you do in the regular season. Like part of the
reason we can hold Peyton mannings regular seasons at such
a high level because he won a couple championships like
Aaron rod The conversation around Aaron Rodgers would be dramatically
different if he didn't have the ring. Now it's a
long time ago, but once you get that ring, no

(22:08):
one can really say anything. And I think the problem
here with Dak is is like the amount of money.
If Dak goes, Trevor Lawrence just got that. Trevor Lawrence
just got that. What am I worth? And he's right,
He's worth more. But you know, this is where the
Cowboys are kind of in limbo. And I think I
said this last week, I understand keep riding with Dak

(22:32):
because what are you gonna do become the Raiders and
just have good players in a couple different positions and
have no quarterback? You got no shot. So it's easy
to write it out, and clearly I think Jerry, I
think they're kind of playing mental warfare. They're trying to
see how he responds. But like, I don't think he
didn't respond the last couple of years in the playoffs

(22:53):
because he's content and already rich. I just think he's
I don't know if he kind of short circuits. He
doesn't have the greatest arm, so if he's a time,
he's a little off, he's more liable to throw a pick.
But I'm with you, I would not expect Dak to
hit free agency next year. I saw some clips of
Trey Lance going viral of him airmailing balls all over
the place. Obviously he's not the answer. Dak's their best

(23:17):
quarterback by a country mile, and let's let's face it,
he's he's a top twelve guy in the NFL. I
think where these conversations become so polarizing, we all know
if they just let Dak hit free agency, like, what's
their answer? What are they gonna do? But the problem is,
is he ever good enough to win you the Super Bowl?

(23:39):
And my answer is simple, And I said this about Tua,
like there is a lot of value in Tua. He
can help have you compete. You're never gonna win the
division with him, as we see because the Bills and
Josh Allen are just gonna win way more games in
November and December, and he's just dramatically better. But Tua
does give them credibility they can compete and make the playoffs.

(23:59):
They might be you want and done, but there's something
to be said about being a playoff team than being
just always terrible, which the Dolphins have been a lot
of my life. And with Dak Prescott, you have been
competing to win twelve thirteen games a year. I mean,
that's a fact. That's not like, that's an objective take.
So I think that's very, very difficult to pivot from.

(24:19):
And that's why I would expect him to probably stay.
If you're a betting man, you would bet on Dak
Prescott to be the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys for
the next five years. I've bet a Panther fan my
whole life. Lots of ups and more downs, Like right now,
do you think Bryce can be a franchise quarterback in

(24:42):
the National Football League? I heard Coward on a show
the other day talk about Dak going to Carolina if
they are still struggling this upcoming season. Do you think
that could happen and if it would help, if it
would even help giving out bad the skill positions are,
I think Dak would be much more His viability with

(25:06):
the Raiders, to me, would make a lot more sense.
They are desperate for a quarterback. When you invest as
much as they invested in Bryce Young, I think you
get three years now. I might be wrong on this
because I loved him coming out of college, because you
watched him at Alabama. It's like, this kid's a baller.
I mean, he was a stud. But just because you're

(25:28):
a great college player, you do have to have some
physical skills that translate to the NFL. He's not a
great athlete. He's not even I would say for NFL standards,
he's a marginal athlete. He's very tiny and it was
eye opening to see his size on an NFL field.
He doesn't have a great arm and obviously he's short,

(25:51):
so he has a lot working against him. Like you
watch CJ. Stroud, like just the way he looks in
a huddle, standing behind the line of scrim he looks
like an NFL quarterback you watch Bryce standing. There you go.
I've never seen anything like this. Kyler Murray, who has
similar height to Bryce, is one of the great athletes

(26:15):
in the NFL. Has an absolute howitzer and it's just
I mean, has way more physical skills. So what are
some of Kyler's best plays? He can run around and
make shit happen. That's not really Bryce's thing. He's a
pocket quarterback. It's Tua right now. Tua's bigger than Bryce,
but they're pocket play that we never say these names,

(26:38):
but like Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, like that's how they
have to play well. Carston Palmer, listen, I understand most
people on this podcast have never met these human beings.
I met Carson Palmer one time. He was bigger than
half the dudes on the Golden State Warriors. I used
to go to Raider games because I did the post
game and stay on the sideline and watch Eli and

(26:59):
Philip Rivers. These are fucking massive human beings. I mean
enormous that they look like small forwards, the modern day
power forward in the NBA with cleats on in a helmet.
They feel like they're six seven sixty eight. They're huge.
Peyton Manning, did you see the pictures going viral of
Peyton Manning talking to all the NBA guys in France.

(27:24):
It's not like Lebron and Jason Tatum and some of
the guys were that much bigger than them. It's like
six five sixty six, So it's it's very, very difficult
to be a pocket quarterback and be a tiny little dude.
It really is. The reason Kyler can have success is
one he does have an elite arm and two just
has an elite athleticism. So I feel like I'm being

(27:48):
pretty negative there, but I don't feel really good about it.
I'm not gonna write the guy off, but if it
was a stock, I would short him. My name is Kevin,

(28:09):
and I'm a balls to the wall Charger fan forty
five years now. I like your take on something. Can
you see the Chargers winning at least ten games and
punching their postseason ticket this year? Let's look at this
one way. We have a complete one to eighty when
it comes to the coaching and philosophy with Harbaugh and

(28:30):
his amazing staff. Don't you think that the receivers that
we have will flourish if Harbaugh and Roman with their
style of football picture this. The Chargers run the ball
with ease, so much so that they will be able
to run play action when the opposing defense is leaning
forward to stop this run game, Herbert looks like a

(28:52):
different dude physically. The edge group is the deepest in
the league, which makes the secondary life. There is a
reason Jim Harbaugh is successful everywhere he goes, and these
guys are brought in and they are hungry. I will
say this, We're gonna do a big gambling pod, probably

(29:16):
closer to the season, and I was looking the other day.
Spent about an hour just siphoning through some bets. I
think my favorite bet on the board. I'm tempted to
do this. I don't usually do future bets because one,
I'm not going to bet a couple hundred bucks. That
doesn't do anything for my juices. But the amount of

(29:37):
money i'd have to bet to really kind of get
me going would be a decent chunk of change, five
to ten grand if I was going to go all
in on one future. But I don't really want to
lock up five or ten thousand dollars for four months
like that. That kind of sucks. But I was thinking,
like maybe I should do it this year, maybe we
have a bet of the year, and I think my

(29:59):
bet of the year just looking around at some future bets,
was this undraftkings the Chargers to make the playoffs at
plus one ten, so if you bet one thousand dollars,
you'd win twenty one hundred. If you bet ten grand,
you'd win eleven thousand dollars. And I saw that, and

(30:20):
I'm not gonna lie. I kind of loved it, and
that might be my bet. And there were some other ones,
like I think the Bills over the Dolphins under I
wrote it down on my in my phone on a notepad,
But I think my favorite one that I saw was
the Chargers to make the playoffs, and that might be

(30:41):
worth it because people historically thought I was a Charger hater. No,
I just thought Brandon Saley was a raging fraud I mean,
I just I don't think it gets any more fraudulent
than what we saw as a head coach and what
he was doing with the Chargers. And Jim Harbaugh's the opposite.
And I've watched a lot of Charger Prescott conferences in
Charger content since Jim has been there. One major difference

(31:05):
I see in Jim now one, he's obviously older and
a little skinnier than when he was with the forty
nine ers, but there's like a looseness and I security
is probably the wrong way to put it, but he
had this enormous chip on his shoulder. I would say
at the Stanford in forty nine er days he was
trying to prove to the world something. And I don't

(31:26):
know if it was the last couple of years at
Michigan kicking everyone's ass and then finally winning a national championship,
but there's like a looseness to him now. He's still
pretty crazy. In a press conference is July twenty seventh,
and I think where Sean Slater had left the practice
field a couple days ago, and then the next day
he was on the practice field. Clearly he just like
tweaked a hammy or rolled an ankle. It was something

(31:47):
pretty innocuous, and these reporters are asking Jim all Jim
has to say, listen, he's gonna be fine. He missed
a couple of days, no big deal. Jim refuses to
talk about it, and he's like, it's like Jim, but
that's kind of hardbough. He's very uncomfortable doing the injury stuff.
But there is a looseness to him that he didn't
have the last time. But we know philosophically his football,

(32:12):
the way he wants to play, has never changed, and
the way he plays always works. It worked in the sixties,
it works in the seventies, it worked ten years ago
when he was with the Niners. It works now. That's
going to translate. He has the most talented quarterback he's
ever had. His offensive line should be pretty good, and
we know defensively like his defense are just good and

(32:36):
if anything, they overachieved, why because that's the way they practice.
So I think my favorite bet this year is to
bet the Chargers to make the playoffs on DraftKings plus
one to ten. I don't like it, I love it,
and honestly, I don't think I could love it anymore.
Having Fugazi for the show that literally just happened, and
I think he'll get a good laugh. My first thought

(32:58):
was that I have to DM John middle cough spelled
it wrong, but good effort. I pull up to get
gas behind the car. I just took the hose out
of the car, So I'm pumped that I'm next. No
pun intended only to see the person put the pump
back and walk in the store. Now I have to

(33:19):
have the internal struggle. Do I wait this out? I
could come right out, or do I change lanes, which
I'd have to wait again behind somebody else. This person
was inside the bathroom, scratch it got a drink, who
knows what. But ten minutes later, four cars do my left,
got gas and the dude comes out. You couldn't pull

(33:40):
up to the open parking spot in front of the store.
I do think that's terrible etiquette. I think you have
to do that move either while you're pumping, lock your car,
or just immediately park. Go in, do whatever you gotta do,
then come out and pump. But if you go pump
and finish and some waiting behind you, you gotta get

(34:01):
a move on. So if you're gonna go to the bathroom,
if you're gonna do whatever inside, I think that's gotta
be your immediate move before you pump or just bang out.
You know, two birds, one stone, boom, pump, lock the car,
no one can steal anything. Go inside, do whatever you
need to do, come out, it's done, you can take off.

(34:23):
That's usually my move. I would say, pump lock car,
go in, grab a snack? Why all the Raiders hate?
Hey John Larry here using my wife's Instagram. Why is
everyone picking the Raiders to finish the last in the division.
The last time we lost to the Broncos, we were

(34:44):
the Oakland Raiders ten in a row, and we split
with the Chargers every year. We were the second best
team in the division. Last year with a rookie quarterback
that over his last five games nine touchdowns, first one interception.
We also had the number one deep the league after
Pierce took over, giving up sixteen points a game. I

(35:05):
think it's pretty simple, uh one. I don't think anyone
beside a Raider fan would say you have the fourth
best coach in the league or in the division. Right, Obviously,
you definitely don't have a top two coach in a
division between Andy and Harball. We can debate Sean Payton,
but I am sorry, like everyone's taken Sean Payton over

(35:26):
Antonio Pierce. You have no quarterback. You can give me
these stats like I'm sorry. Once you suck ass, teams
don't take you as seriously. In December. Now you beat
the Chiefs, it's like, whoa we beat the Chiefs. I
get that a lot. Yeah, then they went on to
win the Super Bowl and you guys didn't even sniff
the playoffs. So you have some really good players, you

(35:49):
have some core all pro guys that are awesome every
team in the league would want. But if you're rolling
in to a season with Aidan O'Connell and it's like, well,
Mardner Minshew was one pass away from the playoffs. Yeah,
with Shane Steichen, who is widely considered already like a
top five OC in the league. Who's your OC? Oh

(36:11):
Luke Getzi, the guy everyone laughed at in Chicago. Now
I've defended a little bit because Justin Field's not the
He's got a coach not very accurate. But I'm sorry,
Like I I think eight wins would be an incredible accomplishment.
I really do. You cannot be good in the NFL,
especially in your conference, playing with those two quarterbacks. I

(36:35):
just I just don't think it's possible. So I don't
think it's hate. I just think it's simply let me
pull up your schedule. Let's just let's just go through
the first couple games. You open with the Chargers, We
split with the Chargers all the time. Yeah, they've had
terrible coaches. Like I'm sorry, I have a hard time

(36:55):
seeing you beat Jim Harbaugh. Second game on the road
versus the Ravens. Don't really love you there, Panthers, Okay,
Brown's at home. Your roster isn't remotely close. Now, we'll see.
I don't love Deshaun Watson, but if you win that

(37:16):
game two and two Broncos in Denver, I think the
streak ends there. Steelers at home, possible. Didn't beat him
last year though, Rams on the road, don't love that one.
Chiefs coming to Vegas. Well, listen, your guy just had

(37:36):
a doll of Patrick Mahomes. If you don't think and listen,
the Chiefs are worried about the Super Bowl. You're worried
about going five hundred. Which here's the other thing. You
got a factor in your organization. You've been above five
hundred two times in two decades, two times. So I
would expect the Chiefs to murder you on the road

(37:58):
against the Bengals on the road, against the Dolphins, Broncos
at home on the road against the Chiefs, the Bucks,
who playoff team last year, Falcons pretty good, Jags, I
just think it's gonna be really, really difficult for you.
Guess I do. Now. I don't think you're like a
three win team, but you go seven eight wins and

(38:20):
not really be remotely that close to the playoffs. So
I don't think it's hate when you suck all the
time and never make the playoffs. People just assume that's
what's gonna happen, and you go, well, who's their quarterback?
Aidan O'Connell Gardner Minshew, what are people supposed to say?
Love the Raiders this year? Ten plus wins be one

(38:41):
of the biggest stories in the NFL. They just made
the playoffs with eight. No, you give me Aidan O'Connell stats.
He's not even the starting quarterback. Mail back question. Were
you involved with the Eagles during their five Super Bowl appearance? Uh? No,
I was. I was like a sophomore in college. Had
nothing to do with that one. For the mailbag, it

(39:02):
feels like the league would be better if the NFL
got rid of the franchise tag entirely, allowing star players
to be in free agency and overall, I think seeing
this would be more interesting and would also make the
offseason better. Your thoughts totally disagree. I think the NFL
has separated for several reasons. One, once a week, all

(39:24):
the games matter. But two, I was watching the Olympic
team this morning. Steph Curry is such an outlier of
all the older guys on the team. They have been
on countless teams, right, They've all moved around the league. Lebron,
Kevin Durant, You're just you're talking mercenaries, right, It's Devin Booker.

(39:45):
It's like, what's his next team? That's all we talk about.
Joel Embiid forever. It's like, where's he gonna go next?
Jason Tatum, it's like, could he be on the Celtics
for fifteen years? Probably not. The one thing with the
original Dream Team was like all their guys, Larry Bird, Johnson,
Michael Jordan Clyde, the majority of their team was on

(40:05):
one squad. David Robinson, Charles Barkley played on I guess
he ended up playing on three, but you know what
I mean. And when I was a kid, the NBA,
like the core players played on the team for a decade,
and the NFL star players. If I don't want to
lose you, you're not going anywhere. Doesn't mean you're not
gonna get paid. No, the NFL one has made more

(40:25):
millionaires than any business in the history of business, and
two franchise tag. Most of these guys end up getting
a long term extension. So I actually like the franchise tag.
I think it's because it benefits the fan. And the
reason the NFL has lapped everyone else is because it's
by far the most fan friendly league, easiest to consume,

(40:46):
everything matters, and I think the offseason, yeah, you don't
get Kevin Durant and Lebron James and that type stuff,
that type movement, but for the most part, it's good enough.
The NFL isn't dependent on the off season. Really their offseason,
the biggest moment is the draft. They crushed for six
months during the season, so I think that's a huge

(41:06):
point of difference for football. Then the other sports happened,
I mean baseball, their free agency as a joke. It
starts in dues don't start or signed to like midspring training.
Here's my question, what is the quality or qualities that
the Green Bay Packers saw in Love in college, that

(41:28):
the Chiefs saw in Mahomes in college that the rest
of the NFL seemingly did not. What are the qualities
their leadership team is seeing to instill the confidence in
these guys. Well, both guys played on shitty teams. Right,
Utah State was not very good when he was there,

(41:50):
and obviously Texas Tech was battling to win six to
seven games. I think one year was last year. You
go seven to five attacks Tech, so you're having to
do more with less, and in that, both guys have
big time arm talent. Right, Mahomes is one of the
great arms we've ever seen, and we saw with last
year with Jordan Love. Like, they have special arm talent

(42:13):
and I wouldn't call them like Lamar Jackson or Kyler
Murray athletes, but they are good athletes. So they can move,
scramble to make throws with plus arm and then it
just goes. Obviously Jordan Love more than Mahomes. Can we
mold this guy. I watched Jordan Love a little bit
of his press conference and then an interview he did.

(42:34):
I think the NFL network was there. He's just a
really really impressive guy, really mature and part of being
a quarterback maturity focus, how serious you take the craft.
I remember Veach and talking to another buddy with the Chiefs.
I think after they won the AFC Championship game, either
this year or last year, mahomes like they got to

(42:56):
the building the next day at like six point thirty
to get start getting Super Bowl preparations already in the
training room, getting work done, watching film like the level
of focus the high end guy had, and listen, you
never know. But that's when it comes to scouting, talking
to people about him, how he'll handle money, like you
watch Jordan Love talk about just like the money you

(43:17):
go god. This usually like betting on guys that money
is not going to change the way they operate. Let's
face it, for most of us, if we got one
hundred and fifty Jordan Love's contract, the seventy five million
dollars signing bonus, he gets twenty five million dollars this week.
I think he gets twenty five million dollars October fourth,

(43:39):
and then he gets like twenty five million dollars. I
forget the exact date, December tenth or twelfth, So by
by before Christmas he'll have made seventy five million dollars.
I don't care who you are, you could be seventy
years old. But if you're twenty five years old and
you get seventy five million dollars now taxes or whatever.

(44:01):
I don't know net what will actually get forty fifty
million dollars. If that doesn't change you, you're pretty dialed
as a human being. And we've seen it with Mahomes. Unfazed.
Mahomes probably couldn't be any richer. I mean, I don't
even can't even comprehend how much cash that guy has
in his bank account. How much is his financial guys

(44:22):
have invested for him. He's just like an ATM machine
and it's like you just watch him play. So this
is where it gets to love of the game, how
much passion you have for it. If you don't love football,
once you get paid, the money will face you, just
like if you don't like whatever you do, if I
pay you an astronomical amount of money, you simply will

(44:44):
not work as hard. It's just it's a fact. So
I think these teams won as much as it is
on the guy. Both organizations because of Andy and the Chiefs,
the way they operate, and obviously the Packers have a
fantastic infrastructure to surround these guys and help them out

(45:08):
and mentor them, support them. So if you are a
high level guy, it's set up to succeed. And let's
face it, some organizations are set up for you to fail.
They're not buttoned up, they don't know what they're doing,
they don't have good offensive staff, good offensive personnel, and
it all snowballs and then you just fall apart. So
if I get a guy with a bunch of talent,

(45:31):
a guy who's very focused, a guy who's very very
passionate and loves football, because you have you got to
be an addict. You have to be an addict and
basically be a crackhead, and football's crack. If you're not
at that position, it'll weed out. And we've seen a
lot of guys with talent just never have a shot

(45:51):
because of the time in which you have to put in.
You got to be consumed by it. It's not the
healthiest thing. It's why it's mentally very tax and these
guys that could handle it go on to have a
lot of success if they have the high level physical traits,
which clearly Mahomes does and it looks like Jordan Love
has as well. I know you aren't as big an

(46:19):
NBA fan as you once were. But why do you
think NFL gms are more willing to give up valuable
assets such as first round picks to maximize their Super
Bowl window with older guys like Brady Rogers and Stafford
than nbagms like Polinka and dun Levy, who hold on
to less valuable first round picks and assets instead of

(46:42):
mortgaging their future to maximize their current window with older
guys Lebron James and Steph Curry. Well, the business models
are a lot different right the way the two caps work,
so having there is a balance, Like the Rams are
a good example. They really need their first round picks

(47:03):
now or in the NBA because I can hit on
pick twenty eight. The drafts are so different in the
NBA in the NFL. I mean, how many guys in
a given NBA draft hit fifteen in two rounds? How
many guys in NFL draft hit? I mean you got
guys in every round hit, You got undrafted free agents hitting,
So I think it has more to do. Those two

(47:26):
guys are good examples, like Lebron is forty years old.
So if I'm gonna go get a sweet player and
I got a mortgage three or four picks. Lebron is
not gonna be there in a couple of years, and
then I'm in major trouble. But I'm with you, like,
why do you care about three years from now? Most
NFL teams, the good ones, are very consumed with the present,

(47:47):
or I think these NBA now part of it is
the owners, these algorithms they're using. I listened to my
guy Kaal Kami had on Joe Lacup and he just
kept talking about his models, and I think in the
NFL it's just like not for long, try trying to
win now where the NBA listen, you can give Lebron
a lot of shit, and he's got a lot of
guys traded. He never wants to take any credit for

(48:08):
all the movement on his teams, but he is consumed
with now. And if you wanted to be critical of Steph,
he doesn't force their hand as much now, Lebron sometimes
forces their hand. For like Russell Westbrook, it's like a
stupid where I think Curry is definitely involved, but he
never kind of holds their feet to the fire like
I might leave, like he Lebron takes it like I

(48:31):
might leave. Curry's never done that we're in the NFL.
When you have a star quarterback, you gotta put all
your chips in the middle of the table. So I
think that's probably long winded way of saying. I think
they're just two completely different businesses. And the other thing
with the NFL, if I trade my first round pick,

(48:52):
I can still hit on like, third, fourth, fifth round picks,
where in basketball that's kind of my only asset to
make a trade, so the trade better be right. Where
if I could trade a first round pick right now
for I don't know, some sweet player, right, let's just say,
like I could just trade my first round pick for
Fred Warner, I might do that and be like, well,
I don't have a first round pick in twenty twenty five,

(49:14):
but now Fred Warner's on my team, so I got
the best midal linebacker, and why can't I hit on
my second, third, and fourth round pick. So I think
it's probably it's a lot different that way with you
have way more ammunition in football with other rounds. I mean,
look at the Rams two years ago. They hit on
all the mid round picks, where in basketball it's if

(49:36):
you hit on a second round pick, you're like, that's
unheard of. It's very very rare to get a starter
in the second round, let alone a high end player.
You'd get star players all the time in the second, third,
and fourth round. Okay, last question question for the Bailbacks
from Nicholas. Why are the Eagles seamst seen as some

(50:00):
shoeing to be good. We don't like the head coach.
They lost their best player to retirement. I don't think
he's their best player. You could say their most important
player to retirement. Honestly, they lost two of their most
important players in retirement in terms of leadership. Kelsey didn't
Fletcher Cox retire as well. The quarterback has really only

(50:21):
been good for one of his four seasons and he's
still a question mark the team. But most specifically, their
defense was awful last year. What am I missing? Well?
Their team is really talented. I mean, I think it's
just that simple. Even though they lost Kelsey, they have

(50:41):
drafted so many offensive linemen. They have two stud tackles.
Landon Dickerson's a really good player. I think we just
believe in their operation as an offensive line. Their offensive
line coach is one of the best in the league.
Even if you go okay, Jalen is up and down.
They add Saquon Barkley, who's one of the best just
skill guys in the league. They arguably have the best

(51:04):
one to two combination at wide receiver in DeVante and
aj Brown. They have a really good tight end, and defensively,
I think we had some question marks with their d line.
They had huff from the Jets. They've drafted the two
kids the last two years from Carter and Davis. They
still have Randon Graham. They drafted the best corner in

(51:27):
the draft, and they got another corner in the draft,
the white dude from Iowa. So I just think their
team is really talented. They add Kellen Moore, who's been
a good offensive coordinator in the league, and Vic Fanju
who I think is one of the better defensive coordinators.
Now I'm not picking them as some Super Bowl team,
but their roster is pretty damn good. That their roster

(51:47):
to me is top two or three in the in
the NFC forty nine ers them the Lions. Still some
question marks with the Packers defense, but the Rams like
their team is. They have the most talented team in
their and the Packers, or excuse me, the Cowboys lost
a lot. I think Washington's probably a year away. I
know a lot of people are gonna pick them. I

(52:07):
think coward. I'm not, uh not because I don't. I
love the GM like the coach. I could just see
this being a little bit of a figured out year
for them. The Giants, their d line's good neighbors is sweet,
but it is Daniel Jones any good. Saquan has been
their best offensive player last couple of years. A lot
of new offensive line pieces want to see how that

(52:29):
comes together. But I think the Eagles won the division.
And it doesn't mean Jalen Hurts is the MVP or anything,
but I'm with you. Like, but here's the thing with Sirianni.
What's he doing calling time outs given pump up speeches.
It's ultimately on Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio, who both
guys as coordinators have proven to be like playoff level coordinators. Now,

(52:52):
what they do in January a lot of question marks.
But I think it would be a pretty big upset
if they're not in the playoffs. So I shoeing to
be good. I don't know if I'd go like shoeing
to be how good. I have a hard time seeing
them with less than ten wins. No, I don't think
they're a fourteen win team, but I could see ten

(53:13):
eleven wins and win the division. Okay, you guys know
the drill firing those dms. Appreciate everyone who did. Keep
doing it because the mail bag. We're hitting the ground running. Baby.
Most teams pads are on on Monday. I'm recording this
on Sunday, so you're gonna see a lot of highlights
coming out all over the NFL. Can't wait, and uh,

(53:33):
let's get excited. Baby Football's back. The volume