3 & Out - Darnold gets another shot, Trouble in Cleveland, Don't fight with Mayo

John reacts to the news that J.J. McCarthy needs knee surgery which will ultimately give Sam Darnold another shot at starting in the NFL which will likely be his last chance to prove that he deserves to be a starter in the league. Next, John talks about the Browns rookie, Mike Hall Jr. being arrested and charged for domestic violence, Jared Goff praising his head coach, and how Mayo handles any type of fighting during preseason/joint practices in New England.

Later, John answers your questions in this episode's mailbag segment.

7:27 - Darnold gets another shot

12:36 - Trouble in Cleveland

17:56 - Goff loves his coach

21:11 - Mayo and his rules

28:13 - Mailbag

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (01:31):
What is going on? Everybody? John middlecoff three and now
podcast How are we Doing? I waited around on Tuesday
because there were a lot of reports about Brandon Ayuk
getting traded to the Steelers, and then of course nothing
happened for a long time, so I just recorded a podcast.
So I recorded this. It's about four o'clock in the afternoon.

(01:53):
If something does happen over the next twelve hours, I
will do a reaction video that would be up on
the YouTube. So I will put that up on YouTube
if something happens. But at this pace which everything has
played out, I guess the way everything has played out
so far, I wasn't going to wait on something that
easily might not happen and could take forever. So if

(02:16):
something does, I will have you covered. Go to the
YouTube page. If it doesn't, then here's a podcast. JJ
McCarthy towards knee need surgery on a knee tear, which
they don't know the severity of until they look. So
Sam Donald gets an incredible opportunity that some guys never get,

(02:37):
and he's getting it with a chance to really earn
himself a lot of money or just established that he
is who many people think he is just a backup.
Also wanted to dive into the Browns who had their
second round defensive lineman arrested and yeah, not ideal at
all for Stefanski and Andrew Berry. Some other NFL stories.

(02:59):
Drudd had a great quote Jared Goff said something pretty
interesting as well as a couple of injuries that don't
look to be that serious of some star offensive players.
Like I said, go to YouTube. All of our stuff's
up there. If you listen on Collins Feed, subscribe to
the three and Out podcast. Separately from that, we have
our own feed. You can find all of our stuff
on there as well. And let's talk some football. But

(03:23):
obviously before we dive in, I got to tell you
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Download the game Time app today, last minute to take
its lowest price is guaranteed. It's funny with opportunities. Sports

(04:31):
a lot like life. They can come and they go,
and sometimes certain people get more than others for whatever reason,
for whatever circumstance, and some guys get an opportunity, fail
and never get that shot again. When you look, and
we've talked a lot about the twenty twenty one quarterback class,

(04:53):
Trey Lance is never getting a chance to be a
starting quarterback ever again. I would say the same thing
about Zach Wilson happening. It doesn't mean they can't become
one with injuries, work their way up a depth chart.
They will never be named the starter. As of right now,
Justin Fields gets traded to a team with another quarterback

(05:14):
that someone just paid eighty plus million dollars a dead
cap to kick away, can't beat the guy out. Mac
Jones very difficult for him to become a starter again.
These guys have been in the league just a couple
of years already flipped like that. Yet Sam Darnold, who
looked like his career was down the drain, got a
lifeline and it actually didn't start this year, started the

(05:37):
last year with Kyle Shanahan. And I do think that
belief in a coach who's viewed as one of the
best offensive coaches in the league changed the perception about him.
Goes there. He just told Albert Breer, because let's face it,
early on in his career was kind of embarrassing. But
we talked about this yesterday. When it comes to the

(05:57):
Jet situation, most people can't overcome chaos, most people can't
overcome dysfunction. Most people can't overcome awful coaching. And that's
what Adam Gase was, that's what Matt Rule was as
an NFL coach. Yet he goes to Kyle Shanahan. He's
their backup, and they all really liked him. They felt

(06:17):
comfortable if they had to start him in a game,
And at one point in time last season, after Party
got a concussion that Sam Darnold was gonna start, turned
out pretty cleared, ended up starting, and Sam just basically
started the last game that they punted against the Rams
with a bunch of backups. But then Kevin O'Connell came calling,
So I want to give you ten million dollars. We're

(06:38):
gonna draft a quarterback more than likely we got a
couple first round picks, but you're gonna be our starter.
He said that, No ta's He said that in the
start of training camp and he hasn't relinquished that even
after JJ McCarthy looked good. Then it turns out a
couple days later. JJ McCarthy needs knee surgery now as
of right now, torn meniscus. From what I read, you

(07:01):
don't know how long you're out until they do surgery.
Could be a month, could be The season sucks. If
you're a Vikings fan, that is not what you want
to read. Glass half empty. If he misses the whole season,
you get all those reps. You know, Patrick Mahomes. A
big part of his success even though he red shirted,
was all the reps in practice, constantly getting better, getting

(07:23):
used to and you Reid starting the last game, building
that momentum in the year two, that would be off
the table. Obviously he's out for the year. Best case
scenario post surgery, misses the rest of training camp, maybe
a couple weeks in the regular season, can come back,
run scout team. Everything's fine. But the bright side is
this is not the Bears, this is not Washington. You

(07:45):
didn't name your rookie the starter. You weren't planning on
starting him or even playing him. In a perfect world,
he wouldn't play all season long. And he signed Sam Darnold,
and now he has an enormous opportunity around a young
offensive coach that many believe is a rocket ship with
the best wide receiver in the league with another guy

(08:06):
who's probably gonna get suspended because of a bad dy,
but when he does come back after two or three games,
is one of the better young wide receivers. It looks
like in the league. In Addison, they signed Aaron Jones
last time I checked, he's a stud. They have a
superstar offensive tackle that they just gave a lot of
money to. And it's an incredible opportunity. And if you're

(08:27):
lucky enough to screw something up, even if it's not
all your fault, and get handed another opportunity, you gotta
take advantage of it. And luckily for Sam Darnold, he's
not playing for a huge contract for the Vikings. They're
going to go to JJ McCarthy unless they have to
amputate his lake Like JJ McCarthy's going to be the
Viking starter in twenty twenty five, But he's playing for

(08:49):
a lot of other teams that have a lot of
question marks at quarterback. Some do not have a quarterback.
And if you can be a twenty six year old
who can be successful with Kevin O'Connell, who has Kyle
Shanahan on your resume as a reference. Someone's gonna pay you.
Someone's gonna give you some money, and you can go
from a laughingstock in this league, especially when you're a

(09:12):
highly drafted player, to someone people covet pretty quick. We
just saw with Baker Mayfield, no one would touch him.
Then he goes to Tampa resurrect his career, gets one
hundred million dollars. I'm not saying that's gonna happen here.
I wouldn't bet my life savings on it, but I
do know the right people believe in this guy and

(09:33):
think there's something there. Now it's on Sam to prove it.
You know, it's funny with the Browns. They have this
IVY League leadership. Their GM, super smart guy, went to Harvard,
played at Harvard. They're head coach, super smart guy. Both
of these guys looked the part. One looks like a GM,

(09:55):
one looks like a head coach. Both skinny in shape,
went to Penn just to IVY League elites running their operation.
Yet I was texting with someone today after I saw
the headline that their second round defensive tackle from Ohio State,
Mike Hall Junior, was arrested for quote unquote allegedly dragging

(10:16):
his baby mama maybe she's maybe she's pregnant with a child.
She baby mama, I didn't write that down around the
driveway in front of the house and putting a gun
to her face, basically said saying to her, I will
end it all. Cops arrested him again, all allegedly. We
don't who knows, might be a fact, might not be.

(10:37):
I don't know. Not the point because obviously if that happened,
a complete scumbag. I mean, you gotta cut them. I mean,
end of story, point blank. There's nothing else to say.
But here's the thing for this like group of IVY
League guys, as someone in the NFL put it, they
sure do draft and sign a lot of questionable character guys.

(10:59):
I said, wait, what was this guy's deal? And I
asked around a couple college directors, and they said he
was off several boards around the league. We would have
drafted him, but he was a massive red flag on
our board. He was a no doubt about it, first
round talent. I won't put the Deshaun Watson thing all

(11:21):
on those guys, because clearly the owner had to sign
off on the contract. But it's hard to argue. When
you sign a guy with that much baggage, I question
what you're doing. This one is one of those, and
I think sometimes the analytical elite because Darryl Morey is
a huge believer in this and he's like the founding
father of the group. Character can be like kind of

(11:44):
an afterthought, not as important traits talent ability, and that's
true like in baseball, but in football, you practice way
more than you play. You have a ton of downtime.
And to draft a guy who was a major, major
red flag for anyone you ask in the NFL and

(12:08):
have him not even get halfway through training camp before
the cops coming and putting handcuffs on him is not
a great start. And I think the Browns they've done
a good job. Stefanski's a good coach. A lot of
people push back when I didn't have him in my
top ten list, I easily could have, honestly kind of
forgot about him, and that's on me. They're GM clearly

(12:30):
pretty good, but they overlook character a lot, and this
is pretty glaring. This is a guy that everyone in
the league had questions about, and they picked them and
he couldn't even make it to the second preseason game
without a major situation coming up. And here's the problem.

(12:50):
They haven't had many draft picks over the years, So
what do they do? Lean talent more in character because
we need the guy. We don't have a lot of
high end, cheap talent because we traded it for Deshaun Watson,
So maybe we overlook it a little bit and then
it bites us immediately in the ass. Assuming this is true,

(13:11):
even if only a portion of it is true, he
put himself in a position where the cops came over
to his house and he found his way behind bars.
That can't happen. It simply cannot. But when you draft
red flags, you put yourself at a much higher risk
for these situations to happen. And like I said, these

(13:34):
two Ivy League guys who are really impressive whenever they talk,
very talented at their jobs, feels like, get a little
bit of a pass. I know, one thing I hear
all the time is Andy Reid. He just takes flyers
on characters. I don't know. Seems like a lot of
people do, and some people, because they're more like by
the media, kind of get a pass. Andy Share has

(13:58):
a long history of kicking everyone's ass. Yes, these guys
got worked in a playoff game six months ago. Granted
it was with their backup quarterback. Let's face it, we
would like this team a lot if we believe more
in their quarterback. But part of the reason we don't
believe in the quarterback, not just because his play has

(14:18):
fallen off a cliff, we don't trust the guy. I
don't know, man, I don't know how to get around it.
When you have top fifty or second round picks. I
think he was a fifty fourth pick maybe, but so
he wasn't a top fifty pick, but he was definitely
top fifty player on their board. And he can't make
it to the second preseason game without having an incident

(14:41):
of allegedly putting a gun to someone's face. I just
I can't take you that seriously, I really can't. So
simply put, this isn't good. I mean, no way around it.
A couple other NFL stories, Jared Goff had a really
good comment. I was reading an article Albert Brier does

(15:02):
a really good job, goes to all these training camps
and talks to these guys, and you know, people think
I'm too harsh I guess people people think I hate Sirianni.
None of this is personal. Whenever people have gotten mad
at me in the league, I'm like, this isn't this
is job, Like, I don't think you're that good at
your job. I'm not saying you're a bad dad. I'm
not saying you're a bad person unless I hear you are,

(15:23):
know you, and know that you're a bad person, and
I think you're a scumbag. Like I'm sorry, that's that's
on you, not me. But like if I don't think
you're a good coach, I don't know if Brandon Staley
is a good guy or not. Don't know him. I
just thought he was a phony and a terrible coach.
Sirianni who's had way more success than Brandon Staley. I
will say this, I do believe Brandon Staley knows scheme,

(15:46):
knows how to coach the defensive side of the ball,
like especially on a whiteboard. I don't feel that confident
with Sirianni. But there are other coaches in the league
that do exactly what Sirianni does. Leadership, lead the squad,
do not call any part of the ball, and they're very,
very good at it the Hardball Brothers elite Tomlin say

(16:09):
what you want about him, he's a leader of men,
and I would put Dan Campbell immediately in that category.
And as Jared Goff said, he's never been around a
guy who has a better emotional IQ for when to
push and when to pull back. He's like, his ability
to just know when to go pedal to the medal

(16:30):
and to know when to hit the brakes is something
pretty uncanny. And when you have a guy in a
position of just leadership, that's all they're doing. They're not
dictating the play calls, they're not coaching a position. They're
just leading the men into battle. You better be elite
at that. And the stories I've heard from people with

(16:51):
the Ravens, with John Harbaugh, it's pretty special. Jim Harbaugh's
resume speaks for itself. Dan Campbell took the Lions the
absolutely laughing stock of the league, the team that when
they played on Thanksgiving, it's like, why do we have
to do this every year? To a team many people
are gonna pick this year to win the NFC, that's

(17:11):
a remarkable accomplishment. If he just gets them back into
the playoffs again, the Lions went to the playoffs back
to back years. What if he wins the division again?
The Lions won the division two straight years. How the
hell is that possible. If I would have told you
that five years ago, you would have laughed at me
in the face. I don't think Dan Campbell gets enough credit.

(17:35):
Grod Mayo gave one of the great quotes I've ever heard,
and a lot of people have talked about. You know,
coaches get asked about it all the time, about fighting
in practice. I saw Belichick was on with McAfee and
just said, how pointless it is, Like what a waste.
How no one wants none of the coaching stabs when
you do these joint practices want anyone to fight. Obviously,

(17:57):
tensions flair, people get pissed, but it just slows everything down.
And obviously you can break a hand or something, and
it could be a liability to your team. But Gerrod
Meo said today, and I don't know if he got
this from Bill or he made it of himself, but
he says, I keep this pretty simple. I tell starters,
if you fight, you will play the entire preseason game.

(18:22):
I tell the backups if you fight, you will not
play a snap in the preseason game. What an incredible
threat that you know he will back up. It ain't
worth the risk. And given his team, he ain't worried
about losing anybody. I don't know. It'd be one thing.

(18:42):
I like McVeigh or you know, Andy or some of
these guys said that, like you wouldn't There's be certain
players you would not leave him out there the whole game.
But on a team like this, you know he's not bullshitting.
And I think anytime there is a threat and you
know there is substance behind it and they are not bluffing.

(19:05):
As you grow up, you know your parents. You know
the buttons you can push with them. But then you
get to a point where you know, if I pushed
this button, he ain't lying here. This is gonna be bad,
So you stop pushing. And I just think that's one
of the great ways to sum up your your responsibilities

(19:26):
to your team. Name me a starter who wants to
play the entire preseason game, and name me a backup
who is not only trying to make that team, but
knows that's his resume for the rest of the league.
That would risk that awesome quote. I'm hard on the
Patriots here, but that was good. Couple injury notes before
we get out of here. I think it was scary.

(19:47):
A couple of days ago, the leak Neighbors was down
for a minute and a lot of people thought what
happened to him? Turns out he's gonna be okay. I
saw he said today, I'm one hundred percent not missing
week one. Everything is gonna be fine. We can all
take a deep breath. I don't think there's a worst
tweet or if you see it on Instagram, like with

(20:07):
chefter so and so is down and taken to the
locker room. I saw that yesterday with Jamiir Gibbs. Jamiir
Gibbs was down and taken immediately to the locker room,
and you're like, you have a I don't even play fantasy,
but I felt for all the people in fantasy that
might have had him on their squad. I felt for
all the Lions fans that have waited since Barry Sanders

(20:29):
to have a team where they pumping out their chest
like that sucks, turns out of just a hamstring. That's
always the best case scenario. It's like, well it's gonna
miss a couple weeks, but everything's Okay, and I've said
it forever, there is nothing worse in training camp than
in a practice when a guy goes down, absolutely nothing.

(20:52):
It sucks in the game, but at least it's a game, right.
It happens every single play in a game. Anything can
happen at any moment in a practice. In a lot
of these situations, I think Sam Williams with the Cowboys
happened in a kickoff return drill. In a kickoff return drill.

(21:13):
I just don't think it gets any worse. And I
know these coaches and these gms become numb to it.
I haven't become numb to it just reading it on
the internet. And I've been at enough practices post work
in the league where the practice stops and the energy
goes out. It sucks. So anytime a guy goes down
and everyone's freaking out and it turns out I just

(21:35):
pulled his calf, everything's good because there's a fine line
of just hey, hamstring. We'll just give him a couple
weeks off then like yes, pattel Attendon ripped apart, We're
not gonna see him for a while. You can kiss
this season goodbye. That sucks. So happy to both those
guys who are two players that whether you play fantasy,

(21:56):
whether you just love football, whether you root for one
of those teams, we just want to watch. I just
want to watch Malik Dabors and I want to watch
Jamir Gibbs. Okay, let's dive into a little thing we
call the mailbag at John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is

(22:18):
the Instagram fire into those dms. And you know, one
thing I said over the last couple of weeks that
I don't want to say is controversial, but people have
pushed back in my DMS, and I think I got
a couple of emails as well as that I have
Josh over Lamar, and this question hits on it, and
again it feels like I'm being critical of Lamar. I mean,

(22:40):
I have the guy as a third best quarterback, and
I by any means, I think he's way better now
than he was when he won his first MVP. But
that first MVP statistically was much better than last season
and overall, and this is last year was not a
good MVP season. It just wasn't like he didn't even

(23:03):
throw twenty five touchdowns. Josh Allen, I think I did
the math sometime last week had fifteen more touchdowns than
him passing and rushing combined. So the other thing is like,
I wait the playoffs and I watch one guy who
hasn't been very good in the playoffs ever, and I
watch another guy who has thrived in the playoffs. Just

(23:23):
look at his numbers, look at his play against the Chiefs.
So just wanted to know why you have Josh Allen
as the definitive second best quarterback. Lamar is essentially already
a Hall of Fame Locke, while Alan isn't close. I
see to me like he's going to be a Hall
of Famer. They both are, but obviously he has two MVPs.
Josh has none. The other guy has been a complete

(23:45):
flame out in the playoffs. There's no way around it,
especially when you factor in MVPs. You win MVPs and
then you get rolled at home and you don't play well.
Here's the other thing. Both these guys win, right, Both
these guys are rattling off wins when they play. Lamar
plays on a team last year they had the best
defense in the league by a wide margin. If I

(24:08):
put Josh Allen last year on the on the Ravens,
I think they win the Super Bowl comfortably. They easily
beat the Chiefs, and they would have destroyed the Niners.
Destroyed would be strong. But we saw Lamar destroy them
Niners on Christmas. So like, I just think the gap
right now, one guy trusting the playoffs, the other guy.

(24:30):
I could never put a penny on to win a
big playoff game, big favorite against like last year the Texans,
they didn't have a shot. But a team that can
beat him, like you wouldn't bet on You'd bet on
Joe Burrow if he's healthy, and he's obviously the wild card.
We just have to we don't know enough about his health.
I get a lot of people go, what it, where's
Joe Burrow? Well? I heard someone say this on the

(24:50):
podcast in Bengals fans would know that you guys are
following his training camp. Can he not play in three
straight practices right now? He has to take a day off.
That just concerns me. And Joe is healthy, and we
saw it for a stretch last year, like the game
he had against the forty nine ers when he destroyed him,
he looked like Joe Montana meets Peyton Manning. Obviously, he's
elite and another guy that I trust in big games.

(25:11):
I don't trust Lamar in big games. I just don't.
It doesn't mean he can't change that. But right now,
if Josh Allen like can win big games. We saw
him go to to to. He through five touchdowns against
the Chiefs on the road and his defense screwed him.
You give Josh Allen Lamar's defense. He's winning Super Bowl.

(25:32):
So I don't think it's that crazy of a statement.
And again I'm not asking acting like Lamar Jackson's Dak Prescott.
I mean, I think he's a stud. I like the
guy a lot, but no one can dispute when you
watch him in the playoffs, he doesn't even look like
the same player. And last year's MVP, I listen pretty

(25:53):
almost it was not a great MVP season. Let's not
act like it's some of these great Rogers, Tom Brady.
It wasn't even nearly as good as this is original MVP,
not even close when you look at the stats. The
Ravens defense last year. Mike McDonald, who I watched a
press conference in them at Seattle, like what an impressive guy,
boy genius. Their defense was elite, their team was awesome,

(26:17):
and he sunk. You're totally right about the NCUBLEA and
their BS punishments. Asu got punished by them for COVID
recruiting violations years after the main offenders, herm was fired
and Jaden had transferred to LSU was a joke. I
don't understand why anyone listens to the NC DOUBLEA. I

(26:39):
will always say life starts after forty so you are
living the dream. Full disclosure. I hate the comment living
the dream partly because my dreams, like my actual dreams,
change every night and depending on melatonins or whatever, I
can't even remember them. But I would agree your life
gets better or as you get older. With all the

(27:01):
drama in Niner Land, would you conclude there is an
underlying culture gap that the team is not priority one
if management instilled that mentality, but also that if you
show you are about the team, we will also proactively
take care of you. None of this would be happening
speaking from the Lions Land, where it seems like all

(27:23):
the players in management are all on the same page. Obviously,
the forty nine Ers haven't won a Super Bowl, but
they've had way more success than the Lions. They also
have a lot of guys that need to get paid
so or want to get paid who are deserving to
get paid. And this is a business, so it's it's
easy to go old school. The team, the team, the team.

(27:44):
It's all about like, this is a business. And in life,
I don't care what you do. Sometimes you gotta fight
for your money. The only person who truly cares about
you is you. If the Niners could, they would give
Brandon Ayuka four year, forty million dollar contract. So I
don't blame these guys even though these situations all are
a little different for wanting money. That's that's the way

(28:06):
the world works, especially in the NFL. I think, and
I've heard this, Well, they paid Christian McCaffrey. Of course,
Brandon Ayuk's gonna be pissed how he's Christian McCaffrey got
a raise from like twelve million to nineteen million. If
that was the case with Brandon Ayuk, they would gladly
raise from fourteen million dollar salary to nineteen million. Christian
McCaffrey does not make much money relative to what these

(28:29):
other guys make. Trent Williams, all time great player, all
these other guys he's better than, are getting paid. He
wants a raise. He has no guaranteed money. Totally get it.
The Ayuk situation. By the time you're listening to this,
maybe I'm recording this during the day on Tuesday, so
maybe he's been traded. I don't think it's a culture issue.
I just think these guys want to get I mean

(28:49):
last year Nick Bosa held out all of training camp.
I think the question is they got a bunch of injuries.
They've had a lot of drama. Is this year that
kind of catches up to them? I don't know. I
still think they're really talented and their coaches elite, so
they should be fine in terms of regular season wins,
but injuries are a problem. They have an old team.

(29:13):
I love, it's like the oldest team in the NFL.
You're thinking like thirty seven years old. It's like twenty
seven years old, and you don't have to go that
far to get to the top ten, where the average
age is like twenty five point eight. It's like, what
are we talking about here? I mean, now, some of
their better players, Kittles thirty, Trent Williams is thirty five,

(29:34):
thirty six years old, hasn't been a training camp. Yeah,
I think it's fair. You know, they signed Leonard Floyd,
who's played a long time. Javon Hargrave is a guy
in his third contract. Tarvarius Ward makes a lot of money,
is an older player. So I don't think it's a

(29:56):
culture issue because I think every team deals with this.
What if the Eagles some of their players would have
said no to contracts they offered, would they have a
culture issue or just guys saying no to their contracts?
So I just think these I'm less phased by this
money going back and forth in terms of judging a person.

(30:17):
I fought for money. I'm sure everyone listening to this
fights for money. It's part of life. It just feels
different when you're in the public spotlight and the dollar
amounts are public and big. But I think it's all
kind of falls under the same umbrella, like are you
selfish if you ask your company for a race? Are

(30:39):
you selfish if you know you negotiate a deal, if
you own a business and you say, well, the yesterday's
price is not today's price. You know, I'm dealing with
this wedding and I was talking to my brother who
got married in twenty eighteen, and just asking him, you
know what he paid for this and stuff, and you
just realize it's hard to little thing called a historic

(31:01):
amount of inflation. So five thousand dollars on something in
twenty eighteen is what now eight And depending on where
you're going or money changes. And I think we've seen
the same thing with wide receiver inflation, player inflation, the
cap inflation. You got to kind of get numb to
the numbers. Listener from the UK a question for the

(31:26):
POD would achieves three peat make them the best dynasty ever?
Would put them in a special class because I'm pretty
sure there's never been a three peat in NFL history,
So best dynasty ever? I think part of a dynasty, right,
Like the Warriors were a dynasty, but it lasted eight years.

(31:47):
You know, the Patriots lasted almost twenty. So would you
rather have the same amount of suit? Would you rather
have six super Bowls over twenty years or four super
Bowls over seven years and never win another one? I
think you gotta let things play out over the totality
and then judge them after. But it would be the

(32:09):
greatest run we've ever seen in NFL history these last
three years. If they win another super Bowl, one hundred
percent I don't even think that's debatable. Big NFL fan
over here in the UK, see what Roger's doing is working.
You know, you send these teams across the pond, you
develop fans. Now, maybe you're just a been watching since
eighty two, So maybe Roger hasn't impacted you. Neutral now

(32:31):
as gave up on Washington because of Snyder and enjoyed
it a lot more question the Rams defensive line. Am
seeing them play at Soldier Field in Week four? Excited
about that? How big a drop off are you expecting
with the losses of Donald and Williams in the offseason?
If any? To me, their offense looks like it could
be potent. I think the hard part about judging. Obviously,

(32:56):
you lose Aaron Donald. There's no replacing that. There are
certain players you lose just do not replace, right, Like
Trent Williams just retires tomorrow, there is no replacing that.
It's impossible Aaron Donald retires. You get a caliber of player.
I don't care who you draft, I don't care who
you sign. You're not as good as that guy, and

(33:17):
you don't impact the game plan of the opponent like
that guy does. Where you keep the opposing coordinator, the
opposing players, you make them nervous. Now, if they hit
on these two defensive linemen that they draft in the
top I think both guys were top forty picks. I
mean one guy was a top twenty pick. Maybe it

(33:38):
was like early twenties. I think he was twenty. I
think it was like nineteen, maybe twenty one. I don't
have the draft order in front of me. Jared Versu
and I forget the other guy's name, but the dtackle.
Both of them are Florida State guys. If they're really
good players, then their D line should be pretty good.
Right we saw last year they hit on the pass
rusher I think in the third round. And if these

(34:01):
two guys are good, but you never know with rookies.
The other thing with rookies is you could have a
good game or a good month, can you have a
good season. And that's the thing with Aaron Donald. When
you get a player of his caliber, you just go
if he's on the field and he's healthy, I know
exactly what I'm getting every game. Obviously some games are
better than others, but I'm getting an elite player all

(34:22):
season long. And when you get rookies, even if you
hit him out of the park. You just get moments
where they don't show up, or maybe they run out
of gas, or maybe they get schemed against and they
don't know what to do and they get overwhelmed. Maybe
they're just mentally fatigued, let alone physically fatigue. They never
played this many games. I just think it's an unknown.

(34:45):
It's a wild card. Though. If those guys are good,
they could be good. I mean, they're gonna be a
good team no matter what. But if those guys are
impact players, they could be really good. The other day,
you were talking about how you do not think the
NFL will ever change the MVP to a quarterback award.
Do you think we should separate MVP regular season awards,

(35:05):
one strictly for the quarterbacks and one for everyone else.
I think we can talk about this all we want,
but a lot of people have a lot of different
ideas on awards, on rules in the regular season. If
the league has no urgencies probably even the wrong word,

(35:26):
but just no desire to make a change, then it's
it's a pointless conversation. But yeah, I mean, it makes
it a lot easier. Seems like it'd be a pretty
easy change, But I think that's kind of why they
do the Offensive Player of the Year and the MVP,
because the MVP feels like, moving forward, will just be

(35:46):
a quarterback, and the Offensive Player of the Year can
be of Justin Jefferson can be a Christian McCaffrey. That's
what the nice part about Defensive Player of the Year,
which is just the defensive MVP, like any player can
get it right, Durell Reeves, Deon Sanders, a pass rusher,
a line ray Lewis, Bryan or Lacker, ed Reed, Troy

(36:08):
Paula Malu, like every position is on the table. Where
with the like why can't if I don't allow a
sack and I'm easily the best offensive lineman, why can't
left tackle win the award? He never would? But whoever
you know, Trent Williams or whoever that guy is, how's

(36:30):
he not the most valuable player? He's the best player.
And that's where I think you get in the argument
a most Valuable player to statistics. You know, it's just complicated.
That's why we argue about it all the time, which
is kind of fun. I've got something that nobody is considering,

(36:50):
and I'm surprised when I hear the price only goes
up for contracts. My response is no, shit, But that
doesn't mean it's smart to pay guys you plan on paying.
The salary cap increased by less than six percent on
average the past decade. I think they think that's supposed

(37:12):
to go up closer to ten over the next decade,
but so that six might be nine or ten moving forward.
But I hear what you're saying. The rate of return
on the SMP is closer to fifteen percent. So if
you're going to pay one hundred million dollars signing bonus
on an extension, you can pay that to avoid paying

(37:33):
one oh five next year. But savvy thing to do
is use that one hundred to get the return of
one hundred and fifteen million, then paying the extra five
and six still nets you ten million dollars more. When
Jerry said he didn't have urgency because he went to college,
I assume this is what he meant. I know most
people aren't tuned into finance, but the owners are. Do

(37:58):
you think these players understand that taking a deal early
for less is beneficial to the player because they can
start realized games. I think a lot of agents understand this.
It's why I think a lot of players push for
big signing bonuses because you could argue, take a little

(38:19):
bit less guaranteed. Would you rather have sixty truly guaranteed
and a fifty million dollars signing bonus paid immediately, or
seventy five guaranteed with a twenty five million dollar signing bonus? Right?
I mean these are type conversations that agents and contract
negotiators are having. It's why I think Jordan Love is

(38:41):
a good example. He got less money than Tua, but
before Christmas he will have received seventy five million dollars.
So I think if we want to break down his deal,
you could argue the money up front he's getting is
a more valuable contract than what Tua got because of
the ability to invest the money and assuming that he'll

(39:05):
just play the stock market or invest in real estate
or whatever. Because like you said, prices don't come down,
they go up, and we've seen that more than ever,
definitely in my lifetime over the last three or four years.
In these inflationary times. Now, inflation impacts everybody, but a

(39:26):
guy making one hundred grand and a dude making seventy
five million dollars is a little less faced by inflationary times, right,
if I got seventy five million dollars. It's funny. There
were some houses in my neighborhood that were on sale
for a lot like triple what I bought my house for,
which is cool. Obviously, with high rates, it's a little

(39:49):
harder to flip them, and one was a legit flip,
and I, me and Maria went over there when they
first went on the market just to check it out.
It was like, let's see what this bad boy's bringing
to the table. And I was bs the real estate agent,
and She's like, at the end of the day, if
we sell this house, the rate won't matter because someone's
gonna pay cash. And when rates are high, higher price

(40:14):
points in real estate, for example, or in anything, the
big money people are more likely to pay cash because
they're unfazed by whether it's a seven percent rate or
six point six percent rate doesn't matter. When I bought
my house, the rate kind of mattered because I was
only gonna put down fifteen or ten percent or whatever.

(40:35):
But if I was paying cash, who gives a shit
what the rate is. And that's where I think, when
you're talking these price points or this value of these contracts,
the money up front is really really important at an agent,
yell at me a couple of years ago over something
with a player and the team that he was dealing with.
He's like, they don't pay big bonuses partly because they

(40:57):
don't have the cash like some of these other teams do.
It's what Jake Rosenberg, when he was on a couple
weeks ago, talked about, it's so easy to complain, but
you can maneuver any contract you want because you can
finagle the bonus. So even if I don't have I
only have seven million dollars in cap space in free agency,

(41:20):
I could still win the bidding on a player if
I'm willing to want, I can just fudge his cap
number that first year at like three million dollars, and
I can give him a ton of money up front.
So yeah, I mean, I just those conversations that you're
having get talked about all the time, especially now with

(41:40):
the money that they are discussing, which is insanely high.
It's why, ultimately, when you see guys arguing like you
lose the public like no one actually cares whether I
Uke makes twenty six and a half million dollars or
twenty eight million dollars. No one cares. He cares as

(42:01):
he should. And the tax rate with in Pittsburgh is
ten percent lower, it's a flat rate, a little over
three percent. Well you're paying over thirteen percent in California.
So that's those will the discussions I'm having for every
million dollars I'm getting tax I gotta pay one hundred

(42:22):
and thirty grand or I pay thirty grand. It's a
it's a big deal. So yeah, I think these conversations
are one hundred percent happening. The Packers and Bears rivalry
obviously is the biggest in the NFL. Eh, I don't
know about that. To me, a rivalry obviously, history plays

(42:46):
a huge part in it, but it's also like rivalries
change when teams suck. And the Bears, as Rogers been
saying forever, have been owned by the Packers. So a
rivalry in its is when it's going back and forth.
So yeah, they've been playing for a long time, but
it doesn't it feels like a one sided rivalry, right

(43:09):
Like Auburn has beat Alabama, so it makes that rivalry
pretty interesting. Now that Jim Harbob beat Ohio State, a
couple times. It makes that rivalry even more interesting. But
when one team is just consistently beating your ass, it
doesn't quite feel Even though it's a historic rivalry, it
doesn't feel the same. But I hear what you're saying.

(43:30):
If Caleb Williams can help the Bears turn things around,
then the Jordan Love versus Caleb Williams rivalry could be
the biggest in the NFL over the next decade or
so and could really help revive the Packers Bears rivalry.
You've heard nothing about it this offseason. It's interesting how
the two teams got their franchise quarterbacks in complete opposite ways.
Jordan was considered a project, sat behind Rogers in great

(43:54):
offensive coaching staff for three years, whereas Caleb is a
camp miss prospect, going to literally quarterback graveyard in Chicago.
You can say what you want about the weapons, but
I couldn't think of a worse place for a young
quarterback to go. What do you think will have a
better career based on what you've seen so far? Well,
I mean as of right now, you would have to

(44:15):
bet on Jordan Love because I've seen Jordan Love in
regular season playoff games, thrive, thrive, and he's with an
organization that is consistently successful. So if you were just
playing the odds, you would pick Jordan Love. Now, if
you want it to be a little riskier investor, you
might pick Caleb. Someone shot me an email the other

(44:37):
day and said, listen, I agree with what you said
about Caleb's first game, this preseason game which anyone that want,
my mom could have watched it in seeing the skills,
but the knock and Merril Hodge, I guess has said
over the past six months that he doesn't like him
from the pocket at all, and you don't really see

(44:59):
that much in the preseason game, especially against schemed looks,
which we won't get until the regal season starts. That
is a question mark. Can he pick you apart in
the NFL from the pocket? Because we know he can move,
we know he's got a huge arm, we know he
can throw on the run the ten plus times where
it's like second and eight, third and eleven. Can he

(45:23):
just dice you from the pocket? I've seen Jordan Love
do that in the NFL on the road in the
playoffs with thirty plus million people watching against the Boys,
So I would say, yeah, This rivalry could be resparked
right now. I would say a better rivalry is Cowboys
and Eagles. Why they've both been good? Niners and Rams

(45:45):
why they've both been good. I mean, you kind of
gotta be good to make it a true rivalry that
in current times everyone's invested into. I hope it is
good because the more good teams, the more more interesting
the league is, the better businesses, more entertained we all are.

(46:05):
I'll be in Vegas next week and I want to
play some long bets any favorites. I kind of like
the Saints to make the playoffs. I think you get that.
I saw in DraftKings for plus one seventy five. I
kind of like the Bills. I think you get there
them to be the one seed at like four or
five to one. Obviously, if you watch that first preseason game,

(46:30):
you'd be like they got a long way to go.
I looked at some college bets. Fresno State to win
the Mountain West, you get them at plus four to
seventy five. Those are three that I've kind of looked at.
I'm biased. I on Frezle State, not gonna lie huge
fan from Mexico. I have a bet with a friend

(46:51):
we made about five years ago. He's a Chargers fan
and loved Rivers. Being quite biased, he believes Rivers will
be a Hall of Famer. I'm not so convinced. The
bet is whether or not Rivers will be a first
ballot Hall of Famer. To me, it seems that cut
out of the four draft class, he had the least

(47:12):
impressive career to bet and Eli not only was he
less accomplished, but I also believe he was the least
talented quarterback of the three. Do you think Rivers will
make it the Hall of Fame? And what are your
thoughts on the quarterbacks from the four draft class. Well,
Roethlisberger's a first bout Hall of Famer, that's not a question.

(47:33):
Eli is one of the more polarizing players. But we
can't put extra weight on the playoffs and not act
like his two runs weren't two of the most incredible
things we've ever seen, which is going to get him in.
Do I think Eli's a first bollot Hall of Famer?
Probably not, but I think he's a borderline lock. He
beat Belichick and Brady twice. He went on the road

(47:57):
and took out Farv and Harbaugh in Green Bay and
San Francisco in very tough conditions. It wasn't all him,
but he was the quarterback. So I do not think
one if you bet against Rivers being in a first
ballot Hall of Famer, you're going to win that bet.
I like Philip Rivers a lot. I've said forever. I
think he would be an incredible broadcaster. I think he

(48:20):
would be awesome calling football games as an analyst. I
think he's made for it. I don't think he's a
Hall of Famer. I would not vote Philip Rivers in
the Hall of Fame. And I really enjoyed his career,
and he obviously had some really good moments, and when
he was healthy, he could be a really, really good player.
And if you flip flopped the two and put Eli

(48:41):
in San Diego and Rivers in New York, maybe it
looks different, but that didn't happen. So I would say
Rivers not a Hall of Famer. Like I said, Ben,
first ballot lock Eli. I think there will be some
arguing back and forth. He will get in, Rivers will not.
I'm a high schools who found you while listening to

(49:02):
Colin last year. Have listened to every episode since. Anyway,
the last thing I was gonna say is that it's
cool podcasting. You feel that you really know a person
you've never talked to them before. I feel like if
I ever got the chance to meet you would really
be cool. I'm a Ohio State fan, so I like
all the players that come from there to the NFL.

(49:25):
I know you weren't high on Marvin Harrison junior coming out.
I mean I had him a top ten player. I
just had neighbors over him. I would say pretty high
on him. I mean, I think he's gonna be pretty good.
It's weird. It's like I had Josh Allen over Lamar.
It's like you hate Lamar. It's like he's the third
best quarterback in the league. Uh, do you think that

(49:46):
he could elevate Kyler and make him a top ten
quarterback or does or do you think they make the
playoffs and could he win Offensive Rookie of the Year. Then
about my new favorite quarterback, CJ. Stroud, Where would you
rank in the NFL? A lot of questions here, let's
just focus on Marvin Harrison. I was thinking about this.

(50:06):
I think that the NFC West has like the smartest
group of coaches Kyle and McVeigh. We all call them
like offensive geniuses. Mike McDonald nickname in Baltimore was boy genius.
And I think Jonathan Gannon I met him in Philly.
All my buddies in Philly, they swear by the guy.

(50:27):
I actually think he's pretty impressive. Uh just you talk
to him. You hear him talk the press like he's
this impressive guy. I know that thing that went viral
of the Peo Peo pew was kind of funny and
he got made fun of. But he's impressive guy. I
just don't think they're gonna have the talent to compete
to the playoffs. But Kyler's a problem, and if he's healthy,

(50:51):
he's tough to play against on a weekly basis. Man,
that little dude scrambles around. He's got a big arm
when he gets hot, and he usually gets hot in
the second half. He's taken down a lot of people.
So Marvin Harrison is gonna benefit dramatically from having like
Marvin Harrison last year played with a guy who wasn't
any good, who's just not a good player. That's why

(51:13):
he's not the starting quarterback. And they told him to
transfer You're not gonna start here anymore. It's why Ohio
State is a new quarterback. When Marvin Harrison had CJ. Stroud,
it was like Jesus, and CJ is a different type player.
You know. CJ's a pocket quarterback. Kyler's much more of
like this versatile kind of run around throw guy. But

(51:33):
he's proven to be a good NFL player, And I
would expect Marvin Harrison to be pretty productive this year
for sure on CJ. I think Texans are gonna be
a problem, man. I think they got something brewing. Tank
Dell is a monster. That dude is a baller. Nico
Collins is like six three two twenty five. He's on

(51:56):
a cheap contract. Baller. They trade for Dick who, let's face,
they don't even need. They're gonna be good, man. They're
gonna be a problem this year. You often talk about

(52:17):
how the NFL is cashing in big time on TV
deals for teams that play on Sunday not Sunday Night football.
Is the revenue divvied up equally across all the teams
for primetime games Thursday, Sunday Monday, Does that pot of
money only go to the two teams playing same question
for the playoff games as well. For a team like

(52:38):
the Broncos that won the Super Bowl in sixteen but
haven't been back to the playoffs since, does that mean
there's a lot less money the strength of the NFL,
despite a lot of teams not factoring in to playing
on Sunday and Monday night football consistently and drawing big ratings,
they split the money equally. It's the power of the

(53:01):
valuations of these teams. It's why you can buy the Panthers,
or you can have the Cowboys, the nine Ers, or
the Packers. I know the Packers have an owner, but
you know what I mean. You get the same revenue check. Forever,
Al Davis and the Raiders didn't have any money relative
to the rich owners, but once the season started and
they got the revenue checks from the media, it was

(53:23):
the same amount as the Cowboys. It's why Jerry Jones
is always bitching and moaning about UH merchandise and owning
his own revenue because the power of the NFL is
under the umbrella of the national television deal, which is CBS,
Fox in NBC and now Amazon and Netflix. So when

(53:46):
they get one hundred and fifty or two hundred million
dollars from Netflix or a billion dollars from Amazon. That
gets divvied up equally to the owners, who then divvy
that up to the players, basically fifty to fifty. It's
the most powerful thing about the NFL. That's the thing
with the NBA. They divvy up their television deal equally,

(54:07):
but every team has their own independent deal with their
local television right the next TV deal, the Warriors TV deal,
the Lakers TV deal generates different amounts of money than
Oklahoma City or Orlando. There is no local television deal
with the Niners, or the Giants or the Jets, different

(54:29):
from the Tampa Bay Bucks. There's only national television games
and everyone gets same amount of money equally. Same with
the playoffs. I mean, that's all built in to the
television deals. Brian from Toronto love the podcast. I subscribe
and listen from Toronto Huge Bills Fan. Quick question. When

(54:52):
the Jets and Giants play, or Chargers and Rams play
against each other, do they still get ready in the
home locker room even though they are the visiting team
or do they make them get ready for the game
in the visitor locker room? Just wondering keep it the
good work. It's a good question. I would imagine do

(55:12):
the Chargers use the rams home locker room. I'm not
sure about that. I think the Chargers could be wrong here.
I think there's a visitor locker room. Again, could be
wrong here. And then the Chargers and Rams have different
locker rooms. Not quite you're on that one. Pretty sure
the Giants and Jets flip flop like that's a split.
The Rams built that, and then the Charges are their tenant.

(55:35):
So I don't know about that one. It's a good question.
If there were only two locker rooms, the home team
would get the home locker room in that scenario. But
I'm pretty sure there's more than two locker rooms. At
so far. I think it MetLife. There are two locker rooms,
and in that scenario the Jets are Giants. If they're

(55:58):
playing each other, one team would get the home walcker room.
Thoughts on hard knocks ebraflus, isn't it concerned about his
looks and his beard and not focused on the important matters? Also,
kissing Caleb Williams's ass, I get you to the number
one pick, but Jesus he hasn't have a snap in
the NFL he's not a coach, he's a fanboy. I

(56:20):
will say this, I like ebra Flus's look, and I'm
hard on Sala for dying his beard. If your wife
wants you to look a little different, guess what, happy wife,
happy life. It's always easy for other people to judge
like you ain't the one sleeping with him, so if
she wants that, I got no problem with it if

(56:41):
ebra Flus had. The other thing is they show eber
Flus getting his haircut. Guess what. I used to get
my haircut in the facility. That's where all these guys
get their haircut. So Sean McVeigh get's done up doesn't
bother me to the least. If he had dyed his
hair and his beard, that would be a little much.
He just grut his hair and had a beard. Listen

(57:03):
to someone that's bald. I would die to have his hair.
I think it's a good look. The dying the beard
is trying to be something you're not. You got grace.
Who gives a shit? You're old? Robert Sally got grace.
No one cares. Let's work on his On Reddick, I
have a much bigger issue with the dying of the
beard than I do. A guy growing a beard and

(57:23):
kisses Caleb William's ass because that is his ticket to
getting a contract extension. What you're supposed to do is
scream at him every day. I actually thought eber Flus
came away pretty likable, pretty impressive, very just comfortable in
his own skin. That was my takeaway. So I was
the opposite of you. Listen to your most recent podcast.

(57:46):
I still think Josh Gordon could have gone down as
one of the best if it wasn't for his suspensions,
which feel pretty antiquated. To dude, is just smoke a
little weed, assuming it was just weed. That was in
response to someone asked, if you could, who are the
best wide receivers the last twenty years? Agree? Josh Gordon
was pretty talented. Question for the mailbag A long run,

(58:07):
so I apologize. Are wide receivers about to hit a
wall with contract values? We saw this with running backs
Saquon Eckler, Jacob Zeke. Now we are at the point
with cd I Yuke. Next up will be Chase Higgins
and Diggs. Should we expect a regression? I think it's
going to be very telling that over these next couple
of years, the Chiefs are not paying anyone big money.

(58:31):
The Ravens are not paying any one big money. The
Chargers get good, they are not paying any one big money.
The Packers not paying any wide receiver big money. The Lions. Finally,
did you know the forty nine ers have had debo?
But he's relative to these other contracts, he got less
than half of what Jefferson did. Guaranteed. If these teams

(58:53):
do not win with hot, the Eagles are paying their
two wide receivers a lot of money. If it works,
people follow. I don't care what business you're in. I mean,
I listen to other podcasts all the time, Like, that's
a pretty good idea. I should try that. Maybe I
should have that guy on. I mean, you're always looking
to steal to get better, and if something doesn't work,
you kind of you pivot, and like, I probably shouldn't

(59:14):
try that. Well, if all these wide receiver contracts fail,
or you know, the teams regress because their team's not
as deep, there will be a pivot. I mean, what
was the reason teams stop paying running backs. It wasn't
because they're not good running backs. It's because Zeke immediately
didn't look the same Todd Gurley's knee fell apart. You're like,

(59:37):
this is too risky. So everyone pivoted, and now the
price didn't really jump. Everyone's like, I'll dive back into
the deep end. Saquon got a contract, McCaffrey got a raise.
So I think it just depends how things go. If
all these wide receiver contracts blow up in people's faces,
teams will pivot and they'll stop paying and they'll just

(59:59):
trade them to the bad teams that will pay. But
if it works, teams will do it. I don't think
it's you get in a tough position when you draft
a guy and then he's really good, and he's a
good guy and the team likes him, the coaches like him.
What are you supposed to do not pay him? Because
you would pay other positions. Right if the same thing

(01:00:21):
was a tackle or pass rusher or corner, you're like, hell, yeah,
pay that guy. But with wide receivers, like you said,
now it's turned into running backs, like can I find
another one? And it's also pretty basic economics supply demand.
Colin and I talked about the other day.

Speaker 3 (01:00:36):
Look how many wide receivers that were just drafted the
last couple of years dude's NonStop guys thriving in like
the twenties. Well, if I draft a guy at twenty
six and he becomes a stud, it's one of the
best contracts in the league. Like if Malik Neighbors or
Marvin Harrison is a star, doesn't get any better than

(01:00:56):
that from a deal standpoint. If they're immediately better.

Speaker 1 (01:01:00):
And some of these guys that got paid, you're like, well,
I'm paying this one guy twenty eight. Marvin Harrison's making six.
Who would you rather have right now? Would you rather
have Marvin Harrison at five and a half six million
dollars or Brandon Ayuke? I haven't even seen Marvin Harrison
play a snap in the NFL. I take Marvin Harrison
just based on the potential. If he's good at that price,

(01:01:21):
how'd he beat that? Brandon Ayuk was an incredible player
when he was on the twenty seventh overall contract. He
becomes a little more complicated ones like well, is he
a top seven eight guy I'm gonna pay? Cd is Like, well,
CEDI a top two or three wide receiver, And that
gets to the argument, like you can't overpay a great player.

(01:01:43):
Could you overpay Jerry Rice or Randy Moss or Terrell Owens,
assuming he wasn't a pain in the butt, right Megatron,
I got no problem paying the best of the best.
But you also see like when bad teams have a
highly paid wide receiver kind of useless like Devonte Atoms. Like,
what's the return on investment for the Raiders is not

(01:02:05):
very high because they don't have a quarterback, But you
put DeVante Adams on the bills, You're like, shit, be incredible.
You said a couple episodes ago you were going to Nashville.
I'm pretty well versed in all the favorite local bars
and restaurants if you ever need a recommendation. Also wanted
to suggest you check out Five Daughters Bakery and their

(01:02:27):
one hundred layer donuts. Would ten out of ten recommend
them for your wedding. It would be a huge hit.
Let me, uh, let me write that down. I'll take
a screenshot. Actually, full disclosure. As someone I'm in the
process of trying to lose about ten to fifteen pounds,

(01:02:49):
I got a sweet tooth. I don't like donuts, never
really had or have. My dad was always a sucker
for donuts. Not a donut guy. I'm just not if
I do do sugar in the morning, I do a
waffle like. I like waffles more than pancakes, though I
don't discriminate against pancakes, but I'm not like I like

(01:03:14):
my sugar in the afternoon. I just never really liked donuts.
I've always been more of a croissant guy. Even when
I was a little kid, we would go to the
bakery and my friends, if you're with someone else's parents,
they'd all get donuts, like I'd get the croissant. But
I do understand a lot of people do like donuts.
So I hear you, I'll have to check that out.

(01:03:36):
You think the Sanders family in the Seattle franchise is
a good fit. I feel I couldn't see Dion well.
They got wide receivers, so who knows the problem? You
guys aren't gonna be bad enough to be drafting high
and assuming Shador has a good season and is a
top five ish pick, I don't know if you guys

(01:03:58):
are gonna be in the mix. If you win seven
eight games, you're more likely to pick at fifteen than four. Now,
could you trade up? But I think other teams are
gonna be interested. I don't know. I can't even pretend
to know how the Shadoor Sanders draft process is gonna go.
I think we can all acknowledge it could get weird.

(01:04:19):
And would it totally shock you if he just tries
to drive him to the Cowboys or something. Not at all.
I know this. There're gonna be a lot of eyeballs,
and there were last year, but even this year, now
that you know these guys are draft eligible. But specifically
the quarterback that Week two game at Nebraska against the
Patrick Mahomes clone, Dominic Ryola. I'm pretty excited for that game,

(01:04:43):
Dominic Riola against Shador. I talked to a buddy that
went through there on a scouting trip, who thinks they're
gonna be better, who thinks they have a lot more
talent this year than they did last year. Interesting to
fascinate to play. I mean, Colorado's got two potential top
five picks, Travis Hunter and Shadoor. Good evening, Bro, do

(01:05:10):
you think Zay Flowers will have a thousand yard season?
I think Zay Flowers a stud, so yeah, I would
expect that for sure. I think he's going to be
a monster this season. Someone told me that last year
when he had the fumble in the in the playoff game.
In the locker room, he was crying and one of

(01:05:33):
the coaches went up to him and like, you should
be crying. It should hurt, That should mean a lot
to you. So that moment should drive him. And last season,
I mean, he looked like an ascending star. I don't
know if he'll ever be Tyreek Hill, but he's pretty
freaking good. Hard to not watch him last year and go, God,

(01:05:54):
this guy's sweet. Really enjoyed the coaching rankings you did.
I've always thought the NFL coach coaches medium. NBA is
a players medium, Soccer is fifty to fifty. I've also
thought that Belichick is likely the most valuable individual in
the history of the league that you would want to have,

(01:06:15):
player or coach. I was wondering if you could do
a top five ranking of the top five individuals you'd
want for your team if you were starting a franchise,
and also if you could do a top five list
for twenty twenty four. Well, I think you would take
Mahomes over any coach. I would take Josh Allen over

(01:06:38):
any coach. But here's an example. Would you rather have
Lamar Jackson and just pick a coach, Nick Sirianni or
who's a terrible team, Dave Canalis, he might be a
good coach. Time will tell, Dennis Allen, Or would you

(01:07:00):
rather have like Kyle Shanahan in Rock Party, or Sean
McVay and Jared Goff or Andy Reid in one of
those type of players. To me, you can give me Lamar,
Justin Herbert or some of these players, but if you
give me a bad coach, I don't know. You could

(01:07:24):
argue that if you get one of the top two
or three coaches, their value is they're going to find
the quarterback and make it happen. So yeah, like you
could take Patrick Mahomes with the number one overall draft pick,
but if your coach sucks, I'll take my chances. If
I got Andy Reid, like I've seen him work with

(01:07:45):
every quarterback, seen Kyle Shannan and Sean McVay work with
a ton of different quarterbacks. I think you could make
that argument. And that's like you said that that argument
that went viral years ago, Like is Brad Stevens this one.
He was a good coach and then he became a
bad coach, and then he became an executive and he
won a title, so crazy career, But like, is he

(01:08:08):
more valuable than most NBA players And the answer is no,
Like you take the top NBA players over any coach
because you cannot win in the NBA without un elite player,
and really multiple we're in the NFL. It's like we
could argue all day long, like is brock Purty the
seventh best quarterback? Is he the twelfth best quarterback? But
he's got Kyle Shanahan like Jared Goff, what's Sean McVay

(01:08:32):
and Ben Johnson? Jared Goff's kicking ass and taking names?
So like, like you said, it's a coaches medium. The
top coaches should borderline have equal value. Why if I
was like Andy Reid's agent, it's like, oh, okay, I understand
Patrick mahone's making forty five to fifty million dollars, but
what's Andy's value? Thirty five million? It shouldn't be that

(01:08:53):
much difference if brock Purty next year makes sixty million.
If I'm Kyle's agent, well shit, what's it ain't half
what he's making. Is he worth forty five million dollars?
What Sean McVay worth to the Rams? Because I saw
the Rams before Sean McVay got there. Actually I didn't
because I never watched their games because they were completely irrelevant.

(01:09:15):
You could argue the top coaches in what if Jim
Harbaugh immediately has the Chargers good for the next three
or four years, what's his worth? I'd say pretty high.
So yeah, I mean you could argue the first picks
should be coaches. And then even if you don't get
the top ten quarterbacks, well, if I give that top

(01:09:35):
guy the twelfth best quarterback, he's gonna win, he's gonna win.
But if I give an awful coach, I could give
him Montana, I could give him Mahomes, there's no guarantee
he's gonna win at all. We've seen high end. I
saw Matt Stafford with the Alliance didn't win. Good question,

(01:09:59):
when you get a good quarterback with a good coach,
you get double digit wins playoffs. I mean, like CJ. Stroud,
would he be good anywhere? Or is like does he
benefit from Demiko a young star? I'd say it's a combo.
CJ's really talented. But if I put him just with
a shitty team with no weapons and a bad coach,
doesn't know what he's doing. God speed. I think I

(01:10:23):
just talked myself into the first pick in football should
be the coach, which is why this sport is so
much fun. Because of the NBA, we could argue, like
what is Kurus value? I'd argue he's got value, but
like is he probably overrated because of the guys he's coaching.

(01:10:45):
He could not win with bad players, It's impossible. But
in the NFL you see great coaches win with average players.
So maybe the first pick should all be coaches. If
this was a fantasy draft and not an auction, but
the draft, if you have a top five pick, maybe
you should draft a coach and then take the quarterback
in the second round. Maybe that would be the move. Actually,

(01:11:07):
I think that is the move. The volume