Hour 3 - Cardinals-Rams preview with Mark Sanchez

Fox Sports NFL analyst Mark Sanchez joins the show to breakdown an electric performance from Cardinals QB Kyler Murray vs the Rams

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
All right, here we go, it's our three. We promised
Mark Sanchez sitting on the set. Usually a big dramatic
walk in, but when you got the star, when you
got quarterback one on the set, we're not messing around.
Uh So, Mark Sanchez is joining us. This is our
three of the Herd. He's calling the Niners Rams game.
And by the way, it's big for both and they're

(00:47):
both missing key people. Niners now are without McCaffrey and
Depot and they're kind of the DNA at that offense.
It's physical. So that game, once we heard Gebo was out,
we're like, okay, it's back to being very very interesting. Right.
So there's a lot of stuff to talk about. I
want to start with something that's near and dear to us.
You said something during the break that I never thought about,
but It's so true. You know, usc Is, California's got

(01:12):
a lot of good high school quarterbacks. Sam Darnold is
somebody I think everybody likes. Sam's just like a nut,
likable Kaddy was down. He played like ocean side. He
just like wreaked a volleyball linebacker. In part.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
I don't know if they liked him in New York. Well,
they didn't like me in New York sometimes too so.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
But there is something about Sam. Is that the dysfunction
of the Jets, which has been lasting fifteen years, and
the dysfunction of Carolina, it kind of felt like, I
just give this guy functionality. Are you surprised? I mean,
he was missing his number two receiver, his number one
tight end, Justin Jefferson got hurt. Have you been surprised

(01:52):
a little by Sam's effectiveness?

Speaker 3 (01:54):
I think I don't know if surprised is the word.
I think I'm just thrilled for or his success because
of exactly what you just mentioned. The two first franchises
that he was with, I don't know if they did
him any favors. And listen, he didn't play just lights
out and everybody else was the problem. He was the
problem at times. That happens. You know, he's learning how

(02:16):
to play the position. But I don't think he really
got to take a breath in this league and learn
the position of quarterback the way he has the last
two years compared to his first few, Meaning he got
to be with Shanahan and now he gets to be
with Kevin O'Connell. He saw him play late in the
year last year in what was essentially a throwaway game
for the Niners, and he played pretty decent, decent enough

(02:40):
for the Vikings to take a shot on it. That's
right and say, hey, you know, we'll see what happens.
You're going to compete with a top end draft pick
and see how you do well. The other guy ends
up getting hurt. Whether Sam was going to be the
starter or not, fine, makes no difference. But show me
what you can do right. And in these first two games,
it's still a small sample size. I've seen everything I
need to see.

Speaker 4 (03:00):
Now. Is he gonna have to improve?

Speaker 3 (03:02):
Is he gonna have to eliminate the turnover that he
had or whatever the other day? But the guy was
steady man. And then the ball he threw up the field.
You don't throw that when you're getting your head knocked
in in New York and Carolina, and just back then
he was treading water. Right now he looks like, yeah,

(03:26):
I can make this happen. And there's plenty of talent
around him. There's plenty of talent in that coaching staff
that's gonna at least put him in the right position. Now,
if Sam, you can tell me you know how to
play this position a little better than you did six
seven years ago, which is obvious. Okay, at least he's
gonna get you in the right direction. He's gonna get
you go in the right direction. And I think that's

(03:46):
really what we're seeing the time on task with two
formidable coordinators and coaches in Shanahan and Kevin O'Connell. And
now he's got some juice around him. He's got guys
making plays. So that's that's exactly what should happen, you
know what I mean, And that's they're on the right track.
I love where they're at.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah, So you were fortunate at USC you had a
former NFL coach Pete Carroll. Now he was a defensive guy,
but he had a grown up in the room. This
wasn't a sticky college offense and so I think there
is an advantage. Baker and Kyler had Lincoln Riley, and
clearly it's a sophisticated college offense. Miller Moss has picked

(04:28):
it up. So I did think Caleb would be a
little better at the line of scrimmage based on the
history of watching Lincoln's guys. Early he's been a little overwhelmed. Again,
I'm gonna ask a quarterback. Yeah, the older you got,
the easier it was for you to audible out of
some sacks. Is this a little on Caleb too, not

(04:49):
just the old line.

Speaker 4 (04:50):
Oh for sure.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
And it's them learning how to play together. It's you know,
Sam Darnold's seven years ago, eight years ago, whenever he
got in the league. Caleb's going through that now and
he's trying to figure it out with a much better
supporting cast.

Speaker 4 (05:03):
So there are going to be those plays.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
He also has more, you know, more of an ability
to extend plays and go off script. But where's the
fine line. Remember in the off season we did those
clips against with Caleb at usc against Colorado and when
to take out, when to be Clark Kent, when to
be Superman. He's figuring that out right now and some

(05:24):
of that is, you're going to take sacks doing what
he's doing. If you're gonna run around a bunch ask
Kyler Murray. It worked out last week, but don't let
that those splash plays fool you. They don't always work
out for you. So he's managing that and trying to understand, Okay,
what I can and cannot get away with, just like
a kid, right, what are my parents going to crack

(05:45):
down on? And what can I get away with? How
far can I push these boundaries? And where's the world
that I need to live in now? I think, you know,
him airing on the side of caution and being a
little more conservative will only help them because they have
playmakers to make. You know, guy's gotta help them mount
mainly the run game. I mean, I think DeAndre Swift

(06:05):
has like fifty yards rushing and two games like we
need a little more help there from the run game,
because at the run game is not just a quarterback's
best friend, it's the O line's best friend. Just understand this.
If you drop back fifty times a game, that's the
RAMS game one fifty times in one game. You know
how hard that is on an O line. Just snapping
the ball and catching defenders playing red Rover with three

(06:27):
hundred pounds monsters move every game or every snap rather,
I mean, that's really really hard to ask guys to
do that, especially when you're lining up like coordinators that
can just you know, turn your brain to mush because
of all the exotic blitzes they're bringing. So Caleb's doing that,
He's managing calling plays in a huddle. Remember that's a

(06:48):
complete and stark contrast from what he did in college.
Right in college, when you look to the sideline and
every position group has their own signaler to tell him
exactly what to do, and you don't go to the
quarterback for information for some eye integrity in the huddle,
like look at me, dude, I got the answers you
go execute.

Speaker 4 (07:05):
Look at me.

Speaker 3 (07:06):
I gotta I gotta say every play like it's the
best play we got. He's never done that, not since
high school maybe and maybe not even then because kids
in high school don't do it anymore. So he's learning
so much on the fly. Just imagine drinking through a
fire hose. It's a lot of information. There's a lot
of stuff being thrown at him. I will I will
credit him for his demeanor, though, I mean, sure, does

(07:26):
he get upset, does he you know, hang his head
a little bit? Does he get frustrated? Absolutely, and he
has every right to. But he's he's fighting like hell man,
and I you know, I admire that. I admire what
he's going through. I know exactly what he's feeling. And
it is really hard. The guys are smarter, they're bigger,
they're stronger, they're faster, and their whole existence is built

(07:46):
on ruining your Sunday. So there's a lot flying at him.
He's handling it, you know, the very best he can.
And it's their job as the offensive staff, as the
defense to take as much pressure off him as he
can without stunting his growth.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Mark Sanejonius for the radio audience. So, you know, as
a consumer of football who didn't play at high level,
one of the things I watch with defense is pursuit
and alignment. Do you make people earn their yards? Patriots
almost never gave you cheap points. Rex Ryan's don't beat yourself,
don't beat yourself. Offense is different. I tend to look

(08:21):
for motion, different sets, confuse the defense, make defensive players
think a lot of its efficiency and choreography. My criticism
on the Jets in the first two weeks. They don't
have a kid quarterback. They have a forty year old
one of the most cerebral quarterbacks in the league. I
find the offense very little motion last two years with
NTT Hackett Virch. I mean, it's like lowest in the

(08:41):
league or near it. I don't think they're now. They
don't have tight end production. Maybe there's some limitations personnel.
But when I watch the Jets, my takeaway is are
they challenging Aaron because it looks predictable.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
Well, I think Aaron also is at a point where
he can use the motion. He can use some of
those indicators, but a lot of that stuff he can
figure out on his own. Even in a static formation,
no motion, no shifts. If he wants it, he'll move
a guy around like he'll throw an emotion here or there,
you know, just to try and get some information from
a defense. But it's not, you know, the end of

(09:13):
the world for somebody like him, a young player. You
just throw him up there in a two x two
balance formation with no motion. That's a lot to figure
out for somebody like Number eight in New York. The
guy's done it his whole life. Because you're eighteen, you
know what I mean, So that doesn't bother me as much.
My real question, if we're nitpicking the Jets here is, Okay,

(09:35):
how are we stopping the run? I mean people are
running at will on you, and that makes it really hard.
You control the game, your offensive line gets confidence. I mean,
you dominate time of possession, and it's an attitude thing.
And if you're gonna put him behind the eight ball
all the time, do you have a chance with Aaron
Rodgers in the fourth quarter and the supporting cast they have, absolutely?
Do you want to major in that sixteen weeks seventeen

(09:57):
weeks in a row. Hell no, No, Hey, you want
to at least have a lead at halftime every once
in a while. That makes it nice for a quarterback,
you know. So you know, he's he's having to overcome
a lot. Also coming off a huge injury. This guy's
forty years old. He's not, you know, second year in
the league, so sure his mobility, mobility is going to
be compromised a little bit because of his injury. But

(10:20):
I'm less worried about their offense as I am the
defense to you know, kind of hold up there, end
of the bargain. And that's really been the Jets calling
card the last couple of years. Right, the defense is set,
we just need a quarterback. Well, every year is different,
and every year you got to prove it all over again.
It's not just automatic.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
Yeah, and CJ. Moseley's banged up, and he's the signal
caller A really good for great, he's a great quarterback
on defense. He gets everybody aligned. Yeah, that's a big deal, right, Oh.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
Huge, huge, because that's your that's your juice, that's your
heartbeat of your defense. And when he's right, everybody's right,
you know what I mean. And even in that first game,
you know, the the forty nine ers weren't at their
very best, but they still ran the ball. Really what
I mean, it was whenever they wanted, you know, So
think about it. Think about how many plays Aaron even

(11:04):
had in that game.

Speaker 4 (11:05):
It was light.

Speaker 3 (11:06):
That's why those any negative play just was magnified because
they had so many less opportunities on offense because the
other team, the forty nine ers, happened to run the
ball all over the field.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
Okay, he's got the Rams and the Niners this week,
Mark brings tape. The film sessions are fantastic. He'll have that.
On the other side, on Kyler Murray, who may have
had the best day of any player in the league
as far. He and Adrian Hutchison of the Lions on
a pass rush. It was wild. We'll talk about that.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
All right, we're back with Mark Sanchez. Got Rams Niners
my favorite, my favorite part. So you did the Cardinals
Rams last night. It was almost unfair. Rams did not
have a left tackle in the building. So good luck
Kyler Murray. I mean, this guy is so talented, Kingsbury said,
it's the best high school football player I've ever seen
in Texas. That's a pretty big state. He could have

(12:06):
played Major League baseball. There's been some turbulence around him,
but I always fall back on this. He throws about
the prettiest ball in the league, and he's insanely elusive,
like like it.

Speaker 4 (12:17):
Looks sillyy tough to bring down.

Speaker 1 (12:20):
Okay, so let's go to the tape. Your thoughts on
what you saw yeah.

Speaker 3 (12:23):
I think the most important thing for Kyler and I
don't want their their proficiency in the run game to
get overshadowed. Because James Connor really had a nice day.
That offensive line was moving around the Rams defense, their
front seven pretty good, and they could run it almost
at will. I thought that gave Kyler so much confidence
and they have something to fall back on. They've been

(12:45):
and you know this game, they you know, jumped out
to a huge lead the last week they were in
the game at Buffalo Week one, second year with the
offensive coordinator. But this is really and I said this
in the broadcast, but Kyler, this is his opportunity. You
signed the big second contract. It's year two with this coordinator.
You speak the language, you know everything that's going on.

(13:05):
It's time for him to assume.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
The lead role here.

Speaker 3 (13:09):
Grab the bull by the horns, so to speak, and
be Kurt Warner, be Carson Palmer, own this thing. Leave
no doubt that this is your squad.

Speaker 4 (13:18):
You are the leader.

Speaker 3 (13:19):
You're old enough, you're wise enough, you're still athletic enough.
He's in the prime of his career. This is a
chance turn it on, big guy, and he did it
in this game. It was awesome to watch. So watch
his first clip and how they use split alignment. So
they're going to condense Marvin Harrison Junior. Remember going into
this game, Oh Marvin Harrison, he didn't.

Speaker 4 (13:37):
Get any touches. He didn't get any touches. Well, look
how close they line him up.

Speaker 3 (13:40):
They're in the red zone almost at the twenty, and
they're gonna run a red zone concept, old school West
Coast concept called scissors where Marvin Harrison's running the deep
posts and there goes Trey McBride, who I love, by
the way, Mackie Award winner in college Colorado State.

Speaker 4 (13:52):
Love this kid. Third year.

Speaker 3 (13:53):
He's running the corner. Well, they get plenty of space
on the outside. And when you condense his split like
that versus quarters defense, which is popular in the red zone,
you're gonna get outside leverage from that corner. Well, he's
running a post, so he's got everything he wants. These
guys are taking off at the same level. They're flying,
putting pressure on Quinton Lake, the safety and the corner
tr Davis White. Now they got to make decisions. So

(14:15):
this defense is in trouble here. We got a deep
post ripping over the top and there goes Quinton Lake
with the corner. Who's got to help on this because
Trudavius White is already beat by alignment. The backside safety,
Cameron Curl's got to go cut this thing off on
the right side. That right pillar has to go help.
He's got nineteen yards to close and Kyler does an
excellent job keeping him on his track, keeping that post

(14:37):
skinny and not giving him enough time to get over
over the top. Now, the only nitpick I have here,
I'd go one bounce for Kyler because that ball was
too close for comfort. When you're close to the red
zone like that, right near the twenty, you're running out
of real estate at the back of the end zone.
He almost threw it out of the back of the
end zone. Yeah, and Cameron Curl almost got over there.
So that ball's got to be up. I mean, we're

(14:58):
talking a hare sooner, split second sooner, and it's perfect.
It works out in the game, And that was that
was money. That tells me he knows where number one is,
He recognized the defense, he knows the situation. We're in
the red zone, we got scissors dialed up, we get quarters.
I'm licking my chops we got outside leverage. There goes McBride, Boom,
let's go baby, deliver the football and he was nails.

Speaker 4 (15:19):
I love that. I love that.

Speaker 1 (15:21):
The next one. The next one is elusiveness.

Speaker 3 (15:24):
It's they're trying to throw the O shoot screen. Okay,
it's a family show, so we're gonna call it the
O shoot screen, yeah, or oh shucks screen. But essentially
they're trying to get Trey McBride on the backside. Show
everybody moving one way and kind of OKI DOQ back
door style, right, So go ahead and roll the clip,
we'll show Trey McBride.

Speaker 5 (15:44):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (15:44):
But they're using their thirteen set and they use this
quite a bit, which is one three tight ends, one
run back, and they were forcing the Rams to decide
are we going base personnel to stop the run or
are we going nickel personnel to see if they're gonna
try and throw it, and they had them.

Speaker 4 (15:58):
You know, this chess game was going on all game longs.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
So there goes Trey McBride out the backside and look
at where Kyler Murray's looking. He's trying to get this
ball back. He's trying to show everybody, Hey, we're going right,
We're going right and then throw a dime to the backside.
You see his eyes, Yeah, look at the decal. The
detail is in the decal. I told you last week
on him right, so we know where he's looking. But
now he sees Marvin Harrison over the top. He sees

(16:22):
Trey McBride covered, so he's got to get to number two. Okay,
are you kidding me? Tip Ryman, a rookie out of
Illinois making this block. Kyler Murray owes him a steak
dinner for this because he keeps his play alive and
keeps it going. That's where he wants to throw to
Marvin Harrison going to the right. Cam rac curls all
over him. He stone walls him, says, you ain't coming here, buddy.

Speaker 4 (16:39):
So what's he do?

Speaker 3 (16:40):
They're just playing backyard ball now. This is where Kyler
can be special. This is where when these plays work.
Oh buddy, look out, because if he's hitting those red
zone deep posts and he's hitting plays like this, it's hey, man,
check the mail, that little red thing on the mailbox.
When that thing's up, you better go check the mail
and throw it anywhere to Marvin Harrison Junior. This guy's
long he's rained aj Green style. I mean, he's got

(17:02):
that kind of body type and then to go let
it go, he just put enough air under that thing.
Is this is not the design of the play. I
guarantee you, that's not how they drew it up. I
guarantee you, And all their walkthroughs and all their practices
leading up to that, they were throwing it back to
Trey McBride. So to see Kyler go from one to
two and make his plays like that with the run game,

(17:22):
with the defense as tough as they were, Buddy, that's
this NFC West matchups. You know this race is going
to be is gonna be tight.

Speaker 1 (17:30):
So you have Niners rams let's pivot here to brock Purty.
It's different Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Shanahan. I don't blame
him can become. I mean you get enamored with him
every time he give him the ball at six yards.
So he's come off back to back heavy usage years,
and like in Carolina, that third year, he's banged up
and he gonna be out for a while. So I
want to ask you, how does that now? Deebo another

(17:52):
physical chess piece, he's out, So you have I mean
they both play above their weight, although Debel's pretty stocky guy.
How does this change if you're quarterbacking the Niners? I
just lost my most physical runners of the football. Does
it change how Shanahan? Does it get pretier? Is it
more perimeter? What do you do?

Speaker 3 (18:11):
Well, don't forget that this last year was the first
year that one half back has toted the rock that
many times in the rushing game for Shanahan in a
long time. Right, Remember it was moster Elijah Mitchell. It
was all these other players, and they would just you know,
rotating door and turnstile door with a stable of backs. Okay,

(18:33):
you're you got a breath, you're ready to go. Go,
get in there, fresh legs, go boom, and they would
just change over these backs. Well, now, last year was
the first time McCaffrey took all the bulk of the look.
So now they're back into what they used to do
for years, and they were still competitive, still made it
to a Super Bowl and could have won. So this
is no different for the Niners other than a couple

(18:54):
of personnel issues, mainly McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel. However, they're
still rushing for almost two hundred yards a game. The
Rams are only rushing for like seventy yards a game,
So this is gonna be a ground game, a ground
and pound type game. And Brock Purdy just keeping it
nice and steady, which we know he can do.

Speaker 4 (19:14):
They also have depth.

Speaker 3 (19:15):
That's why I'm I'm less concerned about the Niners than
I am maybe the Rams. Juwan Jennings, that guy makes
big play after big plays. Hero, I mean, this guy
makes crucial third down catches. And then Ayuk Trent Williams.
Got to get those guys going. Neither of them have
gotten game balls, I would assume for their first two performances.
So okay, get those guys back, get their legs under them,

(19:36):
get them in football shape. They miss training camp. Now
it's time for those guys to start really rolling. And
you know he's gonna be the feature guy. Juwan Jennings
gonna have to make some plays. Ronnie Bell, where are you?
Let's go a big guy, Pierce All when he gets
off his non football injury list.

Speaker 4 (19:50):
Boom, what's this guy all about? You know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (19:52):
And they're gonna have to get some other players involved.
Less concerned there than I am with you know Rams
stopping the run, because that's gonna be that's gonna be
an absolute killer.

Speaker 1 (20:02):
Finally, this is an AFC question. I know you don't
watch it as much, but CJ. Stroud is a California kid,
and clearly over the last couple of years he's the outlier,
walks in great and there's a lot of components to this.
It's not just athletic ability, because he's not as athletic
as some of these guys. My take watching him is

(20:23):
there are guys like this. You're all accurate, but there
are guys that are freaky accurate, like platform left moot.
When I watch him play, I'm like, he is accurate
on one foot two left, right, moving forward. If there's
a secret sauce, it's just accuracy. It's like a golfer

(20:45):
who's got a nine iron and can put it exactly
where he wants when I watch him, That's what it
is to me. Is it more than that? Because I'm
watching the last two years, these guys are all bailing
water and he may be the third best quarterback on
a weekly basis. It's not that he's succeeding. He's succeeding
like Burrow.

Speaker 4 (21:03):
Yeah, I think.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
The other thing we can't get lost with is they
did drop their first two games if I'm correct last year, right,
so they were owing two discusion right, so everybody's like good,
but still, hey, the quarterback showing flashes like is this
for real? Who are we? What's our identity? New head coach,
new quarterback? So things were still taking shape, So we
can't write off any of these own two teams. Also,

(21:27):
you can tell he's really understood by his playoff experience
what wins and what loses. Games they're playing against the
Bears last week, Caleb's giving up the ball. Yes, they're
getting extra possessions. So now what I got to play
the game within the game. We're gonna steal a possession here. Boys,
we don't need to go what did Sean Payton say?

(21:47):
We don't need to go fly the top gun mission,
you know, to go save the world from nuclear you know, disaster.
Every time we throw the football, sometimes it's okay to
dump it down to Joe. Sometimes it's okay to hit
you know, Tank Dell on the quick shallow when I
might have been able to fit in that eighteen yard
comeback or the big in route to Stefan Diggs. I

(22:10):
might have taken a flyer on a go route, but
my chances of hitting that are around twenty percent when
I know I got a guaranteed one right here in
front of me. And he's starting to do that, and
he's proven he can do that over a period of time.
So when you watch him play on the Sunday Night game,
that was really my takeaway is Caleb's still trying to
figure it out. But CJ, this guy knows and he's

(22:31):
clearly getting the proper coaching people are giving him. The
big picture look at the game. We will be in
this game. Our defense will keep us in this game.
You just keep us on the rails here. When it's
time to go be CJ and shed a tackler and
chuck one down the field because somebody's one on one
and the dv's not.

Speaker 4 (22:48):
Looking, go for a big guy, Go be yourself, Go
have fun.

Speaker 3 (22:52):
But when it's time to keep our offense on track,
get us a positive play on first down instead of
trying to chuck one down the field and being second
to ten. He knows better and he's really proven that
he's got great discernment.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah, no, that's the discernment that will Levis has struggled
with which is I'm gonna make a play? CJ's figured
it out and that stuff's hard, by the way.

Speaker 4 (23:11):
And it's every quarterback.

Speaker 3 (23:12):
It's in a split second with guys barreling down on you,
and you have to take a breath, relax in that
split second and make the right decision.

Speaker 4 (23:21):
That is. That's the toughest thing to do in sports.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
Mark Sanchez love having you on. He's got to go.
We hit thirty exactly. Management's upstairs. He's not in trouble.
They're just upstairs.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
J Mack with the News, This is the herd line News.

Speaker 6 (23:38):
Lena Mark for picking Jets Patriots real quick?

Speaker 3 (23:41):
Come on, I don't do picks, coach. I gotta call
everybody's game agnostic. These poll questions, I said, TikTok polls.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
How about a lean?

Speaker 3 (23:49):
I don't know what do you want to say? He's
the most annoying team, He's the most annoying All.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
Right, let's go to the Green Baby politics.

Speaker 1 (23:58):
That was very good.

Speaker 6 (23:59):
Who have been stressed out about Jordan Love after he
sprained his mcl in week one, But he's back at
practice today. Big News Reporters that practice say Love stretched,
went through drills with a sleeve on his left leg,
as you can see here dancing la floor.

Speaker 2 (24:15):
Is very excited.

Speaker 6 (24:16):
In a perfect world, if he's gonna play, you'd like
to get him some reps in there, especially.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
I think it would be two weeks.

Speaker 1 (24:22):
After the injury.

Speaker 2 (24:23):
That's a long time.

Speaker 6 (24:24):
So remember they didn't put him on IR, which means
you know, like, hey, you can play this week. Maybe
he sits again and plays next week. Packers at Titans.
Very interesting game because you can't try out the same
Molik Willis game plan again, right, like we're.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
Gonna run for two hundred market. You think it's Jordan
love for short, Well, I've just watched the video here
on Wednesday dancing around.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
He's stretching and dancing. He's not running from Jeffrey Simmons
and well.

Speaker 6 (24:50):
He know the other edge rusher they got Landry and
whoever they got.

Speaker 1 (24:53):
That's good, Like there are women for him. They have
to win this guy. I don't know. Look at that.
He looks very limber to me. Games have been ship
I love young body. It's Wednesday, so he gets to
sleep on it. Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night.
Four more nights of rehab and sleeping on it, waking up.
He'll be great. Green Bay's got doctors, believe it or not.

(25:15):
Up by the Wisconsin Dells, there's a clinic up there.
They got good doctors. Okay, good to know. Let's go
to the next story.

Speaker 6 (25:21):
Bryce Young was reportedly shocked when Carolina benched him in
favor of Andy Dalton ahead of the Week three game
against the Raiders. Since then, there's been a ton of
people blaming the Panthers for how they handled the former
number one pick.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
Including Lebron.

Speaker 6 (25:36):
James Lebron put this on social media, Bryce Young holds
your head up, young king, rooting for you and know
this ain't on you. Continue to put in the work
and it shall prevail.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
Well, it is kind of on him, say Moore, go ahead. Oh,
I mean it is sort of on Bryce Young. The
coaches watched the film that that's a nice encouraging message
by Lebron, But it is on Bryce Young because they
do have a better roster and he's worse. So that
that's not you can't that's on Bryce. Nothing against the kid,

(26:07):
but they have upgraded the roster since last year.

Speaker 6 (26:12):
Eighteen. For twenty six eighty four.

Speaker 5 (26:15):
Yeah, that's brutal.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
That's just throwing stuff underneath. That's terrified to throw the
ball down the feece.

Speaker 6 (26:20):
I'm afraid to drop back in the pocket. I don't
trust my offensive line. And oh, by the way, he
wasn't being pressured. That's the scary thing. There isn't pressure,
and he's seen pressure and panicking.

Speaker 1 (26:31):
And I don't know.

Speaker 2 (26:33):
Lebron can say nice things.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
Everybody can.

Speaker 6 (26:34):
Again, we're not rooting against Bryce Young. All indications are
he's a nice kid. I don't see it. I mean, maybe,
did you still remember the first training camp video that
emerged from Bryce Young?

Speaker 2 (26:45):
We're here you I don't remember what we knew.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
He was a small No, you you jumped on it.
You said, that's not an NFL. He looked like a
he looked like a ninth grader playing in an NFL camp.
He looked small. He had a big helmet, no doubt, you know.
I I think I've talked about this before, but you know,
Russell Wilson comes into the league and everybody's like, hey,
small guys can work. But Johnny Manziel didn't work, and
Baker at times looked over Wheler. Murray has worked what's

(27:11):
that Kyler Murray's work. Kyler Murray's worked. But Kyler Murray's
the best high school footballer player in Texas history. He's
an outlier. You know why.

Speaker 7 (27:18):
C J.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
Stroud part of what he works. He's big and strong.
He's six three and he's a big six to three
with a big arm and a big trunk. I mean,
I'm sorry, but he looks the part. Cam Newton never
threw the most accurate football. He's just a big, strong dude.
How many of these tiny guys work currently in the league?
Won Kyler Murray, who again would be starting in Major

(27:40):
LEIG baseball today but it didn't play football. He's an
all time athletic outlier. So I like size, like this
beat kid for George's got size. I want I want, honestly,
I want my quarterback to be six three, two twenty five.

Speaker 6 (27:54):
I'm trying to come up with a comp Do you
remember Sam Bowie went ahead of Michael Jordan in the draft.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
He's one of the best college players I've ever seen.

Speaker 6 (28:02):
Well.

Speaker 7 (28:02):
Bryce Young was a hell of a college football player,
a hell about it. Both his he played at a
high school football power in southern California and he played
at a college football power and won every game and by.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
The way, mostly managed it. I mean these were he
hadn't managed it well. I mean, Alabama, outside of Georgia,
has better players than everybody they played in their schedule.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
I mean, don't forget that Texas game. He was escaping pressure.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
Yet look at I'm I'm not saying, but I'm saying,
there's a big difference. You know, there's there's a handful
of high school as you play out in the country.
He was at one, he got like thirteen Division one players.
You may get challenged once a year, and then he
goes to college and even in the SCC, Bama's got
better players than everybody except Georgia. So all of a sudden,
now you go to a team you have to carry

(28:48):
the team. It's never done it before. So I'm not
comparing CJ.

Speaker 6 (28:51):
Stroud to Jordan, but this is going to be an
unforgettable one, Colin, because Stroud looks like he's gonna be
a top five quarterback in.

Speaker 1 (28:58):
This league for a long time maybe.

Speaker 6 (29:00):
And I don't see Bryce Young in this league in
like two years, even as a I don't even know
as a backup, right, I think he's a back Tyrod Taylor.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
Tyrod Taylor is pretty good.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
Can Bryce Young be a pretty good mount.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
Because Tyrod Taylor is showing an ability to throw the
deep ball in ahead at Tyrod doesn't move a lot.
Tyrod is a very competent backup quarterback. By the way
he got to the playoffs in Buffalo. He's one of
the better backups. I don't think he Bryce Young moves well,
but he is. He don't want to throw the ball
down the field because he don't want to. You don't
want to get hit. I remember hearing this about. I
remember an NFL pass rusher told me, I won't tell

(29:38):
you who it is, but he played against Kyler Murray's
first year and he sacked Kyler Murray and he heard
him WinCE. And that guy told me I saw him
out at a restaurant and he said, Kyler Murray, they
better get that online fixed or he's going to baseball.
He goes, that dude doesn't want to get hit, and

(29:59):
he goes, I know when I played him. You can
see guys that Matt Stafford will sit in that pocket
and just eat a dirt sandwich. He doesn't care. Same
with Burrow. Some of these guys don't want to get hit.
Bryce don't and it's mostly the small guys.

Speaker 6 (30:15):
Let's get young to a Shanahan coach or someone from
a Shanahan.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
Tree, maybe a backup in San Francisco. There you go,
that's a good call. That's a good call.

Speaker 6 (30:23):
I mean Mike McDaniel in Miami, Dad, Clint Kubiakam.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
It looks like a stud anyways.

Speaker 6 (30:30):
Final story is a shocking early MVP candidate is emerging
in Tampa and his name is Baker Mayfield Colin. He's
got four hundred and seventy four passing yards, fifty five
yards rushing, six total touchdowns. His MVP odds have gone
from plus twenty five hundred to plus or sorry, from
plus ten thousand to plus twenty five hundred.

Speaker 2 (30:51):
He is amazing through two games now.

Speaker 6 (30:54):
It was against Washington, which has one of the worst
secondaries in the league. But this week they get the Bronco.
I don't know if you've seen Patrick Shirtanas struggling here
early in the season. Maybe Baker keeps this magic rolling.
I said he looked like Keanu Reeves and the Matrix.
Have you seen Baker in the pocket. He's doing some unbelievable,
escape stuff, never really goes down on life.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
Looks. He looks like he lost a little weight. He
looks I thought he got I thought he was at
one point. I mean, he does look quick. He looks
faster than Jalen Hurts. I'll just say that Jalen hurts.

Speaker 6 (31:23):
I'm not saying he's pudgy, but Jalen hurts and looks
like he's carrying a little more weight than Baker, and
Baker's loose out.

Speaker 1 (31:29):
Now, now remember this, it's early in the season. You
get to week fourteen, fifteen sixteen, guys don't run as well. True,
it's it's a rough lead for quarterback. You banged around.

Speaker 6 (31:39):
I have Godwin him on my fantasy team, and he
is crushing Like I thought Godwin was kind of washed.

Speaker 4 (31:43):
You remember he had the end.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
Got great, unbelievable.

Speaker 6 (31:46):
And this kid Millon looks good. We thought Canalis kind
of made Baker, remember and then he goes to Caroline
Fair and now it's like, I don't know, Baker looks
like the man.

Speaker 2 (31:55):
He looks really good.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
He does. He does, so does Sam Darnel.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
Yeah, I just.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
Squeeze that in there again. Jay Mack with the News.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
Well, that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
Heard Line News. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Herd weekdays and noon Eastern non am Pacific.

Speaker 8 (32:15):
Hey, we're Covino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day
five to seven pm Eastern.

Speaker 4 (32:20):
But here's the thing.

Speaker 8 (32:21):
We never have enough time to get to everything we
want to get.

Speaker 9 (32:24):
To, and that's why we have a brand new podcast
called over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun
in our two hour show. We never get to everything, honestly,
because this guy is over promising things we never have
time for.

Speaker 2 (32:37):
Yeah, you blubber li lame in me.

Speaker 8 (32:38):
Well you know what it's called over promise. You should
be good at it because you've been over promising women
for years.

Speaker 9 (32:42):
Well, it's a Cavino and Rich after show, and we
want you to be a part of it. We're gonna
be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk
life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing
about something or we didn't have enough time, it will
continue on our after show called over Promised.

Speaker 8 (32:56):
Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make
sure you check out Over Promise and also Uncensored by
the way, so maybe we'll go at it even a
little harder. It's gonna be the best after show podcast
of all time.

Speaker 9 (33:07):
There you go, over Promising. Remember you could see it
on YouTube, but definitely join us. Listen to over Promised
with Cavino and Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts
or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 6 (33:18):
Start Saturday Strong with Big Noon. Saturday is Will Howard
and third ranked Ohio State takeof Marshall.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
It all starts at ten am.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
With Big nuon Kickoff Live from.

Speaker 6 (33:28):
Columbus, and then it's Ohio State Marshall only on thoughts.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
Man J Mack. He is a very slow college football weekend,
but USC enters the Big Ten. Lincoln Riley joined me
earlier today and I asked him about facing Michigan in
the Big House in ann Arbor and the significance of
playing teams like the Wolverines now and what he's told

(33:59):
his team, if he has told him anything about joining
the prestigious Big Ten conference we have.

Speaker 10 (34:06):
I think it would be a mistake to totally just
discount that and just say it's another game, right, It's
a historic game. I think not surprising that the Big
Ten from a scheduling standpoint would put you know, these
two iconic teams and brands against each other on the
field here early on in the season. So yeah, I
think understanding the significance about it and embracing that and

(34:29):
understanding what a great opportunity it is for us to
go get off to a great start.

Speaker 1 (34:32):
You know, I had so many USC fans in the
off season say what do you make a Miller Moss?
And I'm like, well, he was a great high school player.
So I went and looked at YouTube stuff. I thought
I saw him play Louisville. I said, but bowl games
these days, were they missing starters? You never quite know.
I can't make any big determination. My takeaway is he
always throws to the right place and accurately. That's just

(34:53):
my you know, consumer radio guide TV guy watching TV.
What as a coach, has there been anything about Miller
that he has exceeded even your expectations because he has
been nearly perfect. Yeah.

Speaker 10 (35:07):
I think the toughness in the leadership, which I think
are incredibly important at that position, and sometimes they're tough
to assess. You know, you go watch a running back
in practice or a linebacker, you get to see the
physicality and how they hit and how they compete quarterbacks
that are a little bit different. Most people don't hit
their quarterbacks in practice, and you start getting those live

(35:28):
situations when they're taking shots and they've got to get
up or they've got to.

Speaker 5 (35:31):
Stand in there and make big throws.

Speaker 10 (35:33):
I think that's always you know, you learn a lot
about guys in those scenarios. And then we've been able
to see Miller from a leadership standpoint with last year's
group at the end of the year and then certainly
this team. I think he's done a really nice job
leading our guys and being somebody that our guys want
to play for.

Speaker 1 (35:48):
So it's almost I mean, you got some guys in
the transfer Porli, you had a really good safety, a
really good Mike linebacker. You got some upgrades, but it's
a lot of the same dudes, and guys are just better.
It's not even I mean, like Anthony Lucas looks like
a different player. So take me inside if you can
Layman's terms here, But it's mostly the same personnel with

(36:10):
completely different results. What what is Dan danton Lynn, your
DC from UCLA? What is he doing? What's the secret
sauce here.

Speaker 10 (36:18):
I think Coach Lynn and really our entire defensive staff
have done a great job in terms of getting the
system installed with our guys, getting them acclimated, and getting
us to a point where we can go out and
be confident on the on the field. And then and
then there's been a big physical transformation within within our
program in the way that we've developed these guys from
a strength and conditioning and nutrition perspective.

Speaker 1 (36:39):
Uh.

Speaker 10 (36:39):
And that was to fit uh, you know, not not
just the new style of defense, but certainly obviously the
new league that we're going into as well.

Speaker 5 (36:47):
So uh, you know, it's been a team effort, a
group effort.

Speaker 10 (36:50):
You know, Danton's done a great job, Our players have
done a great job here up to this point.

Speaker 5 (36:54):
But we know obviously a lot of big challenges left ahead.

Speaker 1 (36:56):
You know, it's interesting you got a whole new defensive staff,
the transfer portals rampant in the sport. You brought in
some freshmen, a new class, unlike the NFL where you
can come back and kind of know, I got these
eight guys, they're going to be there. They fit under
the cap. College is a turnstile, and I've been impressed
by the chemistry. I said this after you beat LSU.

(37:17):
I watched your sideline. It was amazing. You have all
these new coaches and all these new kids, and all
some guys are seniors from South Carolina and then you
got a freshman from Las Vegas or whatever, and I
thought the body language was good. I'm like, God, they
like each other. How do you develop that in a
fall camp. Some of those guys have just shown up
on campus.

Speaker 5 (37:38):
Well, you gotta have the right guys first.

Speaker 10 (37:39):
You gotta have guys that are team first, that they
have individual goals, but the team comes before it. And
I think we've got a group of people in this program, players,
staff that are really excited about this team, the chance
to go prove ourselves, and that appreciate what it means
to be a USC trojan.

Speaker 5 (37:57):
I mean, this is a historic, significant place to be.

Speaker 10 (38:00):
Able to go to school, to be able to play
football at and people that appreciate it. I think are
are going to bring that attitude to your locker room.
So it's something that's supporting us. We work hard at it.

Speaker 5 (38:10):
When I give our players a lot of credit because
they're very bought in.

Speaker 1 (38:13):
If you could give Caleb Williams all these young guys
are struggling. There's Tom Brady came on the show and
he said, I'd put Drake Man a bench. We were
talking this morning, Drake May and Michael Pennix. Maybe the
winners here. They can sit and watch pros do it.
They don't have to play. If you could, if you
could give Caleb one piece of advice. You know, he's
not a kid, He's going to do his own thing.
But it's so hard in the NFL, there's so many

(38:34):
everybody's faster. What do you do when a quarterback struggling.
What's the advice at any level you give them.

Speaker 5 (38:42):
I think you got to go back to the basics.

Speaker 10 (38:44):
And I think a lot of times the answers that
you're looking for, you know, as a player right there.
And sometimes when you get into it and get in
the competitive situations, especially a new league, a new offense,
new coaches around, a new supporting cast, there's going to
be some growing pains, right You're going to go through
some tough moments, but you got to continue to go
back to the basics, continue to improve, continue to lead,

(39:06):
and most importantly, you can't let it affect your attitude,
your mentality, the way you play, the way you practice.
You just got to keep growing and and Caleb will.
He's a fighter. He's going to continue to learn and grow.
And as painful as some of these, you know, tough
moments have been, you know early in the season that
those are all opportunities to learn and grow. And if
he's going to become the player that we all know

(39:27):
we can't going to have to learn and progress from them,
and I believe you will.

Speaker 7 (39:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
By the way, Kaylen Bullock's off to a great start.
Houston Texans. He's playing his butt off. Lincoln Riley, USC
and Michigan this weekend. Can't wait in the Big House
and inn Arbor. Good seeing you Lincoln.

Speaker 5 (39:42):
YouTube fight on.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
All right and U NFL schedule this weekend. Jay Mac,
you know, over the course of a show, I listened
to you and you give me little hints and leans
on stuff. Uh. There's a couple of games that I
do feel strongly about. I think Houston at Minnesota. I
think I think defensively, Sam Darnold comes down back down

(40:05):
to earth a little bit. I like Houston in that spot.
I didn't think they played well and yet one you
can coach them very hard this week. I I like
the Chargers at Pittsburgh. Now you're rolling your eyes at that,
Well you're cut popping.

Speaker 6 (40:23):
Oh sorry, I'm not rolling my eyes. They're kind of
popping because, uh, justin Herbert is not close to one
hundred percent. The line is moved. Steelers, I believe, are
now favored by one. I don't are we getting Herbert
or Easton Stick. Jim Harbow mentioned Eastern Stick's name in
the press conference. Wellf Erbert's not can't go. Easton Stick
will start.

Speaker 1 (40:42):
I hear that. I'm like, oh, no, thanks, Okay, I'll
throw another one at you. Atlanta hosting the Chiefs, Can
I be honest? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (40:55):
So two weeks ago, I had a good week in
the contest.

Speaker 6 (40:57):
Last week I fell on my face and it was ugly,
and I'm a little shaken and rattled, and I don't
know what to do with ninety.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
Percent of these games.

Speaker 6 (41:03):
It's in my head right like Chiefs Falcons. Chiefs are
gonna win that game, They're gonna bounce back and dominate.
But then the lines, all the money is on Atlanta
so far.

Speaker 1 (41:12):
How about this Washington at Cincinnati thirty to thirteen. If
you had to call a blowout Bengals home Monday night.
Ticked off all and two, Yeah.

Speaker 6 (41:22):
Ticked off. Sure, but they can't stop the run. They
couldn't stop the run in week one and wake wouldn't
Washington come into hey, Brian Robinson, Austin Eckler here, take
to take fifty carries and.

Speaker 1 (41:31):
All of a sudden, it's close.

Speaker 6 (41:31):
These primetime games man primetime dogs. This past week they
were barking and Washington could be feisty. We just saw
Caleb Williams and a primetime game as a rookie come
out and cover the spread against Houston.

Speaker 1 (41:43):
So I couldn't believe that. I'm still a little upset.
You're a little shaken, But.

Speaker 6 (41:49):
I'm an honest I'm I guess the honesty broker and
used rubbing off on me.

Speaker 1 (41:53):
I'm being honest with you.

Speaker 6 (41:54):
Nothing to hide.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
All right, you're big on Chicago against Indy will.

Speaker 6 (41:59):
I'll go down swing with Seattle this weekend. That would
be the bet that I liked the most of Miami
against Skuyler Thompson.

Speaker 1 (42:05):
All right, all right, we got through it, Mark Sanchez,
Joel Clatt, Lincoln Riley, Good Wednesday show, see you tomorrow.