September 28, 2024 • 35 mins
Where Colin was right and wrong over the weekend
He gives you his new Herd Hierarchy
Super Bowl Champion Drew Brees joins the show to talk about the challenges young QBs face in today's NFL
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks
for listening to the Herd podcast. Welcome in hour two,
(00:25):
Lie in Los Angelus hits the Hurt wherever you may
be and however you may be listening. Thanks for megadass
part of your day. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong in a minute,
Mark Sanchez, Next hour, Matt Hasselbeck coming up.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
J Mack.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
I had a good week betting three and one. I've
got the Jags plus the points tonight in Buffalo, had
Atlanta last night, felt really good about it. Had two
opportunities and couldn't get it done. Casey's defense is exceptional.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, Rodney Morrison, questionable play calls the whole field. Should
they have kicked with four minutes left to go down
by two? I would have again, but historically Patrick Mahomes
gets the ball, he's not giving it back to you.
But this is not that Patrick mahonme.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
It's not. And also Atlanta's got the best field goal
kicker in the league. So if I get it back,
I'd try a fifty six yard field goal. I mean
fifty yard field goals. Now, something happened in the last
two years. Everybody got bionic. People are kicking like fifty
six yard field goals. The ball goes through halfway up
the net, except for Justin Tucker, who missed another one yesterday.
Well there's everybody has a peak. He was the best
kicker for even.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
By the way, Niner special teams totally sailed them at
the end, and they gave up a fake punt nine.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
In order to come back and win a game like
the Rams, did you need several things to go your way?
So number one Ronnie Bell dropped a ball. That's the game.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Did you see perty at eight completions? But I think
the broadcast said six drops six drops? By the party
was great. At least you could tell the audience. You
told me during the commercial break how great party was yesterday.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Listen. He was exceptional awesome, and I wanted to see
him without a completely stacked deck. Any poker player can
win with perfect cards. He didn't have him. And he's
like Okay, I got one guy I trust. I don't
trust Ronnie Bell. It's been out of camp, but I
don't feel good with him. I got got no Kittle,
no Debo, no Christian and a pretty good defensive front
for the Rams are some young towny guys. I was
(02:13):
going to go to Jennings over and over and over,
and he kept hitting him over and over and over.
It was really impressive. Yeah, all right, Colin, right, Colin wrong?
Here we go Where Colin was right. I took the
Ravens and I said, when it comes to quality opponents,
Dallas isn't going to beat him. And I just said,
I'll just take Lamar and John Harbaugh on that spot.
They led twenty eight to six. It wasn't competitive. The
rush defense of the Cowboys is atrocious, thirty second in
(02:37):
the league. And again it's not a knock on Dak.
Who was I guess fine, I'm not gonna blame Dak.
But I've watched this game so many times. It's the Niners,
or it's Buffalo last year, or it's Green Bay or
the Saints. I don't trust Dallas, especially at home in
these big spots. Where Colin was raw, I didn't think
you could win with one touchdown a week. But I
(02:59):
was wrong on Jeff Fields. I mean, Arthur Smith, He's
he's coached out the reckless in him. Justin Still, you know,
he's not a guy who sitting in the pocket gonna
throw you four touchdown passes. But he's had only one
turnover all season. What does this say about the Bears.
He's completing seventy three percent of his throws, So you know,
sometimes we've seen it with Sam Donald, We've seen it
with Baker Mayfield. I didn't think Justin Fields would ever
(03:22):
complete seventy three percent of his throws. I was wrong,
and I did not think Pittsburgh had a chance to
go four and oh in the season. I'm wrong where
Colin was right. Sam Donald's passer rating is one seventeen,
and I'm just gonna I'm gonna take one more. I'm
right on this mostly because nobody will acknowledge there's no
(03:47):
more reckless if you take I always said when he
came into this league, his upside is Andrew luck although
I didn't think he was that good and Carson Wentz
and he ended up being like a worst version of
Carson Wentz. And I'm not saying and he's Andrew Luck.
It's been a couple of games, but this is who
I told everybody was. I'm like, big, strong athletic, this
is what he can be. He finally got a coach now,
(04:09):
maybe the best young coach in football. But he leads
the NFL in touchdown passes. I'm waiting for it to
I'm waiting for the bubble to burst as well. I'm waiting.
I thought this was the weekend he looked better than
last weekend where Colin was wrong. Malie Willis, how about
Coach of the Year Matt Lafleur Tennessee gave him away.
(04:31):
The kid is super efficient. I mean, he just doesn't
make a lot of mistakes. They're not asking him to
throw forty five times a game, but he's making throws
down the field now. And I mean, even Jordan Love,
as good as he is, it took him years. It
took him a full season to develop once he started.
I didn't see this coming from a mile away. I
never thought he'd play. I mean, I'd said the last
(04:53):
couple of weeks everybody wanted to bet certainty. You like,
I'm just staying away from Green Bay. This is a mess,
not at all. We're gonna win that division. I think
I really believe.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
That where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Bow Knicks, Hey, I just kept saying, do not be
surprised if bo Nicks, because he's got an offensive coach,
doesn't have the best rookie season. Now again, he's more
athletic than everybody gets him credit for. Here's what I like.
They're not babysitting in now. Listen, he's not lighting the
league up, but they're making him throw thirty six forty
(05:25):
times a game. And on script yesterday he was pretty
darn good. Again, you all bailed on him so he
couldn't move the ball against Pittsburgh. He opened up at
one of the loudest stadiums against Mike McDonald and a
talented Seahawk defense. This kid can play. And I said,
don't be shocked if after the rookie year, with all
these young quarterbacks with defensive coaches in defensive cultures, don't
(05:48):
be surprised at bow Knicks after one year doesn't look
like the best statistically of all these quarterbacks.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Juwan Jennings, I'd love this guy last cup of years.
I think he's the best third receiver on any team
in the NFL. For the San Francisco forty nine ers,
he's just tremendous. Eleven catches, sixteen yards at catch. He
was a big, tall, lanky kid out of Tennessee. Now
he's put on strength and Rock Perty and Brandon Ayuk
(06:17):
are totally out of sorts, so he is looking for him.
And how many six four, six y five corners do
you have in the NFL? Not many. He's a body advantage.
Where Colin was raw, not just that USC lost, but
the way they were bullied. I thought it would be
a low scoring game. USC's offensive line was completely utterly
(06:37):
overwhelmed and the bad tackling by USC reared its head.
You know what they looked like at the end of
that game, kind of a soft Pac twelve team. I'm sorry,
that's what they looked like. And I thought that was gone.
Michigan ran for two hundred and ninety yards, had three
huge runs, and I again, we knew that Michigan had
(06:58):
the best defensive front in the country, and we knew
the USC's O line was talented but young, but that
was ugly. They literally could not protect Miller Moss. Where
Colin was right five of the eight Philadelphia Eagle touchdowns
or Saquon Barkley. I said, this poor kid's never had
a good offensive line. Can you imagine Saquon Barkley with
the Eagles offensive line without him? There's an argument Philadelphia
(07:21):
is zero to three. He has just been incredible. And
to let in your division a player the level of
Saquon Barkley go as a general manager, it's almost a
fireable offense. Where Colin was right well. Aaron Rodgers twenty
four of the thirty two. Twenty four of thirty two
(07:41):
fan bases last week voted Aaron Rodgers' most annoying quarterback.
I've been saying for years. I'm not picking on him.
I'd vote him in the Hall of Fame first ballot.
I think he's smart, cerebral guy. I think he's complex.
I think he's interesting. But it's gotten to a point
over the last five or six years where it's kind
of like, Oka, Aaron, we get it. You don't get
along with your family, you don't get along with the media,
(08:02):
you don't think the government's on the up and up.
I get it, But you are franchise quarterback and that's
the most important thing. But yeah, I've been saying I'm
not an anti Errand guy. Twenty four to thirty two
fan Basis said, yeah, that's the most annoying guy.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Titlin Clark. The WNBA just did not have any idea
she was going to be this good. According to the
Associated Press, a unanimous Rookie of the Year fourth and
MVP voting, she was also the most flagrantly fouled player,
which is a bit alarming. My takeaway has been we
said this when she was at college. She's Steph Curry.
(08:37):
She's got a shooting range that nobody else in the
league has. In fact, she's the first WNBA player ever
that led the league in assists and was top ten
in scoring. She is a you know, I mean that
the comps on Curry. People doubted Steph Curry had an
injury early and people bailed he was too small. There's
just nothing like her, Her tempo, her pace, her range.
She's an unbelievable player. She was gonna work on the WNBA.
(08:59):
I didn't know she'd this good. That's fast, but it's
been remarkable to watch. Where Colin was right, where Colin
was wrong.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
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FS one and the iHeartRadio app heard Hierarchy Time Now
No Go. The top ten NFL teams according to College
number ten.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Okay, listen. It worries me that it's the fifth loss
when leading by ten plus points in the fourth under
Kyle Shanahan. But I said this, finally, I look at
Brock Purty and see a franchise quarterback. No Kittle, no Debot,
no McCaffrey. Offensive protection at the line was okay, and
he he was dealing, And so to me, it's like, yeah,
(09:45):
I know, they keep losing, but the kid threw for
three hundred and thirty three yards without his weapons. He
had his number three receiver. Even Brandon Aiyuk's not working,
and they're gonna get some of these guys back. But
I'm sorry, I'm gonna trust Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purty
at number ten over Dennis Allen and Derek Carr Niners
at ten, number nine, the New York Jets. Here's the stat.
(10:06):
Here's the stat that I come back to Aaron Rodgers
on third down this year has one hundred and eighteen
passer rated. They have the best third down offense fifty
seven percent in the league. I have been a huge
believer in this stat forever. If you're doing things on
third down, defense rests builds confidence. It usually means you
(10:28):
have a smart quarterback, you're good pre snap, you're getting
better than average protection. The Jets third down stat is
a real thing, and they lead the league in it,
and I do think they have a chance to grow
because Garrett Wilson and Aaron are going to get better
over time. They found that rookie running back out of Wisconsin.
He's gonna get better over time. So that stat alone
puts them at nine for me number eight. The Ravens. Listen,
(10:51):
here's another stat. This is a flawed team. They lead
the NFL in yards per play. Go ask the guys
in Vegas who make a living. Gambling is a huge
stat in the league. This forget the score in the
Dallas game. That was an URS kicking. That game wasn't
even competitive. They rolled Dallas and Lamar Jackson just look
(11:12):
at his numbers this year, three hundred and eighteen yards
a game. It's why I took him Sunday. And while
I'll always believe in this team. I believe in Lamar Jackson.
He's not perfect. We have one quarterback in the league
that's perfect. Everybody else has a hole. Lamar's my guy
number seven. None of you like Philadelphia. I do now
Jalen Hurts without Shane Steikin. Too many turnovers. They got
(11:35):
one plus turnover eighteen to the last twenty two games.
And I don't love Sirianni, but good god, they outgained
the Saints four hundred and sixty yards to two nineteen.
And we love the Saints. There are just dudes everywhere.
I love the owner, I love the GM. I'm not
a huge fan of the coach, but I like their players.
Now their AJ Brown comes back. That's a difference maker here.
So now they're receiving cars banged up. But I think
(11:56):
winning in New Orleans the way they did, the resiliency,
the toughness just screams Philadelphia. And I'm a Hurts guy.
He's flawed. I don't think he sees the field that
has height that great. But I'm a Jalen Hurts guy.
I got the Eagles at seven, number six. The Detroit Lions,
they finally figured out, Oh we have the best offensive
line in football and two above average running backs. Maybe
we should run the ball more. And they just punched Arizona,
(12:18):
pretty scrappy team in the face. Jamir Gibbs and David Montgomery.
That's the best running back tandem in the league, the
best offensive line in the league. Just run the ball.
Just run the ball. Sam Laporta's injury worries me. This
is a very solid franchise. Do I trust them situationally
like I would trust Kansas City in the big spot? No, no, No,
(12:41):
wouldn't at all. But I think they're a really good team.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Number five.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Okay, the Seahawks with the same players have the highest
gridded defense. Now, they haven't played anybody, but I'm gonna
tell you something right now. When I watch Seattle, you
know what I see a little like Kansas City. I
see a fast defense with the elite guys at linebacker
on the back in Now, again, they haven't played much
and we can bang on Gino. I'm as critical of
Gino Smith as everybody. Dude is a completion machine. He
(13:07):
completed seventy five percent of his throws. He's not going
to give you anything off script often, but he is
a I mean they got a number one receiver, they
got an edge rush, They've got a you know, it's
like Kirk Consins. They move the chains. I think they've
got weapons. I think their back end is outstanding. This
new coach, Mike McDonald, Baltimore's defense isn't the same. Why
(13:28):
the coach. They are really really well coached on that
defensive side, with playmakers on offense. I think Seattle's a
bit underrated right now. I have him at five.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Number four.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Is Matt Lafleur the second best coach in the league
after Andy Reid. What he is doing with Malik Willis
is insane. I feel I picked them to beat Detroit
in their division. I just think this story with Malie
Willis is fascinating. They also lead the NFL with seven picks.
We have been saying this for a decade. The only
time Green Bay's defense has ever been great Aaron Rodgers
won a Super Bowl. I always like they underachieved defensively,
(14:01):
but they bring the head coach from Boston College over.
They're young, they're fast, They're making plays. This has not
been a play making defense for a long time. And
what Lafleur is doing without Jordan Love is notable. This
guy is. He didn't promote himself. It's little market green Bay,
but I still think they're probably they're young in a
(14:22):
lot of places, even at quarterback, but I like Green
Bay a lot. I have them at four, number three.
I keep waiting for the bubble to burst. And Minnesota's good.
Here's the other thing. They leave the NFL with sixteen sacks,
so forget the offense. Every week. It's a different player defensively,
and they're not even healthy. I keep saying Kevin O'Connell
has coached they're reckless out of Sam Darnald. I have
(14:42):
three different general managers who have always told me you
can win a lot of games with Sam Darnald. There's
a lot of people in this league. Bill Belichick talked
about it yesterday. Outside of the Jets. Everybody likes Darnald,
and it's the offensive coachesn't like Sam Darnald. Back to
back home wins. They have hammered the Niners and hammer
the Texans. And by the way, I know Brian Flora
(15:02):
has hurt some feelings in Miami. Is he the best
defensive coordinator in the league? I mean Brod Purty and C. J. Strouder,
good quarterbacks, they both said after they lost to Minnesota. Yeah,
I saw stuff I've never seen in my life. It's
like they saw UFOs. So I think Brian flora is.
I know he hurt feelings in Miami. You got to
give that guy head coaching job. You got to consider him.
That dude can coach number two. I know, I know,
(15:25):
I know, Buffalo Kansas City's gonna break their heart in
mid January. But Joe Brady is different. And here's the
utter thing. They're not as Josh Allen centric. They're not.
They've got a running game. They I mean, they're even
Josh Allen said it. Nobody's keeping track of stats. I
like him. Are they gonna beat Kansas City in mid January?
Probably not, But I do think this is the best
(15:47):
version I have seen of them. I get a little older, Josh.
They're not as Josh reliant, but you still get the
details of Sean McDermott.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Number one.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
The thing that really is scary about Kansas City, so
they've become New England now, is that they have a
star quarterback and the best coach. But they're winning with defense.
They're so confident situationally, I don't think people are given
this defense credit because outside of Chris Jones, you know,
they don't have a lot of big stars. Their defense
is the fastest in the league. And Rashi Rice has
(16:19):
become a number one ride receiver. I'm not saying he's
Ceedee Lamb yet. I'm not saying he's Jamar Chase yet,
but he's somewhere in that galaxy. Now here's the thing.
They're the only team to start three to zero and
they've been out gained total yards. To me, is something
it's not. I think yards per plays bigger. I think
third down efficiency is better. I don't care. I mean
(16:41):
some teams, you know, the one of the reasons is
they they get turnovers so they don't have to play
the long field game very often. So sometimes the outgained
thing is just our defense is good. I mean New
England got out gained a few times in their career.
There you go. It's my top ten again. I don't
have the Saints in it. I thought they came back
to Earth. It's not a novel on them. But if
you're giving me Aaron Rodgers, if you're giving me San
(17:04):
Francisco Shanahan, brock Purty or you're giving me Derek Carran,
Dennis Allen. I'm sorry, I gotta make choices here.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
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Speaker 1 (17:15):
Well, he was in the grind of the NFL for
twenty seasons, fifteen with the Saints, five with the Chargers.
Thirteen time Pro bowler. He's going to be eligible for
the Hall of Fame in twenty twenty six and he'll
be a first ballot guy still whole. I'm just looking
at his notable NFL records seven times leading the NFL
in passing yards, and I want to bring on Drew
(17:35):
Brees because that's interesting.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
When you.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Know, not that you didn't throw deep a lot, but
to lead the NFL in passing yards. You know, we
tend to think Marino and Mahall the deep ball, and
that's not what the league is. The league is pre snap.
And I was talking to a GM last night and
he said, oh, everybody gives talks Brady and Manning.
Speaker 5 (17:58):
He goes.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
When I looked at Hape, what Drew Brees did pre snap,
he and Peyton was music. It was it was Broadway
they were making and I think about that, Drew, because
we rush everybody now, all these quarterbacks. If you're not
good by your second Thanksgiving, half the guys in the
room are raising their hands when you're not there saying
draft a new quarterback. You got so good at the
(18:23):
offensive line, and this GM was like, there's never been
anybody better than Breeze at this at the line. It
was different than everybody. How long did it take you?
As I watched Jayden Daniels and bow Nicks before literally Drew,
you had seen everything and you were manipulating them. They
weren't manipulating you.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
Look, that's a great question, you know.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I when I played at Pretty University, you know we
ran the spread offense a lot of I wasn't responsible
for changing any protections or doing anything like that.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
Everything that we we had, we're built in hots. You know.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
You just knew when you had to get rid of
the ball. You knew when there was a guy coming free,
and then that adjust might adjust the clock in your head.
When I got to the NFL, it was very much
the same way. My first five years with the San
Diego Chargers. I wasn't responsible for Mike IDs. I wasn't
responsible for protections. I was just responsible to get the
ball out on time in rhythm. Every route concept had
(19:23):
a progression, and I had to know and understand when
I was going to be hot, in other words, when
there was going to be a free rusher that was unblocked,
you know, according to what the protection scheme was.
Speaker 5 (19:34):
And then I just had to know I had to
get the ball out.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Maybe there was a site adjustment that it was made
by a receiver that we had to be on the
same page.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
When I got to New Orleans. Sean Payton's offense.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Required the quarterback to or put the quarterback in a
position where, hey, it's necessary for you now to take
on the responsibility of calling out you know who who
the mic linebacker is or who the linebacker is that
the offensive line is now responsible for. Right typically, in
a standard four down, defensive lineman front the line. Your
(20:08):
five linemen of irresponsible for those four plus one. More so,
it was your job to identify who that fifth guy
was that were responsible for.
Speaker 5 (20:16):
Depending on the run play. If it was a run play.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Hey, whoever I'm miking, that might be who you're going
to It might be meaning that I'm idea in this
guy and then you're going to block the guy to
the left. There was all these different adjustments then that
would happen on third down where you know, now the
defense is going to play a bunch of different fronts,
and you have protection calls that will all of a
sudden send four linemen to the right, or all five
(20:41):
linemen to the right, or you know, three linemen to
the right, and now the back's going to step up
and he's going to take whoever's in the a gup right.
So you just have all these different calls based on
you know, who you're identifying and what type of pressure
is coming. And that responsibility became more and more as
I got into my career, But honestly, I wouldn't have
it any other way because I.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Wanted to be in control of those things.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
I wanted to be in a position where I was
trying to put our lineman in the best matchup positions
to be able to, you know, take their guys and protect.
I didn't want Alvin Kamara to have to block you know,
a two hundred and fifty pound linebacker or even a
big outside linebacker, a defensive end like I would try
(21:24):
to get him out in the route as much as possible.
So if I could make a different declaration that would
allow Alvin Kamara to free release, well guess what that's
that's better for his longevity. It's also better for me
because it gives me, you know, another weapon in the secondary.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
So all these things were a progression.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
I certainly didn't start off that way year one, year two,
not even until year six.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
Seven eight, probably wow wow. So yeah, it took some time.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yeah, and we're not patient like that anymore. If Bonex
isn't good by Thanksgiving next year. And what's interesting is
Seawan's intent. So I get to know Sean really well.
When he worked here, I loved him. Dinner with Sean
Payton's story time, and he's intense. Now everybody coaches different.
Matt Lafleur doesn't feel as intense. Sean Payton feels more intense.
So if I said, hey, bo Nicks, Drew Brees is
(22:11):
going to give you a one piece of advice for
Sean's personality, he's intellect you're smiling, What is the piece
of advice you would give bow Nicks? Because Sean can
get hot, Sean's going to be demanding you. Your personality
can handle it is there a piece of advice you'd
give Bo Nicks.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
Yeah, he just as demanding right back to him.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Okay, you know I Sean. Sean likes that. Sean Sean
wants to see you confident and sure you know everything. Obviously,
Sean and I got to a play a place with
our relationship where it was almost like we could finish
each other's sentences. I knew exactly what he was thinking
before he called to play. We had just rehearsed it
(22:52):
so much, we had talked about it so much throughout
the course of the week that you know, I knew
the minute we crossed the fifty yard line, this was
the play call coming out of his mouth. Minute are
you know we're inside the red zone? This is the
play we're running. The minute they go to this defense,
he wants this or that pressure, he wants this right,
and it stuff that we've talked about and rehearsed together
night before the game. We're dot nicol sheet. Here's my
favorite play, Sean. He's telling me his favorite plays.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
Right.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
We're just again rehearsing it over and over so that
we can just be as if you know, kind of
one you know, one mind out there together.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
But look there there. Of course, there were moments where you.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Know, man, I'm gonna make a mistake, and we got
to the point where, man, he knows that he knows
that I knew that I made the mistake, right, the
yelling that's screaming at me.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
But for a young quarterback who's trying to.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
To really teach and coach and kind of get on
the same page with him, there's probably going to be
a lot more of that, you know, and he'll be
pretty firm with you at times. And I think what
he loves to see. And I think a lot of
this came from Parcels. You know, Parcels would be very
demanding on his assistant coaches, right, and Parcells wanted those
coaches that have the same type of you know, kind
(23:56):
of intensity and confidence coming right back at him.
Speaker 5 (23:59):
So I think Sean loves that coming back from the quarterback.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
So Aaron Rodgers said something I thought was really smart.
And Aaron's won a lot of football games and the
Jets have it, and Aaron said, and I've heard this before,
but Aaron was very eloquent. He said, you know, everybody
kind of acts the same way when they lose. They're pissed,
they work harder, they galvanize. But it's different. When you win,
Guys splinter off, they get into endorsements, they get into
(24:23):
their fields. That's a whole different boat. San Francisco had
a noisy off season. Travis Kelsey's now dating the world's
most popular. I mean when you win, the world changes.
So you went like Aaron Rodgers, you went to a loser,
You made him a winner. Go back to the first
because you guys won right out of the shoot. You
and Sean that first year. How did you take a
(24:46):
losing franchise win? And New Orleans By the way, they're
not going to bed at eight forty five. New Orleans
and New York are not Indianapolis. So that's it's a
port city. There's a lot happening. Go back to your
first year, winning twenty three year old teammates. Was that
difficult or challenging?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
There were You have to look at the guys that
were brought in that year. I mean, look, here we
are six months post Katrina. You know the entire city
of New Orleans have been destroyed, devastated, right, I mean,
there was nothing to show off about New Orleans for
anybody come in to town, right like this day and
age with you know, recruiting and the way that you're
going to try to wine and dine guys when they
(25:26):
come in.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
There was no real wining and dining, you know.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
It was, Hey, you have to see this for what
it is, and so it's going to take a special
type of person and a special mindset to embrace the
challenge that you're going to face here, but also see
the realm of possibility. Right, Can you share this vision
with us? And I certainly did. I felt like it
was a calling for me to be there. I was
coming off of a pretty serious injury right where I
(25:51):
wasn't sure how great a football player I was.
Speaker 5 (25:52):
Going to be able to be coming back. I really did.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Sean Payton had a ton of confidence in me, Mickey Loomis,
That entire organization a ton of confidence in me, maybe
more so than I did myself at the time.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
And you look at the.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Rest of the free agents that were brought in that
year as well. It's not like everybody was banging down
the door to.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
Get these guys, you know. It was it was a
little bit of a joke.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
We had one of our coaches, Joe Vitt, called that
group in O six, the Castaways. It was like nobody
else wanted you, will take you, you know, because look,
you're tough guys. You're the right type of mindset, Like
you share the vision, you see what we can accomplish here.
You know it's going to be a difficult journey, but
you're not going to shy away from that. You're not
afraid of that. And like we needed that mentality, We
(26:32):
needed those types of guys like that's what it was
going to take. And that first season was obviously very magical.
I mean, we were not as talented a team as
the teams that we stepped on the field with, but
me and we were gritty, we were tough, and we
had the city on our shoulders, you know, right there
(26:53):
beside us, feeling like we had so much more to
play for than everybody else. And that's really what I
think that first season was about. But it was also
about what helped create the foundation for what I think
the New Orleans Saints became in the Sean Payton era,
and that's that was what we prided ourselves on.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, so because he went to Iowa State, you know,
you went to Purdue, not a football power, in fact,
when you went there. Before you got there, it was
mostly basketball. The boiler Makers had the basketball gen KDI programs,
that kind of stuff. And so in State of Texas,
you know, Drew's not six ' four. Oh you know,
you know the game, and so you probably have a
(27:32):
soft spot for brock Purty. I watched them at college
and the first time, like, so he gets drafted at
the end whatever, I mean, outside of Kurt Warner Romo,
these guys get drafted late. Maybe Mark Brunell. Most guys
get you know, good guys get drafted first, second, third, whatever.
And then all of a sudden he starts winning, and
I won't give him any credit. I'm like, well, let's
get Shanahan. It's a bunch of Hall of Fame guys.
(27:53):
And then slowly but surely, you're like, he's pretty he's
pretty good. And so it took me a while to
figure it out. It probably took you a lot less
to figure it out. When is the first time you
watch party because you guys have some of the same
dimensions in terms of size, when's the first time you
watched him? I'm sure it was years before me and went, oh, yeah,
(28:13):
this works, this is a franchise guy.
Speaker 5 (28:16):
No, he really wasn't.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I mean when he when he's you know, got his
first start, you know, midway through his rookie year, after
Trey Lance goes out and grab Low goes out, you know,
and then all of a sudden, here's the basically the
third string guy, mister.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Roll coming in. He I mean I could tell the
moment I saw the first half of the first game
that he played. I'm like, okay, Like.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
This guy is in command of the offense. This guy's
in and out of the huddle. He's controlling the line
of scrimmage, right, the shifts, the motions, all the things
that that offense requires in a field general to be
able to coordinate. Oh man, he's got incredible rhythm. He
throws with a great base. He's very calm, he's very poised. Right,
nothing seems to shake him.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
You know.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
So like all those things you I pick up on
right away, and then it's like, okay, where the heck
did this guy come from? You know, and then you
start looking at You're like, okay, this makes perfect sense.
Here's a guy who started almost fifty games in college.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
Right.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
He played at a school where ninety percent of the
time when they stepped on the field, they.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
Were the underdogs.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Oh yeah, right yeah, Like they weren't winning any beauty contest,
they weren't winning the pregame competitions.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
And they were having to kind of gut it out.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Right.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Had he played in a bunch of close games, a
bunch of really competitive games like that mold you, right,
that's then who you become, That becomes what you're used to. Right.
So then all of a sudden, these big time situations,
going into moments where people are doubting you or you're
playing against people that are supposed to be better than you,
(29:45):
Like that doesn't phaze you anymore, right, So, Like so
much of playing this position at the highest level in
the NFL is about confidence. It's about belief, it's about faith,
and the guys that are really good at it, there's
just an unwavering faith and confidence no matter what the situation,
no matter how who's hurt around them or what circumstances
(30:09):
around them might lead others to say that, hey, they're
not going to be able to get it done. You
embrace that, like you just play with this constant chip
on your shoulder and this edge that leads you to
be successful.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
By the way, when Joe Burrow this week, I don't
know if we still have it. There was a piece
of video and we'll wrap it up with this. Burrow
is seen after the game walking in full uniform. Here
it is it's like TMZ stuff, I'm gonna go talk
with the coach because they start zero three and you
know it's funny. Tony Gonzalez once told me he wasn't
(30:44):
comfortable early in his career doing stuff like that, and
I think that's when Zach Taylor and you are not
even You're just going right to a secret meeting. What
does that tell you? And did you ever have to
do that? But what is that tell you?
Speaker 2 (31:03):
That tells me they have a great relationship and that
they trust in one another to be able to voice
their opinions and their concerns, maybe even vent a little
bit like look, Sean Payton was mine, was my guide
event two at times, and I was his guide event
two at times. It's great when you have that type
(31:24):
of relationship with your head coach and play caller. Sean
and I had tons of moments like that early on.
As we I say, we like we were trying to
build the foundation for that team, and Sean was including
me in those conversations, and I really really appreciated that
because it empowered me and equipped me in a lot
of ways. And I see them doing that the exact
(31:46):
same way. I mean that that moment right there looks
so familiar to me because there are things that coming
out of a game.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
You know, obviously emotions are running high.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Hey, they didn't expect to start off zero to three,
you know, lose on Monday night foot all, you know,
you know, to to kind of an upstart commander's team,
you know, so like to me, that just shows a
good relationship, good good lines of communication. I think they're
going to be fine as a result.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yeah, I gotta say one more thing because Sean really,
you know, he got a little heat in Denver because
he would call Russell Wilson out and stuff. Did you
ever did you and Sean ever have a bad day,
like it got really sideways one?
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Well, I do remember, I mean I wouldn't say like
I do remember at one point, especially early on, when
I say, when Seawan was building the program, right six
seven eight, you know, it was we had tough physical practices.
I mean during the week, during the week of practice. Now,
(32:49):
nobody hardly puts pads on, right, but like we'd go
full pads two three days a week, you know, leading
up to a game on Sundays.
Speaker 5 (32:59):
That was a very con and thing.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
So a little bit of the old school Bill Parcels mindset,
and he was really trying to create a mindset and
a mentality there. And I remember one practice where man,
I just felt like the team was beat up, right,
guys needed a break. And and sure enough, here we are,
full padded practice and I'm looking at the schedule. I'm like, man,
I just I don't know if guys are going to
(33:21):
buy into this, you know, on a daylight today. And
so we got together as a group of captains, all
the captains.
Speaker 5 (33:28):
Together, and like, all right, guys, what are we going
to do? Like this is our team, you know.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
And Sean would always say, look, the best teams at
some point, the leaders on the team take control of
the team. Right, You're not taking instructions from the coaches,
You're taking instructions from the from the leaders on the team.
And so I was like, all right, this is what
he was talking about. This is this moment, right, this
is where we got We got to call the shots.
So we get together as a group and it's like, hey,
we're not going out in paths. It was kind of
(33:53):
like I kind of had the final.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
Saying it, you know. Yeah, I was like, we're not
going out.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
In paths, all right, go out in shells and just
tell everybody, man, we better be flying around like no excuses.
Don't don't give them an excuse to say we weren't
ready for Sunday because we weren't.
Speaker 5 (34:07):
You know, we weren't prepared. We weren't flying around. So
we show.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
We get out there and everybody's all amped up like yeah,
you know, we're bucking the system, like we're making the call.
We get out there in shells and literally like within
fifteen seconds, everybody comes high tailing it back in from
the field and they're like, hey, we have to put
pads on. Sean's going ballistic out there, you know. So
we very quickly put pads on it, went back out
(34:32):
and just got out word done and whatever. We were
all stared at Shaw, but but no, that was that
was probably an early heated exchange, you know, where it
was like you thought you were doing something good for
the team, and uh backfired a little.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Bit Yeah, got a little hot uh with Sean. That's great.
I love all the storytelling, Drew, real pleasure. We're going
to try to bring on Drew as regularly as we can.
Twenty year is gonna be a first ballot guy. Uh
really I thought there you just the storytelling was great man.
I love this. I can't wait for more of it,
and I appreciate you taking twenty minutes to your day first, ma'am.
Thank you
Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks
for listening to the Herd podcast. Welcome in hour two,
(00:25):
Lie in Los Angelus hits the Hurt wherever you may
be and however you may be listening. Thanks for megadass
part of your day. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong in a minute,
Mark Sanchez, Next hour, Matt Hasselbeck coming up.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
J Mack.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
I had a good week betting three and one. I've
got the Jags plus the points tonight in Buffalo, had
Atlanta last night, felt really good about it. Had two
opportunities and couldn't get it done. Casey's defense is exceptional.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, Rodney Morrison, questionable play calls the whole field. Should
they have kicked with four minutes left to go down
by two? I would have again, but historically Patrick Mahomes
gets the ball, he's not giving it back to you.
But this is not that Patrick mahonme.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
It's not. And also Atlanta's got the best field goal
kicker in the league. So if I get it back,
I'd try a fifty six yard field goal. I mean
fifty yard field goals. Now, something happened in the last
two years. Everybody got bionic. People are kicking like fifty
six yard field goals. The ball goes through halfway up
the net, except for Justin Tucker, who missed another one yesterday.
Well there's everybody has a peak. He was the best
kicker for even.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
By the way, Niner special teams totally sailed them at
the end, and they gave up a fake punt nine.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
In order to come back and win a game like
the Rams, did you need several things to go your way?
So number one Ronnie Bell dropped a ball. That's the game.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Did you see perty at eight completions? But I think
the broadcast said six drops six drops? By the party
was great. At least you could tell the audience. You
told me during the commercial break how great party was yesterday.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Listen. He was exceptional awesome, and I wanted to see
him without a completely stacked deck. Any poker player can
win with perfect cards. He didn't have him. And he's
like Okay, I got one guy I trust. I don't
trust Ronnie Bell. It's been out of camp, but I
don't feel good with him. I got got no Kittle,
no Debo, no Christian and a pretty good defensive front
for the Rams are some young towny guys. I was
(02:13):
going to go to Jennings over and over and over,
and he kept hitting him over and over and over.
It was really impressive. Yeah, all right, Colin, right, Colin wrong?
Here we go Where Colin was right. I took the
Ravens and I said, when it comes to quality opponents,
Dallas isn't going to beat him. And I just said,
I'll just take Lamar and John Harbaugh on that spot.
They led twenty eight to six. It wasn't competitive. The
rush defense of the Cowboys is atrocious, thirty second in
(02:37):
the league. And again it's not a knock on Dak.
Who was I guess fine, I'm not gonna blame Dak.
But I've watched this game so many times. It's the Niners,
or it's Buffalo last year, or it's Green Bay or
the Saints. I don't trust Dallas, especially at home in
these big spots. Where Colin was raw, I didn't think
you could win with one touchdown a week. But I
(02:59):
was wrong on Jeff Fields. I mean, Arthur Smith, He's
he's coached out the reckless in him. Justin Still, you know,
he's not a guy who sitting in the pocket gonna
throw you four touchdown passes. But he's had only one
turnover all season. What does this say about the Bears.
He's completing seventy three percent of his throws, So you know,
sometimes we've seen it with Sam Donald, We've seen it
with Baker Mayfield. I didn't think Justin Fields would ever
(03:22):
complete seventy three percent of his throws. I was wrong,
and I did not think Pittsburgh had a chance to
go four and oh in the season. I'm wrong where
Colin was right. Sam Donald's passer rating is one seventeen,
and I'm just gonna I'm gonna take one more. I'm
right on this mostly because nobody will acknowledge there's no
(03:47):
more reckless if you take I always said when he
came into this league, his upside is Andrew luck although
I didn't think he was that good and Carson Wentz
and he ended up being like a worst version of
Carson Wentz. And I'm not saying and he's Andrew Luck.
It's been a couple of games, but this is who
I told everybody was. I'm like, big, strong athletic, this
is what he can be. He finally got a coach now,
(04:09):
maybe the best young coach in football. But he leads
the NFL in touchdown passes. I'm waiting for it to
I'm waiting for the bubble to burst as well. I'm waiting.
I thought this was the weekend he looked better than
last weekend where Colin was wrong. Malie Willis, how about
Coach of the Year Matt Lafleur Tennessee gave him away.
(04:31):
The kid is super efficient. I mean, he just doesn't
make a lot of mistakes. They're not asking him to
throw forty five times a game, but he's making throws
down the field now. And I mean, even Jordan Love,
as good as he is, it took him years. It
took him a full season to develop once he started.
I didn't see this coming from a mile away. I
never thought he'd play. I mean, I'd said the last
(04:53):
couple of weeks everybody wanted to bet certainty. You like,
I'm just staying away from Green Bay. This is a mess,
not at all. We're gonna win that division. I think
I really believe.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
That where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Bow Knicks, Hey, I just kept saying, do not be
surprised if bo Nicks, because he's got an offensive coach,
doesn't have the best rookie season. Now again, he's more
athletic than everybody gets him credit for. Here's what I like.
They're not babysitting in now. Listen, he's not lighting the
league up, but they're making him throw thirty six forty
(05:25):
times a game. And on script yesterday he was pretty
darn good. Again, you all bailed on him so he
couldn't move the ball against Pittsburgh. He opened up at
one of the loudest stadiums against Mike McDonald and a
talented Seahawk defense. This kid can play. And I said,
don't be shocked if after the rookie year, with all
these young quarterbacks with defensive coaches in defensive cultures, don't
(05:48):
be surprised at bow Knicks after one year doesn't look
like the best statistically of all these quarterbacks.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Juwan Jennings, I'd love this guy last cup of years.
I think he's the best third receiver on any team
in the NFL. For the San Francisco forty nine ers,
he's just tremendous. Eleven catches, sixteen yards at catch. He
was a big, tall, lanky kid out of Tennessee. Now
he's put on strength and Rock Perty and Brandon Ayuk
(06:17):
are totally out of sorts, so he is looking for him.
And how many six four, six y five corners do
you have in the NFL? Not many. He's a body advantage.
Where Colin was raw, not just that USC lost, but
the way they were bullied. I thought it would be
a low scoring game. USC's offensive line was completely utterly
(06:37):
overwhelmed and the bad tackling by USC reared its head.
You know what they looked like at the end of
that game, kind of a soft Pac twelve team. I'm sorry,
that's what they looked like. And I thought that was gone.
Michigan ran for two hundred and ninety yards, had three
huge runs, and I again, we knew that Michigan had
(06:58):
the best defensive front in the country, and we knew
the USC's O line was talented but young, but that
was ugly. They literally could not protect Miller Moss. Where
Colin was right five of the eight Philadelphia Eagle touchdowns
or Saquon Barkley. I said, this poor kid's never had
a good offensive line. Can you imagine Saquon Barkley with
the Eagles offensive line without him? There's an argument Philadelphia
(07:21):
is zero to three. He has just been incredible. And
to let in your division a player the level of
Saquon Barkley go as a general manager, it's almost a
fireable offense. Where Colin was right well. Aaron Rodgers twenty
four of the thirty two. Twenty four of thirty two
(07:41):
fan bases last week voted Aaron Rodgers' most annoying quarterback.
I've been saying for years. I'm not picking on him.
I'd vote him in the Hall of Fame first ballot.
I think he's smart, cerebral guy. I think he's complex.
I think he's interesting. But it's gotten to a point
over the last five or six years where it's kind
of like, Oka, Aaron, we get it. You don't get
along with your family, you don't get along with the media,
(08:02):
you don't think the government's on the up and up.
I get it, But you are franchise quarterback and that's
the most important thing. But yeah, I've been saying I'm
not an anti Errand guy. Twenty four to thirty two
fan Basis said, yeah, that's the most annoying guy.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Titlin Clark. The WNBA just did not have any idea
she was going to be this good. According to the
Associated Press, a unanimous Rookie of the Year fourth and
MVP voting, she was also the most flagrantly fouled player,
which is a bit alarming. My takeaway has been we
said this when she was at college. She's Steph Curry.
(08:37):
She's got a shooting range that nobody else in the
league has. In fact, she's the first WNBA player ever
that led the league in assists and was top ten
in scoring. She is a you know, I mean that
the comps on Curry. People doubted Steph Curry had an
injury early and people bailed he was too small. There's
just nothing like her, Her tempo, her pace, her range.
She's an unbelievable player. She was gonna work on the WNBA.
(08:59):
I didn't know she'd this good. That's fast, but it's
been remarkable to watch. Where Colin was right, where Colin
was wrong.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in newone Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app heard Hierarchy Time Now
No Go. The top ten NFL teams according to College
number ten.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Okay, listen. It worries me that it's the fifth loss
when leading by ten plus points in the fourth under
Kyle Shanahan. But I said this, finally, I look at
Brock Purty and see a franchise quarterback. No Kittle, no Debot,
no McCaffrey. Offensive protection at the line was okay, and
he he was dealing, And so to me, it's like, yeah,
(09:45):
I know, they keep losing, but the kid threw for
three hundred and thirty three yards without his weapons. He
had his number three receiver. Even Brandon Aiyuk's not working,
and they're gonna get some of these guys back. But
I'm sorry, I'm gonna trust Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purty
at number ten over Dennis Allen and Derek Carr Niners
at ten, number nine, the New York Jets. Here's the stat.
(10:06):
Here's the stat that I come back to Aaron Rodgers
on third down this year has one hundred and eighteen
passer rated. They have the best third down offense fifty
seven percent in the league. I have been a huge
believer in this stat forever. If you're doing things on
third down, defense rests builds confidence. It usually means you
(10:28):
have a smart quarterback, you're good pre snap, you're getting
better than average protection. The Jets third down stat is
a real thing, and they lead the league in it,
and I do think they have a chance to grow
because Garrett Wilson and Aaron are going to get better
over time. They found that rookie running back out of Wisconsin.
He's gonna get better over time. So that stat alone
puts them at nine for me number eight. The Ravens. Listen,
(10:51):
here's another stat. This is a flawed team. They lead
the NFL in yards per play. Go ask the guys
in Vegas who make a living. Gambling is a huge
stat in the league. This forget the score in the
Dallas game. That was an URS kicking. That game wasn't
even competitive. They rolled Dallas and Lamar Jackson just look
(11:12):
at his numbers this year, three hundred and eighteen yards
a game. It's why I took him Sunday. And while
I'll always believe in this team. I believe in Lamar Jackson.
He's not perfect. We have one quarterback in the league
that's perfect. Everybody else has a hole. Lamar's my guy
number seven. None of you like Philadelphia. I do now
Jalen Hurts without Shane Steikin. Too many turnovers. They got
(11:35):
one plus turnover eighteen to the last twenty two games.
And I don't love Sirianni, but good god, they outgained
the Saints four hundred and sixty yards to two nineteen.
And we love the Saints. There are just dudes everywhere.
I love the owner, I love the GM. I'm not
a huge fan of the coach, but I like their players.
Now their AJ Brown comes back. That's a difference maker here.
So now they're receiving cars banged up. But I think
(11:56):
winning in New Orleans the way they did, the resiliency,
the toughness just screams Philadelphia. And I'm a Hurts guy.
He's flawed. I don't think he sees the field that
has height that great. But I'm a Jalen Hurts guy.
I got the Eagles at seven, number six. The Detroit Lions,
they finally figured out, Oh we have the best offensive
line in football and two above average running backs. Maybe
we should run the ball more. And they just punched Arizona,
(12:18):
pretty scrappy team in the face. Jamir Gibbs and David Montgomery.
That's the best running back tandem in the league, the
best offensive line in the league. Just run the ball.
Just run the ball. Sam Laporta's injury worries me. This
is a very solid franchise. Do I trust them situationally
like I would trust Kansas City in the big spot? No, no, No,
(12:41):
wouldn't at all. But I think they're a really good team.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Number five.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Okay, the Seahawks with the same players have the highest
gridded defense. Now, they haven't played anybody, but I'm gonna
tell you something right now. When I watch Seattle, you
know what I see a little like Kansas City. I
see a fast defense with the elite guys at linebacker
on the back in Now, again, they haven't played much
and we can bang on Gino. I'm as critical of
Gino Smith as everybody. Dude is a completion machine. He
(13:07):
completed seventy five percent of his throws. He's not going
to give you anything off script often, but he is
a I mean they got a number one receiver, they
got an edge rush, They've got a you know, it's
like Kirk Consins. They move the chains. I think they've
got weapons. I think their back end is outstanding. This
new coach, Mike McDonald, Baltimore's defense isn't the same. Why
(13:28):
the coach. They are really really well coached on that
defensive side, with playmakers on offense. I think Seattle's a
bit underrated right now. I have him at five.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Number four.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Is Matt Lafleur the second best coach in the league
after Andy Reid. What he is doing with Malik Willis
is insane. I feel I picked them to beat Detroit
in their division. I just think this story with Malie
Willis is fascinating. They also lead the NFL with seven picks.
We have been saying this for a decade. The only
time Green Bay's defense has ever been great Aaron Rodgers
won a Super Bowl. I always like they underachieved defensively,
(14:01):
but they bring the head coach from Boston College over.
They're young, they're fast, They're making plays. This has not
been a play making defense for a long time. And
what Lafleur is doing without Jordan Love is notable. This
guy is. He didn't promote himself. It's little market green Bay,
but I still think they're probably they're young in a
(14:22):
lot of places, even at quarterback, but I like Green
Bay a lot. I have them at four, number three.
I keep waiting for the bubble to burst. And Minnesota's good.
Here's the other thing. They leave the NFL with sixteen sacks,
so forget the offense. Every week. It's a different player defensively,
and they're not even healthy. I keep saying Kevin O'Connell
has coached they're reckless out of Sam Darnald. I have
(14:42):
three different general managers who have always told me you
can win a lot of games with Sam Darnald. There's
a lot of people in this league. Bill Belichick talked
about it yesterday. Outside of the Jets. Everybody likes Darnald,
and it's the offensive coachesn't like Sam Darnald. Back to
back home wins. They have hammered the Niners and hammer
the Texans. And by the way, I know Brian Flora
(15:02):
has hurt some feelings in Miami. Is he the best
defensive coordinator in the league? I mean Brod Purty and C. J. Strouder,
good quarterbacks, they both said after they lost to Minnesota. Yeah,
I saw stuff I've never seen in my life. It's
like they saw UFOs. So I think Brian flora is.
I know he hurt feelings in Miami. You got to
give that guy head coaching job. You got to consider him.
That dude can coach number two. I know, I know,
(15:25):
I know, Buffalo Kansas City's gonna break their heart in
mid January. But Joe Brady is different. And here's the
utter thing. They're not as Josh Allen centric. They're not.
They've got a running game. They I mean, they're even
Josh Allen said it. Nobody's keeping track of stats. I
like him. Are they gonna beat Kansas City in mid January?
Probably not, But I do think this is the best
(15:47):
version I have seen of them. I get a little older, Josh.
They're not as Josh reliant, but you still get the
details of Sean McDermott.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Number one.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
The thing that really is scary about Kansas City, so
they've become New England now, is that they have a
star quarterback and the best coach. But they're winning with defense.
They're so confident situationally, I don't think people are given
this defense credit because outside of Chris Jones, you know,
they don't have a lot of big stars. Their defense
is the fastest in the league. And Rashi Rice has
(16:19):
become a number one ride receiver. I'm not saying he's
Ceedee Lamb yet. I'm not saying he's Jamar Chase yet,
but he's somewhere in that galaxy. Now here's the thing.
They're the only team to start three to zero and
they've been out gained total yards. To me, is something
it's not. I think yards per plays bigger. I think
third down efficiency is better. I don't care. I mean
(16:41):
some teams, you know, the one of the reasons is
they they get turnovers so they don't have to play
the long field game very often. So sometimes the outgained
thing is just our defense is good. I mean New
England got out gained a few times in their career.
There you go. It's my top ten again. I don't
have the Saints in it. I thought they came back
to Earth. It's not a novel on them. But if
you're giving me Aaron Rodgers, if you're giving me San
(17:04):
Francisco Shanahan, brock Purty or you're giving me Derek Carran,
Dennis Allen. I'm sorry, I gotta make choices here.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a em Pacific.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Well, he was in the grind of the NFL for
twenty seasons, fifteen with the Saints, five with the Chargers.
Thirteen time Pro bowler. He's going to be eligible for
the Hall of Fame in twenty twenty six and he'll
be a first ballot guy still whole. I'm just looking
at his notable NFL records seven times leading the NFL
in passing yards, and I want to bring on Drew
(17:35):
Brees because that's interesting.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
When you.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Know, not that you didn't throw deep a lot, but
to lead the NFL in passing yards. You know, we
tend to think Marino and Mahall the deep ball, and
that's not what the league is. The league is pre snap.
And I was talking to a GM last night and
he said, oh, everybody gives talks Brady and Manning.
Speaker 5 (17:58):
He goes.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
When I looked at Hape, what Drew Brees did pre snap,
he and Peyton was music. It was it was Broadway
they were making and I think about that, Drew, because
we rush everybody now, all these quarterbacks. If you're not
good by your second Thanksgiving, half the guys in the
room are raising their hands when you're not there saying
draft a new quarterback. You got so good at the
(18:23):
offensive line, and this GM was like, there's never been
anybody better than Breeze at this at the line. It
was different than everybody. How long did it take you?
As I watched Jayden Daniels and bow Nicks before literally Drew,
you had seen everything and you were manipulating them. They
weren't manipulating you.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
Look, that's a great question, you know.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I when I played at Pretty University, you know we
ran the spread offense a lot of I wasn't responsible
for changing any protections or doing anything like that.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
Everything that we we had, we're built in hots. You know.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
You just knew when you had to get rid of
the ball. You knew when there was a guy coming free,
and then that adjust might adjust the clock in your head.
When I got to the NFL, it was very much
the same way. My first five years with the San
Diego Chargers. I wasn't responsible for Mike IDs. I wasn't
responsible for protections. I was just responsible to get the
ball out on time in rhythm. Every route concept had
(19:23):
a progression, and I had to know and understand when
I was going to be hot, in other words, when
there was going to be a free rusher that was unblocked,
you know, according to what the protection scheme was.
Speaker 5 (19:34):
And then I just had to know I had to
get the ball out.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Maybe there was a site adjustment that it was made
by a receiver that we had to be on the
same page.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
When I got to New Orleans. Sean Payton's offense.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Required the quarterback to or put the quarterback in a
position where, hey, it's necessary for you now to take
on the responsibility of calling out you know who who
the mic linebacker is or who the linebacker is that
the offensive line is now responsible for. Right typically, in
a standard four down, defensive lineman front the line. Your
(20:08):
five linemen of irresponsible for those four plus one. More so,
it was your job to identify who that fifth guy
was that were responsible for.
Speaker 5 (20:16):
Depending on the run play. If it was a run play.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Hey, whoever I'm miking, that might be who you're going
to It might be meaning that I'm idea in this
guy and then you're going to block the guy to
the left. There was all these different adjustments then that
would happen on third down where you know, now the
defense is going to play a bunch of different fronts,
and you have protection calls that will all of a
sudden send four linemen to the right, or all five
(20:41):
linemen to the right, or you know, three linemen to
the right, and now the back's going to step up
and he's going to take whoever's in the a gup right.
So you just have all these different calls based on
you know, who you're identifying and what type of pressure
is coming. And that responsibility became more and more as
I got into my career, But honestly, I wouldn't have
it any other way because I.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Wanted to be in control of those things.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
I wanted to be in a position where I was
trying to put our lineman in the best matchup positions
to be able to, you know, take their guys and protect.
I didn't want Alvin Kamara to have to block you know,
a two hundred and fifty pound linebacker or even a
big outside linebacker, a defensive end like I would try
(21:24):
to get him out in the route as much as possible.
So if I could make a different declaration that would
allow Alvin Kamara to free release, well guess what that's
that's better for his longevity. It's also better for me
because it gives me, you know, another weapon in the secondary.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
So all these things were a progression.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
I certainly didn't start off that way year one, year two,
not even until year six.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
Seven eight, probably wow wow. So yeah, it took some time.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yeah, and we're not patient like that anymore. If Bonex
isn't good by Thanksgiving next year. And what's interesting is
Seawan's intent. So I get to know Sean really well.
When he worked here, I loved him. Dinner with Sean
Payton's story time, and he's intense. Now everybody coaches different.
Matt Lafleur doesn't feel as intense. Sean Payton feels more intense.
So if I said, hey, bo Nicks, Drew Brees is
(22:11):
going to give you a one piece of advice for
Sean's personality, he's intellect you're smiling, What is the piece
of advice you would give bow Nicks? Because Sean can
get hot, Sean's going to be demanding you. Your personality
can handle it is there a piece of advice you'd
give Bo Nicks.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
Yeah, he just as demanding right back to him.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Okay, you know I Sean. Sean likes that. Sean Sean
wants to see you confident and sure you know everything. Obviously,
Sean and I got to a play a place with
our relationship where it was almost like we could finish
each other's sentences. I knew exactly what he was thinking
before he called to play. We had just rehearsed it
(22:52):
so much, we had talked about it so much throughout
the course of the week that you know, I knew
the minute we crossed the fifty yard line, this was
the play call coming out of his mouth. Minute are
you know we're inside the red zone? This is the
play we're running. The minute they go to this defense,
he wants this or that pressure, he wants this right,
and it stuff that we've talked about and rehearsed together
night before the game. We're dot nicol sheet. Here's my
favorite play, Sean. He's telling me his favorite plays.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
Right.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
We're just again rehearsing it over and over so that
we can just be as if you know, kind of
one you know, one mind out there together.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
But look there there. Of course, there were moments where you.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Know, man, I'm gonna make a mistake, and we got
to the point where, man, he knows that he knows
that I knew that I made the mistake, right, the
yelling that's screaming at me.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
But for a young quarterback who's trying to.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
To really teach and coach and kind of get on
the same page with him, there's probably going to be
a lot more of that, you know, and he'll be
pretty firm with you at times. And I think what
he loves to see. And I think a lot of
this came from Parcels. You know, Parcels would be very
demanding on his assistant coaches, right, and Parcells wanted those
coaches that have the same type of you know, kind
(23:56):
of intensity and confidence coming right back at him.
Speaker 5 (23:59):
So I think Sean loves that coming back from the quarterback.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
So Aaron Rodgers said something I thought was really smart.
And Aaron's won a lot of football games and the
Jets have it, and Aaron said, and I've heard this before,
but Aaron was very eloquent. He said, you know, everybody
kind of acts the same way when they lose. They're pissed,
they work harder, they galvanize. But it's different. When you win,
Guys splinter off, they get into endorsements, they get into
(24:23):
their fields. That's a whole different boat. San Francisco had
a noisy off season. Travis Kelsey's now dating the world's
most popular. I mean when you win, the world changes.
So you went like Aaron Rodgers, you went to a loser,
You made him a winner. Go back to the first
because you guys won right out of the shoot. You
and Sean that first year. How did you take a
(24:46):
losing franchise win? And New Orleans By the way, they're
not going to bed at eight forty five. New Orleans
and New York are not Indianapolis. So that's it's a
port city. There's a lot happening. Go back to your
first year, winning twenty three year old teammates. Was that
difficult or challenging?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
There were You have to look at the guys that
were brought in that year. I mean, look, here we
are six months post Katrina. You know the entire city
of New Orleans have been destroyed, devastated, right, I mean,
there was nothing to show off about New Orleans for
anybody come in to town, right like this day and
age with you know, recruiting and the way that you're
going to try to wine and dine guys when they
(25:26):
come in.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
There was no real wining and dining, you know.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
It was, Hey, you have to see this for what
it is, and so it's going to take a special
type of person and a special mindset to embrace the
challenge that you're going to face here, but also see
the realm of possibility. Right, Can you share this vision
with us? And I certainly did. I felt like it
was a calling for me to be there. I was
coming off of a pretty serious injury right where I
(25:51):
wasn't sure how great a football player I was.
Speaker 5 (25:52):
Going to be able to be coming back. I really did.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Sean Payton had a ton of confidence in me, Mickey Loomis,
That entire organization a ton of confidence in me, maybe
more so than I did myself at the time.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
And you look at the.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Rest of the free agents that were brought in that
year as well. It's not like everybody was banging down
the door to.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
Get these guys, you know. It was it was a
little bit of a joke.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
We had one of our coaches, Joe Vitt, called that
group in O six, the Castaways. It was like nobody
else wanted you, will take you, you know, because look,
you're tough guys. You're the right type of mindset, Like
you share the vision, you see what we can accomplish here.
You know it's going to be a difficult journey, but
you're not going to shy away from that. You're not
afraid of that. And like we needed that mentality, We
(26:32):
needed those types of guys like that's what it was
going to take. And that first season was obviously very magical.
I mean, we were not as talented a team as
the teams that we stepped on the field with, but
me and we were gritty, we were tough, and we
had the city on our shoulders, you know, right there
(26:53):
beside us, feeling like we had so much more to
play for than everybody else. And that's really what I
think that first season was about. But it was also
about what helped create the foundation for what I think
the New Orleans Saints became in the Sean Payton era,
and that's that was what we prided ourselves on.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, so because he went to Iowa State, you know,
you went to Purdue, not a football power, in fact,
when you went there. Before you got there, it was
mostly basketball. The boiler Makers had the basketball gen KDI programs,
that kind of stuff. And so in State of Texas,
you know, Drew's not six ' four. Oh you know,
you know the game, and so you probably have a
(27:32):
soft spot for brock Purty. I watched them at college
and the first time, like, so he gets drafted at
the end whatever, I mean, outside of Kurt Warner Romo,
these guys get drafted late. Maybe Mark Brunell. Most guys
get you know, good guys get drafted first, second, third, whatever.
And then all of a sudden he starts winning, and
I won't give him any credit. I'm like, well, let's
get Shanahan. It's a bunch of Hall of Fame guys.
(27:53):
And then slowly but surely, you're like, he's pretty he's
pretty good. And so it took me a while to
figure it out. It probably took you a lot less
to figure it out. When is the first time you
watch party because you guys have some of the same
dimensions in terms of size, when's the first time you
watched him? I'm sure it was years before me and went, oh, yeah,
(28:13):
this works, this is a franchise guy.
Speaker 5 (28:16):
No, he really wasn't.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I mean when he when he's you know, got his
first start, you know, midway through his rookie year, after
Trey Lance goes out and grab Low goes out, you know,
and then all of a sudden, here's the basically the
third string guy, mister.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Roll coming in. He I mean I could tell the
moment I saw the first half of the first game
that he played. I'm like, okay, Like.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
This guy is in command of the offense. This guy's
in and out of the huddle. He's controlling the line
of scrimmage, right, the shifts, the motions, all the things
that that offense requires in a field general to be
able to coordinate. Oh man, he's got incredible rhythm. He
throws with a great base. He's very calm, he's very poised. Right,
nothing seems to shake him.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
You know.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
So like all those things you I pick up on
right away, and then it's like, okay, where the heck
did this guy come from? You know, and then you
start looking at You're like, okay, this makes perfect sense.
Here's a guy who started almost fifty games in college.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
Right.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
He played at a school where ninety percent of the
time when they stepped on the field, they.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
Were the underdogs.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Oh yeah, right yeah, Like they weren't winning any beauty contest,
they weren't winning the pregame competitions.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
And they were having to kind of gut it out.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Right.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Had he played in a bunch of close games, a
bunch of really competitive games like that mold you, right,
that's then who you become, That becomes what you're used to. Right.
So then all of a sudden, these big time situations,
going into moments where people are doubting you or you're
playing against people that are supposed to be better than you,
(29:45):
Like that doesn't phaze you anymore, right, So, Like so
much of playing this position at the highest level in
the NFL is about confidence. It's about belief, it's about faith,
and the guys that are really good at it, there's
just an unwavering faith and confidence no matter what the situation,
no matter how who's hurt around them or what circumstances
(30:09):
around them might lead others to say that, hey, they're
not going to be able to get it done. You
embrace that, like you just play with this constant chip
on your shoulder and this edge that leads you to
be successful.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
By the way, when Joe Burrow this week, I don't
know if we still have it. There was a piece
of video and we'll wrap it up with this. Burrow
is seen after the game walking in full uniform. Here
it is it's like TMZ stuff, I'm gonna go talk
with the coach because they start zero three and you
know it's funny. Tony Gonzalez once told me he wasn't
(30:44):
comfortable early in his career doing stuff like that, and
I think that's when Zach Taylor and you are not
even You're just going right to a secret meeting. What
does that tell you? And did you ever have to
do that? But what is that tell you?
Speaker 2 (31:03):
That tells me they have a great relationship and that
they trust in one another to be able to voice
their opinions and their concerns, maybe even vent a little
bit like look, Sean Payton was mine, was my guide
event two at times, and I was his guide event
two at times. It's great when you have that type
(31:24):
of relationship with your head coach and play caller. Sean
and I had tons of moments like that early on.
As we I say, we like we were trying to
build the foundation for that team, and Sean was including
me in those conversations, and I really really appreciated that
because it empowered me and equipped me in a lot
of ways. And I see them doing that the exact
(31:46):
same way. I mean that that moment right there looks
so familiar to me because there are things that coming
out of a game.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
You know, obviously emotions are running high.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Hey, they didn't expect to start off zero to three,
you know, lose on Monday night foot all, you know,
you know, to to kind of an upstart commander's team,
you know, so like to me, that just shows a
good relationship, good good lines of communication. I think they're
going to be fine as a result.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yeah, I gotta say one more thing because Sean really,
you know, he got a little heat in Denver because
he would call Russell Wilson out and stuff. Did you
ever did you and Sean ever have a bad day,
like it got really sideways one?
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Well, I do remember, I mean I wouldn't say like
I do remember at one point, especially early on, when
I say, when Seawan was building the program, right six
seven eight, you know, it was we had tough physical practices.
I mean during the week, during the week of practice. Now,
(32:49):
nobody hardly puts pads on, right, but like we'd go
full pads two three days a week, you know, leading
up to a game on Sundays.
Speaker 5 (32:59):
That was a very con and thing.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
So a little bit of the old school Bill Parcels mindset,
and he was really trying to create a mindset and
a mentality there. And I remember one practice where man,
I just felt like the team was beat up, right,
guys needed a break. And and sure enough, here we are,
full padded practice and I'm looking at the schedule. I'm like, man,
I just I don't know if guys are going to
(33:21):
buy into this, you know, on a daylight today. And
so we got together as a group of captains, all
the captains.
Speaker 5 (33:28):
Together, and like, all right, guys, what are we going
to do? Like this is our team, you know.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
And Sean would always say, look, the best teams at
some point, the leaders on the team take control of
the team. Right, You're not taking instructions from the coaches,
You're taking instructions from the from the leaders on the team.
And so I was like, all right, this is what
he was talking about. This is this moment, right, this
is where we got We got to call the shots.
So we get together as a group and it's like, hey,
we're not going out in paths. It was kind of
(33:53):
like I kind of had the final.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
Saying it, you know. Yeah, I was like, we're not
going out.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
In paths, all right, go out in shells and just
tell everybody, man, we better be flying around like no excuses.
Don't don't give them an excuse to say we weren't
ready for Sunday because we weren't.
Speaker 5 (34:07):
You know, we weren't prepared. We weren't flying around. So
we show.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
We get out there and everybody's all amped up like yeah,
you know, we're bucking the system, like we're making the call.
We get out there in shells and literally like within
fifteen seconds, everybody comes high tailing it back in from
the field and they're like, hey, we have to put
pads on. Sean's going ballistic out there, you know. So
we very quickly put pads on it, went back out
(34:32):
and just got out word done and whatever. We were
all stared at Shaw, but but no, that was that
was probably an early heated exchange, you know, where it
was like you thought you were doing something good for
the team, and uh backfired a little.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Bit Yeah, got a little hot uh with Sean. That's great.
I love all the storytelling, Drew, real pleasure. We're going
to try to bring on Drew as regularly as we can.
Twenty year is gonna be a first ballot guy. Uh
really I thought there you just the storytelling was great man.
I love this. I can't wait for more of it,
and I appreciate you taking twenty minutes to your day first, ma'am.
Thank you
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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