October 23, 2024 • 33 mins
Colin gives his thoughts on LeBron James making history by playing in an NBA game with his son Bronny and what this means for the Lakers title chances this year. He gives his 5 bold predictions for the NBA season. NFL reporter Albert Breer joins the show in studio to talk about Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy facing increased pressure from owner Jerry Jones
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
So Wednesday, lots and lots to talk about in La
Lebron and Browny World Series coming up with the Dodgers
and Yankees. It's the Herd wherever you may be and
however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part
of your day. So years ago Jmack Joel Clatt in
one hour when I was a local news anchor sports guy.
(00:46):
I love sports and every year one of the local teams,
you know, would get into the Final four or a
World Series, and the news director make the sports guys
have to do like fluffy sports stories, Pom palm waving stories,
(01:07):
and I'm like, no, I'm a sports guy. I have sources.
You once you send the lightweight newspeople to do sports stories.
So I felt like last night last night, it was
basically for the lightweights who don't really follow sports. The influencers.
Bronnie and Lebron are playing, and it was good for
(01:29):
their family. That's cool, and their business partners and that's cool,
and influencers and people that don't really watch the game.
It will have zero impact. It was cool. It was
a moment first father son duo. It was great. I
get it. It was a moment. It'll have zero impact
(01:49):
on the Lakers. In fact, if JJ Ruddick is forced
to play Brownie, it will hurt the team. I mean,
you saw Aunt Edwards looked at Bronnie as a liability.
Let's go attack him. Bronnie is he's six' one and
he's not a point guard. He's a six to one
off guard. He would not be a dominant G League player.
He would be a G League player. And I get it.
(02:12):
I get it. I live in Los Angeles, red carpet Hollywood,
I get it. I've said before Lebron carried the league
for fifteen years. You're doing him as solid. The Lakers
told other teams, don't draft Brownie. I get it. I
had no animosity. I think it's fun. The Griffies. I'm
a Seattle Kid, the Griffies, the kid, dad and son
(02:33):
play together. I get it. But if we're serious here,
just this is just fluff. This is for influencer types.
You know, the cameras come out, everybody's taking pictures. I
was there. That's fine. I mean, you go to a
restaurant in La, it's twenty three year olds, I mean
taking pictures of their food. Like, I get it. But
(02:53):
for serious basketball people, all I watched was JJ Reddick
and the thing I would be encouraged about. The Lakers
ball movement was better than it was with Darvin Ham.
The spacing was better than it was with Darvin Ham.
And Anthony Davis got to the free throw line fifteen times.
So Anthony Davis JJ Reddick is all in and as
an offensive coach knows how to use him better than
(03:15):
Darvin Ham did. That's what I watched. The other stuff
felt like a soft launch for a Kardashian show, all right,
But I mean what I was watching was, oh my god,
this is the most engaged. Anthony Davis is all in.
Lebron still fine. Austin Rivers has put on ten pounds
of muscle. Dalton connect that's fun. Could he win? Rookie
(03:36):
of the Year. But all I cared about last night,
and again maybe I'm old school. I don't want to
be grumpy old guy. The browny thing was cool for
the family, Savannah, Lebron, the kids. It's a great moment.
It's amazing. Let's not let it get in the way
of stuff. I'm looking at JJ Reddick, I'm looking at
Anthony Davis, the rookie. I still think they could use
(03:58):
another three point shooter. But in the end, I understand
what last night was right. It was it's the it's
the local news anchors pretending they care about sports because
the team's in the Super Bowl. It's bring out the
cameras and the iPhones. It's adorable. I'm happy for Lebron
and his family. It's an amazing family, American success story.
(04:20):
Bronnie seems like a nice kid, but he's a six
to one off guard. They don't exist in the NBA.
I mean six to one point guards. You have to
be so athletic. You got to be Jahn Morant to
be a small point guard to succeed in this league.
To be a small off guard, you you would have
to be the best three point shooter or the best
defender at six to one in league history. So can
(04:40):
we just you know, it's so let's let's let's just
give them their moment. It's nice. Here's Bronnie, who's a
good kid, works hard, seems like a joyful person, good family,
and lebron after.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Try not to focus on, uh, you know, everything that's
going on around me and trying to focus so going
in as a rookie and not trying to mess up.
But yeah, I mean I totally did feel the energy,
and yeah, I appreciate the Laker nation for you know,
showing that support from me and my dad.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
We still had a job to do when we checked in.
We wasn't trying to make it a circus. We wasn't
trying to make it about us. We wanted to make
it about the team, you know, for us to go
out there and continue to play the Brandon basketball and
that the culture, staff and our teammates wanted us to play.
We kept that, We kept the main thing, the main
thing while we was on the floor, and that was
that was good for all of us.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yes, it wasn't a circus. It wasn't the Lakers won.
Minnesota was a little out of sorts. In the first half.
Cat's gone, Julius randal In, Dante vi Evincenzo is gonna
be a nice fit. Minnesota's gonna be fine. They have
a really good coaching staff, They're good players. I think
they could be as good or better than last year.
They didn't get their feet under them in the first half.
(05:53):
It's the first game. Don't make too much of Minnesota.
I like their pieces. Julius Randall, you know, dribbles too,
takes the air out of the ball. Not my favorite
and in the moment was not a circus. But let's
be honest. If you're going to force the Lakers to
play Browny, it will be and it'll get in the
way of what a team that may be at best
a playing team. But jj reddick I thought the spacing,
(06:16):
the movement and his use of Anthony Davis was fantastic.
That's what I thought. Okay, so well, well, well, if
you watched the early game, it capped off what was
another wonderful week for New York sports. The Giants are
again hideous and hopeless. The Jets, what a shock. They've
already fired a coach. They're a mess. The Met's cute story,
(06:37):
Bye bye, overwhelmed by the Dodgers Bats, and the Knicks
won't be able to compete against the Celtics this year,
thanks for Flying United. Yeah, that was ugly. The Celtics
led at one point by thirty five points. Now, let's
be fair the Knicks, and they know this. They have
to get another three point shooter. They moved Dante DiVincenzo
(06:58):
to get carl Anton Towns now CAP's the better player,
and they need size to compete against. You know, Porzingis
and Ambiide and Giannis I totally got the move. But
Michale Bridges gives the Knicks another wing defender. But you're
still gonna make threes, not just defend them. And Boston,
I mean, Boston last season led the NBA in three
(07:19):
point shots and makes. Yet they decided during the offseason,
let's shoot more. Last year they averaged forty two. Last
night they shot sixty one. And so you got a
couple of new Knicks and they're trying to kind of
like Minnesota, figure out what they are. And you have
the returning champs one through eight. There's nobody close to
the Celtics in the league. Oklahoma City's good one through eight,
(07:43):
Denver Minnesota. Denver was better a couple of years ago.
One through eight, That's why they won the title. The
Knicks one through eight can't compete with the Celtics one
through eight, So they've got to add a piece, maybe
at the trade deadline that can go take a big swing.
They'll defend the three better with Michale Bridges. But what
you were watching last night was a table saw and
freshwood that that wasn't competitive. And the Knicks will not
(08:05):
beat the Celtics unless they go get another three point shooter.
And Dante DiVincenzo was that guy last year. But what
I see last night is two things okay, So Devintenzo's gone.
That's going to be more pressure on Brunson because Mikhail
Bridges is not a playmaker. He's not a shot creator.
He was at his best in Phoenix when they had
(08:26):
Devin Booker Chris Paul Spacing. That's when he was at
his best. So Brunson last year fell apart physically because
the team was two Jalen Brunson dominant and centric. Well,
now by losing Dante DiVincenzo, that's more pressure offensively on
Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein. The big kid they sent to
OKC or that signed with OKC. He gave you about
(08:47):
eight nine ten points a night, gritty, blue collar, tough guy,
high percentage. Those were freebie points. Eight they're all gone.
And Devinceenzo catch and shoot threes. That's out the door.
So you're gonna need Carl Anthony Towns to give you
twenty six a night, and he'll have thirty two point
nights and they'll have nineteen point nights, and he gets
(09:09):
into his feelings. So I do feel like watching last
night is they have to add another piece otherwise it's
gonna become Hey, Jalen Brunson, save us. And I'm sorry,
when Derek White your fourth or fifth best player, I
mean that he would be. I mean he would be
arguably the next second best player. So this team and
(09:29):
let's they get another shooter and score and consistency from Kat.
And that's always been the issue. Cat's talent's great consistency
not so great. Sometimes gets a little weird in big spots,
and then it can be great in spots you don't
need him. I feel like last night is Nix will
be fine in March, but last night that's true. Serum,
(09:53):
that's how good the Celtics are one through eight and
how much you need Jalen Brunson have scored thirty eight
to even compete with Boston. Here's TIBs after. I think
you have to have the appropriate reaction to it. It's
disappointing that we didn't play better, but I'm not disappointed
in our team. For the record, the Celtics, we're twenty
(10:19):
nine of sixty one on threes, so they're not going
to shoot that most nights. They may go nineteen of
sixty one. That would be closer to what teams would
on average shoot, But one through eight, Make no doubt,
there's a real argument to be made that the only
teams that can match up both ends of the floor
(10:42):
against the Celtics are out West. I think, okay, seeing
Denver matchup Minnesota, let's wait and see on that. Dallas. Hey, listen,
if Kyrie, Clay and Luca can get along, maybe they
match up with threes. But right now the Knicks and
af have to add another shooter. And you know, Mikhale Bridges,
we gotta be ho here. He's not a shot creator. Okay,
(11:02):
he can finish, but he's not a shot creator. So
it's gonna be very much on Jalen Brunton like it
was last year. The good news is Brunson's a terrific player,
better than anybody thought he would be in New York,
and so that's good.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
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FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
You know I'm not giving you seventy four mile an
hour sliders here, I'm gonna give you fast balls. As
my five big bold NBA predictions last year wasn't two
years ago. I went five to zero. I think, okay.
Number one Luca Danteg gonna have a game in which
he scores eighty a gig or eighty for a night.
He scored seventy four last year in the game against
(11:43):
the Hawks. His scoring average is gone up. He's the
best pure offensive player. Kyrie Irving misses enough game, so
does Klay Thompson. That'll have one of those nights where
he's gonna get forty eight to fifty shots and he
gets on heaters like nobody else. He also stores a
majority of shot three pointers. I mean he can get hot,
So I think he's gonna have an eighty point game
(12:04):
the Lake. Kobe Bryant obviously had a game against Toronto
in that class. Second thing is I think the Lakers
missed the playoffs. They're one of the oldest starting rosters
in the NBA. I'm sorry, Dalton connect as a rookie
from Tennessee is not going to be a difference maker
against OKC Minnesota Denver. He's not. You have a new
coaching staff. Anthony Davis has just become an absolute night
(12:28):
after night dependable monster. He can't be as healthy as
he was last year. He'll miss ten games. This could
be Lebron's last year. And if this brawny thing goes
on for weeks and weeks, that didn't help you win
a number three. Zach Eaty from Perdue wins Rookie of
the Year. He comes in great shape. He got snubbed
on the Olympic roster, so he's not in a good
mood and he's gotten quicker.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
I didn't watch NBA preseason stuff. The staff, which apparently
has less of a social life than I do, did
and they said that Zach Eady looked very, very good
in the NBA preseason. So I still can't this idea
that this guy can't play in the NBA. If you
get him the ball within six feet, he's scoring, and
he's gotten his movement. He's now chip on his shoulder,
(13:10):
which he always played within college. Anyway, I think the
guy is going to be in a really nice NBA player.
He wins Rookie of the Year. All right, how about this,
Paul George and Joel Embiid will play fewer than twenty
games together. This is my least bold prediction. They're already
missing the opener, So I can't feel that this is
like saying, hey, Kawhi will miss a few games. But
(13:31):
I think this is the problem with Philadelphia. I mean,
Joel Embiid wasn't healthy in the playoffs last year, so
I'm expecting him to. I mean, at this point it's
you're trying to conserve his energy for the big spots,
and so I just I think this will be like
the Brooklyn team that had all those good players. They
just won't play enough together. And finally, I think Jannis
will request a trade at the end of the season.
(13:53):
So Boston's only better. New York is better, Indiana is
getting better. Keep your eye in Indiana. Indiana is like
the Oak the East. They're not as good, but they're
going up fast. They're ascending. So I think everybody's getting
better around the Bucks and they're getting older, and so
this could be year two of Dame and Giannis Middleton's
already hurt. So I think, what's gonna happen. You know,
(14:16):
when you get old in pro sports, you get old fast.
The Niners got old really fast. And in basketball last
year we're like Man a couple of years ago, we're like,
Bucks are old. They're not getting younger. They're too good
to get good draft picks. They're not getting younger. So
I think by the end of the year, the Warriors
have showed interest. I think that thing. It's a two
year experiment. You know, they may win forty eight to
fifty games. I'm not saying that. But the Knicks are
(14:36):
noticeably better over the course of a season. They will
be It didn't look good last night. The Knicks will
be better. The Celtics are better, Indiana's only getting better.
Miami I think could be better. Milwaukee's getting older, so
they are my five bold I was gonna throw this
one in. The Celtics clinched the number one seed by
next Thursday. That felt a little too bold for the segment.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
One more heard. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,
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Speaker 1 (15:09):
We're very fortunate the Minnesota Vikings in what is an
excellent Thursday night game tomorrow face the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams are all over these NFL rumors with Matt Stafford.
That don't buy that one. Cooper Cup I sort of
buy that one. And Albert Breer is covering that game
and now joins us live in studio, senior NFL reporter,
(15:30):
lead content guy, Monday Morning quarterback, covering the NFL for
two decade. Well look at this, I mean, you got
a sports jacket on and like.
Speaker 6 (15:36):
Fresh office six hour flight. It's not bad.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
No, no, nantucket hoodie, No no, no.
Speaker 7 (15:41):
That's how you're used to seeing me, right like on
a T shirt or whatever I dressed up for you.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
This I appreciate it. So let's let's address a big
game tomorrow. And there's been the Matt Stafford. By the way,
they don't they don't have any guarantee money after next year,
so they got about two years left of them, which
I think you should just load it up to see
if you win with him. Do you buy those rumors, Stafford?
Speaker 6 (16:03):
Not now. Maybe after the season.
Speaker 7 (16:06):
The contract sets up in a way where if the
size decided it's time to move on after the year,
they can do that.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
So I don't buy it over the next two weeks now.
Speaker 7 (16:17):
Based on how the rest of the season goes and
where the team looks like it's at and whether or
not you're going to be building around your first and
second year players or you're going to try to go
all in again. I think some of that stuff could
determine where they go at quarterback. And they do have flexibility,
like they gave him a little bump this year, and
I think part of it was the mutual understanding like
(16:39):
after the year, we're going to revisit. Yeah, And so
you know, I don't think I don't think it's in
a bad place right now, but I certainly don't think
like that there's been any hard decision made on what
they're gonna do in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Now, Cooper cup I think a place like Pittsburgh where
if Russell's as good as he was in the second half.
Jet's pretty good to defensive personnel. I could see them saying,
can we get like a twelve target eight catch guy
with pickens with our power run game, and Pittsburgh now
is sitting there thinking we may win this division. I
(17:12):
can see Pittsburgh making a move. So these rumors on
Cooper Cup feel legit to me.
Speaker 6 (17:17):
They are and you know what it is.
Speaker 7 (17:20):
It's funny because like teams are very sensitive to the
idea that they'd be shopping anybody, and the Rams really
don't have to shop Cooper Cup. Teams that need receivers
are going to call the Rams. Look at the record,
his reputation obviously as clutch as he's been.
Speaker 6 (17:33):
If you want a guy in the pull up to
the playoffs, that's the guy. I know.
Speaker 7 (17:37):
What they've told other teams is it's going to cost
more than DeVante Adams cost. So DeVante Adams with a
three that turns into a two, you'd naturally think then
they need at least a second round pick.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
That's pretty rich considering.
Speaker 7 (17:49):
And that's and that's the thing is, like I think
a lot of people look at these trades and they see, like,
you know, the big like twenty five year old star
getting traded for two first round picks, and.
Speaker 6 (17:59):
Like, I can't I believe you trade him for a
three or four.
Speaker 7 (18:01):
But that's the price, you know, And I the Raiders
had a really hard time trying to find anything approximating
it two for DeVante Adams. And I think it's sort
of the same thing with Cooper Cup where the Rams
you have to look at both sides of it, right,
So the Rams see it as we're trading a franchise icon,
a guy who scored the winning points of Super Bowl,
a guy who was part of Sean mcvay's first draft
(18:23):
in the locker room, like just one of the guys
that was really a part of establishing us, of us
establishing ourselves in Los Angeles, and flipping that for a
third or fourth round pick doesn't look great, you know.
Whereas if you're one of the teams acquiring and you're
looking at him thirty one years old, can't stay healthy,
lots of mileage. This may be just a one year rental,
(18:44):
Like we'll see if we can have him beyond this year.
And he's a little more limited than he was, say
two or three years ago. So I think there'll be
more trade talks with Cooper cup. My question is whether
or not the value is going to match up, right, Like,
whether or not the way the Rams value i'm's going
to match up with a way some other team coming in,
like maybe Pittsburgh values him.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
So Mike Tomlin, it's very funny. So I want to
play this, but I don't know if you've seen it.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
This made me laugh.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
So Tomlin is as good at a microphone as perhaps
any coach in the history of that. Gruden before him,
and now Tomlin. They're just good talkers. So watch and
we don't have to play the entire bite, guys, but
watch Tomlin's laughing. He's laughing when he is asked about
off of twenty four to nothing second half of Russell.
(19:32):
Is Russell starting in the next game? Yeah, here he is.
He's scheduled to take first team and we begin tomorrow.
Speaker 6 (19:39):
We'll see what leads us. That's scheduled.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Yeah, So he's just laughing at it. But I will
say I was wrong. Russell in that second half was actual. Yep,
he threw to the right. Guys. Tomlin was totally engaged.
Were you shocked? What did you make?
Speaker 6 (20:00):
I was surprised.
Speaker 7 (20:01):
Yeah, I mean, like based on what I had heard
and how he looked in practice and kind of where
the rest of that building was, I wasn't surprised by
the way he looked in the first quarter like that.
Speaker 6 (20:10):
I was like, oh, well, there it is.
Speaker 7 (20:12):
That's why people on the coaching staff, the locker room,
that's why they wanted to keep Justin in there. And
that's why I mean to borrow his tomorrow Mike's phrase,
he had to go lone ranger on this. I also
understand Mike's logic though, and I think Mike's logic.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
Is pretty simple.
Speaker 7 (20:27):
Here is, if you go with Justin Fields there, you
cannot go back to Russell Wilson. If you go to
Justin Field's day, like when he's healthy, you might not
be able to keep Russell Wilson on the roster. On
the other hand, if you go with Russell Wilson and
you give that a swing, well, then it's very easy to.
Speaker 6 (20:44):
Go with Justin go back to Justin Fields if that.
Speaker 7 (20:46):
Doesn't work, right, Like, if Russell Wilson looks in the
first in the second and third and fourth quarters the
way he looked in the first quarter, you gave him
a shot. It's very easy to go back to Justin fields.
So I think essentially what Mike Tomlin did was give
himself two cracks it. He thinks he's got a really
good team and that Russell could bring something that Justin
wasn't bringing to them, which was getting the ball downfield.
That showed sort of activated George Pickens a little bit,
(21:09):
and now.
Speaker 6 (21:10):
We see if it's sustainable or not.
Speaker 7 (21:12):
I'm not convinced that this is going to look the
same way over the next month, with teams having tape
on him and everything else and knowing what they're going
to be trying to do with Russell Wilson in their quarterback.
But at least you give yourself two shots at getting
the quarterback position right. And again you gotta give tom
On a ton of credit because that decision was going
against what a lot of people in the building thought
he should do.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Okay, so I'm not insinuating what I'm about to say
is the truth. What I am suggesting is it wouldn't
shock me that Jerry feeds Aikman, Jerry feeds Michael and
says have at it. I'm not saying it happened. I
am not in any way. But Irvin, Michael Irvin comes
(21:52):
out and says this team soft. Troy a couple of
days later said they're lazy. I'm not saying they're wrong,
and I'm not saying they're fed. But the way Jerry
backed Akman saying, boy, that's credible. I mean, that guy's
a great broadcast. It's like and then Jerry yesterday said
in our play calling has been bad. I mean it.
(22:14):
Hold on one second, okay, so I want to play this.
So this is the play calling, and we don't. Again,
we don't have to play the entire bite, but there's
just play Jerry ripping the play calling.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
The types of things that we all think we should
be looking at is well, we're designing bad plays or
we're designing.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Bad concepts, And.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
The facts are that there's some of that, but there's
also some of the execution. There's some of the talent.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
I really do like our talent.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
I like our young talent.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah, of course he likes the young talent. He helped
draft it. So now McCarthy literally almost rolls his eyes,
answering the question again, we don't have to roll all
of it, but roll this. Here's my.
Speaker 8 (23:01):
I talked to Jerry all the time. You know, we've
had time to go through the cell scout, so I
can't really I didn't see the comments specifically, so, but
I don't think we have bad hasps in that place.
But I'll go back at check.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
But no, I don't.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
I mean, I'll.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Go back and check.
Speaker 7 (23:23):
I mean, I've always thought Jerry's great, crazy like a fox, though,
Like I've always thought that there's he says a lot
of things. I think there's a design to a lot
of the things that he does. Now it is all
over the place, But like, I don't think he does
things without what his team needs in mind, right, Like, so,
(23:44):
I think he's felt like if you look at the
way he's operated since the end of last season, it's
been constantly turning the heat up the all in comment,
even though they didn't really spend in the off season,
sending Mike McCarthy into a contract here, which is very unconventional,
making Dak pre Scott and Ceedee Lamb wait until the
summer to get their deals done, not paying Michaeh. Parsons now,
(24:06):
not making a real attempt to pay Michael Parsons now.
I think he felt like I've got to turn the
heat up on everyone in the organization because everybody here
has gotten too comfortable. And now he sees it in
the middle of the season, it still doesn't look good.
So what's he gonna do. He's not turning the heat down.
He's turning the heat back up. The other thing last
week on the radio right like where it sounds like
(24:27):
he is. Man. He's coming after people's jobs, even if
it's just the radio guy right like, Man, he's coming
after people's jobs. And it's tense, and so you know,
I think again, Jerry can be all over the place,
but I do think there's usually a designed to the
way Jerry talks, the way Jerry presents himself. And I
just have noticed this pattern over the course of the
last seven eight, nine months of Jerry turning the heat
(24:49):
on people that work for him.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Okay, we're just starting here. More Albert Breer around the corner,
live in La. It's the Hurt.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
and noone Easter not a emphasis.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Right, Welcome back Albert Breer. How lucky are we to
get him in studio fresh off of flight? Okay, so
I did this yesterday a warm smoking and four alarm
fire for our for our coaches, I think when you
get to week seven eight, I mean Robert Saalis fired.
So every year one guy gets fired too early, and
then about three weeks later somebody else gets whacked, and
(25:21):
then by week fifteen it's all bets are off. So
I like, like I, for instance, I would not fire
Dable Stefanski or Zach Taylor. I think they're all above average.
I think Stefanski Stefanski's holding that thing together. It's a mess.
Dennis Allen Peterson, Nick Sirianni, I think I'd move off
of and I thought Peterson would be a hit. Mike
(25:41):
McCarthy with all this Jerry stuff it Troy Yeikman, I
mean it just.
Speaker 6 (25:46):
It's hard to see him survive.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Yeah, but is there is anything that jumps out to
you about my warm smoking, four alarm fire coaching? Huh?
Speaker 5 (25:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (25:53):
I mean I would take Zach Taylor off of that.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
So you don't think he's gonna get it.
Speaker 7 (25:56):
I don't think so. I just I know the mo
of that franch guys.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
They don't like paying coaches.
Speaker 7 (26:03):
They don't like paying coaches who aren't there. They also
have been very very patient. Marvin Lewis was there for
sixteen years. He basically got two runs, you know, with
two different quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
I like Zach.
Speaker 7 (26:13):
They are the Browns are very into the model they
have right now. And I think that that's the important
piece to remember with Cleveland is it's not just Andrew Berry,
Kevin Stefanski or Paul de Podesta. It's like the way
that it's set up. They really liked the way that
it's set up. Ownership wanted analytics heavy model. All those
guys buy into it, and I think you can look
(26:33):
at it and say, if they had stuck with Baker
Mayfield or they had gotten another competent quarterback, they'd be
fine now.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
And I think last year proves it right.
Speaker 7 (26:45):
Dave All is an interesting one because the Maras didn't
want to fire Joe Judge in twenty twenty one, and
then that press conference happened and the heat of being
in New York got to Joe Judge a little bit,
and then they couldn't bring him back.
Speaker 6 (27:00):
Like I don't, I think, Dave All.
Speaker 7 (27:01):
I think the Giants really like some of the things
that Joe Shane and Brian Daball have done and would
like to give him the chance to go to go
get a quarterback, but there's no telling how he's going
to handle the next three months. And when the heat
turns up in New York, if this, if the record
gets worse, it will again. I think they want I
think they want to stick it out. Andrew Thomas is
(27:23):
a massive loss. That might be one of the biggest
losses in the NFL this year.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
No, no, no, the elite neighbors they're functional. They're not
a functional offense without Thomas.
Speaker 7 (27:33):
Right, and so like, I don't know what the path
is out for them. I think how Brian Daball handles it,
how he engages his locker room determines if he stays.
Speaker 6 (27:42):
But I think they want to keep him.
Speaker 7 (27:44):
So I think those three names at the bottom of
the list are in the right place is because those
teams very much want to keep those guys in place.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Let me throw this out it Yeah, Dan Campbell and
Sirianni basically, Philly was a better job than Detroit. And
four years later, Dan Campbell has built a monster truck. Yeah, okay,
and that was the worst.
Speaker 6 (28:09):
Job yep, and supposedly the worst hire.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
And Siriani goes to kind of a VIP lounge of
coaching spots.
Speaker 7 (28:19):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
I mean they've fired super Bowl winning coaches and it
last year it's a tire fire. And this year he
had to have his wrist slap for yelling at fans.
I like so much about Philadelphia. He doesn't feel like
he's got the gravitas to be the webs.
Speaker 7 (28:38):
And then and then you replace the coordinators, and that,
to me is always a bad sign when they're bringing
in coordinators who don't have background with you.
Speaker 6 (28:46):
Vic Fangio is a really good defensive coordinator. You don't
need me to tell you that.
Speaker 7 (28:50):
Kellen Moore accomplished a lot as an OC in Dallas,
but neither of those guys had connections to Nick Siriy
And so somebody told him so. So he walked the plank.
Last year they thought about firing him. I think if
they had fired him, they would have brought in a
Belichick or a Vrabel. They don't do it. They replace
both as coordinators. They bring in guys from the outside
who he doesn't have background with it. Just if it
(29:13):
doesn't go right, like then who's left right? Like, who's
left to pay for it? So and they're so invested.
That's the other thing you got to remember, Like that roster,
if you look at it, it's an incredibly talented roster, right,
but it's set up in a way where in two
or three years, like there's a huge bill coming and
they're very leveraged to win right now. And that's why
(29:35):
I think the Vrabels and the Belichicks makes sense for them,
because they need a guy if they're going to move
off of who comes in right away and makes a
difference right away and can win right away.
Speaker 6 (29:45):
Because that group of players, the.
Speaker 7 (29:46):
Way the contracts set up and everything else, that team
is built to win over the next two or three
years and then they're going to have to retool everything.
So I think Philly is a really interesting one. There's
a lot of pressure on Nick and you know, again
like it was that assignment, the pressure. Was that a
sign of the pressure being on him of coaching in Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yeah, that's a big job. Yeah, I would argue could
be the simultaneously top three best job and the hardest.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
I mean sports talk radio, it is massively influential in Philly.
Speaker 7 (30:19):
Well think about this, think about the coach She've gone
through there, right, So Andy Reid gets fired. I think
it was time when he got fired. Chip Kelly ten wins,
ten wins, five wins, fired, right, Doug Peterson wins their
first Super Bowl, fired three years later. Nick Sirianni wins
the Super Bowl in twenty two. At the end of
twenty three, he almost got fired, and he's in the
hot seat in twenty four. There's no other The NFC
(30:41):
East is like the SEC if you think about, like
the pressure that's on guys in that guy Guys in that.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Division's influenced by the intense media and fan relentless criticism.
Speaker 7 (30:54):
I mean, Dallas, Mike McCarthy won twelve games three years
in a row. If Mike McCarthy wins ten twelve games
three years in a row in Jacksonville, they're building a
statue of him in Dallas, and Dallas is not good enough,
and Dallas is not good enough, and so you know,
there's there's definitely a more intense pressure. We're talking about
day Ball, right, like, well, the Giants who are the
(31:14):
model of stability in the NFL. Ben mcadu gets two years,
Pat Shermer gets two years, Joe Judge gets two years,
Brian da Ball's in year three now. So it's just
it's a more intense environment in that division. And yeah,
I mean, like the Eagles job is, it takes a
certain type of person to win.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
And Phillip okay, we're out and in two and a half
minutes brock pretty so wonky against Kansas City. Yeah, last
twelve games, six and six, passer rating like eighty. Have
they made a decision on his future.
Speaker 6 (31:46):
They plan to pay him.
Speaker 7 (31:48):
They plan to pay him, And I think what you
have to look at again is sort of and this
is the great thing about where they're at right now.
You wouldn't ask for Brandon Ayuk to get hurt, Deebo
Samuel to get hur Williams hold out all that stuff.
Speaker 6 (32:01):
But it's giving you.
Speaker 7 (32:03):
A very real view of what it could look like
in two or three years, because this core of players
is going to age out right, and so does brock
Party grow into it over the course of this year
where there are guys moving in and out of the
lineup where you do need a little bit more from him,
and I think we have seen signs of what sort
of quarterback he can be. Again, I think if if
brock Party weren't a seventh round pick.
Speaker 6 (32:24):
I think we would be looking at him completely different now.
I don't think.
Speaker 7 (32:27):
I don't think a lot of the questions that are
being asked of brock Party would be asked about him
if he was the fifth pick in the draft. I
think they're asked about him because of where he was drafted,
and people can't let go of that and look at
him as being very limited physically. I think he can play,
and they think he can play, and they plan to
pay him now again subject to the rest of the year,
because we're going to get a very good, very clear
(32:48):
look at what it looks like.
Speaker 6 (32:49):
When he has a little bit lesser.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Did you hear j macmh Yeah, J mack. If he
was draft that is the number five pick, he'd be
six four and move faster. He is such a he
is the biggest rock party. I just think, I I almost.
Speaker 6 (33:03):
It's gonna sound weird. Look at his legs, I'm serious, Like,
look at his legs, like you like.
Speaker 7 (33:08):
This guy's seen as being physically limited, right, better athlete
than you think, more powerful than you think. Look at
his legs like he is sort of built like Russell Wilson,
like when he was when he was really rolling in Seattle.
What everybody would say about him is he's he's short.
He's not small, right, if you look at brock Purty's bill,
he's not as small a person as you think.
Speaker 6 (33:29):
I actually think that. I think internally the decision has
been made to extend.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Okay, Yeah, that's what we're looking for. We'd love to
have you back here more often. This is nice.
Speaker 6 (33:38):
Yeah, this is great.
Speaker 7 (33:40):
I made it right over from the airport. I think
it was forty minutes or something from Wheels down.
Speaker 6 (33:44):
To the city.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
Yeah, he've got a good traffic day in Los Angeles.
Thanks for listening to the Best of 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.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
So Wednesday, lots and lots to talk about in La
Lebron and Browny World Series coming up with the Dodgers
and Yankees. It's the Herd wherever you may be and
however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part
of your day. So years ago Jmack Joel Clatt in
one hour when I was a local news anchor sports guy.
(00:46):
I love sports and every year one of the local teams,
you know, would get into the Final four or a
World Series, and the news director make the sports guys
have to do like fluffy sports stories, Pom palm waving stories,
(01:07):
and I'm like, no, I'm a sports guy. I have sources.
You once you send the lightweight newspeople to do sports stories.
So I felt like last night last night, it was
basically for the lightweights who don't really follow sports. The influencers.
Bronnie and Lebron are playing, and it was good for
(01:29):
their family. That's cool, and their business partners and that's cool,
and influencers and people that don't really watch the game.
It will have zero impact. It was cool. It was
a moment first father son duo. It was great. I
get it. It was a moment. It'll have zero impact
(01:49):
on the Lakers. In fact, if JJ Ruddick is forced
to play Brownie, it will hurt the team. I mean,
you saw Aunt Edwards looked at Bronnie as a liability.
Let's go attack him. Bronnie is he's six' one and
he's not a point guard. He's a six to one
off guard. He would not be a dominant G League player.
He would be a G League player. And I get it.
(02:12):
I get it. I live in Los Angeles, red carpet Hollywood,
I get it. I've said before Lebron carried the league
for fifteen years. You're doing him as solid. The Lakers
told other teams, don't draft Brownie. I get it. I
had no animosity. I think it's fun. The Griffies. I'm
a Seattle Kid, the Griffies, the kid, dad and son
(02:33):
play together. I get it. But if we're serious here,
just this is just fluff. This is for influencer types.
You know, the cameras come out, everybody's taking pictures. I
was there. That's fine. I mean, you go to a
restaurant in La, it's twenty three year olds, I mean
taking pictures of their food. Like, I get it. But
(02:53):
for serious basketball people, all I watched was JJ Reddick
and the thing I would be encouraged about. The Lakers
ball movement was better than it was with Darvin Ham.
The spacing was better than it was with Darvin Ham.
And Anthony Davis got to the free throw line fifteen times.
So Anthony Davis JJ Reddick is all in and as
an offensive coach knows how to use him better than
(03:15):
Darvin Ham did. That's what I watched. The other stuff
felt like a soft launch for a Kardashian show, all right,
But I mean what I was watching was, oh my god,
this is the most engaged. Anthony Davis is all in.
Lebron still fine. Austin Rivers has put on ten pounds
of muscle. Dalton connect that's fun. Could he win? Rookie
(03:36):
of the Year. But all I cared about last night,
and again maybe I'm old school. I don't want to
be grumpy old guy. The browny thing was cool for
the family, Savannah, Lebron, the kids. It's a great moment.
It's amazing. Let's not let it get in the way
of stuff. I'm looking at JJ Reddick, I'm looking at
Anthony Davis, the rookie. I still think they could use
(03:58):
another three point shooter. But in the end, I understand
what last night was right. It was it's the it's
the local news anchors pretending they care about sports because
the team's in the Super Bowl. It's bring out the
cameras and the iPhones. It's adorable. I'm happy for Lebron
and his family. It's an amazing family, American success story.
(04:20):
Bronnie seems like a nice kid, but he's a six
to one off guard. They don't exist in the NBA.
I mean six to one point guards. You have to
be so athletic. You got to be Jahn Morant to
be a small point guard to succeed in this league.
To be a small off guard, you you would have
to be the best three point shooter or the best
defender at six to one in league history. So can
(04:40):
we just you know, it's so let's let's let's just
give them their moment. It's nice. Here's Bronnie, who's a
good kid, works hard, seems like a joyful person, good family,
and lebron after.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Try not to focus on, uh, you know, everything that's
going on around me and trying to focus so going
in as a rookie and not trying to mess up.
But yeah, I mean I totally did feel the energy,
and yeah, I appreciate the Laker nation for you know,
showing that support from me and my dad.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
We still had a job to do when we checked in.
We wasn't trying to make it a circus. We wasn't
trying to make it about us. We wanted to make
it about the team, you know, for us to go
out there and continue to play the Brandon basketball and
that the culture, staff and our teammates wanted us to play.
We kept that, We kept the main thing, the main
thing while we was on the floor, and that was
that was good for all of us.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yes, it wasn't a circus. It wasn't the Lakers won.
Minnesota was a little out of sorts. In the first half.
Cat's gone, Julius randal In, Dante vi Evincenzo is gonna
be a nice fit. Minnesota's gonna be fine. They have
a really good coaching staff, They're good players. I think
they could be as good or better than last year.
They didn't get their feet under them in the first half.
(05:53):
It's the first game. Don't make too much of Minnesota.
I like their pieces. Julius Randall, you know, dribbles too,
takes the air out of the ball. Not my favorite
and in the moment was not a circus. But let's
be honest. If you're going to force the Lakers to
play Browny, it will be and it'll get in the
way of what a team that may be at best
a playing team. But jj reddick I thought the spacing,
(06:16):
the movement and his use of Anthony Davis was fantastic.
That's what I thought. Okay, so well, well, well, if
you watched the early game, it capped off what was
another wonderful week for New York sports. The Giants are
again hideous and hopeless. The Jets, what a shock. They've
already fired a coach. They're a mess. The Met's cute story,
(06:37):
Bye bye, overwhelmed by the Dodgers Bats, and the Knicks
won't be able to compete against the Celtics this year,
thanks for Flying United. Yeah, that was ugly. The Celtics
led at one point by thirty five points. Now, let's
be fair the Knicks, and they know this. They have
to get another three point shooter. They moved Dante DiVincenzo
(06:58):
to get carl Anton Towns now CAP's the better player,
and they need size to compete against. You know, Porzingis
and Ambiide and Giannis I totally got the move. But
Michale Bridges gives the Knicks another wing defender. But you're
still gonna make threes, not just defend them. And Boston,
I mean, Boston last season led the NBA in three
(07:19):
point shots and makes. Yet they decided during the offseason,
let's shoot more. Last year they averaged forty two. Last
night they shot sixty one. And so you got a
couple of new Knicks and they're trying to kind of
like Minnesota, figure out what they are. And you have
the returning champs one through eight. There's nobody close to
the Celtics in the league. Oklahoma City's good one through eight,
(07:43):
Denver Minnesota. Denver was better a couple of years ago.
One through eight, That's why they won the title. The
Knicks one through eight can't compete with the Celtics one
through eight, So they've got to add a piece, maybe
at the trade deadline that can go take a big swing.
They'll defend the three better with Michale Bridges. But what
you were watching last night was a table saw and
freshwood that that wasn't competitive. And the Knicks will not
(08:05):
beat the Celtics unless they go get another three point shooter.
And Dante DiVincenzo was that guy last year. But what
I see last night is two things okay, So Devintenzo's gone.
That's going to be more pressure on Brunson because Mikhail
Bridges is not a playmaker. He's not a shot creator.
He was at his best in Phoenix when they had
(08:26):
Devin Booker Chris Paul Spacing. That's when he was at
his best. So Brunson last year fell apart physically because
the team was two Jalen Brunson dominant and centric. Well,
now by losing Dante DiVincenzo, that's more pressure offensively on
Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein. The big kid they sent to
OKC or that signed with OKC. He gave you about
(08:47):
eight nine ten points a night, gritty, blue collar, tough guy,
high percentage. Those were freebie points. Eight they're all gone.
And Devinceenzo catch and shoot threes. That's out the door.
So you're gonna need Carl Anthony Towns to give you
twenty six a night, and he'll have thirty two point
nights and they'll have nineteen point nights, and he gets
(09:09):
into his feelings. So I do feel like watching last
night is they have to add another piece otherwise it's
gonna become Hey, Jalen Brunson, save us. And I'm sorry,
when Derek White your fourth or fifth best player, I
mean that he would be. I mean he would be
arguably the next second best player. So this team and
(09:29):
let's they get another shooter and score and consistency from Kat.
And that's always been the issue. Cat's talent's great consistency
not so great. Sometimes gets a little weird in big spots,
and then it can be great in spots you don't
need him. I feel like last night is Nix will
be fine in March, but last night that's true. Serum,
(09:53):
that's how good the Celtics are one through eight and
how much you need Jalen Brunson have scored thirty eight
to even compete with Boston. Here's TIBs after. I think
you have to have the appropriate reaction to it. It's
disappointing that we didn't play better, but I'm not disappointed
in our team. For the record, the Celtics, we're twenty
(10:19):
nine of sixty one on threes, so they're not going
to shoot that most nights. They may go nineteen of
sixty one. That would be closer to what teams would
on average shoot, But one through eight, Make no doubt,
there's a real argument to be made that the only
teams that can match up both ends of the floor
(10:42):
against the Celtics are out West. I think, okay, seeing
Denver matchup Minnesota, let's wait and see on that. Dallas. Hey, listen,
if Kyrie, Clay and Luca can get along, maybe they
match up with threes. But right now the Knicks and
af have to add another shooter. And you know, Mikhale Bridges,
we gotta be ho here. He's not a shot creator. Okay,
(11:02):
he can finish, but he's not a shot creator. So
it's gonna be very much on Jalen Brunton like it
was last year. The good news is Brunson's a terrific player,
better than anybody thought he would be in New York,
and so that's good.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
You know I'm not giving you seventy four mile an
hour sliders here, I'm gonna give you fast balls. As
my five big bold NBA predictions last year wasn't two
years ago. I went five to zero. I think, okay.
Number one Luca Danteg gonna have a game in which
he scores eighty a gig or eighty for a night.
He scored seventy four last year in the game against
(11:43):
the Hawks. His scoring average is gone up. He's the
best pure offensive player. Kyrie Irving misses enough game, so
does Klay Thompson. That'll have one of those nights where
he's gonna get forty eight to fifty shots and he
gets on heaters like nobody else. He also stores a
majority of shot three pointers. I mean he can get hot,
So I think he's gonna have an eighty point game
(12:04):
the Lake. Kobe Bryant obviously had a game against Toronto
in that class. Second thing is I think the Lakers
missed the playoffs. They're one of the oldest starting rosters
in the NBA. I'm sorry, Dalton connect as a rookie
from Tennessee is not going to be a difference maker
against OKC Minnesota Denver. He's not. You have a new
coaching staff. Anthony Davis has just become an absolute night
(12:28):
after night dependable monster. He can't be as healthy as
he was last year. He'll miss ten games. This could
be Lebron's last year. And if this brawny thing goes
on for weeks and weeks, that didn't help you win
a number three. Zach Eaty from Perdue wins Rookie of
the Year. He comes in great shape. He got snubbed
on the Olympic roster, so he's not in a good
mood and he's gotten quicker.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
I didn't watch NBA preseason stuff. The staff, which apparently
has less of a social life than I do, did
and they said that Zach Eady looked very, very good
in the NBA preseason. So I still can't this idea
that this guy can't play in the NBA. If you
get him the ball within six feet, he's scoring, and
he's gotten his movement. He's now chip on his shoulder,
(13:10):
which he always played within college. Anyway, I think the
guy is going to be in a really nice NBA player.
He wins Rookie of the Year. All right, how about this,
Paul George and Joel Embiid will play fewer than twenty
games together. This is my least bold prediction. They're already
missing the opener, So I can't feel that this is
like saying, hey, Kawhi will miss a few games. But
(13:31):
I think this is the problem with Philadelphia. I mean,
Joel Embiid wasn't healthy in the playoffs last year, so
I'm expecting him to. I mean, at this point it's
you're trying to conserve his energy for the big spots,
and so I just I think this will be like
the Brooklyn team that had all those good players. They
just won't play enough together. And finally, I think Jannis
will request a trade at the end of the season.
(13:53):
So Boston's only better. New York is better, Indiana is
getting better. Keep your eye in Indiana. Indiana is like
the Oak the East. They're not as good, but they're
going up fast. They're ascending. So I think everybody's getting
better around the Bucks and they're getting older, and so
this could be year two of Dame and Giannis Middleton's
already hurt. So I think, what's gonna happen. You know,
(14:16):
when you get old in pro sports, you get old fast.
The Niners got old really fast. And in basketball last
year we're like Man a couple of years ago, we're like,
Bucks are old. They're not getting younger. They're too good
to get good draft picks. They're not getting younger. So
I think by the end of the year, the Warriors
have showed interest. I think that thing. It's a two
year experiment. You know, they may win forty eight to
fifty games. I'm not saying that. But the Knicks are
(14:36):
noticeably better over the course of a season. They will
be It didn't look good last night. The Knicks will
be better. The Celtics are better, Indiana's only getting better.
Miami I think could be better. Milwaukee's getting older, so
they are my five bold I was gonna throw this
one in. The Celtics clinched the number one seed by
next Thursday. That felt a little too bold for the segment.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
One more heard. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd
to listen live or on demand whenever you like you.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
We're very fortunate the Minnesota Vikings in what is an
excellent Thursday night game tomorrow face the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams are all over these NFL rumors with Matt Stafford.
That don't buy that one. Cooper Cup I sort of
buy that one. And Albert Breer is covering that game
and now joins us live in studio, senior NFL reporter,
(15:30):
lead content guy, Monday Morning quarterback, covering the NFL for
two decade. Well look at this, I mean, you got
a sports jacket on and like.
Speaker 6 (15:36):
Fresh office six hour flight. It's not bad.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
No, no, nantucket hoodie, No no, no.
Speaker 7 (15:41):
That's how you're used to seeing me, right like on
a T shirt or whatever I dressed up for you.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
This I appreciate it. So let's let's address a big
game tomorrow. And there's been the Matt Stafford. By the way,
they don't they don't have any guarantee money after next year,
so they got about two years left of them, which
I think you should just load it up to see
if you win with him. Do you buy those rumors, Stafford?
Speaker 6 (16:03):
Not now. Maybe after the season.
Speaker 7 (16:06):
The contract sets up in a way where if the
size decided it's time to move on after the year,
they can do that.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
So I don't buy it over the next two weeks now.
Speaker 7 (16:17):
Based on how the rest of the season goes and
where the team looks like it's at and whether or
not you're going to be building around your first and
second year players or you're going to try to go
all in again. I think some of that stuff could
determine where they go at quarterback. And they do have flexibility,
like they gave him a little bump this year, and
I think part of it was the mutual understanding like
(16:39):
after the year, we're going to revisit. Yeah, And so
you know, I don't think I don't think it's in
a bad place right now, but I certainly don't think
like that there's been any hard decision made on what
they're gonna do in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Now, Cooper cup I think a place like Pittsburgh where
if Russell's as good as he was in the second half.
Jet's pretty good to defensive personnel. I could see them saying,
can we get like a twelve target eight catch guy
with pickens with our power run game, and Pittsburgh now
is sitting there thinking we may win this division. I
(17:12):
can see Pittsburgh making a move. So these rumors on
Cooper Cup feel legit to me.
Speaker 6 (17:17):
They are and you know what it is.
Speaker 7 (17:20):
It's funny because like teams are very sensitive to the
idea that they'd be shopping anybody, and the Rams really
don't have to shop Cooper Cup. Teams that need receivers
are going to call the Rams. Look at the record,
his reputation obviously as clutch as he's been.
Speaker 6 (17:33):
If you want a guy in the pull up to
the playoffs, that's the guy. I know.
Speaker 7 (17:37):
What they've told other teams is it's going to cost
more than DeVante Adams cost. So DeVante Adams with a
three that turns into a two, you'd naturally think then
they need at least a second round pick.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
That's pretty rich considering.
Speaker 7 (17:49):
And that's and that's the thing is, like I think
a lot of people look at these trades and they see, like,
you know, the big like twenty five year old star
getting traded for two first round picks, and.
Speaker 6 (17:59):
Like, I can't I believe you trade him for a
three or four.
Speaker 7 (18:01):
But that's the price, you know, And I the Raiders
had a really hard time trying to find anything approximating
it two for DeVante Adams. And I think it's sort
of the same thing with Cooper Cup where the Rams
you have to look at both sides of it, right,
So the Rams see it as we're trading a franchise icon,
a guy who scored the winning points of Super Bowl,
a guy who was part of Sean mcvay's first draft
(18:23):
in the locker room, like just one of the guys
that was really a part of establishing us, of us
establishing ourselves in Los Angeles, and flipping that for a
third or fourth round pick doesn't look great, you know.
Whereas if you're one of the teams acquiring and you're
looking at him thirty one years old, can't stay healthy,
lots of mileage. This may be just a one year rental,
(18:44):
Like we'll see if we can have him beyond this year.
And he's a little more limited than he was, say
two or three years ago. So I think there'll be
more trade talks with Cooper cup. My question is whether
or not the value is going to match up, right, Like,
whether or not the way the Rams value i'm's going
to match up with a way some other team coming in,
like maybe Pittsburgh values him.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
So Mike Tomlin, it's very funny. So I want to
play this, but I don't know if you've seen it.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
This made me laugh.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
So Tomlin is as good at a microphone as perhaps
any coach in the history of that. Gruden before him,
and now Tomlin. They're just good talkers. So watch and
we don't have to play the entire bite, guys, but
watch Tomlin's laughing. He's laughing when he is asked about
off of twenty four to nothing second half of Russell.
(19:32):
Is Russell starting in the next game? Yeah, here he is.
He's scheduled to take first team and we begin tomorrow.
Speaker 6 (19:39):
We'll see what leads us. That's scheduled.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Yeah, So he's just laughing at it. But I will
say I was wrong. Russell in that second half was actual. Yep,
he threw to the right. Guys. Tomlin was totally engaged.
Were you shocked? What did you make?
Speaker 6 (20:00):
I was surprised.
Speaker 7 (20:01):
Yeah, I mean, like based on what I had heard
and how he looked in practice and kind of where
the rest of that building was, I wasn't surprised by
the way he looked in the first quarter like that.
Speaker 6 (20:10):
I was like, oh, well, there it is.
Speaker 7 (20:12):
That's why people on the coaching staff, the locker room,
that's why they wanted to keep Justin in there. And
that's why I mean to borrow his tomorrow Mike's phrase,
he had to go lone ranger on this. I also
understand Mike's logic though, and I think Mike's logic.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
Is pretty simple.
Speaker 7 (20:27):
Here is, if you go with Justin Fields there, you
cannot go back to Russell Wilson. If you go to
Justin Field's day, like when he's healthy, you might not
be able to keep Russell Wilson on the roster. On
the other hand, if you go with Russell Wilson and
you give that a swing, well, then it's very easy to.
Speaker 6 (20:44):
Go with Justin go back to Justin Fields if that.
Speaker 7 (20:46):
Doesn't work, right, Like, if Russell Wilson looks in the
first in the second and third and fourth quarters the
way he looked in the first quarter, you gave him
a shot. It's very easy to go back to Justin fields.
So I think essentially what Mike Tomlin did was give
himself two cracks it. He thinks he's got a really
good team and that Russell could bring something that Justin
wasn't bringing to them, which was getting the ball downfield.
That showed sort of activated George Pickens a little bit,
(21:09):
and now.
Speaker 6 (21:10):
We see if it's sustainable or not.
Speaker 7 (21:12):
I'm not convinced that this is going to look the
same way over the next month, with teams having tape
on him and everything else and knowing what they're going
to be trying to do with Russell Wilson in their quarterback.
But at least you give yourself two shots at getting
the quarterback position right. And again you gotta give tom
On a ton of credit because that decision was going
against what a lot of people in the building thought
he should do.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Okay, so I'm not insinuating what I'm about to say
is the truth. What I am suggesting is it wouldn't
shock me that Jerry feeds Aikman, Jerry feeds Michael and
says have at it. I'm not saying it happened. I
am not in any way. But Irvin, Michael Irvin comes
(21:52):
out and says this team soft. Troy a couple of
days later said they're lazy. I'm not saying they're wrong,
and I'm not saying they're fed. But the way Jerry
backed Akman saying, boy, that's credible. I mean, that guy's
a great broadcast. It's like and then Jerry yesterday said
in our play calling has been bad. I mean it.
(22:14):
Hold on one second, okay, so I want to play this.
So this is the play calling, and we don't. Again,
we don't have to play the entire bite, but there's
just play Jerry ripping the play calling.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
The types of things that we all think we should
be looking at is well, we're designing bad plays or
we're designing.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Bad concepts, And.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
The facts are that there's some of that, but there's
also some of the execution. There's some of the talent.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
I really do like our talent.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
I like our young talent.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah, of course he likes the young talent. He helped
draft it. So now McCarthy literally almost rolls his eyes,
answering the question again, we don't have to roll all
of it, but roll this. Here's my.
Speaker 8 (23:01):
I talked to Jerry all the time. You know, we've
had time to go through the cell scout, so I
can't really I didn't see the comments specifically, so, but
I don't think we have bad hasps in that place.
But I'll go back at check.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
But no, I don't.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
I mean, I'll.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Go back and check.
Speaker 7 (23:23):
I mean, I've always thought Jerry's great, crazy like a fox, though,
Like I've always thought that there's he says a lot
of things. I think there's a design to a lot
of the things that he does. Now it is all
over the place, But like, I don't think he does
things without what his team needs in mind, right, Like, so,
(23:44):
I think he's felt like if you look at the
way he's operated since the end of last season, it's
been constantly turning the heat up the all in comment,
even though they didn't really spend in the off season,
sending Mike McCarthy into a contract here, which is very unconventional,
making Dak pre Scott and Ceedee Lamb wait until the
summer to get their deals done, not paying Michaeh. Parsons now,
(24:06):
not making a real attempt to pay Michael Parsons now.
I think he felt like I've got to turn the
heat up on everyone in the organization because everybody here
has gotten too comfortable. And now he sees it in
the middle of the season, it still doesn't look good.
So what's he gonna do. He's not turning the heat down.
He's turning the heat back up. The other thing last
week on the radio right like where it sounds like
(24:27):
he is. Man. He's coming after people's jobs, even if
it's just the radio guy right like, Man, he's coming
after people's jobs. And it's tense, and so you know,
I think again, Jerry can be all over the place,
but I do think there's usually a designed to the
way Jerry talks, the way Jerry presents himself. And I
just have noticed this pattern over the course of the
last seven eight, nine months of Jerry turning the heat
(24:49):
on people that work for him.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Okay, we're just starting here. More Albert Breer around the corner,
live in La. It's the Hurt.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
and noone Easter not a emphasis.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Right, Welcome back Albert Breer. How lucky are we to
get him in studio fresh off of flight? Okay, so
I did this yesterday a warm smoking and four alarm
fire for our for our coaches, I think when you
get to week seven eight, I mean Robert Saalis fired.
So every year one guy gets fired too early, and
then about three weeks later somebody else gets whacked, and
(25:21):
then by week fifteen it's all bets are off. So
I like, like I, for instance, I would not fire
Dable Stefanski or Zach Taylor. I think they're all above average.
I think Stefanski Stefanski's holding that thing together. It's a mess.
Dennis Allen Peterson, Nick Sirianni, I think I'd move off
of and I thought Peterson would be a hit. Mike
(25:41):
McCarthy with all this Jerry stuff it Troy Yeikman, I
mean it just.
Speaker 6 (25:46):
It's hard to see him survive.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Yeah, but is there is anything that jumps out to
you about my warm smoking, four alarm fire coaching? Huh?
Speaker 5 (25:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (25:53):
I mean I would take Zach Taylor off of that.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
So you don't think he's gonna get it.
Speaker 7 (25:56):
I don't think so. I just I know the mo
of that franch guys.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
They don't like paying coaches.
Speaker 7 (26:03):
They don't like paying coaches who aren't there. They also
have been very very patient. Marvin Lewis was there for
sixteen years. He basically got two runs, you know, with
two different quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
I like Zach.
Speaker 7 (26:13):
They are the Browns are very into the model they
have right now. And I think that that's the important
piece to remember with Cleveland is it's not just Andrew Berry,
Kevin Stefanski or Paul de Podesta. It's like the way
that it's set up. They really liked the way that
it's set up. Ownership wanted analytics heavy model. All those
guys buy into it, and I think you can look
(26:33):
at it and say, if they had stuck with Baker
Mayfield or they had gotten another competent quarterback, they'd be
fine now.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
And I think last year proves it right.
Speaker 7 (26:45):
Dave All is an interesting one because the Maras didn't
want to fire Joe Judge in twenty twenty one, and
then that press conference happened and the heat of being
in New York got to Joe Judge a little bit,
and then they couldn't bring him back.
Speaker 6 (27:00):
Like I don't, I think, Dave All.
Speaker 7 (27:01):
I think the Giants really like some of the things
that Joe Shane and Brian Daball have done and would
like to give him the chance to go to go
get a quarterback, but there's no telling how he's going
to handle the next three months. And when the heat
turns up in New York, if this, if the record
gets worse, it will again. I think they want I
think they want to stick it out. Andrew Thomas is
(27:23):
a massive loss. That might be one of the biggest
losses in the NFL this year.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
No, no, no, the elite neighbors they're functional. They're not
a functional offense without Thomas.
Speaker 7 (27:33):
Right, and so like, I don't know what the path
is out for them. I think how Brian Daball handles it,
how he engages his locker room determines if he stays.
Speaker 6 (27:42):
But I think they want to keep him.
Speaker 7 (27:44):
So I think those three names at the bottom of
the list are in the right place is because those
teams very much want to keep those guys in place.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Let me throw this out it Yeah, Dan Campbell and
Sirianni basically, Philly was a better job than Detroit. And
four years later, Dan Campbell has built a monster truck. Yeah, okay,
and that was the worst.
Speaker 6 (28:09):
Job yep, and supposedly the worst hire.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
And Siriani goes to kind of a VIP lounge of
coaching spots.
Speaker 7 (28:19):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
I mean they've fired super Bowl winning coaches and it
last year it's a tire fire. And this year he
had to have his wrist slap for yelling at fans.
I like so much about Philadelphia. He doesn't feel like
he's got the gravitas to be the webs.
Speaker 7 (28:38):
And then and then you replace the coordinators, and that,
to me is always a bad sign when they're bringing
in coordinators who don't have background with you.
Speaker 6 (28:46):
Vic Fangio is a really good defensive coordinator. You don't
need me to tell you that.
Speaker 7 (28:50):
Kellen Moore accomplished a lot as an OC in Dallas,
but neither of those guys had connections to Nick Siriy
And so somebody told him so. So he walked the plank.
Last year they thought about firing him. I think if
they had fired him, they would have brought in a
Belichick or a Vrabel. They don't do it. They replace
both as coordinators. They bring in guys from the outside
who he doesn't have background with it. Just if it
(29:13):
doesn't go right, like then who's left right? Like, who's
left to pay for it? So and they're so invested.
That's the other thing you got to remember, Like that roster,
if you look at it, it's an incredibly talented roster, right,
but it's set up in a way where in two
or three years, like there's a huge bill coming and
they're very leveraged to win right now. And that's why
(29:35):
I think the Vrabels and the Belichicks makes sense for them,
because they need a guy if they're going to move
off of who comes in right away and makes a
difference right away and can win right away.
Speaker 6 (29:45):
Because that group of players, the.
Speaker 7 (29:46):
Way the contracts set up and everything else, that team
is built to win over the next two or three
years and then they're going to have to retool everything.
So I think Philly is a really interesting one. There's
a lot of pressure on Nick and you know, again
like it was that assignment, the pressure. Was that a
sign of the pressure being on him of coaching in Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yeah, that's a big job. Yeah, I would argue could
be the simultaneously top three best job and the hardest.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
I mean sports talk radio, it is massively influential in Philly.
Speaker 7 (30:19):
Well think about this, think about the coach She've gone
through there, right, So Andy Reid gets fired. I think
it was time when he got fired. Chip Kelly ten wins,
ten wins, five wins, fired, right, Doug Peterson wins their
first Super Bowl, fired three years later. Nick Sirianni wins
the Super Bowl in twenty two. At the end of
twenty three, he almost got fired, and he's in the
hot seat in twenty four. There's no other The NFC
(30:41):
East is like the SEC if you think about, like
the pressure that's on guys in that guy Guys in that.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Division's influenced by the intense media and fan relentless criticism.
Speaker 7 (30:54):
I mean, Dallas, Mike McCarthy won twelve games three years
in a row. If Mike McCarthy wins ten twelve games
three years in a row in Jacksonville, they're building a
statue of him in Dallas, and Dallas is not good enough,
and Dallas is not good enough, and so you know,
there's there's definitely a more intense pressure. We're talking about
day Ball, right, like, well, the Giants who are the
(31:14):
model of stability in the NFL. Ben mcadu gets two years,
Pat Shermer gets two years, Joe Judge gets two years,
Brian da Ball's in year three now. So it's just
it's a more intense environment in that division. And yeah,
I mean, like the Eagles job is, it takes a
certain type of person to win.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
And Phillip okay, we're out and in two and a half
minutes brock pretty so wonky against Kansas City. Yeah, last
twelve games, six and six, passer rating like eighty. Have
they made a decision on his future.
Speaker 6 (31:46):
They plan to pay him.
Speaker 7 (31:48):
They plan to pay him, And I think what you
have to look at again is sort of and this
is the great thing about where they're at right now.
You wouldn't ask for Brandon Ayuk to get hurt, Deebo
Samuel to get hur Williams hold out all that stuff.
Speaker 6 (32:01):
But it's giving you.
Speaker 7 (32:03):
A very real view of what it could look like
in two or three years, because this core of players
is going to age out right, and so does brock
Party grow into it over the course of this year
where there are guys moving in and out of the
lineup where you do need a little bit more from him,
and I think we have seen signs of what sort
of quarterback he can be. Again, I think if if
brock Party weren't a seventh round pick.
Speaker 6 (32:24):
I think we would be looking at him completely different now.
I don't think.
Speaker 7 (32:27):
I don't think a lot of the questions that are
being asked of brock Party would be asked about him
if he was the fifth pick in the draft. I
think they're asked about him because of where he was drafted,
and people can't let go of that and look at
him as being very limited physically. I think he can play,
and they think he can play, and they plan to
pay him now again subject to the rest of the year,
because we're going to get a very good, very clear
(32:48):
look at what it looks like.
Speaker 6 (32:49):
When he has a little bit lesser.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Did you hear j macmh Yeah, J mack. If he
was draft that is the number five pick, he'd be
six four and move faster. He is such a he
is the biggest rock party. I just think, I I almost.
Speaker 6 (33:03):
It's gonna sound weird. Look at his legs, I'm serious, Like,
look at his legs, like you like.
Speaker 7 (33:08):
This guy's seen as being physically limited, right, better athlete
than you think, more powerful than you think. Look at
his legs like he is sort of built like Russell Wilson,
like when he was when he was really rolling in Seattle.
What everybody would say about him is he's he's short.
He's not small, right, if you look at brock Purty's bill,
he's not as small a person as you think.
Speaker 6 (33:29):
I actually think that. I think internally the decision has
been made to extend.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Okay, Yeah, that's what we're looking for. We'd love to
have you back here more often. This is nice.
Speaker 6 (33:38):
Yeah, this is great.
Speaker 7 (33:40):
I made it right over from the airport. I think
it was forty minutes or something from Wheels down.
Speaker 6 (33:44):
To the city.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
Yeah, he've got a good traffic day in Los Angeles.
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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