November 16, 2024 • 50 mins
John opens the weekend with a massive mailbag. He answers your questions about the ceiling for Bo Nix, the college football noon kickoff time, could the Cowboys draft Travis Hunter, and much more during today's podcast that is exclusively mailbag questions.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume What is going on? Everybody? John Middlecoff three
and out podcast, little something we try to do every Saturday.
(00:25):
We call it a little weekend mail bag edition. It's
audio only. We don't even put it on the YouTube's
so at John Middlecoff, is the old Instagram fire in
those dms? Get your question answered here right in this show?
And uh, and yeah, it was good little Friday recording
this at about uh in the is that even considered
(00:49):
the afternoon? Was it the gym earlier today? And uh,
just listen to, you know, some music on the on
the StairMaster and look up and I see McAfee talking
to Siriani. So I take my phone and I go
to YouTube TV and I watched the interview. It is
amazing what winning does for people's happiness in a building.
(01:14):
I would put it right up there with like getting laid.
I mean, talk about putting a smile on any human's face.
When it comes to football, there's nothing like winning. And
I remember being in buildings in college and the pros.
There's nothing worse than losing. I mean that walking into
that building the day after a loss absolutely sucks. But
(01:37):
getting up after a win, you could see it on
Sirianni's face. It's not even just eight and two, it's that, Yeah,
that's a nice little win on Thursday night football and
one of fifteen million people basically probably win the division,
which I'm gonna win for the second time now in
three years. So, like I said the other day, listen,
he does some crazy things, not on Thursday night, but
(01:59):
just over the course of his going for it. Definitely
a little unconventional. I think sometimes the cockiness. Maybe I'm
a little old school. Maybe it was the way I
was raised, Like, you know, when you're kicking ass and
things are going well, that's when you should be a
little quieter. But you know, he's been pretty pretty bostful
in the past when it comes to when things are
(02:21):
going well. He's definitely, you know, snapping on the fans
this year, but I don't know, maybe the last couple
of weeks has calmed down a little bit and it's
coordinators are kicking ass and they're getting some pretty big wins.
So that was that was a nice commanding win last
night in the second half. Okay, start with Nick for
the bag. I can't help but compare this season to
(02:41):
twenty twelve. Both twelve and twenty four saw a generational,
can't miss quarterback taken one overall by a struggling Midwest
franchise and a hyper talented Heisman Trophy winning quarterback taken
number two by Washington. Do you see any parallel to
RG three Luck with Caleb and Jaden through ten weeks?
(03:06):
Jayden seems like the better player by far, but so
did RG three over Luck. Not sure I bet on
Caleb being better than Jaden long term, but it's interesting
to compare. Yeah, I mean love the show. I also
active duty officer in the Navy station in San Diego
and at proud Ohio State Alumni season ticket holder. Appreciate
(03:28):
your service, big guy. Enjoy San Diego because there aren't
many cities better in the world. I'll promise you that.
So hopefully, when you're not grinding on the base or
on the ships getting ready to just protect this great
nation that you're enjoying yourself. Who knows. Maybe you're married,
so maybe you're not, Maybe you're laying low. I think
(03:51):
when you look at the comps, Andrew Luck was just
a dramatically better prospect than Caleb. I don't even think
it was really debatable, and it's not. I mean, to me,
Andrew Luck's the best prospect of the last twenty plus years.
I don't even think Caleb would be a top five.
I think if we really thought about it over the
(04:11):
last twenty five years, I guess I really have to
break down. I mean, Andrew Luck's clearly better. I think
Matt Stafford was clearly a better prospect, you know, coming
out of college. I think Trevor Lawrence would go over Caleb. Again,
you can't base anything off what we see in the
NFL just based on college. I think Trevor Lawrence goes
over Caleb Williams every day of the week. I think
(04:32):
Joe Burrow goes over Caleb Williams every day of the week.
So that's four guys. And I think then you would argue,
you know which guys. It depends who was drafting, you know,
whether you take a Stafford or a Luck or a Burrow.
But so I think Caleb was he was the best
prospect of this group. And part of that was hype,
(04:53):
and part of that was I don't know, I mean
a lot of different combinations. I think sometimes hype creates
that even if they're substance behind the hype. But as
you see with Jayden, like he's already kind of banged up,
and I see a lot of people, you know, basically
bringing up the fact that this is Cliff. In the
second half of seasons, his offense really slows down, and
(05:18):
obviously there's some merit to that. And listen, me and
Cliff Kingsbury when it comes to offensive philosophies, Like, he's
not really my type. It's not what I have in
my worldview when it comes to football. But I clearly
respect him as an offensive mind. But the numbers speak
for themselves. I'm giving him a little bit of a pass,
(05:39):
Like I don't think their teams that talented, So what
they're doing is he's got a rookie quarterback. I think
he's done a pretty damn good job. I also think,
though the pivot of like Cliff Kingsbury head coach guys,
the knock on Cliff Kingsbury is, like, you know, being
a head coach holding guys accountable not really his thing.
He just wants to do offense. He's a great offensive coordinator,
(06:02):
and I understand people are gonna sniff around, but how
could you hire him as your head coach? And if
I'm the Commanders. I'm cool with paying him three, four
or five million dollars just to coach my quarterback. It's
a great spot for him, and I understand if you're him,
would you rather be make ten or twelve million dollars?
Obviously it's hard to turn that down, but I think
(06:23):
he's in a pretty awesome spot, so I think it's
difficult to compare. RG three was also a better player
as a rookie than Jaden Daniels. I mean RG three
was a pretty elite prospect like Jade, and he was tall.
He was I'd have to look at like the times,
but I feel like he's faster, I mean at every
(06:44):
bit as an explosive. I mean he was kind of
like a bigger Michael Vick Rgie. Theree is pretty sweet
as a as a talent. Love the pod from a
fellow Sacramento area guy. Nine to one six. I'll sleep
on the same kramenal Kings. Do you think Kellen Moore
is a name to watch for the Cowboys potential opening?
(07:06):
At one point he seemed poised to be the next
head coach for Dallas. Do you think that's a possibility
or was that just was that bridge burned when he
left to join Brandon Staley. Seemed like his issues was
with Mike McCarthy and not Jerry. I don't pretend to
have like the inside scoop on this story, but I
(07:27):
thought it was pretty clear that McCarthy wanted him out,
that McCarthy basically, when he took the job, had to
accept some of Jerry's mandates, and one of them was
he loved Kellen Moore and Doug Nussmeyer, who I like
a lot too. Nus Meyer at Lshu's dad who's now
(07:49):
the Eagles coach, and Kellen and Doug nuss were really
close and they stayed on the staff. I'd have to look,
but I don't know if there were many other guys
on the staff that held over. And Kellen also got
to call the plays. Well, what has Mike done the
last two years? He's called the place, So I think
that was a Mike McCarthy firing, which is kind of
(08:11):
crazy thinking back, because he got fired after they lost
in the second round, which is the farthest the Cowboys
have been in the last twenty plus years. I do
think there's some momentum, definitely outside talk, but I think
if you put the pieces together, you're like, well, who
has Jerry missed out on over the last twenty years.
He had Sean Payton in the building, didn't get him.
He had Dan Campbell in the building, didn't get him. Right,
(08:34):
He's had some guys in his backyard. And then I
think he thought he had that with Kellen Moore. And
then because the Cowboys were winning. You know, part of
business is there's a give and take, like having a partnership.
Even if you are the boss, like you do have
to empower your guy and you're paying him seven eight
nine million dollars to be the head coach. If Mike
wants to do something and they just were in the
second round, like, it's not crazy to give him, throw
(08:57):
him a couple bones, and if that's something he was
passionate about, you give it to him and you let
it roll. Now, I think a couple of years later
you go, well, look at Kellen with the Eagles. The
Dion thing is real because the connection with the Cowboys,
he's a Texas guy. The marketing aspect of it just
(09:18):
obviously the connection with the Sun if they get a
top two or three pick or even Travis Hunter, so
I think that's like people aren't just throwing that at
the wall hoping it sticks. But I would say Kellen,
the difference of Dion and Kellen is hiring Dion is
like Deon kind of becomes the star of the franchise,
(09:41):
and that is a Jerry Like, you know, McCarthy's not
the star of the franchise. Dak Prescott's not even the
star of the franchise. Jerrys definitely when Jason Garrett was there,
you know, Tony Romo, Dak no still Jerry. I mean
really the only time in the last twenty five years
was Bill Parcells who was bigger than the Cowboys. And
(10:02):
I would say, if you hired Dion Sanders, which I'm
all for, that would be very, very entertaining. I mean,
Dion Sanders becomes the when you put up a poster
for the Cowboys around town, like it's it's not Dak,
it's not Micah Parsons, it's Deon fucking Sanders. So Jerry
(10:23):
loves money, loves the marketing aspect of it. But at
eighty three years old, is he basically ready to give
his franchise up to primetime? Maybe he is, but with
Kellen it would kind of fall under the mold of
McCarthy and Jason Garrett of like, Jerry still a star,
and it's how Kellen can tell Jerry what to do.
(10:44):
But clearly Jerry likes Kellen Moore a lot, and now
that he's in his division for Philadelphia, kicking ass and
taking names, that's only going to help his cause. The
other thing is if Jerry, let's use Dion as an example.
Let's say, listen, I don't know, it's all conjecture and projecting,
but if Dion does want to come to the NFL,
(11:05):
what if the Raiders have like the first overall pick, Like,
what if Dion just takes that job instead of the
Cowboys because ensures he coaches his son, which clearly means
a lot to them. The moment we drafted Piersall, I
was under the impression that Deebo or Ayuk was gone
(11:26):
this year. Fast forward past the preseason, the Niners extended
Ayuk and converted Deebo's contract to a signing bonus. I
was on the fence about losing Ayuk because it's not
the smartest trade away you're developing quarterback's favorite target. But
this roster has so much other talent they could have
paid on top of Kyle making a Super Bowl with
(11:46):
Over the Hill, Emmanuel Sanders, Rookie Deebo, and Kendrick Bourne.
Do you think the Niners made a mistake paying Ayuk
for other reasons outside of Ayuk's production. I think if
they could do it again, if they're sitting here right
now knowing what they know, they would have traded him
before the draft. That's what I think. But they wanted
(12:08):
their cake and eat it too. They didn't have a
good enough offer, like it wasn't worth it to them
before the draft, the trade for like a second and
a third round pick, and then once things got really hairy.
Remember part of it was Ricky Pearsall was hurt in
training camp, and so was Christian McCaffrey, so that added
pressure on them that they needed Ayuk. And then you
(12:30):
watch them play against Tampa, You're like, well, McCaffrey's back,
Ricky Pearsall can play inside and outside, but they move
him inside. Juwan Jennings just takes Ayuk spot, and then
just Debo kind of does whatever with George Kittle still
kick an ass. So I think if you could do
(12:52):
it over again, they would have traded him before the
draft because right now, it doesn't feel like it makes
that much sense. Now if you tell me he comes
back fully healthy and they ultimately move in the next
eighteen months off Debo like I could see that because
I U, I mean, it sucks that he got hurt,
(13:12):
and obviously it was a pretty bad injury, so who
knows how he'll look in the future. But that's the
type player that can play at a high level for
a long time. His games translates, you know, to like
playing at thirty three years old. Is Debo kicking ass
and taking names at thirty three years old? Probably not.
I'm a Seahawks fan, and I would like your opinion
(13:32):
on this. We all know their biggest problem is the
offensive line and penalties and undisciplined play. Do you think
there's something bigger going on, like a coaching issue or
just figuring out the first year bugs. You know what's
funny is after every game, coaches freak out about penalties.
(13:53):
Right But and I'd have to see the breakdown of
your penalties. But let's say there are three or four
holdings in terms of offensive line. Let's say they're three
holdings on your offensive line throughout the course of the
game and three more either pass interference or defensive holding.
(14:13):
So that is the equivalent of six penalties, and let's
just pick up seventy five yards. Well, sometimes holding is
because your guy's not good enough. So if your right guard,
your right tackle, your center is getting smoked. What if
they're just going up against a way better player like
Jalen Carter causes multiple holding penalties last night, Well, yeah,
(14:35):
he's better than the guy he's going up against. Or
it's like, yeah, this corner had two pis, Well he's
not exactly Dion Sanders, darrelle Reeves and he's going up
against Let's just pick a player Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, Deebo,
Samuel whoever. It's like, this is a tough matchup. So
if you don't have good enough players, even if you're
(14:57):
coaching well, times, you're gonna get some penalties and there's
not much you can do about it. So to me,
the undisciplined play, you know, like DK's kind of been
had some issues over the last couple of years. I
can't DK's issues aren't on Pete Carroll. They're not on
Ryan Grubb and Mike McDonald, they're not on John Schnyder
(15:20):
like they're kind of his, like that's part of his package,
which again I got a little Al Davis Andy Reid
in me. I would like DK Metcalf on my team.
Why because he's a fucking freak show and at any
given moment he can go eighty. But like when you
take DK like, it's you can be a little bit
of a roller coaster ride, not like crazy. It feels
like at least from the outside, right. I wouldn't put
(15:43):
in like the to category, but it's it probably can
be a little exhausting at times. And that's why I
think penalties, you know, sometimes can be a reflection of
how you build your team and the type guys because
at a certain point when the I would say emotions
(16:04):
are the highest you you kind of have to depend
on those guys, the coaching, the training. Yeah, it could
only go so far, but I'm not out there on
the field standing next to you when the other guy's
jawn at you and then you end up swinging and
get a fifteen yard penalty. Right, and listen, there's a balance.
Like this is football. It's kind of a great game
(16:25):
of you gotta be fucking crazy to play it, especially
at certain positions. So like that there's a fine line
and I can live with a penalty or two. I'm
cool with it, you know, I mean part of playing
it's this shit's hard. Trent Williams gets holding penalties, right,
The best players in the league screw up part of
(16:46):
the game. But do you do it consistently? You know,
you could argue are you coaching it or allowing it
to happen. That's where if a guy is constantly getting
pi's like you got to bench him and bring in
another guy. Now that another guy might not be as
good as that guy, but like eventually you got to
draw line in the sand. And I think these are
very complicated issues, Like they're all you could put all
(17:08):
of them in context as individual players, Like there are
a lot of variables. And that's where it's on the
coaching staff, the I would say, the front office and
the people that are around the team every day to
kind of know, like this guy's really trying hard. He
just we just need to keep hammering this technique and
we think he can be better. Or it's like, yeah,
this guy doesn't listen, he's screwing up. Yeah he was
(17:30):
our second round pick and yeah, he's really talented. But
this sucks, you know. I think with DBS, I think
you kind of know it early on. You're like, God,
this guy could play, right. I mean the dude from
the Eagles, Mitchell, that guy's a player. Uh, Saintstrill, the
corner from Michigan. I mean he's two rookies drafted. One
(17:52):
guy's drafted twenty two, the other guy's drafted to pick fifty,
and you just listen to him talk, you watch him
play like. These guys are pros. Man, these guys are pros.
And I think that can be a little cliche throwing
that out there. I mean, everyone's technically a pro, but
some guys are a little more focused than others. And listen,
if you have enough talent, like you can get away
(18:14):
with it, like Deshaun Jackson's work ethic the first couple
of years of his career. Do you think it was
like a plus? Of course not, but he was more
talented than everybody else. So I think part of you know,
there's a balance because you need good players, so it's
not like you know we're gonna bench DK doesn't really
(18:37):
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Speaker 1 (20:21):
Greeting from Costa Rica. I have a question. This one's
a bit personal, so feel free to skip it. I'll
answer it. After listening to your podcasts for months, it's
clear how much you love football. My question is what
led you to leave the Eagles and do you see
yourself potentially working in football again. I would say this
(20:44):
relative to people that work in football. I like football
a lot. I don't love football at the highest level,
like when you see John Gruden talk about football. When
you work around Andy Reid or Brett Veach or Howie
Roseman like their love of football, It's really hard to quantify,
(21:05):
you can't, you know, I think people are getting a
glimpse into how much Belichick loves football. It's like Bill's
seventy two years old. He probably has I would say,
minimum one hundred million dollars in the bank, and he's
talking about like rookie, his Rookie All Pro Team Week eight.
It's like, I don't think you realize how addicted these
(21:28):
guys are. Like I like a lot of things. Obviously,
sports and specifically football mean a lot to me. But
I think relative to those guys, I found my true calling.
I like doing this. I love doing this, I love podcasting.
I really like football. I think it's the best way
(21:49):
to describe it. And no, I would never I've had
no interest going back for ten plus years. When I
got out, I didn't leave. I mean, Chip Kelly came in.
We got into a little argument in a draft meeting,
and that was got a little weird after that, and
(22:09):
you know, it's hard to really decide who was right
about the argument. It was Matt Barkley, who I thought
was not a player worth drafting for US, and Chip disagreed. Obviously,
he had played Barkley a couple times, being an Oregon
(22:29):
coming from Morgan at USC and Barkley had played really
well against him, and then Chip ended up drafting Matt Barkley,
so clearly he disagreed very strongly with myself. But then
Matt Barkley went on to play in the NFL for
a lot longer than I thought he would. So listen,
(22:50):
Matt Barkley, I owe you a little bit of an apology. You.
I would have bet you over under two or three
years in the NFL. He definitely played for well over
a decade. As about back, But I do think I
was correct in my assessment for the Philadelphia Eagles in him.
And ye you know, maybe Chip should have listened to
more people in the draft room and he wouldn't have
(23:11):
been escorted out of the building by big dung Hey
John firing off another question. I guess it's the second question.
I hear a lot of people saying bo Nicks he's
already hit his ceiling and won't get better than he
currently is. This is mostly due to his age. I
think he's one of the oldest quarterbacks to ever be drafted.
(23:35):
How valid is this criticism? I see a guy like
Lamar blossoming as a pocket passer in the last two
years and he's twenty seven years old. Also, guys like
Herbert have improved a lot with the right coaching. I
don't think Bo has the natural talent of those guys,
But as long as Sean Payton remains the coach, I
(23:56):
think they could develop Bo Nicks into a potential top
ten corps. But I'm a diehard Bronco fan. Yeah, I think.
I think there are two different discussions. Right when you
have a certain skill set, like whatever God gives you
your height, your arm strength because for the most part,
arm strength you don't see guys, and I always use
(24:19):
the baseball analogy because we don't really discuss football into
like numbers to quantify arm strength. But let's say you
come into the NFL with a ninety mile an hour
fastball as a quarterback you usually five years in. Don't
throw ninety seven miles an hour, right, Alex Smith, Drew Brees,
Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers. Their arms are their arms, just
(24:40):
like you watch Josh Allen or Justin Herbert. Their arms
are their arms right, Like Lamar's arm has not changed
in terms of velocity, but he definitely is more natural
in the pocket. So Bow's skill set, arm solid size,
not small, good athlete like that. That's not gonna change
(25:00):
in inaccuracy, at least in college. I would say wasn't
a huge negative. Though I think some people would say
pushing the ball down the field was something he wasn't
comfortable doing or just didn't do or didn't have the
personnel to do, and it's not necessarily something he does now.
But i'd say Sean Payton, now, that wasn't exactly I
would say that Drew Brees offense. Obviously they did take shots,
(25:23):
but nothing when you think of the Sean Payton Drew
Brees offense that dominate for a long period of time,
to me, it was much more rhythm, timing and just
incredible play calling by the quarterback and the head coach.
I mean, Drew By once he hit his stride, was
basically you know, the extension of Sean Payton, and they
(25:43):
were playing chess against you, and a lot of that
was like they were just getting guys open NonStop, and
that they deserve a lot of credit for it. But
I hear you like, this guy can't get any better.
Why because he's twenty four to twenty five years old.
Of course he can't. And I think where you get better,
is getting more confident, getting more comfortable against the NFL speed.
(26:06):
You know, I have Stucky on, who's a big Ravens guy,
and we were going through the raven Steeler game and
he was giving out the numbers of how good the
Steelers have been against Lamar Jackson. Well, why are they
good against Lamar Jackson? They're comfortable playing against them? Right?
They see him twice? TJ. Watt has seen him? How
many times they see him on film? Constantly on crossfilm.
(26:32):
They just study that team, their coaching staff, and their
players honestly year round. Where if you're like the forty
nine ers or Seattle or Detroit or whoever a random team, which,
as Stucky was saying, he's dominated the NFC, it's like
what am I doing here? Well, it's no different as
a player if I do have the skill set and listen,
(26:54):
bo Next has definitely gotten better and definitely looks more
comfortable as time goes on. Should be able to master
certain things, whether that's the fifteen plays that are my
go tos I and I become a MA and I
become an A plus running those plays. I get a
(27:17):
lot more comfortable against pressures. I develop more instincts against
pass rushers. I have a better feel of when to
run when not to run, so you just naturally improve
that way, right, Like what do you think the Ravens
hammered with Lamar over the last five years in OTAs
and training, think how much and even during the season
(27:40):
they work on just pocket passing right, being comfortable in
the pocket. And it's just clear like he didn't just
get better randomly. It's something that happens over time, right,
And I would say this for any sport. It's like, God,
this guy is way better at at X, Y and
Z in the NBA and base ball, tennis, player, golfer,
(28:02):
you name it. Well, I would imagine they work on
it a lot. You drill it over and over. So
he has an excellent coach who is an offensive guy.
He definitely can improve. I think the ceiling conversation goes, well,
his ceiling is never going to be Josh Allen or
Justin Herbert. Well, yeah, no shit, Just like Drew Brees
(28:24):
could never be as good as Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen.
He didn't have their physical capabilities, but he could master
and I would say maximize his abilities, right, Like Drew
brees whatever his abilities were on a pie chart, right,
so one hundred percent on the pie chart some guys,
(28:48):
and I would say this works for any walk of life.
Some people get the most out of it right and
do everything humanly possible to get into the ninety ninety
five percent of just fulfilled all of my God given
abilities at whatever I do. And I would say most
of that is either through effort, work right, repetition, and
(29:09):
some people just like, yeah, don't really work that hard,
and maybe they're talented enough to get by for a
long period of time. And I think the argument with
bo Nicks would be he wouldn't be talented enough. That
was the thing with Caleb. It's like, guys, this guy
can move, he's got a cannon. He'll just even if
he's a little hit or missed as a rookie, he's
got so much talent and you're watching him, it's like,
where the hell's that talent? And to me, part a
(29:32):
huge part of that is he's lost his confidence. He
doesn't even know what he's doing. But I think bo Nicks,
I guess a long winded way of saying, I feel
pretty good if I were you. It's also why you
draft high character guys, because high character guys work, and
when you draft guys like Saquan's a good example, Saquan's
(29:57):
characters a plus. And this guy was dealt a pretty
shitty hand in terms of I mean, getting drafted too
is cool, and he made a lot of money being
a high draft pick, but he went to a terrible
team and they weren't well run, and a lot of
guys would just kind of stop working. I mean, it'd
be human nature for most people to just you just
(30:18):
didn't quite have the drive. It just it could just
drive you. I would say, maybe did not love the
game as much. And you watch him now with the Eagles,
you go, God, this guy showed a lot of mental
fortitude because to maintain his level of play the work
(30:43):
ethic that it takes in the offseason, he wouldn't have
been able to screw around, and that was always his thing,
Like you know, obviously in the gym, he was incredible,
and people just raved about the human being, like how
serious he took this shit. And it's very reflective because
I wouldn't even have blamed him if he would have
lost it, because he just kind of lost focus. I
(31:07):
wanted to briefly weigh in on the noon kickoff topic.
As someone with two young children and work in the morning,
I personally loathe my home teams, Michigan and Lions when
they play at night. This game happens during bedtime, so
I have to pause the game for thirty minutes. Then
(31:27):
I have to catch a break, or then I have
to catch back up by fast forwarding through the commercials.
Then I also have to sacrifice sleep and be more
tired for the next day at work. I love when
Michigan plays at noon and the Lions play at one
Millennial right here. Yeah, I think the majority of people
(31:52):
complaining on the Internet are people that go to the games.
I think that's the biggest No one complains about the
NFL because you play it all different times. But I
think when it comes to Ohio State, who's you know,
the lead dog right now bitching and moaning about the
(32:13):
noon kickoff. It's not a bunch. It's not a j
Hawk sitting at home watching the game on his TV.
Right It's not the sixty year old Ohio State fan
who went to school there in the late seventies. It's
the people on campus or the season ticket holders because
going to a game at night is just a little
(32:34):
cooler in terms of the environment, but I hear you
it doesn't. Living in Charleston, South Carolina. Hot as hell
out here as well, but a great city, solid food,
and awesome golf. Maria has been watching this show called
Southern Charm, and I don't know how she found it,
(32:57):
but she started at season one. She's like, there's nine seasons, Like, well,
what year are we watching right now? Is like twenty fourteen.
I'm like, I don't know if I can do this.
I should probably just read a book. Want to touch base?
But it's it's I think the show's based in Charleston.
A bunch of rich people want to touch base on
(33:18):
the Texans. This one guy, actually I did watch a
couple episodes. He's like this rich businessman who wants to
run I mean, this is a long time ago now
I'm in almost a decade maybe a decade ago, who
wants to run for political office, who just got out
of jail for like selling cocaine. It's like, what is
(33:39):
he's dating. He's fifty and he's dating a twenty one
year old redhead. Are we sure I want to touch
base on the Texans? Are we sure they're good? Going
back to this offseason so far, this year easiest schedule
in the league. Last year, lost to the Jets, lost
to the Panthers, take a drop by the Colts player
(34:01):
in an epic jabs Jacks collapse for them to make
the playoffs. Then against the Browns Flacco through how many
pick sixes wasn't even a game. Speaking of Flacco, if
he starts for the Colts this year, the Texans probably
lose both of those games their offense gets figured out
at halftime. I do think they will be good in
(34:23):
the future, and I like Demiko, but this year was
always going to be tough for them. Go Bills, you know,
I think Nico Collins to them. I mean, honestly, he's
their best player, so you remove their best player. It's
(34:44):
been a pretty big kicking the dick for them because
they looked a lot better when he was playing, and
since he's left, their offense has been bad. And to me,
Bobby Slow, it gets a little pass happy. It's like, Bobby,
you've learned from Kyle run the ball. Like if I'm Demko,
it's like, I get you like Bobby Slow and your
(35:05):
boys with them. Bobby call outside and inside zone three
straight times on this drive to start it off. No passes.
See if we can get a first down, and then
you know what, let's run it a couple more times.
Just settle everyone down. Instead, he's calling passes NonStop, and
CD's running for his life because the garden centers can't block.
(35:26):
I mean, the left guard position is gonna get CJ killed,
and then CJ's confidence starts weighing. I think their defense
is pretty good. I just think Slowick just gets a
little pass happy for my liking. I mean, call me
old school. You know, I'm just a forty year old
millennial here, but I got no problem passing all the
time when you have sweet wide receivers and you can block.
(35:48):
But when your offensive line can't block anybody and you're
missing wide receiver's injury and one of the best players
on your team is Joe Mixon, have him hand him
the fucking ball. I'd be cool with the having him
like have thirty five carries in a given game and
say he's like, pass it again, CJ. It's like, what
do you think is gonna happen? Your take on Chase
(36:08):
Jefferson debate was interesting about Jamar obviously has the superior quarterback,
which factors into his success. My question, as a lifelong
Bengal fan, is the Aj Green Julio Jones or a
similar topic, if the two would switch teams for their
for their careers, what do you think of their legacies
(36:29):
would ended ending up looking like? Obviously Julio is the
consensus better wide receiver, but would that still be true
if one had played with Dalton instead of Matt Ryan.
It's a good question. I think you know, Jefferson's first
couple of years were with Kirk Cousins, who's pretty good, right,
(36:53):
So Cousins. It's crazy to say, but the difference between
playing with Cousins and playing with Joe Burrow, if you're
a wide receiver, is not really any different. Like you
can easily have one hundred and twenty catch season for
fifteen hundred yards and fifteen touchdowns. Now, the Darnold experiment
will see how this plays out the rest of the year,
but I think Jefferson's had a pretty good quarterback situation.
(37:16):
Obviously Cousins is better and Andy Dalton, but hey, Dahltan's
pretty good. I think Julio would be the consensus pick
no matter what, Aj was pretty awesome, Like there's also
just nothing wrong about Like eventually you got to pick people, right,
It's like, who would you want Kevin Durant or Yannis? Right?
(37:38):
Like who would you want Aaron Judge or Mookie Bets?
Like there are gonna be a lot of people with
a pretty strong opinion, right, Like I'd rather have Mookie
Bets much better on offense, way better athlete, more position versatility.
But if you're telling me I get Aaron Judge because
I got the second pick, I'm just not losing any sleep.
(37:58):
It's like, okay, you take Kevin, I get you, honest
fuck not losing any sleep. So it's like, yeah, coolioh Okay,
I get Aj Green. Cool. That's what I think. Like
the Jamar chase Justin Jefferson is I think most people,
including gms and coaches would take Justin Jefferson. But the
person who got the second pick of the litter, it's like, yeah, awesome, sweet,
(38:22):
where do we go from here? It's like, you get
the second pick, the first pick is Cindy Crawford. Well,
it's like you get Heidi Klom. It's like, okay, awesome,
when's our first date? It's like, uh, do you want
the g Wagon or the range Rover. It's like, I
don't know, I'll take whatever. I just think that the
gap between I mean, it's not like would you rather
(38:43):
have Justin Herbert or Tuatanaailoa. The person picking number two
is like, h that sucks. Would you rather live on
the ocean or the shitty inland neighborhood? Right? I mean
there are some options that are like it's this's notion,
and then there's like AJ Green and Julio Jones. It's like, yeah,
(39:05):
it's like when people get all up in arms. Sometimes
a boy the defensive player of the year and Unlessen
I get it because Steeler fans, you know, when TJ's
not getting the respect to Miles Garrett. Again we're nitpicking.
It's like is TJ betteran Miles? Miles better than TJ.
Like I think most people would take Miles, but I
TJ could play for my team every day of the week.
(39:25):
I think my Cindy Crawford Heidi Klum analogy is probably
a little dated. That's what happens when year old. Do
you think the Cowboys tank for the first pick in
the draft? In draft Travis Hunter, it would entice Deon
(39:48):
Sanders to potentially become the next head coach of the Cowboys, Well, Dion.
If Dion was their head coach, he would be their
head coach by the draft. Can you imagine if Deon
takes over a team with a number one pick, Let's
say it's Cowboys. I guess it wouldn't be as crazy
because they got Dak. And let's say Dian likes Dak,
(40:11):
but he didn't take his own son, like if he was.
If the Raiders got the number one overall pick, they
fired Antonio Peers hired Primetime, he would have to draft
his son one because he needs a quarterback. But if
he took Travis Hunter instead of Shador and we've talked
(40:33):
about this before, what Travis Hunter is doing this year.
I hate saying you'll never see, but it's literally never
happened in modern football, and I doubt it happens anytime soon.
I mean, the dude's playing like one hundred and ten
hundred and twenty snaps a game. I don't think that's
feasible in the NFL. I really don't. And a huge
reason for me is just the injuries. Like you just
(40:56):
the level of player you go against that corner every
week is like, Okay, who do you got this week? Oh?
Justin Jefferson? Who do you got? Next week? A Jamar Chase?
Who do you got? The following week? Ceedee Lamb? Then
who do you got? A J? Brown? Then we got
a light week dk Metcalf. Then who do you got?
Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk Puka Nakula. It's like when
(41:19):
do I ever get a breath? And so you know
wherever Travis goes, if at corner, he would be the
number one, and honestly he would just follow that guy
and then he's just gonna play full time wide receiver.
I don't think it's feasible, and it has nothing to
do with that He's not I mean on the short list.
I mean I would say the best athletes of all time,
(41:40):
obviously like Michael Jordan and Lebron James, individual athletes in
their sport. But I'm just talking versatility. It's Bo Jackson,
Deon Sanders right being able to do a lot. But
even that, it's not like Bo Jackson played running back
and linebacker. I mean, Dion played a little bit of
wide receiver and even as a baseball Larry somewhat part
(42:01):
time at the highest level. I just think it's really,
really difficult. Obviously, I think Travis could play both and
he would be a first round pick. I mean, he'd
be a top five pick at corner, and I think
he'd be a top depending on the class if he
was a wide receiver, only top fifteen ish pick at
(42:22):
wide receiver. I do think it's just asking a lot
of your body and there's just a line of diminishing returns.
Big Cowboy fan parents named me after the city his
name's Dallas. As a younger Cowboy fan, I've only witnessed
mediocrity from this team and heartbreak. Many fans say Jerry
(42:43):
is the problem, and I would have to agree. However,
one could argue that the culture that's set in Dallas
leads to every player wanting to be paid more. Then
once it comes time for those same players to perform,
they do not. It also leads to the roster being
thin and having some holes. Do you think Dallas is
(43:04):
blamed for their struggles? Should also fall in the players.
I think the last three years in the playoffs, and
I think overall in some big games, Dak just the
interceptions and to me. Part of interceptions is also on
decision making, where you can watch him in some games
and his decision making is awesome, and then you watch
(43:25):
him in other games you're like, what is going on?
And as people I remember when I use this analogy
or comparison, I think after the Steeler game, because in
that Steeler game, he threw two picks. If memory serves me, correct,
watched a lot of football since both the picks were
(43:45):
pretty atrocious. I mean there was one in a deeper
ball that was bad, there was one in the red zone,
and then he had a fumble that he lost. He
had three fucking turnovers. But then he leads the game
game winning drive on the road in Pittsburgh, and a
lot of people are like, that's Eli Manning. Because you
can watch him, you go, this guy sucks, And then
(44:08):
you can watch him on a final drive You're like,
I don't know if like six seven quarterbacks in the
league lead their team on that drive. And the one
thing Eli has is he had the two playoff moments
where he got red hot. But if you watched Eli,
like on the right game, he could look awesome. I
remember a game, maybe my first or second year with
(44:28):
the Eagles and the Giants came to us. Might be
my first year. I just remember ELI was so bad.
It must have been my first year because I think
the second year they won the Super Bowl, and it's
just it's crazy. Yeah, I don't really know what else
to say. Besides he's just he's a roller coaster, and
(44:49):
I think against the forty nine ers really back to
back years in the playoffs, he just he shit the bed.
Last year was your team was terrible in that game.
But I think the pre obvious two years you got
to put it on deck. I do think there's something
about playing for the Cowboys. We've talked a lot about,
(45:09):
like extra hype, maybe some extra dollars coming off the field.
Maybe there's a sense of entitlement, which is crazy because
they don't win that much in the playoffs. I don't know.
I don't have a great answer for you. Regardless of
just something's off. My commanders are most likely not going
(45:31):
to contend for the Super Bowl this year. True, they're not. However,
going into the next year with the third highest cap
space and notable draft picks, when do you see the
Super Bowl winding window opening for the Commis Jaden obviously
has to play better than he played the last couple
of weeks. He needs to get healthy. But if he's
(45:52):
going to be a good player, I mean a top
ten quarterback next the next two years and have games
where he's top five quarterback and have a lot of
games where he's somewhere six, seven, eight. You can win
anywhere from if your team's good, I'd say twelve plus games.
They need a good pass rusher, like you have to
(46:15):
find your Jalen Carter, You're Nick Bosa, your TJ. Watt, like,
you need that guy in your defensive line. So I
would say that is an area in which they got
to find. And I would say their offensive line actually
has been pretty good, even though it got warped against
the Eagles. That's an area you can always improve on.
If you think about their offensive weapons, you know, Ertz
(46:36):
is old, mclaurin's good. You definitely could use some more
offensive firepower. The running backs are good, Eckler, Brian Robinson.
That's a good backfield to me. The defense, like, you
just need to continue to build on defense times now,
you know these next couple of years is when you buy.
Look at the Texans this offseason, they got really aggressive.
(46:58):
I would approach it exactly like the It doesn't mean
it's gonna work. It's football. This isn't baseball or basketball.
But and I you know, thing with football is like,
who's actually the free agent crop? Even guys that are
quote unquote gonna be free agents if you just google
them right now. The good ones sign extensions over the
(47:20):
next couple months or get franchised, so you know your
pick of the litter. Even if you got the most money.
It always looks sexier three or four months before free
agency than it actually does once you get there. Now,
could you trade picks for players? I just think you
gotta keep building. But now that you know your quarterback's
pretty good, be aggressive, baby, be aggressive. And I would
(47:45):
expect them to be big fan of the pod. What
is one nice thing you can say about the Raiders?
Their history is pretty cool? Their history is really cool.
I would say the story of Al Davis the Raiders
in the seventies eighties is pretty badass. Do you think
the operation gets blown up this offseason with Tom getting
(48:07):
involved in the team. Will Ap be the coach this
time next year? You know what, at this point in time,
I got a lot I think I've said this before.
I talked to one guy who's very tight in in
the NFL. I don't know if he exactly works in
the NFL, but works with a team essentially, and he
was adamant. He's like, I think he's gonna be fired now.
(48:29):
Obviously things can change. They could win a bunch of games,
but they keep losing. He could be one and done,
and that's that wasn't my opinion. I don't know. I
don't think Mark Davis wants to fire him, But how
can you keep going the way you're going if you
have the number one overall? Pick Deon Sanders. I think
that'd be pretty fun. You know, Dion's a little bit
(48:52):
of a renegade. I think Al Davis would be pretty happy.
Al Davis would have loved Deon because he could really run.
Didn't Deon run like a four or five back courts.
So you know, bring in Shador. You know, Chador has
a good arm, not great I love, you know, like JaMarcus,
Jeff George. But when he gave in to Gruden to
get rich Gannon, who didn't have a great arm, they
(49:14):
were really good. So maybe I would be on board upstairs.
I just think they They've just been so shitty for
so long that if you win three games on the season,
I think he has to be won and done. I
just don't think you can bring him back because he
knows nothing about offense. S already firing offensive coaches. You're
(49:34):
gonna let him draft a quarterback really high, especially you know,
if you're interested in Iron Mike Ray, Blues, Tom's Guy,
or Dion. I would do that in a heartbeat over
Antonio Pearce, assuming something doesn't dramatically change. Appreciate everyone listening,
Have a great weekend. Talk to everyone soon. Audios. The
(49:56):
volume
The volume What is going on? Everybody? John Middlecoff three
and out podcast, little something we try to do every Saturday.
(00:25):
We call it a little weekend mail bag edition. It's
audio only. We don't even put it on the YouTube's
so at John Middlecoff, is the old Instagram fire in
those dms? Get your question answered here right in this show?
And uh, and yeah, it was good little Friday recording
this at about uh in the is that even considered
(00:49):
the afternoon? Was it the gym earlier today? And uh,
just listen to, you know, some music on the on
the StairMaster and look up and I see McAfee talking
to Siriani. So I take my phone and I go
to YouTube TV and I watched the interview. It is
amazing what winning does for people's happiness in a building.
(01:14):
I would put it right up there with like getting laid.
I mean, talk about putting a smile on any human's face.
When it comes to football, there's nothing like winning. And
I remember being in buildings in college and the pros.
There's nothing worse than losing. I mean that walking into
that building the day after a loss absolutely sucks. But
(01:37):
getting up after a win, you could see it on
Sirianni's face. It's not even just eight and two, it's that, Yeah,
that's a nice little win on Thursday night football and
one of fifteen million people basically probably win the division,
which I'm gonna win for the second time now in
three years. So, like I said the other day, listen,
he does some crazy things, not on Thursday night, but
(01:59):
just over the course of his going for it. Definitely
a little unconventional. I think sometimes the cockiness. Maybe I'm
a little old school. Maybe it was the way I
was raised, Like, you know, when you're kicking ass and
things are going well, that's when you should be a
little quieter. But you know, he's been pretty pretty bostful
in the past when it comes to when things are
(02:21):
going well. He's definitely, you know, snapping on the fans
this year, but I don't know, maybe the last couple
of weeks has calmed down a little bit and it's
coordinators are kicking ass and they're getting some pretty big wins.
So that was that was a nice commanding win last
night in the second half. Okay, start with Nick for
the bag. I can't help but compare this season to
(02:41):
twenty twelve. Both twelve and twenty four saw a generational,
can't miss quarterback taken one overall by a struggling Midwest
franchise and a hyper talented Heisman Trophy winning quarterback taken
number two by Washington. Do you see any parallel to
RG three Luck with Caleb and Jaden through ten weeks?
(03:06):
Jayden seems like the better player by far, but so
did RG three over Luck. Not sure I bet on
Caleb being better than Jaden long term, but it's interesting
to compare. Yeah, I mean love the show. I also
active duty officer in the Navy station in San Diego
and at proud Ohio State Alumni season ticket holder. Appreciate
(03:28):
your service, big guy. Enjoy San Diego because there aren't
many cities better in the world. I'll promise you that.
So hopefully, when you're not grinding on the base or
on the ships getting ready to just protect this great
nation that you're enjoying yourself. Who knows. Maybe you're married,
so maybe you're not, Maybe you're laying low. I think
(03:51):
when you look at the comps, Andrew Luck was just
a dramatically better prospect than Caleb. I don't even think
it was really debatable, and it's not. I mean, to me,
Andrew Luck's the best prospect of the last twenty plus years.
I don't even think Caleb would be a top five.
I think if we really thought about it over the
(04:11):
last twenty five years, I guess I really have to
break down. I mean, Andrew Luck's clearly better. I think
Matt Stafford was clearly a better prospect, you know, coming
out of college. I think Trevor Lawrence would go over Caleb. Again,
you can't base anything off what we see in the
NFL just based on college. I think Trevor Lawrence goes
over Caleb Williams every day of the week. I think
(04:32):
Joe Burrow goes over Caleb Williams every day of the week.
So that's four guys. And I think then you would argue,
you know which guys. It depends who was drafting, you know,
whether you take a Stafford or a Luck or a Burrow.
But so I think Caleb was he was the best
prospect of this group. And part of that was hype,
(04:53):
and part of that was I don't know, I mean
a lot of different combinations. I think sometimes hype creates
that even if they're substance behind the hype. But as
you see with Jayden, like he's already kind of banged up,
and I see a lot of people, you know, basically
bringing up the fact that this is Cliff. In the
second half of seasons, his offense really slows down, and
(05:18):
obviously there's some merit to that. And listen, me and
Cliff Kingsbury when it comes to offensive philosophies, Like, he's
not really my type. It's not what I have in
my worldview when it comes to football. But I clearly
respect him as an offensive mind. But the numbers speak
for themselves. I'm giving him a little bit of a pass,
(05:39):
Like I don't think their teams that talented, So what
they're doing is he's got a rookie quarterback. I think
he's done a pretty damn good job. I also think,
though the pivot of like Cliff Kingsbury head coach guys,
the knock on Cliff Kingsbury is, like, you know, being
a head coach holding guys accountable not really his thing.
He just wants to do offense. He's a great offensive coordinator,
(06:02):
and I understand people are gonna sniff around, but how
could you hire him as your head coach? And if
I'm the Commanders. I'm cool with paying him three, four
or five million dollars just to coach my quarterback. It's
a great spot for him, and I understand if you're him,
would you rather be make ten or twelve million dollars?
Obviously it's hard to turn that down, but I think
(06:23):
he's in a pretty awesome spot, so I think it's
difficult to compare. RG three was also a better player
as a rookie than Jaden Daniels. I mean RG three
was a pretty elite prospect like Jade, and he was tall.
He was I'd have to look at like the times,
but I feel like he's faster, I mean at every
(06:44):
bit as an explosive. I mean he was kind of
like a bigger Michael Vick Rgie. Theree is pretty sweet
as a as a talent. Love the pod from a
fellow Sacramento area guy. Nine to one six. I'll sleep
on the same kramenal Kings. Do you think Kellen Moore
is a name to watch for the Cowboys potential opening?
(07:06):
At one point he seemed poised to be the next
head coach for Dallas. Do you think that's a possibility
or was that just was that bridge burned when he
left to join Brandon Staley. Seemed like his issues was
with Mike McCarthy and not Jerry. I don't pretend to
have like the inside scoop on this story, but I
(07:27):
thought it was pretty clear that McCarthy wanted him out,
that McCarthy basically, when he took the job, had to
accept some of Jerry's mandates, and one of them was
he loved Kellen Moore and Doug Nussmeyer, who I like
a lot too. Nus Meyer at Lshu's dad who's now
(07:49):
the Eagles coach, and Kellen and Doug nuss were really
close and they stayed on the staff. I'd have to look,
but I don't know if there were many other guys
on the staff that held over. And Kellen also got
to call the plays. Well, what has Mike done the
last two years? He's called the place, So I think
that was a Mike McCarthy firing, which is kind of
(08:11):
crazy thinking back, because he got fired after they lost
in the second round, which is the farthest the Cowboys
have been in the last twenty plus years. I do
think there's some momentum, definitely outside talk, but I think
if you put the pieces together, you're like, well, who
has Jerry missed out on over the last twenty years.
He had Sean Payton in the building, didn't get him.
He had Dan Campbell in the building, didn't get him. Right,
(08:34):
He's had some guys in his backyard. And then I
think he thought he had that with Kellen Moore. And
then because the Cowboys were winning. You know, part of
business is there's a give and take, like having a partnership.
Even if you are the boss, like you do have
to empower your guy and you're paying him seven eight
nine million dollars to be the head coach. If Mike
wants to do something and they just were in the
second round, like, it's not crazy to give him, throw
(08:57):
him a couple bones, and if that's something he was
passionate about, you give it to him and you let
it roll. Now, I think a couple of years later
you go, well, look at Kellen with the Eagles. The
Dion thing is real because the connection with the Cowboys,
he's a Texas guy. The marketing aspect of it just
(09:18):
obviously the connection with the Sun if they get a
top two or three pick or even Travis Hunter, so
I think that's like people aren't just throwing that at
the wall hoping it sticks. But I would say Kellen,
the difference of Dion and Kellen is hiring Dion is
like Deon kind of becomes the star of the franchise,
(09:41):
and that is a Jerry Like, you know, McCarthy's not
the star of the franchise. Dak Prescott's not even the
star of the franchise. Jerrys definitely when Jason Garrett was there,
you know, Tony Romo, Dak no still Jerry. I mean
really the only time in the last twenty five years
was Bill Parcells who was bigger than the Cowboys. And
(10:02):
I would say, if you hired Dion Sanders, which I'm
all for, that would be very, very entertaining. I mean,
Dion Sanders becomes the when you put up a poster
for the Cowboys around town, like it's it's not Dak,
it's not Micah Parsons, it's Deon fucking Sanders. So Jerry
(10:23):
loves money, loves the marketing aspect of it. But at
eighty three years old, is he basically ready to give
his franchise up to primetime? Maybe he is, but with
Kellen it would kind of fall under the mold of
McCarthy and Jason Garrett of like, Jerry still a star,
and it's how Kellen can tell Jerry what to do.
(10:44):
But clearly Jerry likes Kellen Moore a lot, and now
that he's in his division for Philadelphia, kicking ass and
taking names, that's only going to help his cause. The
other thing is if Jerry, let's use Dion as an example.
Let's say, listen, I don't know, it's all conjecture and projecting,
but if Dion does want to come to the NFL,
(11:05):
what if the Raiders have like the first overall pick, Like,
what if Dion just takes that job instead of the
Cowboys because ensures he coaches his son, which clearly means
a lot to them. The moment we drafted Piersall, I
was under the impression that Deebo or Ayuk was gone
(11:26):
this year. Fast forward past the preseason, the Niners extended
Ayuk and converted Deebo's contract to a signing bonus. I
was on the fence about losing Ayuk because it's not
the smartest trade away you're developing quarterback's favorite target. But
this roster has so much other talent they could have
paid on top of Kyle making a Super Bowl with
(11:46):
Over the Hill, Emmanuel Sanders, Rookie Deebo, and Kendrick Bourne.
Do you think the Niners made a mistake paying Ayuk
for other reasons outside of Ayuk's production. I think if
they could do it again, if they're sitting here right
now knowing what they know, they would have traded him
before the draft. That's what I think. But they wanted
(12:08):
their cake and eat it too. They didn't have a
good enough offer, like it wasn't worth it to them
before the draft, the trade for like a second and
a third round pick, and then once things got really hairy.
Remember part of it was Ricky Pearsall was hurt in
training camp, and so was Christian McCaffrey, so that added
pressure on them that they needed Ayuk. And then you
(12:30):
watch them play against Tampa, You're like, well, McCaffrey's back,
Ricky Pearsall can play inside and outside, but they move
him inside. Juwan Jennings just takes Ayuk spot, and then
just Debo kind of does whatever with George Kittle still
kick an ass. So I think if you could do
(12:52):
it over again, they would have traded him before the
draft because right now, it doesn't feel like it makes
that much sense. Now if you tell me he comes
back fully healthy and they ultimately move in the next
eighteen months off Debo like I could see that because
I U, I mean, it sucks that he got hurt,
(13:12):
and obviously it was a pretty bad injury, so who
knows how he'll look in the future. But that's the
type player that can play at a high level for
a long time. His games translates, you know, to like
playing at thirty three years old. Is Debo kicking ass
and taking names at thirty three years old? Probably not.
I'm a Seahawks fan, and I would like your opinion
(13:32):
on this. We all know their biggest problem is the
offensive line and penalties and undisciplined play. Do you think
there's something bigger going on, like a coaching issue or
just figuring out the first year bugs. You know what's
funny is after every game, coaches freak out about penalties.
(13:53):
Right But and I'd have to see the breakdown of
your penalties. But let's say there are three or four
holdings in terms of offensive line. Let's say they're three
holdings on your offensive line throughout the course of the
game and three more either pass interference or defensive holding.
(14:13):
So that is the equivalent of six penalties, and let's
just pick up seventy five yards. Well, sometimes holding is
because your guy's not good enough. So if your right guard,
your right tackle, your center is getting smoked. What if
they're just going up against a way better player like
Jalen Carter causes multiple holding penalties last night, Well, yeah,
(14:35):
he's better than the guy he's going up against. Or
it's like, yeah, this corner had two pis, Well he's
not exactly Dion Sanders, darrelle Reeves and he's going up
against Let's just pick a player Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, Deebo,
Samuel whoever. It's like, this is a tough matchup. So
if you don't have good enough players, even if you're
(14:57):
coaching well, times, you're gonna get some penalties and there's
not much you can do about it. So to me,
the undisciplined play, you know, like DK's kind of been
had some issues over the last couple of years. I
can't DK's issues aren't on Pete Carroll. They're not on
Ryan Grubb and Mike McDonald, they're not on John Schnyder
(15:20):
like they're kind of his, like that's part of his package,
which again I got a little Al Davis Andy Reid
in me. I would like DK Metcalf on my team.
Why because he's a fucking freak show and at any
given moment he can go eighty. But like when you
take DK like, it's you can be a little bit
of a roller coaster ride, not like crazy. It feels
like at least from the outside, right. I wouldn't put
(15:43):
in like the to category, but it's it probably can
be a little exhausting at times. And that's why I
think penalties, you know, sometimes can be a reflection of
how you build your team and the type guys because
at a certain point when the I would say emotions
(16:04):
are the highest you you kind of have to depend
on those guys, the coaching, the training. Yeah, it could
only go so far, but I'm not out there on
the field standing next to you when the other guy's
jawn at you and then you end up swinging and
get a fifteen yard penalty. Right, and listen, there's a balance.
Like this is football. It's kind of a great game
(16:25):
of you gotta be fucking crazy to play it, especially
at certain positions. So like that there's a fine line
and I can live with a penalty or two. I'm
cool with it, you know, I mean part of playing
it's this shit's hard. Trent Williams gets holding penalties, right,
The best players in the league screw up part of
(16:46):
the game. But do you do it consistently? You know,
you could argue are you coaching it or allowing it
to happen. That's where if a guy is constantly getting
pi's like you got to bench him and bring in
another guy. Now that another guy might not be as
good as that guy, but like eventually you got to
draw line in the sand. And I think these are
very complicated issues, Like they're all you could put all
(17:08):
of them in context as individual players, Like there are
a lot of variables. And that's where it's on the
coaching staff, the I would say, the front office and
the people that are around the team every day to
kind of know, like this guy's really trying hard. He
just we just need to keep hammering this technique and
we think he can be better. Or it's like, yeah,
this guy doesn't listen, he's screwing up. Yeah he was
(17:30):
our second round pick and yeah, he's really talented. But
this sucks, you know. I think with DBS, I think
you kind of know it early on. You're like, God,
this guy could play, right. I mean the dude from
the Eagles, Mitchell, that guy's a player. Uh, Saintstrill, the
corner from Michigan. I mean he's two rookies drafted. One
(17:52):
guy's drafted twenty two, the other guy's drafted to pick fifty,
and you just listen to him talk, you watch him
play like. These guys are pros. Man, these guys are pros.
And I think that can be a little cliche throwing
that out there. I mean, everyone's technically a pro, but
some guys are a little more focused than others. And listen,
if you have enough talent, like you can get away
(18:14):
with it, like Deshaun Jackson's work ethic the first couple
of years of his career. Do you think it was
like a plus? Of course not, but he was more
talented than everybody else. So I think part of you know,
there's a balance because you need good players, so it's
not like you know we're gonna bench DK doesn't really
(18:37):
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Speaker 1 (20:21):
Greeting from Costa Rica. I have a question. This one's
a bit personal, so feel free to skip it. I'll
answer it. After listening to your podcasts for months, it's
clear how much you love football. My question is what
led you to leave the Eagles and do you see
yourself potentially working in football again. I would say this
(20:44):
relative to people that work in football. I like football
a lot. I don't love football at the highest level,
like when you see John Gruden talk about football. When
you work around Andy Reid or Brett Veach or Howie
Roseman like their love of football, It's really hard to quantify,
(21:05):
you can't, you know, I think people are getting a
glimpse into how much Belichick loves football. It's like Bill's
seventy two years old. He probably has I would say,
minimum one hundred million dollars in the bank, and he's
talking about like rookie, his Rookie All Pro Team Week eight.
It's like, I don't think you realize how addicted these
(21:28):
guys are. Like I like a lot of things. Obviously,
sports and specifically football mean a lot to me. But
I think relative to those guys, I found my true calling.
I like doing this. I love doing this, I love podcasting.
I really like football. I think it's the best way
(21:49):
to describe it. And no, I would never I've had
no interest going back for ten plus years. When I
got out, I didn't leave. I mean, Chip Kelly came in.
We got into a little argument in a draft meeting,
and that was got a little weird after that, and
(22:09):
you know, it's hard to really decide who was right
about the argument. It was Matt Barkley, who I thought
was not a player worth drafting for US, and Chip disagreed. Obviously,
he had played Barkley a couple times, being an Oregon
(22:29):
coming from Morgan at USC and Barkley had played really
well against him, and then Chip ended up drafting Matt Barkley,
so clearly he disagreed very strongly with myself. But then
Matt Barkley went on to play in the NFL for
a lot longer than I thought he would. So listen,
(22:50):
Matt Barkley, I owe you a little bit of an apology. You.
I would have bet you over under two or three
years in the NFL. He definitely played for well over
a decade. As about back, But I do think I
was correct in my assessment for the Philadelphia Eagles in him.
And ye you know, maybe Chip should have listened to
more people in the draft room and he wouldn't have
(23:11):
been escorted out of the building by big dung Hey
John firing off another question. I guess it's the second question.
I hear a lot of people saying bo Nicks he's
already hit his ceiling and won't get better than he
currently is. This is mostly due to his age. I
think he's one of the oldest quarterbacks to ever be drafted.
(23:35):
How valid is this criticism? I see a guy like
Lamar blossoming as a pocket passer in the last two
years and he's twenty seven years old. Also, guys like
Herbert have improved a lot with the right coaching. I
don't think Bo has the natural talent of those guys,
But as long as Sean Payton remains the coach, I
(23:56):
think they could develop Bo Nicks into a potential top
ten corps. But I'm a diehard Bronco fan. Yeah, I think.
I think there are two different discussions. Right when you
have a certain skill set, like whatever God gives you
your height, your arm strength because for the most part,
arm strength you don't see guys, and I always use
(24:19):
the baseball analogy because we don't really discuss football into
like numbers to quantify arm strength. But let's say you
come into the NFL with a ninety mile an hour
fastball as a quarterback you usually five years in. Don't
throw ninety seven miles an hour, right, Alex Smith, Drew Brees,
Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers. Their arms are their arms, just
(24:40):
like you watch Josh Allen or Justin Herbert. Their arms
are their arms right, Like Lamar's arm has not changed
in terms of velocity, but he definitely is more natural
in the pocket. So Bow's skill set, arm solid size,
not small, good athlete like that. That's not gonna change
(25:00):
in inaccuracy, at least in college. I would say wasn't
a huge negative. Though I think some people would say
pushing the ball down the field was something he wasn't
comfortable doing or just didn't do or didn't have the
personnel to do, and it's not necessarily something he does now.
But i'd say Sean Payton, now, that wasn't exactly I
would say that Drew Brees offense. Obviously they did take shots,
(25:23):
but nothing when you think of the Sean Payton Drew
Brees offense that dominate for a long period of time,
to me, it was much more rhythm, timing and just
incredible play calling by the quarterback and the head coach.
I mean, Drew By once he hit his stride, was
basically you know, the extension of Sean Payton, and they
(25:43):
were playing chess against you, and a lot of that
was like they were just getting guys open NonStop, and
that they deserve a lot of credit for it. But
I hear you like, this guy can't get any better.
Why because he's twenty four to twenty five years old.
Of course he can't. And I think where you get better,
is getting more confident, getting more comfortable against the NFL speed.
(26:06):
You know, I have Stucky on, who's a big Ravens guy,
and we were going through the raven Steeler game and
he was giving out the numbers of how good the
Steelers have been against Lamar Jackson. Well, why are they
good against Lamar Jackson? They're comfortable playing against them? Right?
They see him twice? TJ. Watt has seen him? How
many times they see him on film? Constantly on crossfilm.
(26:32):
They just study that team, their coaching staff, and their
players honestly year round. Where if you're like the forty
nine ers or Seattle or Detroit or whoever a random team, which,
as Stucky was saying, he's dominated the NFC, it's like
what am I doing here? Well, it's no different as
a player if I do have the skill set and listen,
(26:54):
bo Next has definitely gotten better and definitely looks more
comfortable as time goes on. Should be able to master
certain things, whether that's the fifteen plays that are my
go tos I and I become a MA and I
become an A plus running those plays. I get a
(27:17):
lot more comfortable against pressures. I develop more instincts against
pass rushers. I have a better feel of when to
run when not to run, so you just naturally improve
that way, right, Like what do you think the Ravens
hammered with Lamar over the last five years in OTAs
and training, think how much and even during the season
(27:40):
they work on just pocket passing right, being comfortable in
the pocket. And it's just clear like he didn't just
get better randomly. It's something that happens over time, right,
And I would say this for any sport. It's like, God,
this guy is way better at at X, Y and
Z in the NBA and base ball, tennis, player, golfer,
(28:02):
you name it. Well, I would imagine they work on
it a lot. You drill it over and over. So
he has an excellent coach who is an offensive guy.
He definitely can improve. I think the ceiling conversation goes, well,
his ceiling is never going to be Josh Allen or
Justin Herbert. Well, yeah, no shit, Just like Drew Brees
(28:24):
could never be as good as Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen.
He didn't have their physical capabilities, but he could master
and I would say maximize his abilities, right, Like Drew
brees whatever his abilities were on a pie chart, right,
so one hundred percent on the pie chart some guys,
(28:48):
and I would say this works for any walk of life.
Some people get the most out of it right and
do everything humanly possible to get into the ninety ninety
five percent of just fulfilled all of my God given
abilities at whatever I do. And I would say most
of that is either through effort, work right, repetition, and
(29:09):
some people just like, yeah, don't really work that hard,
and maybe they're talented enough to get by for a
long period of time. And I think the argument with
bo Nicks would be he wouldn't be talented enough. That
was the thing with Caleb. It's like, guys, this guy
can move, he's got a cannon. He'll just even if
he's a little hit or missed as a rookie, he's
got so much talent and you're watching him, it's like,
where the hell's that talent? And to me, part a
(29:32):
huge part of that is he's lost his confidence. He
doesn't even know what he's doing. But I think bo Nicks,
I guess a long winded way of saying, I feel
pretty good if I were you. It's also why you
draft high character guys, because high character guys work, and
when you draft guys like Saquan's a good example, Saquan's
(29:57):
characters a plus. And this guy was dealt a pretty
shitty hand in terms of I mean, getting drafted too
is cool, and he made a lot of money being
a high draft pick, but he went to a terrible
team and they weren't well run, and a lot of
guys would just kind of stop working. I mean, it'd
be human nature for most people to just you just
(30:18):
didn't quite have the drive. It just it could just
drive you. I would say, maybe did not love the
game as much. And you watch him now with the Eagles,
you go, God, this guy showed a lot of mental
fortitude because to maintain his level of play the work
(30:43):
ethic that it takes in the offseason, he wouldn't have
been able to screw around, and that was always his thing,
Like you know, obviously in the gym, he was incredible,
and people just raved about the human being, like how
serious he took this shit. And it's very reflective because
I wouldn't even have blamed him if he would have
lost it, because he just kind of lost focus. I
(31:07):
wanted to briefly weigh in on the noon kickoff topic.
As someone with two young children and work in the morning,
I personally loathe my home teams, Michigan and Lions when
they play at night. This game happens during bedtime, so
I have to pause the game for thirty minutes. Then
(31:27):
I have to catch a break, or then I have
to catch back up by fast forwarding through the commercials.
Then I also have to sacrifice sleep and be more
tired for the next day at work. I love when
Michigan plays at noon and the Lions play at one
Millennial right here. Yeah, I think the majority of people
(31:52):
complaining on the Internet are people that go to the games.
I think that's the biggest No one complains about the
NFL because you play it all different times. But I
think when it comes to Ohio State, who's you know,
the lead dog right now bitching and moaning about the
(32:13):
noon kickoff. It's not a bunch. It's not a j
Hawk sitting at home watching the game on his TV.
Right It's not the sixty year old Ohio State fan
who went to school there in the late seventies. It's
the people on campus or the season ticket holders because
going to a game at night is just a little
(32:34):
cooler in terms of the environment, but I hear you
it doesn't. Living in Charleston, South Carolina. Hot as hell
out here as well, but a great city, solid food,
and awesome golf. Maria has been watching this show called
Southern Charm, and I don't know how she found it,
(32:57):
but she started at season one. She's like, there's nine seasons, Like, well,
what year are we watching right now? Is like twenty fourteen.
I'm like, I don't know if I can do this.
I should probably just read a book. Want to touch base?
But it's it's I think the show's based in Charleston.
A bunch of rich people want to touch base on
(33:18):
the Texans. This one guy, actually I did watch a
couple episodes. He's like this rich businessman who wants to
run I mean, this is a long time ago now
I'm in almost a decade maybe a decade ago, who
wants to run for political office, who just got out
of jail for like selling cocaine. It's like, what is
(33:39):
he's dating. He's fifty and he's dating a twenty one
year old redhead. Are we sure I want to touch
base on the Texans? Are we sure they're good? Going
back to this offseason so far, this year easiest schedule
in the league. Last year, lost to the Jets, lost
to the Panthers, take a drop by the Colts player
(34:01):
in an epic jabs Jacks collapse for them to make
the playoffs. Then against the Browns Flacco through how many
pick sixes wasn't even a game. Speaking of Flacco, if
he starts for the Colts this year, the Texans probably
lose both of those games their offense gets figured out
at halftime. I do think they will be good in
(34:23):
the future, and I like Demiko, but this year was
always going to be tough for them. Go Bills, you know,
I think Nico Collins to them. I mean, honestly, he's
their best player, so you remove their best player. It's
(34:44):
been a pretty big kicking the dick for them because
they looked a lot better when he was playing, and
since he's left, their offense has been bad. And to me,
Bobby Slow, it gets a little pass happy. It's like, Bobby,
you've learned from Kyle run the ball. Like if I'm Demko,
it's like, I get you like Bobby Slow and your
(35:05):
boys with them. Bobby call outside and inside zone three
straight times on this drive to start it off. No passes.
See if we can get a first down, and then
you know what, let's run it a couple more times.
Just settle everyone down. Instead, he's calling passes NonStop, and
CD's running for his life because the garden centers can't block.
(35:26):
I mean, the left guard position is gonna get CJ killed,
and then CJ's confidence starts weighing. I think their defense
is pretty good. I just think Slowick just gets a
little pass happy for my liking. I mean, call me
old school. You know, I'm just a forty year old
millennial here, but I got no problem passing all the
time when you have sweet wide receivers and you can block.
(35:48):
But when your offensive line can't block anybody and you're
missing wide receiver's injury and one of the best players
on your team is Joe Mixon, have him hand him
the fucking ball. I'd be cool with the having him
like have thirty five carries in a given game and
say he's like, pass it again, CJ. It's like, what
do you think is gonna happen? Your take on Chase
(36:08):
Jefferson debate was interesting about Jamar obviously has the superior quarterback,
which factors into his success. My question, as a lifelong
Bengal fan, is the Aj Green Julio Jones or a
similar topic, if the two would switch teams for their
for their careers, what do you think of their legacies
(36:29):
would ended ending up looking like? Obviously Julio is the
consensus better wide receiver, but would that still be true
if one had played with Dalton instead of Matt Ryan.
It's a good question. I think you know, Jefferson's first
couple of years were with Kirk Cousins, who's pretty good, right,
(36:53):
So Cousins. It's crazy to say, but the difference between
playing with Cousins and playing with Joe Burrow, if you're
a wide receiver, is not really any different. Like you
can easily have one hundred and twenty catch season for
fifteen hundred yards and fifteen touchdowns. Now, the Darnold experiment
will see how this plays out the rest of the year,
but I think Jefferson's had a pretty good quarterback situation.
(37:16):
Obviously Cousins is better and Andy Dalton, but hey, Dahltan's
pretty good. I think Julio would be the consensus pick
no matter what, Aj was pretty awesome, Like there's also
just nothing wrong about Like eventually you got to pick people, right,
It's like, who would you want Kevin Durant or Yannis? Right?
(37:38):
Like who would you want Aaron Judge or Mookie Bets?
Like there are gonna be a lot of people with
a pretty strong opinion, right, Like I'd rather have Mookie
Bets much better on offense, way better athlete, more position versatility.
But if you're telling me I get Aaron Judge because
I got the second pick, I'm just not losing any sleep.
(37:58):
It's like, okay, you take Kevin, I get you, honest
fuck not losing any sleep. So it's like, yeah, coolioh Okay,
I get Aj Green. Cool. That's what I think. Like
the Jamar chase Justin Jefferson is I think most people,
including gms and coaches would take Justin Jefferson. But the
person who got the second pick of the litter, it's like, yeah, awesome, sweet,
(38:22):
where do we go from here? It's like, you get
the second pick, the first pick is Cindy Crawford. Well,
it's like you get Heidi Klom. It's like, okay, awesome,
when's our first date? It's like, uh, do you want
the g Wagon or the range Rover. It's like, I
don't know, I'll take whatever. I just think that the
gap between I mean, it's not like would you rather
(38:43):
have Justin Herbert or Tuatanaailoa. The person picking number two
is like, h that sucks. Would you rather live on
the ocean or the shitty inland neighborhood? Right? I mean
there are some options that are like it's this's notion,
and then there's like AJ Green and Julio Jones. It's like, yeah,
(39:05):
it's like when people get all up in arms. Sometimes
a boy the defensive player of the year and Unlessen
I get it because Steeler fans, you know, when TJ's
not getting the respect to Miles Garrett. Again we're nitpicking.
It's like is TJ betteran Miles? Miles better than TJ.
Like I think most people would take Miles, but I
TJ could play for my team every day of the week.
(39:25):
I think my Cindy Crawford Heidi Klum analogy is probably
a little dated. That's what happens when year old. Do
you think the Cowboys tank for the first pick in
the draft? In draft Travis Hunter, it would entice Deon
(39:48):
Sanders to potentially become the next head coach of the Cowboys, Well, Dion.
If Dion was their head coach, he would be their
head coach by the draft. Can you imagine if Deon
takes over a team with a number one pick, Let's
say it's Cowboys. I guess it wouldn't be as crazy
because they got Dak. And let's say Dian likes Dak,
(40:11):
but he didn't take his own son, like if he was.
If the Raiders got the number one overall pick, they
fired Antonio Peers hired Primetime, he would have to draft
his son one because he needs a quarterback. But if
he took Travis Hunter instead of Shador and we've talked
(40:33):
about this before, what Travis Hunter is doing this year.
I hate saying you'll never see, but it's literally never
happened in modern football, and I doubt it happens anytime soon.
I mean, the dude's playing like one hundred and ten
hundred and twenty snaps a game. I don't think that's
feasible in the NFL. I really don't. And a huge
reason for me is just the injuries. Like you just
(40:56):
the level of player you go against that corner every
week is like, Okay, who do you got this week? Oh?
Justin Jefferson? Who do you got? Next week? A Jamar Chase?
Who do you got? The following week? Ceedee Lamb? Then
who do you got? A J? Brown? Then we got
a light week dk Metcalf. Then who do you got?
Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk Puka Nakula. It's like when
(41:19):
do I ever get a breath? And so you know
wherever Travis goes, if at corner, he would be the
number one, and honestly he would just follow that guy
and then he's just gonna play full time wide receiver.
I don't think it's feasible, and it has nothing to
do with that He's not I mean on the short list.
I mean I would say the best athletes of all time,
(41:40):
obviously like Michael Jordan and Lebron James, individual athletes in
their sport. But I'm just talking versatility. It's Bo Jackson,
Deon Sanders right being able to do a lot. But
even that, it's not like Bo Jackson played running back
and linebacker. I mean, Dion played a little bit of
wide receiver and even as a baseball Larry somewhat part
(42:01):
time at the highest level. I just think it's really,
really difficult. Obviously, I think Travis could play both and
he would be a first round pick. I mean, he'd
be a top five pick at corner, and I think
he'd be a top depending on the class if he
was a wide receiver, only top fifteen ish pick at
(42:22):
wide receiver. I do think it's just asking a lot
of your body and there's just a line of diminishing returns.
Big Cowboy fan parents named me after the city his
name's Dallas. As a younger Cowboy fan, I've only witnessed
mediocrity from this team and heartbreak. Many fans say Jerry
(42:43):
is the problem, and I would have to agree. However,
one could argue that the culture that's set in Dallas
leads to every player wanting to be paid more. Then
once it comes time for those same players to perform,
they do not. It also leads to the roster being
thin and having some holes. Do you think Dallas is
(43:04):
blamed for their struggles? Should also fall in the players.
I think the last three years in the playoffs, and
I think overall in some big games, Dak just the
interceptions and to me. Part of interceptions is also on
decision making, where you can watch him in some games
and his decision making is awesome, and then you watch
(43:25):
him in other games you're like, what is going on?
And as people I remember when I use this analogy
or comparison, I think after the Steeler game, because in
that Steeler game, he threw two picks. If memory serves me, correct,
watched a lot of football since both the picks were
(43:45):
pretty atrocious. I mean there was one in a deeper
ball that was bad, there was one in the red zone,
and then he had a fumble that he lost. He
had three fucking turnovers. But then he leads the game
game winning drive on the road in Pittsburgh, and a
lot of people are like, that's Eli Manning. Because you
can watch him, you go, this guy sucks, And then
(44:08):
you can watch him on a final drive You're like,
I don't know if like six seven quarterbacks in the
league lead their team on that drive. And the one
thing Eli has is he had the two playoff moments
where he got red hot. But if you watched Eli,
like on the right game, he could look awesome. I
remember a game, maybe my first or second year with
(44:28):
the Eagles and the Giants came to us. Might be
my first year. I just remember ELI was so bad.
It must have been my first year because I think
the second year they won the Super Bowl, and it's
just it's crazy. Yeah, I don't really know what else
to say. Besides he's just he's a roller coaster, and
(44:49):
I think against the forty nine ers really back to
back years in the playoffs, he just he shit the bed.
Last year was your team was terrible in that game.
But I think the pre obvious two years you got
to put it on deck. I do think there's something
about playing for the Cowboys. We've talked a lot about,
(45:09):
like extra hype, maybe some extra dollars coming off the field.
Maybe there's a sense of entitlement, which is crazy because
they don't win that much in the playoffs. I don't know.
I don't have a great answer for you. Regardless of
just something's off. My commanders are most likely not going
(45:31):
to contend for the Super Bowl this year. True, they're not. However,
going into the next year with the third highest cap
space and notable draft picks, when do you see the
Super Bowl winding window opening for the Commis Jaden obviously
has to play better than he played the last couple
of weeks. He needs to get healthy. But if he's
(45:52):
going to be a good player, I mean a top
ten quarterback next the next two years and have games
where he's top five quarterback and have a lot of
games where he's somewhere six, seven, eight. You can win
anywhere from if your team's good, I'd say twelve plus games.
They need a good pass rusher, like you have to
(46:15):
find your Jalen Carter, You're Nick Bosa, your TJ. Watt, like,
you need that guy in your defensive line. So I
would say that is an area in which they got
to find. And I would say their offensive line actually
has been pretty good, even though it got warped against
the Eagles. That's an area you can always improve on.
If you think about their offensive weapons, you know, Ertz
(46:36):
is old, mclaurin's good. You definitely could use some more
offensive firepower. The running backs are good, Eckler, Brian Robinson.
That's a good backfield to me. The defense, like, you
just need to continue to build on defense times now,
you know these next couple of years is when you buy.
Look at the Texans this offseason, they got really aggressive.
(46:58):
I would approach it exactly like the It doesn't mean
it's gonna work. It's football. This isn't baseball or basketball.
But and I you know, thing with football is like,
who's actually the free agent crop? Even guys that are
quote unquote gonna be free agents if you just google
them right now. The good ones sign extensions over the
(47:20):
next couple months or get franchised, so you know your
pick of the litter. Even if you got the most money.
It always looks sexier three or four months before free
agency than it actually does once you get there. Now,
could you trade picks for players? I just think you
gotta keep building. But now that you know your quarterback's
pretty good, be aggressive, baby, be aggressive. And I would
(47:45):
expect them to be big fan of the pod. What
is one nice thing you can say about the Raiders?
Their history is pretty cool? Their history is really cool.
I would say the story of Al Davis the Raiders
in the seventies eighties is pretty badass. Do you think
the operation gets blown up this offseason with Tom getting
(48:07):
involved in the team. Will Ap be the coach this
time next year? You know what, at this point in time,
I got a lot I think I've said this before.
I talked to one guy who's very tight in in
the NFL. I don't know if he exactly works in
the NFL, but works with a team essentially, and he
was adamant. He's like, I think he's gonna be fired now.
(48:29):
Obviously things can change. They could win a bunch of games,
but they keep losing. He could be one and done,
and that's that wasn't my opinion. I don't know. I
don't think Mark Davis wants to fire him, But how
can you keep going the way you're going if you
have the number one overall? Pick Deon Sanders. I think
that'd be pretty fun. You know, Dion's a little bit
(48:52):
of a renegade. I think Al Davis would be pretty happy.
Al Davis would have loved Deon because he could really run.
Didn't Deon run like a four or five back courts.
So you know, bring in Shador. You know, Chador has
a good arm, not great I love, you know, like JaMarcus,
Jeff George. But when he gave in to Gruden to
get rich Gannon, who didn't have a great arm, they
(49:14):
were really good. So maybe I would be on board upstairs.
I just think they They've just been so shitty for
so long that if you win three games on the season,
I think he has to be won and done. I
just don't think you can bring him back because he
knows nothing about offense. S already firing offensive coaches. You're
(49:34):
gonna let him draft a quarterback really high, especially you know,
if you're interested in Iron Mike Ray, Blues, Tom's Guy,
or Dion. I would do that in a heartbeat over
Antonio Pearce, assuming something doesn't dramatically change. Appreciate everyone listening,
Have a great weekend. Talk to everyone soon. Audios. The
(49:56):
volume
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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