November 21, 2024 • 51 mins
John goes full mailbag! After the breaking news the other day where the Jets fired Joe Douglas, we had a slow news day in the NFL so John took today's podcast to answer your questions in this massive mailbag episode.
5:47 - Mailbag
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is happening everybody? How are we doing?
It is Wednesday, right around lunchtime, and I decided. I
(00:23):
realized I didn't do a mail bag on Tuesday show,
and I have a million questions, and I was like,
you know what, Let's just do a full mail bag
podcast today. Make it meaty football stuff. And that's what
I decided to do. So obviously, we got Thursday night
football coming up, the Steelers and the Browns, which you
(00:44):
know be entertaining, so we will die. We will react
to that game after Thursday night. But other than that,
not much going on, a little slow time. After the
breaking news yesterday with Joe Douglas getting fired, we did
a pod cast reacting to that and you can go
check that out. Obviously, Colin and I did one earlier
(01:05):
this week as well as just we've got a lot
going on, so we've had podcasts out every day. This
is going to be mail bag only at John Middlecoff.
At John Middlecoff is the Instagram firing those dms, get
your questions answered here on the show, very very easy
to do. So that will be the game plan as
of today. But really quick, before we dive into the podcast,
(01:28):
you know I got to tell you about my friends,
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to day, last minute, take as lowest prices guaranteed. Okay,
let's start with Tyler backstory. Born in ninety nine, makes
me feel old. I was eighth grade ninety nine, seventh
grade maybe seventh or eighth grade. So you're young. You
got a lot of life left to live. Family of
Browns fans. Sorry. Around five or six, I realized the
(02:33):
Browns sucked and had to find another team. I chose
Peyton Manning. He won the Super Bowl that year and
he was my guy from then on. After he retired,
it felt wrong to root for anybody but the Browns.
So here we are. When I was in junior high
high school, I was a paid, big paid Manning fan too. Question,
are the Browns really considering firing Stefanski? Hugh Jackson led
(02:57):
the most embarrassing football team in modern football history. Kitchens
was a joke. The Deshaun things sucks, but firing Kevin
will only make it worse thoughts. Yeah, man, I think
the Bill Simmons used to call it the Tyson zone,
like there was nothing Tyson could do that you wouldn't believe.
(03:20):
And I think there are some football tea There's always
been sports teams that kind of fell under that category.
I mean, the Knicks for a long time were that.
I think the Raiders. You know, football has had a
lot of them. The Jets obviously fall into that category.
The Raiders fall under that category. And sad to say,
you guys fall under that category despite having a guy
(03:42):
who's won a couple of Coach of the Years obviously
has done a good job taking you guys to the playoffs.
Multiple times. You won a playoff game with Baker Flacco
shit the bed last year, but you guys won eleven games.
I think sometimes in life when the dude cutting the
chain X Like, let's face it, when you own something like,
(04:04):
there's a superiority complex, especially something is lucrative. As an
NFL team, you're a billionaire. Now. The Haslims were born
into the money. It's not like this dude created the
wealth from scratch, but neither did would he. Most of
these guys didn't, and they think they are, you know,
(04:25):
the greatest things in slice spread. Say what you want
about Jerry Jones. That fucker created all his money. That
guy created the purchase like no one handed him shit.
But I think when you look at Jimmy Haslum like,
ultimately he gave the thumbs up and he got the
check to Deshaun Watson and he will probably be the
last guy to admit that's one of the biggest disasters
in the history of sports. So you got to blame someone.
(04:48):
Last year, they blamed all the offensive coaches. They got
rid of them. This year it got worse. Stefanski is
an offensive coach. I'm with you. I would not fire
him I actually think Stefanski, the combo Stefanski and Jim
Schwartz pretty damn good. No one's winning with Deshaun Watson,
Bill Walsh, Vince Lombardi, nobody in the history of sport,
(05:11):
Bear Bryant, everyone's losing with that guy. He's a complete scrub.
He's not very good. I mean, there's just period, point blank,
end of story. He's an awful football player. It happens.
Usually it happens to older players, not a guy like
in the prime of his career, loss his confidence, the
massage therapy. Who knows, but just it looked it couldn't
(05:32):
have looked any worse. And statistically, you know, you know,
to quantify it, you couldn't quantify it anywhere, like he
was statistically one of the worst players in the history league.
So I have a hard time blaming Stefanski. But nothing
will shock me when it comes to the Browns, and
I think it all gets back to Flying Jay and
Jimmy Haslam. He's one of the great wild cards. I'm
(05:54):
with you. How could you go from Hugh Jackson and
Freddie Kitchen this and think that, like, what are you
doing now? Maybe you think Vrabel is gonna come on
board and save you. I don't know, I mean, is
there that big of a difference between Stefanski and Vrabel
Like I think if you put Stefanski on a talent
(06:16):
with a talented team, he's gonna win two. So I
don't know. I mean, I think it just gets back
to your owner. If Zach Taylor gets fired. What are
your thoughts on the Bengals hiring Belichick. I think they'd
be too cheap, But I'm curious if you think they'd
take a shot similar to the Chargers with Harbaugh. My
(06:38):
thing would be if I was Belichick and I was
coming back, which clearly he wants to. Let's look at
the jobs the Jags. How could you take the Jags
who just paid two hundred million dollars to a guy
one who we don't know if he's any good and
two he's always hurt. Like to me, that's an awful job.
Belichick hates the Jets with the pass and the power
(07:01):
of a thousand suns, so that's not an option. The Raiders.
I would be stunned if he became the next head
coach of the Raiders. The Bears somewhat intriguing though he's
talked a little shit about Caleb. I do think the Bengals, Like,
if you're Bill Belichick and you're coming back to win,
(07:22):
You're not coming back because you need a job. You're
not coming back because you need the money. You're coming
back simply to win and validate everyone who talks about
your last three or four years. You know what you're doing.
It doesn't get any better than Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase.
So if I'm Bill Belichick, like I've already made how
much money is Bill Belichick made the last twenty five years,
(07:43):
hundreds of millions of dollars? I mean, there are reports
that Ernie Adams, who's like a stock genius, made Bill
Belichick a ton. Belichick does not need more money. I mean, listen,
it's capitalism. We always need more money. It's part of
the drive of competitive people. That's not what I mean, Like,
he doesn't want more money, But this is not about
that at this time. It's about a legacy and stamping
(08:06):
it like double middle fingers, and by far his best option,
it's not even close, would be coaching that quarterback. How
often do you get an opportunity to coach a top
five quarterback in the prime of his career, those jobs
usually don't become open. Ask Lafleur, how awesome was that
(08:27):
takes over the packer job. Aaron wins a couple MVPs
and it kind of jolts him to the top of
the list of being like a high end coach. So
I think, if I'm Bill Belichick, I'm all over the
Bengals man, all over the Bengals, big fan of the pod.
With someone like Joe Douglas Sala or Doug Peterson, they've
(08:47):
got to have a sense that the firing is coming.
How big is the vibe shift in the building. Are
they getting ignored in meetings? I was just a West
Coast scout when I guess I wasn't technically fired. My
contract was over and it wasn't renewed, kind of like
(09:08):
Mike McCarthy. So you know, is Mike McCarthy essentially going
to be fired or just he will not have a
new contract, which is technically what will happen. I remember
going to the Combine after we had some draft meetings
and sitting with Chip Kelly and other staff members in
(09:30):
the in the suite at Indianapolis and thinking, like all
the people that are in charge are not even looking
me in the eye, let alone talking to me like
this is weird. We're all human beings. You can sense
when something is off, and I think it's like our
animal instinct, right, you know, when vibes shift. There was
(09:54):
an article out yesterday on Joe Douglas. Joe knew back
at the beginning the year when they forced him to
fire his right hand man. I think his name was
Rex Hogan, who was like one of his best friends.
Their families were friends, and he had no choice and
Woody Johnson made him do that. Then when free agency
(10:14):
happened and he wanted to make a bunch of moves
and would he either vetoed them or did something else,
the writing was on the wall. He was a dead
man walking, you know, Sala was told. Schefter said this
on McAfee yesterday. Did either their first couple of meetings
in when Woody Johnson got back with the New York
(10:37):
Jets was that, you know, I didn't hire you. That's
what he said to Robert Sala. So if you're Robert
Sala and the guy looks at you that owns the
team and cuts your check goes, you know I didn't
hire you, what are you thinking there? Like, you know
it's over? Doug Peterson just which is the highlights of
(11:01):
his press conferences done. I think sometimes in life, right
when layoffs happen or someone gets fired, they are generally shocked.
I've been fired twice. Both times I knew it was coming.
New management button heads with people, you can feel you
are not surprised. So I know there are people that
(11:22):
have been fired before in life that are surprised. Whether
it's in the NFL, whether it's in just other industries.
It can come out of nowhere, no different than a breakup.
I would say most people that break up, once you
give it a week or two or a month, you
can say, hey, did you see this coming, And most
people would say yes. Every once in a while, a
(11:43):
hammer comes out of nowhere and she's just, you know,
dating the pool guy and you didn't see it coming
and you're just single. But I would say for the
most part, in football, people see it coming. First off,
I want to thank you for the Viya edible recommendation.
I've been taken edible since the day they became legal
(12:03):
in California at least over five years, and only do
not take edibles when I travel internationally, these are by
far the best I've ever had. Got you, Homie. Secondly,
on the question, do you see any change in the
value of running backs in free agency in the draft
going forward? After seeing the impact a good running back
(12:25):
can have on teams Henry on the Ravens, gibbson Montgomery
on Detroit, etc. Here's one problem for these guys, right,
Derrick Henry Hall of Fame player, Gibbs and Montgomery as
good of a one to two combination as there is
Alvin Kamara, stud Saquon Barkley MVP candidate, Christian McCaffrey MVP
(12:50):
candidate last year one of the best players when healthy
in the NFL. It's a supply and demand issue. So
this year, let's say some of these guys want new
contracts the draft, I would imagine. I think there's a
chance that come February March, all the GIRAFT analysts are
(13:13):
saying the best position is by far running back. It's
definitely the deepest. I mean, I can think of seven
eight guys right now that are going to go in
the top three rounds. I think we're going to have
probably three or four go in the top fifty so
it's like, hey, should I pay you know, a guy
twelve thirteen, fourteen million dollars or just get a guy
(13:36):
for a million dollars a year? And that's a position
that can say, unlike quarterback, how many guys immediately like
third fourth round become your starter fast? So I think
it's more that. And again we act like they're totally screwed. Yeah,
they're a little underpaid. Where I think it's out of
whack is would you pay would you rather pay a
guard eighteen million dollars or Saquon Barkley twelve? And I
(14:00):
think some people would say, well, it's in a weird way.
It's easier to find a Saquon Barkley, maybe not as good,
but for two or three million than it is to
find a guard at that level for two or three million.
So it's just an economic exercise, right. That's all the
draft and free agency is how can I plug and
play for how much money? And where can I find talent?
(14:22):
And there are just more of this position than there
are less of this position. Okay, the NFL season is
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Speaker 1 (16:07):
I recently read a story about Tyrese Maxey calling out
Joel Embiid a player's only meeting. It said for being
late to everything. Said it affected the team's ability to
hold everyone accountable and affected the team morale. Have you
ever heard of this happening in the NFL during a
player's only meeting where a lesser star calls out the
bigger star on the team Or is there too much
(16:28):
of a hierarchy for this to happen. If it did happen,
what are the consequences? How does this impact the team?
How does the big star respond? Well? Embiid would be
the equivalent of a quarterback, right, so, if your quarterback
and Embid would be the equivalent of a top ten
quarterback in the NFL. I would say universally, those guys
(16:48):
are consistently the hardest workers on the team, the most
disasked of them, and the most is demanded of their time.
I think I saw Jonathan Taylor or Kenny Moore. I
can't remember one of those two players defending Anthony Richardson
a little bit because there was a story that came
out that after he got benched, he realized he wasn't
doing enough, even though he was working hard, but you
(17:10):
have to go above and beyond at the quarterback. He
started coming at five thirty in the morning. He started
using his lunch break to go to the coach's offices
and talk the game plan, and it was almost like
he didn't quite realize the expectations of a starting quarterback.
And when you look at Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar,
(17:32):
I would imagine the time they put in, and ultimately
Kenny Moore and Jonathan Taylor said the quarterback has to
do way more than all of us in terms of
time throughout the week. So the best players at quarterback
all put in the most time. Who are the biggest
stars in the NBA? For example, the only two guys
that really moved the needle TV ratings, Steph Curry, Lebron James.
(17:55):
Who would you say are the hardest workers in the NBA?
Probably those two guys. It's not an accident and not
random that Joel Embiid Like, obviously he's big and he's
had some injuries, like a lot of big guys historically
in the NBA. But we find out he's lazy and
we find out he's not focused, like I'm out, Like
what a joke. It's just like I one, I didn't
(18:17):
take the Sixers seriously before now like I don't even
entertain anything seriously about that organization. Their best player, Anthony Richardson.
If you wanted to defend Anthony richards and be like,
he's twenty two to twenty three years old, he's barely played.
Just got to If Anthony Richmond was thirty year old,
thirty years old and that was the story, you'd be like,
I'm out. If you heard something like that about like
(18:39):
Justin Herbert or Lamar Jackson, you'd be like, what is
going You're not showing up on time. People don't show
up on time all the time in any business. Happens
in the NFL too, ideally, it's like your wide receiver
or your defensive tackle. It's not the quarterback. And if
it's the quarterback, the team is screwed, completely screwed. So
(19:00):
I'm sure there have been situations where a lesser star
calls out a bigger store. If the lesser star or
the lesser paid guy is correct, I don't think anyone
has a problem with it. I can't believe that a
story came out that it'd be just doesn't show up
on time. Maybe it's the way I was raised, and
(19:23):
you know, my dad had some Tom Coughlin vibes. In
terms of time, I would imagine till my dying days.
Anxiety might be the wrong way to put it, but
I like, no matter what I'm doing, whether it's going
to the airport, whether it's a meeting, whether it's whatever,
I just get like it's almost impossible for me to
(19:45):
be late. Definitely in my own head, like that's something
that I would be very I'm very cognizant of timeliness
with stuff in terms of showing up, especially a work
related thing like basketball. Hey, practice starts at ten, or
the buses leave it too, You're the best. It's one
(20:07):
thing like Hey, man, I ran into a little trap.
We're all humans. Every once in a while things happened,
but it's like bro, you're consistently late. That would be
a massive story in the NFL. So if it was
a quarterback, and that's essentially what EMBD is, uh, I
think Embid now is under the world of most overrated
player in the history of the NBA. Seriously, Jets Fan
(20:31):
unfortunately ruined most of my Sundays. My question is, assuming
Rogers retires with both Douglas and Sala being fired, if
they pick let's say eighth in the draft and cam
Ward and Shador are off the board, should they just
take the best available player on the board, such as
Mason Graham or Will Johnson, both from Michigan, and sign
(20:53):
a bridge quarterback like Fields or someone of that level
instead of forcing Yours or mill Road too high to
me if you don't get one of the top guys,
and even cam Ward I think is more than up
for debate. I don't think the Jets are a lock
to take quarterback in the first round. You could not
take Quinn Yours at eight. If you're the Jets, you
(21:15):
could not take Jalen Milrow at eight. If you're the Jets.
I also think all this conversation is kind of useless
until we know who's running the operation. I mean, it's
just kind of a moot point, right, Like Anthony Richardson
made a lot more sense once the colts Hire Chainsiching.
(21:36):
It's like, well, he had just worked with Jalen Hurts, right,
if he had been a lifetime Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers,
those are the only type quarterbacks he'd work with, maybe
it doesn't make as much sense. So I think until
we know the coach, we know the offense, we know
the offense, or the organizational philosophy. Like if they hire
(21:59):
Mike Vrabel, I'd be like, yeah, one dent Bridge quarterback.
Maybe they just roll back Aaron Rodgers another year if
they hire you know, I don't know. I don't know.
I don't know who they're gonna hire. If you tell
me they hire Rex Ryan, I bet Aaron Rodgers back
for a year. My name is Reed and I'm a
(22:20):
Niner fan in the Bay Area. I can see the
stadium from my winery cop this guy's living well, which
is the account I am using for this message? Watching
the Niners this year, including the terribles offseason. I felt
it was going to be a long shot for them
to come back and roll like they have in recent years.
It's clear that the older Stars are playing tired and
(22:43):
without urgency. However, it also seems that Kyle seems burnout
and has no creativity in his play calling. He is
not using his personnel in a way that promotes winning football,
and he seems to be holding stubbornly to his old
tendencies while the rest of the league is adapting. Do
you think Kyle is taking a step back this year,
(23:03):
both physically and emotionally, as he has had so many
letdowns and feels the need to reset and re envision
the future with Brock as the guy. That's a good question.
I think they're all trying as hard as they can,
and like you said, are they just running on empty?
Have the old Stars just been banged up and don't
have as much left in the tank? Is Kyle too
(23:27):
stubborn with his offense? I think he'd tell you my
offense has worked pretty consistently, and maybe this is kind
of some forced humility on him that, like Kyle, you
do have to adapt. People think your drop back passing
game sucks. Right, The passing game tied to your run
game works, But what happens when you can't run the ball.
(23:49):
What happened when your team's not as dominant and you
can't bully opponents? Can you just drop back and go
four wide and throw for three hundred yards? Because if
you're gonna pay a quarterback sixty million dollars and you
can't do that, you're paying the wrong guy. So how
about this. We spread this fucking thing out and we
start slinging the pill And I bet he doesn't want
to do that because he won't do that. But I
(24:12):
don't think he's emotionally spent in not trying. I think
this is him. I think they're all given their effort.
Maybe they're just like you said, emotionally worn down. They've
been a three straight conference championship games, They've played a
lot of extra football, and they're just not very I
would say, a buttoned up operation. They've struggled to score
(24:36):
points all season long in the red zone. Some's just
been off offensively and defensively. But it's not lack of
effort or I think all these guys train as hard
as humanly possible. Like I think they take it really seriously.
It's just it's just one of those things. This is
not their year. And to me, if they lose the Packers,
(24:57):
I think they're better off going like six and eleven
then they are eight and nine, because that's an extra
six to seventh spo. If you're not gonna make the playoffs,
you're gonna make the playoffs. So are you better off
draft in nineteenth or you better off draft in eleventh. Again,
I'm not pro tanking in general. I mean the NBA
that became synonymous with tanking. I saw their ratings are
down again, so that's never good for business. I'm not
(25:19):
pro tanking unless you are legitimately tanking like the Dolphins
a couple of years ago, and then you win three
of your last five games in a costume Joe Burrow,
then yeah, that's a head scratcher. But like what the
Browns did several years ago, that that was stupid. But
the forty nine ers are a couple losses away from
like none of this matters. Question for the mailbag, do
(25:40):
you think the Broncos have a much better roster than
they've been given credit for or do you think it's
mostly has to do with coaching, because going into the season,
it was pretty much consensus that Denver had the worst
roster in the NFL, and it's clear at this point
it's closer to ten or fifteen. Well, I think sometimes
when you have unknown guys, like they've gotten rid of
(26:01):
a bunch of household brands and guys would name recognition.
So when you pivot off those guys and you go
to more random players that people can't just point out
of the lineup, if you coach those guys up, they
can become ten, fifteen million dollar players. So within a
(26:21):
couple of years they become household names. But when it
first happens, no one knows, and that's what coaching is.
I also think when you draft the last quarterback in
the first round and five guys go above them, people
just assume he's going to be the worst quarterback of
the bunch. When you get rid of a wide receiver
and Jerry Judy, who let's just face it, is a
(26:42):
famous wide receiver, even though he's pretty overrated, people just
think you're kind of tanking right. Defensively, you get rid
of Justin Simmons and all of a sudden, it's like
your defense is way better. And it's not just Patrick's
your team. To me, their whole defense plays fast. I
don't know, Like I don't think most casual fans could
just name off their defensive line. But when I watch
(27:03):
them play, their defensive line is very, very productive. They're
very very They're just a problem. And maybe that's why
Vance Joseph is now, you know, in the mix to
get coaching jobs, because you look like their best teams
had really famous guys on defense, from a keep to
leave to DeMarcus Ware to Von Miller. That's not really
(27:25):
the case. Subtracting Patrick sertain. So I think sometimes we
might look back in a couple of years ago they
had a bunch of impact players that we just didn't
know yet. That happens a lot in the NFL. I mean,
part of like, well, why is the Chiefs defense good? Well,
we've known about Chris Johns for a long time. It's
because a couple of years ago when they drafted McDuffie,
(27:47):
excellent player, Karlovski is excellent player, Bolton impact player. You
just start getting all these guys that are impact players
that you draft or some for cheap. So good question. Hey, John,
big fan of the pod wanted to throw some pushback
(28:07):
on the Josh and Lamar discourse. The way you and
the media talk about Josh Allen, you would think he's
won a Super Bowl. Why are we acting like Josh
is some world beater in the playoffs? If he beats
Mac Jones, Mason Rudolph, and Skyler Thompson's Dolphins. Josh loses
to the Chiefs in the playoffs every single year and
(28:30):
gets a pass. Lamar has shit the bed in the playoffs,
No denying it, but can we please stop acting like
Josh is some leaps and bounds better playoff performer. Also,
as far as the who's better argument goes, if Lamar
and Josh both retired today, Lamar is going to the
Hall of Fame, not Josh. Not saying Josh won't end
(28:51):
up in the Hall of Fame when it's all said
and done. But the only Hall of Fame quarterbacks playing
in this eerra right now are Mahomes and Lamar. Yeah,
I gotta push back on that one, Like, you've won
some MVPs in the regular season, then you haven't done
shit in the playoffs? Right? Who are you? Cam Newton
and even Cam like had some moments in the playoffs.
Josh is objectively better in the playoffs against the Chiefs
(29:14):
as well. Remember when he threw four touchdowns at Darrowhead
and his coaching staff blew with thirteen seconds, So like, yeah,
you beat the shit out of random teams, you guys
do as Lamar. But in the playoffs he has been bad.
Josh has not. Josh has been good. Like That's just
a fact. And the reason people I would say act
(29:37):
like he's better than Lamar over the aggregate is because
we put the emphasis in January, where he has been
an excellent player, and Lamar, who's superhuman when he plays
real teams, no longer looks superhuman when it matters the most.
I'm not anti Lamar, but like MVPs at this point,
(30:00):
like I would say, his MVP last year is kind
of hollow. Seriously, the twenty nineteen to one was really impressive.
That was young player, dominated the league, and then he
got beat by the Titans in the first round. Last
year won he threw twenty four fucking touchdowns. It will
go down as one of the worst MVP years. And
(30:20):
I'm not talking to him, I'm just talking like competition.
I ever remember, like this year is a real MVP year,
and Lamar's having a way better season than last year,
except when he's played real teams, the Chiefs and the Steelers,
and he's lost both games, and he has not played well.
He had the kind of comeback against the Chiefs when
they were kind of out of it and came storming back.
(30:41):
Steeler game, he was atrocious. You can have a bad game,
no big deal, but he always has bad games against
good teams in big spots. Josh Allen's teammate lose. His
team's never been as good as the Ravens. The Ravens
last year had one of the greatest defenses in the
history of the league, and they held mahomes in the
Chiefs to seventeen points and they lost. Last year, Josh
(31:06):
Allen lost to the Cancer Chiefs at home twenty seven
to twenty four and his kicker missed. So it's like,
you guys lost seventeen points. So we're talking like Josh
Allen's a Hall of Famer, He's going to the Hall
of Fame. Joe Burrow if he says Hell is going
to the Hall of Fame, like that's happening. Lamar Jackson
(31:29):
hanging his hat on MVPs right now feels a little
like Joel Embiid feels a little like James Harden. It's like,
why does he look so different? He even made me
a believer. I finally believed last year, and then I
put my money where my mouth was in my head,
and then I got burned, and I wanted to believe
again this year because I'm watching him play offense, I'm like,
(31:50):
holy shit, this is incredible. And then I watched the
Steeler game. But I didn't get fooled in the Steeler game.
Why cause I bet the fucking Steelers as a home dog,
because I bet against them in that situation and they
were even worse than I thought. I didn't take the
Chiefs as a dog against the Bills. Why Josh Allen
makes me nervous? Why? Because I know people with the
(32:10):
Chiefs who do they fear more? I got news for you.
It's the dude in Buffalo. And this always feels like
why are people so quick? Like why do we have
to treat all this shit like little kids. We're talking
about the best of the best, and one guy has
just been awful in the playoffs. So and part of
(32:31):
the reason this conversation becomes so polarizing because he dominates
the regular season. He's got an eighty percent winning percentage
non playoffs, non Chiefs, non Steelers. He beats a shit
out of everybody, and everyone's like, it's not the drops,
the drops Josh Allen. Josh Allen loses too. Yeah, well
(32:56):
look at their numbers. Watch them play. One guy plays
way better in these games. Why does Lamar look so
bad against the good teams? Why? I don't know the answer.
I know I was told last year by someone a
close situation that I got tight against the Chiefs. Not
really debatable. We all watched the game. He got really
tight and it looked bad. The Steeler game somewhat of
(33:16):
those vibes. You know why, because in these big games
against the best teams, you're not running wild. It's not happening.
And maybe he wants to prove he can pass because
he doesn't run as much. He kind of scrambles the
throw where Josh goes, fuck it, I'll play like Lamar.
What did you do just do against the Chiefs twelve
twelve carries for seventy yards. What do you do in
the playoff game against the Chiefs? Ran wild? Twelve carries
(33:38):
for seventy plus yards. Lamar is a dual threat. He's
not Steve Young or Joe Montana or Peyton Manning. If
he doesn't run against the best teams and run for
fifty sixty seventy yards, he's not gonna win these games.
So I don't know if he's trying to prove people wrong,
like bro we all view as the greatest dual threat
quarterback in the history of the league. But you gotta
(33:59):
do both, like if you're gonna throw for thirty five
to forty times as a problem, I just the defense
of Lamar is just exhausting, like two things can be true.
He's had a remarkable career. He has been way better
than the Ravens thought he would be. They drafted him
thirty two. He wasn't even the first player they took
(34:21):
in that round. I forget Mark Andrews. They took later,
they took another time, oh, Hayden Hurst. But like him
in these big games is an It's there's no like
a subjective nature to this, It's objective. He is dramatically worse,
dramatically all time great player, non the elite teams, the
(34:46):
elite teams, different player. I watched Josh, same player. Sometimes
his team loses, it's Swartz, it's the fucking pros. Sometimes
you lose, you tip your hat. It was a huge
knock on Peyton Manning early in his career dominated then
he would get to the playoffs. He played the Patriots
and he looked like a fucking scrub. And I was
such a Peyton Manning fan, Like, what's going on? Finally
(35:07):
got over the humpany he never looked back. Maybe Lamar
will or maybe you won't. I don't know. James Harden
never did em Bead's never going to. But the defense
of them is just outrageous. Also, like, look at Josh's
career record in the playoffs, like he's winning games and
playing well in his losses. Like, if you play well
(35:28):
in your losses, tip your hat. Not everyone's Michael Jordan.
They don't always win. Sometimes you lose. But when you lose,
did you come to play? Or when you lose, did
you ship the bed? That's that's my thing. And again
this is someone who's come around. Long winded question here,
but bear with me, it'll all come together. Okay, let's
(35:49):
dive in here. Bradford. I'm currently listening to the mailbag
question about Hunter's usage in the NFL, and it had
me thinking, I think you're leaning toward him playing primarily
being a with some packages on offense. Is it possible
that he is a new age athlete with all the
access to cutting edge technology and the amount of money
(36:10):
these guys are spending on their bodies, they could play
both ways. Obviously not keeping up with the volume of
snaps he's doing right now, but maybe forty five and
forty five each, so ninety total. I guess my real
question is this, if you're Travis and you've got to
be thinking about the long term when it comes to
getting paid, and if he's only playing one way, we
(36:32):
call it sixty five to seventy plays a game, in theory,
his career could be a lot longer, just based on
miles on the board that if he has played both
sides of the ball, playing closer to ninety a game. So,
if he's a new age athlete, what does the contract
look like? Do you pay him like a dB then
(36:52):
also pay him like a wide out on top of that,
It's obviously never been really done since Dion, but and
even Dion played like sparingly on offense. But how the
hell would a modern d GM go about it. I
think a modern day GM would want this. They want
him to play defensive back because it is much more
difficult to find a defensive back who's a Pro Bowl
(37:16):
level player than it is to find an impact wide receiver.
So if the GMS could all choose, they would want
him to play defensive back. Now, if you're Travis, his
agent and his team, you go, well, currently wide receivers
make a lot more than corners. Now maybe that changes,
(37:36):
you know, certain did he just get a contract this year?
Sas Gardner who was going to get a contract and
then he played terrible. Derek Stingley with the Texans will
get a big contract. But those contracts are not going
to be, you know, justin Jefferson Jamar Chase that type money.
It's not going to be twenty eight thirty to thirty
five million dollars ceedee Lamb. Now maybe that changes with
(37:57):
some of these young stars coming in the league. But
I I guess, just from a financial standpoint, you would
play wide receiver. The thing about going both ways, so
basically paying him a little bit of both, So paying
him like forty million dollars a year if I'm paying
him forty million dollars a year, let's just say let's
(38:18):
just let's just say he was playing right now, playing both,
and he was really good at both, and he needed
a new contract, and I was like, Okay, we'll give
him like kind of quarterback money because he plays two positions.
Forty forty five million dollars a year. Well, if he
gets injured, it's kind of a double whammy because I
would lose my starting wide receiver and I would lose
(38:39):
my starting number one corner. So if he's playing well,
it's great, But if he breaks his leg, I am
without two guys for a while. That's where I think
teams would struggle. Of like when I lose if Seedee
Lamb gets hurt, I just lose a wide receiver. But
(38:59):
if it's Travis Hunter, it'd be like I'd lose Ceede
Lamb and Digs or the Texans I would lose Stingley
and Nico Collins. If I told you this this weekend,
the Houston Texans lose Stingley and Nico Collins for the season,
You'd be like, uh, they're screwed. But if you only
lose one of the two for three weeks, it's not
(39:22):
as bad. That's where I think it gets really complicated.
For front offices and coaching staffs. I think you'd like
him to just pick one dominated. I think you would
also say the competition is way more intense and difficult
in the NFL than it is in the Big Twelve.
So for you to be a great player like Dion,
(39:43):
you do have to focus on one thing. Now, that
doesn't mean you can't also do another thing. I think
the front offices, the coaches, everyone wants him to play
dB wide receivers, probably a little more fun because you're
scoring touchdowns and financially you get paid more money. It's
a complicated subject. I don't have a correct answer, so
(40:04):
I my guess would be tries to play both would
be my guest question for the back. The postgame analysts
after the Ravens Steeler game noted the Steelers last year
were seven to four before their quarterback got hurt. One
(40:27):
thing the Steelers did well last season during that run,
which included wins against playoff teams the Rams, the Packers,
the Browns the Ravens was not turning the ball over.
Coach Tomlin wants his quarterback to limit throwing the ball
in the middle of the field between the linebackers and
the safeties. Reason being there are too many defensive players
(40:49):
in that area. Even the slightest inaccuracy can lead to
a turnover. Coach Tomlin has made a living winning the
turnover battle. My fear is playing this style will run
into problems in the playoffs. How do you see the
Steelers matching up against the Bills or the Chiefs. I
(41:11):
think they are more equipped to beat the Chiefs because
they played the same game. So if I'm playing the
Chiefs among the Steelers, I can win. Like I just
did against the Ravens eighteen to sixteen, fifteen to twelve,
fifteen to fourteen, I can win that game. I'm kind
of the mirror image of the Chiefs. You would say
(41:32):
right now, I mean, you would much rather have Mahomes
than Russell, but you know you would take I mean,
Pickens is the best wide receiver out of the group.
You know, we'll see Patako will come back, so the
running games will be somewhat even. But you would say
that the Chiefs defense with some of their I mean,
their corner situation is not as good as it was
(41:53):
last year, and the Chiefs defense. I would give the
edge to the Steelers, assuming you know they play in
the playoffs in Highsmiths healthy, their defensive line slightly better,
even though Chiefs defensive line is good too. I would
say that it would be hard for them to beat
the Bills. I would pick the Bills against them. I
(42:16):
would pick the Chiefs against them, but I will acknowledge
that like they could beat the Chiefs in that kind
of game, can they beat the Ravens three times? Good question?
I don't know my question about our current generation of quarterbacks.
So outside of Mahomes, who do you think will be
the first to win a ring? Josh Allen, Joe Burrow,
(42:38):
Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert? And how do you think could
possibly retire without ever winning the Big One? It's a
good question. I would say, let's just play the odds.
The Chiefs are not in the Super Bowl this year.
Let's just play the odds. So if the Chiefs are
not in the Super Bowl, I would say it's base
(43:00):
just between four teams. Then I would not say the
Broncos are getting there, and I would say it would
be very difficult given their offensive line play. That the
Texans are there so it would be between the Chargers,
the Steelers and the Ravens and the Bills. So if
we say the Steelers feels like the way Russell played
(43:23):
the other day, like, is that gonna win you three
playoff games? Probably not, So it would be Lamar Jackson,
Justin Herbert or Josh Allen. And depending on the Lions,
if they're playing the Lions, the Lions probably favored in
the Super Bowl. But that would be a very good
opportunity for one of those teams to win a Super Bowl.
And you would say, if it's let's just say Lamar
(43:44):
Jackson or Josh Allen, they would have the better quarterback.
And I know he's having a great year, but every
team in the league, including the Lions and every person
listening to this, would take Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen
over Jared Goff. So they are more than likely, just
based on statisticals or statistical anomalies, that the Chiefs would
(44:06):
have to be to get to three straight Super Bowls.
I don't think it's happened since the Bills in the
early nineties. I mean, it's been a long time. Let alone,
no one's ever won three straight Super Bowls. Is one
of those guys gonna have the opportunity if I was
a betting man, like, I think Herbert's gonna be in
some so, I mean Jim Harbaugh's proven Liken, They're only
(44:28):
gonna be better moving forward. I mean the Ravens and
the Bills are just always good. So I think all
three of those guys I have more faith than Josh Allen, Like,
I'm not backing from that. How could you have faith
in Lamar Jackson in these big games? Doesn't mean he
can't do it, but based on the information we have,
he becomes a different guy, and Josh Allen does not.
(44:51):
So if I get both these guys the regular season
version and only one of them plays like the regular
season version in the playoffs, and they both have good teams,
I'll think the guy that just plays the same, and
Herbert's a little bit of a wild card. We haven't
really seen much of him, right. He played in the
one playoff game where in the second half against the
Jags he wasn't good and they lost. Joe Burrow has
(45:11):
already been there. We'll get back. Well, if I tell
you Belichick's coach, maybe he like them more. A report
on on three just came out saying head coach Dan
Lanning is generating interest amongst some NFL teams. Landing has
stated the grass is damn green in Eugene, but NFL
money is greener. I believe him, being from Kansas City area,
(45:34):
he would only leave the Ducks to coach the Chiefs.
Do you think he's ready for an NFL head coaching
job if he's only in his third year of being
a head coach? Thanks for the content. I would say
NFL money. I mean he's got Phil Knight in Nike,
so he has if they want to pay him fifteen sixteen,
seventeen eighteen million, they can pay him whatever they want.
(45:57):
I'm pretty sure Dan Lanning is never coached in the NFL,
so it would be a pretty dramatic jump. Dan Lanning
is I think he's my age. He's actually a company
more in eighty six. I was born eighty four, so
he's thirty eight years old. He has been coaching major
college football since twenty eleven. You know, young guys have
(46:20):
been getting head coaching jobs, right, Zach Taylor, Not Zach,
I meant McVeigh Kyle. I guess Zach Taylor is relatively
young these guys have spent a lot of time in
the NFL, So I do think there's a pretty dramatic
jump now with guys getting paid in college. With the
NIL the transfer portal, maybe you are more equipped to
(46:43):
deal with like guys making money and the professional aspect
of football, because that's kind of what college football is now,
especially at Oregon where they're paying a shitload of money
to their entire team. So yeah, I mean, he's clearly
really good, you know, the guys that have believed in him,
or Nick Saban and Kirby Smart and Phil Knight, So
(47:04):
I don't think we can really debate. Dan Lanning is
an impressive guy. I would say in this world of
NIL and transfer portal, he has one of the best
jobs in the country because of the institutional money supporting
the program from Nike, which is part of the Oregon institution.
(47:27):
It's all like one, so it doesn't get any better. Like,
I don't think you leave Oregon if you're him for
any other job like Georgia or Alabama is not a
better job than Oregon. In the NIL era, Ohio state whatever,
He's got one of the two or three or four
best jobs in the country. He's proven he's winning big,
(47:48):
so I would say I didn't read much into that
report and I don't really have a take beside, like,
I bet he's coaching Oregon next year. I wouldn't bet
my life on it, but if I was a betting
man right now, I would say he's coaching Oregon in
two thousand and twenty five. How would you rank the
AFC teams the Chiefs don't want to face. I know
(48:10):
they aren't as talented, but I can't help but feel
the Chargers would be one of their least desirable matchups.
Second question, what would the ideal path for the Chargers
be to reach the AFC championship. Herbert plus Harbaugh rivals
every other head coaching combo, and I think this team
matches very well with AFC opponents. That's a good question.
(48:36):
I would say the Chiefs are very comfortable playing Lamar Jackson.
I mean, these people think I'm a Lamar Jackson hater,
but again that is on my side. I think the
Chiefs if were picking the top teams, they would Lamar
Jackson and Russell Wilson. They would be okay playing. I
would say the two guys. They would much rather play
those two quarterbacks than they would Josh Allen and Justin Herbert.
(49:00):
Now we're gonna lose a we're gonna learn a lot
about the Chargers. Who played the Chiefs in a good
game earlier this season. Don't remember that much about it,
but I'm pretty sure the score was close. They play
the Chiefs played the Steelers coming up the Chargers. So
the Chargers play the Ravens this week. I didn't even
(49:24):
realize that Chargers play the Ravens a Monday night football.
That's a good Monday night football game. So I think
we'll learn a lot about Jim Harbaugh's defense because if
he takes out Lamar Jackson, then you'd say that they'd
be comfortable playing those teams and the Chiefs, you know.
(49:47):
I think what ends up happening is there's a g
if the Chargers win that game, the Chargers are gonna
be the five seed. So the Chargers route would be
the Texans in the first round as the four or five.
I think there's a decent chance the Chargers could be
favored in that game if anything'd be a pick them.
So the Chargers win that game, then they would play
(50:08):
the Chiefs. Assuming the Ravens the Steelers or the Bills.
You know, in some form worked the two three. I
guess in this scenario, with the Chargers beating the Ravens,
the Steelers would be the three seed and the Bills
would probably be the two or vice versa. And if
one of those two teams beats the Ravens in the
first round, then they would play each other in the
(50:28):
second round, So then it would be Chargers, Chiefs, Bill,
Steelers or Bill's Ravens. I guess potentially, if the Ravens
were to lose, I'm pretty sure you reseed in the NFL,
so it could be Ravens, Chiefs, Chargers, Bills. I think
if you're the Chargers, you would rather play the Chiefs
because you know, you're comfortable new staff. But Harbaugh and
(50:52):
Mentor and Greg Roman will have played Andy Reid and Spags.
That would be the third time playing them, so I
would say they're the easiest path would be because they're
gonna get road games beside. Basically probably in all of them,
it would be the Texans, then the Chiefs, and then
(51:12):
you just you know, you would rather avoid the Bills
and get probably the Steelers. I would say, I know
the Steelers beat them this year, but Herbert got hurt
in that game. They lost twenty to ten. That's probably
I think the route I would go. I would say Texans, Chiefs, Steelers.
Appreciate everyone listening. Have a great day and we will
(51:35):
see you after Thursday night football the Steelers against the
Cleveland Browns. The Doug Pown have a great day. Audios.
The volume
The volume. What is happening everybody? How are we doing?
It is Wednesday, right around lunchtime, and I decided. I
(00:23):
realized I didn't do a mail bag on Tuesday show,
and I have a million questions, and I was like,
you know what, Let's just do a full mail bag
podcast today. Make it meaty football stuff. And that's what
I decided to do. So obviously, we got Thursday night
football coming up, the Steelers and the Browns, which you
(00:44):
know be entertaining, so we will die. We will react
to that game after Thursday night. But other than that,
not much going on, a little slow time. After the
breaking news yesterday with Joe Douglas getting fired, we did
a pod cast reacting to that and you can go
check that out. Obviously, Colin and I did one earlier
(01:05):
this week as well as just we've got a lot
going on, so we've had podcasts out every day. This
is going to be mail bag only at John Middlecoff.
At John Middlecoff is the Instagram firing those dms, get
your questions answered here on the show, very very easy
to do. So that will be the game plan as
of today. But really quick, before we dive into the podcast,
(01:28):
you know I got to tell you about my friends,
my partners in the official ticketing app of this podcast.
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want to go to a concert, if you want to
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(01:50):
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Terms apply again. Create an account, redeem the code John
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(02:10):
to day, last minute, take as lowest prices guaranteed. Okay,
let's start with Tyler backstory. Born in ninety nine, makes
me feel old. I was eighth grade ninety nine, seventh
grade maybe seventh or eighth grade. So you're young. You
got a lot of life left to live. Family of
Browns fans. Sorry. Around five or six, I realized the
(02:33):
Browns sucked and had to find another team. I chose
Peyton Manning. He won the Super Bowl that year and
he was my guy from then on. After he retired,
it felt wrong to root for anybody but the Browns.
So here we are. When I was in junior high
high school, I was a paid, big paid Manning fan too. Question,
are the Browns really considering firing Stefanski? Hugh Jackson led
(02:57):
the most embarrassing football team in modern football history. Kitchens
was a joke. The Deshaun things sucks, but firing Kevin
will only make it worse thoughts. Yeah, man, I think
the Bill Simmons used to call it the Tyson zone,
like there was nothing Tyson could do that you wouldn't believe.
(03:20):
And I think there are some football tea There's always
been sports teams that kind of fell under that category.
I mean, the Knicks for a long time were that.
I think the Raiders. You know, football has had a
lot of them. The Jets obviously fall into that category.
The Raiders fall under that category. And sad to say,
you guys fall under that category despite having a guy
(03:42):
who's won a couple of Coach of the Years obviously
has done a good job taking you guys to the playoffs.
Multiple times. You won a playoff game with Baker Flacco
shit the bed last year, but you guys won eleven games.
I think sometimes in life when the dude cutting the
chain X Like, let's face it, when you own something like,
(04:04):
there's a superiority complex, especially something is lucrative. As an
NFL team, you're a billionaire. Now. The Haslims were born
into the money. It's not like this dude created the
wealth from scratch, but neither did would he. Most of
these guys didn't, and they think they are, you know,
(04:25):
the greatest things in slice spread. Say what you want
about Jerry Jones. That fucker created all his money. That
guy created the purchase like no one handed him shit.
But I think when you look at Jimmy Haslum like,
ultimately he gave the thumbs up and he got the
check to Deshaun Watson and he will probably be the
last guy to admit that's one of the biggest disasters
in the history of sports. So you got to blame someone.
(04:48):
Last year, they blamed all the offensive coaches. They got
rid of them. This year it got worse. Stefanski is
an offensive coach. I'm with you. I would not fire
him I actually think Stefanski, the combo Stefanski and Jim
Schwartz pretty damn good. No one's winning with Deshaun Watson,
Bill Walsh, Vince Lombardi, nobody in the history of sport,
(05:11):
Bear Bryant, everyone's losing with that guy. He's a complete scrub.
He's not very good. I mean, there's just period, point blank,
end of story. He's an awful football player. It happens.
Usually it happens to older players, not a guy like
in the prime of his career, loss his confidence, the
massage therapy. Who knows, but just it looked it couldn't
(05:32):
have looked any worse. And statistically, you know, you know,
to quantify it, you couldn't quantify it anywhere, like he
was statistically one of the worst players in the history league.
So I have a hard time blaming Stefanski. But nothing
will shock me when it comes to the Browns, and
I think it all gets back to Flying Jay and
Jimmy Haslam. He's one of the great wild cards. I'm
(05:54):
with you. How could you go from Hugh Jackson and
Freddie Kitchen this and think that, like, what are you
doing now? Maybe you think Vrabel is gonna come on
board and save you. I don't know, I mean, is
there that big of a difference between Stefanski and Vrabel
Like I think if you put Stefanski on a talent
(06:16):
with a talented team, he's gonna win two. So I
don't know. I mean, I think it just gets back
to your owner. If Zach Taylor gets fired. What are
your thoughts on the Bengals hiring Belichick. I think they'd
be too cheap, But I'm curious if you think they'd
take a shot similar to the Chargers with Harbaugh. My
(06:38):
thing would be if I was Belichick and I was
coming back, which clearly he wants to. Let's look at
the jobs the Jags. How could you take the Jags
who just paid two hundred million dollars to a guy
one who we don't know if he's any good and
two he's always hurt. Like to me, that's an awful job.
Belichick hates the Jets with the pass and the power
(07:01):
of a thousand suns, so that's not an option. The Raiders.
I would be stunned if he became the next head
coach of the Raiders. The Bears somewhat intriguing though he's
talked a little shit about Caleb. I do think the Bengals, Like,
if you're Bill Belichick and you're coming back to win,
(07:22):
You're not coming back because you need a job. You're
not coming back because you need the money. You're coming
back simply to win and validate everyone who talks about
your last three or four years. You know what you're doing.
It doesn't get any better than Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase.
So if I'm Bill Belichick, like I've already made how
much money is Bill Belichick made the last twenty five years,
(07:43):
hundreds of millions of dollars? I mean, there are reports
that Ernie Adams, who's like a stock genius, made Bill
Belichick a ton. Belichick does not need more money. I mean, listen,
it's capitalism. We always need more money. It's part of
the drive of competitive people. That's not what I mean, Like,
he doesn't want more money, But this is not about
that at this time. It's about a legacy and stamping
(08:06):
it like double middle fingers, and by far his best option,
it's not even close, would be coaching that quarterback. How
often do you get an opportunity to coach a top
five quarterback in the prime of his career, those jobs
usually don't become open. Ask Lafleur, how awesome was that
(08:27):
takes over the packer job. Aaron wins a couple MVPs
and it kind of jolts him to the top of
the list of being like a high end coach. So
I think, if I'm Bill Belichick, I'm all over the
Bengals man, all over the Bengals, big fan of the pod.
With someone like Joe Douglas Sala or Doug Peterson, they've
(08:47):
got to have a sense that the firing is coming.
How big is the vibe shift in the building. Are
they getting ignored in meetings? I was just a West
Coast scout when I guess I wasn't technically fired. My
contract was over and it wasn't renewed, kind of like
(09:08):
Mike McCarthy. So you know, is Mike McCarthy essentially going
to be fired or just he will not have a
new contract, which is technically what will happen. I remember
going to the Combine after we had some draft meetings
and sitting with Chip Kelly and other staff members in
(09:30):
the in the suite at Indianapolis and thinking, like all
the people that are in charge are not even looking
me in the eye, let alone talking to me like
this is weird. We're all human beings. You can sense
when something is off, and I think it's like our
animal instinct, right, you know, when vibes shift. There was
(09:54):
an article out yesterday on Joe Douglas. Joe knew back
at the beginning the year when they forced him to
fire his right hand man. I think his name was
Rex Hogan, who was like one of his best friends.
Their families were friends, and he had no choice and
Woody Johnson made him do that. Then when free agency
(10:14):
happened and he wanted to make a bunch of moves
and would he either vetoed them or did something else,
the writing was on the wall. He was a dead
man walking, you know, Sala was told. Schefter said this
on McAfee yesterday. Did either their first couple of meetings
in when Woody Johnson got back with the New York
(10:37):
Jets was that, you know, I didn't hire you. That's
what he said to Robert Sala. So if you're Robert
Sala and the guy looks at you that owns the
team and cuts your check goes, you know I didn't
hire you, what are you thinking there? Like, you know
it's over? Doug Peterson just which is the highlights of
(11:01):
his press conferences done. I think sometimes in life, right
when layoffs happen or someone gets fired, they are generally shocked.
I've been fired twice. Both times I knew it was coming.
New management button heads with people, you can feel you
are not surprised. So I know there are people that
(11:22):
have been fired before in life that are surprised. Whether
it's in the NFL, whether it's in just other industries.
It can come out of nowhere, no different than a breakup.
I would say most people that break up, once you
give it a week or two or a month, you
can say, hey, did you see this coming, And most
people would say yes. Every once in a while, a
(11:43):
hammer comes out of nowhere and she's just, you know,
dating the pool guy and you didn't see it coming
and you're just single. But I would say for the
most part, in football, people see it coming. First off,
I want to thank you for the Viya edible recommendation.
I've been taken edible since the day they became legal
(12:03):
in California at least over five years, and only do
not take edibles when I travel internationally, these are by
far the best I've ever had. Got you, Homie. Secondly,
on the question, do you see any change in the
value of running backs in free agency in the draft
going forward? After seeing the impact a good running back
(12:25):
can have on teams Henry on the Ravens, gibbson Montgomery
on Detroit, etc. Here's one problem for these guys, right,
Derrick Henry Hall of Fame player, Gibbs and Montgomery as
good of a one to two combination as there is
Alvin Kamara, stud Saquon Barkley MVP candidate, Christian McCaffrey MVP
(12:50):
candidate last year one of the best players when healthy
in the NFL. It's a supply and demand issue. So
this year, let's say some of these guys want new
contracts the draft, I would imagine. I think there's a
chance that come February March, all the GIRAFT analysts are
(13:13):
saying the best position is by far running back. It's
definitely the deepest. I mean, I can think of seven
eight guys right now that are going to go in
the top three rounds. I think we're going to have
probably three or four go in the top fifty so
it's like, hey, should I pay you know, a guy
twelve thirteen, fourteen million dollars or just get a guy
(13:36):
for a million dollars a year? And that's a position
that can say, unlike quarterback, how many guys immediately like
third fourth round become your starter fast? So I think
it's more that. And again we act like they're totally screwed. Yeah,
they're a little underpaid. Where I think it's out of
whack is would you pay would you rather pay a
guard eighteen million dollars or Saquon Barkley twelve? And I
(14:00):
think some people would say, well, it's in a weird way.
It's easier to find a Saquon Barkley, maybe not as good,
but for two or three million than it is to
find a guard at that level for two or three million.
So it's just an economic exercise, right. That's all the
draft and free agency is how can I plug and
play for how much money? And where can I find talent?
(14:22):
And there are just more of this position than there
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Speaker 1 (16:07):
I recently read a story about Tyrese Maxey calling out
Joel Embiid a player's only meeting. It said for being
late to everything. Said it affected the team's ability to
hold everyone accountable and affected the team morale. Have you
ever heard of this happening in the NFL during a
player's only meeting where a lesser star calls out the
bigger star on the team Or is there too much
(16:28):
of a hierarchy for this to happen. If it did happen,
what are the consequences? How does this impact the team?
How does the big star respond? Well? Embiid would be
the equivalent of a quarterback, right, so, if your quarterback
and Embid would be the equivalent of a top ten
quarterback in the NFL. I would say universally, those guys
(16:48):
are consistently the hardest workers on the team, the most
disasked of them, and the most is demanded of their time.
I think I saw Jonathan Taylor or Kenny Moore. I
can't remember one of those two players defending Anthony Richardson
a little bit because there was a story that came
out that after he got benched, he realized he wasn't
doing enough, even though he was working hard, but you
(17:10):
have to go above and beyond at the quarterback. He
started coming at five thirty in the morning. He started
using his lunch break to go to the coach's offices
and talk the game plan, and it was almost like
he didn't quite realize the expectations of a starting quarterback.
And when you look at Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar,
(17:32):
I would imagine the time they put in, and ultimately
Kenny Moore and Jonathan Taylor said the quarterback has to
do way more than all of us in terms of
time throughout the week. So the best players at quarterback
all put in the most time. Who are the biggest
stars in the NBA? For example, the only two guys
that really moved the needle TV ratings, Steph Curry, Lebron James.
(17:55):
Who would you say are the hardest workers in the NBA?
Probably those two guys. It's not an accident and not
random that Joel Embiid Like, obviously he's big and he's
had some injuries, like a lot of big guys historically
in the NBA. But we find out he's lazy and
we find out he's not focused, like I'm out, Like
what a joke. It's just like I one, I didn't
(18:17):
take the Sixers seriously before now like I don't even
entertain anything seriously about that organization. Their best player, Anthony Richardson.
If you wanted to defend Anthony richards and be like,
he's twenty two to twenty three years old, he's barely played.
Just got to If Anthony Richmond was thirty year old,
thirty years old and that was the story, you'd be like,
I'm out. If you heard something like that about like
(18:39):
Justin Herbert or Lamar Jackson, you'd be like, what is
going You're not showing up on time. People don't show
up on time all the time in any business. Happens
in the NFL too, ideally, it's like your wide receiver
or your defensive tackle. It's not the quarterback. And if
it's the quarterback, the team is screwed, completely screwed. So
(19:00):
I'm sure there have been situations where a lesser star
calls out a bigger store. If the lesser star or
the lesser paid guy is correct, I don't think anyone
has a problem with it. I can't believe that a
story came out that it'd be just doesn't show up
on time. Maybe it's the way I was raised, and
(19:23):
you know, my dad had some Tom Coughlin vibes. In
terms of time, I would imagine till my dying days.
Anxiety might be the wrong way to put it, but
I like, no matter what I'm doing, whether it's going
to the airport, whether it's a meeting, whether it's whatever,
I just get like it's almost impossible for me to
(19:45):
be late. Definitely in my own head, like that's something
that I would be very I'm very cognizant of timeliness
with stuff in terms of showing up, especially a work
related thing like basketball. Hey, practice starts at ten, or
the buses leave it too, You're the best. It's one
(20:07):
thing like Hey, man, I ran into a little trap.
We're all humans. Every once in a while things happened,
but it's like bro, you're consistently late. That would be
a massive story in the NFL. So if it was
a quarterback, and that's essentially what EMBD is, uh, I
think Embid now is under the world of most overrated
player in the history of the NBA. Seriously, Jets Fan
(20:31):
unfortunately ruined most of my Sundays. My question is, assuming
Rogers retires with both Douglas and Sala being fired, if
they pick let's say eighth in the draft and cam
Ward and Shador are off the board, should they just
take the best available player on the board, such as
Mason Graham or Will Johnson, both from Michigan, and sign
(20:53):
a bridge quarterback like Fields or someone of that level
instead of forcing Yours or mill Road too high to
me if you don't get one of the top guys,
and even cam Ward I think is more than up
for debate. I don't think the Jets are a lock
to take quarterback in the first round. You could not
take Quinn Yours at eight. If you're the Jets, you
(21:15):
could not take Jalen Milrow at eight. If you're the Jets.
I also think all this conversation is kind of useless
until we know who's running the operation. I mean, it's
just kind of a moot point, right, Like Anthony Richardson
made a lot more sense once the colts Hire Chainsiching.
(21:36):
It's like, well, he had just worked with Jalen Hurts, right,
if he had been a lifetime Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers,
those are the only type quarterbacks he'd work with, maybe
it doesn't make as much sense. So I think until
we know the coach, we know the offense, we know
the offense, or the organizational philosophy. Like if they hire
(21:59):
Mike Vrabel, I'd be like, yeah, one dent Bridge quarterback.
Maybe they just roll back Aaron Rodgers another year if
they hire you know, I don't know. I don't know.
I don't know who they're gonna hire. If you tell
me they hire Rex Ryan, I bet Aaron Rodgers back
for a year. My name is Reed and I'm a
(22:20):
Niner fan in the Bay Area. I can see the
stadium from my winery cop this guy's living well, which
is the account I am using for this message? Watching
the Niners this year, including the terribles offseason. I felt
it was going to be a long shot for them
to come back and roll like they have in recent years.
It's clear that the older Stars are playing tired and
(22:43):
without urgency. However, it also seems that Kyle seems burnout
and has no creativity in his play calling. He is
not using his personnel in a way that promotes winning football,
and he seems to be holding stubbornly to his old
tendencies while the rest of the league is adapting. Do
you think Kyle is taking a step back this year,
(23:03):
both physically and emotionally, as he has had so many
letdowns and feels the need to reset and re envision
the future with Brock as the guy. That's a good question.
I think they're all trying as hard as they can,
and like you said, are they just running on empty?
Have the old Stars just been banged up and don't
have as much left in the tank? Is Kyle too
(23:27):
stubborn with his offense? I think he'd tell you my
offense has worked pretty consistently, and maybe this is kind
of some forced humility on him that, like Kyle, you
do have to adapt. People think your drop back passing
game sucks. Right, The passing game tied to your run
game works, But what happens when you can't run the ball.
(23:49):
What happened when your team's not as dominant and you
can't bully opponents? Can you just drop back and go
four wide and throw for three hundred yards? Because if
you're gonna pay a quarterback sixty million dollars and you
can't do that, you're paying the wrong guy. So how
about this. We spread this fucking thing out and we
start slinging the pill And I bet he doesn't want
to do that because he won't do that. But I
(24:12):
don't think he's emotionally spent in not trying. I think
this is him. I think they're all given their effort.
Maybe they're just like you said, emotionally worn down. They've
been a three straight conference championship games, They've played a
lot of extra football, and they're just not very I
would say, a buttoned up operation. They've struggled to score
(24:36):
points all season long in the red zone. Some's just
been off offensively and defensively. But it's not lack of
effort or I think all these guys train as hard
as humanly possible. Like I think they take it really seriously.
It's just it's just one of those things. This is
not their year. And to me, if they lose the Packers,
(24:57):
I think they're better off going like six and eleven
then they are eight and nine, because that's an extra
six to seventh spo. If you're not gonna make the playoffs,
you're gonna make the playoffs. So are you better off
draft in nineteenth or you better off draft in eleventh. Again,
I'm not pro tanking in general. I mean the NBA
that became synonymous with tanking. I saw their ratings are
down again, so that's never good for business. I'm not
(25:19):
pro tanking unless you are legitimately tanking like the Dolphins
a couple of years ago, and then you win three
of your last five games in a costume Joe Burrow,
then yeah, that's a head scratcher. But like what the
Browns did several years ago, that that was stupid. But
the forty nine ers are a couple losses away from
like none of this matters. Question for the mailbag, do
(25:40):
you think the Broncos have a much better roster than
they've been given credit for or do you think it's
mostly has to do with coaching, because going into the season,
it was pretty much consensus that Denver had the worst
roster in the NFL, and it's clear at this point
it's closer to ten or fifteen. Well, I think sometimes
when you have unknown guys, like they've gotten rid of
(26:01):
a bunch of household brands and guys would name recognition.
So when you pivot off those guys and you go
to more random players that people can't just point out
of the lineup, if you coach those guys up, they
can become ten, fifteen million dollar players. So within a
(26:21):
couple of years they become household names. But when it
first happens, no one knows, and that's what coaching is.
I also think when you draft the last quarterback in
the first round and five guys go above them, people
just assume he's going to be the worst quarterback of
the bunch. When you get rid of a wide receiver
and Jerry Judy, who let's just face it, is a
(26:42):
famous wide receiver, even though he's pretty overrated, people just
think you're kind of tanking right. Defensively, you get rid
of Justin Simmons and all of a sudden, it's like
your defense is way better. And it's not just Patrick's
your team. To me, their whole defense plays fast. I
don't know, Like I don't think most casual fans could
just name off their defensive line. But when I watch
(27:03):
them play, their defensive line is very, very productive. They're
very very They're just a problem. And maybe that's why
Vance Joseph is now, you know, in the mix to
get coaching jobs, because you look like their best teams
had really famous guys on defense, from a keep to
leave to DeMarcus Ware to Von Miller. That's not really
(27:25):
the case. Subtracting Patrick sertain. So I think sometimes we
might look back in a couple of years ago they
had a bunch of impact players that we just didn't
know yet. That happens a lot in the NFL. I mean,
part of like, well, why is the Chiefs defense good? Well,
we've known about Chris Johns for a long time. It's
because a couple of years ago when they drafted McDuffie,
(27:47):
excellent player, Karlovski is excellent player, Bolton impact player. You
just start getting all these guys that are impact players
that you draft or some for cheap. So good question. Hey, John,
big fan of the pod wanted to throw some pushback
(28:07):
on the Josh and Lamar discourse. The way you and
the media talk about Josh Allen, you would think he's
won a Super Bowl. Why are we acting like Josh
is some world beater in the playoffs? If he beats
Mac Jones, Mason Rudolph, and Skyler Thompson's Dolphins. Josh loses
to the Chiefs in the playoffs every single year and
(28:30):
gets a pass. Lamar has shit the bed in the playoffs,
No denying it, but can we please stop acting like
Josh is some leaps and bounds better playoff performer. Also,
as far as the who's better argument goes, if Lamar
and Josh both retired today, Lamar is going to the
Hall of Fame, not Josh. Not saying Josh won't end
(28:51):
up in the Hall of Fame when it's all said
and done. But the only Hall of Fame quarterbacks playing
in this eerra right now are Mahomes and Lamar. Yeah,
I gotta push back on that one, Like, you've won
some MVPs in the regular season, then you haven't done
shit in the playoffs? Right? Who are you? Cam Newton
and even Cam like had some moments in the playoffs.
Josh is objectively better in the playoffs against the Chiefs
(29:14):
as well. Remember when he threw four touchdowns at Darrowhead
and his coaching staff blew with thirteen seconds, So like, yeah,
you beat the shit out of random teams, you guys
do as Lamar. But in the playoffs he has been bad.
Josh has not. Josh has been good. Like That's just
a fact. And the reason people I would say act
(29:37):
like he's better than Lamar over the aggregate is because
we put the emphasis in January, where he has been
an excellent player, and Lamar, who's superhuman when he plays
real teams, no longer looks superhuman when it matters the most.
I'm not anti Lamar, but like MVPs at this point,
(30:00):
like I would say, his MVP last year is kind
of hollow. Seriously, the twenty nineteen to one was really impressive.
That was young player, dominated the league, and then he
got beat by the Titans in the first round. Last
year won he threw twenty four fucking touchdowns. It will
go down as one of the worst MVP years. And
(30:20):
I'm not talking to him, I'm just talking like competition.
I ever remember, like this year is a real MVP year,
and Lamar's having a way better season than last year,
except when he's played real teams, the Chiefs and the Steelers,
and he's lost both games, and he has not played well.
He had the kind of comeback against the Chiefs when
they were kind of out of it and came storming back.
(30:41):
Steeler game, he was atrocious. You can have a bad game,
no big deal, but he always has bad games against
good teams in big spots. Josh Allen's teammate lose. His
team's never been as good as the Ravens. The Ravens
last year had one of the greatest defenses in the
history of the league, and they held mahomes in the
Chiefs to seventeen points and they lost. Last year, Josh
(31:06):
Allen lost to the Cancer Chiefs at home twenty seven
to twenty four and his kicker missed. So it's like,
you guys lost seventeen points. So we're talking like Josh
Allen's a Hall of Famer, He's going to the Hall
of Fame. Joe Burrow if he says Hell is going
to the Hall of Fame, like that's happening. Lamar Jackson
(31:29):
hanging his hat on MVPs right now feels a little
like Joel Embiid feels a little like James Harden. It's like,
why does he look so different? He even made me
a believer. I finally believed last year, and then I
put my money where my mouth was in my head,
and then I got burned, and I wanted to believe
again this year because I'm watching him play offense, I'm like,
(31:50):
holy shit, this is incredible. And then I watched the
Steeler game. But I didn't get fooled in the Steeler game.
Why cause I bet the fucking Steelers as a home dog,
because I bet against them in that situation and they
were even worse than I thought. I didn't take the
Chiefs as a dog against the Bills. Why Josh Allen
makes me nervous? Why? Because I know people with the
(32:10):
Chiefs who do they fear more? I got news for you.
It's the dude in Buffalo. And this always feels like
why are people so quick? Like why do we have
to treat all this shit like little kids. We're talking
about the best of the best, and one guy has
just been awful in the playoffs. So and part of
(32:31):
the reason this conversation becomes so polarizing because he dominates
the regular season. He's got an eighty percent winning percentage
non playoffs, non Chiefs, non Steelers. He beats a shit
out of everybody, and everyone's like, it's not the drops,
the drops Josh Allen. Josh Allen loses too. Yeah, well
(32:56):
look at their numbers. Watch them play. One guy plays
way better in these games. Why does Lamar look so
bad against the good teams? Why? I don't know the answer.
I know I was told last year by someone a
close situation that I got tight against the Chiefs. Not
really debatable. We all watched the game. He got really
tight and it looked bad. The Steeler game somewhat of
(33:16):
those vibes. You know why, because in these big games
against the best teams, you're not running wild. It's not happening.
And maybe he wants to prove he can pass because
he doesn't run as much. He kind of scrambles the
throw where Josh goes, fuck it, I'll play like Lamar.
What did you do just do against the Chiefs twelve
twelve carries for seventy yards. What do you do in
the playoff game against the Chiefs? Ran wild? Twelve carries
(33:38):
for seventy plus yards. Lamar is a dual threat. He's
not Steve Young or Joe Montana or Peyton Manning. If
he doesn't run against the best teams and run for
fifty sixty seventy yards, he's not gonna win these games.
So I don't know if he's trying to prove people wrong,
like bro we all view as the greatest dual threat
quarterback in the history of the league. But you gotta
(33:59):
do both, like if you're gonna throw for thirty five
to forty times as a problem, I just the defense
of Lamar is just exhausting, like two things can be true.
He's had a remarkable career. He has been way better
than the Ravens thought he would be. They drafted him
thirty two. He wasn't even the first player they took
(34:21):
in that round. I forget Mark Andrews. They took later,
they took another time, oh, Hayden Hurst. But like him
in these big games is an It's there's no like
a subjective nature to this, It's objective. He is dramatically worse,
dramatically all time great player, non the elite teams, the
(34:46):
elite teams, different player. I watched Josh, same player. Sometimes
his team loses, it's Swartz, it's the fucking pros. Sometimes
you lose, you tip your hat. It was a huge
knock on Peyton Manning early in his career dominated then
he would get to the playoffs. He played the Patriots
and he looked like a fucking scrub. And I was
such a Peyton Manning fan, Like, what's going on? Finally
(35:07):
got over the humpany he never looked back. Maybe Lamar
will or maybe you won't. I don't know. James Harden
never did em Bead's never going to. But the defense
of them is just outrageous. Also, like, look at Josh's
career record in the playoffs, like he's winning games and
playing well in his losses. Like, if you play well
(35:28):
in your losses, tip your hat. Not everyone's Michael Jordan.
They don't always win. Sometimes you lose. But when you lose,
did you come to play? Or when you lose, did
you ship the bed? That's that's my thing. And again
this is someone who's come around. Long winded question here,
but bear with me, it'll all come together. Okay, let's
(35:49):
dive in here. Bradford. I'm currently listening to the mailbag
question about Hunter's usage in the NFL, and it had
me thinking, I think you're leaning toward him playing primarily
being a with some packages on offense. Is it possible
that he is a new age athlete with all the
access to cutting edge technology and the amount of money
(36:10):
these guys are spending on their bodies, they could play
both ways. Obviously not keeping up with the volume of
snaps he's doing right now, but maybe forty five and
forty five each, so ninety total. I guess my real
question is this, if you're Travis and you've got to
be thinking about the long term when it comes to
getting paid, and if he's only playing one way, we
(36:32):
call it sixty five to seventy plays a game, in theory,
his career could be a lot longer, just based on
miles on the board that if he has played both
sides of the ball, playing closer to ninety a game. So,
if he's a new age athlete, what does the contract
look like? Do you pay him like a dB then
(36:52):
also pay him like a wide out on top of that,
It's obviously never been really done since Dion, but and
even Dion played like sparingly on offense. But how the
hell would a modern d GM go about it. I
think a modern day GM would want this. They want
him to play defensive back because it is much more
difficult to find a defensive back who's a Pro Bowl
(37:16):
level player than it is to find an impact wide receiver.
So if the GMS could all choose, they would want
him to play defensive back. Now, if you're Travis, his
agent and his team, you go, well, currently wide receivers
make a lot more than corners. Now maybe that changes,
(37:36):
you know, certain did he just get a contract this year?
Sas Gardner who was going to get a contract and
then he played terrible. Derek Stingley with the Texans will
get a big contract. But those contracts are not going
to be, you know, justin Jefferson Jamar Chase that type money.
It's not going to be twenty eight thirty to thirty
five million dollars ceedee Lamb. Now maybe that changes with
(37:57):
some of these young stars coming in the league. But
I I guess, just from a financial standpoint, you would
play wide receiver. The thing about going both ways, so
basically paying him a little bit of both, So paying
him like forty million dollars a year if I'm paying
him forty million dollars a year, let's just say let's
(38:18):
just let's just say he was playing right now, playing both,
and he was really good at both, and he needed
a new contract, and I was like, Okay, we'll give
him like kind of quarterback money because he plays two positions.
Forty forty five million dollars a year. Well, if he
gets injured, it's kind of a double whammy because I
would lose my starting wide receiver and I would lose
(38:39):
my starting number one corner. So if he's playing well,
it's great, But if he breaks his leg, I am
without two guys for a while. That's where I think
teams would struggle. Of like when I lose if Seedee
Lamb gets hurt, I just lose a wide receiver. But
(38:59):
if it's Travis Hunter, it'd be like I'd lose Ceede
Lamb and Digs or the Texans I would lose Stingley
and Nico Collins. If I told you this this weekend,
the Houston Texans lose Stingley and Nico Collins for the season,
You'd be like, uh, they're screwed. But if you only
lose one of the two for three weeks, it's not
(39:22):
as bad. That's where I think it gets really complicated.
For front offices and coaching staffs. I think you'd like
him to just pick one dominated. I think you would
also say the competition is way more intense and difficult
in the NFL than it is in the Big Twelve.
So for you to be a great player like Dion,
(39:43):
you do have to focus on one thing. Now, that
doesn't mean you can't also do another thing. I think
the front offices, the coaches, everyone wants him to play
dB wide receivers, probably a little more fun because you're
scoring touchdowns and financially you get paid more money. It's
a complicated subject. I don't have a correct answer, so
(40:04):
I my guess would be tries to play both would
be my guest question for the back. The postgame analysts
after the Ravens Steeler game noted the Steelers last year
were seven to four before their quarterback got hurt. One
(40:27):
thing the Steelers did well last season during that run,
which included wins against playoff teams the Rams, the Packers,
the Browns the Ravens was not turning the ball over.
Coach Tomlin wants his quarterback to limit throwing the ball
in the middle of the field between the linebackers and
the safeties. Reason being there are too many defensive players
(40:49):
in that area. Even the slightest inaccuracy can lead to
a turnover. Coach Tomlin has made a living winning the
turnover battle. My fear is playing this style will run
into problems in the playoffs. How do you see the
Steelers matching up against the Bills or the Chiefs. I
(41:11):
think they are more equipped to beat the Chiefs because
they played the same game. So if I'm playing the
Chiefs among the Steelers, I can win. Like I just
did against the Ravens eighteen to sixteen, fifteen to twelve,
fifteen to fourteen, I can win that game. I'm kind
of the mirror image of the Chiefs. You would say
(41:32):
right now, I mean, you would much rather have Mahomes
than Russell, but you know you would take I mean,
Pickens is the best wide receiver out of the group.
You know, we'll see Patako will come back, so the
running games will be somewhat even. But you would say
that the Chiefs defense with some of their I mean,
their corner situation is not as good as it was
(41:53):
last year, and the Chiefs defense. I would give the
edge to the Steelers, assuming you know they play in
the playoffs in Highsmiths healthy, their defensive line slightly better,
even though Chiefs defensive line is good too. I would
say that it would be hard for them to beat
the Bills. I would pick the Bills against them. I
(42:16):
would pick the Chiefs against them, but I will acknowledge
that like they could beat the Chiefs in that kind
of game, can they beat the Ravens three times? Good question?
I don't know my question about our current generation of quarterbacks.
So outside of Mahomes, who do you think will be
the first to win a ring? Josh Allen, Joe Burrow,
(42:38):
Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert? And how do you think could
possibly retire without ever winning the Big One? It's a
good question. I would say, let's just play the odds.
The Chiefs are not in the Super Bowl this year.
Let's just play the odds. So if the Chiefs are
not in the Super Bowl, I would say it's base
(43:00):
just between four teams. Then I would not say the
Broncos are getting there, and I would say it would
be very difficult given their offensive line play. That the
Texans are there so it would be between the Chargers,
the Steelers and the Ravens and the Bills. So if
we say the Steelers feels like the way Russell played
(43:23):
the other day, like, is that gonna win you three
playoff games? Probably not, So it would be Lamar Jackson,
Justin Herbert or Josh Allen. And depending on the Lions,
if they're playing the Lions, the Lions probably favored in
the Super Bowl. But that would be a very good
opportunity for one of those teams to win a Super Bowl.
And you would say, if it's let's just say Lamar
(43:44):
Jackson or Josh Allen, they would have the better quarterback.
And I know he's having a great year, but every
team in the league, including the Lions and every person
listening to this, would take Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen
over Jared Goff. So they are more than likely, just
based on statisticals or statistical anomalies, that the Chiefs would
(44:06):
have to be to get to three straight Super Bowls.
I don't think it's happened since the Bills in the
early nineties. I mean, it's been a long time. Let alone,
no one's ever won three straight Super Bowls. Is one
of those guys gonna have the opportunity if I was
a betting man, like, I think Herbert's gonna be in
some so, I mean Jim Harbaugh's proven Liken, They're only
(44:28):
gonna be better moving forward. I mean the Ravens and
the Bills are just always good. So I think all
three of those guys I have more faith than Josh Allen, Like,
I'm not backing from that. How could you have faith
in Lamar Jackson in these big games? Doesn't mean he
can't do it, but based on the information we have,
he becomes a different guy, and Josh Allen does not.
(44:51):
So if I get both these guys the regular season
version and only one of them plays like the regular
season version in the playoffs, and they both have good teams,
I'll think the guy that just plays the same, and
Herbert's a little bit of a wild card. We haven't
really seen much of him, right. He played in the
one playoff game where in the second half against the
Jags he wasn't good and they lost. Joe Burrow has
(45:11):
already been there. We'll get back. Well, if I tell
you Belichick's coach, maybe he like them more. A report
on on three just came out saying head coach Dan
Lanning is generating interest amongst some NFL teams. Landing has
stated the grass is damn green in Eugene, but NFL
money is greener. I believe him, being from Kansas City area,
(45:34):
he would only leave the Ducks to coach the Chiefs.
Do you think he's ready for an NFL head coaching
job if he's only in his third year of being
a head coach? Thanks for the content. I would say
NFL money. I mean he's got Phil Knight in Nike,
so he has if they want to pay him fifteen sixteen,
seventeen eighteen million, they can pay him whatever they want.
(45:57):
I'm pretty sure Dan Lanning is never coached in the NFL,
so it would be a pretty dramatic jump. Dan Lanning
is I think he's my age. He's actually a company
more in eighty six. I was born eighty four, so
he's thirty eight years old. He has been coaching major
college football since twenty eleven. You know, young guys have
(46:20):
been getting head coaching jobs, right, Zach Taylor, Not Zach,
I meant McVeigh Kyle. I guess Zach Taylor is relatively
young these guys have spent a lot of time in
the NFL, So I do think there's a pretty dramatic
jump now with guys getting paid in college. With the
NIL the transfer portal, maybe you are more equipped to
(46:43):
deal with like guys making money and the professional aspect
of football, because that's kind of what college football is now,
especially at Oregon where they're paying a shitload of money
to their entire team. So yeah, I mean, he's clearly
really good, you know, the guys that have believed in him,
or Nick Saban and Kirby Smart and Phil Knight, So
(47:04):
I don't think we can really debate. Dan Lanning is
an impressive guy. I would say in this world of
NIL and transfer portal, he has one of the best
jobs in the country because of the institutional money supporting
the program from Nike, which is part of the Oregon institution.
(47:27):
It's all like one, so it doesn't get any better. Like,
I don't think you leave Oregon if you're him for
any other job like Georgia or Alabama is not a
better job than Oregon. In the NIL era, Ohio state whatever,
He's got one of the two or three or four
best jobs in the country. He's proven he's winning big,
(47:48):
so I would say I didn't read much into that
report and I don't really have a take beside, like,
I bet he's coaching Oregon next year. I wouldn't bet
my life on it, but if I was a betting
man right now, I would say he's coaching Oregon in
two thousand and twenty five. How would you rank the
AFC teams the Chiefs don't want to face. I know
(48:10):
they aren't as talented, but I can't help but feel
the Chargers would be one of their least desirable matchups.
Second question, what would the ideal path for the Chargers
be to reach the AFC championship. Herbert plus Harbaugh rivals
every other head coaching combo, and I think this team
matches very well with AFC opponents. That's a good question.
(48:36):
I would say the Chiefs are very comfortable playing Lamar Jackson.
I mean, these people think I'm a Lamar Jackson hater,
but again that is on my side. I think the
Chiefs if were picking the top teams, they would Lamar
Jackson and Russell Wilson. They would be okay playing. I
would say the two guys. They would much rather play
those two quarterbacks than they would Josh Allen and Justin Herbert.
(49:00):
Now we're gonna lose a we're gonna learn a lot
about the Chargers. Who played the Chiefs in a good
game earlier this season. Don't remember that much about it,
but I'm pretty sure the score was close. They play
the Chiefs played the Steelers coming up the Chargers. So
the Chargers play the Ravens this week. I didn't even
(49:24):
realize that Chargers play the Ravens a Monday night football.
That's a good Monday night football game. So I think
we'll learn a lot about Jim Harbaugh's defense because if
he takes out Lamar Jackson, then you'd say that they'd
be comfortable playing those teams and the Chiefs, you know.
(49:47):
I think what ends up happening is there's a g
if the Chargers win that game, the Chargers are gonna
be the five seed. So the Chargers route would be
the Texans in the first round as the four or five.
I think there's a decent chance the Chargers could be
favored in that game if anything'd be a pick them.
So the Chargers win that game, then they would play
(50:08):
the Chiefs. Assuming the Ravens the Steelers or the Bills.
You know, in some form worked the two three. I
guess in this scenario, with the Chargers beating the Ravens,
the Steelers would be the three seed and the Bills
would probably be the two or vice versa. And if
one of those two teams beats the Ravens in the
first round, then they would play each other in the
(50:28):
second round, So then it would be Chargers, Chiefs, Bill,
Steelers or Bill's Ravens. I guess potentially, if the Ravens
were to lose, I'm pretty sure you reseed in the NFL,
so it could be Ravens, Chiefs, Chargers, Bills. I think
if you're the Chargers, you would rather play the Chiefs
because you know, you're comfortable new staff. But Harbaugh and
(50:52):
Mentor and Greg Roman will have played Andy Reid and Spags.
That would be the third time playing them, so I
would say they're the easiest path would be because they're
gonna get road games beside. Basically probably in all of them,
it would be the Texans, then the Chiefs, and then
(51:12):
you just you know, you would rather avoid the Bills
and get probably the Steelers. I would say, I know
the Steelers beat them this year, but Herbert got hurt
in that game. They lost twenty to ten. That's probably
I think the route I would go. I would say Texans, Chiefs, Steelers.
Appreciate everyone listening. Have a great day and we will
(51:35):
see you after Thursday night football the Steelers against the
Cleveland Browns. The Doug Pown have a great day. Audios.
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Colin Cowherd
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