April 29, 2025 • 36 mins
Fox Sports NFL analyst Greg Olsen joins the show to explain what makes #1 overall pick Cam Ward special after a stellar season at Olsen's alma mater the University of Miami
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
And it was too many amazing that Shadeur Sanders fell
in the draft with that one of my favorite people
at Fox, Greg Olsen, fourteen years in the NFL, is
now joining US live.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
You know, I heard it was.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Funny after Friday show Greg before the second round. But
after my show, I called an executive in the league
and he said to me, he goes watch the next
six picks and the first six picks in the second round,
and he says, if those first six picks in the
second round, if they don't take Shaduur. What the league
(00:59):
is telling you is we see him as a backup
now and backup quarterback. As Albert Breer said today, we
want it to be like mix in with the furniture,
Like backup quarterback is a guy that can go into
a local mall with sunglasses and nobody recognizes them, not
Cam Newton or Tim Tebow. So were you shocked once
he didn't go in the first were you shocked to
be fell?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I think that's the name of the game. Right, So
there's an inverse relationship in the NFL. So we'll just
start just generally speaking with most roster players, not just
the quarterback. There's an inverse ratio between the more you
bring with you, the more I don't want to call
it distraction, because sometimes it's a real net positive, right,
We'll call it attention. The more attention you bring upon yourself,
(01:43):
the more attention you go out and seek, the more
the teams will tolerate more of it, the better a
player you are. Right. So there's like this inverse relationship
between those two elements. Now you add into the fact
that it's the quarterback, right, the league has shown us
and there's a million examples. The league has shown us
they want guys that don't there's no extra there's no concerns,
(02:06):
there's no where's his head at, where's his attention lying?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
What are his priorities? And again I don't know shidor
that well.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Obviously Dion and we all know his background but I
think as the draft gets later and later, the element
was is the guy good.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Enough to play in the NFL?
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Yes? Is he a top tier talent where we're willing
to then also take maybe everything else that comes with it.
And I think a lot of it's harmless. I think
a lot of it's attention seeking. I think it's an
environment that we've created in college where you know, there's
a lot more that comes with playing quarterback nowadays in
college than it was when I was in college. So
I think that we've almost created that as a system
(02:43):
and as a society, and now teams have to make
a decision if that guy's not going to be my
all pro quarterback, do I want to put up with it?
And I think that's really the test that we saw
play out over the course of the draft. And and listen,
could he end up being a steal there in the
fifth round?
Speaker 5 (03:00):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Has he shown at two different spots in colleges that
he could go to teams that didn't necessarily have a
great tradition of winning and turn the program around and
bring attention and energy and buzz. Absolutely, he did it twice.
So I'm not throwing him yet. I'm not throwing him
to the Wolves and saying he has no career. But
I think he needs to take a good, hard reset
and say, you know what it's all about ball. It's
(03:22):
all about me giving myself to have a chance to
have a career in this league. And if it's as
a backup, and then I worked to a starter, whatever
that path is. But the league I think has shown
and the message was pretty clear, you better be really,
really talented, especially at quarterback if we're going to put
up with a lot of other attention, a lot of
other things.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
So you're a former Miami Hurricane. Cam Ward was a
zero star recruit. I watched him at Washington State. I thought, oh,
that's fun, but he's not an NFL guy. Then he
goes to Miami and I'm like, okay, that works. You
watch a lot of Hurricane football. Did you when you
were watching him this year? Did you think, oh, that's
the number one pick in the draft? I mean, did
you see it immediately?
Speaker 4 (04:06):
You know?
Speaker 3 (04:07):
So it's kind of funny.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
I think cam Ward is such a great example, especially
in this like college football landscape where the zero star
guy multiple colleges, three stops later, one year at Miami
and he's the number one overall pick and he couldn't
buy a scholarship at a high school. And then all
the kids making ten you know, ten million dollar nil
deals that are five stars are now on their fifth school.
(04:30):
They've all trended downward, and they're all fighting, not all,
but many of them are fighting for their lives. I
think it's a great reminder for everybody out there that
although the system is what it is, it's by no
means indicative of what your future is. On top of that,
to answer your question, I had dinner with Mario Chris
Ball tomorrow. Chris Ball the head football coach at Miami.
He was my tight end coach in Miami. I've known
(04:50):
him since I was sixteen. He recruited me when I
was a sophomore in high school when he was at
Rutgers with Greg Ciano.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
We go way back.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
And I had dinner with them after spring ball, before
worst summer camp, before last season, and he said, Greg,
we've had a.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Lot of like dogs and this you know, the.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
The Sean Taylors and the Antrell Roles and the you know,
Edger and James, and we've had some really big time
personalities that have taken charge of a locker room. Here
he goes, In all my years at Miami, I'm not
sure if we've had a guy like cam Ward who
from day one changed everything about who we were, our identity,
how we practice, how we met, he goes, Wait till
(05:26):
you see this kid this year. I went to the
opening game down at the Swamp in person on the
sideline and watched him his first ever start at Miami
against Florida. And I came away and I don't know
if I would have said he's the number one overall
pick right.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
The footwork's a little awkward, he throws off plane.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
I wouldn't say it's how you would necessarily teach a
young kid to play. It's a little more mahomes Ish
as far as a little unconventional but special. But his
season is pretty remarkable when he did at Miami, the
culture and energy besides just the player.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
To a man at.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Miami, when you said who who was the most impactful
player in that locker room in the last five ten years,
it's cam Warden.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, that's a great straight So just you look like
as a great kid. Explain to me I would put
Travis Hunter on offense and I'd want him in the
offensive meeting rooms. But he's too good. If there's a
show hey thing here, it's probably too good not to
play on defense. Explain to me, install day, how does
(06:26):
that work? What meeting is he in?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
All right?
Speaker 4 (06:30):
So if I was the coach, right, I have the
magic wand and I'm in charge, I'm putting him to
start in mostly defensive back meetings.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
I think playing wide.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Receiver young in the NFL is a little bit easier,
especially when you consider how talented he is physically. It's
a little bit easier to build offensive packages for a
wide receiver and start those out. You know, he might
have ten to fifteen calls in any game plan going
into any week than.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
It is to do the opposite.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
To spend all of your time on offense and then
we're going to build out a defensive coverage plan.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
It doesn't really work like that.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Playing corner, especially young in the NFL, is incredibly difficult.
They're hard to find. They don't grow on trees. There
just are more wide receivers in all shapes and sizes
that can run, catch athletic and create problems with the
ball in their hands. So I agree, you got to
use them on both I would emphasize early teaching him
(07:25):
how to be an all pro corner, and then he
can learn and then offense, there's packages, there's reversus screens.
Teach him a handful of the route tree, teach him
the offense, and you can slow play and almost protect
him as an offensive play caller because we can tell
him exactly what your role is. Here are the plays
to be prepared for. On defense, you're at corner. We've
(07:48):
got to be able to play man zone, too high,
single high zone. We've got to be able to play
fire blit zones. The other team could come out in
two backs, they can come out and spread. You could
play to the boundary, you could play to the field.
Defense is there's a lot more on your plate because
you're reacting to what the offense can do. Offensive play caller,
I can control what I expose him to, especially early,
(08:09):
not overwhelm him. Control that side of the ball. So
that's how I would handle him. I just think defensive
back in the NFL nowadays, with the passing of the
league and the way the league is going, you just
can't find enough of those guys. And when you find
a special one, he needs to play defense.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
So you your career at the end was with Pete Carroll.
One of the few draft picks that I felt was
kind of obvious. I didn't hit on many of them,
but I thought Ashton Genty Gino Smith is actually a
pretty darn good quarterback when he throws on play action,
when you force him to throw on third and eleven.
You know that's the Mahomes Josh Allen where they can
(08:48):
make it work. You know Pete, you know how he
views the running game. Talk a little bit about that
with gent who's dynamic, but you can also get short
yardage with because he's so wrong. Yeah, I'm with you.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
I think of all the drafts there in the top ten,
call it that one made the most sense. Like that,
just felt that's his Marshawn, That's that's his bell cow,
that's his guy. That that is the identity of Pete.
Play great defense, control to run play action. He went
out and got brought Gino with him. Gino understands what
Pete wants to be, understands the offense he wants to implement,
(09:24):
and then new factoring. He's got two young tight ends.
I would argue Brock powers he very well, could be
the best young tight end to come out of college
in the last ten years. Like I think he's that special.
I thought he was that good when he was at Georgia.
So two young tight ends with mayor from Notre Dame
from the previous year that Rockbert Bowers going into a
(09:44):
second year.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Continue to invest in an offensive line.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Now a Bell Coow quarterback, running back, get under center
with Gino, play action on early downs. You're right, the
guys that make sixty five to seventy million dollars, those
guys are good on first and second down, and they're
good on third and fifteen when everyone in the building
knows it's a pass. That's why there's Josh Allen and
Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow, et cetera. The vast majority
(10:08):
of the league. And this is not a knock the
vast majority of the league. The formula is, you want
to throw play action downs on first and second down,
and you do not want to be and must pass downs.
That is the formula on ninety percent of NFL rosters
until you have the elite of the elite, and every
down is a passing down. But there's only a couple
of those guys. So I think the formula works. He
(10:28):
has showed that it's worked for a long time. He's
got the quarterback that can do it. He's got it back.
Now he's got the tight ends. Continue to invest in
the offensive line, and all of a sudden, this looks
like what a Pete Carroll offense wants to be.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Finally, you played with Cam Newton, a spectacularly gifted athlete
who was also a good pocket guy when he wanted
to be. You also played in Chicago and you were
a big part of Cam's career. The tight end. Okay,
so now the Bears, with a spectacularly talented quarterback in Chicago,
say we're going to get another tight end. So I
(11:02):
think that you could say, boy, Colston Lovelin went high.
They just got Romadonze, they had Cole Comet. But there
is to talk about why tight end is so crucial
for everybody, but really athletic quarterbacks. And I mean, you
were Cam's guy, and I don't know, I just look
at Caleb and Colston. I think that's going to work.
(11:24):
And I loved the pick. Or is it just this
that tight ends mean more to young quarterbacks? Is that it? Well?
Speaker 4 (11:33):
I definitely think tight ends mean a lot to young quarterbacks.
I think that's been proving. There's a lot of examples throughout.
But I also just think tight ends bring a lot
of value in today's style the way that these offensive coordinators,
you look obviously Ben Johnson, now the style in which
these offensive play callers want to operate, that tight end
is a huge role in that because, again, like we said,
if you want to get under center, and you want
(11:54):
to get into early play action on run fifty to
fifty downs, and you want to be able to keep
the defense in single high coverages for all your crossers
and your layers and all your deep shots, you can't
be in a let you can't be in ten personnel right.
You can't have four wide receiver types and one back
in the back right. So you've got to have somebody
that can keep you honest in the why position, the
tight end position. He could be an off ball player,
(12:16):
he's an on ball player. There's a lot of ways
to do it, but there needs to be some form
of threat on first and second down that you're not
just in past personnel in shotgun the entire game, we've
seen that that approach across the league is very difficult.
So now you bring in Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams. Now
you have Cole Commett, who you mentioned, Rome Denze from
last year. Don't forget they got DJ Moore from the
(12:39):
from the Bryce Young trade, you know, a couple of
years ago. Now you add in you know, so all
of a sudden, now they've invested multiple offensive linemen. They're saying,
we need our number one overall pick to succeed. We
got him the coach, we've got him the line, we've
got him the skill players. Now we'll worry about going
back and worrying about building up the defense. But remember
(13:00):
offensive coaches, Colin, if you're good on offense and the
defense struggles, you can always find a new defensive coordinator.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
That's the format we see that.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
I hate to say it, but when they were struggling
in Philadelphia and they couldn't get the defense right following
Jonathan Gannon, all of a sudden, a year later, who's available,
Vic Fangio. Yeah, all of a sudden in the Cincinnati,
they've got the greatest offense in the league, offensive minded coach,
and Zach Robinson and.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Taylor, Zach Taylor, and.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
What do they do they get rid of a defensive
coordinator who was up to be a head coach just
a year or two before.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
So that's the formula.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Get your young quarterbacks settled, get your new offensive minded
head coach, Ben Johnson, get him going on offense, and
then we have time to finish up complimenting the defense.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
That's the NFL formula.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
And I think the Bears have four to five wins
built into this just by getting organized offensively with Ben
Johnson in company. I think there's a four game elevation
within that roster just by getting organized offensively.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Greg Olsen, you do great work, my friend, as Ohays.
I appreciate you stopping by, appreciate it, thanks toall you
bet always love Greg coming on the show. Yeah, it's
I mean you can tell that Ryan Poles and Ben
Johnson have said we got to get Cale Williams right.
We got to make sure and listen, it's not going
to take long if you're the guy with those weapons.
(14:27):
I mean, Jayden Daniels did it in September with Terry
McLaurin and that's about it. Terry McLaurin. So I think
Chicago is going to be good. I think they're going
to be a playoff team. They don't have the overall
roster of Detroit, but I think they can go toe
to toe offensively with them.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio
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Speaker 1 (14:51):
All right, let's not waste any time. J Mack with
a news.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
This is the Herd Line news.
Speaker 6 (15:00):
All right, Colin, let's get started with How about this
the Tennessee Titans. We love the cam word pick number
one overall. However, there is some concern what are you
doing Will Levis?
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Do you trade him?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
You're making the backup?
Speaker 6 (15:12):
According to GM Mike Boorganzi, the Titans did not look
to trade Levis, and believe there's an advantage to keeping
Will Levis.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
It's a lot of value.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
You know. I think you know there's going to be
competition in every room, and he elevates the competition in
that room. That's what we're trying to do here as
we get into training, campus, have the best ninety man roster,
best competition every room, and we'll certainly provides that.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Okay, let me defend Will Levis here. Please do that
I haven't defended Will Levis goes from a bottom starting
quarterback to a top eight to ten backup quarterback based
on what based on the fact that he's actually really
talented with a really good arm. He's not a franchise quarterback,
but he could be in exceptional backup.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
Flinston or or or Will Levis is your backup?
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Well, Jamis is probably a top three backup. So I
would say Jamis Winston, but Kenny Pickett or Will Levis.
Will Levis has a bigger arm. Again, what's the role?
I love McHale Bridges, not as my star. If he's
my third offensive player, I would love McHale Bridge.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Now hold on the GM.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
Colin went on to say, these guys are gonna get
an equal amount of reps heading into training camp. So
is that just lip service? Hey Will, it's not over cam.
You got to earn it.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Is that? What that is? Right there?
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Pretty much?
Speaker 1 (16:38):
No more? Because he's a very sharp guy. He's from
Kansas City, very sharp guy. Okay, he said they'll get
equal reps in training camp. He didn't say that they
get equal reps in September. It's training camp. We're gonna
give let young guys compete for it. Listen, there is
no question cam Ward is a really talented quarterback and
he's gonna win that job. I don't have a camp
(17:01):
sharing snaps. I really don't.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Assuming no injury.
Speaker 6 (17:05):
If cam Ward isn't the Week one starter, I will
ride that train or bus or whatever public transportation you're
taking a checko, I'll ride that with you with a
shirt that says like I love the Bears. Cam Ward
is a lock, a mortal lock to be the starter.
I don't buy there's any chance Will Levis has a
crack at this. I'm surprised you think he's a good backup.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
This is a guy you were bagging on all last season.
Speaker 6 (17:28):
I mean, how many times did Callahan f bomb him
when he was screwing up and throwing games away.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
I mean, I would argue Zach Wilson is somebody. I
don't think it's a franchise guy. He's a top ten backup.
He's also got multiple starts in New York City, so
I'm like, you put him in Arizona, a smaller market.
This kid started in New York City, played in lousy weather,
taking a beating from the press. Zach Wilson's a very
capable backup. I always said the backup in the NFL,
(17:57):
if you get two starts, can you win one? Now,
if we get the five starts, I can't expect you
to win more than two, and it may be one.
But I just need you. If I give you two starts,
can you win one of them? If I give you four,
I'm asking too much to win two of them. Yeah,
you have to be realistic about the position. Yeah, Justin
Fields was a good backup last year.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Now he's a starter.
Speaker 6 (18:20):
Different, that's a different kitting game, right, yeah, yes, all right.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Next up is the New England Patriots. They got Will Campbell.
Speaker 6 (18:26):
I think I heard you say earlier you're not in
love with him for its overall left tackle, But it's
what they did in the second.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Round that's gotten some attention.
Speaker 6 (18:34):
According to Patriots inside of Phil Perry, Traveon Henderson out
of Ohio State was the most impactful selection for the Patriots.
Speaker 7 (18:44):
He's a passing game player. He's going to be a
threat in the passing game. He's going to be an
easy outlet for Drake May and he's the kind of
player where as soon as he touches it He's a
threat to score. Not only that, but he is a
beast in pass protection. And so again, where you're trying
to surround your quarterback with people that are going to
keep him safe and make him look better than he
might be at times, Travan Henderson is exactly the way
(19:07):
to go. So I really like that they went and
they got him after protecting him in the first round,
get him a weapon in the second round.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
He was one of the best in this year's draft.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Okay, I'm gonna say. I know he went in the
second round, and I know he played at Ohio State.
I think he is the most underrated player that out
of the first round in the draft. I think he's
going to be a star. The other back who people
(19:34):
like I just don't see. I don't think he's that dynamic.
I think there are certain players that you watch and
I think Ashton Genty had this when I watch them
against Oregon. I think there are certain players you watch
a college football and Ohio State plays big time teams.
They look different on TV. They've got a different gear.
I think he's gonna walk in and be a thousand
(19:54):
yard back as a rookie. Be An unbelievable blocker in
the backfield. I think this kid is I think he
looks a lot like Jamiir Gibbs. What a better blow.
I think he looks a lot like and Gibbs got
Lion's got heat for drafting him. Gibbs has been an
unbelievable hit. I think this kid is special.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
So Henderson remember arrived at Ohio State with some Heisman hype,
like this guy's that good.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yes, I just listen.
Speaker 8 (20:18):
I like him a lot.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
I think he's gonna be a big factor.
Speaker 6 (20:20):
I just wonder, Colin, how easy is it to defend
the Buckeyes when they've got two first round receivers Jeremiah
Smith the freshman and then Abuka right, and then you've
got two great running backs like they were extremely difficult
to defend. So Henderson just totally dominated. Is he going
to be that good in the pros? Do you think
he'll be Gibbs level?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I think I don't think he's quite as good as
a pure back, but I think he does other things well.
And also, Ohio State's weakness, you could argue because of injuries,
was their O line, their receivers, their pass rush. I mean,
Ohio State was really good at a lot of spots.
They didn't have a superstar quarterback, and their O line
was banged up from a the year.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
You know what I hate is that you're right about
the Patriots. They're gonna better than the Jets next year.
I feel sadly confident in saying that. Final stories to
the NBA. This story just popped in the last hour.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Colin, I love it.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
The league is considering a change to the All Star.
Speaker 6 (21:14):
Format, probably because Colin Coward crushes it every chance he gets.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
So.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
According to Adam Silver, the NBA is considering a USA
versus the World format. Love it now. In the Olympics
it was fire. I mean the US versus who they played.
They played Canada, they played Serbia. Every match was thrilling.
This would the All Star Game would shift from Sunday
to Saturday, which would allow the Olympics coverage from Milan
(21:41):
to transition into the All Star Game.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Colin, I kind of love this.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Now.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
We do have a graphic with.
Speaker 6 (21:46):
The potential player pool from the USA, which is stacked.
Obviously you got veterans like Curry and Lebron, but that
even KD. That's three guys over like thirty five, even
the young Bucks ad I'm sorry, Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Tyree's Haliburton teams would be so good.
Speaker 6 (22:02):
Yeah, now the world team, Colin, look at that a
lot of Biggs, right, Wemby porzingis Jokic, not as many guards,
which I think hurts. But like Jamal Murray didn't make
it from Canada, I think this would be absolutely thrilling.
I'm all one hundred percent all in.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
I mean, look at how good European bigs are. Good Lord,
I mean, I'll tell you this, America really cares about
stuff once they're not good at it or are threatened
if you threatened us. Like remember when we played Canada.
You know that that USA Canada that the all start
(22:42):
HL nations. Yeah, I mean that we get you know,
weren't like most nations were very tribal. And we've won
a lot of stuff. So I think this is brilliant.
I mean I would absolutely watch this, totally interesting.
Speaker 6 (22:53):
I know you were up late last night in the
Windy City watching Sheng Goon dominate.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
He looks like a major, big time player in this league.
Speaker 6 (23:00):
Man, he's a young guy, not even twenty five yet,
and other than Draymond, nobody could stop him on the Warriors,
like these European dudes can play.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Yeah, their bigs are really skilled. Jmcklanews, Well, that's the
news and thanks for stopping.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
By The Herdline news.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Joel Klatt has some final thoughts on Shador Sanders in
the NFL Draft. He will join us next It's the Herd.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
One more Heard. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd
to listen live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 8 (23:36):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 8 (23:51):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
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that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together, I mean that says something, right.
Speaker 9 (24:08):
So check us out.
Speaker 8 (24:09):
We like to get you involved, to take your phone calls,
chop it up.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
As they say, i'd.
Speaker 8 (24:14):
Say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe
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Speaker 1 (24:34):
All right, welcome back. You know Joel Clatt front and
center in Green Bay for the NFL drafts. He's gonna
join us live. We're gonna wrap some drafts stuff up
right now with Joel Clatt, who is going to join
us live. So you know, I was told after my
show Friday, so i'd done the hurt on Friday, we
(24:54):
hadn't got to the second round yet, and I talked
to an executive in the league that says, if the
door doesn't get drafted in the first six picks of
the second round, he is then viewed as a backup.
And he goes, I'm just going to tell you, uh,
there's you know, he used a little sharper language. He said,
not a lot of people are going to be excited about,
(25:16):
you know that circus as a backup, it's a totally
different position. I've said before, I think Will Levis as
a backup could be great. I'm not building my franchise,
personality and everything. So let's talk about the temperament of
the backup quarterback and how much that could have hurt Shaduur.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
I think it's the thing that hurt him.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Colin.
Speaker 9 (25:41):
It was the biggest issue, because I would even move
it ahead. You know you said that that executive said
the first six picks of the second round. I actually
thought it was after New York traded back into the
first and didn't select him. That means that Cleveland was
on the clock twice in the first round didn't select him.
It meant that New Orleans didn't select they were on
the clock. It meant that Pittsburgh didn't select him, they
(26:03):
were on the clock. It means the Giants executed a
trade to get back on the clock. They didn't select
him at that point. I knew right then he was
viewed as a backup. And once you're viewed as a backup,
now it actually becomes more about your personality than it
does your play, which is why some of those other
guys actually went before him. And it's not just that
(26:23):
they didn't disliked his personality. Here's the issue, and I've
said this, you know, on a couple of different places,
including my show, Colin I said, no team wants the
story to be in the backup quarterbacks locker. And it's
not that they can't control the narrative, all right. They
can probably feel like they can control the narrative and
the team, but they can't control the media. And when
the media walks in and Tim Tebow is the backup quarterback,
(26:45):
guess who. Everyone goes and talks to Tim Tebow and
then they ask all the team about Tim Tebow. The
same thing happened with Colin Kaepernick. It's part of the
reason why they didn't last long as backups, as part
of the reason Cam Newton isn't a backup because he
becomes the story, right, And I think that was the
case with Shad or Sanders. That's one hundred percent, at
least in my estimation, what happened. And I don't buy
at all, not for one second, that there was some
(27:07):
sort of overarching collusion amongst the ownership of the National
Football League to teach him a lesson. I don't believe
that that was the case. This is too competitive an
industry where everyone's trying to get a leg up. If
they viewed him as a starter, they would have selected
him in the first twenty one picks of the draft.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
So you know Colorado football, you played there, You know
it well. I have asked multiple NFL people, how do
you make the offensive defensive player work simultaneously? Let me
ask you, how did Colorado do the meeting rooms for
Travis Hunter?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (27:44):
So he primarily would split it up based on day,
you know. So he would go on tuesdays to offense
for example in Bays to defensive meetings, and then by
and large he would be in what I would call
like a load manage mint kind of position during practice.
So didn't practice a ton because they knew that he
(28:05):
was going to be taking one hundred and twenty snaps.
I think more important to how he divvies up his time, though,
if you're going to have this player play both ways,
your coach has to have an immense amount of courage.
Your GM has to have an immense amount of courage
and this is what the This is where the beauty
of Dion comes in. This is why Travis chose Dion
(28:25):
in the first place, and as the top ranked recruit
in the country went to Jackson State, is because he
knew that when Dion said, yeah, you're going to play
both ways, that Dion mint.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
It and that he wouldn't back off of that.
Speaker 9 (28:35):
Because the pressure is immense on head coaches, and Liam
Cohen is an offensive guy, so he's going to sit
there and be like, well, I need Travis in my
meetings and I need him on my side of the
ball during practice, and the defensive coordinator is going to
pound the table and say the same thing. And what
you need is an adult voice in the room that says, no,
this is the plan and this is how we're going
to do this. The media is going to be asking about, well,
(28:57):
isn't he going to get injured? Isn't this too many snaps?
So the beauty of what happened at Colorado wasn't their
plan in the way that they orchestrated the week call it.
It was the courage that Dion had that in the
face of all the questions and all the pressure he
sat there and said, no, he's a two way player,
and he's going to continue to be a two way player.
(29:18):
So I've said annually the college football and media can
drive me crazy when they're trying to convince me that
a heart tugging SMU story deserves to be in And
I'm like, guys, most the best players go into the
SEC in Big ten and the best players come out
of the conferences.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Look at the college recruiting rankings. In recruiting, that's going
to tell you he's got the best players. On average.
Everybody misses on recruits. But if you have twelve five
star guys and you miss on six, you still have
six five star guys. So twenty six to thirty two
first round players were SEC or Big ten guys. To me,
this is validation of if you have to another Big
(30:00):
ten team in the playoff. Can we all just acknowledge
that's where the best players are. How did you view it?
Speaker 9 (30:07):
Yeah, I mean, listen, I'm in one hundred percent agreement
with you. If you go even past the first round,
you look at the first forty five picks, Ohio State
had seven of them. You know, that's fifteen percent of
the draft at that point, you know, is Ohio State players,
which is why they won the national championship.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
So I agree with you, which is which is why.
Speaker 9 (30:29):
And we're going to get into this as this summer
rolls on and we get closer to the season. This
is why the proposal from the Big Ten and the
SEC in terms of the way that the playoffs should
be structured moving forward.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Is exactly right.
Speaker 9 (30:42):
It will grow to fourteen teams, and it should be
four automatic berths for each of those conferences, the Big
Ten and the SEC. They are just better and it
sets up structurally much better for college football that way,
because the other conferences actually have an avenue to get
a second team, so which I don't think that they
really do right now in the twelve team format. So
(31:04):
you're right, although I will just say like people don't
want to hear that. They don't want to look at
those numbers and actually view it as reality. They want
to bury their head in the sand and remember yesteryear
of nineteen eighty eight, in nineteen eighty nine and think
of college football as this great depth and width of
the entire country playing at a high level, and candidly,
(31:27):
that's just not quite the case.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
I want to talk about Quinn yours because you talk
about dropping the draft. A year ago, people said first
round pick. Now, full disclosure, I had said, I just
never saw it. I didn't really get it, and I
felt that about other quarterback. I like Kyle McCord at
Syracuse much more than I like Quin Ewers. Now he
was drafted ahead of him, maybe not that much couple
of rounds, but when he felt nobody already discussed it
(31:50):
because the chadur story overwhelmed everybody, But there was a
time high school and college where he was the guy.
What happened over his development, which clearly didn't land with NFLGMS,
well a.
Speaker 9 (32:07):
Couple of things. I think that the injury issue was
tough on Quinn. Remember there was never a season where
he started every game. Every year he got banged up
and missed time, and you just can't do that in
the national football He got that position. They just frown
upon that so drastically. The other part would say, when
(32:29):
you evaluate Quinn, what you see is is a guy
that has talent. But I'm going to talk about pitch selection.
I think it's very important that you can show a
repertoire of pitches as a quarterback, you've got to be
able to drive the football. You've got to be able
to throw with touch. You've got to be able to
throw deep down the field. Colin, You've got to be
able to throw the layered ball over the linebacker and
(32:51):
in front of the safety. And there were times when
Quinn only threw with touch and he didn't drive the
football into tight windows. And I think there were times
that hurt Texas, and I think that that hurt him
ultimately in the evaluation.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Yeah, Finally, I don't think Dion helped his son a
lot with some of the you know, we're gonna go
this gonna be on our terms. I think you have
to be very careful about that. I think of John
Elway or Eli Manning. Dad is different because Peyton was
the mvat it was also.
Speaker 9 (33:22):
A different league. Let's face it, like the leagues of behemoth. Now,
it wasn't quite the behemoth that it was even in
Eli's case.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
The NFL wasn't.
Speaker 9 (33:31):
What we know of the NFL to be even in
the early two thousands. It is a behemoth. Now, look
at what it does to the TV networks. I mean,
it sells games to television networks and then turns around
and sells the exact same games to other networks and
doesn't give them a refund. You know, like this, this
place is a behemoth. This is a different league, and
I think that they overplayed their hand in that regard.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, by the way, it's happened before now.
It happens a lot at the high school and college level.
It doesn't happen at the pro level a lot. But
I also think, listen, I think he's the most underdrafted player.
I think Travan Henderson of Ohio State is second, and
he went in the second round. I think he's going
to be a star. I think he's going to be
a thousand yard rusher for the Patriots. We have a
(34:12):
minute left. I think he's a sensational player. What did
you make? I mean, I think New England's going to
be the most improved team in the league. I thought,
if I were to grade drafts, I thought New England
had the best draft because of what they found at
the end of the year with Drake May and then
what they provided him protection with Will Campbell playmakers on
(34:33):
the outside.
Speaker 9 (34:33):
I love the Kyle Williams pick. By the way, I
think he's a really good player. Yes, so like they
got value with their guys. And then Colin I'll just
end with this. Was there a better interview answer than
Will Campbell wiping his tears away and then saying I'm
going to fight and die to protect that guy. And
I was like, you bet, let's go. I thought New
(34:55):
England had a great draft.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Yeah, I mean between the two hundred million they spent
in free agency in the draft, they probably found eight
to nine starters. By the way, I'm glad you mentioned
Kyle Williams, a receiver for Washington State, because again, this
is a program people don't watch a lot of. He
is a total baller. He is a aggressive home run hitter.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
So I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
The Patriots have massively upgraded Joel Klatt Fox Sports Good
see anybody. Yeah, I mean it's that's one of the
things that's so great about the NFL. You know, in baseball,
you know, even if Bryce Harper can go to the
minor leagues, in basketball, you're drafting eighteen nineteen year olds, right,
(35:36):
Like even Jalen Green, who we think is amazing, he's
been lost in three or four, three or four games
in this series in the NFL. New England's awful. They
go get six starters in free agency. They don't have
to be high end starters, they can be B players.
Then they go get three or four excellent draft picks.
They probably have eight to nine new starters. A much
better coach than Mike Frable. I'll say it again. New
(35:58):
England's making the playoffs. They are my Denver Broncos or
Washington Commanders from last year, where I think Vegas is
sleeping on them. I think New England's going to be
a nine win team. They're not a super Bowl team.
They're not Buffalo
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three eastern nine am to noone Pacific. Find
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
And it was too many amazing that Shadeur Sanders fell
in the draft with that one of my favorite people
at Fox, Greg Olsen, fourteen years in the NFL, is
now joining US live.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
You know, I heard it was.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Funny after Friday show Greg before the second round. But
after my show, I called an executive in the league
and he said to me, he goes watch the next
six picks and the first six picks in the second round,
and he says, if those first six picks in the
second round, if they don't take Shaduur. What the league
(00:59):
is telling you is we see him as a backup
now and backup quarterback. As Albert Breer said today, we
want it to be like mix in with the furniture,
Like backup quarterback is a guy that can go into
a local mall with sunglasses and nobody recognizes them, not
Cam Newton or Tim Tebow. So were you shocked once
he didn't go in the first were you shocked to
be fell?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I think that's the name of the game. Right, So
there's an inverse relationship in the NFL. So we'll just
start just generally speaking with most roster players, not just
the quarterback. There's an inverse ratio between the more you
bring with you, the more I don't want to call
it distraction, because sometimes it's a real net positive, right,
We'll call it attention. The more attention you bring upon yourself,
(01:43):
the more attention you go out and seek, the more
the teams will tolerate more of it, the better a
player you are. Right. So there's like this inverse relationship
between those two elements. Now you add into the fact
that it's the quarterback, right, the league has shown us
and there's a million examples. The league has shown us
they want guys that don't there's no extra there's no concerns,
(02:06):
there's no where's his head at, where's his attention lying?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
What are his priorities? And again I don't know shidor
that well.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Obviously Dion and we all know his background but I
think as the draft gets later and later, the element
was is the guy good.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Enough to play in the NFL?
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Yes? Is he a top tier talent where we're willing
to then also take maybe everything else that comes with it.
And I think a lot of it's harmless. I think
a lot of it's attention seeking. I think it's an
environment that we've created in college where you know, there's
a lot more that comes with playing quarterback nowadays in
college than it was when I was in college. So
I think that we've almost created that as a system
(02:43):
and as a society, and now teams have to make
a decision if that guy's not going to be my
all pro quarterback, do I want to put up with it?
And I think that's really the test that we saw
play out over the course of the draft. And and listen,
could he end up being a steal there in the
fifth round?
Speaker 5 (03:00):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Has he shown at two different spots in colleges that
he could go to teams that didn't necessarily have a
great tradition of winning and turn the program around and
bring attention and energy and buzz. Absolutely, he did it twice.
So I'm not throwing him yet. I'm not throwing him
to the Wolves and saying he has no career. But
I think he needs to take a good, hard reset
and say, you know what it's all about ball. It's
(03:22):
all about me giving myself to have a chance to
have a career in this league. And if it's as
a backup, and then I worked to a starter, whatever
that path is. But the league I think has shown
and the message was pretty clear, you better be really,
really talented, especially at quarterback if we're going to put
up with a lot of other attention, a lot of
other things.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
So you're a former Miami Hurricane. Cam Ward was a
zero star recruit. I watched him at Washington State. I thought, oh,
that's fun, but he's not an NFL guy. Then he
goes to Miami and I'm like, okay, that works. You
watch a lot of Hurricane football. Did you when you
were watching him this year? Did you think, oh, that's
the number one pick in the draft? I mean, did
you see it immediately?
Speaker 4 (04:06):
You know?
Speaker 3 (04:07):
So it's kind of funny.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
I think cam Ward is such a great example, especially
in this like college football landscape where the zero star
guy multiple colleges, three stops later, one year at Miami
and he's the number one overall pick and he couldn't
buy a scholarship at a high school. And then all
the kids making ten you know, ten million dollar nil
deals that are five stars are now on their fifth school.
(04:30):
They've all trended downward, and they're all fighting, not all,
but many of them are fighting for their lives. I
think it's a great reminder for everybody out there that
although the system is what it is, it's by no
means indicative of what your future is. On top of that,
to answer your question, I had dinner with Mario Chris
Ball tomorrow. Chris Ball the head football coach at Miami.
He was my tight end coach in Miami. I've known
(04:50):
him since I was sixteen. He recruited me when I
was a sophomore in high school when he was at
Rutgers with Greg Ciano.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
We go way back.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
And I had dinner with them after spring ball, before
worst summer camp, before last season, and he said, Greg,
we've had a.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Lot of like dogs and this you know, the.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
The Sean Taylors and the Antrell Roles and the you know,
Edger and James, and we've had some really big time
personalities that have taken charge of a locker room. Here
he goes, In all my years at Miami, I'm not
sure if we've had a guy like cam Ward who
from day one changed everything about who we were, our identity,
how we practice, how we met, he goes, Wait till
(05:26):
you see this kid this year. I went to the
opening game down at the Swamp in person on the
sideline and watched him his first ever start at Miami
against Florida. And I came away and I don't know
if I would have said he's the number one overall
pick right.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
The footwork's a little awkward, he throws off plane.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
I wouldn't say it's how you would necessarily teach a
young kid to play. It's a little more mahomes Ish
as far as a little unconventional but special. But his
season is pretty remarkable when he did at Miami, the
culture and energy besides just the player.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
To a man at.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Miami, when you said who who was the most impactful
player in that locker room in the last five ten years,
it's cam Warden.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, that's a great straight So just you look like
as a great kid. Explain to me I would put
Travis Hunter on offense and I'd want him in the
offensive meeting rooms. But he's too good. If there's a
show hey thing here, it's probably too good not to
play on defense. Explain to me, install day, how does
(06:26):
that work? What meeting is he in?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
All right?
Speaker 4 (06:30):
So if I was the coach, right, I have the
magic wand and I'm in charge, I'm putting him to
start in mostly defensive back meetings.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
I think playing wide.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Receiver young in the NFL is a little bit easier,
especially when you consider how talented he is physically. It's
a little bit easier to build offensive packages for a
wide receiver and start those out. You know, he might
have ten to fifteen calls in any game plan going
into any week than.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
It is to do the opposite.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
To spend all of your time on offense and then
we're going to build out a defensive coverage plan.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
It doesn't really work like that.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Playing corner, especially young in the NFL, is incredibly difficult.
They're hard to find. They don't grow on trees. There
just are more wide receivers in all shapes and sizes
that can run, catch athletic and create problems with the
ball in their hands. So I agree, you got to
use them on both I would emphasize early teaching him
(07:25):
how to be an all pro corner, and then he
can learn and then offense, there's packages, there's reversus screens.
Teach him a handful of the route tree, teach him
the offense, and you can slow play and almost protect
him as an offensive play caller because we can tell
him exactly what your role is. Here are the plays
to be prepared for. On defense, you're at corner. We've
(07:48):
got to be able to play man zone, too high,
single high zone. We've got to be able to play
fire blit zones. The other team could come out in
two backs, they can come out and spread. You could
play to the boundary, you could play to the field.
Defense is there's a lot more on your plate because
you're reacting to what the offense can do. Offensive play caller,
I can control what I expose him to, especially early,
(08:09):
not overwhelm him. Control that side of the ball. So
that's how I would handle him. I just think defensive
back in the NFL nowadays, with the passing of the
league and the way the league is going, you just
can't find enough of those guys. And when you find
a special one, he needs to play defense.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
So you your career at the end was with Pete Carroll.
One of the few draft picks that I felt was
kind of obvious. I didn't hit on many of them,
but I thought Ashton Genty Gino Smith is actually a
pretty darn good quarterback when he throws on play action,
when you force him to throw on third and eleven.
You know that's the Mahomes Josh Allen where they can
(08:48):
make it work. You know Pete, you know how he
views the running game. Talk a little bit about that
with gent who's dynamic, but you can also get short
yardage with because he's so wrong. Yeah, I'm with you.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
I think of all the drafts there in the top ten,
call it that one made the most sense. Like that,
just felt that's his Marshawn, That's that's his bell cow,
that's his guy. That that is the identity of Pete.
Play great defense, control to run play action. He went
out and got brought Gino with him. Gino understands what
Pete wants to be, understands the offense he wants to implement,
(09:24):
and then new factoring. He's got two young tight ends.
I would argue Brock powers he very well, could be
the best young tight end to come out of college
in the last ten years. Like I think he's that special.
I thought he was that good when he was at Georgia.
So two young tight ends with mayor from Notre Dame
from the previous year that Rockbert Bowers going into a
(09:44):
second year.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Continue to invest in an offensive line.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Now a Bell Coow quarterback, running back, get under center
with Gino, play action on early downs. You're right, the
guys that make sixty five to seventy million dollars, those
guys are good on first and second down, and they're
good on third and fifteen when everyone in the building
knows it's a pass. That's why there's Josh Allen and
Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow, et cetera. The vast majority
(10:08):
of the league. And this is not a knock the
vast majority of the league. The formula is, you want
to throw play action downs on first and second down,
and you do not want to be and must pass downs.
That is the formula on ninety percent of NFL rosters
until you have the elite of the elite, and every
down is a passing down. But there's only a couple
of those guys. So I think the formula works. He
(10:28):
has showed that it's worked for a long time. He's
got the quarterback that can do it. He's got it back.
Now he's got the tight ends. Continue to invest in
the offensive line, and all of a sudden, this looks
like what a Pete Carroll offense wants to be.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Finally, you played with Cam Newton, a spectacularly gifted athlete
who was also a good pocket guy when he wanted
to be. You also played in Chicago and you were
a big part of Cam's career. The tight end. Okay,
so now the Bears, with a spectacularly talented quarterback in Chicago,
say we're going to get another tight end. So I
(11:02):
think that you could say, boy, Colston Lovelin went high.
They just got Romadonze, they had Cole Comet. But there
is to talk about why tight end is so crucial
for everybody, but really athletic quarterbacks. And I mean, you
were Cam's guy, and I don't know, I just look
at Caleb and Colston. I think that's going to work.
(11:24):
And I loved the pick. Or is it just this
that tight ends mean more to young quarterbacks? Is that it? Well?
Speaker 4 (11:33):
I definitely think tight ends mean a lot to young quarterbacks.
I think that's been proving. There's a lot of examples throughout.
But I also just think tight ends bring a lot
of value in today's style the way that these offensive coordinators,
you look obviously Ben Johnson, now the style in which
these offensive play callers want to operate, that tight end
is a huge role in that because, again, like we said,
if you want to get under center, and you want
(11:54):
to get into early play action on run fifty to
fifty downs, and you want to be able to keep
the defense in single high coverages for all your crossers
and your layers and all your deep shots, you can't
be in a let you can't be in ten personnel right.
You can't have four wide receiver types and one back
in the back right. So you've got to have somebody
that can keep you honest in the why position, the
tight end position. He could be an off ball player,
(12:16):
he's an on ball player. There's a lot of ways
to do it, but there needs to be some form
of threat on first and second down that you're not
just in past personnel in shotgun the entire game, we've
seen that that approach across the league is very difficult.
So now you bring in Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams. Now
you have Cole Commett, who you mentioned, Rome Denze from
last year. Don't forget they got DJ Moore from the
(12:39):
from the Bryce Young trade, you know, a couple of
years ago. Now you add in you know, so all
of a sudden, now they've invested multiple offensive linemen. They're saying,
we need our number one overall pick to succeed. We
got him the coach, we've got him the line, we've
got him the skill players. Now we'll worry about going
back and worrying about building up the defense. But remember
(13:00):
offensive coaches, Colin, if you're good on offense and the
defense struggles, you can always find a new defensive coordinator.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
That's the format we see that.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
I hate to say it, but when they were struggling
in Philadelphia and they couldn't get the defense right following
Jonathan Gannon, all of a sudden, a year later, who's available,
Vic Fangio. Yeah, all of a sudden in the Cincinnati,
they've got the greatest offense in the league, offensive minded coach,
and Zach Robinson and.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Taylor, Zach Taylor, and.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
What do they do they get rid of a defensive
coordinator who was up to be a head coach just
a year or two before.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
So that's the formula.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Get your young quarterbacks settled, get your new offensive minded
head coach, Ben Johnson, get him going on offense, and
then we have time to finish up complimenting the defense.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
That's the NFL formula.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
And I think the Bears have four to five wins
built into this just by getting organized offensively with Ben
Johnson in company. I think there's a four game elevation
within that roster just by getting organized offensively.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Greg Olsen, you do great work, my friend, as Ohays.
I appreciate you stopping by, appreciate it, thanks toall you
bet always love Greg coming on the show. Yeah, it's
I mean you can tell that Ryan Poles and Ben
Johnson have said we got to get Cale Williams right.
We got to make sure and listen, it's not going
to take long if you're the guy with those weapons.
(14:27):
I mean, Jayden Daniels did it in September with Terry
McLaurin and that's about it. Terry McLaurin. So I think
Chicago is going to be good. I think they're going
to be a playoff team. They don't have the overall
roster of Detroit, but I think they can go toe
to toe offensively with them.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
All right, let's not waste any time. J Mack with
a news.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
This is the Herd Line news.
Speaker 6 (15:00):
All right, Colin, let's get started with How about this
the Tennessee Titans. We love the cam word pick number
one overall. However, there is some concern what are you
doing Will Levis?
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Do you trade him?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
You're making the backup?
Speaker 6 (15:12):
According to GM Mike Boorganzi, the Titans did not look
to trade Levis, and believe there's an advantage to keeping
Will Levis.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
It's a lot of value.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
You know. I think you know there's going to be
competition in every room, and he elevates the competition in
that room. That's what we're trying to do here as
we get into training, campus, have the best ninety man roster,
best competition every room, and we'll certainly provides that.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Okay, let me defend Will Levis here. Please do that
I haven't defended Will Levis goes from a bottom starting
quarterback to a top eight to ten backup quarterback based
on what based on the fact that he's actually really
talented with a really good arm. He's not a franchise quarterback,
but he could be in exceptional backup.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
Flinston or or or Will Levis is your backup?
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Well, Jamis is probably a top three backup. So I
would say Jamis Winston, but Kenny Pickett or Will Levis.
Will Levis has a bigger arm. Again, what's the role?
I love McHale Bridges, not as my star. If he's
my third offensive player, I would love McHale Bridge.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Now hold on the GM.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
Colin went on to say, these guys are gonna get
an equal amount of reps heading into training camp. So
is that just lip service? Hey Will, it's not over cam.
You got to earn it.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Is that? What that is? Right there?
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Pretty much?
Speaker 1 (16:38):
No more? Because he's a very sharp guy. He's from
Kansas City, very sharp guy. Okay, he said they'll get
equal reps in training camp. He didn't say that they
get equal reps in September. It's training camp. We're gonna
give let young guys compete for it. Listen, there is
no question cam Ward is a really talented quarterback and
he's gonna win that job. I don't have a camp
(17:01):
sharing snaps. I really don't.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Assuming no injury.
Speaker 6 (17:05):
If cam Ward isn't the Week one starter, I will
ride that train or bus or whatever public transportation you're
taking a checko, I'll ride that with you with a
shirt that says like I love the Bears. Cam Ward
is a lock, a mortal lock to be the starter.
I don't buy there's any chance Will Levis has a
crack at this. I'm surprised you think he's a good backup.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
This is a guy you were bagging on all last season.
Speaker 6 (17:28):
I mean, how many times did Callahan f bomb him
when he was screwing up and throwing games away.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
I mean, I would argue Zach Wilson is somebody. I
don't think it's a franchise guy. He's a top ten backup.
He's also got multiple starts in New York City, so
I'm like, you put him in Arizona, a smaller market.
This kid started in New York City, played in lousy weather,
taking a beating from the press. Zach Wilson's a very
capable backup. I always said the backup in the NFL,
(17:57):
if you get two starts, can you win one? Now,
if we get the five starts, I can't expect you
to win more than two, and it may be one.
But I just need you. If I give you two starts,
can you win one of them? If I give you four,
I'm asking too much to win two of them. Yeah,
you have to be realistic about the position. Yeah, Justin
Fields was a good backup last year.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Now he's a starter.
Speaker 6 (18:20):
Different, that's a different kitting game, right, yeah, yes, all right.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Next up is the New England Patriots. They got Will Campbell.
Speaker 6 (18:26):
I think I heard you say earlier you're not in
love with him for its overall left tackle, But it's
what they did in the second.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Round that's gotten some attention.
Speaker 6 (18:34):
According to Patriots inside of Phil Perry, Traveon Henderson out
of Ohio State was the most impactful selection for the Patriots.
Speaker 7 (18:44):
He's a passing game player. He's going to be a
threat in the passing game. He's going to be an
easy outlet for Drake May and he's the kind of
player where as soon as he touches it He's a
threat to score. Not only that, but he is a
beast in pass protection. And so again, where you're trying
to surround your quarterback with people that are going to
keep him safe and make him look better than he
might be at times, Travan Henderson is exactly the way
(19:07):
to go. So I really like that they went and
they got him after protecting him in the first round,
get him a weapon in the second round.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
He was one of the best in this year's draft.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Okay, I'm gonna say. I know he went in the
second round, and I know he played at Ohio State.
I think he is the most underrated player that out
of the first round in the draft. I think he's
going to be a star. The other back who people
(19:34):
like I just don't see. I don't think he's that dynamic.
I think there are certain players that you watch and
I think Ashton Genty had this when I watch them
against Oregon. I think there are certain players you watch
a college football and Ohio State plays big time teams.
They look different on TV. They've got a different gear.
I think he's gonna walk in and be a thousand
(19:54):
yard back as a rookie. Be An unbelievable blocker in
the backfield. I think this kid is I think he
looks a lot like Jamiir Gibbs. What a better blow.
I think he looks a lot like and Gibbs got
Lion's got heat for drafting him. Gibbs has been an
unbelievable hit. I think this kid is special.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
So Henderson remember arrived at Ohio State with some Heisman hype,
like this guy's that good.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yes, I just listen.
Speaker 8 (20:18):
I like him a lot.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
I think he's gonna be a big factor.
Speaker 6 (20:20):
I just wonder, Colin, how easy is it to defend
the Buckeyes when they've got two first round receivers Jeremiah
Smith the freshman and then Abuka right, and then you've
got two great running backs like they were extremely difficult
to defend. So Henderson just totally dominated. Is he going
to be that good in the pros? Do you think
he'll be Gibbs level?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I think I don't think he's quite as good as
a pure back, but I think he does other things well.
And also, Ohio State's weakness, you could argue because of injuries,
was their O line, their receivers, their pass rush. I mean,
Ohio State was really good at a lot of spots.
They didn't have a superstar quarterback, and their O line
was banged up from a the year.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
You know what I hate is that you're right about
the Patriots. They're gonna better than the Jets next year.
I feel sadly confident in saying that. Final stories to
the NBA. This story just popped in the last hour.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Colin, I love it.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
The league is considering a change to the All Star.
Speaker 6 (21:14):
Format, probably because Colin Coward crushes it every chance he gets.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
So.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
According to Adam Silver, the NBA is considering a USA
versus the World format. Love it now. In the Olympics
it was fire. I mean the US versus who they played.
They played Canada, they played Serbia. Every match was thrilling.
This would the All Star Game would shift from Sunday
to Saturday, which would allow the Olympics coverage from Milan
(21:41):
to transition into the All Star Game.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Colin, I kind of love this.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Now.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
We do have a graphic with.
Speaker 6 (21:46):
The potential player pool from the USA, which is stacked.
Obviously you got veterans like Curry and Lebron, but that
even KD. That's three guys over like thirty five, even
the young Bucks ad I'm sorry, Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Tyree's Haliburton teams would be so good.
Speaker 6 (22:02):
Yeah, now the world team, Colin, look at that a
lot of Biggs, right, Wemby porzingis Jokic, not as many guards,
which I think hurts. But like Jamal Murray didn't make
it from Canada, I think this would be absolutely thrilling.
I'm all one hundred percent all in.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
I mean, look at how good European bigs are. Good Lord,
I mean, I'll tell you this, America really cares about
stuff once they're not good at it or are threatened
if you threatened us. Like remember when we played Canada.
You know that that USA Canada that the all start
(22:42):
HL nations. Yeah, I mean that we get you know,
weren't like most nations were very tribal. And we've won
a lot of stuff. So I think this is brilliant.
I mean I would absolutely watch this, totally interesting.
Speaker 6 (22:53):
I know you were up late last night in the
Windy City watching Sheng Goon dominate.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
He looks like a major, big time player in this league.
Speaker 6 (23:00):
Man, he's a young guy, not even twenty five yet,
and other than Draymond, nobody could stop him on the Warriors,
like these European dudes can play.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Yeah, their bigs are really skilled. Jmcklanews, Well, that's the
news and thanks for stopping.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
By The Herdline news.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Joel Klatt has some final thoughts on Shador Sanders in
the NFL Draft. He will join us next It's the Herd.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
One more Heard. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd
to listen live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 8 (23:36):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 8 (23:51):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
sports and pop culture, stories that well, other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together, I mean that says something, right.
Speaker 9 (24:08):
So check us out.
Speaker 8 (24:09):
We like to get you involved, to take your phone calls,
chop it up.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
As they say, i'd.
Speaker 8 (24:14):
Say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe
the most interactive show on planetar. Be sure to check
out Cavino and Rich live on Fox Sports Radio and
the iHeartRadio app from five to seven pm Eastern two
to four Pacific, And if you miss any of the
live show, just search Kobe non Rich wherever you get
your podcasts, and of course on social media that's Covino
and Rich.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
All right, welcome back. You know Joel Clatt front and
center in Green Bay for the NFL drafts. He's gonna
join us live. We're gonna wrap some drafts stuff up
right now with Joel Clatt, who is going to join
us live. So you know, I was told after my
show Friday, so i'd done the hurt on Friday, we
(24:54):
hadn't got to the second round yet, and I talked
to an executive in the league that says, if the
door doesn't get drafted in the first six picks of
the second round, he is then viewed as a backup.
And he goes, I'm just going to tell you, uh,
there's you know, he used a little sharper language. He said,
not a lot of people are going to be excited about,
(25:16):
you know that circus as a backup, it's a totally
different position. I've said before, I think Will Levis as
a backup could be great. I'm not building my franchise,
personality and everything. So let's talk about the temperament of
the backup quarterback and how much that could have hurt Shaduur.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
I think it's the thing that hurt him.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Colin.
Speaker 9 (25:41):
It was the biggest issue, because I would even move
it ahead. You know you said that that executive said
the first six picks of the second round. I actually
thought it was after New York traded back into the
first and didn't select him. That means that Cleveland was
on the clock twice in the first round didn't select him.
It meant that New Orleans didn't select they were on
the clock. It meant that Pittsburgh didn't select him, they
(26:03):
were on the clock. It means the Giants executed a
trade to get back on the clock. They didn't select
him at that point. I knew right then he was
viewed as a backup. And once you're viewed as a backup,
now it actually becomes more about your personality than it
does your play, which is why some of those other
guys actually went before him. And it's not just that
(26:23):
they didn't disliked his personality. Here's the issue, and I've
said this, you know, on a couple of different places,
including my show, Colin I said, no team wants the
story to be in the backup quarterbacks locker. And it's
not that they can't control the narrative, all right. They
can probably feel like they can control the narrative and
the team, but they can't control the media. And when
the media walks in and Tim Tebow is the backup quarterback,
(26:45):
guess who. Everyone goes and talks to Tim Tebow and
then they ask all the team about Tim Tebow. The
same thing happened with Colin Kaepernick. It's part of the
reason why they didn't last long as backups, as part
of the reason Cam Newton isn't a backup because he
becomes the story, right, And I think that was the
case with Shad or Sanders. That's one hundred percent, at
least in my estimation, what happened. And I don't buy
at all, not for one second, that there was some
(27:07):
sort of overarching collusion amongst the ownership of the National
Football League to teach him a lesson. I don't believe
that that was the case. This is too competitive an
industry where everyone's trying to get a leg up. If
they viewed him as a starter, they would have selected
him in the first twenty one picks of the draft.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
So you know Colorado football, you played there, You know
it well. I have asked multiple NFL people, how do
you make the offensive defensive player work simultaneously? Let me
ask you, how did Colorado do the meeting rooms for
Travis Hunter?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (27:44):
So he primarily would split it up based on day,
you know. So he would go on tuesdays to offense
for example in Bays to defensive meetings, and then by
and large he would be in what I would call
like a load manage mint kind of position during practice.
So didn't practice a ton because they knew that he
(28:05):
was going to be taking one hundred and twenty snaps.
I think more important to how he divvies up his time, though,
if you're going to have this player play both ways,
your coach has to have an immense amount of courage.
Your GM has to have an immense amount of courage
and this is what the This is where the beauty
of Dion comes in. This is why Travis chose Dion
(28:25):
in the first place, and as the top ranked recruit
in the country went to Jackson State, is because he
knew that when Dion said, yeah, you're going to play
both ways, that Dion mint.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
It and that he wouldn't back off of that.
Speaker 9 (28:35):
Because the pressure is immense on head coaches, and Liam
Cohen is an offensive guy, so he's going to sit
there and be like, well, I need Travis in my
meetings and I need him on my side of the
ball during practice, and the defensive coordinator is going to
pound the table and say the same thing. And what
you need is an adult voice in the room that says, no,
this is the plan and this is how we're going
to do this. The media is going to be asking about, well,
(28:57):
isn't he going to get injured? Isn't this too many snaps?
So the beauty of what happened at Colorado wasn't their
plan in the way that they orchestrated the week call it.
It was the courage that Dion had that in the
face of all the questions and all the pressure he
sat there and said, no, he's a two way player,
and he's going to continue to be a two way player.
(29:18):
So I've said annually the college football and media can
drive me crazy when they're trying to convince me that
a heart tugging SMU story deserves to be in And
I'm like, guys, most the best players go into the
SEC in Big ten and the best players come out
of the conferences.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Look at the college recruiting rankings. In recruiting, that's going
to tell you he's got the best players. On average.
Everybody misses on recruits. But if you have twelve five
star guys and you miss on six, you still have
six five star guys. So twenty six to thirty two
first round players were SEC or Big ten guys. To me,
this is validation of if you have to another Big
(30:00):
ten team in the playoff. Can we all just acknowledge
that's where the best players are. How did you view it?
Speaker 9 (30:07):
Yeah, I mean, listen, I'm in one hundred percent agreement
with you. If you go even past the first round,
you look at the first forty five picks, Ohio State
had seven of them. You know, that's fifteen percent of
the draft at that point, you know, is Ohio State players,
which is why they won the national championship.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
So I agree with you, which is which is why.
Speaker 9 (30:29):
And we're going to get into this as this summer
rolls on and we get closer to the season. This
is why the proposal from the Big Ten and the
SEC in terms of the way that the playoffs should
be structured moving forward.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Is exactly right.
Speaker 9 (30:42):
It will grow to fourteen teams, and it should be
four automatic berths for each of those conferences, the Big
Ten and the SEC. They are just better and it
sets up structurally much better for college football that way,
because the other conferences actually have an avenue to get
a second team, so which I don't think that they
really do right now in the twelve team format. So
(31:04):
you're right, although I will just say like people don't
want to hear that. They don't want to look at
those numbers and actually view it as reality. They want
to bury their head in the sand and remember yesteryear
of nineteen eighty eight, in nineteen eighty nine and think
of college football as this great depth and width of
the entire country playing at a high level, and candidly,
(31:27):
that's just not quite the case.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
I want to talk about Quinn yours because you talk
about dropping the draft. A year ago, people said first
round pick. Now, full disclosure, I had said, I just
never saw it. I didn't really get it, and I
felt that about other quarterback. I like Kyle McCord at
Syracuse much more than I like Quin Ewers. Now he
was drafted ahead of him, maybe not that much couple
of rounds, but when he felt nobody already discussed it
(31:50):
because the chadur story overwhelmed everybody, But there was a
time high school and college where he was the guy.
What happened over his development, which clearly didn't land with NFLGMS,
well a.
Speaker 9 (32:07):
Couple of things. I think that the injury issue was
tough on Quinn. Remember there was never a season where
he started every game. Every year he got banged up
and missed time, and you just can't do that in
the national football He got that position. They just frown
upon that so drastically. The other part would say, when
(32:29):
you evaluate Quinn, what you see is is a guy
that has talent. But I'm going to talk about pitch selection.
I think it's very important that you can show a
repertoire of pitches as a quarterback, you've got to be
able to drive the football. You've got to be able
to throw with touch. You've got to be able to
throw deep down the field. Colin, You've got to be
able to throw the layered ball over the linebacker and
(32:51):
in front of the safety. And there were times when
Quinn only threw with touch and he didn't drive the
football into tight windows. And I think there were times
that hurt Texas, and I think that that hurt him
ultimately in the evaluation.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Yeah, Finally, I don't think Dion helped his son a
lot with some of the you know, we're gonna go
this gonna be on our terms. I think you have
to be very careful about that. I think of John
Elway or Eli Manning. Dad is different because Peyton was
the mvat it was also.
Speaker 9 (33:22):
A different league. Let's face it, like the leagues of behemoth. Now,
it wasn't quite the behemoth that it was even in
Eli's case.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
The NFL wasn't.
Speaker 9 (33:31):
What we know of the NFL to be even in
the early two thousands. It is a behemoth. Now, look
at what it does to the TV networks. I mean,
it sells games to television networks and then turns around
and sells the exact same games to other networks and
doesn't give them a refund. You know, like this, this
place is a behemoth. This is a different league, and
I think that they overplayed their hand in that regard.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, by the way, it's happened before now.
It happens a lot at the high school and college level.
It doesn't happen at the pro level a lot. But
I also think, listen, I think he's the most underdrafted player.
I think Travan Henderson of Ohio State is second, and
he went in the second round. I think he's going
to be a star. I think he's going to be
a thousand yard rusher for the Patriots. We have a
(34:12):
minute left. I think he's a sensational player. What did
you make? I mean, I think New England's going to
be the most improved team in the league. I thought,
if I were to grade drafts, I thought New England
had the best draft because of what they found at
the end of the year with Drake May and then
what they provided him protection with Will Campbell playmakers on
(34:33):
the outside.
Speaker 9 (34:33):
I love the Kyle Williams pick. By the way, I
think he's a really good player. Yes, so like they
got value with their guys. And then Colin I'll just
end with this. Was there a better interview answer than
Will Campbell wiping his tears away and then saying I'm
going to fight and die to protect that guy. And
I was like, you bet, let's go. I thought New
(34:55):
England had a great draft.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Yeah, I mean between the two hundred million they spent
in free agency in the draft, they probably found eight
to nine starters. By the way, I'm glad you mentioned
Kyle Williams, a receiver for Washington State, because again, this
is a program people don't watch a lot of. He
is a total baller. He is a aggressive home run hitter.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
So I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
The Patriots have massively upgraded Joel Klatt Fox Sports Good
see anybody. Yeah, I mean it's that's one of the
things that's so great about the NFL. You know, in baseball,
you know, even if Bryce Harper can go to the
minor leagues, in basketball, you're drafting eighteen nineteen year olds, right,
(35:36):
Like even Jalen Green, who we think is amazing, he's
been lost in three or four, three or four games
in this series in the NFL. New England's awful. They
go get six starters in free agency. They don't have
to be high end starters, they can be B players.
Then they go get three or four excellent draft picks.
They probably have eight to nine new starters. A much
better coach than Mike Frable. I'll say it again. New
(35:58):
England's making the playoffs. They are my Denver Broncos or
Washington Commanders from last year, where I think Vegas is
sleeping on them. I think New England's going to be
a nine win team. They're not a super Bowl team.
They're not Buffalo
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