August 14, 2025 • 46 mins
Colin sets expectations for Caleb Williams this season and why he should improve with new head coach Ben Johnson after a rollercoaster rookie year. He's not convinced the Steelers will have a "historic" defense after head coach Mike Tomlin claims the team could be set up for greatness. He also talks to Greg Cosell from NFL Films about the rookie quarterback performances and why Jaxson Dart of the Giants was impressive
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
It is a Thursday.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
We are full as usual, one hour, Greg Cosell. It's
The Herd in Chicago. Wherever you may be, however you
may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
You know, Jamc. I was thinking about this on Fox
Sunday night. I'm not sure if I've ever been this
jack to watch a preseason game. It's Caleb Williams and
the Bears taking on the Buffalo Bills, and Ben Johnson.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Has said, listen, we're playing starters.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
So and we've seen this preseason Mahomes and Borough and
the veteran playing. Everybody's playing so but this week they
held out Caleb Williams, and so I want to talk
about this. We tend to think, as fans and media,
we tend to think if you're really talented, that the
problems are always solvable. Carmelo Anthony, Well, he's a great athlete,
(01:22):
he'll commit to defense eventually. He never did. James Harden
never committed to the defensive end. MJ did, Kobe did,
Lebron did, Durant has even Steph Curry, who's not great,
did Byrd did Melo? James Harden never did, could have
Lucas never really committed to defense. Well, he's in great shape.
(01:44):
He'll use that for offense, my guess, not for defense. Not.
We tend to think though, like we all know that
Sean McVay could not make Jared Goff fast or Kyle
Shanahan may have made Matt Ryan an MVP, but he
couldn't make him a great athlete. But when we see
these great talents, we think, wow, you can solve their problems.
(02:06):
Aaron Rodgers has been aloof his entire career. J Cutler's
temperament was not a winning temperament in the NFL. And
Cutler was already talented, and so is Aaron Rodgers, Kyler Murray,
is he really as committed as Tom Brady was. He's
certainly talented enough to be We think commitments.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Just getting at a.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Little early staying a little late doesn't work that way.
When you're a great athlete like Caleb Williams, there's some
things that come easy and you really never developed them right.
Like I always said, there's very few supermodels, male or
female that have been the neurosurgeons.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
They don't have to be right.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So I look at Caleb and this is the part
that I'm very optimistic. Last year with two different head
coaches and two different play callers, a total circus, and
an egregiously bad offensive line, and here were the numbers.
Sixty two and a half percent completion percentage, eighty eight
passer rating, twenty touchdown, six picks.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Those are not terrible.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
If he just improved, just with Ben Johnson, very very
a luxury offensive mind and a very big upgrade on
the offensive line.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
If he just.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Improved fifteen percent, look at the numbers, he's a pro bowler.
Seventy one percent completion percentage, twenty three touchdowns, only five
picks in one on one passer Ready, you would be
you would be a pro bowler. Fifteen percent of fifteen
percent is a huge return in the stock market on
(03:47):
an annual basis, but fifteen percent tweaking. That's kind of
what McVeigh did to Jared Goff. He really if you
go look at the golf numbers. I mean I was
looking at him this morning. It's not like he took
Jared Goff from fifty four percent completion percentage to seventy.
He's become fifty four to sixty two right like now
(04:09):
the passer rating because basically golf was on his back
with the Jeff Fisher staff. But it was a lot
of tweaking. But he couldn't make him a great athlete.
My question with Caleb Williams are his issues Like Carmelo
he could do it or Luca he could do it,
they don't want to. He just wants to tuck it
and run. Lamar Jackson could have tucked it and run
(04:33):
his way to Pro Bowls, but he didn't want to
do just that. So Lamar Jackson has developed into a
really good pocket quarterback. He didn't have to. He was
winning a lot of games his first year and a half.
Not great from the pocket, but above the shoulders. Lamar Jackson,
a relentless competitor, said I'm going to get better than
(04:55):
the pocket, and he did. But It doesn't always work
that way. There are certain things in Chicago that are
not solvable. The winter weather, the Bears, weaker than average
ownership are not solvable. The question becomes can he improve
fifteen percent? Because coaches offensive coaches are great at tweaking,
they are not magicians. Nobody could make Jay Cutler joyful.
(05:22):
Nobody's been able to make Kyler Murray's commitment obsessive. You know,
nobody's ever been able to get Aaron Rodgers out of
that passive aggressive nonsense or mellow to shoot a three,
or Luke of the play defense. Not all issues are solvable.
(05:42):
Fifteen percent improvement from Ben though, And you have a
Pro Bowl quarterback, and that's why I say you got
to get him on the field. Brian Baldeger came on
the show yesterday and agree, just get him on the field,
and let's figure out solvable or unsolvable. Let's figure it
out by like Thanksgiving.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Okay, great offing the team up. They needed to get
tougher mentally, Let's put the quarterback out there. You've upgraded
the offensive line. You can't be the least bit worried
about him getting hurt. He was sacked sixty eight times
and never hurt last year. Put him out there. Let
him show the world that this offense fits him and
he could do the things that Ben Jonson wants him
to do.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
There's no point to hide him.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
He needs to play in this offense and he needs
to get the ball out of his hands and went
from the pocket.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
So people think I'm picking on the Pittsburgh Steeters, but
every even Hall of Fame coach has a little bit
of a hole. We saw with Bill Belichick. He started
taking over the drafts and the last seven New England
Patriot drafts where Belichick had ultimate control, sitting with his
dog in that Nantucket table making picks.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
They were awful.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Bill had a hole in his game, and his hole
was he was not good at drafting. He reached on
multiple offensive linemen, multiple wide receivers, a pretty good on drafting
the defensive side, especially corners, linebackers, safeties. He was dreadful
on offense. Did he ever draft a wide receiver? I
mean he had to go get Randy Moss already a pro,
(07:12):
Wes Welker already a pro. Edelman was a quarterback in college. Like,
did they ever draft a wide receiver that panned out.
He just couldn't do it. Mike Tomlin has a whole too,
and I hope he's aware of it. But Mike Tomlin
is talking about the Steeler defense. He said, Oh, this thing,
listen to this, this thing is going to be historic.
Here's Mike Tomlin on this year's potential Steeler defense.
Speaker 6 (07:35):
We feel really good about the prospects of this group.
We do. We got to write that story, but we
got enough talent, we got enough schematics to do big,
big things. And when I say big things, I'm talking
about historic things.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
It's really hard to be a historic defense when you
can't sustain drives offensively. And this, to me is the
hole in Tomlin's game. He's a motivator, he develops, he
knows defense. But if you notice last year too, what
happens in the last five or six games to the
(08:12):
Steelers defense, it falls apart because they're on the field
the whole season. Last year, last five games, their defense
last in the league in opponents passerating dead last quarterbacks
ate them alive. They gave up four hundred yards a game,
twenty seven and a half points a game. The point
(08:33):
differential was minus sixty six, bottom of the league. So
this year's defense is going to be historic because you
had a Darius Slay and Jalen Ramsey, both both bats
are prime. The Steelers can't develop consistent run games, and
there's a reason Philadelphia's defense or Baltimore's defense are dominating. Yes,
part of its personnel. The other part is Lamar Jackson
(08:56):
and Derrick Henry keep the defense off the field so
they're arrested. And by the way, that's what Philadelpha, Jalen
Hurts and Saquon Barkley in the old line, so when
the defense is on the field, they are rested and
are ready to go. Pittsburgh's defense last year with TJ. Watt,
with Cam Hayward, Mika Fitzpatrick was dreadful because they're on
(09:19):
the field the entire game. And as the NFL keeps
expanding the season, we're now at seventeen games, many suspect
it will be eighteen. You will not have a great
defense in the NFL going forward. If we go to
eighteen games, you will not have a great defense without
a complimentary above average run game. That is too many
(09:40):
games to have your defense on the field. Remember that
playoff game last year with the Ravens Jessee. Time of
possession Ravens forty minutes, Steelers twenty minutes. You can't be
a great defense in these elongated seasons. I mean, even
college football is going to fourteen to fifteen games after
the playoff.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
If you don't have a run game, I.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Don't care how good Alabama's defense is. More guys get hurt,
more guys are exhausted. Pittsburgh's defense was terrible at the
end of last year because they couldn't move the change.
That's what Belichick Ohwa's got. He kept Dante's Scarnecki around
best offensive line coach. Ever, they always had an above
average run game. They didn't lead the NFL in sacks,
(10:19):
they didn't lead the NFL in interceptions year after year,
but their defense was fresh, usually healthy. Go to the sidelines,
get on the iPad. What did we do wrong? Sustain drives, Brady,
pick it up first downs, Just move the chains, seven
minute drives. Even if you only get a field goal
or don't score, let the defense rest. There are no
(10:42):
going forward. There will be no great NFL defenses seventeen
to eighteen game schedule consistently without a good run game,
and the Steelers cannot build a run game.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
And you know, the.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Only thing that's historic is that the historic nature of
the Steelers is one again. They lead the NFL in
defensive spending in the last four years, haven't been a
top ten defense. That's virtually impossible to do Historically. If
you spend the most money on the side of the ball,
and you do it for four straight years, it is
virtually unheard.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Of that that's not top ten.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
And yet the Steelers last four years haven't because they're
run games stunk. It's not that complicated. I think it's
the hole in his game. All right, Jay Mac, we
got a lot. Greg co Sella's going to be joining us.
The Angel swept the Dodgers. The Brewers and the Angels
this year have swept the Dodgers. Tay, did you listen
to Taylor Swift stuff?
Speaker 5 (11:37):
What Taylor Swift stuff?
Speaker 1 (11:38):
You didn't hear Taylor Swift on that New Heights podcast.
Speaker 7 (11:40):
I was unaware that happened. Of course I heard about it.
My daughter watched the whole thing. No, I did not
pay attention to.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
What don't you make of it?
Speaker 7 (11:47):
She's a fan of Taylor Swift. You know, we went
to the concert.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I don't know that.
Speaker 7 (11:50):
There's anything super interesting in there. Let me go back
to your Pittsburgh point for said Colin, can you run
a business.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
I've run a business.
Speaker 7 (11:56):
Can you think of running a business finding no success
where it matters most to the bottom line for like
four years in a row, and then let's not change anything.
Let's just double down on what's not working. Like, how
can Pittsburgh think let's keep doing this? Like what am
I missing here? That's just bad business?
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yeah, I mean, it's it's so odd. And again, even
the great coaches have a hole. Belichick and personnel, offensive personnel.
He just couldn't do it last seven years. The proof's
in the pudding. Jerry Jones, smart guy, vanity and ego.
It's his hole. You know, everybody's got one temperament. For
Elon Musk bit of a hole. He found that out,
you know, dealing with our president. Everybody's got a hole,
(12:38):
no matter how smart they are. And I think Mike
Comlins is he's unable to develop a run game to
allow his defense to win the time of possession battle.
You can't keep at Remember there's more injuries historically on
the defensive side than the offensive side. Defensive guys are
there to blow stuff up. I mean, that's what you do,
is a defensive player hair on fire fast as you
(12:59):
can blow stuff up. More defensive players get hurt over
a season and offensive players. And by the way, as
defensive players get older and expensive, they get hurt more often.
So the Steelers now were an old football team on defense.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
TJ.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Watt, Cam Hayward thirty seven slay. You know they're an
old defense. They're an expensive defense. And what's that mean
when you can't develop a run game. By the way,
the guy they drafted not been impressive as camp. Not
in camp, Najie Harris gone. So there's no indication they
have struggled to run the ball in camp. It's going
to be any different.
Speaker 7 (13:33):
Yeah, they feel like a business, like a Kodak or Xerox.
They just don't see that you need to reboot or
reinvent yourself.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
We think it's a passing league. The top six rushing
teams last year in the NFL all made the playoffs.
Three of the top five teams in total defense last
year did not, So we know that defense isn't as
impactful as it used to be based on the rule changes.
But the great defense is almost all have something in common.
(14:02):
Baltimore right Philadelphia. They have a complimentary run game to
keep the defense off the field. So why the toush
push is so valuable to the defense. I mean they
could just they just convert third and fourth downs. That
is another four to five minutes of real time your
defense can be resting. Yeah, you want your defense to
(14:24):
go to the sideline, go to the iPad.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
What do we do wrong?
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Get a gatorade, smelling salts.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
And yeah, and then come out hair on fire.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
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Speaker 5 (14:43):
This is Jay.
Speaker 8 (14:44):
I'm the producer of the Paula and Toni Fusco Show.
Usually in these promos they ask you to listen to
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Speaker 6 (14:58):
What the hell are you doing?
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Ou?
Speaker 6 (15:00):
Do you get him?
Speaker 5 (15:00):
Paul? Ignore that fool. Listen to the Pauline Tony Fusco
Show on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
He's still moving.
Speaker 9 (15:13):
Saturday, it's Baseball Night in America. As a MVP front runner,
Aaron Judge leads the Yankees against the Cardinals, or the
Al Central leading Tigers take on the Twins. Check the
local listings for the game in your area. Saturday, seven
Eastern on Thoughts.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
So when Tom Coughlin coach the New York Giants, he
came in hot. He had been coaching at college. He
goes to Jacksonville. He goes to the Giants and he
was intense, and eventually the owner sat him down and said,
you got lighten up a little bit. You know the
player councils like coach, you got lightened up a little bit.
He did, name won Super Bowls. But it's okay because
he's still he was always accountable. When he was a
(15:51):
task master or he lightened up, he was still holding
people accountable. But I find this with parents managers that
I've had in my career. You can't come in soft
and then become tough guy. Everybody rolls their eyes and
it's this is what I've said. The media chooses who
they like and don't like. They didn't like Brian Flores.
He didn't give you any access like Urban Meyer in college,
(16:15):
even though he was winning games, he wouldn't give you
any access. And so the media is like, oh, we
don't like that guy. We don't like that person. Pete
Carroll give you a bunch of access at US. See,
everybody loved him. And so I think with Brian Flores,
he goes into Miami. This is the coach before Mike McDonnel.
He goes into Miami, no access. He's tough on everybody,
(16:38):
and he breaks down the culture. First eight weeks, he
just breaks it down. They go one in seven. From
that point forward until he was fired, they were something.
They were five and four, bottom five penalized team in
the league with upgraded special teams. Okay, Mike McDaniel not
(16:58):
a guy that holds people account fun loving the snarky hipster.
They are a top five penalized teams. Since he's been
a coach of the Dolphins. Brian flore is a bottom
five penalized team. Why accountability? Which is something now Mike
McDaniel is dressing. So yesterday the Dolphins had a practice
with the Lions. The quote here is it was as
(17:19):
lobsited a joint NFL practice as I've ever seen. Apparently
Tua got banged up, Zach Wilson got banged up. A
linebacker for the Lions. Grant Steward said, I don't even
know if they practice how we practice. But again, you
(17:40):
can't be a bull of jello. That's what Miami is.
A lot of movement, no meat in the sandwich. Brian
Flores was rough, he didn't treat everybody well. He has
grown since then and I think remains the best defensive
coordinator in the league, top two. He in spags, but
Miami was something by like Wheat n On. They didn't
(18:01):
commit penalties, they took the ball away, the special teams
were buttoned up. You didn't have to love him. He
didn't get along with Tua, but they were something. And
that's why I say, with Miami and Mike McDaniel, what
are they? I don't know what they are. And again
I understand it takes a while to break down the culture,
but I would argue today Miami doesn't even have a culture,
(18:22):
and it all starts with lack of accountability. And that's
why Brian Flores came in hot. He probably should have
lightened up. He now has in Minnesota, but I would
hire Brian Flores. Mike McDaniels came in as everybody's friend
and now he's trying to create accountability and it's hard.
(18:43):
And that's not a shot at Mike. It's hard. Jason
Garrett in Dallas tried to do that and people just
didn't buy it because he was everybody's you know, the clapper,
He was everybody's buddy.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
It was hard.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Wade Phillips in his career is a really likable guy.
It's hard to buy in.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
He's a town.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Harbaugh can come in hot to Stanford, San Francisco, Michigan
comes in hot and then can lighten up and be
more joyful. I mean at the end in Michigan, Harbaugh
was a lot of fun. And so here's Mike McDaniel
on the Lions player that said, I don't even know
if they practice like we do. Literally does not affect
(19:22):
me whatsoever.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
I think there's.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
A lot of noise, and I would file that into
a noise category. Well, it's noise, but it's not necessarily
there's some validation. The noise is just a comment, that's right, Okay,
So Taylor Swift went on the Travis Kelsey podcast. It's
(19:50):
called New Heights, it's the Kelsey Brothers. It's very popular
and people got really worked out last year and it
was really ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
So she would be on Chiefs games.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
She would be on TV and whoever was airing the
Chiefs game, which they were on every network. They played
every day but Tuesday last year, so people would get
worked up over it, which I called him out because
if you looked at the time she was on screen,
it was like thirty four seconds per game. I mean
they networks would show her, obviously as the world's biggest
pop star, just like they would show you know, a
(20:21):
spice girl Mary the David Beckham. You know if Beckham
was playing. I mean, Derek Jeter didn't get married, but
Derek Jeter, he had a very fruitful life as a Yankee.
This is we live in this world now celebrities get celebrities.
But here was Taylor Swift. She is it sounds real here.
You got to give her credit. I know some of
(20:43):
you guys aren't comfortable with this because she's on screen
for thirty four seconds, And I would argue, celebrities get celebrities.
They get the intensity, they get the nonsense. You know,
they get people taking pictures constantly, like I get it.
They get each other. Here is her talking actually about football.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I fell in love with it. I became obsessed with it.
Speaker 10 (21:03):
I became like a person who was running through the
halls of my house screaming, we drafted.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
XAVI, You're worthy.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
And I wasn't like, what is who? Body snatched you? This?
This is what do.
Speaker 10 (21:17):
You mean that we're talking about cover two, Cover four,
Cover zero, man cover. We're talking, we're learning.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yes, and so it's okay, We're all going to be okay.
She's going to be shown for thirty four seconds. Travis
Kelsey's retiring after the year. But you know, I've heard
this a while. They're using each other. Well, I would
argue they get each other that Travis Kelcey is Saturday
Night Live, He's on GQ magazine. He was already popular
because he was so great in football. He's good looking,
(21:45):
he's got a great person. It's not like he hosted
Saturday Night Live before Taylor Swift. I mean, he was
a very popular guy. He was Mahomes's biggest ally on
the offense. It's not like he wasn't big, But I
will say I've been a little shocked at how myopic
and rigid sports fans have been with us. David Beckham
(22:07):
married a spice girl, Derek Jeter had celebrity girlfriends, Russell
Wilson's Mary to a singer. Folks, it's hard for Taylor Swift,
the world's biggest musical act. In fact, not only that,
I've read just two days ago on Apple Watch, she
has pulled away from the rest of the industry. Who
do you want her to date? Got the true value
(22:27):
hardware store. I mean, let's be serious here, Celebrities get celebrities.
I mean, Justin Berlander, didn't he marry Kate Upton, the supermodel?
Speaker 3 (22:35):
So just ask yourself.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
You were you bothered by Derek Jeter or Russell Wilson
or David Beckham. I think a lot of this is
we as Americans are very tribal about our football. But
this idea that networks can't show Taylor Swift for thirty
four seconds, Folks, do you realize there's twelve and a
half minutes of football in a four hour broadcast. They're
(23:01):
showing you a lot that is non football. I've seen
every male in Buffalo jump off their mini van onto
a table on a pregame show that you can cut back.
I'm done seeing that. I'm done seeing cheesehead guy. That
is a cliche. I'm done with. I can live with
a thirty four seconds. By the way, Aaron Rodgers, who
(23:23):
has a mysterious wife, has twice dated celebrities. This is
just like the way it's gonna There are in America athletes.
There are royal family in the UK, you have a
royal family. You have princes in Monaco. Right in America,
our royal family are superstar athletes and you know movie stars.
(23:48):
That's our royal family. Here was more Taylor on the
new influx of female fans to football.
Speaker 10 (23:56):
A lot of the women and girls maybe they like
watched one game to see me each year on my
boyfriend or whatever. But if they if they stayed, which
is what people are saying based on the numbers, that's
the game is so great and it's such an amazing
interesting thing to learn about.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Yeah, it's great on television.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I mean, it's the reason the Netflix, Amazon, Primes, the Hulus,
the Paramounts, the reason these companies do well good content.
It's not because we like paying our Netflix bill every month.
They offer really good documentaries and it's the best actors
and the best writers and the the best directors and producers.
(24:38):
And that's what the NFL is. The NFL is great content.
Baseball can be slow. There's not a lot of urgency
with the NBA season.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
It's long.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Soccer's over on Apple TV. I'm not paying for that.
The NFL is great content. Sorry, j Mac didn't mean
to take a shot, would you. I mean, let me
ask you this. Nobody complained about the obligatory and relentless
shots of Fireman ed for thirty years. We can't be
bothered by thirty four seconds of Taylor Swift Fireman Ed.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
I am over that one. I'm over.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
I kind of look forward to the Taylor Swift six
second shot four times a game.
Speaker 7 (25:16):
Yeah, I will say the whole Taylor Swift running around
screaming we got Xavier Worthy. That's pretty cool now. I
know in my house I can hype the Jets with
our draft picks, but my family's not all excited. I
like the Taylor Swifts bought in and talking about cover two,
Cover three, man like.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
That's kind of cool. I don't know I'm impressed.
Speaker 7 (25:34):
I mean, I assume Anne run circles around the family room. No,
when you announce USC just signed the five star offensive line.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
No.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
And I do think this is genuine and authentic. Is
that I think when you're young. I mean, my daughter
likes sports more than my son. She's willing to go.
She goes to MLS games all the time in Nashville,
So I think it's authentic. I don't buy their using
each other. I would they speak that celebt language. I
think they get each other. I think it's hard to
be a celebrity. Celebrities and never made more in America
(26:05):
I happen to. I mean, of the twelve homes, I'm
sure Taylor Swift owns. I know where one of them's at.
And people sit on the beach and take pictures of
her home. It's like a it's a trend. It's what
people do all summer long. Who are you going to date?
Who are you going to be around? You know? Yeah,
congrats to the Kelsey's on that all right?
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Greg co Seal's around the corner on a Thursday. I
can't wait one more.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Heard the Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven
days a week within the iHeartRadio app, search her to
listen live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
With that, Greg Cosel forty six years NFL Films joins us. Okay,
my guy snor Sanders. Why the PFF grade had him
just knocking it out of the park. I will say
this about Shador when I watch the game, Greg, I
do think he moves better than you know.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
You said this last week.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Bon Nicks moves better than people give him credit for,
and it he just does. I think Chadur's movement is
pretty good. It's not bon Nicks. But what did you
make of his Schador's overall performance last Friday.
Speaker 5 (27:15):
I thought he did more good things than bad things.
Speaker 11 (27:19):
To me, the movement was more critical when it came
to pocket movement. That second touchdown he threw, I thought
it was a really good example where he moved to
its right in reaction to the blitz pressure. And what
I really liked was the way he reset his throwing platform,
reset his feet, and then delivered the ball at the
at the front of the end zone. You see it
right here. You want to throw low at the front
(27:41):
of the end zone. I thought that was a really
good play. I think one of the things that he'll
need to work on because you don't see this a
lot in college football, Colin, and there were a number
of plays like this, and I guarantee that the organization
saw this is he's not a naturally anticipatory thrower, and
they were a couple of throws that he clearly left
(28:02):
on the field that require anticipation, and that's something he'll
have to improve if he's to become a quality NFL
starting quarterback. Because yes, he moved better, but I think
you and I both agree if he's to become a
quality starter, his game is not going to be built
on a playmaking dimension. It's going to be built on
(28:22):
his ability to play from the pocket. But there was
more good than bad certainly in his performance.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
So I've argued this that if Jackson Dart ends up
being really good, the Giants have a number one receiver,
a very good left tackle, an offensive coach, and a
tremendous defensive front. Abdul Carter and very few snaps has
looked dominant. So my take is, if Jackson Dart can play,
I think they're an interesting team. Here's my argument why
(28:48):
he should three years with Lane Kiffen forty one college
starts in the toughest defensive conference Lane could coach in
the NFL today. My take is, I don't want to
hear about well, you know, he's young, forty one starts
in the SEC for Lane Kiffin. You watch the game,
you watch the film. I thought, is he an anticipatory throw?
(29:11):
I thought he looked good.
Speaker 5 (29:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (29:15):
The issue that none of us know is what happens
on a daily basis. You know, we sit and watch
the games and we see some good play, some bad plays.
We just see the touchdown, which was a really good play,
by the way, because he saw the safety rotation pre
snap and he signaled to Humphrey on the outside to
change his route to convert his route to a fade.
And that was a really good play by Dart. A
(29:37):
mental play, and that's what you want to see from
young quarterbacks.
Speaker 5 (29:40):
It's not so much the physical.
Speaker 11 (29:42):
They all have physical ability, but you know, Dart, you're right,
he has a ton of college experience. You know, again,
to me, we're not there every day. I personally would
look to Dart, assuming he's done well throughout camp, I
would look to him as the starter, But we don't
know how that will play out.
Speaker 5 (30:02):
You're right about their defensive front.
Speaker 11 (30:04):
They've got a really good defensive front, Dexter Lawrence, who
will be back, so we'll see. But you know again, Dart,
there were some really good plays and what you would expect,
a couple of plays that I'm sure he'd like to
have back.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
So cam Ward maybe the quietest Number one quarterback pick
in the last twenty years. Part of that is the
Titans are not a big brand. He's a quiet kid.
He's really easy to root for. Like Lamar Jackson, he
wants to win. It's all about football. His teammates like him.
They don't have much on the perimeter to help him,
(30:37):
so I don't look at him. I'm not going to
look at him this year and go, well, they went
eight to nine. It's listen, the kid has very little
to work with. We've got to contextualize this. He had
an eleven play drive. Did you see anything with cam
the tempo, the accuracy, the movement, what did you see?
Speaker 11 (30:54):
Well, I've been around cam Ward because I was down
at Titans training cam and he is a very impressive kid,
and I got a chance to talk to him, and
one thing that really stood out to me just to
tell a quick anecdote when I met him, Fortunately, I
was set up beautifully by the organization as someone he
should talk to. And the first thing he said to me,
(31:16):
and I thought this was really impressive.
Speaker 5 (31:18):
Colin.
Speaker 11 (31:18):
He just met me, but I was set up beautifully
and he said to me, Okay, so what do I
need to work on? I thought that was really impressive.
He had just met me. But he's very impressive in person.
Now again his performance there was a third and five
on the first series where he went through his read
too fast. Okay, that's something you expect to see. But
(31:39):
he throws a really good ball. He's an impressive kid.
You're right about the team. There's really good give and
take between he and Jeffrey Simmons.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
Because Jeffrey Simmons.
Speaker 11 (31:49):
Knows that if they're to get to the Promised Land,
it's going to be because of cam Ward.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
I would expect that he'll be a good player.
Speaker 11 (31:56):
Now, the thing is, early in the season, they opened
at Denver, their home to the Rams. Then week four
they're at Houston. You know, this could be a tough
start simply because the Titans had some holes on their
team that need to, you know, be dealt with, and
they may not be dealt with year one. So I
think people are gonna have to be a little patient
simply because the team is not quite good enough at
(32:18):
this point.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Yeah, I agree, you know, I speaking of Denver, I
saw her. Bon Knicks they do this Mike Sando does
this quarterback tiers thing where he talks to fifty yeah, yeah, yeah.
And my only complaint was, I said, you know, bow
Knicks below twa. He's a better runner, he's healthier. I
think he's got at least his good arm, maybe better,
(32:39):
but whatever, we don't know a ton about Bonnix. When
I saw it, when I saw him ranked twenty, it's
my take was it was telling me that executives in
the league think very highly of Sean Payton, that he's
squeezing every ounce of talent out of this. Do you
believe the bo Nicks success is mostly at this point
Sean Payton, Well.
Speaker 11 (33:01):
You know, I've always struggled with that, Colin. There seems
to be a sense that if a quarterback is well coached,
with a really good.
Speaker 5 (33:09):
Coordinator and a really good scheme and a well.
Speaker 11 (33:12):
Designed system, that's somehow a knock on the quarterback. I
don't really understand that, because that's kind of what the
coach is supposed to do, you know. And I think
that bo Nicks showed a lot last year with the
kinds of throws that he made. I mean, he made
a lot of big time throws between the numbers. He
showed more arm strength, quite honestly, than I thought he
(33:34):
had coming out of Oregon. I mean, you couldn't make
the same argument.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
You know.
Speaker 11 (33:37):
I've spent a lot of this offseason rewatching a lot
of quarterbacks because I can really do that. I can
watch two hundred and fifty plays in a row, which
I can't really do during the season. I've just done
that with Jaden Daniels. And I think Cliff Kingsbury does
an outstanding job with his route design, really presenting clean,
defined reads for Jaden Daniels. Is that a knock on
(33:58):
Jayden Daniels? Are supposed to say Jayden Daniels isn't very
good because the offensive coordinator does a really good job
with his route concepts. Are we supposed to say Jared
Goff isn't any good because Ben Johnson's really good with
his route spacing and cleanly defining reads. I mean, are
we supposed to say Joe Montana wasn't any good because
Bill Walsh was really good. I think that's such a
(34:20):
silly argument. I mean, that's what the offensive coordinator is
supposed to do. He's supposed to present it so that
ideally the first read is clean and then you work
through progression concepts. So I don't really understand why that's
a problem.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
So in that Tier one through five that Mike sando
Athlea at the Athletic did, there were a couple of
quotes about Caleb Williams and a defensive coordinator said it
was alarming to.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Watch his processes.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
A head coach said it. That word was used more
than once. So you have said you love me Stocky.
He's strong, he's a power throat. When they say his
process is alarming and you've watched the same film, what
do they mean by that.
Speaker 11 (35:10):
Well, that means he's not seeing the field with the
needed clarity. In other words, when you can see the
route concepts. I've been doing this for a lot of years, Colin.
As you know, there's not a thousand route concepts. So
I see the route concepts versus specific coverages. And when
you see it depends on the nature of the philosophy
of an offense. There's a lot of different ways routes
(35:32):
are taught. There's something called pure progression, where you're not
really worried about the defense. There's a primary, there's a secondary.
When the quarterback drops back, he looks to the primary.
If it's not there, it doesn't matter what the defense is,
you just go to the next guy. Then there's other
systems where you're actually reading the defense. You're reading whether
it's single high or two shell, or you're reading a
(35:54):
particular defender to decide where you throw the ball. So
there's different ways that pass is taught. But what they're
saying about Williams is he's not seeing that particularly clearly
at all. So throws that are there where the ball
should be released, he's just not seeing it the right way.
So he's holding the ball. He's not getting a clear picture.
Speaker 5 (36:15):
You know.
Speaker 11 (36:15):
The term that's always used is processing. He's not processing
it the right way, and that's one reason why he
holds the ball.
Speaker 5 (36:22):
The film shows that.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
But what's interesting is that's always been my knock on
Zach Wilson and Justin Fields, and they've never gotten great
at it. I mean you can absolutely make a quarterback
more accurate. Not all Anthony Richardson has regressed. But there
are things in I don't care if it's broadcasting, I
don't care if it's in any business. There are things
(36:44):
that are solvable. But one of the ones that doesn't
seem to be terribly solvable is he doesn't see the
field well like Mahomes.
Speaker 5 (36:54):
It's a great point.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
I don't know if that's solvable. Is if you tell
me somebody that didn't see the field year later did.
Speaker 11 (37:01):
Yeah, it's it's a great it's a great point, and
I would say the majority of coaches think that's tough
to solve.
Speaker 5 (37:08):
And I'll answer it this way.
Speaker 11 (37:09):
You can help a quarterback in normal down in distant
situations where the defense is a little more predictive in
what they do, the probability and tendencies tend to favor
the offense more than the defense. So you can help
a quarterback with your play calling on first and ten,
second and four, maybe third and three. But when you
(37:30):
start getting into a long yardage, pure pass situations, whether
it's second.
Speaker 5 (37:35):
And nine, third and nine, now, the.
Speaker 11 (37:37):
Defense very often has the tactical advantage and the quarterback
has to be able to see things really quickly and
really clearly, and at some point, if that can't happen,
then you're going to have a quarterback that's very inconsistent
and erratic in his performance. And I don't think we
could say one hundred percent for sure that Caleb Williams
(37:58):
can't do that. He's only going into a second year
and he's with a brand new coordinator. I mean, Ben
Johnson's essentially the coordinator. So we want to wait and
see on that. But if that starts to show up
more and more, then at some point you might say
that that's not solvable.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Yeah, you know, Patrick Mahomes wins a lot of games
and they're not going to go eleven to zero one
score games.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
But he didn't have a great year.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
He had bad games, he had bad halves, he had
really bad series. He had a bad Super Bowl. Some
of it was lack of offensive line competency. When you
looked at mahomes struggles last year, did he develop bad habits,
was he relying too much on certain things? Did he
trust his own line? Patrick Mahomes didn't get poor, he
(38:44):
didn't get bad, but he didn't play necessarily well. What
did the film say on his regression, not winning regression,
but his mechanics or his performance.
Speaker 5 (38:55):
Well, it's funny you.
Speaker 11 (38:56):
Say that because every year, and I've had this conversation
with people in Kansas City, every year he does go
through that where he starts to lose his mechanics, because
that's sort of the way he naturally plays. Going back
to Texas Tech, you know, he's that kind of player
where he starts to drift, he starts to lose his mechanics,
and then they have to sort of rein him in
(39:16):
and get him back on track.
Speaker 5 (39:18):
But last year, and I think because he just did
not have confidence.
Speaker 11 (39:22):
And he would never say this publicly because he's a
class act, but I think because he just didn't feel
comfortable with that old lion. I think it took a
little longer for him to get his mechanics back, and
he didn't play with the same precision throughout the course
of the season that we normally see. But you're right,
it's not as if he's suddenly not a good quarterback.
(39:42):
It's just that he has to be rained in at times.
And I think the old line last year caused some
issues for him, caused a lack of confidence caused him
not to play from the pocket with the same and
I'll use the word precision again, the same kind of
precision that we've seen in the past. But it's not
as if his trade or his talent level has dropped.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Finally, we'll go back to one of the young guys.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
And this has kind of been a theory of mine
for years, is that you would think, right that the
best quarterbacks in the NFL would all be from power schools.
They are five star high school guys. They go to Texas, Bama,
Ohio State, Notre Dame, and then they all go to
the NFL. But if you look at the history of
the NFL, they've often gone to cow in North Carolina
State and Miami of Ohio and Texas Tech and Wyoming
(40:28):
because that is preparing you for the NFL. Shaky old
lines have to carry, teams, have to make quicker decisions.
You don't get comfortable windows. So I do think as
the rest of us go to college to prepare us
for our work, it's the same in the NFL. You
think Ohio State would be better for you, but you
(40:50):
are very rarely in discomfort with Ohio State's receivers in
online So when I look at JJ McCarthy, he never
threw forty times a game. He always played with the lead,
he had great protection. And I've said I worry that
it's like these Alabama quarterbacks. He's not ready for the NFL.
(41:10):
Then he gets hurt and that sets him back another year.
So I do think the choice college kids make often
doesn't necessarily. I mean, Matt Ryan goes to a school
where he's going to throw guys open, he has to
be anticipatory because nobody's wide open.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
What do you see that?
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Is there anything about JJ McCarthy that you worry that
he's just not quite ready for this life of somewhat
duress and discomfort in the NFL.
Speaker 5 (41:40):
Yeah, and I'm not sure we know that.
Speaker 11 (41:42):
I mean, I think you and I would both agree
that Kevin O'Connell is really really good in terms of
defining reads and throws for the quarterback. Look what he
did with Sam Darnold last year. So you know that
remains to be seen. But I imagine there'll be a
learning curve for JJ McCarthy. Obviously in college he did
not throw the ball a lot, but he's got a
(42:02):
good arm, a plus arm.
Speaker 5 (42:04):
He's got mobility, He's got traits.
Speaker 11 (42:06):
He's a good sized kid, so there are traits that
are there. I mean, even last year when he played
in the first preseason game and then he was done
for the year, I noticed an immediate difference in his
drop and set in the pocket from when I watched
him at Michigan, So I know. So obviously, Kevin O'Connell
through the off season as a rookie really worked with
(42:26):
him and really tightened him up in a lot of areas.
So you have to assume that that continued. But now
once you get into the regular season games, we'll see
he'll be under a lot of pressure.
Speaker 5 (42:36):
They'll be duressed.
Speaker 11 (42:37):
They've revamped their offensive line that often takes time to
come together, so we'll see. You never know the answer
to that question. Then it depends on how the games
are played. Is he going to be in games where
he has to drop back forty times? Can the team
be good enough colin where he only has to drop
back twenty five times? You know, there are so many variables.
It's not very often for a young quarterback. It's not
(43:00):
solely dependent on the young quarterback. It's the way in
which he's able to play based on the rest of
the team.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
Yeah, I would argue he's got a top three left tackle,
a top two receiver, and a top three offensive head coach.
They Revambia line, and he may have a degree. He
may have the best defensive coordinator in the sport. So
the truth is, before the season starts, he got the
keys to a really nice car.
Speaker 3 (43:26):
He's not going to have to win by shooting question. Yeah. Yeah,
and I always have it brock Purty.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
If you look at brock perty in his first twenty
one starts, when the team was younger and less expensive, well,
he was good. His last fifteen starts, he's he's like
six and nine or nine and six, and his passer
writing has dropped because now the Niners are old and
they've had to let Hafunga go and greet and the
defense isn't as good and he has to throw more.
So like brock Purty's opening into the NFL was like Dax,
(43:53):
there's a lot of comfort. Zeke O line was great,
des Bryant was a touchdown machine.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
So I think JJ here's my hunch.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
Is that JJ McCarthy, like brock Purty, will be able
to engineer a wildly smart and talented offense, they'll be good.
I think when you draft him that high, you want great,
but he should be at least capable.
Speaker 3 (44:19):
Is that right?
Speaker 5 (44:19):
But you make an interesting point.
Speaker 11 (44:22):
Is brock Purdy's talent any different than it was a year,
a year and a half ago. No, there's other factors
that are involved, and with ninety nine point nine percent
of quarterbacks, those other factors often dictate, you know, how
a quarterback plays, or certainly how he's perceived. You know,
he hasn't changed in his trades. It's just that there
(44:43):
are other factors that impact how he plays and how
how the games turn out. And of course all we
do is look at wins and losses and then we
decide that that's what a quarterback is.
Speaker 3 (44:54):
Right, Great stuff, Greg co sell as oles my man.
Speaker 11 (44:57):
Appreciate it, Thanks, Kylen, really apreciate it.
Speaker 5 (45:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
I mean, let's be honest about CJ. Stroud's rookie year.
He had Laramie Tunzel and they ended up hitting on
a couple of mid round wide receivers, and he had
Bobby Slowick at the time was like a hot coordinator,
and so generally rookie quarterbacks, I mean, Herbert had a
great rookie season in terms of he had Shane Stiken.
You know, he had Keenan Allen. So you got it.
(45:23):
For a rookie quarterback to work, you got to give
him something. JJ McCarthy has a top two receiver maybe
number one, a top two three left tackle maybe number one,
a top two or three offensive head coach.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
That is a huge benefit. That is a.
Speaker 1 (45:40):
Massive, massive benefit. Last year Caleb had none of that.
Left tackle was a swinging door coach, was defensive. Keenan
Allen was past his prime. DJ Moore was good, but
he was on his back or running for his life.
So JJ's got some of those brock pretty first starts gifts.
He should be capable. I don't see great, but he
(46:02):
should be capable.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
It is a Thursday.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
We are full as usual, one hour, Greg Cosell. It's
The Herd in Chicago. Wherever you may be, however you
may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
You know, Jamc. I was thinking about this on Fox
Sunday night. I'm not sure if I've ever been this
jack to watch a preseason game. It's Caleb Williams and
the Bears taking on the Buffalo Bills, and Ben Johnson.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Has said, listen, we're playing starters.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
So and we've seen this preseason Mahomes and Borough and
the veteran playing. Everybody's playing so but this week they
held out Caleb Williams, and so I want to talk
about this. We tend to think, as fans and media,
we tend to think if you're really talented, that the
problems are always solvable. Carmelo Anthony, Well, he's a great athlete,
(01:22):
he'll commit to defense eventually. He never did. James Harden
never committed to the defensive end. MJ did, Kobe did,
Lebron did, Durant has even Steph Curry, who's not great,
did Byrd did Melo? James Harden never did, could have
Lucas never really committed to defense. Well, he's in great shape.
(01:44):
He'll use that for offense, my guess, not for defense. Not.
We tend to think though, like we all know that
Sean McVay could not make Jared Goff fast or Kyle
Shanahan may have made Matt Ryan an MVP, but he
couldn't make him a great athlete. But when we see
these great talents, we think, wow, you can solve their problems.
(02:06):
Aaron Rodgers has been aloof his entire career. J Cutler's
temperament was not a winning temperament in the NFL. And
Cutler was already talented, and so is Aaron Rodgers, Kyler Murray,
is he really as committed as Tom Brady was. He's
certainly talented enough to be We think commitments.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Just getting at a.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Little early staying a little late doesn't work that way.
When you're a great athlete like Caleb Williams, there's some
things that come easy and you really never developed them right.
Like I always said, there's very few supermodels, male or
female that have been the neurosurgeons.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
They don't have to be right.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So I look at Caleb and this is the part
that I'm very optimistic. Last year with two different head
coaches and two different play callers, a total circus, and
an egregiously bad offensive line, and here were the numbers.
Sixty two and a half percent completion percentage, eighty eight
passer rating, twenty touchdown, six picks.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Those are not terrible.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
If he just improved, just with Ben Johnson, very very
a luxury offensive mind and a very big upgrade on
the offensive line.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
If he just.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Improved fifteen percent, look at the numbers, he's a pro bowler.
Seventy one percent completion percentage, twenty three touchdowns, only five
picks in one on one passer Ready, you would be
you would be a pro bowler. Fifteen percent of fifteen
percent is a huge return in the stock market on
(03:47):
an annual basis, but fifteen percent tweaking. That's kind of
what McVeigh did to Jared Goff. He really if you
go look at the golf numbers. I mean I was
looking at him this morning. It's not like he took
Jared Goff from fifty four percent completion percentage to seventy.
He's become fifty four to sixty two right like now
(04:09):
the passer rating because basically golf was on his back
with the Jeff Fisher staff. But it was a lot
of tweaking. But he couldn't make him a great athlete.
My question with Caleb Williams are his issues Like Carmelo
he could do it or Luca he could do it,
they don't want to. He just wants to tuck it
and run. Lamar Jackson could have tucked it and run
(04:33):
his way to Pro Bowls, but he didn't want to
do just that. So Lamar Jackson has developed into a
really good pocket quarterback. He didn't have to. He was
winning a lot of games his first year and a half.
Not great from the pocket, but above the shoulders. Lamar Jackson,
a relentless competitor, said I'm going to get better than
(04:55):
the pocket, and he did. But It doesn't always work
that way. There are certain things in Chicago that are
not solvable. The winter weather, the Bears, weaker than average
ownership are not solvable. The question becomes can he improve
fifteen percent? Because coaches offensive coaches are great at tweaking,
they are not magicians. Nobody could make Jay Cutler joyful.
(05:22):
Nobody's been able to make Kyler Murray's commitment obsessive. You know,
nobody's ever been able to get Aaron Rodgers out of
that passive aggressive nonsense or mellow to shoot a three,
or Luke of the play defense. Not all issues are solvable.
(05:42):
Fifteen percent improvement from Ben though, And you have a
Pro Bowl quarterback, and that's why I say you got
to get him on the field. Brian Baldeger came on
the show yesterday and agree, just get him on the field,
and let's figure out solvable or unsolvable. Let's figure it
out by like Thanksgiving.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Okay, great offing the team up. They needed to get
tougher mentally, Let's put the quarterback out there. You've upgraded
the offensive line. You can't be the least bit worried
about him getting hurt. He was sacked sixty eight times
and never hurt last year. Put him out there. Let
him show the world that this offense fits him and
he could do the things that Ben Jonson wants him
to do.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
There's no point to hide him.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
He needs to play in this offense and he needs
to get the ball out of his hands and went
from the pocket.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
So people think I'm picking on the Pittsburgh Steeters, but
every even Hall of Fame coach has a little bit
of a hole. We saw with Bill Belichick. He started
taking over the drafts and the last seven New England
Patriot drafts where Belichick had ultimate control, sitting with his
dog in that Nantucket table making picks.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
They were awful.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Bill had a hole in his game, and his hole
was he was not good at drafting. He reached on
multiple offensive linemen, multiple wide receivers, a pretty good on drafting
the defensive side, especially corners, linebackers, safeties. He was dreadful
on offense. Did he ever draft a wide receiver? I
mean he had to go get Randy Moss already a pro,
(07:12):
Wes Welker already a pro. Edelman was a quarterback in college. Like,
did they ever draft a wide receiver that panned out.
He just couldn't do it. Mike Tomlin has a whole too,
and I hope he's aware of it. But Mike Tomlin
is talking about the Steeler defense. He said, Oh, this thing,
listen to this, this thing is going to be historic.
Here's Mike Tomlin on this year's potential Steeler defense.
Speaker 6 (07:35):
We feel really good about the prospects of this group.
We do. We got to write that story, but we
got enough talent, we got enough schematics to do big,
big things. And when I say big things, I'm talking
about historic things.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
It's really hard to be a historic defense when you
can't sustain drives offensively. And this, to me is the
hole in Tomlin's game. He's a motivator, he develops, he
knows defense. But if you notice last year too, what
happens in the last five or six games to the
(08:12):
Steelers defense, it falls apart because they're on the field
the whole season. Last year, last five games, their defense
last in the league in opponents passerating dead last quarterbacks
ate them alive. They gave up four hundred yards a game,
twenty seven and a half points a game. The point
(08:33):
differential was minus sixty six, bottom of the league. So
this year's defense is going to be historic because you
had a Darius Slay and Jalen Ramsey, both both bats
are prime. The Steelers can't develop consistent run games, and
there's a reason Philadelphia's defense or Baltimore's defense are dominating. Yes,
part of its personnel. The other part is Lamar Jackson
(08:56):
and Derrick Henry keep the defense off the field so
they're arrested. And by the way, that's what Philadelpha, Jalen
Hurts and Saquon Barkley in the old line, so when
the defense is on the field, they are rested and
are ready to go. Pittsburgh's defense last year with TJ. Watt,
with Cam Hayward, Mika Fitzpatrick was dreadful because they're on
(09:19):
the field the entire game. And as the NFL keeps
expanding the season, we're now at seventeen games, many suspect
it will be eighteen. You will not have a great
defense in the NFL going forward. If we go to
eighteen games, you will not have a great defense without
a complimentary above average run game. That is too many
(09:40):
games to have your defense on the field. Remember that
playoff game last year with the Ravens Jessee. Time of
possession Ravens forty minutes, Steelers twenty minutes. You can't be
a great defense in these elongated seasons. I mean, even
college football is going to fourteen to fifteen games after
the playoff.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
If you don't have a run game, I.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Don't care how good Alabama's defense is. More guys get hurt,
more guys are exhausted. Pittsburgh's defense was terrible at the
end of last year because they couldn't move the change.
That's what Belichick Ohwa's got. He kept Dante's Scarnecki around
best offensive line coach. Ever, they always had an above
average run game. They didn't lead the NFL in sacks,
(10:19):
they didn't lead the NFL in interceptions year after year,
but their defense was fresh, usually healthy. Go to the sidelines,
get on the iPad. What did we do wrong? Sustain drives, Brady,
pick it up first downs, Just move the chains, seven
minute drives. Even if you only get a field goal
or don't score, let the defense rest. There are no
(10:42):
going forward. There will be no great NFL defenses seventeen
to eighteen game schedule consistently without a good run game,
and the Steelers cannot build a run game.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
And you know, the.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Only thing that's historic is that the historic nature of
the Steelers is one again. They lead the NFL in
defensive spending in the last four years, haven't been a
top ten defense. That's virtually impossible to do Historically. If
you spend the most money on the side of the ball,
and you do it for four straight years, it is
virtually unheard.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Of that that's not top ten.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
And yet the Steelers last four years haven't because they're
run games stunk. It's not that complicated. I think it's
the hole in his game. All right, Jay Mac, we
got a lot. Greg co Sella's going to be joining us.
The Angel swept the Dodgers. The Brewers and the Angels
this year have swept the Dodgers. Tay, did you listen
to Taylor Swift stuff?
Speaker 5 (11:37):
What Taylor Swift stuff?
Speaker 1 (11:38):
You didn't hear Taylor Swift on that New Heights podcast.
Speaker 7 (11:40):
I was unaware that happened. Of course I heard about it.
My daughter watched the whole thing. No, I did not
pay attention to.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
What don't you make of it?
Speaker 7 (11:47):
She's a fan of Taylor Swift. You know, we went
to the concert.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I don't know that.
Speaker 7 (11:50):
There's anything super interesting in there. Let me go back
to your Pittsburgh point for said Colin, can you run
a business.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
I've run a business.
Speaker 7 (11:56):
Can you think of running a business finding no success
where it matters most to the bottom line for like
four years in a row, and then let's not change anything.
Let's just double down on what's not working. Like, how
can Pittsburgh think let's keep doing this? Like what am
I missing here? That's just bad business?
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yeah, I mean, it's it's so odd. And again, even
the great coaches have a hole. Belichick and personnel, offensive personnel.
He just couldn't do it last seven years. The proof's
in the pudding. Jerry Jones, smart guy, vanity and ego.
It's his hole. You know, everybody's got one temperament. For
Elon Musk bit of a hole. He found that out,
you know, dealing with our president. Everybody's got a hole,
(12:38):
no matter how smart they are. And I think Mike
Comlins is he's unable to develop a run game to
allow his defense to win the time of possession battle.
You can't keep at Remember there's more injuries historically on
the defensive side than the offensive side. Defensive guys are
there to blow stuff up. I mean, that's what you do,
is a defensive player hair on fire fast as you
(12:59):
can blow stuff up. More defensive players get hurt over
a season and offensive players. And by the way, as
defensive players get older and expensive, they get hurt more often.
So the Steelers now were an old football team on defense.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
TJ.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Watt, Cam Hayward thirty seven slay. You know they're an
old defense. They're an expensive defense. And what's that mean
when you can't develop a run game. By the way,
the guy they drafted not been impressive as camp. Not
in camp, Najie Harris gone. So there's no indication they
have struggled to run the ball in camp. It's going
to be any different.
Speaker 7 (13:33):
Yeah, they feel like a business, like a Kodak or Xerox.
They just don't see that you need to reboot or
reinvent yourself.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
We think it's a passing league. The top six rushing
teams last year in the NFL all made the playoffs.
Three of the top five teams in total defense last
year did not, So we know that defense isn't as
impactful as it used to be based on the rule changes.
But the great defense is almost all have something in common.
(14:02):
Baltimore right Philadelphia. They have a complimentary run game to
keep the defense off the field. So why the toush
push is so valuable to the defense. I mean they
could just they just convert third and fourth downs. That
is another four to five minutes of real time your
defense can be resting. Yeah, you want your defense to
(14:24):
go to the sideline, go to the iPad.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
What do we do wrong?
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Get a gatorade, smelling salts.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
And yeah, and then come out hair on fire.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app Hi.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
This is Jay.
Speaker 8 (14:44):
I'm the producer of the Paula and Toni Fusco Show.
Usually in these promos they ask you to listen to
the show. I'm here to ask you please don't listen
to the show. The hosts are two absolute morons who
have the dumbest takes on sports, imagicable. Don't listen to
the show so it can get camps.
Speaker 6 (14:58):
What the hell are you doing?
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Ou?
Speaker 6 (15:00):
Do you get him?
Speaker 5 (15:00):
Paul? Ignore that fool. Listen to the Pauline Tony Fusco
Show on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
He's still moving.
Speaker 9 (15:13):
Saturday, it's Baseball Night in America. As a MVP front runner,
Aaron Judge leads the Yankees against the Cardinals, or the
Al Central leading Tigers take on the Twins. Check the
local listings for the game in your area. Saturday, seven
Eastern on Thoughts.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
So when Tom Coughlin coach the New York Giants, he
came in hot. He had been coaching at college. He
goes to Jacksonville. He goes to the Giants and he
was intense, and eventually the owner sat him down and said,
you got lighten up a little bit. You know the
player councils like coach, you got lightened up a little bit.
He did, name won Super Bowls. But it's okay because
he's still he was always accountable. When he was a
(15:51):
task master or he lightened up, he was still holding
people accountable. But I find this with parents managers that
I've had in my career. You can't come in soft
and then become tough guy. Everybody rolls their eyes and
it's this is what I've said. The media chooses who
they like and don't like. They didn't like Brian Flores.
He didn't give you any access like Urban Meyer in college,
(16:15):
even though he was winning games, he wouldn't give you
any access. And so the media is like, oh, we
don't like that guy. We don't like that person. Pete
Carroll give you a bunch of access at US. See,
everybody loved him. And so I think with Brian Flores,
he goes into Miami. This is the coach before Mike McDonnel.
He goes into Miami, no access. He's tough on everybody,
(16:38):
and he breaks down the culture. First eight weeks, he
just breaks it down. They go one in seven. From
that point forward until he was fired, they were something.
They were five and four, bottom five penalized team in
the league with upgraded special teams. Okay, Mike McDaniel not
(16:58):
a guy that holds people account fun loving the snarky hipster.
They are a top five penalized teams. Since he's been
a coach of the Dolphins. Brian flore is a bottom
five penalized team. Why accountability? Which is something now Mike
McDaniel is dressing. So yesterday the Dolphins had a practice
with the Lions. The quote here is it was as
(17:19):
lobsited a joint NFL practice as I've ever seen. Apparently
Tua got banged up, Zach Wilson got banged up. A
linebacker for the Lions. Grant Steward said, I don't even
know if they practice how we practice. But again, you
(17:40):
can't be a bull of jello. That's what Miami is.
A lot of movement, no meat in the sandwich. Brian
Flores was rough, he didn't treat everybody well. He has
grown since then and I think remains the best defensive
coordinator in the league, top two. He in spags, but
Miami was something by like Wheat n On. They didn't
(18:01):
commit penalties, they took the ball away, the special teams
were buttoned up. You didn't have to love him. He
didn't get along with Tua, but they were something. And
that's why I say, with Miami and Mike McDaniel, what
are they? I don't know what they are. And again
I understand it takes a while to break down the culture,
but I would argue today Miami doesn't even have a culture,
(18:22):
and it all starts with lack of accountability. And that's
why Brian Flores came in hot. He probably should have
lightened up. He now has in Minnesota, but I would
hire Brian Flores. Mike McDaniels came in as everybody's friend
and now he's trying to create accountability and it's hard.
(18:43):
And that's not a shot at Mike. It's hard. Jason
Garrett in Dallas tried to do that and people just
didn't buy it because he was everybody's you know, the clapper,
He was everybody's buddy.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
It was hard.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Wade Phillips in his career is a really likable guy.
It's hard to buy in.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
He's a town.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Harbaugh can come in hot to Stanford, San Francisco, Michigan
comes in hot and then can lighten up and be
more joyful. I mean at the end in Michigan, Harbaugh
was a lot of fun. And so here's Mike McDaniel
on the Lions player that said, I don't even know
if they practice like we do. Literally does not affect
(19:22):
me whatsoever.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
I think there's.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
A lot of noise, and I would file that into
a noise category. Well, it's noise, but it's not necessarily
there's some validation. The noise is just a comment, that's right, Okay,
So Taylor Swift went on the Travis Kelsey podcast. It's
(19:50):
called New Heights, it's the Kelsey Brothers. It's very popular
and people got really worked out last year and it
was really ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
So she would be on Chiefs games.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
She would be on TV and whoever was airing the
Chiefs game, which they were on every network. They played
every day but Tuesday last year, so people would get
worked up over it, which I called him out because
if you looked at the time she was on screen,
it was like thirty four seconds per game. I mean
they networks would show her, obviously as the world's biggest
pop star, just like they would show you know, a
(20:21):
spice girl Mary the David Beckham. You know if Beckham
was playing. I mean, Derek Jeter didn't get married, but
Derek Jeter, he had a very fruitful life as a Yankee.
This is we live in this world now celebrities get celebrities.
But here was Taylor Swift. She is it sounds real here.
You got to give her credit. I know some of
(20:43):
you guys aren't comfortable with this because she's on screen
for thirty four seconds, And I would argue, celebrities get celebrities.
They get the intensity, they get the nonsense. You know,
they get people taking pictures constantly, like I get it.
They get each other. Here is her talking actually about football.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I fell in love with it. I became obsessed with it.
Speaker 10 (21:03):
I became like a person who was running through the
halls of my house screaming, we drafted.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
XAVI, You're worthy.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
And I wasn't like, what is who? Body snatched you? This?
This is what do.
Speaker 10 (21:17):
You mean that we're talking about cover two, Cover four,
Cover zero, man cover. We're talking, we're learning.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yes, and so it's okay, We're all going to be okay.
She's going to be shown for thirty four seconds. Travis
Kelsey's retiring after the year. But you know, I've heard
this a while. They're using each other. Well, I would
argue they get each other that Travis Kelcey is Saturday
Night Live, He's on GQ magazine. He was already popular
because he was so great in football. He's good looking,
(21:45):
he's got a great person. It's not like he hosted
Saturday Night Live before Taylor Swift. I mean, he was
a very popular guy. He was Mahomes's biggest ally on
the offense. It's not like he wasn't big, But I
will say I've been a little shocked at how myopic
and rigid sports fans have been with us. David Beckham
(22:07):
married a spice girl, Derek Jeter had celebrity girlfriends, Russell
Wilson's Mary to a singer. Folks, it's hard for Taylor Swift,
the world's biggest musical act. In fact, not only that,
I've read just two days ago on Apple Watch, she
has pulled away from the rest of the industry. Who
do you want her to date? Got the true value
(22:27):
hardware store. I mean, let's be serious here, Celebrities get celebrities.
I mean, Justin Berlander, didn't he marry Kate Upton, the supermodel?
Speaker 3 (22:35):
So just ask yourself.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
You were you bothered by Derek Jeter or Russell Wilson
or David Beckham. I think a lot of this is
we as Americans are very tribal about our football. But
this idea that networks can't show Taylor Swift for thirty
four seconds, Folks, do you realize there's twelve and a
half minutes of football in a four hour broadcast. They're
(23:01):
showing you a lot that is non football. I've seen
every male in Buffalo jump off their mini van onto
a table on a pregame show that you can cut back.
I'm done seeing that. I'm done seeing cheesehead guy. That
is a cliche. I'm done with. I can live with
a thirty four seconds. By the way, Aaron Rodgers, who
(23:23):
has a mysterious wife, has twice dated celebrities. This is
just like the way it's gonna There are in America athletes.
There are royal family in the UK, you have a
royal family. You have princes in Monaco. Right in America,
our royal family are superstar athletes and you know movie stars.
(23:48):
That's our royal family. Here was more Taylor on the
new influx of female fans to football.
Speaker 10 (23:56):
A lot of the women and girls maybe they like
watched one game to see me each year on my
boyfriend or whatever. But if they if they stayed, which
is what people are saying based on the numbers, that's
the game is so great and it's such an amazing
interesting thing to learn about.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Yeah, it's great on television.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I mean, it's the reason the Netflix, Amazon, Primes, the Hulus,
the Paramounts, the reason these companies do well good content.
It's not because we like paying our Netflix bill every month.
They offer really good documentaries and it's the best actors
and the best writers and the the best directors and producers.
(24:38):
And that's what the NFL is. The NFL is great content.
Baseball can be slow. There's not a lot of urgency
with the NBA season.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
It's long.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Soccer's over on Apple TV. I'm not paying for that.
The NFL is great content. Sorry, j Mac didn't mean
to take a shot, would you. I mean, let me
ask you this. Nobody complained about the obligatory and relentless
shots of Fireman ed for thirty years. We can't be
bothered by thirty four seconds of Taylor Swift Fireman Ed.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
I am over that one. I'm over.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
I kind of look forward to the Taylor Swift six
second shot four times a game.
Speaker 7 (25:16):
Yeah, I will say the whole Taylor Swift running around
screaming we got Xavier Worthy. That's pretty cool now. I
know in my house I can hype the Jets with
our draft picks, but my family's not all excited. I
like the Taylor Swifts bought in and talking about cover two,
Cover three, man like.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
That's kind of cool. I don't know I'm impressed.
Speaker 7 (25:34):
I mean, I assume Anne run circles around the family room. No,
when you announce USC just signed the five star offensive line.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
No.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
And I do think this is genuine and authentic. Is
that I think when you're young. I mean, my daughter
likes sports more than my son. She's willing to go.
She goes to MLS games all the time in Nashville,
So I think it's authentic. I don't buy their using
each other. I would they speak that celebt language. I
think they get each other. I think it's hard to
be a celebrity. Celebrities and never made more in America
(26:05):
I happen to. I mean, of the twelve homes, I'm
sure Taylor Swift owns. I know where one of them's at.
And people sit on the beach and take pictures of
her home. It's like a it's a trend. It's what
people do all summer long. Who are you going to date?
Who are you going to be around? You know? Yeah,
congrats to the Kelsey's on that all right?
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Greg co Seal's around the corner on a Thursday. I
can't wait one more.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Heard the Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven
days a week within the iHeartRadio app, search her to
listen live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
With that, Greg Cosel forty six years NFL Films joins us. Okay,
my guy snor Sanders. Why the PFF grade had him
just knocking it out of the park. I will say
this about Shador when I watch the game, Greg, I
do think he moves better than you know.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
You said this last week.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Bon Nicks moves better than people give him credit for,
and it he just does. I think Chadur's movement is
pretty good. It's not bon Nicks. But what did you
make of his Schador's overall performance last Friday.
Speaker 5 (27:15):
I thought he did more good things than bad things.
Speaker 11 (27:19):
To me, the movement was more critical when it came
to pocket movement. That second touchdown he threw, I thought
it was a really good example where he moved to
its right in reaction to the blitz pressure. And what
I really liked was the way he reset his throwing platform,
reset his feet, and then delivered the ball at the
at the front of the end zone. You see it
right here. You want to throw low at the front
(27:41):
of the end zone. I thought that was a really
good play. I think one of the things that he'll
need to work on because you don't see this a
lot in college football, Colin, and there were a number
of plays like this, and I guarantee that the organization
saw this is he's not a naturally anticipatory thrower, and
they were a couple of throws that he clearly left
(28:02):
on the field that require anticipation, and that's something he'll
have to improve if he's to become a quality NFL
starting quarterback. Because yes, he moved better, but I think
you and I both agree if he's to become a
quality starter, his game is not going to be built
on a playmaking dimension. It's going to be built on
(28:22):
his ability to play from the pocket. But there was
more good than bad certainly in his performance.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
So I've argued this that if Jackson Dart ends up
being really good, the Giants have a number one receiver,
a very good left tackle, an offensive coach, and a
tremendous defensive front. Abdul Carter and very few snaps has
looked dominant. So my take is, if Jackson Dart can play,
I think they're an interesting team. Here's my argument why
(28:48):
he should three years with Lane Kiffen forty one college
starts in the toughest defensive conference Lane could coach in
the NFL today. My take is, I don't want to
hear about well, you know, he's young, forty one starts
in the SEC for Lane Kiffin. You watch the game,
you watch the film. I thought, is he an anticipatory throw?
(29:11):
I thought he looked good.
Speaker 5 (29:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (29:15):
The issue that none of us know is what happens
on a daily basis. You know, we sit and watch
the games and we see some good play, some bad plays.
We just see the touchdown, which was a really good play,
by the way, because he saw the safety rotation pre
snap and he signaled to Humphrey on the outside to
change his route to convert his route to a fade.
And that was a really good play by Dart. A
(29:37):
mental play, and that's what you want to see from
young quarterbacks.
Speaker 5 (29:40):
It's not so much the physical.
Speaker 11 (29:42):
They all have physical ability, but you know, Dart, you're right,
he has a ton of college experience. You know, again,
to me, we're not there every day. I personally would
look to Dart, assuming he's done well throughout camp, I
would look to him as the starter, But we don't
know how that will play out.
Speaker 5 (30:02):
You're right about their defensive front.
Speaker 11 (30:04):
They've got a really good defensive front, Dexter Lawrence, who
will be back, so we'll see. But you know again, Dart,
there were some really good plays and what you would expect,
a couple of plays that I'm sure he'd like to
have back.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
So cam Ward maybe the quietest Number one quarterback pick
in the last twenty years. Part of that is the
Titans are not a big brand. He's a quiet kid.
He's really easy to root for. Like Lamar Jackson, he
wants to win. It's all about football. His teammates like him.
They don't have much on the perimeter to help him,
(30:37):
so I don't look at him. I'm not going to
look at him this year and go, well, they went
eight to nine. It's listen, the kid has very little
to work with. We've got to contextualize this. He had
an eleven play drive. Did you see anything with cam
the tempo, the accuracy, the movement, what did you see?
Speaker 11 (30:54):
Well, I've been around cam Ward because I was down
at Titans training cam and he is a very impressive kid,
and I got a chance to talk to him, and
one thing that really stood out to me just to
tell a quick anecdote when I met him, Fortunately, I
was set up beautifully by the organization as someone he
should talk to. And the first thing he said to me,
(31:16):
and I thought this was really impressive.
Speaker 5 (31:18):
Colin.
Speaker 11 (31:18):
He just met me, but I was set up beautifully
and he said to me, Okay, so what do I
need to work on? I thought that was really impressive.
He had just met me. But he's very impressive in person.
Now again his performance there was a third and five
on the first series where he went through his read
too fast. Okay, that's something you expect to see. But
(31:39):
he throws a really good ball. He's an impressive kid.
You're right about the team. There's really good give and
take between he and Jeffrey Simmons.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
Because Jeffrey Simmons.
Speaker 11 (31:49):
Knows that if they're to get to the Promised Land,
it's going to be because of cam Ward.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
I would expect that he'll be a good player.
Speaker 11 (31:56):
Now, the thing is, early in the season, they opened
at Denver, their home to the Rams. Then week four
they're at Houston. You know, this could be a tough
start simply because the Titans had some holes on their
team that need to, you know, be dealt with, and
they may not be dealt with year one. So I
think people are gonna have to be a little patient
simply because the team is not quite good enough at
(32:18):
this point.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Yeah, I agree, you know, I speaking of Denver, I
saw her. Bon Knicks they do this Mike Sando does
this quarterback tiers thing where he talks to fifty yeah, yeah, yeah.
And my only complaint was, I said, you know, bow
Knicks below twa. He's a better runner, he's healthier. I
think he's got at least his good arm, maybe better,
(32:39):
but whatever, we don't know a ton about Bonnix. When
I saw it, when I saw him ranked twenty, it's
my take was it was telling me that executives in
the league think very highly of Sean Payton, that he's
squeezing every ounce of talent out of this. Do you
believe the bo Nicks success is mostly at this point
Sean Payton, Well.
Speaker 11 (33:01):
You know, I've always struggled with that, Colin. There seems
to be a sense that if a quarterback is well coached,
with a really good.
Speaker 5 (33:09):
Coordinator and a really good scheme and a well.
Speaker 11 (33:12):
Designed system, that's somehow a knock on the quarterback. I
don't really understand that, because that's kind of what the
coach is supposed to do, you know. And I think
that bo Nicks showed a lot last year with the
kinds of throws that he made. I mean, he made
a lot of big time throws between the numbers. He
showed more arm strength, quite honestly, than I thought he
(33:34):
had coming out of Oregon. I mean, you couldn't make
the same argument.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
You know.
Speaker 11 (33:37):
I've spent a lot of this offseason rewatching a lot
of quarterbacks because I can really do that. I can
watch two hundred and fifty plays in a row, which
I can't really do during the season. I've just done
that with Jaden Daniels. And I think Cliff Kingsbury does
an outstanding job with his route design, really presenting clean,
defined reads for Jaden Daniels. Is that a knock on
(33:58):
Jayden Daniels? Are supposed to say Jayden Daniels isn't very
good because the offensive coordinator does a really good job
with his route concepts. Are we supposed to say Jared
Goff isn't any good because Ben Johnson's really good with
his route spacing and cleanly defining reads. I mean, are
we supposed to say Joe Montana wasn't any good because
Bill Walsh was really good. I think that's such a
(34:20):
silly argument. I mean, that's what the offensive coordinator is
supposed to do. He's supposed to present it so that
ideally the first read is clean and then you work
through progression concepts. So I don't really understand why that's
a problem.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
So in that Tier one through five that Mike sando
Athlea at the Athletic did, there were a couple of
quotes about Caleb Williams and a defensive coordinator said it
was alarming to.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Watch his processes.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
A head coach said it. That word was used more
than once. So you have said you love me Stocky.
He's strong, he's a power throat. When they say his
process is alarming and you've watched the same film, what
do they mean by that.
Speaker 11 (35:10):
Well, that means he's not seeing the field with the
needed clarity. In other words, when you can see the
route concepts. I've been doing this for a lot of years, Colin.
As you know, there's not a thousand route concepts. So
I see the route concepts versus specific coverages. And when
you see it depends on the nature of the philosophy
of an offense. There's a lot of different ways routes
(35:32):
are taught. There's something called pure progression, where you're not
really worried about the defense. There's a primary, there's a secondary.
When the quarterback drops back, he looks to the primary.
If it's not there, it doesn't matter what the defense is,
you just go to the next guy. Then there's other
systems where you're actually reading the defense. You're reading whether
it's single high or two shell, or you're reading a
(35:54):
particular defender to decide where you throw the ball. So
there's different ways that pass is taught. But what they're
saying about Williams is he's not seeing that particularly clearly
at all. So throws that are there where the ball
should be released, he's just not seeing it the right way.
So he's holding the ball. He's not getting a clear picture.
Speaker 5 (36:15):
You know.
Speaker 11 (36:15):
The term that's always used is processing. He's not processing
it the right way, and that's one reason why he
holds the ball.
Speaker 5 (36:22):
The film shows that.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
But what's interesting is that's always been my knock on
Zach Wilson and Justin Fields, and they've never gotten great
at it. I mean you can absolutely make a quarterback
more accurate. Not all Anthony Richardson has regressed. But there
are things in I don't care if it's broadcasting, I
don't care if it's in any business. There are things
(36:44):
that are solvable. But one of the ones that doesn't
seem to be terribly solvable is he doesn't see the
field well like Mahomes.
Speaker 5 (36:54):
It's a great point.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
I don't know if that's solvable. Is if you tell
me somebody that didn't see the field year later did.
Speaker 11 (37:01):
Yeah, it's it's a great it's a great point, and
I would say the majority of coaches think that's tough
to solve.
Speaker 5 (37:08):
And I'll answer it this way.
Speaker 11 (37:09):
You can help a quarterback in normal down in distant
situations where the defense is a little more predictive in
what they do, the probability and tendencies tend to favor
the offense more than the defense. So you can help
a quarterback with your play calling on first and ten,
second and four, maybe third and three. But when you
(37:30):
start getting into a long yardage, pure pass situations, whether
it's second.
Speaker 5 (37:35):
And nine, third and nine, now, the.
Speaker 11 (37:37):
Defense very often has the tactical advantage and the quarterback
has to be able to see things really quickly and
really clearly, and at some point, if that can't happen,
then you're going to have a quarterback that's very inconsistent
and erratic in his performance. And I don't think we
could say one hundred percent for sure that Caleb Williams
(37:58):
can't do that. He's only going into a second year
and he's with a brand new coordinator. I mean, Ben
Johnson's essentially the coordinator. So we want to wait and
see on that. But if that starts to show up
more and more, then at some point you might say
that that's not solvable.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Yeah, you know, Patrick Mahomes wins a lot of games
and they're not going to go eleven to zero one
score games.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
But he didn't have a great year.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
He had bad games, he had bad halves, he had
really bad series. He had a bad Super Bowl. Some
of it was lack of offensive line competency. When you
looked at mahomes struggles last year, did he develop bad habits,
was he relying too much on certain things? Did he
trust his own line? Patrick Mahomes didn't get poor, he
(38:44):
didn't get bad, but he didn't play necessarily well. What
did the film say on his regression, not winning regression,
but his mechanics or his performance.
Speaker 5 (38:55):
Well, it's funny you.
Speaker 11 (38:56):
Say that because every year, and I've had this conversation
with people in Kansas City, every year he does go
through that where he starts to lose his mechanics, because
that's sort of the way he naturally plays. Going back
to Texas Tech, you know, he's that kind of player
where he starts to drift, he starts to lose his mechanics,
and then they have to sort of rein him in
(39:16):
and get him back on track.
Speaker 5 (39:18):
But last year, and I think because he just did
not have confidence.
Speaker 11 (39:22):
And he would never say this publicly because he's a
class act, but I think because he just didn't feel
comfortable with that old lion. I think it took a
little longer for him to get his mechanics back, and
he didn't play with the same precision throughout the course
of the season that we normally see. But you're right,
it's not as if he's suddenly not a good quarterback.
(39:42):
It's just that he has to be rained in at times.
And I think the old line last year caused some
issues for him, caused a lack of confidence caused him
not to play from the pocket with the same and
I'll use the word precision again, the same kind of
precision that we've seen in the past. But it's not
as if his trade or his talent level has dropped.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Finally, we'll go back to one of the young guys.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
And this has kind of been a theory of mine
for years, is that you would think, right that the
best quarterbacks in the NFL would all be from power schools.
They are five star high school guys. They go to Texas, Bama,
Ohio State, Notre Dame, and then they all go to
the NFL. But if you look at the history of
the NFL, they've often gone to cow in North Carolina
State and Miami of Ohio and Texas Tech and Wyoming
(40:28):
because that is preparing you for the NFL. Shaky old
lines have to carry, teams, have to make quicker decisions.
You don't get comfortable windows. So I do think as
the rest of us go to college to prepare us
for our work, it's the same in the NFL. You
think Ohio State would be better for you, but you
(40:50):
are very rarely in discomfort with Ohio State's receivers in
online So when I look at JJ McCarthy, he never
threw forty times a game. He always played with the lead,
he had great protection. And I've said I worry that
it's like these Alabama quarterbacks. He's not ready for the NFL.
(41:10):
Then he gets hurt and that sets him back another year.
So I do think the choice college kids make often
doesn't necessarily. I mean, Matt Ryan goes to a school
where he's going to throw guys open, he has to
be anticipatory because nobody's wide open.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
What do you see that?
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Is there anything about JJ McCarthy that you worry that
he's just not quite ready for this life of somewhat
duress and discomfort in the NFL.
Speaker 5 (41:40):
Yeah, and I'm not sure we know that.
Speaker 11 (41:42):
I mean, I think you and I would both agree
that Kevin O'Connell is really really good in terms of
defining reads and throws for the quarterback. Look what he
did with Sam Darnold last year. So you know that
remains to be seen. But I imagine there'll be a
learning curve for JJ McCarthy. Obviously in college he did
not throw the ball a lot, but he's got a
(42:02):
good arm, a plus arm.
Speaker 5 (42:04):
He's got mobility, He's got traits.
Speaker 11 (42:06):
He's a good sized kid, so there are traits that
are there. I mean, even last year when he played
in the first preseason game and then he was done
for the year, I noticed an immediate difference in his
drop and set in the pocket from when I watched
him at Michigan, So I know. So obviously, Kevin O'Connell
through the off season as a rookie really worked with
(42:26):
him and really tightened him up in a lot of areas.
So you have to assume that that continued. But now
once you get into the regular season games, we'll see
he'll be under a lot of pressure.
Speaker 5 (42:36):
They'll be duressed.
Speaker 11 (42:37):
They've revamped their offensive line that often takes time to
come together, so we'll see. You never know the answer
to that question. Then it depends on how the games
are played. Is he going to be in games where
he has to drop back forty times? Can the team
be good enough colin where he only has to drop
back twenty five times? You know, there are so many variables.
It's not very often for a young quarterback. It's not
(43:00):
solely dependent on the young quarterback. It's the way in
which he's able to play based on the rest of
the team.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
Yeah, I would argue he's got a top three left tackle,
a top two receiver, and a top three offensive head coach.
They Revambia line, and he may have a degree. He
may have the best defensive coordinator in the sport. So
the truth is, before the season starts, he got the
keys to a really nice car.
Speaker 3 (43:26):
He's not going to have to win by shooting question. Yeah. Yeah,
and I always have it brock Purty.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
If you look at brock perty in his first twenty
one starts, when the team was younger and less expensive, well,
he was good. His last fifteen starts, he's he's like
six and nine or nine and six, and his passer
writing has dropped because now the Niners are old and
they've had to let Hafunga go and greet and the
defense isn't as good and he has to throw more.
So like brock Purty's opening into the NFL was like Dax,
(43:53):
there's a lot of comfort. Zeke O line was great,
des Bryant was a touchdown machine.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
So I think JJ here's my hunch.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
Is that JJ McCarthy, like brock Purty, will be able
to engineer a wildly smart and talented offense, they'll be good.
I think when you draft him that high, you want great,
but he should be at least capable.
Speaker 3 (44:19):
Is that right?
Speaker 5 (44:19):
But you make an interesting point.
Speaker 11 (44:22):
Is brock Purdy's talent any different than it was a year,
a year and a half ago. No, there's other factors
that are involved, and with ninety nine point nine percent
of quarterbacks, those other factors often dictate, you know, how
a quarterback plays, or certainly how he's perceived. You know,
he hasn't changed in his trades. It's just that there
(44:43):
are other factors that impact how he plays and how
how the games turn out. And of course all we
do is look at wins and losses and then we
decide that that's what a quarterback is.
Speaker 3 (44:54):
Right, Great stuff, Greg co sell as oles my man.
Speaker 11 (44:57):
Appreciate it, Thanks, Kylen, really apreciate it.
Speaker 5 (45:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
I mean, let's be honest about CJ. Stroud's rookie year.
He had Laramie Tunzel and they ended up hitting on
a couple of mid round wide receivers, and he had
Bobby Slowick at the time was like a hot coordinator,
and so generally rookie quarterbacks, I mean, Herbert had a
great rookie season in terms of he had Shane Stiken.
You know, he had Keenan Allen. So you got it.
(45:23):
For a rookie quarterback to work, you got to give
him something. JJ McCarthy has a top two receiver maybe
number one, a top two three left tackle maybe number one,
a top two or three offensive head coach.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
That is a huge benefit. That is a.
Speaker 1 (45:40):
Massive, massive benefit. Last year Caleb had none of that.
Left tackle was a swinging door coach, was defensive. Keenan
Allen was past his prime. DJ Moore was good, but
he was on his back or running for his life.
So JJ's got some of those brock pretty first starts gifts.
He should be capable. I don't see great, but he
(46:02):
should be capable.
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