Danny Parkins pushes back against the harsh criticisms Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has faced and why he's in prime position for a breakout season
The Big Ten floating the idea for a 24 or 28 team CFP, which is the stupidest thing Danny has ever heard
Why JJ McCarthy and the Vikings should have success this season
Guest: Tom Verducci
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Hour number two, The Herd on Danny parkins in for
Colin Cowherd. Tom Verducci will join us later on this
hour to discuss Brewers Hotest Teamer, Best team in Baseball.
I gotta say, whenever I sit in this chair for Colin,
(00:47):
it's just a pinch me thing. It's a complete honor,
it's a privilege. It's a little surreal. But I don't
know if I've ever looked forward more to a segment
than this one. Because while I've been waiting for First
Thing First to come back and need a join, which
will be Monday, I'll be on from five to six,
I've just had to kind of sit on the sidelines
(01:08):
and watch a lot of this show and a lot
of things we said about Caleb Williams that I cannot
believe that I'm hearing and seeing. So we're going to
take some time here and I'm going to try to
level set the conversation. And yes, listen, everyone has biases.
The people who admit their biases are the ones you
can trust. I am a Bears guy from Chicago. Consider
(01:35):
it disclosed. Caleb Williams was good last year. Anyone who
watched every pass of every game, which I did, would
tell you that he was not good enough.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
He was not as great as we thought he was
going to be.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
But Caleb Williams was good, best rookie quarterback by the
way in Bears franchise history, which I agree the bar
is on the floor. That's an easy one to clear,
but it is still true. And the situation that hand
up I got wrong. I said it was the best
situation a number one overall pick had ever walked into.
(02:13):
I was dead wrong about that because how much of
a disaster the Matt eberflu Shane Waldron coaching situation was.
And we'll get to more of that in a second.
But Caleb Williams was good. He wasn't great. But people
talk about Caleb Williams like it's still possible that he
could be a bust. Bust is off the table. He's good.
(02:39):
Let's start. There's the good, the bad, and the narrative,
and I'll be fair. We'll start with the bad, the
obvious bad, the worst of it, and there were a few.
Was sixty eight sacks. Sixty eight sacks is an absurd number.
Sixty eight sacks is way too many. He did not
fully trust what NFL opened was he held out of
(03:01):
the ball. He was afraid to throw interceptions, and so
he would eat a sack as opposed to trusting his
arm talent, trusting the route, trusting the play did not
play on schedule enough. Sixty eight sacks is unacceptable. He
will always be a higher than average sacked quarterback because
of how much of a big game hunter he is,
because of how mobile he is, because he has that
(03:24):
wizardry to do the second option off angle throws, the
improvisation stuff. But sixty eight is obviously not sustainable. And
then I think there was a legit concern.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Based on what I knew and people that I talked
to around the team, that Caleb was trying to get
by a little bit.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Too much on just his raw natural talent and didn't
have a complete understanding of what it took Monday through
Saturday to be ready for Sunday. And he was young,
He's a rookie. Wasn't a bad guy, wasn't unprofessional. There's
an adjustment of what you need to do to get
ready for a college game and what there is what
you need to do to get ready for a pro game,
(04:06):
and that learning curve was there for Caleb. It was
also certainly impacted by the coaching turnover. So I think
there was professionalism, but really the sacks, sixty eight sacks.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
You can't win. The good was he survived. Who's tough
as hell.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
He played all seventeen games despite being sacked sixty eight times.
He had a three and a half to one touchdown
interception ratio, twenty touchdowns against only six picks. He threw
for over thirty five hundred yards, and he dealt with
everyone talks about the bad coaching, and it was bad.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
They fired Shane.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Walder and his play caller nine games into the season.
And the Bears are a founding charter franchise in the
NFL who had never fired a head coach in season
in their history. And let me tell you, Mark Tressman
deserved it.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Kicked the field goal on second down.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
They finally fired a coach in season because they feared
a mutiny from the team because it got so bad
in season last year.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
But that wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
The offensive line situation that Caleb was dealing with. Matt Pryor,
Tevin Jenkins, and Coleman Shelton all started fourteen plus games,
And if you're out there watching or listening being like,
who are those guys, it's a totally reasonable thing for
you to think Coleman Shelton's going to start at center
this year for the Rams on maybe the worst part
(05:34):
of their team. They're very concerned that they're not going
to be able to keep Matt Stafford healthy.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
And Tevin Jenkins and Matt Pryor are now backups in.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Cleveland and Philly, respectively, and they all started fourteen or
more games for the Bears last year, so they were
starting backups on the offensive line. They fired the coach,
they fired the play caller, and again, if you watched,
there were moments of undeniable upside, Like right now in
(06:05):
FS one, we're showing highlights from the Bills game, and
I heard reactions to the Bills game being like, whoa Caleb?
Look at the arm talent. Look at the mobility, look
at the zip on the ball, look at the Accuracy's like, yeah,
we saw it last year. We didn't see it enough.
We didn't see it consistently enough. But he was a rookie.
And that's where I think the narrative piece is getting
(06:29):
forgotten about last season because last season went off the
rails for the Bears, more so though for the Bears
than Caleb Williams. They lost ten games in a row,
and how they lost those games started to become so
comical that, understandably, the Bears became a punchline. The Bears
(06:55):
lost the game to Washington on a hail Mary and
the receiver who caught the ball, his man Tyreek Stevenson,
was literally talking to the crowd when the ball was snapped.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Wasn't even paying attention. That's not on Caleb.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Washington ended up in the NFC Championship game. The Bears
lost the game to Green Bay by one point on
a blocked field goal, a forty six yard attempt, where
they sent to the league office that the pass rush
by the Packers was illegal because they hit the long
snapper over the ball wasn't called whatever it happens, missed called,
(07:38):
but like that's a thing that happened.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
Lost that game by one.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
They hit that forty six yard field goal as time expires.
They would have swept the season series against Green Bay
because they beat him at Lambeau to end the year.
Green Bay was an eleven win team. Was it on
Caleb Williams when they lost to Minnesota the fourteen win
Minnesota Viking when Caleb threw for three hundred and forty
(08:03):
yards and two touchdowns and scored twenty seven points against
Brian Flores' defense?
Speaker 4 (08:11):
Is that game on Caleb Williams.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Because it feels like, well, it was just another loss
in the midst of a ten game losing streak. Okay,
he took a sack in the possession of overtime. That
was not good, no doubt about it. But again, Brian
Flora's defense. Fourteen win team, pretty good. Three hundred and
forty passing yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, scored twenty seven points,
(08:34):
lost in overtime.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
To the Vikings.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
And then everyone remembers the Thanksgiving game against the Lions
where Matt Eberflus forgot that he's the head coach and
that you're.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Allowed to call timeouts.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
They're four yards away from field goal range. Would have
sent him to overtime. They've got one timeout. There's a
sack that puts them out of field goal range, so
you got to gain the five yards, call the timeout,
kick the field goal. There was confusion. You would like
Kleb maybe more situationally aware in that spot. Again, a rookie,
you would like your coach to help out the player.
(09:08):
There were thirty two seconds left when he got sacked.
They only ran one play the rest of the game.
It was like he was playing out there with no coaches.
So I think if they win two of those four
games and all of a sudden they are seven and
ten instead of five and twelve, with wins over the
Vikings and the Commanders in addition to their win at
(09:29):
the end over the Packers, You're like, okay, seven and ten,
ups and downs, missed the playoffs, took too many sacks,
coach got fired instead.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
It's I don't know. As Caleb Williams.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
An NFL player, they upgraded it right guard, center, left guard, coach,
play caller. They use a top ten pick on Colston
lovelin the tight end, and they use the top forty
pick on Luther Burden, a receiver. Both of them looked
good in the preseason opener where the start played against
(10:00):
the Bills. So last year should be the floor for
Caleb Williams. And by the way, everything that I've heard
about Caleb from this year at camp, him and Ben Johnson,
intense relationship, really taking well to hard coaching, true professional,
knows one hundred percent of what it takes, and he's
working his ass off to be great. So if the
(10:24):
floor is thirty five hundred passing yards and a three
and a half to one touchdown the interception ratio, and
he upgraded sixty percent of his offensive line, his head coach,
his play caller, his tight end position, and his wide
receiver group, why are we surprised that he let a
touchdown drive against the Bills in the preseason. I just
(10:45):
know the discourse has just gone completely insane with the oh,
they're sitting him out, they're hiding him, they're afraid, they
prefer Tyson Paijing. Caleb Williams is good, can still be great,
and I think his ceiling is still MVP of the
league and a Super Bowl champion at some point in
(11:07):
his career.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
And I think people frankly have really.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Lost the plot with Caleb Williams, and I look forward
to seeing him build on year one in year two
with Ben Johnson. Should be a very exciting season and
a very exciting next decade for Caleb Williams and the
Chicago Bears. Coming up next, Tom Ernucci, one of the
top voices in baseball. The Brewers the best team, but
(11:30):
not the best shot to win a World Series.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
We unpack how it's all happening. Coming up The Herd.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd
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Speaker 4 (11:45):
He's Mike Carmen, I'm Dan Bayern.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
We have a fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That's right, Dan.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
Every week we're going to scour the waiver wire to
find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup, sit starts,
fantasy football players rankings to get you ready to dominate
the competition.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carmen and
met Dan Byer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and
wherever you bet your podcasts.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Back in on the Herd.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
I'm Danny Parkins in for Colin in just a little.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
Bit discuss something as it relates.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
To college football that I'm pretty sure no one in
the pre show meeting, not a single person agreed with
me on. But you know, such his life. It's the
cross Eye Bear. But joining us now terrific baseball reporter, longtime.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Analysts for Fox Tom Verducci with us.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
You can see him on Fox Sports and the MLB Network. Tom,
thank you so much for the time. And yes, the
author of the terrific book The Cub's Way After the
greatest season in baseball history. I am biased on that,
but that's okay. The twenty sixteen Cubs, Tom, will stay
in that division. The Brewers, they had a lot of
brain drain. They lose their GM, they lose their manager,
(12:54):
they lose some of their best players. They have a
small payroll, yet they are, by the record, the best
team in the sport.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
How do they do it?
Speaker 6 (13:02):
Yeah, I mean people have to get used to that, Danny.
They are the best team in baseball. Even if you
don't know the names. You can't rattle off their starting
infield or their secondary relief pitchers. But it's because they
do so many things well the finer points of the game.
They're the best defensive team in baseball. They steal bases,
They bunt, Yeah, that's still allowed in the game today.
By the way, they're the best team with runners in
(13:24):
scoring position. Their pitching staff is third in Major League Baseball,
so they have no weakness unless you want to count power.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Now.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
They don't hit a lot of home runs. It's eighteenth
in the Major League Baseball in home runs. And that's
the only thing. When I look at Milwaukee, I say,
what could hold them back in the postseason? Because you
need to hit home runs in the postseason. In the
last decade, there's only been The last team to finished
in the bottom half of home runs was the twenty
fifteen Kansas City Royal.
Speaker 7 (13:53):
It's been a long time.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
Last five World champions all been between first and fourth
in home runs. That being said, they will not beat themselves.
You know what happened to the Yankees in the World
Series last year. That ain't happening to the Brewers in
an October series.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
So I don't know how much you follow the gambling
and the odds.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
The odds makers have them is the fourth best team,
fourth best chance to win the World Series, which seems
to just spit in the face of what I've watched
over the last two months. What do you make of
the fact that they're still fourth according to the odds makers.
Speaker 6 (14:30):
Yeah, again, a lot of people don't believe it, or
they're not familiar enough with this team. This is not
the little engine that could. One of the things I
look at, Danny and when it comes to pitching in
the postseason, can you outstuff teams? So I look at
how do hitters do against your stuff in the zone,
because you can't pitch around guys in the postseason. It's
(14:51):
about pure stuff, and the Brewers are the third best
team in baseball as far as limiting damage in the
strike zone. So the way Woodruff is come back, Brandon Woodruff,
the kid Jacob Mazerowski can dominate a game. Freddy peroulta
fifteen game winner, may get twenty. And that bullpen at
the back end is just lights out with stuff. I'm
talking about one hundred mile an hour stuff. I don't
(15:13):
think people are plugged into enough that the Brewers have.
Speaker 7 (15:16):
Some high end talent on the mound.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
And it's not just about playing small ball.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
So the Brewers have passed the Cubs in the division
and built themselves a comfortable lead, even though the Cubs,
you know, the second best run differential in baseball and
are a very talented team, but they've been slumping for
a while. Kyle Tucker has been brutal. Now they're saying
that there's been an injury PCA. His power has really
dwindled for the last month and a half or so.
Do you think the Cubs are faltering or do you
(15:44):
consider them to be still dangerous.
Speaker 6 (15:47):
I still think they're dangerous with an asterisk, and that
is Kyle Tucker. You mentioned that with the finger it's
been now a couple of months now where he has
not hit. There seems to be, if not a direct cause,
a lingeringe with that hairline fracture and the finger. Now
if he gets better and he's back to being the
MVP candidate we saw in the first half of the season,
(16:08):
yes they're dangerous, but he is such an important part
of their offense.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
Overall.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
I love this team because, like Milwaukee, they're very athletic,
they play really good defense, they steal bases and hit
home runs. But to me, I think they absolutely need
Kyle Tucker to make a run through the postseason.
Speaker 7 (16:24):
So I'm not down on the Cubs.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
All credit to the Brewers for the run they've had
to pull away, and the Cubs are not catching the Brewers.
But I think in a postseason environment, give me a
healthy Kyle Tucker and I'll take my chances with the Cubs.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Let's stay in the National League. The Dodgers have gotten
back into first place in the very competitive ANDNL West.
Do you view them, because of their payroll, as anything
short of a World Series as a failure.
Speaker 6 (16:54):
I think you do look at that way because the
expectations are so high. Yes, now there's less I would
say pressure on the Dodgers themselves because of the they
did win the championship last year, but because of the
payroll and this pure talent on this roster. Yes, you
know they're the odds on favorite. Put it that way
in a field where it's pretty wide open, right, I'm
(17:15):
looking at this weekend Danny as a real pivotal point
for the Dodgers, not that they have to prove anything,
but they're going into San Diego and they've got Blake Snell,
Title Glass Now and Yamamoto pitching. Now, two of those guys,
Snell and Glass, now they extended. They've kind of kind
of massaged their way through this season with some injuries
(17:35):
to get to this very point to have those guys
available to dominate a big game. So if you're playing
for the Dodgers, we know it's about what you've done
in October, right, not in July and June.
Speaker 7 (17:49):
They're at that point now where it's put up for
shut up.
Speaker 6 (17:51):
These guys should be now healthy, take the ball three
times through a lineup and dominate a game.
Speaker 7 (17:57):
Big test this weekend in San Diego.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Yeah, you mentioned it, and the game tomorrow is right
here on FS one TV. Executives in history will always
say Yankees Red Sox best rivalry. I will be partial
to Cubs, Cardinals just from where I'm from, but I
got to be objective here. Dodgers Padres has become the
best rivalry in baseball. Do you expect more fireworks between
(18:21):
the teams this weekend?
Speaker 7 (18:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (18:24):
I do. First of all, the atmosphere in that ballpark
is on any.
Speaker 7 (18:28):
Night, I mean, for a weeknight.
Speaker 6 (18:29):
This week against the Giants, it was crazy for the
weekend against the Dodgers, lookout It's one of the best
venues in baseball in terms of pure vibe, and there
have been enough fireworks between these two teams that there
is dislike among the teams, not just the fans. That's
when you're talking about great rivalries, and I think they
generally play very competitive games. Now, if the game is close,
(18:52):
I'm not going against San Diego's bullpen above anybody in baseball,
but the Dodgers to me have a little bit the
edge of the star darting pitching.
Speaker 7 (19:01):
They're very evenly matched.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
I mean, I know that Dodgers swept them last week
in Los Angeles, and I expect this weekend could be
a completely different story. I love some of the deadline
moves the Padres made. They're a deeper lineup than they
had before the deadline with o'hearne and Loreano in there.
But yes, I think this is must see in terms
of rivalries in baseball. It's become a really, really one
(19:22):
of the best, hottest rivalries in baseball.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
How much do you think the Dodgers are going to
have to rely on show hey Otani the pitcher in October.
Speaker 6 (19:36):
That's a great question, because he's got the chance or
the skill to actually go out there and win a
game by himself on the mound. And he's not there
yet in terms of being stretched out enough. But I
think by the time we get to October he should be.
We've seen him now take the ball into the fourth
and maybe the fifth inning. Otani is a guy with
ace stuff, so he can dominate a game. The issue
(19:58):
here is you have to be very careful with his usage,
almost a little bit like Yamamoto, where the Dodgers will
not use Yama Moto on four days arrest. It has
to be at least five and generally six. Showey will
be in that same position. So to dominate a series
might be very tough. But to go out there for
one game, pick your spots, make sure he's on the
six or seventh day. I think by the time we
(20:21):
get to October, I think the governors are off.
Speaker 7 (20:24):
I think show he can.
Speaker 6 (20:24):
Go out there and pitch a game seven innings, no runs,
one run, ten punch outs. He definitely has that inning
and that's a guy who can really turn the series
in one start.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
A few more minutes of Tom Verducci. The AL Wildcard
race is very tight. We have Yankees, Red Sox this weekend.
I've talked to enough managers to know there's no such
thing as a big game. It's all one of one's
sixty two and day at a time. But I feel
like we're at the point in the calendar where they
can't even get away with those cliches. How big of
a series do you consider this weekend to be?
Speaker 6 (20:57):
Yeah, I think it's big, Danny, because I I personally think.
Speaker 7 (21:01):
That seating matters a lot, right.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
I know a lot of people say just get in,
but to me that if I'm a manager that first
round wildcard where I have to play entirely on the road,
it's a scary proposition. And for me, Boston is such
a really good home team. There's a different vibe there.
They just seem to play better. I mean, it seems
like every other game at Fenway is a walk off
(21:23):
win for the Red Sox. There's something they've built there
about playing at home that I think they would love
to have in October.
Speaker 7 (21:31):
So I don't really.
Speaker 6 (21:32):
Buy the argument that just get us in. You know,
if you're the third wildcard and you're on the edge
of maybe getting that last spot, sure that's true, but
I think you play for seating here, I really do.
And there's not a lot of separation between these two teams.
I don't think there will be the game last night,
Let's face that the Yankees did not play a clean game.
(21:52):
If you keep the Yankees in the ballpark as far
as defending the home run, you got a really good
chance of beating them.
Speaker 7 (21:58):
And that's what the Red Sox did last night.
Speaker 6 (22:00):
And by the way, I mean, if you haven't seen
Roman Anthony play, you got to watch this kid play
for the Red Sox. Man twenty one years old and
he's playing like he's been in the big leagues for
ten years.
Speaker 7 (22:13):
Walks into the Yankee Stadium.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
The bleacher creatures are just killing him out there in
right field right and like nothing, he goes out there
base hit the other way home run in ninth inning
to the pull side, a little bit of a batslip.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
I mean, that was just a cool moment.
Speaker 6 (22:26):
That was a welcome to the rivalry moment if I've
ever seen one.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
So there's some big picture stuff too, Rob Manfred talking
about both expansion and geographical realignment. What do you think
of in terms of like the macroeconomics, like the tectonic
shifting of baseball. What do you think is fiction versus
reality here?
Speaker 6 (22:51):
Well, this has been in the works for a while,
Danny and generally on the whiteboard as more opposed to
like really hard and fast ideas about how to realign.
But they definitely want to get the thirty two teams.
That makes scheduling easier. You're probably look at four divisions
of four teams. The question for me is does this
mean that the kind of traditional setup of American and
(23:14):
National League either goes away or is extremely diminished. In
other words, if you won't do want to realign geographically,
would you put say, the Yankees, the Mets, the Phillies,
and the Red Sox in one division and just kind
of throw away American and National League history. That's a
big bold step to make. Now it makes sense logistically,
(23:37):
but as you know, one of the great things about
baseball is its history.
Speaker 7 (23:40):
And I understand.
Speaker 6 (23:41):
We're moving farther and farther away from those kinds of
things in the game, and younger fans especially get used
to it. But I'm curious as to whether that's the
road Major League Baseball wants to go down. They still
want to keep a bit of the history and realign geographically,
but keep sort.
Speaker 7 (23:56):
Of the integrity of the league's intact. That's a bold step.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
Let's face it, though, Danny, We're not talking about anything
on the immediate horizon. This was sometime in the early
twenty thirties, probably by the time two cities are picked
and things get realigned, but it's definitely in the discussion phase.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
How would it work though, to use that example, Yankees,
Matt's Phillies, Red Sox, big market teams, big spending teams.
And then another division proposal that I saw was like Tampa,
the Marlins, an expanded Nashville team, and the Braves. Like
one division would probably have what four or five x
(24:38):
the payroll of another division in that scenario.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
Yeah, that's where the devil the details are in, Like
what's your postseason format? What are the qualifications if you
win your division? Are you automatically seated at all or
even high? I don't know, but it would seem to
me that you'd have to see it as straight like
you know, one through six kind of seeding, regardless of
(25:03):
where you finish in your division. You could have a
fourth place team being the fourth seed if that is possible.
I'd love to know what the idea is there. I
get the what Rob Manford has talked about for years
is that his classic example, if the Red Sox play
the Angels in the postseason, right, you can have one
fan base that's disadvantage. Either Red Sox fans are watching
(25:25):
the game at ten o'clock at night or you're still
at work on the West Coast watching a seven o'clock
game from Fenway Park. So he wants to work against
that and schedule more even playoff games around geographical lines.
So again, devil into details. I'd love to see what
the postseason format is because that could be a real
(25:47):
game change of the game. Like we think it's a
little complicated now in terms of getting in, I'd love
to know what the format would be in the postseason,
not just hey, we're going to relign on geographical boundaries.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Selling author, terrific reporter and a baseball analyst here for
us at Fox. Tom Berducci, thank you so much, tom.
Speaker 7 (26:06):
My pleasure, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Danny, thank you.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
That's Tom Berducci with us talking baseball.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
We'll get back into MICHAEH.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Parsons situation as we move Danny Parkins in.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
For Colin, but coming up next.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Truly, one of the worst ideas I've ever heard was proposed.
I think I have a better one, though it would
involve going back in time. That's coming up to Herd.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and newone Easter nine em Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
It first starts on Monday, when I'll be on FS
one every day from five to six, and we'll talk
more Micah Parsons and Jerry Jones and the stalemate that
apparently won't end, although there is a game coming up
on September seventh, and sneaking suspicion that it'll be over
by then, but we'll see. I saw an idea that
(27:08):
was floated, not by a message board, not by a blog,
not by a random person in my mentions on YouTube
or Instagram or Twitter, but apparently by a Big ten official.
Was the sourcing behind it, and it was apparently the
same type of idea that had been reportedly suggested at
SEC coaches meetings, which was that you know, we got
(27:34):
to think of big idea is College Football Season Week
zeros this week that the college football playoffs should maybe
be expanded to twenty four or twenty eight teams, And
I thought to myself about that scene and office space,
about the jump to conclusions, Matt, is the worst idea
(27:56):
I've ever heard, Yes to truly off full terrible idea.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
You're here an idea that's so bad that it scares you.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
A little bit because you're like these people they walk
among us. Like a twenty eighteen college football playoff with
the Big Ten and the SEC both getting six seven
automatic bids is.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
A truly awful, terrible.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
No good, very bad idea. Let's just let's just hypothetically
for a moment, think about what that would potentially mean
last year. That means Colorado with four losses is in.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
Yeah, well that would have been interesting.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
For television networks, right, Senor Sanders, Travis Oner, Okay, maybe you're.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Fine with that.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
That would have meant that Alabama with four losses would
have been in. Okay, Alabama roll dam died LSU with
four losses would have been in.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
And maybe you're just sitting there nodding like, yeah, it
would have been great put them in. You guys wanted Iowa.
You wanted eight and five Iowa.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
To make the college football playoff last year because they
would have been in under this hypothetical scenario. And listen,
I fully admit that I have addicted to football, and
I will watch football, and I cannot wait for Texas
and Ohio State. And I think that Clemson's defense is
going to be like those title defenses under Dabo, and
(29:27):
I think that they are going to be at least
making the semi final, if not the national championship. And
I cannot wait to see nuss Meyer an hour and
arch Manning and see who emerges as the top quarterback.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
And I'm addicted to it more of a pro guy
than college, but I love college too. It's all great.
If football's on, I will be watching. And I know
that's why.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
More and more and more, bigger, bigger, bigger, more games,
more games, more games.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
We're gonna watch. It feed us our addiction. I get it.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
I just want the regular season to matter. That was
what to me was so special about college football, the
regular season really mattering. Last year, Ohio State as the
eighth seed, wins the national championship, all right, lose to Michigan,
(30:21):
lose to Oregon, still make the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
The eighth seed run the table, win the title.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
In my world, Ohio State would have not gotten that chance.
And I know we cannot put this toothpaste back in
the tube, but for me, four was enough. There was
not a team that had presented an argument outside of
the top four that had ever said we deserved a
(30:48):
shot at the belt, we deserved a shot at the
national championship back in the BCS era when it was
just two. While I thought the debate was compelling and
it made college football like this.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
Like weird combination of the NFL and the.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Olympics, where it was like they got to play the games,
but then there's also judging and it's arbitrary and there's
an eye test, and it was messy and weird. It
wasn't perfect, but it was kind of charming in a way.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
You know.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Four Auburn had a legit gripe in the BCS era.
I thought, oh one, Oregon had a legit gripe in
the BCS era. But for the most part, I thought
we got the teams that ultimately deserved it. But expanded
out to four, that Auburn situation would have been taken
care of. The Oregon situation, you would have been taken
care of. I never saw a terribly compelling case for
(31:38):
a team five, six, seven, eight. And now people are
going to keep pointing to Ohio State last year winning
the title, and that's fine, But I just worry that
if the inevitability of this is bigger, bigger, bigger, more
and more and more, because no one thinks we're stopping
(32:01):
with twelve, it'll go to sixteen. And then when it
goes to sixteen, is it going.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
To go to twenty, Is it going to go to
twenty four? Is it going to go to twenty eight?
Speaker 3 (32:11):
We're going to reach a point where the regular season
it will always matter to the fans of the teams
because they're your biggest thing, right Like Michigan is the
biggest thing in ann Arbor, so it's always going to
matter to Michigan fans. But if every year I watch
(32:33):
the Iron Bowl, I know that both Auburn and Alabama
are going to make the College Football Playoff, for a
non Auburn or Alabama fan, that would inherently take away
some of the value of watching Auburn and Alabama. Now
(32:53):
it would not for an Auburn fan or an Alabama fan,
but for the casual fan. If you water down the
meaning of the result of the regular season. I think
you're running into a situation where at some point, bigger
is not going to be better. And Michigan Ohio State
(33:14):
last year is an unbelievable game, and Michigan wins, and
then Ohio State gets to go on and win the
national championship when it was their second loss. There's something too,
like oh Man back in the day, not that long ago. Sorry,
Ohio State, you're out now. That clearly is not going
(33:39):
to be the case. And Ohio State fans should be
thrilled that it wasn't the case for them last year, obviously,
and they were a deserving champion for how they ran
through the playoff. And I understand these are the rules
that are out there, but there is something too. The
greed is good mantra and the bigger and bigger this
(33:59):
thing get. I worry that at some point you're going
to hit a tipping point. Not that people are going
to stop watching. That's clearly not going to happen. We're
gonna watch however you give it to us, but that
you're going to take what made college football real special
in the interest of trying to recreate March Madness. If
(34:19):
you have a twenty eighteen playoff, how many regular season
games do we even have? If each conference had the
Big Ones have six, seven, eight automatic bids and then
the you know, the ACC and the Big twelve have
three or four automatic bids, why do those games matter?
Speaker 4 (34:34):
Now?
Speaker 3 (34:34):
Conference championships don't matter. You just run the risk of
watering down to product. Like in my America, I'm the
tzar of everything, which you know, maybe I'll run for it.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
Who knows. Sorry, Notre Dame. I know you ended up
in the national championship game last year.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
You lost in Northern Illinois. Sorry, play in a big
bowl game. But clearly I'm in the minority. Clearly, no
one who works with these conferences agrees with me. And
I understand more games on football will watch, but I
just when I see that the idea is the end
(35:08):
result could be a twenty eight team playoff and no
conference championship games, and.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
Damn near over a third of your.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Conference will get automatic bids into the playoffs. Then what
does the Week four game even mean? If that's where
we're going. We're not there yet, but twenty four or
twenty eight teams. I do think there should be big
flashing red lights like caution, caution, like you do not
get too greedy for the playoff, and then you're ultimately
(35:40):
going to devalue your product in the regular season.
Speaker 4 (35:44):
But I'll be there.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
K State, Iowa stay week zero, let's go Texas, Ohio
State in a.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
Week, let's go. I'll be there.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
NFL starts up a couple of weeks from now, and
I was thinking about it because, you know, I've been
monitoring how these teams have been handling their preseason and
JJ McCarthy, you know, national champion in college, right, he
is not going to play, doesn't sound like in the
final preseason game for the Minnesota Vikings, And I have
(36:17):
no problem with it. I would much rather my team
do the Sean McVay route than the Andy Reid route.
Andy Reid plays his guys, he risks the injury.
Speaker 4 (36:27):
They start fresh.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Sean mcvayh doesn't play his guys. I'd sit everybody because
football is just a game of injury. He saw Derek
Harmon get injured for the Steelers their first round pick,
massive loss to the Steelers run defense.
Speaker 4 (36:39):
But JJ McCarthy is going to basically.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
Have thrown seven passes and then We're going to see
him start for a team that won fourteen games last year,
with a team that absolutely rightfully believes despite what prognosticators,
talking heads, and odds makers suggest, they believe that they
can win the Super Bowl. With Kevin o'ca donalla as
the head coach and Brian Flores the defensive coordinator, and
(37:03):
their offensive line and their skill position group, they absolutely
believe that they can win the super Bowl. And while
I do not believe that they can win the super
Bowl this year, I do believe that JJ McCarthy is
the answer for them at quarterback, which sets up a
(37:24):
very interesting potential, like called like a secondary storyline for
this NFL year, which is the twenty twenty four draft
class I believe is going to be looked at as
a historically successful one. It might not be the best
draft class ever, like it might not be the Lway
(37:47):
Marino Cally the eighty three draft class, and we'll see
how it ends up stacking up to the twenty twenty
draft class.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
But where I think it will make history is.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
That they are going to go they being the NFL,
it feels like they are going to go six for
six on first round picks. Signing second contracts with their teams.
I believe that every team that drafted a quarterback in
the first round last year is happy.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
With their selection now.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
They might redo the order, right like Jaden Daniels would
probably go first based on how he went last year.
I understand that bow Knicks would maybe go in front
of Michael Pennox based on how he went last year.
But the Bears are happy with Caleb obviously, the Commanders
are thrilled with Jaden. The Patriots are happy with Drake May,
who passes the eye test.
Speaker 4 (38:39):
In a number of ways.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Bo Knicks looked like he couldn't play football the first
four games of last year. By the end of it,
he has the second most passing touchdowns for a rookie
in NFL history and is in the postseason. Michael Pennix
plays three games for the Falcons and unlock the offense
(39:01):
in a way that, while his numbers were not spectacular
only three passing touchdowns like Jean Robinson, Drake London downfield
passing yards per play like it looked a lot more
potentially explosive.
Speaker 4 (39:15):
They use those first round picks on Pitts.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
And Bijon and London, and then they finally get a
quarterback who's willing to throw the ball down the field.
And then there's JJ McCarthy, who I know that there
is some doubt and some skepticism over because he suffered
the injury. He didn't throw a ton in college and
we haven't seen him do it in the NFL. But
there is there's a group of coaches that get the
(39:40):
benefit of the doubt. Andy Reid gets the benefit of
the doubt. Mike McVeigh gets the benefit of the doubt.
Mike Tomlin from a lot of people gets the benefit
of the doubt. Sean McVay, obviously, I think Matt Lafleur,
with how Jordan Love has looked, has entered into that conversation.
Speaker 4 (39:56):
But Kevin O'Connell should be right there. Also.
Speaker 3 (40:01):
If Kevin O'Connell can get Kirk Cousins to throw for
nearly five thousand yards and then they can move on
from him, and then he can get Sam Donald to
throw for forty five hundred yards and thirty touchdowns and
win fourteen games and have Sam Donald in a position
to get a one hundred million dollar contract.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
And then they can move on from him and they
trade it up.
Speaker 3 (40:27):
I know they just traded up one spot, but still
they traded up to.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
Draft JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
Kevin O'Connell through his actions is telling you that I
believe that JJ McCarthy is better than both Sam Donald
and Kirk Cousins. And even though I have not seen
him play in the NFL other than the seven preseason passes,
I'm inclined to believe him. And so there has been
(40:55):
no draft class in NFL history that has ever had
six guys line a second contract with the team that
drafted him. The class of Burrow and Herbert and Tua
and Love and Hurts is the record. The twenty twenty
class that had five guys sign second contracts with the
(41:16):
team that drafted him. Who's the one that you would
doubt the most to get a second contract out of
that class? Jaden a lock? Bo Nicks playoffs year one
a lock. We're gonna talk to Robert Mays next hour.
Smart of an NFL guy as there is Chicago based
(41:37):
Bears fan. I know he's got some doubts on Caleb
and I know second contract, but I think he would
still even say that Caleb is a lock to get it,
because say, listen, second contract doesn't mean that you're great.
Daniel Jones got a second contract with the Giants, Trevor
Lawrence got a second contract with the Jaguars. But we
talk so much about it's so hard to scout the position,
and there's such a high bust rate. I think the
(41:59):
NFL well in these teams Falcons, Patriots, Bears, Broncos, Commanders
and Patriots. I think they're going to go six for
six with no busts, six for six with quarterbacks who
get second contracts. And it's a thing we've never seen before.
And I know the doubt is I'm McCarthy, but Kevin
O'Connell deserves more benefit of the doubt than any of
(42:20):
the guys leading any.
Speaker 4 (42:22):
Of those other quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
Coming up our number three of the herd, the aforementioned
Robert Mays, the Bear, Chris Filika will be here. We'll
try to make some money together. Well, there's a ton
of nonsense coming out of Dallas. I try to translate.
What does it mean next?
Speaker 4 (42:37):
The herd
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Hour number two, The Herd on Danny parkins in for
Colin Cowherd. Tom Verducci will join us later on this
hour to discuss Brewers Hotest Teamer, Best team in Baseball.
I gotta say, whenever I sit in this chair for Colin,
(00:47):
it's just a pinch me thing. It's a complete honor,
it's a privilege. It's a little surreal. But I don't
know if I've ever looked forward more to a segment
than this one. Because while I've been waiting for First
Thing First to come back and need a join, which
will be Monday, I'll be on from five to six,
I've just had to kind of sit on the sidelines
(01:08):
and watch a lot of this show and a lot
of things we said about Caleb Williams that I cannot
believe that I'm hearing and seeing. So we're going to
take some time here and I'm going to try to
level set the conversation. And yes, listen, everyone has biases.
The people who admit their biases are the ones you
can trust. I am a Bears guy from Chicago. Consider
(01:35):
it disclosed. Caleb Williams was good last year. Anyone who
watched every pass of every game, which I did, would
tell you that he was not good enough.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
He was not as great as we thought he was
going to be.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
But Caleb Williams was good, best rookie quarterback by the
way in Bears franchise history, which I agree the bar
is on the floor. That's an easy one to clear,
but it is still true. And the situation that hand
up I got wrong. I said it was the best
situation a number one overall pick had ever walked into.
(02:13):
I was dead wrong about that because how much of
a disaster the Matt eberflu Shane Waldron coaching situation was.
And we'll get to more of that in a second.
But Caleb Williams was good. He wasn't great. But people
talk about Caleb Williams like it's still possible that he
could be a bust. Bust is off the table. He's good.
(02:39):
Let's start. There's the good, the bad, and the narrative,
and I'll be fair. We'll start with the bad, the
obvious bad, the worst of it, and there were a few.
Was sixty eight sacks. Sixty eight sacks is an absurd number.
Sixty eight sacks is way too many. He did not
fully trust what NFL opened was he held out of
(03:01):
the ball. He was afraid to throw interceptions, and so
he would eat a sack as opposed to trusting his
arm talent, trusting the route, trusting the play did not
play on schedule enough. Sixty eight sacks is unacceptable. He
will always be a higher than average sacked quarterback because
of how much of a big game hunter he is,
because of how mobile he is, because he has that
(03:24):
wizardry to do the second option off angle throws, the
improvisation stuff. But sixty eight is obviously not sustainable. And
then I think there was a legit concern.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Based on what I knew and people that I talked
to around the team, that Caleb was trying to get
by a little bit.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Too much on just his raw natural talent and didn't
have a complete understanding of what it took Monday through
Saturday to be ready for Sunday. And he was young,
He's a rookie. Wasn't a bad guy, wasn't unprofessional. There's
an adjustment of what you need to do to get
ready for a college game and what there is what
you need to do to get ready for a pro game,
(04:06):
and that learning curve was there for Caleb. It was
also certainly impacted by the coaching turnover. So I think
there was professionalism, but really the sacks, sixty eight sacks.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
You can't win. The good was he survived. Who's tough
as hell.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
He played all seventeen games despite being sacked sixty eight times.
He had a three and a half to one touchdown
interception ratio, twenty touchdowns against only six picks. He threw
for over thirty five hundred yards, and he dealt with
everyone talks about the bad coaching, and it was bad.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
They fired Shane.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Walder and his play caller nine games into the season.
And the Bears are a founding charter franchise in the
NFL who had never fired a head coach in season
in their history. And let me tell you, Mark Tressman
deserved it.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Kicked the field goal on second down.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
They finally fired a coach in season because they feared
a mutiny from the team because it got so bad
in season last year.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
But that wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
The offensive line situation that Caleb was dealing with. Matt Pryor,
Tevin Jenkins, and Coleman Shelton all started fourteen plus games,
And if you're out there watching or listening being like,
who are those guys, it's a totally reasonable thing for
you to think Coleman Shelton's going to start at center
this year for the Rams on maybe the worst part
(05:34):
of their team. They're very concerned that they're not going
to be able to keep Matt Stafford healthy.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
And Tevin Jenkins and Matt Pryor are now backups in.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Cleveland and Philly, respectively, and they all started fourteen or
more games for the Bears last year, so they were
starting backups on the offensive line. They fired the coach,
they fired the play caller, and again, if you watched,
there were moments of undeniable upside, Like right now in
(06:05):
FS one, we're showing highlights from the Bills game, and
I heard reactions to the Bills game being like, whoa Caleb?
Look at the arm talent. Look at the mobility, look
at the zip on the ball, look at the Accuracy's like, yeah,
we saw it last year. We didn't see it enough.
We didn't see it consistently enough. But he was a rookie.
And that's where I think the narrative piece is getting
(06:29):
forgotten about last season because last season went off the
rails for the Bears, more so though for the Bears
than Caleb Williams. They lost ten games in a row,
and how they lost those games started to become so
comical that, understandably, the Bears became a punchline. The Bears
(06:55):
lost the game to Washington on a hail Mary and
the receiver who caught the ball, his man Tyreek Stevenson,
was literally talking to the crowd when the ball was snapped.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Wasn't even paying attention. That's not on Caleb.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Washington ended up in the NFC Championship game. The Bears
lost the game to Green Bay by one point on
a blocked field goal, a forty six yard attempt, where
they sent to the league office that the pass rush
by the Packers was illegal because they hit the long
snapper over the ball wasn't called whatever it happens, missed called,
(07:38):
but like that's a thing that happened.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
Lost that game by one.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
They hit that forty six yard field goal as time expires.
They would have swept the season series against Green Bay
because they beat him at Lambeau to end the year.
Green Bay was an eleven win team. Was it on
Caleb Williams when they lost to Minnesota the fourteen win
Minnesota Viking when Caleb threw for three hundred and forty
(08:03):
yards and two touchdowns and scored twenty seven points against
Brian Flores' defense?
Speaker 4 (08:11):
Is that game on Caleb Williams.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Because it feels like, well, it was just another loss
in the midst of a ten game losing streak. Okay,
he took a sack in the possession of overtime. That
was not good, no doubt about it. But again, Brian
Flora's defense. Fourteen win team, pretty good. Three hundred and
forty passing yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, scored twenty seven points,
(08:34):
lost in overtime.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
To the Vikings.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
And then everyone remembers the Thanksgiving game against the Lions
where Matt Eberflus forgot that he's the head coach and
that you're.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Allowed to call timeouts.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
They're four yards away from field goal range. Would have
sent him to overtime. They've got one timeout. There's a
sack that puts them out of field goal range, so
you got to gain the five yards, call the timeout,
kick the field goal. There was confusion. You would like
Kleb maybe more situationally aware in that spot. Again, a rookie,
you would like your coach to help out the player.
(09:08):
There were thirty two seconds left when he got sacked.
They only ran one play the rest of the game.
It was like he was playing out there with no coaches.
So I think if they win two of those four
games and all of a sudden they are seven and
ten instead of five and twelve, with wins over the
Vikings and the Commanders in addition to their win at
(09:29):
the end over the Packers, You're like, okay, seven and ten,
ups and downs, missed the playoffs, took too many sacks,
coach got fired instead.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
It's I don't know. As Caleb Williams.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
An NFL player, they upgraded it right guard, center, left guard, coach,
play caller. They use a top ten pick on Colston
lovelin the tight end, and they use the top forty
pick on Luther Burden, a receiver. Both of them looked
good in the preseason opener where the start played against
(10:00):
the Bills. So last year should be the floor for
Caleb Williams. And by the way, everything that I've heard
about Caleb from this year at camp, him and Ben Johnson,
intense relationship, really taking well to hard coaching, true professional,
knows one hundred percent of what it takes, and he's
working his ass off to be great. So if the
(10:24):
floor is thirty five hundred passing yards and a three
and a half to one touchdown the interception ratio, and
he upgraded sixty percent of his offensive line, his head coach,
his play caller, his tight end position, and his wide
receiver group, why are we surprised that he let a
touchdown drive against the Bills in the preseason. I just
(10:45):
know the discourse has just gone completely insane with the oh,
they're sitting him out, they're hiding him, they're afraid, they
prefer Tyson Paijing. Caleb Williams is good, can still be great,
and I think his ceiling is still MVP of the
league and a Super Bowl champion at some point in
(11:07):
his career.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
And I think people frankly have really.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Lost the plot with Caleb Williams, and I look forward
to seeing him build on year one in year two
with Ben Johnson. Should be a very exciting season and
a very exciting next decade for Caleb Williams and the
Chicago Bears. Coming up next, Tom Ernucci, one of the
top voices in baseball. The Brewers the best team, but
(11:30):
not the best shot to win a World Series.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
We unpack how it's all happening. Coming up The Herd.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd
to listen live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
He's Mike Carmen, I'm Dan Bayern.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
We have a fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That's right, Dan.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
Every week we're going to scour the waiver wire to
find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup, sit starts,
fantasy football players rankings to get you ready to dominate
the competition.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carmen and
met Dan Byer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and
wherever you bet your podcasts.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Back in on the Herd.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
I'm Danny Parkins in for Colin in just a little.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
Bit discuss something as it relates.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
To college football that I'm pretty sure no one in
the pre show meeting, not a single person agreed with
me on. But you know, such his life. It's the
cross Eye Bear. But joining us now terrific baseball reporter, longtime.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Analysts for Fox Tom Verducci with us.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
You can see him on Fox Sports and the MLB Network. Tom,
thank you so much for the time. And yes, the
author of the terrific book The Cub's Way After the
greatest season in baseball history. I am biased on that,
but that's okay. The twenty sixteen Cubs, Tom, will stay
in that division. The Brewers, they had a lot of
brain drain. They lose their GM, they lose their manager,
(12:54):
they lose some of their best players. They have a
small payroll, yet they are, by the record, the best
team in the sport.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
How do they do it?
Speaker 6 (13:02):
Yeah, I mean people have to get used to that, Danny.
They are the best team in baseball. Even if you
don't know the names. You can't rattle off their starting
infield or their secondary relief pitchers. But it's because they
do so many things well the finer points of the game.
They're the best defensive team in baseball. They steal bases,
They bunt, Yeah, that's still allowed in the game today.
By the way, they're the best team with runners in
(13:24):
scoring position. Their pitching staff is third in Major League Baseball,
so they have no weakness unless you want to count power.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Now.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
They don't hit a lot of home runs. It's eighteenth
in the Major League Baseball in home runs. And that's
the only thing. When I look at Milwaukee, I say,
what could hold them back in the postseason? Because you
need to hit home runs in the postseason. In the
last decade, there's only been The last team to finished
in the bottom half of home runs was the twenty
fifteen Kansas City Royal.
Speaker 7 (13:53):
It's been a long time.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
Last five World champions all been between first and fourth
in home runs. That being said, they will not beat themselves.
You know what happened to the Yankees in the World
Series last year. That ain't happening to the Brewers in
an October series.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
So I don't know how much you follow the gambling
and the odds.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
The odds makers have them is the fourth best team,
fourth best chance to win the World Series, which seems
to just spit in the face of what I've watched
over the last two months. What do you make of
the fact that they're still fourth according to the odds makers.
Speaker 6 (14:30):
Yeah, again, a lot of people don't believe it, or
they're not familiar enough with this team. This is not
the little engine that could. One of the things I
look at, Danny and when it comes to pitching in
the postseason, can you outstuff teams? So I look at
how do hitters do against your stuff in the zone,
because you can't pitch around guys in the postseason. It's
(14:51):
about pure stuff, and the Brewers are the third best
team in baseball as far as limiting damage in the
strike zone. So the way Woodruff is come back, Brandon Woodruff,
the kid Jacob Mazerowski can dominate a game. Freddy peroulta
fifteen game winner, may get twenty. And that bullpen at
the back end is just lights out with stuff. I'm
talking about one hundred mile an hour stuff. I don't
(15:13):
think people are plugged into enough that the Brewers have.
Speaker 7 (15:16):
Some high end talent on the mound.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
And it's not just about playing small ball.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
So the Brewers have passed the Cubs in the division
and built themselves a comfortable lead, even though the Cubs,
you know, the second best run differential in baseball and
are a very talented team, but they've been slumping for
a while. Kyle Tucker has been brutal. Now they're saying
that there's been an injury PCA. His power has really
dwindled for the last month and a half or so.
Do you think the Cubs are faltering or do you
(15:44):
consider them to be still dangerous.
Speaker 6 (15:47):
I still think they're dangerous with an asterisk, and that
is Kyle Tucker. You mentioned that with the finger it's
been now a couple of months now where he has
not hit. There seems to be, if not a direct cause,
a lingeringe with that hairline fracture and the finger. Now
if he gets better and he's back to being the
MVP candidate we saw in the first half of the season,
(16:08):
yes they're dangerous, but he is such an important part
of their offense.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
Overall.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
I love this team because, like Milwaukee, they're very athletic,
they play really good defense, they steal bases and hit
home runs. But to me, I think they absolutely need
Kyle Tucker to make a run through the postseason.
Speaker 7 (16:24):
So I'm not down on the Cubs.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
All credit to the Brewers for the run they've had
to pull away, and the Cubs are not catching the Brewers.
But I think in a postseason environment, give me a
healthy Kyle Tucker and I'll take my chances with the Cubs.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Let's stay in the National League. The Dodgers have gotten
back into first place in the very competitive ANDNL West.
Do you view them, because of their payroll, as anything
short of a World Series as a failure.
Speaker 6 (16:54):
I think you do look at that way because the
expectations are so high. Yes, now there's less I would
say pressure on the Dodgers themselves because of the they
did win the championship last year, but because of the
payroll and this pure talent on this roster. Yes, you
know they're the odds on favorite. Put it that way
in a field where it's pretty wide open, right, I'm
(17:15):
looking at this weekend Danny as a real pivotal point
for the Dodgers, not that they have to prove anything,
but they're going into San Diego and they've got Blake Snell,
Title Glass Now and Yamamoto pitching. Now, two of those guys,
Snell and Glass, now they extended. They've kind of kind
of massaged their way through this season with some injuries
(17:35):
to get to this very point to have those guys
available to dominate a big game. So if you're playing
for the Dodgers, we know it's about what you've done
in October, right, not in July and June.
Speaker 7 (17:49):
They're at that point now where it's put up for
shut up.
Speaker 6 (17:51):
These guys should be now healthy, take the ball three
times through a lineup and dominate a game.
Speaker 7 (17:57):
Big test this weekend in San Diego.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Yeah, you mentioned it, and the game tomorrow is right
here on FS one TV. Executives in history will always
say Yankees Red Sox best rivalry. I will be partial
to Cubs, Cardinals just from where I'm from, but I
got to be objective here. Dodgers Padres has become the
best rivalry in baseball. Do you expect more fireworks between
(18:21):
the teams this weekend?
Speaker 7 (18:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (18:24):
I do. First of all, the atmosphere in that ballpark
is on any.
Speaker 7 (18:28):
Night, I mean, for a weeknight.
Speaker 6 (18:29):
This week against the Giants, it was crazy for the
weekend against the Dodgers, lookout It's one of the best
venues in baseball in terms of pure vibe, and there
have been enough fireworks between these two teams that there
is dislike among the teams, not just the fans. That's
when you're talking about great rivalries, and I think they
generally play very competitive games. Now, if the game is close,
(18:52):
I'm not going against San Diego's bullpen above anybody in baseball,
but the Dodgers to me have a little bit the
edge of the star darting pitching.
Speaker 7 (19:01):
They're very evenly matched.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
I mean, I know that Dodgers swept them last week
in Los Angeles, and I expect this weekend could be
a completely different story. I love some of the deadline
moves the Padres made. They're a deeper lineup than they
had before the deadline with o'hearne and Loreano in there.
But yes, I think this is must see in terms
of rivalries in baseball. It's become a really, really one
(19:22):
of the best, hottest rivalries in baseball.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
How much do you think the Dodgers are going to
have to rely on show hey Otani the pitcher in October.
Speaker 6 (19:36):
That's a great question, because he's got the chance or
the skill to actually go out there and win a
game by himself on the mound. And he's not there
yet in terms of being stretched out enough. But I
think by the time we get to October he should be.
We've seen him now take the ball into the fourth
and maybe the fifth inning. Otani is a guy with
ace stuff, so he can dominate a game. The issue
(19:58):
here is you have to be very careful with his usage,
almost a little bit like Yamamoto, where the Dodgers will
not use Yama Moto on four days arrest. It has
to be at least five and generally six. Showey will
be in that same position. So to dominate a series
might be very tough. But to go out there for
one game, pick your spots, make sure he's on the
six or seventh day. I think by the time we
(20:21):
get to October, I think the governors are off.
Speaker 7 (20:24):
I think show he can.
Speaker 6 (20:24):
Go out there and pitch a game seven innings, no runs,
one run, ten punch outs. He definitely has that inning
and that's a guy who can really turn the series
in one start.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
A few more minutes of Tom Verducci. The AL Wildcard
race is very tight. We have Yankees, Red Sox this weekend.
I've talked to enough managers to know there's no such
thing as a big game. It's all one of one's
sixty two and day at a time. But I feel
like we're at the point in the calendar where they
can't even get away with those cliches. How big of
a series do you consider this weekend to be?
Speaker 6 (20:57):
Yeah, I think it's big, Danny, because I I personally think.
Speaker 7 (21:01):
That seating matters a lot, right.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
I know a lot of people say just get in,
but to me that if I'm a manager that first
round wildcard where I have to play entirely on the road,
it's a scary proposition. And for me, Boston is such
a really good home team. There's a different vibe there.
They just seem to play better. I mean, it seems
like every other game at Fenway is a walk off
(21:23):
win for the Red Sox. There's something they've built there
about playing at home that I think they would love
to have in October.
Speaker 7 (21:31):
So I don't really.
Speaker 6 (21:32):
Buy the argument that just get us in. You know,
if you're the third wildcard and you're on the edge
of maybe getting that last spot, sure that's true, but
I think you play for seating here, I really do.
And there's not a lot of separation between these two teams.
I don't think there will be the game last night,
Let's face that the Yankees did not play a clean game.
(21:52):
If you keep the Yankees in the ballpark as far
as defending the home run, you got a really good
chance of beating them.
Speaker 7 (21:58):
And that's what the Red Sox did last night.
Speaker 6 (22:00):
And by the way, I mean, if you haven't seen
Roman Anthony play, you got to watch this kid play
for the Red Sox. Man twenty one years old and
he's playing like he's been in the big leagues for
ten years.
Speaker 7 (22:13):
Walks into the Yankee Stadium.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
The bleacher creatures are just killing him out there in
right field right and like nothing, he goes out there
base hit the other way home run in ninth inning
to the pull side, a little bit of a batslip.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
I mean, that was just a cool moment.
Speaker 6 (22:26):
That was a welcome to the rivalry moment if I've
ever seen one.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
So there's some big picture stuff too, Rob Manfred talking
about both expansion and geographical realignment. What do you think
of in terms of like the macroeconomics, like the tectonic
shifting of baseball. What do you think is fiction versus
reality here?
Speaker 6 (22:51):
Well, this has been in the works for a while,
Danny and generally on the whiteboard as more opposed to
like really hard and fast ideas about how to realign.
But they definitely want to get the thirty two teams.
That makes scheduling easier. You're probably look at four divisions
of four teams. The question for me is does this
mean that the kind of traditional setup of American and
(23:14):
National League either goes away or is extremely diminished. In
other words, if you won't do want to realign geographically,
would you put say, the Yankees, the Mets, the Phillies,
and the Red Sox in one division and just kind
of throw away American and National League history. That's a
big bold step to make. Now it makes sense logistically,
(23:37):
but as you know, one of the great things about
baseball is its history.
Speaker 7 (23:40):
And I understand.
Speaker 6 (23:41):
We're moving farther and farther away from those kinds of
things in the game, and younger fans especially get used
to it. But I'm curious as to whether that's the
road Major League Baseball wants to go down. They still
want to keep a bit of the history and realign geographically,
but keep sort.
Speaker 7 (23:56):
Of the integrity of the league's intact. That's a bold step.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
Let's face it, though, Danny, We're not talking about anything
on the immediate horizon. This was sometime in the early
twenty thirties, probably by the time two cities are picked
and things get realigned, but it's definitely in the discussion phase.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
How would it work though, to use that example, Yankees,
Matt's Phillies, Red Sox, big market teams, big spending teams.
And then another division proposal that I saw was like Tampa,
the Marlins, an expanded Nashville team, and the Braves. Like
one division would probably have what four or five x
(24:38):
the payroll of another division in that scenario.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
Yeah, that's where the devil the details are in, Like
what's your postseason format? What are the qualifications if you
win your division? Are you automatically seated at all or
even high? I don't know, but it would seem to
me that you'd have to see it as straight like
you know, one through six kind of seeding, regardless of
(25:03):
where you finish in your division. You could have a
fourth place team being the fourth seed if that is possible.
I'd love to know what the idea is there. I
get the what Rob Manford has talked about for years
is that his classic example, if the Red Sox play
the Angels in the postseason, right, you can have one
fan base that's disadvantage. Either Red Sox fans are watching
(25:25):
the game at ten o'clock at night or you're still
at work on the West Coast watching a seven o'clock
game from Fenway Park. So he wants to work against
that and schedule more even playoff games around geographical lines.
So again, devil into details. I'd love to see what
the postseason format is because that could be a real
(25:47):
game change of the game. Like we think it's a
little complicated now in terms of getting in, I'd love
to know what the format would be in the postseason,
not just hey, we're going to relign on geographical boundaries.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Selling author, terrific reporter and a baseball analyst here for
us at Fox. Tom Berducci, thank you so much, tom.
Speaker 7 (26:06):
My pleasure, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Danny, thank you.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
That's Tom Berducci with us talking baseball.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
We'll get back into MICHAEH.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Parsons situation as we move Danny Parkins in.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
For Colin, but coming up next.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Truly, one of the worst ideas I've ever heard was proposed.
I think I have a better one, though it would
involve going back in time. That's coming up to Herd.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and newone Easter nine em Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
It first starts on Monday, when I'll be on FS
one every day from five to six, and we'll talk
more Micah Parsons and Jerry Jones and the stalemate that
apparently won't end, although there is a game coming up
on September seventh, and sneaking suspicion that it'll be over
by then, but we'll see. I saw an idea that
(27:08):
was floated, not by a message board, not by a blog,
not by a random person in my mentions on YouTube
or Instagram or Twitter, but apparently by a Big ten official.
Was the sourcing behind it, and it was apparently the
same type of idea that had been reportedly suggested at
SEC coaches meetings, which was that you know, we got
(27:34):
to think of big idea is College Football Season Week
zeros this week that the college football playoffs should maybe
be expanded to twenty four or twenty eight teams, And
I thought to myself about that scene and office space,
about the jump to conclusions, Matt, is the worst idea
(27:56):
I've ever heard, Yes to truly off full terrible idea.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
You're here an idea that's so bad that it scares you.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
A little bit because you're like these people they walk
among us. Like a twenty eighteen college football playoff with
the Big Ten and the SEC both getting six seven
automatic bids is.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
A truly awful, terrible.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
No good, very bad idea. Let's just let's just hypothetically
for a moment, think about what that would potentially mean
last year. That means Colorado with four losses is in.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
Yeah, well that would have been interesting.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
For television networks, right, Senor Sanders, Travis Oner, Okay, maybe you're.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Fine with that.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
That would have meant that Alabama with four losses would
have been in. Okay, Alabama roll dam died LSU with
four losses would have been in.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
And maybe you're just sitting there nodding like, yeah, it
would have been great put them in. You guys wanted Iowa.
You wanted eight and five Iowa.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
To make the college football playoff last year because they
would have been in under this hypothetical scenario. And listen,
I fully admit that I have addicted to football, and
I will watch football, and I cannot wait for Texas
and Ohio State. And I think that Clemson's defense is
going to be like those title defenses under Dabo, and
(29:27):
I think that they are going to be at least
making the semi final, if not the national championship. And
I cannot wait to see nuss Meyer an hour and
arch Manning and see who emerges as the top quarterback.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
And I'm addicted to it more of a pro guy
than college, but I love college too. It's all great.
If football's on, I will be watching. And I know
that's why.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
More and more and more, bigger, bigger, bigger, more games,
more games, more games.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
We're gonna watch. It feed us our addiction. I get it.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
I just want the regular season to matter. That was
what to me was so special about college football, the
regular season really mattering. Last year, Ohio State as the
eighth seed, wins the national championship, all right, lose to Michigan,
(30:21):
lose to Oregon, still make the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
The eighth seed run the table, win the title.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
In my world, Ohio State would have not gotten that chance.
And I know we cannot put this toothpaste back in
the tube, but for me, four was enough. There was
not a team that had presented an argument outside of
the top four that had ever said we deserved a
(30:48):
shot at the belt, we deserved a shot at the
national championship back in the BCS era when it was
just two. While I thought the debate was compelling and
it made college football like this.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
Like weird combination of the NFL and the.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Olympics, where it was like they got to play the games,
but then there's also judging and it's arbitrary and there's
an eye test, and it was messy and weird. It
wasn't perfect, but it was kind of charming in a way.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
You know.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Four Auburn had a legit gripe in the BCS era.
I thought, oh one, Oregon had a legit gripe in
the BCS era. But for the most part, I thought
we got the teams that ultimately deserved it. But expanded
out to four, that Auburn situation would have been taken
care of. The Oregon situation, you would have been taken
care of. I never saw a terribly compelling case for
(31:38):
a team five, six, seven, eight. And now people are
going to keep pointing to Ohio State last year winning
the title, and that's fine, But I just worry that
if the inevitability of this is bigger, bigger, bigger, more
and more and more, because no one thinks we're stopping
(32:01):
with twelve, it'll go to sixteen. And then when it
goes to sixteen, is it going.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
To go to twenty, Is it going to go to
twenty four? Is it going to go to twenty eight?
Speaker 3 (32:11):
We're going to reach a point where the regular season
it will always matter to the fans of the teams
because they're your biggest thing, right Like Michigan is the
biggest thing in ann Arbor, so it's always going to
matter to Michigan fans. But if every year I watch
(32:33):
the Iron Bowl, I know that both Auburn and Alabama
are going to make the College Football Playoff, for a
non Auburn or Alabama fan, that would inherently take away
some of the value of watching Auburn and Alabama. Now
(32:53):
it would not for an Auburn fan or an Alabama fan,
but for the casual fan. If you water down the
meaning of the result of the regular season. I think
you're running into a situation where at some point, bigger
is not going to be better. And Michigan Ohio State
(33:14):
last year is an unbelievable game, and Michigan wins, and
then Ohio State gets to go on and win the
national championship when it was their second loss. There's something too,
like oh Man back in the day, not that long ago. Sorry,
Ohio State, you're out now. That clearly is not going
(33:39):
to be the case. And Ohio State fans should be
thrilled that it wasn't the case for them last year, obviously,
and they were a deserving champion for how they ran
through the playoff. And I understand these are the rules
that are out there, but there is something too. The
greed is good mantra and the bigger and bigger this
(33:59):
thing get. I worry that at some point you're going
to hit a tipping point. Not that people are going
to stop watching. That's clearly not going to happen. We're
gonna watch however you give it to us, but that
you're going to take what made college football real special
in the interest of trying to recreate March Madness. If
(34:19):
you have a twenty eighteen playoff, how many regular season
games do we even have? If each conference had the
Big Ones have six, seven, eight automatic bids and then
the you know, the ACC and the Big twelve have
three or four automatic bids, why do those games matter?
Speaker 4 (34:34):
Now?
Speaker 3 (34:34):
Conference championships don't matter. You just run the risk of
watering down to product. Like in my America, I'm the
tzar of everything, which you know, maybe I'll run for it.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
Who knows. Sorry, Notre Dame. I know you ended up
in the national championship game last year.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
You lost in Northern Illinois. Sorry, play in a big
bowl game. But clearly I'm in the minority. Clearly, no
one who works with these conferences agrees with me. And
I understand more games on football will watch, but I
just when I see that the idea is the end
(35:08):
result could be a twenty eight team playoff and no
conference championship games, and.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
Damn near over a third of your.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Conference will get automatic bids into the playoffs. Then what
does the Week four game even mean? If that's where
we're going. We're not there yet, but twenty four or
twenty eight teams. I do think there should be big
flashing red lights like caution, caution, like you do not
get too greedy for the playoff, and then you're ultimately
(35:40):
going to devalue your product in the regular season.
Speaker 4 (35:44):
But I'll be there.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
K State, Iowa stay week zero, let's go Texas, Ohio
State in a.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
Week, let's go. I'll be there.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
NFL starts up a couple of weeks from now, and
I was thinking about it because, you know, I've been
monitoring how these teams have been handling their preseason and
JJ McCarthy, you know, national champion in college, right, he
is not going to play, doesn't sound like in the
final preseason game for the Minnesota Vikings, And I have
(36:17):
no problem with it. I would much rather my team
do the Sean McVay route than the Andy Reid route.
Andy Reid plays his guys, he risks the injury.
Speaker 4 (36:27):
They start fresh.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Sean mcvayh doesn't play his guys. I'd sit everybody because
football is just a game of injury. He saw Derek
Harmon get injured for the Steelers their first round pick,
massive loss to the Steelers run defense.
Speaker 4 (36:39):
But JJ McCarthy is going to basically.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
Have thrown seven passes and then We're going to see
him start for a team that won fourteen games last year,
with a team that absolutely rightfully believes despite what prognosticators,
talking heads, and odds makers suggest, they believe that they
can win the Super Bowl. With Kevin o'ca donalla as
the head coach and Brian Flores the defensive coordinator, and
(37:03):
their offensive line and their skill position group, they absolutely
believe that they can win the super Bowl. And while
I do not believe that they can win the super
Bowl this year, I do believe that JJ McCarthy is
the answer for them at quarterback, which sets up a
(37:24):
very interesting potential, like called like a secondary storyline for
this NFL year, which is the twenty twenty four draft
class I believe is going to be looked at as
a historically successful one. It might not be the best
draft class ever, like it might not be the Lway
(37:47):
Marino Cally the eighty three draft class, and we'll see
how it ends up stacking up to the twenty twenty
draft class.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
But where I think it will make history is.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
That they are going to go they being the NFL,
it feels like they are going to go six for
six on first round picks. Signing second contracts with their teams.
I believe that every team that drafted a quarterback in
the first round last year is happy.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
With their selection now.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
They might redo the order, right like Jaden Daniels would
probably go first based on how he went last year.
I understand that bow Knicks would maybe go in front
of Michael Pennox based on how he went last year.
But the Bears are happy with Caleb obviously, the Commanders
are thrilled with Jaden. The Patriots are happy with Drake May,
who passes the eye test.
Speaker 4 (38:39):
In a number of ways.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Bo Knicks looked like he couldn't play football the first
four games of last year. By the end of it,
he has the second most passing touchdowns for a rookie
in NFL history and is in the postseason. Michael Pennix
plays three games for the Falcons and unlock the offense
(39:01):
in a way that, while his numbers were not spectacular
only three passing touchdowns like Jean Robinson, Drake London downfield
passing yards per play like it looked a lot more
potentially explosive.
Speaker 4 (39:15):
They use those first round picks on Pitts.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
And Bijon and London, and then they finally get a
quarterback who's willing to throw the ball down the field.
And then there's JJ McCarthy, who I know that there
is some doubt and some skepticism over because he suffered
the injury. He didn't throw a ton in college and
we haven't seen him do it in the NFL. But
there is there's a group of coaches that get the
(39:40):
benefit of the doubt. Andy Reid gets the benefit of
the doubt. Mike McVeigh gets the benefit of the doubt.
Mike Tomlin from a lot of people gets the benefit
of the doubt. Sean McVay, obviously, I think Matt Lafleur,
with how Jordan Love has looked, has entered into that conversation.
Speaker 4 (39:56):
But Kevin O'Connell should be right there. Also.
Speaker 3 (40:01):
If Kevin O'Connell can get Kirk Cousins to throw for
nearly five thousand yards and then they can move on
from him, and then he can get Sam Donald to
throw for forty five hundred yards and thirty touchdowns and
win fourteen games and have Sam Donald in a position
to get a one hundred million dollar contract.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
And then they can move on from him and they
trade it up.
Speaker 3 (40:27):
I know they just traded up one spot, but still
they traded up to.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
Draft JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
Kevin O'Connell through his actions is telling you that I
believe that JJ McCarthy is better than both Sam Donald
and Kirk Cousins. And even though I have not seen
him play in the NFL other than the seven preseason passes,
I'm inclined to believe him. And so there has been
(40:55):
no draft class in NFL history that has ever had
six guys line a second contract with the team that
drafted him. The class of Burrow and Herbert and Tua
and Love and Hurts is the record. The twenty twenty
class that had five guys sign second contracts with the
(41:16):
team that drafted him. Who's the one that you would
doubt the most to get a second contract out of
that class? Jaden a lock? Bo Nicks playoffs year one
a lock. We're gonna talk to Robert Mays next hour.
Smart of an NFL guy as there is Chicago based
(41:37):
Bears fan. I know he's got some doubts on Caleb
and I know second contract, but I think he would
still even say that Caleb is a lock to get it,
because say, listen, second contract doesn't mean that you're great.
Daniel Jones got a second contract with the Giants, Trevor
Lawrence got a second contract with the Jaguars. But we
talk so much about it's so hard to scout the position,
and there's such a high bust rate. I think the
(41:59):
NFL well in these teams Falcons, Patriots, Bears, Broncos, Commanders
and Patriots. I think they're going to go six for
six with no busts, six for six with quarterbacks who
get second contracts. And it's a thing we've never seen before.
And I know the doubt is I'm McCarthy, but Kevin
O'Connell deserves more benefit of the doubt than any of
(42:20):
the guys leading any.
Speaker 4 (42:22):
Of those other quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
Coming up our number three of the herd, the aforementioned
Robert Mays, the Bear, Chris Filika will be here. We'll
try to make some money together. Well, there's a ton
of nonsense coming out of Dallas. I try to translate.
What does it mean next?
Speaker 4 (42:37):
The herd
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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