November 13, 2025 • 36 mins
In today's episode, Colin Cowherd breaks down why the Los Angeles Lakers defensive flaws could destroy their NBA championship hopes—and why even a vintage 40-year-old LeBron James can't fix this fatal weakness. Colin dives deep into the Lakers defensive efficiency issues, roster construction, and what it means for their playoff chances in the loaded Western Conference
Then, Colin reacts to A.J. Brown's comments calling out the Philadelphia Eagles struggling offense. He explains why this tension isn't new—and why he has been warning you about this broken Brown-Jalen Hurts-Nick Sirianni relationship for almost a year now
Plus, NFL insider Albert Breer joins the show to discuss the Buffalo Bills' coaching situation and why the organization could consider a head coach change to capitalize on Josh Allen's Super Bowl window
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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 1 (00:28):
Here we go. It is a Thursday one hour from now.
Greg co Sell stops by. Great to have you in.
We are live from Chicago. It's the Herd Jmax. Sometimes
(00:50):
if you look at the Lakers brand and you think,
like the Showtime Lakers, Hey, oh, it was all about
Magic Johnson, who was not a great defender, but you
had Kareem protecting the rim. So all five of those
title teams, the Showtime Lakers, all five were top ten defenses.
(01:10):
People don't think about that because you had the great
backstop at the rim in Kareem. And so I'm watching
the Lakers last night getting gouged defensively by OKC. And
this is not a criticism, it's instructive. This is why
eventually you've got to get rid of the duplication in
(01:30):
the Lakers lineup. It's so easy for Oklahoma City to score,
and they were missing two starters. I mean SJ had
thirty points, didn't even have to play the fourth quarter.
So JJ Reddick's an offensive leaning coach. Luca guys that
Luca guarded. Last night, Thunder players went eight for ten
from the floor. Ruey Austin reeves much better on offense
(01:50):
than defense. DeAndre Ayton allergic to defense. Gabe Vincent when
he plays, gives you effort, but he's small, who can
he guard? So the only open lane and all of
LA is usually at Laker games, you can always find
an open laid in that traffic. And the reality is,
if you go look at the last five NBA champions,
(02:14):
only Denver was considered sort of average defensively, But the
truth is they weren't and Gordon elite defensively, elite athlete length,
KCP Bruce Brown, they were eighth in defense. May not
have been as good as the Celtics or OKAC last year,
but they were a very very good defensive team. OKC
is missing two starters last night, what does it matter?
(02:36):
I mean SGA can get the thirty with his eyes closed,
they can score in the paint. They had almost fifty
points in the paint. Why because DeAndre none't like defense.
So this is not a criticism, it is a reality.
It is a lineup, a Laker lineup that is heavily
offensive leaning, massive duplication. Austin reeves when Lebron gets back Luca,
(02:58):
they all need the ball in their hands. One of
em elite defenders. Lebron was eight years ago. He's not anymore.
And again, Luca, if Lucas gardn you, you're getting a bucket.
Eight of ten last night were OKC players when Lucas
guarding him. So you have redundancy and duplication. It's like
a football team that doesn't play defense. Right. You may
score a lot of points, but in the end the
(03:18):
other guys are going to lead in ball control. You
and the Lakers just can't get stops and all. If
you look at the West Minnesota, the Spurs, OKC, they've
all got elite defensive stoppers or three. And so the
Lakers Luca may win a scoring title. They'll be fun
to watch. They've got a bunch of guys on ball
skill is exceptional, I mean track meet. They can run
(03:41):
with anybody. They're really good offensively, but it's a lot
of the same guys. And Lebron Siatica James may be
coming back, He's not a defensive stopper, not at this point.
So again, what makes a Super Bowl roster or an
NBA Championship roster? OKC last year prime example. You can
do both. You can make stops, you can get buckets,
(04:03):
you can do mid range, you can get threes. The
Lakers have all sorts of offense. But I've said that in
Austin Reeves, that's Rob Polenka's guy. They don't want to
get rid of him and Lebron. Do you want to
offend Lebron and his and you know and his guys.
So I just I thought last night the Lakers are
great in clutch games, but it's not going to be
(04:24):
clutch You're not going to be in close games against
teams like OKC in Minnesota. Never forget what Minnesota did
to the Lakers last year in the postseason. It wasn't
just offense. They got stops. You know, they forced Austin
Reeves go play defense. He can't. It's not what he does.
It's not a player's fault. It's a redundancy of skill
set and JJ Reddick watched the beat down up close
(04:47):
and personal.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
When you're not playing well offensively, can it can affect
what you're trying to do defensively. There was there seemed
to be more confusion I think on the work on
that end of the fourth on the defensive end that
I I think we anticipated. So you know, I gotta
(05:10):
make sure that you know I've created enough clarity for
these guys.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, I don't think it's a clarity issue. I think
it's a personnel issue and why they should make a
move or consider it at the trade deadline. Everybody's finally
coming over to my side on the AJ Brown Philadelphia
Eagles story. So I never said he was a bad
guy and I never said he wasn't a great player.
(05:35):
He's both. He's a bad fit in Philly, and I
said last year after the Super Bowl trade him, I said,
at the trade deadline, trade him. They didn't, And now
he's got all the leverage. What are they gonna do?
Every time you put a mic in front of him,
he speaking out. Here's AJ Brown's latest DA Tribe on
(05:57):
the Philadelphia Eagles offense.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
At what point we're gonna pick up boxing as an
offense that we're saying we're so great, you know, And
that's what I'm getting it. It's not about we're not
winning or I don't care about winning. All I care
about is net net No. It's been week after week
sometimes we're not contributing, we're not doing our job on offense.
So you can't just keep slapping the band aid over there.
And if you spec the win later late in the year,
(06:21):
you think he's gonna go to it at the end
of the year, it's not gonna Yeah, it's not gonna happen.
It's not gonna happen. You know last year what it was,
thank you for the ring. But it's a new season.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
They adapted, we have to adapt.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
So so now you know he knows he's got all
the leverage. Right before the trade deadline, you don't want
to get shipped off to Jacksonville or after the Super Bowl.
It's like, Eagles have a lot of time in the
front office. I better watch out now. Philly's trapped. And
there's only two things that take a Super Bowl roster
out of Super Bowls. Number one cluster injuries. Your whole
(06:56):
offensive line gets hurt, like the Chargers or drama, and
this is drama. And the Eagles now are doing the
worst thing you can do. They're forcing the ball to him.
They're trying to appease him, like that last throw down
the field against the Packers. They're now just trying to
appease him. That's the worst thing you can do. So
the Eagles are averaging twenty four points and a measly
(07:17):
three hundred yards of offense. In the one game A
Brown didn't play, they scored thirty eight points and at
four hundred and thirty yards. So this is not terribly complicated.
And over the last five games. Yesterday j Max said, well,
well who do you throw to? Well, over the last
five games, the third leading receiver in the NFL is
Devonte Smith. I'm not saying Davonte's better than AJ Brown,
(07:40):
but he's a better fit. So they have a number
one receiver. They have a great back, a good old line,
a good quarterback. But it's the old you know, pizza
at a Mexican restaurant. I'm not saying the pizza is
not great, and it's kind of weird that it's on
the menu. But you can be a great player. You
can be a great guy, and it can just be
a weird fit. And now that you didn't trade him,
(08:00):
he has all the leverage and Philadelphia is probably the
best sports talk radio market in the country in terms
of driving narratives, driving fan opinion, getting people fired. So
this is just I mean, this is a pennata for
the aggressive Philadelphia media to bat around. And I like
(08:22):
him a lot. I think AJ Brown. I don't think
he's a problem. I think he's a great player. But
I've said, if you're a Hall of Fame player and
you already got your money and you've already got your ring,
AJ Brown now wants production. He's an all time talent.
He wants all time production. He's got the money, he's
got the ring, he's got the legacy. He wants production.
(08:45):
And this is just not a good fit. It's also
a reminder, and we've said this for years in the NBA,
if a player wants to be traded, get him out
of the door. The longer you wait the media talks
about it, you lose your life. Average other gms know,
oh okay, well they've got a trade him. So Howie
(09:06):
Roseman has always been ahead of the curve and a
step ahead and he sees around corners. But now AJ
Brown's got the leverage. And you know, yesterday Nick Sirianni said,
you know, I'm about done talking about it. Well, it's
not fabricated. It's not that the Philadelphia media is making
stuff off. Every time you put a mic in front
(09:26):
of AJ Brown, he's talking. So it's just it's just
out of control train here. That's kind of you know,
gone off the tracks. And there's only a couple of
things that can blow up a Super Bowl locker room
and its cluster injuries, and it's drama, and this is
the latter clearly. You know, Jay Mac, I know that
that that that Laker rant. It's not criticism because it's
(09:49):
a very good team, but it is a reality on
what they are and what they're not. And when it's
that easy missing two starters, it is a reminder, guys,
we we have an uneven, lobsided roster. Is that fair?
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Yeah, that's fair.
Speaker 6 (10:04):
I mean this is the third road game for them
on a long road trip. I know, okaysee was on
a back to back. They're a young squad. This isn't
Laker team. Colin three of their top eight guys last night,
were brand new to the team. They've been with him
for like, you know, a month. Okay, so I'm not overreacting.
I will say DeAndre Ayton, who's looked good this season,
looked terrible last night. He's an awful matchup for OKC.
(10:25):
He's robotic when he catches the ball on the pick
and roll. He just doesn't flow well. Yeah, but Jackson
Hayes ain't the answer, So listen, okay, see is gonna
be a massive problem for the Lakers in the postseason.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
You just hope.
Speaker 6 (10:38):
Hey, you bet on Luca who took him out two
years ago when they were really good, when he was
a Dallas and you bet on the King the Goat, Lebron.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Okay, We've got a lot of stuff that's really interesting.
Rick new Heisl's bashing Notre Dame. What are the Giants
gonna do with a head coaching spot? Are they gonna
make the same mistake they've made multiple times? And why
is Aaron Rodgers get and bashed for the Steelers? Doesn't
feel like it's an Aaron Rodgers issue. All those next.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
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(11:26):
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Speaker 1 (11:41):
Subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon and comment away.
Speaker 6 (11:45):
Sunday on Fox, Caleb Williams and the Bears battle Justin
Jefferson and the Vikings, or Sam Darnold and the Seahawks
take on Matthew Stafford and the Rams for control of
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Speaker 1 (12:03):
So Greg co Sll top of Next Hour. We got
big games. This is a really good, really really good
college and u NFL Weekend, really good, Greg Coasell top
Next Hour. So, Kyle Shanahan, I've said this before. You
don't want to justify things in pro sports. You don't
(12:23):
want to justify draft picks or justified decisions. Just who's
hot and who's healthy. For the Niners, the hot quarterback
is Mac Jones. The healthy quarterback is Mac Jones. I
would be in no rush to bring back Brock Purty.
Here's Kyle Shanahan on the Mac Purdy situation.
Speaker 7 (12:42):
It's not a hard decision. It's just more about Brock's health.
It's been awesome how Max played, He's been great. But
we got a lot of confidence in Brock, and we
know Brock will play at a high level too, as
long as he's healthy. See, that's the world. I mean,
anytime at backup quarterback comes in and plays good. I mean,
that's all anyone talks about, you know, I don't. I
don't think anyone talks about what people have done in
the past, whether it's Brock or whether it's anybody. If
(13:04):
that's just health, The world works when with media or anybody.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Okay, So here's how good Mac Jones has been without
his number one receiver, Brandon Ayuk, without his number two
receiver Ricky Piersol hasn't had them. So let's do a
little blind resume. All put up mac Jones's numbers and
three categories, four categories I think are pretty important. He's
(13:30):
completing seventy percent of his throws. He's averaging two hundred
and seventy yards, passing second in the league without Ricky Pearsol,
without Brandon Ayuk. He's got three three hundred yard games
tied for first in the league, and his passer rating
pretty good ninety seven and a half. That's good. That's
a starter in the NFL. That's a BV plus quarterback.
(13:51):
So let's put those numbers up. Those are real numbers.
Multiple three hundred games, two seventy a game, seventy percent,
completion percentage high nineties. Okay, so let's look at this
first for a radio audience. This first quarterback is close,
but it's just a tick in all the category. It's
just a tick less of a quarterback than mac Jones.
(14:14):
Who would this be Justin Herbert? Now Herbert is missing
both as tackles and he doesn't have Christian McCaffrey. Mac
Jones is slightly better than Justin Herbert. All right, let's
do it again. Let's go another one. I mean, Justin
is missing both tackles. This quarterback. I mean, this is unbelievable.
(14:35):
They're almost duplicates. And again no Ricky Pearsol, no Brandon I.
These guys are duplicates. So who is the doppelganger? Who
is the duplicate of Mac Jones? Oh, Dak Prescott? The
two weeks ago you had had him as MVP. He's
got ceedee lamb, you got George Pickens, Max doing it
(14:56):
without a number one or number two receiver. Alright, let's
do all let's do the next one. Well, this one
is unbelievable. I mean, Mac is clearly better than this guy.
Max got more first downs, more three hundred yard games,
more yards per attempt, more yards per game, much more accurate.
Who is this stiff? Oh, it's Baker Mayfield, who's having
(15:19):
a great year. Okay, Baker's having a very good year.
All right, let me do a couple more to prove
my point. Let's just let's throw another one up there.
Here's another quarterback who I mean might as well be
the exact same numbers. Max a little bit more accurate
than this quarterback? Who has one more start? Who's this guy? Oh,
(15:40):
Patrick Malomes? Okay, who's got by the way, an array
of wide receiver and tight end talent that I'm not
sure anybody else in the league has. And Andy Reid. Okay,
but hey, let's rush back old sore toe brock Purty.
Let's go one more. There's one more quarterback again. The
numbers are almost precise in saying the difference is Mac
(16:02):
wins this guy, this guy's two and six. Who's this guy?
Oh that's brock Perty's last eight starts and max last
eight starts. Very interesting numbers. Okay, Jay Mack, you can
go ahead respond if you'd liked it that one.
Speaker 6 (16:19):
I muted myself because I had some choice expletives that
I was muttering. Does brock pretty stats are a joke? Colin, listen,
nothing makes my blood boil more than a blind quarterback test.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
So what are you saying?
Speaker 6 (16:37):
Let's just put it on all the cards on the table.
So you compared it to Mahomes this season, Herbert this season?
Speaker 1 (16:42):
What are you?
Speaker 6 (16:43):
What's your overarching thesis? Mac Jones is a starting quarterback.
Mac Jones should get a Maximney deal. What are we
saying here?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Mac Jones is a starting quarterback in this league? If
you look in with Josh McDaniels, he was a pro bowler.
If you look at him in San Francisco, We've seen
We've seen Baker Reborn, We've seen Darnold reb We're watching
the next rebirth, and it's Mac Jones, who is clearly
a franchise quarterback.
Speaker 6 (17:06):
So the Niners should keep him in trade Purty, Uh,
trade him for a lot since he's got a ton
of value and start Purty. What do you think it's
a move?
Speaker 8 (17:14):
You?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
What would I do? Yeah, I'd move brock Purty, all right,
I mean I I I'm watching Mac Jos floored.
Speaker 6 (17:27):
I don't even have a rejoinder at this point.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
I mean, I, Okay, by the way, brock Purtty has value,
but I got nothing.
Speaker 6 (17:34):
Not with that new contract he just signed it last offseason.
I mean, he's probably got more contract than or more
appeal to teams than Kyler Murray. But I don't see
a big market for Purty at this number.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Let me ask you this, Arizona, Arizona, they want to
start over, they want to move off Kyler Murray. Brock
Purty is the opposite of Kyler Murray. He's totally dedicated,
doesn't care about baseball, Gonna sit in the pocket.
Speaker 6 (18:01):
But Colin a look at the division leaders, Bo Nick's
rookie contract, Daniel Jones cheap contract. You look around the league,
the best teams buy and large, not all of them
are with quarterbacks on a cheap contract.
Speaker 5 (18:14):
It's not a super max deal. To steal a phrase.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
From the NBA, like, I don't think anybody's gonna want Purty.
And I love Rock Purdy. You know he's my guy.
Shanahan loves them, but I don't see like I think.
Don't tell me the Jets are gonna like bite on
Brock Purty. No, no, this is.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Not an anti Rock party. It's Oh, I can get
Mac Jones for half the prize, That's what it is.
Why do you think Baker and Sam Darnold come at
such value Because when you're reborn, you don't take the
big contract, right Like Sam and Baker want an opportunity
to flourish and build up their legacy. That's what Mack wants.
Mac doesn't want to be known as a bust. Mac
(18:51):
Jones doesn't want to be known as New England Mac
with Belichick or Jacksonville. He wants to be So you're
gonna get a discount on the deal with mac Jones.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
Okay, so could they flip mac Jones for the Raiders.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I don't think mac Jones with that Oh.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
Wait a minute, you don't think mac Jones would fit
in that system? You mean away from Kyle Jenhan.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
No, I'm saying, when mac Jones has proven when you
give him an elite offensive coordinator or coach, he's really good.
He's really good. And we've seen this over and over
in the NFL in recent years. When guys get the
right fit, they're really good. I mean, he's the first
round pick for a reason. This is not anti brock Pretty,
but my take is, let me just tell this. You
know I love Joe Burrow, right, yeah, I have said,
(19:35):
one more injury to Joe Burrow and you have to
go find another quarterback. And I love Burrow. Okay, let
me ask you, what if you brought Pretty back in
two weeks and he had another injury week sixteen, would
you then acknowledge we have a problem.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
I would just say he had a rough season at
that point, I would hope.
Speaker 5 (19:53):
I mean, it's not like he's brutal.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Okay, So the Saints, Browns, Jets, and Raiders all projected
top tendanting to quarterback. If Dante More doesn't come out,
Mendoza's first quarterback off the board, no dispute, you're gonna
I don't think these guys, I.
Speaker 6 (20:09):
Don't think it does. Let me flip it on you
instead of forget pretty. I don't think the Niners are
trading him. Shanahan loves him, the GM Lynch loves him.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have an aging Aaron Rodgers. He's gonna
be done after this season. They have no path at
quarterback after Rogers. Would you take a chance on Mac
Jones as the next Pittsburgh I was.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
If I was Mac Jones, I wouldn't want Pittsburgh. If
I was brought party, I wouldn't want it. I want
to I would go to an offensive leaning organization. That's
what I would do. I look at all these organizations.
I'd go to Cleveland, like if I was you know, Cleveland. Yeah,
I mean, if I'm Kevin Stefanski and I don't get
Mendoza and Dante More stays in college, I'm not reaching.
(20:50):
I'm gonna go get Mac Jones for a nickel. That's
what I'm Kevin Stefanski. So you have two first round picks.
And my take is with Cleveland is you you could
draft the quarterback with your second pick, but if you
don't get Mendoza and Dante stays in college, none of
these guys feel like play. A Mendoza can play immediately.
Dante I think could play very quickly.
Speaker 6 (21:12):
But Jardin went twenty fifth and you seem to love him,
so there could be value at the end of the
first round.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Yeah, could be. I would take mac Jones if I
was Kevin Stefanski's got to start winning games. Either give
me Mendoza or mac Jones. I think Mac Jones is
better than anybody in this draft except Mendoza or if
Dante Moore came out.
Speaker 6 (21:31):
What's so complicated about Jones is this is just eight games, Colling.
I mean, Jacobe Rissetts look pretty damn good here for
what five games? Eight games is a tiny sample size.
With McCaffrey, right, and Shanahan, I mean, if he goes
to Cleveland, what kind of contract do you give him?
Speaker 5 (21:47):
Do you give him a Baker Mayfield deal thirty million?
Speaker 1 (21:49):
You give him a reasonable contract? Again, these guys that
these guys that fail and get beaten up Darnold Baker,
they usually give you a much more favorable deal half
of what it would be for somebody else.
Speaker 6 (22:02):
Since you know Shanahan's tight with Kevin O'Connell, is there
any interest in JJ McCarthy continues to struggle.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
Let's bring on Mac Jones.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
That is interesting. I'm just telling you what I've watched
with Mac Jones. We got to be fair here. He's
not a bridge quarterback, He's a franchise quarterback.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
There's whatd going on in the NFL. Giants have an
interim coach Eagles. AJ Brown has all the leverage. Didn't
trade him after the Super Bowl, didn't trade him at
the trade deadline? Well, AJ Brown knows he got the leverage.
Now they're stuck with him. What to do in San
Francisco with Mac Jones, He's under contract with the Niners.
They'd have to trade him. But if Dante More doesn't
(22:51):
come out after Mendoza, there's four teams in the top
eight to nine that need a quarterback. All of these questions.
Albert Brier joining US live Monday morning quarter. Let's start
with AJ Brown. Did Philly can seriously think did they
seriously consider moving him at the deadline because there was
noise in drama. There's more after it, but there were
some before it.
Speaker 8 (23:12):
No. I mean, I think they may consider doing it
after the season, but based on where they are and
how leverage they are to win in the here and
the now. They're defending a championship. This is what they
signed up for. They knew what they signed up for.
And this is honestly, one of Nick Sirianni's strengths is
being able to handle and manage egos.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
It's one of the reasons.
Speaker 8 (23:28):
Why they could afford to take Jalen Carter ninth overall
when some teams had him off their boards. And it's
why you can acquire a player like this who wasn't
always perfect in Tennessee either. So you know, I think
the Eagles long ago made the decision they were going
to ride it out this year with AJ Brown, and
you know, went past the trade deadline without much thought
(23:50):
of moving him.
Speaker 5 (23:52):
Could you get to the offseason and could things change?
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Then?
Speaker 5 (23:55):
They certainly could, Colin.
Speaker 8 (23:57):
I mean, that's when you have the wherewithal to actually
replace him on the which would have been difficult to
do in season, and we'll see what his value would be.
That's a factor too here. I mean, he's going to
be twenty nine years old. He's got, you know, some
chronic knee issues that it was part of the reason
why Tennessee traded him in the first place, and so like,
I don't think you'd expect to get back for him
what you traded for him, you know, a few years ago.
(24:21):
So I certainly I think that'd be on the table
in the offseason, but it wasn't. You know, it wasn't
last week.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
We were talking about this with mac Jones earlier. They're
in no hurry to being pretty back. Max had a
really good season, three three hundred yard games without Ricky Parasol,
without Brandon Aiyuk. I can see Minnesota if JJ McCarthy
plays out in the season and they don't feel right
and they're like they do in Indianapolis and go get
somebody they like in the league. This is how Darnold
(24:47):
and Baker and Daniel Jones' career has been resurrected. That
teams are like we just there may be one quarterback
in the draft, we like, we can't get him, let's
go with something we know. I don't know. I think
Mac Jones our next reclamation project. What do you think
the Niners do.
Speaker 8 (25:04):
Well. It's interesting you bring that up call because there
are some teams that are already looking at the idea of, like,
you know, what we do in the off season and
could there be another Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Daniel Jones,
Gino Smith type of story out there to go and
seize it pon, especially, like you said, with the draft
class maybe not looking like what people had hoped it
would be coming into the year. You know, Nuss Meyer
(25:26):
get gets benched in the middle of the Alabama game,
Drew Aller is hurt right, like Lenora Sellers maybe going
back to school. Bernando Mendoza looks like he's going to
go high up, but he may be the only first
rounder at this point. You know, we have to let
those things play out. But right now, it does look
like there's going to be more teams needing quarterbacks that
are going to be available in the first round of
(25:46):
the draft. And so you look at these reclamation projects,
and I think the Niners would look at the idea
of moving him to get some draft capital because they
have to get younger and they won't be the only one.
You mentioned Minnesota, you know, potentially looking that could be
one of the teams that look for one of those
reclamation projects, you know.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
I think mac Jones is in that category.
Speaker 8 (26:05):
Some teams have looked at the idea, could Kyler Murray
be available after the year? Could to a toungue of
Alwa be available after the year. I think there are
going to be teams on both sides this coin. They
are gonna be teams that are going to be looking
at a player on the roster and say, maybe we've,
you know, reached the end of the road with this.
Speaker 5 (26:20):
Player, maybe we can get something for him.
Speaker 8 (26:22):
And I think on the other end of the ledger,
you are going to have teams that are going to
be looking to see if they can find their own
version of Daniel Jones, Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
So I was thinking I mentioned this that not all
coaches that get fired are bad coaches. Mike McCarthy. The
two examples I have used to comp Sean McDermott are
Chuck Knox and Marty Schottenheimer. Excellent, but they would not.
They didn't win enough in the postseason. They were seen
as conservative guys. They get to the postseason. Chuck Knox
(26:51):
could turn the Seahawks around, the Rams around, Marty did
the Chargers. But eventually people you start winning those games,
they want postseason success. So I've said I feel McDermott
is now our Chuck Knox. Nobody dispute you can coach,
but there are holes on this offense and Tampa. Let's
(27:12):
say Tampa goes into Buffalo this weekend and wins, Yeah,
it's I think the GM is safe and McDermott is
right Bo that Miami game, if you went home and
lost to Tampa, it's gonna get really uncomfortable. Is there
a hot seat with McDermott or is this just media
(27:33):
talk thousands of miles away from Buffalo and we don't
know what's going on.
Speaker 8 (27:37):
I think for right now it's just media talk, right like,
But I would say that having a quarterback of the
magnitude of Josh Allen, who I mean has probably been
the best player in the league over the last two years,
does amp up the pressure on everybody to get it done.
And you know there's a feeling like if you keep
knocking in the door and you can't quite get there,
then do you have to look at something else to
(27:58):
give yourself a spark. I don't think anybody like you said,
would argue with the job that Sean McDermott and Brandon
Bean have done. That they've gone to the playoffs since
seven of eight years. Considering where they where Buffalo was
when they got there, it's pretty remarkable. Six playoff years
in a row, five AFCAS titles in a row. So,
like I think you take into account everything they've accomplished.
(28:19):
I'm going to give you another comp here that I
think is probably apt in this case Tony Dungee in
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And if you go back and
you look at the mid nineties, right, that Buccaneers team
that Dongee took over was a sorry outfit, right like
one of the doormats in all of the sports. Almost
like you had to be there to know how bad
that was, to remember what that was. They were the
(28:39):
laughing stock of the NFL. Tony Dungee gets there, he
gets them up to level ground. I think they made
the playoffs four times in five years, went to an
NFC title game, and they kept knocking on the door
and knocking on the door. And as they went, Warren
Sapp and Derek Brooks and Ronde Barber and John Lynch
were getting older, and eventually it got to the point
(29:00):
where we need somebody to put us over the top.
It didn't mean Tony Dungee couldn't coach, But you remember
what happened at the end of a one. They started
to flirt with Bill Parcells, that didn't work out. They
trade for John Gruden, they win a Super Bowl the
next year. Can argue whether or not that was the
right move for the long term, but it did get
them a championship in the short term. So that's the
one that I think of when I'm thinking of this situation. Again, Like,
(29:22):
I don't think there's any hot seat there now. We
don't know how the rest of the year is going
to play out. So if Buffalo were to somehow missed
the playoffs, which I don't think is going to happen,
to be clear, then I think you start to hear
a little bit more of that based on where they
are and based on the urgency that's created by having
a player.
Speaker 5 (29:40):
Of the magnitude Allen.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
It's really interesting on the Packers. So all of a sudden,
Detroit's head coach is taking the game plan away from
the OC. Minnesota's got JJ McCarthy issue. You know, the
Bears are surging and appear to have you know, the
next great young coach Stichen and Ben Johnson. And here's
(30:03):
Matt Lafleur with an offense that is lost. They can't
run the ball, and he'd like to they lost craft,
but I mean, just no identity. Cleveland losses, Carolina losses,
can't score again. It is I don't I think it's
absurd the question Matt Lafleur, But it is with it.
(30:24):
It always matters. If your rival is Surgeon and you
watch Chicago, what do you make of what's happening the
heat in Green Bay and Lafleur in company.
Speaker 8 (30:33):
Yeah, I think there are a couple of reasons why
people are why people are bringing this up now.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
Number one is a changing of a guard at the
top of the organization.
Speaker 8 (30:42):
Right Mike Mark Murphy was the president there for almost
twenty years.
Speaker 5 (30:47):
He hired Matt Lafleur. He retired over the summer.
Speaker 8 (30:51):
At Policy, who had been there before, comes in as
the team president. They don't extend Lafleur or the general
manager Brian Guda Kunz, which naturally raises the question like
does the new team president, who extensively in Green Bay
is the owner, does he want to bring in his
own people?
Speaker 5 (31:08):
So that's number one.
Speaker 8 (31:09):
Then number two, You've got this group of young players
that you've built around.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
It's Jordan Love, but it's also a lot of the other.
Speaker 8 (31:14):
Guys around him that are right there in year three,
year four, year five, and this is when the rocket
ship should be taking off. And then you trade for
Micah Parsons, which only pushes the chips further into the
middle of the table. And so like there's that feeling
that this is you're all in year with Micah Parsons
coming over with Jordan Love now and a fifty five
million dollar per year contract, and if you're not performing
(31:37):
to the standard, then you know, those questions naturally are
going to come up new team president, big expenditure on
the quarterback, big expenditure on a defensive star. So like,
of course that question is going to come up, like
is this ed Policy's guy going forward?
Speaker 5 (31:53):
That said?
Speaker 8 (31:54):
I think he is, you know, and I think if
you look at like the value that Matt Leflure brought
to the French guys over you know, his early years
when he was managing the Aaron Rodgers mess, he was
developing Jordan Love in the background. He got Jordan Love
ready to play. There's a ton of value in what
Matt Lafleur has accomplished. So I think if this somehow
(32:14):
goes the wrong way, my guess would be there may
be a staff shakeup. There may be some new offensive
coaches there, because I think Jeff Athley's done a great
job on the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 5 (32:24):
But I'd be surprised if the floor wind up gone.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Yeah. Finally, I know how this Mike Kafka thing is
going to work is that the media is going to
like him because he's friendly and smart. Jackson Darnal like
him because he played in the NFL quarterback end of
the season schedule for the Giants, the weakest part of
their tough schedule, the last four games. They may win
a couple of them. And by the way, he's not
(32:48):
as bombastic or as intense as as Dable, so the
players will probably like him. It's my substitute teacher, the
interim coach everybody always loves him, and then seventy five
chance the Giants are like, you know what, he's our guy.
And I said this earlier. Here's what works in New
York Fatino, Tory Coughlin, Parcell's culture changers, where you put
(33:11):
kind of a fortress around your culture and it doesn't
matter what the sport is. Pat Riley TIMPs had a
little bit of this. I got an identity. It's a
culture beyond just scheming.
Speaker 5 (33:23):
Yeah, I mean I.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Wouldn't hire Bella. I would go Mike McCarthy or Lane Kiffin.
What do you make of I think this Kafka thing.
I think I called a GM He said, Listen doesn't
have much presence. Smart guy, good guy. They're gonna like him,
players are going to like him. How do you think
this thing unfolds?
Speaker 8 (33:43):
So I think you're right to feel like this is
a very real audition. Look, the big reason why they
fired Brian Davil when they did, and it's not a
Giants type of thing to do an Insights season firing,
but it's the definition of insanity to do the same
thing over and over again and expect a different result.
They're two and eight for the third year, in a
they haven't won consecutive games in almost two years, which
is pretty remarkable. And they had the blown leads like
(34:06):
right like, So they had the big wins and they regressed.
They had the big winner of the Chargers regress against
the Saints. They had the big win over the Eagles.
They have the blown lead the next week against Denver.
Then they have another blown lead against Chicago. So clearly
they're looking for a spark. But the other thing they're
looking for here is a real evaluation of Mike Kafka.
(34:26):
And I would say this, I would pay attention to
the general manager's history. Okay, Joe Shane was in Miami
in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 5 (34:34):
In twenty fifteen.
Speaker 8 (34:36):
The Dolphins fired Joe Philbin four games end of the year.
The interim coach there was Dan Campbell. By the end
of the year, Dan Campbell's hand picked coordinators were lou
An Arumo and Zach Taylor. And there was a feeling
in that building they had.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
A pretty good thing going.
Speaker 8 (34:53):
And then they wind up saying, naw, you know what
we're gonna go with Adam Gase. So look like I
think that there's they're going to cast a very wide
net here. That's their intention. They've done a lot of
different things over the last ten years. Right. They replaced
Tom Kauflin with the young, the young offensive assistant, Ben mcadue.
That doesn't work. They bring in the retreat past Sherman,
that doesn't work. They bring in the CEO type Joe Judge.
(35:14):
That doesn't work. And then they go back to the
offensive assistant now Brian Dabon, and that doesn't work. So
they are going to cast a wide net and look
at a lot of different types of coaches. But look
at Joe Shane's history, and I just wonder with Joe,
is there a little bit of like a you know,
back in Miami ten years ago, maybe we should have
paid more attention to the interim coach because we had
a really good one in house in Dan Campbell.
Speaker 5 (35:37):
I think that tells you what you know, at least
about Mike.
Speaker 8 (35:39):
Kaffkan getting a shot and not saying he's going to
get the job, but I think he does get a
legitimate look.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Albert Breer, good stuff, Monday Morning Quarterback, all sorts of
moving and shaking. Big NFL weekend, some real big swing games.
Good seeing Albert.
Speaker 5 (35:53):
All right, Thanks Collin.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
I think the other thing that's fascinating, and I know
we're way early on this, but men don't for Indiana
is going to be the first quarterback taken a lot
of discussion now that Dante Moore stand at Oregon that
that that I'm telling you Mac Jones is going to
be Daniel Jones. He's gonna be He's gonna be Baker Mayfield.
Somebody's got to go trade for that guy because Mac
(36:17):
Jones is spinning it without his number one or two
receiver
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
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 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Here we go. It is a Thursday one hour from now.
Greg co Sell stops by. Great to have you in.
We are live from Chicago. It's the Herd Jmax. Sometimes
(00:50):
if you look at the Lakers brand and you think,
like the Showtime Lakers, Hey, oh, it was all about
Magic Johnson, who was not a great defender, but you
had Kareem protecting the rim. So all five of those
title teams, the Showtime Lakers, all five were top ten defenses.
(01:10):
People don't think about that because you had the great
backstop at the rim in Kareem. And so I'm watching
the Lakers last night getting gouged defensively by OKC. And
this is not a criticism, it's instructive. This is why
eventually you've got to get rid of the duplication in
(01:30):
the Lakers lineup. It's so easy for Oklahoma City to score,
and they were missing two starters. I mean SJ had
thirty points, didn't even have to play the fourth quarter.
So JJ Reddick's an offensive leaning coach. Luca guys that
Luca guarded. Last night, Thunder players went eight for ten
from the floor. Ruey Austin reeves much better on offense
(01:50):
than defense. DeAndre Ayton allergic to defense. Gabe Vincent when
he plays, gives you effort, but he's small, who can
he guard? So the only open lane and all of
LA is usually at Laker games, you can always find
an open laid in that traffic. And the reality is,
if you go look at the last five NBA champions,
(02:14):
only Denver was considered sort of average defensively, But the
truth is they weren't and Gordon elite defensively, elite athlete length,
KCP Bruce Brown, they were eighth in defense. May not
have been as good as the Celtics or OKAC last year,
but they were a very very good defensive team. OKC
is missing two starters last night, what does it matter?
(02:36):
I mean SGA can get the thirty with his eyes closed,
they can score in the paint. They had almost fifty
points in the paint. Why because DeAndre none't like defense.
So this is not a criticism, it is a reality.
It is a lineup, a Laker lineup that is heavily
offensive leaning, massive duplication. Austin reeves when Lebron gets back Luca,
(02:58):
they all need the ball in their hands. One of
em elite defenders. Lebron was eight years ago. He's not anymore.
And again, Luca, if Lucas gardn you, you're getting a bucket.
Eight of ten last night were OKC players when Lucas
guarding him. So you have redundancy and duplication. It's like
a football team that doesn't play defense. Right. You may
score a lot of points, but in the end the
(03:18):
other guys are going to lead in ball control. You
and the Lakers just can't get stops and all. If
you look at the West Minnesota, the Spurs, OKC, they've
all got elite defensive stoppers or three. And so the
Lakers Luca may win a scoring title. They'll be fun
to watch. They've got a bunch of guys on ball
skill is exceptional, I mean track meet. They can run
(03:41):
with anybody. They're really good offensively, but it's a lot
of the same guys. And Lebron Siatica James may be
coming back, He's not a defensive stopper, not at this point.
So again, what makes a Super Bowl roster or an
NBA Championship roster? OKC last year prime example. You can
do both. You can make stops, you can get buckets,
(04:03):
you can do mid range, you can get threes. The
Lakers have all sorts of offense. But I've said that in
Austin Reeves, that's Rob Polenka's guy. They don't want to
get rid of him and Lebron. Do you want to
offend Lebron and his and you know and his guys.
So I just I thought last night the Lakers are
great in clutch games, but it's not going to be
(04:24):
clutch You're not going to be in close games against
teams like OKC in Minnesota. Never forget what Minnesota did
to the Lakers last year in the postseason. It wasn't
just offense. They got stops. You know, they forced Austin
Reeves go play defense. He can't. It's not what he does.
It's not a player's fault. It's a redundancy of skill
set and JJ Reddick watched the beat down up close
(04:47):
and personal.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
When you're not playing well offensively, can it can affect
what you're trying to do defensively. There was there seemed
to be more confusion I think on the work on
that end of the fourth on the defensive end that
I I think we anticipated. So you know, I gotta
(05:10):
make sure that you know I've created enough clarity for
these guys.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, I don't think it's a clarity issue. I think
it's a personnel issue and why they should make a
move or consider it at the trade deadline. Everybody's finally
coming over to my side on the AJ Brown Philadelphia
Eagles story. So I never said he was a bad
guy and I never said he wasn't a great player.
(05:35):
He's both. He's a bad fit in Philly, and I
said last year after the Super Bowl trade him, I said,
at the trade deadline, trade him. They didn't, And now
he's got all the leverage. What are they gonna do?
Every time you put a mic in front of him,
he speaking out. Here's AJ Brown's latest DA Tribe on
(05:57):
the Philadelphia Eagles offense.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
At what point we're gonna pick up boxing as an
offense that we're saying we're so great, you know, And
that's what I'm getting it. It's not about we're not
winning or I don't care about winning. All I care
about is net net No. It's been week after week
sometimes we're not contributing, we're not doing our job on offense.
So you can't just keep slapping the band aid over there.
And if you spec the win later late in the year,
(06:21):
you think he's gonna go to it at the end
of the year, it's not gonna Yeah, it's not gonna happen.
It's not gonna happen. You know last year what it was,
thank you for the ring. But it's a new season.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
They adapted, we have to adapt.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
So so now you know he knows he's got all
the leverage. Right before the trade deadline, you don't want
to get shipped off to Jacksonville or after the Super Bowl.
It's like, Eagles have a lot of time in the
front office. I better watch out now. Philly's trapped. And
there's only two things that take a Super Bowl roster
out of Super Bowls. Number one cluster injuries. Your whole
(06:56):
offensive line gets hurt, like the Chargers or drama, and
this is drama. And the Eagles now are doing the
worst thing you can do. They're forcing the ball to him.
They're trying to appease him, like that last throw down
the field against the Packers. They're now just trying to
appease him. That's the worst thing you can do. So
the Eagles are averaging twenty four points and a measly
(07:17):
three hundred yards of offense. In the one game A
Brown didn't play, they scored thirty eight points and at
four hundred and thirty yards. So this is not terribly complicated.
And over the last five games. Yesterday j Max said, well,
well who do you throw to? Well, over the last
five games, the third leading receiver in the NFL is
Devonte Smith. I'm not saying Davonte's better than AJ Brown,
(07:40):
but he's a better fit. So they have a number
one receiver. They have a great back, a good old line,
a good quarterback. But it's the old you know, pizza
at a Mexican restaurant. I'm not saying the pizza is
not great, and it's kind of weird that it's on
the menu. But you can be a great player. You
can be a great guy, and it can just be
a weird fit. And now that you didn't trade him,
(08:00):
he has all the leverage and Philadelphia is probably the
best sports talk radio market in the country in terms
of driving narratives, driving fan opinion, getting people fired. So
this is just I mean, this is a pennata for
the aggressive Philadelphia media to bat around. And I like
(08:22):
him a lot. I think AJ Brown. I don't think
he's a problem. I think he's a great player. But
I've said, if you're a Hall of Fame player and
you already got your money and you've already got your ring,
AJ Brown now wants production. He's an all time talent.
He wants all time production. He's got the money, he's
got the ring, he's got the legacy. He wants production.
(08:45):
And this is just not a good fit. It's also
a reminder, and we've said this for years in the NBA,
if a player wants to be traded, get him out
of the door. The longer you wait the media talks
about it, you lose your life. Average other gms know,
oh okay, well they've got a trade him. So Howie
(09:06):
Roseman has always been ahead of the curve and a
step ahead and he sees around corners. But now AJ
Brown's got the leverage. And you know, yesterday Nick Sirianni said,
you know, I'm about done talking about it. Well, it's
not fabricated. It's not that the Philadelphia media is making
stuff off. Every time you put a mic in front
(09:26):
of AJ Brown, he's talking. So it's just it's just
out of control train here. That's kind of you know,
gone off the tracks. And there's only a couple of
things that can blow up a Super Bowl locker room
and its cluster injuries, and it's drama, and this is
the latter clearly. You know, Jay Mac, I know that
that that that Laker rant. It's not criticism because it's
(09:49):
a very good team, but it is a reality on
what they are and what they're not. And when it's
that easy missing two starters, it is a reminder, guys,
we we have an uneven, lobsided roster. Is that fair?
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Yeah, that's fair.
Speaker 6 (10:04):
I mean this is the third road game for them
on a long road trip. I know, okaysee was on
a back to back. They're a young squad. This isn't
Laker team. Colin three of their top eight guys last night,
were brand new to the team. They've been with him
for like, you know, a month. Okay, so I'm not overreacting.
I will say DeAndre Ayton, who's looked good this season,
looked terrible last night. He's an awful matchup for OKC.
(10:25):
He's robotic when he catches the ball on the pick
and roll. He just doesn't flow well. Yeah, but Jackson
Hayes ain't the answer, So listen, okay, see is gonna
be a massive problem for the Lakers in the postseason.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
You just hope.
Speaker 6 (10:38):
Hey, you bet on Luca who took him out two
years ago when they were really good, when he was
a Dallas and you bet on the King the Goat, Lebron.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Okay, We've got a lot of stuff that's really interesting.
Rick new Heisl's bashing Notre Dame. What are the Giants
gonna do with a head coaching spot? Are they gonna
make the same mistake they've made multiple times? And why
is Aaron Rodgers get and bashed for the Steelers? Doesn't
feel like it's an Aaron Rodgers issue. All those next.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
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(11:26):
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Speaker 1 (11:41):
Subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon and comment away.
Speaker 6 (11:45):
Sunday on Fox, Caleb Williams and the Bears battle Justin
Jefferson and the Vikings, or Sam Darnold and the Seahawks
take on Matthew Stafford and the Rams for control of
the NFC West or other regional action. Check local listings
for the game in your area only on Fox.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
So Greg co Sll top of Next Hour. We got
big games. This is a really good, really really good
college and u NFL Weekend, really good, Greg Coasell top
Next Hour. So, Kyle Shanahan, I've said this before. You
don't want to justify things in pro sports. You don't
(12:23):
want to justify draft picks or justified decisions. Just who's
hot and who's healthy. For the Niners, the hot quarterback
is Mac Jones. The healthy quarterback is Mac Jones. I
would be in no rush to bring back Brock Purty.
Here's Kyle Shanahan on the Mac Purdy situation.
Speaker 7 (12:42):
It's not a hard decision. It's just more about Brock's health.
It's been awesome how Max played, He's been great. But
we got a lot of confidence in Brock, and we
know Brock will play at a high level too, as
long as he's healthy. See, that's the world. I mean,
anytime at backup quarterback comes in and plays good. I mean,
that's all anyone talks about, you know, I don't. I
don't think anyone talks about what people have done in
the past, whether it's Brock or whether it's anybody. If
(13:04):
that's just health, The world works when with media or anybody.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Okay, So here's how good Mac Jones has been without
his number one receiver, Brandon Ayuk, without his number two
receiver Ricky Piersol hasn't had them. So let's do a
little blind resume. All put up mac Jones's numbers and
three categories, four categories I think are pretty important. He's
(13:30):
completing seventy percent of his throws. He's averaging two hundred
and seventy yards, passing second in the league without Ricky Pearsol,
without Brandon Ayuk. He's got three three hundred yard games
tied for first in the league, and his passer rating
pretty good ninety seven and a half. That's good. That's
a starter in the NFL. That's a BV plus quarterback.
(13:51):
So let's put those numbers up. Those are real numbers.
Multiple three hundred games, two seventy a game, seventy percent,
completion percentage high nineties. Okay, so let's look at this
first for a radio audience. This first quarterback is close,
but it's just a tick in all the category. It's
just a tick less of a quarterback than mac Jones.
(14:14):
Who would this be Justin Herbert? Now Herbert is missing
both as tackles and he doesn't have Christian McCaffrey. Mac
Jones is slightly better than Justin Herbert. All right, let's
do it again. Let's go another one. I mean, Justin
is missing both tackles. This quarterback. I mean, this is unbelievable.
(14:35):
They're almost duplicates. And again no Ricky Pearsol, no Brandon I.
These guys are duplicates. So who is the doppelganger? Who
is the duplicate of Mac Jones? Oh, Dak Prescott? The
two weeks ago you had had him as MVP. He's
got ceedee lamb, you got George Pickens, Max doing it
(14:56):
without a number one or number two receiver. Alright, let's
do all let's do the next one. Well, this one
is unbelievable. I mean, Mac is clearly better than this guy.
Max got more first downs, more three hundred yard games,
more yards per attempt, more yards per game, much more accurate.
Who is this stiff? Oh, it's Baker Mayfield, who's having
(15:19):
a great year. Okay, Baker's having a very good year.
All right, let me do a couple more to prove
my point. Let's just let's throw another one up there.
Here's another quarterback who I mean might as well be
the exact same numbers. Max a little bit more accurate
than this quarterback? Who has one more start? Who's this guy? Oh,
(15:40):
Patrick Malomes? Okay, who's got by the way, an array
of wide receiver and tight end talent that I'm not
sure anybody else in the league has. And Andy Reid. Okay,
but hey, let's rush back old sore toe brock Purty.
Let's go one more. There's one more quarterback again. The
numbers are almost precise in saying the difference is Mac
(16:02):
wins this guy, this guy's two and six. Who's this guy?
Oh that's brock Perty's last eight starts and max last
eight starts. Very interesting numbers. Okay, Jay Mack, you can
go ahead respond if you'd liked it that one.
Speaker 6 (16:19):
I muted myself because I had some choice expletives that
I was muttering. Does brock pretty stats are a joke? Colin, listen,
nothing makes my blood boil more than a blind quarterback test.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
So what are you saying?
Speaker 6 (16:37):
Let's just put it on all the cards on the table.
So you compared it to Mahomes this season, Herbert this season?
Speaker 1 (16:42):
What are you?
Speaker 6 (16:43):
What's your overarching thesis? Mac Jones is a starting quarterback.
Mac Jones should get a Maximney deal. What are we
saying here?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Mac Jones is a starting quarterback in this league? If
you look in with Josh McDaniels, he was a pro bowler.
If you look at him in San Francisco, We've seen
We've seen Baker Reborn, We've seen Darnold reb We're watching
the next rebirth, and it's Mac Jones, who is clearly
a franchise quarterback.
Speaker 6 (17:06):
So the Niners should keep him in trade Purty, Uh,
trade him for a lot since he's got a ton
of value and start Purty. What do you think it's
a move?
Speaker 8 (17:14):
You?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
What would I do? Yeah, I'd move brock Purty, all right,
I mean I I I'm watching Mac Jos floored.
Speaker 6 (17:27):
I don't even have a rejoinder at this point.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
I mean, I, Okay, by the way, brock Purtty has value,
but I got nothing.
Speaker 6 (17:34):
Not with that new contract he just signed it last offseason.
I mean, he's probably got more contract than or more
appeal to teams than Kyler Murray. But I don't see
a big market for Purty at this number.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Let me ask you this, Arizona, Arizona, they want to
start over, they want to move off Kyler Murray. Brock
Purty is the opposite of Kyler Murray. He's totally dedicated,
doesn't care about baseball, Gonna sit in the pocket.
Speaker 6 (18:01):
But Colin a look at the division leaders, Bo Nick's
rookie contract, Daniel Jones cheap contract. You look around the league,
the best teams buy and large, not all of them
are with quarterbacks on a cheap contract.
Speaker 5 (18:14):
It's not a super max deal. To steal a phrase.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
From the NBA, like, I don't think anybody's gonna want Purty.
And I love Rock Purdy. You know he's my guy.
Shanahan loves them, but I don't see like I think.
Don't tell me the Jets are gonna like bite on
Brock Purty. No, no, this is.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Not an anti Rock party. It's Oh, I can get
Mac Jones for half the prize, That's what it is.
Why do you think Baker and Sam Darnold come at
such value Because when you're reborn, you don't take the
big contract, right Like Sam and Baker want an opportunity
to flourish and build up their legacy. That's what Mack wants.
Mac doesn't want to be known as a bust. Mac
(18:51):
Jones doesn't want to be known as New England Mac
with Belichick or Jacksonville. He wants to be So you're
gonna get a discount on the deal with mac Jones.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
Okay, so could they flip mac Jones for the Raiders.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I don't think mac Jones with that Oh.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
Wait a minute, you don't think mac Jones would fit
in that system? You mean away from Kyle Jenhan.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
No, I'm saying, when mac Jones has proven when you
give him an elite offensive coordinator or coach, he's really good.
He's really good. And we've seen this over and over
in the NFL in recent years. When guys get the
right fit, they're really good. I mean, he's the first
round pick for a reason. This is not anti brock Pretty,
but my take is, let me just tell this. You
know I love Joe Burrow, right, yeah, I have said,
(19:35):
one more injury to Joe Burrow and you have to
go find another quarterback. And I love Burrow. Okay, let
me ask you, what if you brought Pretty back in
two weeks and he had another injury week sixteen, would
you then acknowledge we have a problem.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
I would just say he had a rough season at
that point, I would hope.
Speaker 5 (19:53):
I mean, it's not like he's brutal.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Okay, So the Saints, Browns, Jets, and Raiders all projected
top tendanting to quarterback. If Dante More doesn't come out,
Mendoza's first quarterback off the board, no dispute, you're gonna
I don't think these guys, I.
Speaker 6 (20:09):
Don't think it does. Let me flip it on you
instead of forget pretty. I don't think the Niners are
trading him. Shanahan loves him, the GM Lynch loves him.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have an aging Aaron Rodgers. He's gonna
be done after this season. They have no path at
quarterback after Rogers. Would you take a chance on Mac
Jones as the next Pittsburgh I was.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
If I was Mac Jones, I wouldn't want Pittsburgh. If
I was brought party, I wouldn't want it. I want
to I would go to an offensive leaning organization. That's
what I would do. I look at all these organizations.
I'd go to Cleveland, like if I was you know, Cleveland. Yeah,
I mean, if I'm Kevin Stefanski and I don't get
Mendoza and Dante More stays in college, I'm not reaching.
(20:50):
I'm gonna go get Mac Jones for a nickel. That's
what I'm Kevin Stefanski. So you have two first round picks.
And my take is with Cleveland is you you could
draft the quarterback with your second pick, but if you
don't get Mendoza and Dante stays in college, none of
these guys feel like play. A Mendoza can play immediately.
Dante I think could play very quickly.
Speaker 6 (21:12):
But Jardin went twenty fifth and you seem to love him,
so there could be value at the end of the
first round.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Yeah, could be. I would take mac Jones if I
was Kevin Stefanski's got to start winning games. Either give
me Mendoza or mac Jones. I think Mac Jones is
better than anybody in this draft except Mendoza or if
Dante Moore came out.
Speaker 6 (21:31):
What's so complicated about Jones is this is just eight games, Colling.
I mean, Jacobe Rissetts look pretty damn good here for
what five games? Eight games is a tiny sample size.
With McCaffrey, right, and Shanahan, I mean, if he goes
to Cleveland, what kind of contract do you give him?
Speaker 5 (21:47):
Do you give him a Baker Mayfield deal thirty million?
Speaker 1 (21:49):
You give him a reasonable contract? Again, these guys that
these guys that fail and get beaten up Darnold Baker,
they usually give you a much more favorable deal half
of what it would be for somebody else.
Speaker 6 (22:02):
Since you know Shanahan's tight with Kevin O'Connell, is there
any interest in JJ McCarthy continues to struggle.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
Let's bring on Mac Jones.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
That is interesting. I'm just telling you what I've watched
with Mac Jones. We got to be fair here. He's
not a bridge quarterback, He's a franchise quarterback.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
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Speaker 1 (22:29):
There's whatd going on in the NFL. Giants have an
interim coach Eagles. AJ Brown has all the leverage. Didn't
trade him after the Super Bowl, didn't trade him at
the trade deadline? Well, AJ Brown knows he got the leverage.
Now they're stuck with him. What to do in San
Francisco with Mac Jones, He's under contract with the Niners.
They'd have to trade him. But if Dante More doesn't
(22:51):
come out after Mendoza, there's four teams in the top
eight to nine that need a quarterback. All of these questions.
Albert Brier joining US live Monday morning quarter. Let's start
with AJ Brown. Did Philly can seriously think did they
seriously consider moving him at the deadline because there was
noise in drama. There's more after it, but there were
some before it.
Speaker 8 (23:12):
No. I mean, I think they may consider doing it
after the season, but based on where they are and
how leverage they are to win in the here and
the now. They're defending a championship. This is what they
signed up for. They knew what they signed up for.
And this is honestly, one of Nick Sirianni's strengths is
being able to handle and manage egos.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
It's one of the reasons.
Speaker 8 (23:28):
Why they could afford to take Jalen Carter ninth overall
when some teams had him off their boards. And it's
why you can acquire a player like this who wasn't
always perfect in Tennessee either. So you know, I think
the Eagles long ago made the decision they were going
to ride it out this year with AJ Brown, and
you know, went past the trade deadline without much thought
(23:50):
of moving him.
Speaker 5 (23:52):
Could you get to the offseason and could things change?
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Then?
Speaker 5 (23:55):
They certainly could, Colin.
Speaker 8 (23:57):
I mean, that's when you have the wherewithal to actually
replace him on the which would have been difficult to
do in season, and we'll see what his value would be.
That's a factor too here. I mean, he's going to
be twenty nine years old. He's got, you know, some
chronic knee issues that it was part of the reason
why Tennessee traded him in the first place, and so like,
I don't think you'd expect to get back for him
what you traded for him, you know, a few years ago.
(24:21):
So I certainly I think that'd be on the table
in the offseason, but it wasn't. You know, it wasn't
last week.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
We were talking about this with mac Jones earlier. They're
in no hurry to being pretty back. Max had a
really good season, three three hundred yard games without Ricky Parasol,
without Brandon Aiyuk. I can see Minnesota if JJ McCarthy
plays out in the season and they don't feel right
and they're like they do in Indianapolis and go get
somebody they like in the league. This is how Darnold
(24:47):
and Baker and Daniel Jones' career has been resurrected. That
teams are like we just there may be one quarterback
in the draft, we like, we can't get him, let's
go with something we know. I don't know. I think
Mac Jones our next reclamation project. What do you think
the Niners do.
Speaker 8 (25:04):
Well. It's interesting you bring that up call because there
are some teams that are already looking at the idea of, like,
you know, what we do in the off season and
could there be another Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Daniel Jones,
Gino Smith type of story out there to go and
seize it pon, especially, like you said, with the draft
class maybe not looking like what people had hoped it
would be coming into the year. You know, Nuss Meyer
(25:26):
get gets benched in the middle of the Alabama game,
Drew Aller is hurt right, like Lenora Sellers maybe going
back to school. Bernando Mendoza looks like he's going to
go high up, but he may be the only first
rounder at this point. You know, we have to let
those things play out. But right now, it does look
like there's going to be more teams needing quarterbacks that
are going to be available in the first round of
(25:46):
the draft. And so you look at these reclamation projects,
and I think the Niners would look at the idea
of moving him to get some draft capital because they
have to get younger and they won't be the only one.
You mentioned Minnesota, you know, potentially looking that could be
one of the teams that look for one of those
reclamation projects, you know.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
I think mac Jones is in that category.
Speaker 8 (26:05):
Some teams have looked at the idea, could Kyler Murray
be available after the year? Could to a toungue of
Alwa be available after the year. I think there are
going to be teams on both sides this coin. They
are gonna be teams that are going to be looking
at a player on the roster and say, maybe we've,
you know, reached the end of the road with this.
Speaker 5 (26:20):
Player, maybe we can get something for him.
Speaker 8 (26:22):
And I think on the other end of the ledger,
you are going to have teams that are going to
be looking to see if they can find their own
version of Daniel Jones, Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
So I was thinking I mentioned this that not all
coaches that get fired are bad coaches. Mike McCarthy. The
two examples I have used to comp Sean McDermott are
Chuck Knox and Marty Schottenheimer. Excellent, but they would not.
They didn't win enough in the postseason. They were seen
as conservative guys. They get to the postseason. Chuck Knox
(26:51):
could turn the Seahawks around, the Rams around, Marty did
the Chargers. But eventually people you start winning those games,
they want postseason success. So I've said I feel McDermott
is now our Chuck Knox. Nobody dispute you can coach,
but there are holes on this offense and Tampa. Let's
(27:12):
say Tampa goes into Buffalo this weekend and wins, Yeah,
it's I think the GM is safe and McDermott is
right Bo that Miami game, if you went home and
lost to Tampa, it's gonna get really uncomfortable. Is there
a hot seat with McDermott or is this just media
(27:33):
talk thousands of miles away from Buffalo and we don't
know what's going on.
Speaker 8 (27:37):
I think for right now it's just media talk, right like,
But I would say that having a quarterback of the
magnitude of Josh Allen, who I mean has probably been
the best player in the league over the last two years,
does amp up the pressure on everybody to get it done.
And you know there's a feeling like if you keep
knocking in the door and you can't quite get there,
then do you have to look at something else to
(27:58):
give yourself a spark. I don't think anybody like you said,
would argue with the job that Sean McDermott and Brandon
Bean have done. That they've gone to the playoffs since
seven of eight years. Considering where they where Buffalo was
when they got there, it's pretty remarkable. Six playoff years
in a row, five AFCAS titles in a row. So,
like I think you take into account everything they've accomplished.
(28:19):
I'm going to give you another comp here that I
think is probably apt in this case Tony Dungee in
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And if you go back and
you look at the mid nineties, right, that Buccaneers team
that Dongee took over was a sorry outfit, right like
one of the doormats in all of the sports. Almost
like you had to be there to know how bad
that was, to remember what that was. They were the
(28:39):
laughing stock of the NFL. Tony Dungee gets there, he
gets them up to level ground. I think they made
the playoffs four times in five years, went to an
NFC title game, and they kept knocking on the door
and knocking on the door. And as they went, Warren
Sapp and Derek Brooks and Ronde Barber and John Lynch
were getting older, and eventually it got to the point
(29:00):
where we need somebody to put us over the top.
It didn't mean Tony Dungee couldn't coach, But you remember
what happened at the end of a one. They started
to flirt with Bill Parcells, that didn't work out. They
trade for John Gruden, they win a Super Bowl the
next year. Can argue whether or not that was the
right move for the long term, but it did get
them a championship in the short term. So that's the
one that I think of when I'm thinking of this situation. Again, Like,
(29:22):
I don't think there's any hot seat there now. We
don't know how the rest of the year is going
to play out. So if Buffalo were to somehow missed
the playoffs, which I don't think is going to happen,
to be clear, then I think you start to hear
a little bit more of that based on where they
are and based on the urgency that's created by having
a player.
Speaker 5 (29:40):
Of the magnitude Allen.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
It's really interesting on the Packers. So all of a sudden,
Detroit's head coach is taking the game plan away from
the OC. Minnesota's got JJ McCarthy issue. You know, the
Bears are surging and appear to have you know, the
next great young coach Stichen and Ben Johnson. And here's
(30:03):
Matt Lafleur with an offense that is lost. They can't
run the ball, and he'd like to they lost craft,
but I mean, just no identity. Cleveland losses, Carolina losses,
can't score again. It is I don't I think it's
absurd the question Matt Lafleur, But it is with it.
(30:24):
It always matters. If your rival is Surgeon and you
watch Chicago, what do you make of what's happening the
heat in Green Bay and Lafleur in company.
Speaker 8 (30:33):
Yeah, I think there are a couple of reasons why
people are why people are bringing this up now.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
Number one is a changing of a guard at the
top of the organization.
Speaker 8 (30:42):
Right Mike Mark Murphy was the president there for almost
twenty years.
Speaker 5 (30:47):
He hired Matt Lafleur. He retired over the summer.
Speaker 8 (30:51):
At Policy, who had been there before, comes in as
the team president. They don't extend Lafleur or the general
manager Brian Guda Kunz, which naturally raises the question like
does the new team president, who extensively in Green Bay
is the owner, does he want to bring in his
own people?
Speaker 5 (31:08):
So that's number one.
Speaker 8 (31:09):
Then number two, You've got this group of young players
that you've built around.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
It's Jordan Love, but it's also a lot of the other.
Speaker 8 (31:14):
Guys around him that are right there in year three,
year four, year five, and this is when the rocket
ship should be taking off. And then you trade for
Micah Parsons, which only pushes the chips further into the
middle of the table. And so like there's that feeling
that this is you're all in year with Micah Parsons
coming over with Jordan Love now and a fifty five
million dollar per year contract, and if you're not performing
(31:37):
to the standard, then you know, those questions naturally are
going to come up new team president, big expenditure on
the quarterback, big expenditure on a defensive star. So like,
of course that question is going to come up, like
is this ed Policy's guy going forward?
Speaker 5 (31:53):
That said?
Speaker 8 (31:54):
I think he is, you know, and I think if
you look at like the value that Matt Leflure brought
to the French guys over you know, his early years
when he was managing the Aaron Rodgers mess, he was
developing Jordan Love in the background. He got Jordan Love
ready to play. There's a ton of value in what
Matt Lafleur has accomplished. So I think if this somehow
(32:14):
goes the wrong way, my guess would be there may
be a staff shakeup. There may be some new offensive
coaches there, because I think Jeff Athley's done a great
job on the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 5 (32:24):
But I'd be surprised if the floor wind up gone.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Yeah. Finally, I know how this Mike Kafka thing is
going to work is that the media is going to
like him because he's friendly and smart. Jackson Darnal like
him because he played in the NFL quarterback end of
the season schedule for the Giants, the weakest part of
their tough schedule, the last four games. They may win
a couple of them. And by the way, he's not
(32:48):
as bombastic or as intense as as Dable, so the
players will probably like him. It's my substitute teacher, the
interim coach everybody always loves him, and then seventy five
chance the Giants are like, you know what, he's our guy.
And I said this earlier. Here's what works in New
York Fatino, Tory Coughlin, Parcell's culture changers, where you put
(33:11):
kind of a fortress around your culture and it doesn't
matter what the sport is. Pat Riley TIMPs had a
little bit of this. I got an identity. It's a
culture beyond just scheming.
Speaker 5 (33:23):
Yeah, I mean I.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Wouldn't hire Bella. I would go Mike McCarthy or Lane Kiffin.
What do you make of I think this Kafka thing.
I think I called a GM He said, Listen doesn't
have much presence. Smart guy, good guy. They're gonna like him,
players are going to like him. How do you think
this thing unfolds?
Speaker 8 (33:43):
So I think you're right to feel like this is
a very real audition. Look, the big reason why they
fired Brian Davil when they did, and it's not a
Giants type of thing to do an Insights season firing,
but it's the definition of insanity to do the same
thing over and over again and expect a different result.
They're two and eight for the third year, in a
they haven't won consecutive games in almost two years, which
is pretty remarkable. And they had the blown leads like
(34:06):
right like, So they had the big wins and they regressed.
They had the big winner of the Chargers regress against
the Saints. They had the big win over the Eagles.
They have the blown lead the next week against Denver.
Then they have another blown lead against Chicago. So clearly
they're looking for a spark. But the other thing they're
looking for here is a real evaluation of Mike Kafka.
(34:26):
And I would say this, I would pay attention to
the general manager's history. Okay, Joe Shane was in Miami
in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 5 (34:34):
In twenty fifteen.
Speaker 8 (34:36):
The Dolphins fired Joe Philbin four games end of the year.
The interim coach there was Dan Campbell. By the end
of the year, Dan Campbell's hand picked coordinators were lou
An Arumo and Zach Taylor. And there was a feeling
in that building they had.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
A pretty good thing going.
Speaker 8 (34:53):
And then they wind up saying, naw, you know what
we're gonna go with Adam Gase. So look like I
think that there's they're going to cast a very wide
net here. That's their intention. They've done a lot of
different things over the last ten years. Right. They replaced
Tom Kauflin with the young, the young offensive assistant, Ben mcadue.
That doesn't work. They bring in the retreat past Sherman,
that doesn't work. They bring in the CEO type Joe Judge.
(35:14):
That doesn't work. And then they go back to the
offensive assistant now Brian Dabon, and that doesn't work. So
they are going to cast a wide net and look
at a lot of different types of coaches. But look
at Joe Shane's history, and I just wonder with Joe,
is there a little bit of like a you know,
back in Miami ten years ago, maybe we should have
paid more attention to the interim coach because we had
a really good one in house in Dan Campbell.
Speaker 5 (35:37):
I think that tells you what you know, at least
about Mike.
Speaker 8 (35:39):
Kaffkan getting a shot and not saying he's going to
get the job, but I think he does get a
legitimate look.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Albert Breer, good stuff, Monday Morning Quarterback, all sorts of
moving and shaking. Big NFL weekend, some real big swing games.
Good seeing Albert.
Speaker 5 (35:53):
All right, Thanks Collin.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
I think the other thing that's fascinating, and I know
we're way early on this, but men don't for Indiana
is going to be the first quarterback taken a lot
of discussion now that Dante Moore stand at Oregon that
that that I'm telling you Mac Jones is going to
be Daniel Jones. He's gonna be He's gonna be Baker Mayfield.
Somebody's got to go trade for that guy because Mac
(36:17):
Jones is spinning it without his number one or two
receiver
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