August 15, 2017 • 34 mins
Doug talks about the Cleveland Cavaliers preparing for life after the LeBron James era and why playing with LeBron is not always as great as it sounds. He discusses the dominance of SEC football and why people are wrong to think the conference is on the decline. Former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi stops by to explain why fans need to temper their expectations for rookie quarterbacks based on what they see in the preseason.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the best of the Doug Gottlieb Show on
Fox Sports Radio. Boom, What Up America? Doug Gottlieb Show,
Fox Sports Radio. John Ramos spinning the tunes on the
ones and twos, My Man Ryan Music in the production seat.
Cindy Kats booking the show. We have an outstanding show
(00:22):
for you today. Charlie Strong is gonna be our guest
head coach of South Florida, former head coach at both
Louisville and as of last year, the University of Texas.
Will ask him about his first training camp as a
head coach of the South Florida Bulls, what he was
left behind. Mike Lombardi will join us. Former NFL GM
will get his thoughts on some of the early season
(00:43):
movement on what we can expect from Jay Cutler as
quarterback of the depleted of the depleted Miami Dolphins. Uh.
Emma Coleburn's gonna join us. She just won the gold
medal in the steeple chase at the World Championships. It's
a fantastic story. She's gonna share her tale with you
and just how big it was for us track and field.
(01:04):
In thirty minutes and Nick Wright, it's gonna join us.
The host of First Things First, which premiers in three
weeks on Fox Sports One will ask him about players
kneeling in the NFL and if he agrees with my
general premise that, um, this hurts the perception that Colin
(01:26):
Kaepernick is being kept out of the NFL because of
his protests from last year. All right, so that's upcoming
later on the show. Fantastic Show for you. There are
stories from around the NBA which continue to focus on Cleveland.
The Cavaliers find themselves fixated on a young star. They
want New York to trade them Christos perzingis to this
(01:47):
point that Nicks have said, you can have anything else
but KP. The Boston Celtics are a potential landing spot
for Kyrie Irving, as the Calves like the idea of
Jayson Tatum in Phoenix. The Calves apparently want Eric Bledsoe
and Jayson Tatum in Denver. They have their eyes set
on Jamal Murray as well as draft choices, these sources
(02:07):
told Adrian ward Zanowski. But one of the big problems
is no one knows what Lebron's doing, even Cleveland, and
because of it, it's really hard to know exactly what
Kyrie's value is or exactly who wants to go play
with Lebron, Because if you're gonna agree to play with Lebron,
(02:30):
m Kyrie has to want out because he's not gonna
be there next year after next year, right Like, there's
so many signs that are pointing to Lebron's potential exodus,
aren't there James Jones now in Phoenix there to recruit Lebron. James,
the love affair that the Lakers front office had with
(02:51):
Rich Paul, agent to Lebron James, Lebron is up next year.
And of course Magic and Rob Polinka, that brain trust
of the Lakers have made it known to everybody, we
want not one but two superstars next year to come
play with our team, and we're gonna move heaven and Earth.
They make sure, but we have that salary space. That's
what they've done this year. Oh yeah, and then there's
(03:13):
Lebron talking about needing a place to play pick up basketball.
When referring to Los Angeles, he referred to l A
as home m HM. Yesterday, he tweeted out that Magic
Johnson has always been there for him. A Happy birthday
to Magic Johnson, a close friend who has always been
there for him. Huh, lots of signs, more signs now
(03:35):
than even when his his now wife then. I still
believe they were girlfriend. I don't remember when exactly got married.
Remember when she was packing up all of the cars
in Miami before the decision to move back from Miami
to Cleveland was There's an additional story from Black Sports
Online which they apparently they listened to Richard Jefferson's podcast.
(03:58):
I have. Richard Jefferson's podcast is really good. I have
not downloaded it. You can download the Doug Godly Show
podcast shameless plug Shameless when it's your own uh downloaded iTunes,
Fox Sports Radio dot com. Don't be fade to rate
it as well. Anyway, they listened to Richard Jefferson's podcast
and when asked about Darren Williams, Richard Jefferson said, when
(04:20):
you talked to Darren Williams about playing golf, his eyes
light up. He was asked about coming off. What about
when Darren was when we asked him about coming off
the bench for the Cavaliers, his eyes did not light up.
Is it fair, at least on some level to surmise
that there's a little bit of ah, a little bit
(04:42):
of Axl Rose. M hmm. Maybe not actual Rose, because
Axel Rose super talented lead singer for Guns and Roses.
Axel Rose is more like Carmelo Anthony. Right. Everyone will
admit that Axel Rose has a laicious amount of God
given talent, but because you don't know if he's gonna
(05:04):
show up for a show, and if he does show
up for a show and you're really good, he might
not get along with his bandmates. Talent only takes you
so far if you can't get along with everybody. Axel
Rose Carmelo Anthony, same guy. Everybody thinks Melo has a
ton of talent, but when others have succeeded in Melo
(05:25):
hasn't gotten the spotlight. He hasn't been as happy, He
hasn't been able to do it in New York. Not
all of it is his fault, but enough of it is.
Axel is more like Carmelo Anthony. Um m hmm. Could
he be like David Lee Roth. David Lee Roth of
(05:45):
course back a jump hot for Teacher was lead singer
of Van Halen when Van Halen first bust on the scene. Right,
and in truth, like Eddie Van Halen is more like
Dwyane Wade, like always good, maybe never sitting, maybe never
recognized as the elite superstar that he is. But Eddie
(06:06):
Van Helen's awesome. Case in point, You put Check with
Dwyane Wade, they win a title. You put Lebron with
Dwayne Wade, they win a title. You put David Lee
Roth with Edie Van Helen, They're awesome. You put Sammy
Hagar with David with Van Helen, they're also awesome. There, Okay,
so I'm trying to find David Lee Roth did eventually
(06:28):
come back to Van Halen and it didn't work, But
I don't even think that's the one m is there
A Is there an iconic singer musician who is great
but just every and respected and wherever he goes or
(06:54):
she goes, they have platinum records, they have sold out concerts,
and yet it's just not that much fun. Maybe sting,
maybe sting. We were looking, we were trying to search
for the parallel, and Steve Gorman Sports comes up after
(07:14):
this show on Fox Sports Radio and and he has
a much greater depth of music knowledge like my music knowledge,
I know a ton of Actually I know way too
much about pop music as my kids. I like a
good I like hip hop, R and B hardcore rap
because I do, and we like a little kind of
we like I got, and even alternative, especially you go nineties.
(07:35):
Occasionally I'll throw on a flannel shirt and some jeans
and some Doc Martin's and I'll rock out to some nineties,
you know, early century alternative. That said, I can't tell
you a ton about the early formations of bands, right
like I know? Do do I know that Pearl Jam
used to be Mookie Blaylock? I do, But I can't
(07:56):
tell you about different band members for different bands and
the different nations of them. But I do know the
story of Sting because I remember there was a behind
the music. May I remember behind the music? So there
used to be really good and Sting burst onto the scene,
but the band couldn't stay together. Police couldn't stay together
because of Wells Stings sort of kind of ego. The
(08:19):
Police reformed in ninety seven by drummer Stewart Copeland along
with a school teacher, Gordon Sumner. That's Sting's name. If
your name was Gordon, you'd go by a Sting too,
and Andy Summers. Within a year they were Rocks big thing,
but tensions began bubbling over as Sting took control of
the band. The others began to feel like his employees,
(08:40):
and he began fighting like crazy, even as the band
got bigger and bigger and bigger. I mean, like, look,
I'm not trying to say that Kyrie is Stewart Copeland
or Andy Summers, but he was one of the founding
members of this and he did hit the game winning shot,
(09:03):
the big shot against the Golden State Warriors. And what
has Lebron James done. He's taken control of the band.
The others began to feel like his employees. Dude, his
agent represents half the team, does not, by the way,
represent Kyrie Irving, the owner of fires that or doesn't
(09:28):
re up the GM. And even though Lebron claims that
he was sad to see the GM go, if he
didn't want the GM gone, the GM would still be there.
Everybody's operating as if it's Lebron James team, and for
all essential potential purposes, it is. It's his town, it's
his team, it's his league. But the police broke up
(09:53):
and the breakup of the Calves. As I've stated, before
is as much Lebron's fault as it is Kyrie's. And
now you're left with the tricky way a second, how
are we going to get appropriate value when any sort
of veteran thinks I don't want to be the last
one out of Cleveland, and any team knows even though
(10:17):
I one, I'd like to move heaven and Earth to
get Kyrie Irving. I got Kyrie for two potential years.
Is that worth trading away one of my young burgeoning stars.
Lebron closer to Sting than he is David Lee Roth
than he is Axl Rose. It's not like we haven't
seen this before, the infighting of bands, and no one
(10:43):
questions Stings competence, stings talents. How Sting is still Jim
and he goes to Staples Center, the Rose Bowl, he
goes out to MetLife in New York. He still sells out.
He's still Sting, and he's one of those guys that
like the older he gets like as a still a
good looking dude. Right. I am not that there's anything
wrong with going the other way, but I am a
(11:04):
straight heterosexual male. I will tell you like Sting as
a good looking as a good looking older dude. He
didn't dance around and then special about it. He just
stands up there and sings, and he's got a scruff,
working and crystal blue eyes. He's stilling, he like, and
he's got the great nickname, I'm sting all right, Bronze
(11:26):
same Wayne, respected, getting better, more refined, more efficient, Incredible
to watch, even though the miles keep piling up. But
that doesn't mean it's easy to be in a band
with him. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Doug gott Leaps Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon
(11:48):
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app.
So yesterday we played for you that Colin Cowherd basically said,
and then basically he did say. This thing lasts forever
in sports. We know this. Even when stars get together,
the Big Three in Boston, you know m J and Pippen,
(12:08):
Shock and Kobe, even when it's Randy, Moss and Brady,
when you get these unbelievable warriors right now, it never
lasts forever. And that's not only true with individuals and teams,
it's also true with cultures in sports. Don't count last year.
We're on the heels of a ten to twelve year
run of Southern college football dominance. The SEC dominated. It's over,
(12:32):
and the South doesn't want to admit it's over. It's
not about the media. SEC fan Vegas no longer sees
you as the best conference. And there's one reason why
this is true. You still have players everywhere. You are
the worst coached major conference. You have ten coordinators masquerading
(12:55):
his head coaches. Okay, um, Look, his take is it
comes down to the coaches, and I think coaches one
it chose their value right because it there's a reality
to it in that coaches go to coaches go somewhere.
Nick Saban wherever he's gone, l s U and Alabama
has competed for and won national championships. The reality, the
(13:18):
perception was Michigan gets Jim Harball, They're gonna get their
stuff together. They haven't won yet, they haven't won anything
big yet, but the perception has changed and the reality
will will soon follow. They've gone after they've paid a
bunch of money to go and get Urban Meyer, and
Meyer has come through with the national Church. Even though
Meyer's Ohiose State team was embarrassed in the national semifinal,
(13:39):
we we forget that. We dismissed that right and the
truth be told, when they won the national championship, they
probably shouldn't have been in the National Championship. It was
only because they curb stomped. Was constant the Big Ten
Championship game where Wisconsin laid down with their third string
quarterback Cardale Jones playing for Ohio State, that they got
a second life is an opportunity, took advantage and won
(14:02):
the first college football playoff. So some of it is perception,
some of it is says misremembering in the past. Some
of it is reality. Like Jim mclwain, I do think
is the guy to fix Florida, but last year he
lost Will Greer, He's starting quarterback to a p D suspension.
People make fun of Butch Jones, but he actually did
(14:24):
an incredible job considering I think they lost like seven
starters on defense to injury. I oh that a SEC
is dead. Like they played and beat Virginia Tech in
their nonconference game, Like they played and beaten teams in Florida,
beat Miami so bad Miami fired their coach. Uh. Look,
(14:45):
Georgia went through a coaching change, went through a transition.
South Carolina has returned since Spurrier uh now retired. Spurrier
left when they're at the bottom, I think the big
thing that's hurting the that hurt the s E see
is the same thing that's hurt the Big twelve, the
same thing that hurt the Pack twelve, and the same
(15:05):
thing that hurt the Big Ten For years, no matter
how good your league is, unless you're most famous teams,
unless you're blue blood teams are competing for championships year
in year out, you're not deemed to be as good
of a conference. That's just the way it works. For
the how many thirteen straight year the SEC had the
(15:28):
most players drafted in excuse me, eleventh straight year the
SEC had the here here's the note, had the most
players drafted in the NFL. Fox Sports Radio has the
best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of
our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and within
the I Heart Radio app. We're now in the generation
to which it's no longer nearly as cool or necessary
(15:50):
even to go to a game, right I think the
state I don't have any doubts that the stadium is
going to work. The stadium is going to house the RAM,
it's gonna have these Chargers and because it's gonna be done,
It's gonna get a Final Four, it's gonna get a
national championship in football, will get another Bowl game in football.
Like the stadium is going to be everything that Dallas has,
right like a hub for activity, huge concerts, big venue
(16:13):
for everything. Only actually in civilized civilization. You ever been
a You've been a Dallas stadium. They're like, let's take
you to a place where there's an actual city, and
then let's take a stadium and put it as far
from that actual city as humanly possible. That's what they did.
The stadium is great, getting there is a mess, and like,
would you rather host an event outside of Dallas, outside
(16:35):
of Fort Worth or right in the heart of Los Angeles?
This is a no brainer. Like the stadium is gonna work.
I'm talking about the football thing actually becoming a thing
like the Raiders. The Raiders, Like, who goes to NFL
games in Los Angeles? A really like you go? It's
(16:56):
a United Nations. It is a really diverse population of people,
and that does not appeal to the Chargers, even though
like there's plenty of Hispanic and um and Asian and
Polynesian fans of the Charges in San Diego. There wasn't
that the Chargers were actually the rival. Like when the
(17:19):
Chargers and the Raiders played, Raider fans from l A
would go down to San Diego and then get into
fights with Charger fans. Now they're supposed to be Charger fans,
Like that's a weird one. And there were there was
nobody who was no one who from a diverse culture
who was a a Rams fan growling like everyon Orange
County team, Like it is the weirdest. And it's because
(17:41):
the NFL waited way after Wednesday. And I even think
Wednesday or three days is too long to like you
text people all the time. You can't text her, Hey,
just thinking of you, this whole thing of I had
to wait three days to text people. You wait too long,
you know, especially now kids have no attention span and
earned an earraw Where why would you go to an
(18:01):
NFL game when you can watch every NFL game and
not even you don't even have to change the channel
if you have red zone, plus you got second screen viewing,
open up your laptop, your iPad. Mostly everybody has a
big screen on TV. Back when the Rams and the
Raiders were in l A. They were not on your team.
(18:21):
You didn't have any other choice. There was no other
way to watch any other game back when the NFL
was in l A. If a friend had a big
screen one and had those three big beams number those
the big, very big beams, you had to roll it
in and it was also a cool thing. Who doesn't
have it? If you don't have a TV over there
(18:42):
is something wrong with you. You're like, oh, this is
not rich person. I no, no no, no, I didn't say
you had a theater room and he had butler service.
Everybody has a flat screen, big screen TV. You have that,
you may not pay your rent, You will pay your CABLEPS,
you will pay your direct TV. Think and if you
don't believe it, ask anybody who markets for these teams.
(19:05):
I kind of think the NFL whipped. They just waited
too long to text the girl back. Be sure to
catch live editions of the Doug gott Leap Show weekdays
at three p m. Eastern noon Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio and the I Heart Radio app. And now, first,
here's Hugh Jackson at his press conference, head coach of
(19:26):
the Cincinnati Bengals, speaking seel I'm sorry. He was the
offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals, the head coach of
the Cleveland Browns. Talking about some of the recent protests
in the NFL, I think everybody has a right to do,
you know, and and I get it, but the national
anthem means a lot to myself, personally, organization or football team.
I hope you know. Again, I can't speak. I haven't
really talked to our team about it. I would hope
(19:48):
we don't have those issues. I understand there's a lot
going on in the world. I like to just keep
it here. You know. What we deal with. We try
to do it as a team in our closed environment.
We talk about things, but hopefully that won't happen. I
can't tell you it won't happen, but I just know
our guys. I don't think that's where our focus is.
And we hope the things that are going on in
the world get ironed out. But I know right now
(20:08):
we're doing everything we can to to get our football
team better. All right, So here's what Shannon Sharp had
to say. It's gonna be hard for me to not
call Hugh Jackson what he actually is. For him to
go public and says, I hope the world gets this
ironed out. Does he understand that he lives in this
world and that by passing the book and kicking the
can no one solved this problem at some point in time.
(20:32):
Dr King Rolls Aparts are great leaders. They picked that
can up a boy. I mean listen, I listened to it,
and I'm like a boy. I like Shannon. I love
his passion for it. But everyone does not have to protest.
Everyone does not have to welcome in protests UH into
(20:53):
their place of business. He's like, look, we're the Browns.
We've been bad for a long time. I've been Hugh Jackson,
this is his second job in the NFL failed as
a Raider's head coach. Was his fault, not his fault.
It doesn't matter. And I he he's within his rights
to not want to engage. I completely disagree with Shannon Sharp, Like, wait,
(21:16):
so any black head coach that says we hope the
world irons out its problems are problems right now? Are
were the Browns and we suck? And he's supposed to
divert some of the attention. I don't I don't agree.
I don't agree. Um Like, look, there's I there's there's time,
(21:39):
and there's place, and two different people, it means different things.
I get that we try and make our feelings known
and we want everybody to feel the way we feel.
I make it a point to not tell people how
to pray, not tell people how to mourn, don't tell
people how to spend their money or raise their kids.
And you know what, don't tell people when and how
they should pro test or try and change the world.
(22:07):
That was a boy say my, my, my crazy. They're
like I just and you could say, well, it's different
when you're a black head coach. Maybe maybe the Shannon
it is like I haven't heard Anthony Lynn speak out
his black head coach standing good Chargers, Mike is Mike Tomlin.
(22:28):
Also do they all have to do? They all have
to form a group and then and protest things that
are happening out in the real world when in truth,
sports are meant to bring us together apart from the
real world. Real world. Screwed up man, real words. Screwed
up doesn't mean you can't protest, but does also doesn't
(22:49):
mean you have to. Fox Sports Radio has the best
sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our
shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within the
I Heart Radio app. Let's welcome in Michael Lombardio, as
I mentioned, a former NFL GM you have to download
his podcast on the Ringer called GM Street. Um, it
feels like the Cowboys knew something was coming, right, Like,
(23:10):
I know Ronnie Hillman's more for for training camp reps,
but uh, it feels like, you know, Alfred Morris along
with Darren McFadden, that should be enough for the first
six games, shouldn't it. Well you think so, but I mean, look,
you gotta do. You gotta go back and really understand
this Cowboy offense. I mean, of the time last year
at number one in the National Football League, they were
able to get four yards on first down, They rushed
(23:33):
more than most teams. They were third in the NFL
and rushing attempts in the first half run fifty four pass.
So now those numbers are going to change. And I
think the biggest factor is Elliott in the passing game.
He had like thirty nine catches last year. He was explosive.
I thought they were going to really advance that and
move forward. Now we're gonna have to take that step
back when McFadden's in the game or Morris is in
(23:55):
the game. Particularly defensive coordinators say, yo, it's gonna be run, run, screen, screen, mean,
there's really no passing game, and you can play an
eight man front effectively against them. When Elliott was in there,
you had to really be careful. So I think it's
dramatically going to change the play call and it's gonna
put the onus on Jason Garrett and and the onus
on Dak Prescott, right, I mean, like look and and
they play a more difficult schedule. I mean, you know,
(24:18):
last year fairly soft schedule. This year Giants at home
when they opened with and last to last year than
to Denver to take on that incredible defense, to Arizona
home to the Rams Packers before they get to arrest
it with the with the Niners. What's your what are
your expectations? Year two? Bigger playbook, but bigger expectations and
no star running back early on the season for Dak Prescott, Well,
(24:39):
I think last year, when you really go over their season,
they were fortunate because their offense carried their defense to
the first ten games. They were very good in time
of possession last year in terms of their defense really
played about a single header of a game. They never
played doubleheaders. They were playing twenty five minutes. And as
they got better and improved during the season, they increased
their playtime and improved defensive. That's not gonna happen this year.
(25:01):
And I wrote about a month ago for The Ringer,
I talked about how Jason Garrett's really in a tough
spot because he's going to have to figure out his
team might be two and three at the buy and
he might have to look at it and say we
need to shift. They may be a better team with
the worst record. I really think the onus is going
to be on the Cowboys coaching staff. I think they
let their team down in the playoff game. There's no
(25:21):
reason green Bay should come into Dallas Stadium and beat
that team, not that green Bay team that got killed
by the Atlanta Falcons by the half last year. So
Dallas is going to have to change what they do offensively,
and I think Elliot is going to be the preemptive
force to force them into changing because if they don't,
teams are gonna get up for him. The one thing
they were able to do is win first down. That's
not going to happen as much. All right, So if
(25:43):
we don't like what this does to the Cowboys, does
it directly benefit a team like the Giants? Most who
in that division benefits the most from that six game suspension?
You know, Doug, when I was growing up that division
was Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Parcels Gibbs, and Buddy Ryan.
And now I'm looking at Ben McAdoo, Doug Peterson, Jason Garrett,
(26:05):
and Jay Gruden, and I'm like, where it happened here?
What happened to Henney? Where is all the great coaches gone?
And I think that really the Giants are the best
team except Eric Flowers. The left tackle has to be
able to pass protect way better than he did in
the opening preseason game where t J. Watt went around
him for a sack. They've got to get better production
out of Bobby Heart, their right tackle. Their offensive line
has been an Achilles heal. And when you look at
(26:26):
Eli Manning season last year, it was the average sixteen
points a game they won with their defense. Can they
do that again? I'm not sure they can. They have
a thousand plays on Ben mcadoo's playlist. It looks like
the Cheesecake Factory menu in front of them. However, they
don't score enough points. So that being said, I'm concerned
about them. I'm concerned about the Redskins. The Redskins don't
(26:46):
look to be the same team that they were last year.
I think Bill Callahan, their offensive line coach, does a
great job of keeping it all together. They made a
change in defense coordinators to Greg Manuski. I'm not sure
that's going to be the answer. And then the Eagles
have a really good football team. They're depth in the
defensive line is much improved. But can Carson Winson proved?
Can he throw the ball better over ten yards than
he did last year? Last year he averaged completion when
(27:09):
he threw the ball over ten yards. That ain't gonna
cut it, and he's gonna have to be better at that,
and I think that's really going to be the challenge.
Michael Lombardi joining us. You talked about the future. Green
Bay Packers defense at the end of the season, just
completely depleted in the back on the back end uh
By by injury. They opened up with the Seahawks. There
are there's a lot of time. Aaron Rodgers going to
get a new contracted at some point in the very
near future. This is a team that went from UM
(27:33):
playoff hopeful to making an incredible run at the end
of the season, probably playing above their level on you know,
on the on the arm and legs of of Aaron Rodgers.
What are your thoughts on how they filled some of
their their holes and their weaknesses. I applaud Ted Thompson.
I mean, he finally Ted Thompson was the guy who
never wanted to go outside of the mainstream way he
developed player personnel. He never liked free agency, always wanted
(27:55):
to hang on the compense Troy picks. Last year he did,
he changed, He went out. He was able to find
Martelle's been in free agency, and I think what he
learned last year in the playoffs was when you give
Aaron Rodgers enough good players around them and they don't
have to be college free agents, he can make everybody
look better. I mean, this is one of the most
I mean, if I'm Aaron Rodgers, I'm saying, look, Matthew Stafford,
get your contract, everybody get their deals, because my I
(28:18):
should be the highest paid player of anybody, because I
carried this team on my back, because I'm that good.
I mean that throw he made against Dallas is one
in a million throw that should have been at some
state fair throw. It's unbelievable he could put the ball there.
So for me, I think Aaron Rodgers carries that team.
Now can they stay healthy? That's the key component for
the Packers. Defensively, They've not been able to do that.
(28:39):
And Dom Caper's has always tried to do what I
call curly in the boat. He's always trying to plug
one hole to fill another hole, and all of a
sudden he has two weeks of his boat and it's
a problem. Um, let's go to Atlanta. The Falcons not
didn't just make the playoffs and made the Super Bowls,
should have won the superle Right, they just take it.
They take a knee on after Julio Jones catch, take
a field goal, and go home with their with their
(29:00):
first Super Bowl championship. They don't. And we've seen this
time and again. The team that loses in the Super
Bowl oftentimes falls apart the next season. The division should
be better, right, Saints couldn't be any worse defensively, Uh,
Tampa seems to be coming on and Carolina was down
after a Super Bowl year the year before. What's your
assessment of what Atlanta will look like this year as
(29:20):
opposed to being a dominant team in the NFC last year. Look,
I don't want to take anything away from Steve Sarkisian.
He's a fine football coach. But what what Kyle Shanahan
did last year I don't think really was truly appreciated.
Matt Ryan's numbers weren't just good above his average, they
were unbelievably above his average. If he would have been
a baseball player, there would have been a commission going
(29:40):
out to see if he was on steroids, because he
was incredible what he did. His numbers were so far
above his career statistical average, and much of that is
because of the way Kyle Shanahan drew up the game plan,
the way Matt Ryan was bought into the offense. I
just don't see them being as good as they were
last year offensively. I don't think Steve Sarkisian can do
implicate what Kyle Shanahan did. I've never seen it out
(30:02):
of Steve's offense. I've seen it out of Kyle. That
being said, I think they're better on defense. I think
they're much better on defense. I think they have more
of a confidence to them defensively, and I think they
can rush the passer. And obviously getting Desmond Trufan back
will tremendously help the secondary, who they didn't have in
the Super Bowl and might have been a huge difference.
But you're right, Dug, the South is much better. I
think Tampa they're like an unmade bed. They look weird,
(30:25):
they don't they turn the ball over, but for whatever reason,
because of the way Jamis Winston plays, they always stay
in games. And they may not win perfectly. They're not
gonna be a Hollywood script, but they find a way
to win games. I think Caroline is much improved too.
I think Cam Newton will have a better season. I
think they've got more weapons. I think they'll be more
a factor offensively defensively, assuming that Luke Kickley can stay
(30:46):
healthy from the concussion protocol and not get hit again.
I think that's a huge if. But that New Orleans
has to be better, as you said, on defense, but
they're always gonna be good on offense with Drew Brees,
and they've got a lot of weapons down there. So
I think the South is gonna be a team we're
gonna get the cards coming from them. They're really good.
I just don't see Atlanta being as good offensively, but
I think they are a better football team totally. They
(31:06):
may not win thirteen games, they may not dominate the
way they did offensively, but I think they're gonna win
as many games because they could do different things. Michael Lombardi,
former NFL GM, will be r GM this year on
the Doug Gottlib Show. Can download his podcast. It's just
an outstanding listen called GM Street. It's on the Ringer
the Ringer's website. Download it, listen to it, and it's
just a plethora of information. Okay, So Mitch dr Bisky
(31:28):
now is uh is? I believe he's the Triumph and
he's God, He's Jesus and he's the Holy Spirit. In
in Chicago, they're already um taking, you know, taking measurements
for the Hall of Fame. Bust you. You've done this
your entire professional life, right, seeing the guys that make it,
seeing the guys that are are weren't what you thought,
were better than you thought you're one weekend. We need
(31:50):
to temper some of these expectations. Drabinsky, because he did
to the layman, at least looked outstanding last week. Yeah,
but look, it's the first preseason game and it's in
the third it in fourth quarter, where the coverages and
the schemes are basically almost high schoolish. It's very vanilla,
and the offense he was running was very vanille. Look,
this is a kid who didn't play a lot of
North Carolina. Took him to a senior year that we
(32:11):
got on the field, and he's gonna take some time
to learn. The game is going to speed up, the
volume of offense is going to increase. In those two factors,
the speed of the game and the volume of the
offense always catch up on young players. You need a
lot of experience. You need that Malcolm Gladwell ten thousand hours.
But you also need that build Bruce Springsteen born to
run enthusiasts where you can actually keep keep working and
(32:32):
keep getting better. I think that's what Robinsky needs to do.
He needs to get experienced and he needs to have
that great enthusiasm. It's gonna take some time. The problem
is Mike Lennon has him produced to the level that
they thought he would, especially paying him fifteen million a year.
I think that's the concern of your Bears fans. You've
got to get more out of Mike glenn and Mike
Glennon has to play better. And Mike Lennon has enough
experience to go in these preseason games and look much
(32:54):
better than he did in the opener. All right, So
what do you do? I like, do you do you
start him right away? Do you? I mean, look, if
I were Ryan Pace, I wouldn't have traded up to
get one pick to get if I wanted Trabisky, I
wouldn't have signed Glennon. I would have just I would
have said, hey, I'm all in mcglennon. We're rebuilding with
this quarterback. The problems You've got a head coach who's
essentially in his lame duck year. John Fox doesn't he
wants to try to win. He's trying to save his job.
(33:16):
Pace is trying to save his job. There's a lot
of disconnect. Bill Walsh once said, you know, the worst
thing to fight is the civil war, And I think
sometimes these teams in the NFL fight a civil war
internally because they're not on the same page. I think
it's gonna be a challenge for me. I think Trabisky,
we should play. I think DeShawn Watson should play because
I think DeShawn Watson gives him a chance by the
middle of the season to be a much better for
(33:37):
football team with him playing than perhaps Tom Savage. But
it takes time to get these guys ready to play
and ready to go. The other get The other one
is Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes looks like he's got a
chance to be really good. And Alex Smith is gonna
be a lame duck quarterback. And we know this. I
grew up in the great State of New Jersey. Lame state.
Lame duck governors never work, and lame duck quarterbacks don't
(33:58):
work either. Yeah, I mean like looks that. I actually
think Fox, if you're trying to save your job, you
play the young kid that way. When you play don't
play well, you go, hey, look, I'm throwing a rookie
quarterback out there, right. Yeah. I just you know, owners
don't want to hear any excuses when you lose. You know,
it's great for the fans. We talked about, well, you
were stuck with this guy. You're paid to win, You're
paid to find the solutions. And I think John knows this,
(34:19):
and I think he wants to try to manage the
game as best he ken. Look, why not play a
rookie quarterback. You don't want to turn the ball over,
you don't want to make mistakes, you don't want to
give the game away, you don't want to lose the game.
You want to try to win the game. And when
you play rookie quarterbacks, at times you'll lose the game
because he'll make mistakes. Michael Lombardi, great stuff. Download the podcast.
(34:40):
It's called GM Street. You can download wherever podcasts are available,
or just go to the Ringer's website and downloaded former
NFL GM. He spend his entire professional life either in
TV or actually doing the work that you're watching all
these other men do with some of the best in
the business. Michael, thanks so much for joining us, but bye.
This is the best of the Doug Gottlieb Show on
Fox Sports Radio. Boom, What Up America? Doug Gottlieb Show,
Fox Sports Radio. John Ramos spinning the tunes on the
ones and twos, My Man Ryan Music in the production seat.
Cindy Kats booking the show. We have an outstanding show
(00:22):
for you today. Charlie Strong is gonna be our guest
head coach of South Florida, former head coach at both
Louisville and as of last year, the University of Texas.
Will ask him about his first training camp as a
head coach of the South Florida Bulls, what he was
left behind. Mike Lombardi will join us. Former NFL GM
will get his thoughts on some of the early season
(00:43):
movement on what we can expect from Jay Cutler as
quarterback of the depleted of the depleted Miami Dolphins. Uh.
Emma Coleburn's gonna join us. She just won the gold
medal in the steeple chase at the World Championships. It's
a fantastic story. She's gonna share her tale with you
and just how big it was for us track and field.
(01:04):
In thirty minutes and Nick Wright, it's gonna join us.
The host of First Things First, which premiers in three
weeks on Fox Sports One will ask him about players
kneeling in the NFL and if he agrees with my
general premise that, um, this hurts the perception that Colin
(01:26):
Kaepernick is being kept out of the NFL because of
his protests from last year. All right, so that's upcoming
later on the show. Fantastic Show for you. There are
stories from around the NBA which continue to focus on Cleveland.
The Cavaliers find themselves fixated on a young star. They
want New York to trade them Christos perzingis to this
(01:47):
point that Nicks have said, you can have anything else
but KP. The Boston Celtics are a potential landing spot
for Kyrie Irving, as the Calves like the idea of
Jayson Tatum in Phoenix. The Calves apparently want Eric Bledsoe
and Jayson Tatum in Denver. They have their eyes set
on Jamal Murray as well as draft choices, these sources
(02:07):
told Adrian ward Zanowski. But one of the big problems
is no one knows what Lebron's doing, even Cleveland, and
because of it, it's really hard to know exactly what
Kyrie's value is or exactly who wants to go play
with Lebron, Because if you're gonna agree to play with Lebron,
(02:30):
m Kyrie has to want out because he's not gonna
be there next year after next year, right Like, there's
so many signs that are pointing to Lebron's potential exodus,
aren't there James Jones now in Phoenix there to recruit Lebron. James,
the love affair that the Lakers front office had with
(02:51):
Rich Paul, agent to Lebron James, Lebron is up next year.
And of course Magic and Rob Polinka, that brain trust
of the Lakers have made it known to everybody, we
want not one but two superstars next year to come
play with our team, and we're gonna move heaven and Earth.
They make sure, but we have that salary space. That's
what they've done this year. Oh yeah, and then there's
(03:13):
Lebron talking about needing a place to play pick up basketball.
When referring to Los Angeles, he referred to l A
as home m HM. Yesterday, he tweeted out that Magic
Johnson has always been there for him. A Happy birthday
to Magic Johnson, a close friend who has always been
there for him. Huh, lots of signs, more signs now
(03:35):
than even when his his now wife then. I still
believe they were girlfriend. I don't remember when exactly got married.
Remember when she was packing up all of the cars
in Miami before the decision to move back from Miami
to Cleveland was There's an additional story from Black Sports
Online which they apparently they listened to Richard Jefferson's podcast.
(03:58):
I have. Richard Jefferson's podcast is really good. I have
not downloaded it. You can download the Doug Godly Show
podcast shameless plug Shameless when it's your own uh downloaded iTunes,
Fox Sports Radio dot com. Don't be fade to rate
it as well. Anyway, they listened to Richard Jefferson's podcast
and when asked about Darren Williams, Richard Jefferson said, when
(04:20):
you talked to Darren Williams about playing golf, his eyes
light up. He was asked about coming off. What about
when Darren was when we asked him about coming off
the bench for the Cavaliers, his eyes did not light up.
Is it fair, at least on some level to surmise
that there's a little bit of ah, a little bit
(04:42):
of Axl Rose. M hmm. Maybe not actual Rose, because
Axel Rose super talented lead singer for Guns and Roses.
Axel Rose is more like Carmelo Anthony. Right. Everyone will
admit that Axel Rose has a laicious amount of God
given talent, but because you don't know if he's gonna
(05:04):
show up for a show, and if he does show
up for a show and you're really good, he might
not get along with his bandmates. Talent only takes you
so far if you can't get along with everybody. Axel
Rose Carmelo Anthony, same guy. Everybody thinks Melo has a
ton of talent, but when others have succeeded in Melo
(05:25):
hasn't gotten the spotlight. He hasn't been as happy, He
hasn't been able to do it in New York. Not
all of it is his fault, but enough of it is.
Axel is more like Carmelo Anthony. Um m hmm. Could
he be like David Lee Roth. David Lee Roth of
(05:45):
course back a jump hot for Teacher was lead singer
of Van Halen when Van Halen first bust on the scene. Right,
and in truth, like Eddie Van Halen is more like
Dwyane Wade, like always good, maybe never sitting, maybe never
recognized as the elite superstar that he is. But Eddie
(06:06):
Van Helen's awesome. Case in point, You put Check with
Dwyane Wade, they win a title. You put Lebron with
Dwayne Wade, they win a title. You put David Lee
Roth with Edie Van Helen, They're awesome. You put Sammy
Hagar with David with Van Helen, they're also awesome. There, Okay,
so I'm trying to find David Lee Roth did eventually
(06:28):
come back to Van Halen and it didn't work, But
I don't even think that's the one m is there
A Is there an iconic singer musician who is great
but just every and respected and wherever he goes or
(06:54):
she goes, they have platinum records, they have sold out concerts,
and yet it's just not that much fun. Maybe sting,
maybe sting. We were looking, we were trying to search
for the parallel, and Steve Gorman Sports comes up after
(07:14):
this show on Fox Sports Radio and and he has
a much greater depth of music knowledge like my music knowledge,
I know a ton of Actually I know way too
much about pop music as my kids. I like a
good I like hip hop, R and B hardcore rap
because I do, and we like a little kind of
we like I got, and even alternative, especially you go nineties.
(07:35):
Occasionally I'll throw on a flannel shirt and some jeans
and some Doc Martin's and I'll rock out to some nineties,
you know, early century alternative. That said, I can't tell
you a ton about the early formations of bands, right
like I know? Do do I know that Pearl Jam
used to be Mookie Blaylock? I do, But I can't
(07:56):
tell you about different band members for different bands and
the different nations of them. But I do know the
story of Sting because I remember there was a behind
the music. May I remember behind the music? So there
used to be really good and Sting burst onto the scene,
but the band couldn't stay together. Police couldn't stay together
because of Wells Stings sort of kind of ego. The
(08:19):
Police reformed in ninety seven by drummer Stewart Copeland along
with a school teacher, Gordon Sumner. That's Sting's name. If
your name was Gordon, you'd go by a Sting too,
and Andy Summers. Within a year they were Rocks big thing,
but tensions began bubbling over as Sting took control of
the band. The others began to feel like his employees,
(08:40):
and he began fighting like crazy, even as the band
got bigger and bigger and bigger. I mean, like, look,
I'm not trying to say that Kyrie is Stewart Copeland
or Andy Summers, but he was one of the founding
members of this and he did hit the game winning shot,
(09:03):
the big shot against the Golden State Warriors. And what
has Lebron James done. He's taken control of the band.
The others began to feel like his employees. Dude, his
agent represents half the team, does not, by the way,
represent Kyrie Irving, the owner of fires that or doesn't
(09:28):
re up the GM. And even though Lebron claims that
he was sad to see the GM go, if he
didn't want the GM gone, the GM would still be there.
Everybody's operating as if it's Lebron James team, and for
all essential potential purposes, it is. It's his town, it's
his team, it's his league. But the police broke up
(09:53):
and the breakup of the Calves. As I've stated, before
is as much Lebron's fault as it is Kyrie's. And
now you're left with the tricky way a second, how
are we going to get appropriate value when any sort
of veteran thinks I don't want to be the last
one out of Cleveland, and any team knows even though
(10:17):
I one, I'd like to move heaven and Earth to
get Kyrie Irving. I got Kyrie for two potential years.
Is that worth trading away one of my young burgeoning stars.
Lebron closer to Sting than he is David Lee Roth
than he is Axl Rose. It's not like we haven't
seen this before, the infighting of bands, and no one
(10:43):
questions Stings competence, stings talents. How Sting is still Jim
and he goes to Staples Center, the Rose Bowl, he
goes out to MetLife in New York. He still sells out.
He's still Sting, and he's one of those guys that
like the older he gets like as a still a
good looking dude. Right. I am not that there's anything
wrong with going the other way, but I am a
(11:04):
straight heterosexual male. I will tell you like Sting as
a good looking as a good looking older dude. He
didn't dance around and then special about it. He just
stands up there and sings, and he's got a scruff,
working and crystal blue eyes. He's stilling, he like, and
he's got the great nickname, I'm sting all right, Bronze
(11:26):
same Wayne, respected, getting better, more refined, more efficient, Incredible
to watch, even though the miles keep piling up. But
that doesn't mean it's easy to be in a band
with him. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Doug gott Leaps Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon
(11:48):
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app.
So yesterday we played for you that Colin Cowherd basically said,
and then basically he did say. This thing lasts forever
in sports. We know this. Even when stars get together,
the Big Three in Boston, you know m J and Pippen,
(12:08):
Shock and Kobe, even when it's Randy, Moss and Brady,
when you get these unbelievable warriors right now, it never
lasts forever. And that's not only true with individuals and teams,
it's also true with cultures in sports. Don't count last year.
We're on the heels of a ten to twelve year
run of Southern college football dominance. The SEC dominated. It's over,
(12:32):
and the South doesn't want to admit it's over. It's
not about the media. SEC fan Vegas no longer sees
you as the best conference. And there's one reason why
this is true. You still have players everywhere. You are
the worst coached major conference. You have ten coordinators masquerading
(12:55):
his head coaches. Okay, um, Look, his take is it
comes down to the coaches, and I think coaches one
it chose their value right because it there's a reality
to it in that coaches go to coaches go somewhere.
Nick Saban wherever he's gone, l s U and Alabama
has competed for and won national championships. The reality, the
(13:18):
perception was Michigan gets Jim Harball, They're gonna get their
stuff together. They haven't won yet, they haven't won anything
big yet, but the perception has changed and the reality
will will soon follow. They've gone after they've paid a
bunch of money to go and get Urban Meyer, and
Meyer has come through with the national Church. Even though
Meyer's Ohiose State team was embarrassed in the national semifinal,
(13:39):
we we forget that. We dismissed that right and the
truth be told, when they won the national championship, they
probably shouldn't have been in the National Championship. It was
only because they curb stomped. Was constant the Big Ten
Championship game where Wisconsin laid down with their third string
quarterback Cardale Jones playing for Ohio State, that they got
a second life is an opportunity, took advantage and won
(14:02):
the first college football playoff. So some of it is perception,
some of it is says misremembering in the past. Some
of it is reality. Like Jim mclwain, I do think
is the guy to fix Florida, but last year he
lost Will Greer, He's starting quarterback to a p D suspension.
People make fun of Butch Jones, but he actually did
(14:24):
an incredible job considering I think they lost like seven
starters on defense to injury. I oh that a SEC
is dead. Like they played and beat Virginia Tech in
their nonconference game, Like they played and beaten teams in Florida,
beat Miami so bad Miami fired their coach. Uh. Look,
(14:45):
Georgia went through a coaching change, went through a transition.
South Carolina has returned since Spurrier uh now retired. Spurrier
left when they're at the bottom, I think the big
thing that's hurting the that hurt the s E see
is the same thing that's hurt the Big twelve, the
same thing that hurt the Pack twelve, and the same
(15:05):
thing that hurt the Big Ten For years, no matter
how good your league is, unless you're most famous teams,
unless you're blue blood teams are competing for championships year
in year out, you're not deemed to be as good
of a conference. That's just the way it works. For
the how many thirteen straight year the SEC had the
(15:28):
most players drafted in excuse me, eleventh straight year the
SEC had the here here's the note, had the most
players drafted in the NFL. Fox Sports Radio has the
best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of
our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and within
the I Heart Radio app. We're now in the generation
to which it's no longer nearly as cool or necessary
(15:50):
even to go to a game, right I think the
state I don't have any doubts that the stadium is
going to work. The stadium is going to house the RAM,
it's gonna have these Chargers and because it's gonna be done,
It's gonna get a Final Four, it's gonna get a
national championship in football, will get another Bowl game in football.
Like the stadium is going to be everything that Dallas has,
right like a hub for activity, huge concerts, big venue
(16:13):
for everything. Only actually in civilized civilization. You ever been
a You've been a Dallas stadium. They're like, let's take
you to a place where there's an actual city, and
then let's take a stadium and put it as far
from that actual city as humanly possible. That's what they did.
The stadium is great, getting there is a mess, and like,
would you rather host an event outside of Dallas, outside
(16:35):
of Fort Worth or right in the heart of Los Angeles?
This is a no brainer. Like the stadium is gonna work.
I'm talking about the football thing actually becoming a thing
like the Raiders. The Raiders, Like, who goes to NFL
games in Los Angeles? A really like you go? It's
(16:56):
a United Nations. It is a really diverse population of people,
and that does not appeal to the Chargers, even though
like there's plenty of Hispanic and um and Asian and
Polynesian fans of the Charges in San Diego. There wasn't
that the Chargers were actually the rival. Like when the
(17:19):
Chargers and the Raiders played, Raider fans from l A
would go down to San Diego and then get into
fights with Charger fans. Now they're supposed to be Charger fans,
Like that's a weird one. And there were there was
nobody who was no one who from a diverse culture
who was a a Rams fan growling like everyon Orange
County team, Like it is the weirdest. And it's because
(17:41):
the NFL waited way after Wednesday. And I even think
Wednesday or three days is too long to like you
text people all the time. You can't text her, Hey,
just thinking of you, this whole thing of I had
to wait three days to text people. You wait too long,
you know, especially now kids have no attention span and
earned an earraw Where why would you go to an
(18:01):
NFL game when you can watch every NFL game and
not even you don't even have to change the channel
if you have red zone, plus you got second screen viewing,
open up your laptop, your iPad. Mostly everybody has a
big screen on TV. Back when the Rams and the
Raiders were in l A. They were not on your team.
(18:21):
You didn't have any other choice. There was no other
way to watch any other game back when the NFL
was in l A. If a friend had a big
screen one and had those three big beams number those
the big, very big beams, you had to roll it
in and it was also a cool thing. Who doesn't
have it? If you don't have a TV over there
(18:42):
is something wrong with you. You're like, oh, this is
not rich person. I no, no no, no, I didn't say
you had a theater room and he had butler service.
Everybody has a flat screen, big screen TV. You have that,
you may not pay your rent, You will pay your CABLEPS,
you will pay your direct TV. Think and if you
don't believe it, ask anybody who markets for these teams.
(19:05):
I kind of think the NFL whipped. They just waited
too long to text the girl back. Be sure to
catch live editions of the Doug gott Leap Show weekdays
at three p m. Eastern noon Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio and the I Heart Radio app. And now, first,
here's Hugh Jackson at his press conference, head coach of
(19:26):
the Cincinnati Bengals, speaking seel I'm sorry. He was the
offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals, the head coach of
the Cleveland Browns. Talking about some of the recent protests
in the NFL, I think everybody has a right to do,
you know, and and I get it, but the national
anthem means a lot to myself, personally, organization or football team.
I hope you know. Again, I can't speak. I haven't
really talked to our team about it. I would hope
(19:48):
we don't have those issues. I understand there's a lot
going on in the world. I like to just keep
it here. You know. What we deal with. We try
to do it as a team in our closed environment.
We talk about things, but hopefully that won't happen. I
can't tell you it won't happen, but I just know
our guys. I don't think that's where our focus is.
And we hope the things that are going on in
the world get ironed out. But I know right now
(20:08):
we're doing everything we can to to get our football
team better. All right, So here's what Shannon Sharp had
to say. It's gonna be hard for me to not
call Hugh Jackson what he actually is. For him to
go public and says, I hope the world gets this
ironed out. Does he understand that he lives in this
world and that by passing the book and kicking the
can no one solved this problem at some point in time.
(20:32):
Dr King Rolls Aparts are great leaders. They picked that
can up a boy. I mean listen, I listened to it,
and I'm like a boy. I like Shannon. I love
his passion for it. But everyone does not have to protest.
Everyone does not have to welcome in protests UH into
(20:53):
their place of business. He's like, look, we're the Browns.
We've been bad for a long time. I've been Hugh Jackson,
this is his second job in the NFL failed as
a Raider's head coach. Was his fault, not his fault.
It doesn't matter. And I he he's within his rights
to not want to engage. I completely disagree with Shannon Sharp, Like, wait,
(21:16):
so any black head coach that says we hope the
world irons out its problems are problems right now? Are
were the Browns and we suck? And he's supposed to
divert some of the attention. I don't I don't agree.
I don't agree. Um Like, look, there's I there's there's time,
(21:39):
and there's place, and two different people, it means different things.
I get that we try and make our feelings known
and we want everybody to feel the way we feel.
I make it a point to not tell people how
to pray, not tell people how to mourn, don't tell
people how to spend their money or raise their kids.
And you know what, don't tell people when and how
they should pro test or try and change the world.
(22:07):
That was a boy say my, my, my crazy. They're
like I just and you could say, well, it's different
when you're a black head coach. Maybe maybe the Shannon
it is like I haven't heard Anthony Lynn speak out
his black head coach standing good Chargers, Mike is Mike Tomlin.
(22:28):
Also do they all have to do? They all have
to form a group and then and protest things that
are happening out in the real world when in truth,
sports are meant to bring us together apart from the
real world. Real world. Screwed up man, real words. Screwed
up doesn't mean you can't protest, but does also doesn't
(22:49):
mean you have to. Fox Sports Radio has the best
sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our
shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within the
I Heart Radio app. Let's welcome in Michael Lombardio, as
I mentioned, a former NFL GM you have to download
his podcast on the Ringer called GM Street. Um, it
feels like the Cowboys knew something was coming, right, Like,
(23:10):
I know Ronnie Hillman's more for for training camp reps,
but uh, it feels like, you know, Alfred Morris along
with Darren McFadden, that should be enough for the first
six games, shouldn't it. Well you think so, but I mean, look,
you gotta do. You gotta go back and really understand
this Cowboy offense. I mean, of the time last year
at number one in the National Football League, they were
able to get four yards on first down, They rushed
(23:33):
more than most teams. They were third in the NFL
and rushing attempts in the first half run fifty four pass.
So now those numbers are going to change. And I
think the biggest factor is Elliott in the passing game.
He had like thirty nine catches last year. He was explosive.
I thought they were going to really advance that and
move forward. Now we're gonna have to take that step
back when McFadden's in the game or Morris is in
(23:55):
the game. Particularly defensive coordinators say, yo, it's gonna be run, run, screen, screen, mean,
there's really no passing game, and you can play an
eight man front effectively against them. When Elliott was in there,
you had to really be careful. So I think it's
dramatically going to change the play call and it's gonna
put the onus on Jason Garrett and and the onus
on Dak Prescott, right, I mean, like look and and
they play a more difficult schedule. I mean, you know,
(24:18):
last year fairly soft schedule. This year Giants at home
when they opened with and last to last year than
to Denver to take on that incredible defense, to Arizona
home to the Rams Packers before they get to arrest
it with the with the Niners. What's your what are
your expectations? Year two? Bigger playbook, but bigger expectations and
no star running back early on the season for Dak Prescott, Well,
(24:39):
I think last year, when you really go over their season,
they were fortunate because their offense carried their defense to
the first ten games. They were very good in time
of possession last year in terms of their defense really
played about a single header of a game. They never
played doubleheaders. They were playing twenty five minutes. And as
they got better and improved during the season, they increased
their playtime and improved defensive. That's not gonna happen this year.
(25:01):
And I wrote about a month ago for The Ringer,
I talked about how Jason Garrett's really in a tough
spot because he's going to have to figure out his
team might be two and three at the buy and
he might have to look at it and say we
need to shift. They may be a better team with
the worst record. I really think the onus is going
to be on the Cowboys coaching staff. I think they
let their team down in the playoff game. There's no
(25:21):
reason green Bay should come into Dallas Stadium and beat
that team, not that green Bay team that got killed
by the Atlanta Falcons by the half last year. So
Dallas is going to have to change what they do offensively,
and I think Elliot is going to be the preemptive
force to force them into changing because if they don't,
teams are gonna get up for him. The one thing
they were able to do is win first down. That's
not going to happen as much. All right, So if
(25:43):
we don't like what this does to the Cowboys, does
it directly benefit a team like the Giants? Most who
in that division benefits the most from that six game suspension?
You know, Doug, when I was growing up that division
was Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Parcels Gibbs, and Buddy Ryan.
And now I'm looking at Ben McAdoo, Doug Peterson, Jason Garrett,
(26:05):
and Jay Gruden, and I'm like, where it happened here?
What happened to Henney? Where is all the great coaches gone?
And I think that really the Giants are the best
team except Eric Flowers. The left tackle has to be
able to pass protect way better than he did in
the opening preseason game where t J. Watt went around
him for a sack. They've got to get better production
out of Bobby Heart, their right tackle. Their offensive line
has been an Achilles heal. And when you look at
(26:26):
Eli Manning season last year, it was the average sixteen
points a game they won with their defense. Can they
do that again? I'm not sure they can. They have
a thousand plays on Ben mcadoo's playlist. It looks like
the Cheesecake Factory menu in front of them. However, they
don't score enough points. So that being said, I'm concerned
about them. I'm concerned about the Redskins. The Redskins don't
(26:46):
look to be the same team that they were last year.
I think Bill Callahan, their offensive line coach, does a
great job of keeping it all together. They made a
change in defense coordinators to Greg Manuski. I'm not sure
that's going to be the answer. And then the Eagles
have a really good football team. They're depth in the
defensive line is much improved. But can Carson Winson proved?
Can he throw the ball better over ten yards than
he did last year? Last year he averaged completion when
(27:09):
he threw the ball over ten yards. That ain't gonna
cut it, and he's gonna have to be better at that,
and I think that's really going to be the challenge.
Michael Lombardi joining us. You talked about the future. Green
Bay Packers defense at the end of the season, just
completely depleted in the back on the back end uh
By by injury. They opened up with the Seahawks. There
are there's a lot of time. Aaron Rodgers going to
get a new contracted at some point in the very
near future. This is a team that went from UM
(27:33):
playoff hopeful to making an incredible run at the end
of the season, probably playing above their level on you know,
on the on the arm and legs of of Aaron Rodgers.
What are your thoughts on how they filled some of
their their holes and their weaknesses. I applaud Ted Thompson.
I mean, he finally Ted Thompson was the guy who
never wanted to go outside of the mainstream way he
developed player personnel. He never liked free agency, always wanted
(27:55):
to hang on the compense Troy picks. Last year he did,
he changed, He went out. He was able to find
Martelle's been in free agency, and I think what he
learned last year in the playoffs was when you give
Aaron Rodgers enough good players around them and they don't
have to be college free agents, he can make everybody
look better. I mean, this is one of the most
I mean, if I'm Aaron Rodgers, I'm saying, look, Matthew Stafford,
get your contract, everybody get their deals, because my I
(28:18):
should be the highest paid player of anybody, because I
carried this team on my back, because I'm that good.
I mean that throw he made against Dallas is one
in a million throw that should have been at some
state fair throw. It's unbelievable he could put the ball there.
So for me, I think Aaron Rodgers carries that team.
Now can they stay healthy? That's the key component for
the Packers. Defensively, They've not been able to do that.
(28:39):
And Dom Caper's has always tried to do what I
call curly in the boat. He's always trying to plug
one hole to fill another hole, and all of a
sudden he has two weeks of his boat and it's
a problem. Um, let's go to Atlanta. The Falcons not
didn't just make the playoffs and made the Super Bowls,
should have won the superle Right, they just take it.
They take a knee on after Julio Jones catch, take
a field goal, and go home with their with their
(29:00):
first Super Bowl championship. They don't. And we've seen this
time and again. The team that loses in the Super
Bowl oftentimes falls apart the next season. The division should
be better, right, Saints couldn't be any worse defensively, Uh,
Tampa seems to be coming on and Carolina was down
after a Super Bowl year the year before. What's your
assessment of what Atlanta will look like this year as
(29:20):
opposed to being a dominant team in the NFC last year. Look,
I don't want to take anything away from Steve Sarkisian.
He's a fine football coach. But what what Kyle Shanahan
did last year I don't think really was truly appreciated.
Matt Ryan's numbers weren't just good above his average, they
were unbelievably above his average. If he would have been
a baseball player, there would have been a commission going
(29:40):
out to see if he was on steroids, because he
was incredible what he did. His numbers were so far
above his career statistical average, and much of that is
because of the way Kyle Shanahan drew up the game plan,
the way Matt Ryan was bought into the offense. I
just don't see them being as good as they were
last year offensively. I don't think Steve Sarkisian can do
implicate what Kyle Shanahan did. I've never seen it out
(30:02):
of Steve's offense. I've seen it out of Kyle. That
being said, I think they're better on defense. I think
they're much better on defense. I think they have more
of a confidence to them defensively, and I think they
can rush the passer. And obviously getting Desmond Trufan back
will tremendously help the secondary, who they didn't have in
the Super Bowl and might have been a huge difference.
But you're right, Dug, the South is much better. I
think Tampa they're like an unmade bed. They look weird,
(30:25):
they don't they turn the ball over, but for whatever reason,
because of the way Jamis Winston plays, they always stay
in games. And they may not win perfectly. They're not
gonna be a Hollywood script, but they find a way
to win games. I think Caroline is much improved too.
I think Cam Newton will have a better season. I
think they've got more weapons. I think they'll be more
a factor offensively defensively, assuming that Luke Kickley can stay
(30:46):
healthy from the concussion protocol and not get hit again.
I think that's a huge if. But that New Orleans
has to be better, as you said, on defense, but
they're always gonna be good on offense with Drew Brees,
and they've got a lot of weapons down there. So
I think the South is gonna be a team we're
gonna get the cards coming from them. They're really good.
I just don't see Atlanta being as good offensively, but
I think they are a better football team totally. They
(31:06):
may not win thirteen games, they may not dominate the
way they did offensively, but I think they're gonna win
as many games because they could do different things. Michael Lombardi,
former NFL GM, will be r GM this year on
the Doug Gottlib Show. Can download his podcast. It's just
an outstanding listen called GM Street. It's on the Ringer
the Ringer's website. Download it, listen to it, and it's
just a plethora of information. Okay, So Mitch dr Bisky
(31:28):
now is uh is? I believe he's the Triumph and
he's God, He's Jesus and he's the Holy Spirit. In
in Chicago, they're already um taking, you know, taking measurements
for the Hall of Fame. Bust you. You've done this
your entire professional life, right, seeing the guys that make it,
seeing the guys that are are weren't what you thought,
were better than you thought you're one weekend. We need
(31:50):
to temper some of these expectations. Drabinsky, because he did
to the layman, at least looked outstanding last week. Yeah,
but look, it's the first preseason game and it's in
the third it in fourth quarter, where the coverages and
the schemes are basically almost high schoolish. It's very vanilla,
and the offense he was running was very vanille. Look,
this is a kid who didn't play a lot of
North Carolina. Took him to a senior year that we
(32:11):
got on the field, and he's gonna take some time
to learn. The game is going to speed up, the
volume of offense is going to increase. In those two factors,
the speed of the game and the volume of the
offense always catch up on young players. You need a
lot of experience. You need that Malcolm Gladwell ten thousand hours.
But you also need that build Bruce Springsteen born to
run enthusiasts where you can actually keep keep working and
(32:32):
keep getting better. I think that's what Robinsky needs to do.
He needs to get experienced and he needs to have
that great enthusiasm. It's gonna take some time. The problem
is Mike Lennon has him produced to the level that
they thought he would, especially paying him fifteen million a year.
I think that's the concern of your Bears fans. You've
got to get more out of Mike glenn and Mike
Glennon has to play better. And Mike Lennon has enough
experience to go in these preseason games and look much
(32:54):
better than he did in the opener. All right, So
what do you do? I like, do you do you
start him right away? Do you? I mean, look, if
I were Ryan Pace, I wouldn't have traded up to
get one pick to get if I wanted Trabisky, I
wouldn't have signed Glennon. I would have just I would
have said, hey, I'm all in mcglennon. We're rebuilding with
this quarterback. The problems You've got a head coach who's
essentially in his lame duck year. John Fox doesn't he
wants to try to win. He's trying to save his job.
(33:16):
Pace is trying to save his job. There's a lot
of disconnect. Bill Walsh once said, you know, the worst
thing to fight is the civil war, And I think
sometimes these teams in the NFL fight a civil war
internally because they're not on the same page. I think
it's gonna be a challenge for me. I think Trabisky,
we should play. I think DeShawn Watson should play because
I think DeShawn Watson gives him a chance by the
middle of the season to be a much better for
(33:37):
football team with him playing than perhaps Tom Savage. But
it takes time to get these guys ready to play
and ready to go. The other get The other one
is Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes looks like he's got a
chance to be really good. And Alex Smith is gonna
be a lame duck quarterback. And we know this. I
grew up in the great State of New Jersey. Lame state.
Lame duck governors never work, and lame duck quarterbacks don't
(33:58):
work either. Yeah, I mean like looks that. I actually
think Fox, if you're trying to save your job, you
play the young kid that way. When you play don't
play well, you go, hey, look, I'm throwing a rookie
quarterback out there, right. Yeah. I just you know, owners
don't want to hear any excuses when you lose. You know,
it's great for the fans. We talked about, well, you
were stuck with this guy. You're paid to win, You're
paid to find the solutions. And I think John knows this,
(34:19):
and I think he wants to try to manage the
game as best he ken. Look, why not play a
rookie quarterback. You don't want to turn the ball over,
you don't want to make mistakes, you don't want to
give the game away, you don't want to lose the game.
You want to try to win the game. And when
you play rookie quarterbacks, at times you'll lose the game
because he'll make mistakes. Michael Lombardi, great stuff. Download the podcast.
(34:40):
It's called GM Street. You can download wherever podcasts are available,
or just go to the Ringer's website and downloaded former
NFL GM. He spend his entire professional life either in
TV or actually doing the work that you're watching all
these other men do with some of the best in
the business. Michael, thanks so much for joining us, but bye.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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