Game On Rewind: Max Chadwick of PFF joins the show! 2024-10-9

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Without further ado. He's been very patient waiting on Hold.
Here it's Max Chadwick, Pro Football Focus, college football analyst
and co host of the PFF College Football Show. Max.
Welcome back in after what was an exhilarating Saturday once
again in college football. I'm in, of course, the guys. Yeah,
no kidding, man, I couldn't wait to get you on

(00:20):
because you like, there is so much to get to
here in terms of the national landscape in the college game.
We're gonna yield the Aaron Rodgers questions away from you.
I know you probably want to focus on college ball
and not the darkness retreats out there. Look, Clemson, let's
start locally here. A nice solid win down at Florida State.
Some of the fans here, obviously they have a high

(00:40):
bar for Mears gone by that they wanted this to
be more like a fifty to thirteen win. They put
up a record number of yards in terms of their
own personal best this year. Club that continues to play
solid football. And again Miami, we'll talk about them, but
Clemson standing pat right there, number two in the ACC.
I guess by your measure right now at least, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
I think I think Clempston is the second best team,
and they see they're obviously been doing a good job
since that, since that Week one game against Georgia, honestly,
and uh yeah, I think Clempston has looked pretty solid
this year. I think they're a team that I don't
know if I would put the number ten and the
eight people like the currently are, but they certainly have
been a good enough team to be ranked this year.
And I think they're only going to continue going up, honestly.

(01:23):
And they got an interesting game essentially coming next week
against Virginia which could be really fun. But yeah, I think, god,
this Clemson team is gonna be interesting and see if
this uh this Kate Klubnick improvement is real or not.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, we'll see. So far, so good. After the loss
to Georgia, fans are excited, but always tempering the excitement.
All right, let's not bury the lead here. Alabama, what
the hell? What the hell? Hey, give credit to Vandy
now they were having fun in Nashville. Uh costs for
concern for Kaitlin de Bor, is it too early? Because
defensively they they look a little bit soft on the

(01:55):
back end and they're a little uh soft in terms
of composure. I think they're some problems there with this
team this year, but is it sustainable to get back
in the mix here? And how about Vandy?

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, definitely, I don't think there are seasons over by
any measure, right, I think they still can lose it.
I didn't even think that Alabama can lose one more
game to make a college ball playoff, right, So this
one obviously hurts though, because you don't you have a
little less breathing room now, But yeah, it did expose
a couple of weekness is in now Alabama secondary. And
what I've been, you know, really worried about with them
is that they're very young defensively, and they don't have

(02:29):
the greatest defensive coach of all time and Nick Saban
to coach those guys of them may can play like veterans. Right,
So that's definitely a big problem in that secondary right now.
And you saw it get exposed a little bit against
Sannreal this past weekend.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, and you know, Alabama fans are great. You know,
comes down to now that Kaitlin de Bor wears what
looks like something bought off a rack of a department
store with the shirt untuck whereas Nick Saban always had
the shirt tucked in with a nice belt. Come on, guys,
give him a couple of weeks to get things brewing here.
But a great win for Vandy, and as we look
to South Carolina disappointing. We talked about this game last

(03:04):
week that we felt you and I both that the
game Cocks would have some advantages maybe in the trenches,
especially with the defensive line. I didn't see much of
this game, but I was following along as I was
doing the pregame for Clemson, and I must tell you
that I think Shane Peter was about as upset as
I've ever seen him after a game, a blowout loss
to Old Miss. Talk about what you saw in the

(03:24):
field there.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, I think Ole Miss just their defensive line is outstanding.
I think that was the big difference, is that their
defensive lot against that South Carolina offensive line is a
major mismatch, and I think that that showed in that game.
And also Leonora Sellars just couldn't get anything going through
the air. They averaged less than five yards per pass.
They actually averaged the state amount of yards per run

(03:48):
they did per pass, which is an insane status to
really think about it, so uh yeah, I think the
South Carolina path the game could not do anything in
this one. And then it was a nice little bounce
back game for the ole Miss offense as well.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
And now we'll miss pivots back over to LSU. That's
going to be a fun game and early handicapped from
your perspective on how you see this one going, Max, I.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Give almost a slight edge on the road. It is
gonna be a tough night environments. Obviously, baton Rouge at night,
it always gets weird, right, But I think Ole Miss
is a slight edge. I think their defensive line, like
I said, is the best in the country right now,
and they're going up against a really good LSU offensive line.
But the run game for LSU has not been great
this year. So it's really gonna come down to whether
or not Garrett Nesmeyer can be the superman for LSU offensively,

(04:32):
because I think the ole Miss offense has an advantage
over the LSU defense as well as without Harrold Perkins
who tours ACL. But this is a big game though,
right because like I said before, if you have two losses,
you can still probably make the playoff out of the sec.
The loser of this game will have two losses, right,
and the loser of this game still have some really
hard games left on the schedule. So it's dance the reason.

(04:53):
This might not be the last loss for either of
these teams this year. So really it's the winner of
this game has got to feel pretty goo with their
playoff chanpions. With the loser of this game, really the
back is against the wall and they pretty much have
to win out normack the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
Well, there were I think five upsets in the top
twenty five this past weekend. Almost six is cow. With
all the pageantry of college game Day at Berkeley, what
a scene that was with well into the morning hours
of Sunday. Blew that lead and give cam Ward, a
guy you've been raving about in this Miami team a
lot of credit for putting twenty one points up in
the fourth quarter. Is is he your Heisman front runner

(05:30):
right now? And how high can this Miami team go
in terms of their ceiling?

Speaker 2 (05:35):
He's not my highs and front runner right now. I
think he is the front runner for quarterbacks to win
the Heisman, which usually if you're the front runner for
quarterbacks to the front runner in general, right, But I
think it r in a unique year this year where
you have a running back in Ashton fifty who's going
to put up in a historic season. He might break
Darius Sanders's rushing records set in nineteen eighty eight. Like
he's really been that good. Crazy And also Travis Hunter

(05:58):
is doing something we've never seen before at Colorado where
he's an elite corner and an elite receiver. So to me,
it's those two and everyone else right now for the
Heist and Trophy. I think it's a pretty big gap
between those two and everyone else. But if you're looking
for a quarterback, it is Cam Moore because he has
been superman for them in these last two games. I mean,
they're down by ten to Virginia Tech with like nine

(06:18):
minutes left and he led them to a comeback in
that one. They're down by twenty five midway to the
third quarter in Virginia to Cal and they end up
winning that game as well. He's been the best quarterback
in America this year in my opinion, and I think
he's a front runner for the Heids And Trophy right
now for quarterbacks. But I think that Ashon genty and
Travis Hunter. Those two are still pretty clearly the two

(06:38):
better candidates right now in my opinion, and it.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
What just occurred to me, Max Chadwick, that's great analysis.
By the way, you brought up Travis Hunter, who can
play both an elite brand of ball at corner and
wide receiver. I would imagine two teams at the bottom
of the bear in the league that are fairly cheap
on the pennies. David Tepper and Mike Brown are looking
to maybe tank to find a two for one deal
the two things they might need for the price of

(07:02):
one on a rookie deal. That guy's outstanding. On a
serious note, because I could use that in Carolina right now.
Is he a receiver? Is he a corner He's certainly
not both at the next level. Where do you fall
in that debate?

Speaker 2 (07:16):
It's gonna be interesting and asking for Carolina. Unfortunately, I
don't know if they're really in the Travis Hunter sweet stakes.
I think they're really they take a quarterback this year.
I think the Bryce Young era is over there and
they're not gonna rull. I mean, any Dolan is on
the last year's contract, even if he was coming back,
I don't think you want to go into next year
and any Dolan is your number one of your starting quarterback,
right so I think Carolina. Unfortunately for them, they're kind

(07:37):
of stuck at the draft a quarterback this year, so
we'll see what they do there. But to answer Travis
Hunter question, though, I think you continue trying to play
him at both, but I think you can't really do
it full time at both. But if he's going to
play both, he's got to be a full time corner
and play a little receiver in packages. I don't think
he could be a full time receiver and play corner

(07:58):
in packages. I just don't think it's possible in today's NFL.
It's an interesting debate, though. It's a really interesting debate
because you look at a guy like him. I mean,
wide receiver is going to a heck of a lot
more money than corners too right now, So financially, his
agent might say, hey, I'd rather you play receiver than corner.
But if you want to play both and continue playing both,
I think he has to be a full time corner

(08:19):
that comes in to play receiver a little bit like
Deion Sanders did, honestly ironically as coach in the NFL
did a little do that as well. I think that's
the avenue for him. I do not think he could
be a starting receiver and also play a little corner
on the side too.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
No, you won't make it through a season like that.
It's a lot different in the NFL. Just looking ahead,
real quick way ahead to the NFL Draft. Max Chadwick,
PFF dot com college football analyst. Do you favor this
year's quarterback class at this date, right now in terms
of the draft stock? Are you more of an early
fan that maybe the next year's class is going to

(08:53):
provide a little more of a higher ceiling. Where do
you fall in that? I guess maybe senseless debate, but hey,
it's a sports show, let's have made it.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah, it's definitely a interesting question. I think this is
a weaker quarterback class, which is unfortunate to hear for
Carolina fans, right I don't. I don't really feel comfortable
with a lot of them at the very top of
the draft. I agree, so nor standards for me is
QB one right now. But I understand that he comes
with his baggage as well. But he to me, is
the most NFL ready by a good amount of any
of these quarterbacks. Cam Moore has played his way into

(09:23):
that conversation as well. He's been outstanding this year, but
he still has some boneheaded plays on his tape right
that you got to clean up out of him. You
got a guy like Jaalen Moreau who has the highest
ceiling of any of the quarterbacks in this draft, but
there's still a lot of works to be done there
in my opinion, even though he has been excellent this year.
So you got him Carson Beck, it gives you a

(09:43):
very high floor. But how high is the stealing with
Carson Bank. I mean, I think he's kind of like
a Jared Goff type of quarterback. So I don't know
if that's really an interest Carolina fans too much, because
you know, Jared Goff on a bad team, Jared Goff
is pretty bad. But on a good team, Jared Goff
is pretty good. So that's that's kind of the dilemma.
There is Carson Beck the same way. And to answer
the question about next year's quarterback lots, it's still very

(10:03):
early and I've been I've been really disappointed by Nico
Iamaliava this year. I think he's he has not been
that great, but arch Manning. I will say arch Manning
looked outstanding when he was started, and to be fair,
it was against very weak competition. So with Cio, he
does next year as a full time starter. But as
of right now, I mean, I probably would take arch
Manning over any of the quarterbacks in this year's draft,

(10:25):
which is weird to say for a backup quarterback right now,
but that is kind of how how the draft shakes
out for next year. So it's still a wide open
race next year as well, and it's a wide open
race this year. I mean, I really, to answer your
question truthfully, the best quarterback prospect overall might be Dylan
Riyola Nebraska right who was still only a true freshman
and can't be drafted until twenty twenty seven. So it's

(10:47):
a it's a very weird time right now for quarterbacks
in college football. We don't really have a true superstar
NFL prospect that we see just yet, and the best
one might be a backup quarterback in Texas right now.
So it's a very weird year. But don't be interesting.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
Yeah, no, Max, At just to that point, I covered
the draft for iHeartRadio and Charlotte. I mean were their
own draft night, and there was so much excitement from
fans about Bryce Young, But we know how this draft
process goes. It's very much hit or miss, and it's
a lot of its environmental where you end up. But
on the NFL note just a couple of things where
I let you go.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
C J.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
Stroud, I finally come to the conclusion as an in
Battle Panthers reporter, and I've had to tell my friends
this out there in the Upstate. He's that good. It's
not just that his situation was great, and we knew
this about eight games in. He is remarkable and there
is a wide chasm between what he can do physically
and what the number one overall pick for Carolina has

(11:39):
shown so far. Just the continued elevation of c J.
Stroud with his Houston team.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah, absolutely, And my co host Arn Losman made the
loss of comparisony. He's like, dude, whenever I watched the destrout,
I get memories of Peyton Manning whenever I watched that, right, So, yeah, exactly.
He has been outstanding for his first few years. And
I understand Carolina fans are hate watching that and seeing
what they have right now. But he has really been good.
And it's a great point that you make too. It's

(12:05):
I even think more so than how good these quarterbacks
are coming out of college, you need to have a
good environment for them because you can break them. I
mean you really can. Like you like, I think Bryce Young,
I think he had a shot at being something and
I don't think we'll ever know, but I think Carolina
broke him his rookie year and then his confidence was
just shattered. And Bryce down is a guy that during
his Alabama days he won because of his confidence. He

(12:26):
won because of how well he could process the field
and see the field. But when you're when your confidence
is shot, that takes away that part of your game, right.
So that's definitely a good point for you guys that, like, hey,
where you go matters more than anything else, honestly, and
if you don't have a good supporting environment for him,
that's a really scary proposition for any rookie quarterback or
young quarterback in today's NFL. So, uh, yeah, it's definitely

(12:47):
That's why I think. You know, it depends on where
some of these quarbacks go in the draft as well.
Like if you've got a really good quarterback goes a
good situation, they can turn out to be a really
good player. But if not, like say the Rams, for example,
if the Rams get a quarterback, you put h under
Sean McVay under the stafford for a little bit with
those receivers poking a coup on Cooper Cup. Yeah, that
could work out really well for them. But another situation,
like maybe Cleveland, that might not work out well at all. Right,

(13:09):
So that's it's a weird situation right now. But uh yeah, definitely,
I mean the interesting year to see where these quarterbacks
end up.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
Max's last one, Trey big Steelers fan has a Steelers
question undoubtedly for you here I do. Yeah, I've got
I've got questions. I've got lots of questions, but I
think I'm gonna sum it up with one and Steelers,
what the hell? Uh? Just from offense with the wide
receiving corps, George Pickens, friar mouth. From the defense on
third downs, you've got what are we doing?

Speaker 2 (13:33):
Russ?

Speaker 1 (13:34):
What? What the what the hell?

Speaker 2 (13:36):
Fire? Tom weird. It's weird that that uh, that Cowboys
game broke me as well. Man, that was a that
was a tough one to watch. Honestly, But yeah, it's weird.
I just I'm very curious to see what they do
with Russell Wilson. Now. I'm wondering if they're they're gonna
start him as a starter, because, I mean, Mike Commons
all summer was saying, no, Russell Wilson is our starting quarterback.
And now with him hurt now and Field's playing well enough,

(13:59):
I'm wondering what they're going to do. I personally would
keep Fields in and just see what happens. But I'm
wondering what they're gonna do. But yeah, it was a
that cowboy game was very frustrating, to say the least.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
So it's got all the makings of a ten and
seven season with an early wildcard exit, and you still
got it better than us out here in Carolina. Yenser fans,
stop complaining. Courtesy of Panthers Twitter, Hey Max, all that aside,
great job as always at PFF dot com. What's on
tap this weekend as you guys get set for another
big slate?

Speaker 2 (14:28):
Yeah? Absolutely so. We just we had our preview show
last night which were previewed the eight biggest games in
college football, and it is a unbelievable slate of Collegetable.
We actually we usually do like five or six games
in our preview and we had to do eight in
this one because of how many amazing games there are,
So I recommend checking that out. The PNF College Football

(14:48):
Show on YouTube and a regular podcast. It's going to
be an amazing, amazing weekend of college football and I
personally can't wait for it.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
It goes by too fast. We're gonna enjoy every minute
of it. Max Chadwick, Pro Football Focused. Thanks for making time, Bigeh.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Thank god it