05/04/2021 - HOUR 3 - Predictions

Colin gives some NFL predictions for next season

Guest: Rashawn Slater

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:24):
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One of the things I love about football. We've talked
about this half of the NFL half is undrafted. That's unbelievable.
In the NBA, once you get past the thirteenth pick

(00:46):
of the first round, it gets pretty slim. But there
are great high school and college players everywhere, and people
overlook them. Rashawn Slater was only offered by three programs, Illinois, Kansas,
and Northwestern. No Obama's no Ohio states he walks on
a Northwestern starts day one. A great player for three years.

(01:09):
He opted out this year, but he had so many
starts banked at Northwestern it didn't hurt him at all.
And he is now joining US Live the Chargers new
left tackle Rashaan Slater. You know, it is amazing. So
you go to college, you get overlooked by everybody, and
we always talk on our show about how quarterbacks they

(01:30):
got a chip on their shoulder. Brady was overlooked or
Dak was overlooked, nobody. You didn't get all the big
dogs coming after you. Do you believe that absolutely Rashan
made you a better football player and made you work harder. Oh,
without a doubt. Yeah, I think I feel like, you know,
just I kind of feel like you played in my hand,

(01:52):
just because my whole life I've kind of been used
to being looked at as an underdog. In high school,
we didn't really win many football games and so our
program wasn't recruited very heavily. And then you know, Northwestern,
a lot of people perceive it to be one of
the weakest scenes in the Big Ten, when really we're not.
And so yeah, I feel like I definitely put a
chip on my shoulder. And just the way I prepared

(02:14):
has kind of always been based off of the way
that I felt like I had to like show everyone
that I was better than they thought. Now you did
opt out. I had a general manager tell me it
didn't matter with you, you had so many starts. You
were a good, smart kid. But but was there part
of you take me to the day you opted out.
Were you sitting there you talk it over with your parents?
Did you think yourself, Man, I'm gonna make the NFL

(02:37):
is just gonna hurt my draft stock? Yeah, I mean
that definitely went into the conversation. Well initially that you know,
the decision was kind of made for me. And so
from there, when the Big ten canceled, I started training
immediately and then m yeah, but when it came time
that they reinstated it, I talked to my parents and
my coaches at Northwestern and then my teammates, and it

(02:58):
was it was such a hard decision, but we ended
up just deciding, like, hey, if I weighed the pros
and cons, like there's a lot of uncertainty around the season,
and I know the train's going really well. So I
ended up deciding to keep training and it worked out.
I know sometimes general managers will tell me things, but
I'm not gonna say them yet because I you know,

(03:18):
those are sources for me. So I know the Chargers,
the two there was two people they wanted, and you
were one of them. But I didn't think they were
gonna get you because I thought you were going to
get drafted before. So as you started dropping, I thought,
oh my god, the Charger because Tom Talsko is a
friend of mine, and so I'm thinking they're gonna get

(03:39):
this kid. So when you did you have a sense
the Chargers liked you, I didn't, you know, not, or
at least not more so than any other team, because
we didn't We never talked in the pre draft process.
I talked to almost every team, but the Chargers was
not one of them, and so I knew they wanted
an align, but I just didn't know it was gonna

(04:01):
be me. You've played left tackle, you've played right tackle,
You're one of these guys you could, you could probably
play center. Would you prefer to be a left tackle?
And if so, why, Yeah, I definitely prefer to be
a left tackle. You know, that's where my best ball
has been played so far, and that twenty nineteenth season.
I feel like I have that versatility to play any position.

(04:23):
But if you ask me, what feels the most natural
as left tackle. So before you got drafted, so people
thought you were gonna go like eight or nine and
then all of a sudden, it's ten. Well, it was eleven,
all was out of it's twelve. Was there a moment
when you're like, I'm not gonna be the guy that
falls in the first round? Am I a little bit? Uh?

(04:44):
But like the whole like mentality had going into the
draft was I'm gonna end up in a place where
I can excel and I'm not gonna try to set expectations.
And so there was a little bit of fear in
the back of my mind, but at the same time,
like I didn't really want to let it show or
let it come out. And so before I knew it,
like it was kind of flying by two in my head.

(05:04):
So before I knew it, I was getting that call
and that fear was gone. What you're right now training
down in Sugarland, Texas, and you're from Texas. You go
up to Northwestern what a life Texas? You go down
to Chicago, which is a great American city. Now you're
out to Los Angeles. Have you been to Los Angeles before? Never?

(05:25):
I've been to San Diego, But I don't know how
different it is. It's a little faster than San Diego.
It's but the weather's the same, but it's it's a
little faster. But you're gonna be doing a lot of football.
You don't have to worry about that. Have you seen
just now? I don't know if you know this, but
they've got a really good quarterback. His name is Justin Herbert.
Have you seen him? If you heard about him? Oh,

(05:46):
come on now, of course if you look at my
search history right now. I was watching his highlights like yesterday,
just like getting really excited about the offense and what
we're gonna be able to do. Obviously, I know, like
we have a lot of tools, having justin this huge
and then uh, just a lot of vets on the
old line. So I feel like it's such a great
situation to be going into. Yeah, what kind of offense

(06:09):
to the Chargers, right, I mean, do you think they
play for your style? Does it work? Yeah? I definitely
think so. We talked about running a lot of you know,
outside zone, uh, letting you know, letting the playmakers make
plays and setting up play actions off that, and so
absolutely that's a lot of what we ran Northwestern's outside
zone too, So I feel like it's a great fit well,
this is exciting for you and your family. So when

(06:32):
you'll probably get out here by the way, so far
stadiums brand new. That's nice, your quarterback's good, the weather's
good out here. Um, this is it. I mean when
when you were after you get drafted, bro high five
to the commissioner and it's done. What's it been like
for your family? Just it's a generational change. What's it

(06:52):
been like for your family? Oh, it's been It's been
really cool, honestly, like that that might have been outside
of getting drafted. Highlight of draft weekend was just being
able to be around them and like see how proud
they were of me. It was unreal and I'll never
forget it, you know. I'm so glad that we were
able to like just do it all together in person.

(07:13):
But it's been incredible, hey man. And like my mom
and my brother are probably like the most diehard Broncos
fans ever and just growing up it's all I've seen.
And then the other day I kind of had the
realization of the now they're Chargers fans and they just
completely dropped the Broncos fans. So that was probably the
coolest thing for me to see Broncos. Who needs the Broncos.

(07:34):
Broncos are nothing, baby, They're nothing. Rashawn, congrats, I hear
nothing but amazing things. Your life's gonna change. It's already
been amazing from what we can tell. And congratulations. Yeah,
thank you so much. You bet Rashawn Slater. There is
just everybody loved him. He again, he's an opt out
where like he said, the Big Ten made the decision

(07:55):
for him. Yeah, I think a lot of players got
in that situation. Like like he said, he started training
for the n FELL and then I was going back, like, yeah,
what's the point. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Herd weekdays and noon Easter nine am Pacific. Good stuff.
Joey Taylor with the news. No, no turn on the news.
This is the Herd Line News. That's pretty crazy. He's

(08:18):
never been toed Los Angeles, well, Sandy. When you're when
you live out like in Texas, San Diego is more beachy,
like it's more laid back. Like when I lived out
of East I would take my family not to La
but to San Diego. We never Mexican food twice before
I even moved here. Yeah, but you go to the
beach Coast. You're not really making it to LA unless

(08:39):
you have like a real reason or business to go there.
But that's a that's a big life change. So Tom
Brady obviously has seven super Bowl rings, but he came
up short on one accomplishment that he really wanted. The
perfect season. It's Patriots for eighteen and oh Austin super
both of the Giants in two thousand and seven season.
I've never rooted harder for a team I generally didn't
care about than I did for the in that Super Bowl.

(09:00):
That's unfortunate. Um, well, look, you know, Dolphins don't have
a lot, but we have that seventy two seasons. So
I did not want to see the Patriots win. During
the NFL's Draft to thon this weekend, Shannon Sharpe asked
Brady if he would trade two of his rings for
that one super Bowl win to complete the perfect season,
and he nodded and said I would. But I guess

(09:25):
when you have seven, yeah, it makes it a lot easier.
If you had nine Mercedes, I can get one up
to have the perfect one. Yeah. It's like you know,
asking a guy, you know, what, did you trade that
one super Bowl win for you? Know, the Hall of
Fame or something like us. Yeah, when you have seven,
it's like, yeah, I could throw two away and you know,
get the perfect season. Yeah, make that trade. But that's

(09:47):
that's a conversation you only have when you're Tom Brady. Yeah. So,
the Giants upgraded their offensive weapons this offseason in both
free agency and the draft, and they're hoping these additions
will help Daniel Jones take his place to the next
level this season. GM Dave Getleman said, this will be
a big jump. This is the year year two to
year three that Daniels should really make a major stride.

(10:09):
We're looking forward to seeing him thrive. I think that's
fair give him. I said, go to Thanksgiving. What do
I have at Thanksgiving? The Giants will know in the building.
I'll say this, if he cuts to if at the
end of last year he cut down on his turnovers,
then he looks like he's a player. Well, Daniel Jones
is one of your things this season, right, Like Daniel Jones,
You're gonna make a decision by him about him on
Thanksgiving Thanksgiving, I'll know if Daniel Jones we'll have a

(10:32):
big We'll have a big Daniel Jones make a decision
party on Thanksgiving at our house. And you're not going
to criticize Aaron Rodgers if he loses to the Buccaneers.
Can't doesn't have the doesn't have the resources. There was
one other thing. There was one other thing. There was
a bunch of new rules on the show. I can't remember.
Oh yeah, yeah, said you're not moving in I don't
believe that. We'll have to give that one a couple

(10:52):
of years. We'll give you the grade on that rule
in a couple of years. Just like the rookie quarterbacks. Okay,
well they didn't move make a lot of free agency moves. Uh, well,
moves this offseason. I should say that Kenny Golladay, obviously,
John Ross, Kyle rudolph A, Dory Jackson, and they had
a They did take a wide receiver in the draft
as well, So they are clearly building around him. They're

(11:14):
clearly leaning into him, which they should do. I think
he's going to take a step up this year. They
also have sake on Barkley back, which is going to
be massive for him. They're all lines not great, but
it's they got they they're left tackle. They drafted last
year Thomas. I actually liked him. He was hit and miss,
so if he gets backside protection, he's got the weapons.
I love their defense, I think, yeah, I love the

(11:36):
Giants defense. So finally, Carmelo Anthony passed Elvin Hayes for
tenth on the NBA's all time scoring list last night.
He hit a three and the second quarter to move
into that spot, and he raised his arms quickly to
acknowledge the accomplishment. After the game, Blazers coach Terry Stotts
presented him with the game ball, and Mellow gave a
quick speech to his teammates Cople years ago, I would

(11:58):
love the league. Whatever reason, I'm back persevered. I say
strong page with him myself and Alexandi. That's very nice.
You know, Elvin Hayes doesn't get any love. When I
was a kid, my Sonics in Seattle played the Washington
Bullets at the time. Elvin Hayes is a top ten

(12:19):
college player of all time, and it's honestly one of
those guys nobody ever talks about. Gotti was great, but Mellow,
you know, Melow's big knock is going to be. He
didn't win enough, but he scored a lot, and there's
plenty of there's room for that in basketball. It's been
a lot of great George Gerwin was a great score.
He didn't have a lot of rings. Sure. I mean
that's similar to the Westbrook conversation, like there are guys

(12:40):
who are who have incredible skill and incredible talent and
doesn't always necessarily translate to rings, and they've been on
good teams and had moments, but weren't able to get
a ring. And that's not saying that Carmelo won't like
who knows how much longer he's going to play for
and where he ends up, but certainly a Hall of
Famer and has had an unbelievable career. And it's it's nice.
I like the speech because it is true. I mean,

(13:01):
everyone had given up on Carmelo just a few years ago,
and he completely transformed his body, waited through that storm
with the league, and now he's, you know, top ten
all time in scoring. Carl Malone no titles. Carmelo notes
eight of the ten have a bunch of titles. I
think Moses has one. He may have two. I forget

(13:23):
Karl Malone second leading score, no titles. He had the
misfortune of dealing with the best team ever though in
most of his he was favored with the Lakers to
win one, and then Kobe and Shack started not getting along.
Carl Malone play was great for a long time and
he just Karl Malone may go down as played on

(13:44):
the most good teams without a title. Yeah, I mean
that we're good for fifteen years. Unbelievable talent, unbelievable career.
It's very hard to win titles. I think we sometimes
forget that it's very difficult to win championships. It is
joy with the news. Well that's the news, and thanks
for stopping by the Herdline News. So a lot of

(14:05):
people gave up on Carmelo Anthony. I did not from
the Sorry a jerk, all right? And best for last.
The rookie over and unders. I'm gonna make some prediction.
You can bet these over and unders on rookie performances
coming up this year in the NFL. Be sure to
catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon Easter

(14:26):
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(15:10):
Hustlerturf dot Com hustlerturf dot com. The twenty twenty one
draft took place over the weekend. First round. A lot
of quarterbacks, a lot of Alabama players. We have odds,
all of them provided by Fox Beet over unders. That
means to you bet over the number or under the
number that Foxbet provides. Here we go. Will Jaguars quarterback

(15:33):
Trevor Lawrence have over or under twenty two point five
touchdown passes this season? He will have over that. We've
had seven quarterbacks that have done that. Last year, Justin
Herbert had thirty one. Baker Mayfield was over that. And
let's be honest, they're gonna trail Joy in a lot
of games, so he's gonna be playing second half's trailing.
They went and got a running game they'd ideally like

(15:56):
to take away. They don't want him throwing forty times game.
My guess is they trail a lot and he will.
So I think he's over twenty two and a half
touchdown passes. Well, Trevor Lawrence have over under thirteen point
five interceptions this season. It'll be really really close, I
would guess slightly more. Again, they drafted a running back

(16:17):
in the first round and they already have one. They'd
like him to throw about twenty six times. I don't
think he's gonna have a ton of interceptions, but he
benefited from a great o line and great receivers at Clemson.
Now he's gonna be trailing, it's probably gonna have to
throw over thirty times. There's some decent pass rushers in
that division, so yeah, I think he's gonna have a

(16:37):
lot of touchdown passes and a lot of picks. Year one.
How about Jets quarterback Zach Wilson over under thirteen and
a half interceptions this season. Easy over. First of all,
he's gonna start seventeen games. Is he gonna have one
pick a game? It's also the best defensive coach division
in football. Belichick's gonna eat him alive. Flores is gonna
eat him alive. Buffalo's defense isn't great. Butt mcdurban's to

(16:59):
defense coordinator, so his offensive line is okay. I do
think their first round pick, the left tackle from USC
the left guard, was a good pickup. But you're gonna
have him start seventeen games, best defensive division in football.
He's gonna throw picks. Justin Fields. Bears quarterback over under
eleven and a half starts this season. I think it's

(17:21):
under eleven and a half starts. I put the number
at about nine. They made the playoffs last year with Trubisky.
They can certainly be competent with Andy Dalton, who has
a career winning record Cowboys last year if you count
that Giants win that Andy came in after Dak got hurt.
Where a five hundred team, So they'll be competent. The
question's going to be if Minnesota is better and Green
Bays starts pulling away by late October. Did they look

(17:44):
for some spark with their offense. So I'd say he
starts eight or nine games. Well, Steelers running back Nazi
Harris have over or under nine hundred point five yards
this season. That's an easy one. Under nine hundred yards under.
First of all, he's not a big play guy. At
Alabama he had six hundred thirty eight carries. He only
had two in college over forty plus yards. That's not

(18:06):
what he is. He's He's not Adrian Peterson or Zeke
He's gonna give you these big pops. The other thing is,
I don't think the Steeler's offensive line right now is
very good. They didn't run the football well last year
or the year before. So I think he'll be steady,
but I don't think he'll be as a spectacular as
maybe a Nick Chubb is. Initially Nick Chubb's more of

(18:27):
a home run hitter. Well, Eagles wide receiver Davante Smith
have over under seven hundred and twenty five point five
yards receiving this season. I think he'll be under. Jalen
Hurts has four starts. I don't like the competency of
the head coach. They also Philadelphia throws with their tight
ends a lot, Zach Ertz, Dallas Goddard. They also Travis

(18:48):
Fulgum has become a real player. They drafted a first
round receiver last year, Jalen Riager, So he's got some competition.
I think you can use him on a lot of stuff.
He may get some bubble screen stuff out in the flat.
I don't see, you know, I don't see Jalen Hurt
sitting in the pocket throwing dimes down field to him.
I don't know if they have that offensive line right now.

(19:09):
It's gotten older. Well, Bengals wide receiver Jamar Chase have
over or under one thousand, sixty nine point five yards
receiving this season barring an injury. This feels like a
really easy one to me. This isn't over. So he's
a home run hitter when he was at LSU. This
is a pretty amazing stat that eighty five percent of

(19:32):
his college catches were touchdowns or first downs. So he
is a big play wide receiver. And let's be honest
about this. Joe Burrow loves to throw the deep ball,
so and Zach Taylor loves to call deep ball throws
and they played together before. Yeah, so this is one

(19:53):
of the nag Harris under nine hundred yards and Jamar
Chase over a thousand yards. And again, Cincinnati's gonna be
trailing in a lot of football games. So what happens
when you when there's eight minutes left, you trail and
have the ball. People go into softer dying packages. They
give you easy receptions. So I think this kid's going

(20:16):
to be a star day one. By week one, two
and three, you will have one of the better deep
threats in the league. Well, Dolphins wide receiver Jalen Waddle
have over under seven hundred and thirty point five yards
receiving this season. This is the toughest one on the board.
Toughest one on the board. First of all, Miami's got
other good players, and two is not a guy that

(20:37):
lights it up. I think he's gonna be really good.
I'm gonna say under for these reasons. It's a very
good defensive Robert Sala You're going against McDermott and Belichick,
so it's a very good defensive division, great coaching. Secondly,
Twa does not throw for a lot of yards. He
was thirtieth last year of quarterbacks in yards per game.

(21:00):
The other thing is one of the things Miami's actually
done pretty well and didn't need to draft a ton too.
Although I think jaydal and Waddle's a good pick. Is
they got good receivers. Mike Seki is a good tight end,
Will Fuller, DeVante Parker, so they're not going to rely
on him, and I don't again like DeVante Smith. I

(21:21):
can see some stuff underneath, but I don't think you
want to build an offense where you're asking two to
sit back there for four seconds and go downfield all
the time. So and that division doesn't allow a lot
of that. There's good, good secondaries in that division. So
I say under. Finally, will Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts
have over or under seven and a half touchdown receptions

(21:43):
this season? Now, you would think that would be a
big over because I think Kyle's going to be great,
but you gotta remember for a tight end, eight touchdowns
is a lot. I'm gonna say under, and I think
he's gonna be really good. They got Julio Jones, they
got cal Ridley, they have Hayden Hurst a tight end,
they have Russell Gage. This is a really good receiving corps.

(22:05):
So I mean, one of the reasons you could have
passed on Kyle Pitts is we really don't need production
from targets. You also have a rookie and a rookie
head coach. It's gonna take a while to get it
going in that division. You play a really good defense
in Tampa twice. He's probably not gonna pop against Tampa.
Only four tight ends ever, I've had over eight touchdowns

(22:31):
in a rookie year, and Hunter Henry, Rob Gronkowski, Junior Miller,
and Mike Ditka. So it's just I think it's hard
to get in the end zone for touchdowns. And I
don't think I think if you told me right now,
he's gonna have nine hundred and eighty yards, six seven touchdowns,
be Rookie of the Year or first or second. That's

(22:53):
an amazing year. First year head coach, rookie tight end,
new offense, gonna take him a while in that division.
Plus you got the Saints play reel defense and the
Bucks play reel defense. That's four of your seventeen games
right there. Yeah, it really does matter though, Like Jamar Chase,

(23:14):
Cincinnati's gonna trail in a lot of their games. Trevor Lawrence,
by the way, it's gonna have over twenty two touchdown passes.
They're gonna trail in a lot of their games. So
the Jags over under you guys could look it up
at it. I bet it six and a half. So
what's that tell you? In seventeen games, ten or eleven
of them, you trail late, because generally Vegas is you know,

(23:35):
those numbers are prettyccurate. What are you doing with that?
Un I would go over. I think they're gonna be competent,
not good. I think the two drafts that I thought
Matt Rule and Carolina and urban Meyer. Urban Meyer took
a couple of guys who had had injuries. Matt took
a couple of guys with personality red flags. But in
both of them, I felt there was a real direction.

(23:58):
I thought Jackson Bill got much more dynamic offensively, and
I thought Carolina, between Sam Darnold and their picks, got
much more athletic. So those were good drafts. I don't
I still think Kansas City, Cleveland and the Chargers if
you combine, I don't. I don't grade drafts. I take
your free agency and your top two or three draft picks.

(24:20):
That gives me. It's more accuracy. And I thought the Browns,
the Chiefs, and the Chargers crushed. But in terms of
just drafts, I kind of like sometimes joy show me
a direction, like that's my problem. Like I keep saying
with the Raiders, this is your fourth draft, your defense
is still bad. That tells me you don't. I mean,
you can solve in two drafts. You can solve the

(24:41):
side of the ball. Yeah, And like like last year,
Carolina went all in on defense. It didn't solve it.
It's a cornerstone. They're probably next because this year they
want all in on offense. So Carolina needs to go
back to the defense. But I mean the Raiders, we're
on your four now. It's still an atrocious defense. It's

(25:03):
very you can solve occasionally a unit like Cleveland I
think solved their secondary, the Chargers solved their offensive line.
It's hard to solve a side of the ball in
an off season, the entire side. But good god, Gruden, mayok,
it's here four. It's I still didn't like the draft,
So we'll see. By the way, enjoy spalllight comfort, save

(25:24):
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money back guarantee. My top ten. I put it up
my first top ten, post free agency and post draft.

(25:48):
I feel very good about it. The top is very easy,
the bottom not as easy. I'll you know what, I'll
do it. Ere we go. We got Packers ten, Baltimore nine,
Rams eight. I didn't love their draft, Charger seven, nine,
Er six, Cleveland will be really good, but very young

(26:09):
in the back end. Early in September Seattle four they
did win twelve games. Buffalo I love everything they do. Three,
Kansas City two and Tampa one. There you go. That's
my first first heard hierarchy. Listen. I don't know if
the Brandon Staley can coach for the Chargers. I don't know,
and I don't know. I put Green Bay ten. They're

(26:31):
a mess right now. I don't know if the culture
has been ripped apart. But we'll see you can Garoppolo
stay healthy, all right, We'll see you tomorrow. It's the herd,