Colin Cowherd Podcast - Caitlin Clark Is “Magical”, John Calipari To Arkansas, You Can’t Pay Tua, UFC #300

Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out”!

They react to South Carolina beating Iowa to win the national championship in Caitlin Clark’s final collegiate game, and break down why Clark is a transcendent “must see TV” athlete like MJ and Tiger (3:00). They pour over the ratings for both the women’s and men’s tournaments and why they feel “big” while the NBA is suffering from self-inflicted wounds (10:30).

They also address the reports that John Calipari will take over as the head coach at Arkansas and debate whether his tenure at Kentucky was a failure (22:30).

Colin predicts that Washington will pick Jayden Daniels at #2 overall in the NFL draft (31:15) and a flurry of moves on draft day with quarterback needy teams making trades (36:30). They break down the process for NFL teams vetting draft prospects character and intangibles (41:00)

Finally, they preview UFC #300 and talk about why Dana White has been so successful in building UFC into a must-see spectacle (49:30). They address the reasons behind the layoffs at the NFL Network (56:30) and John lays out his argument for why the Dolphins CAN’T pay Tua (01:00:00)

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (01:38):
As we usually do on a Sunday night, you hear
it Monday or maybe Sunday night. Former NFL scout three
and ounced the podcast and we chat it up for
about fifty five minutes to an hour. Let's start with
Caitlin Clark. I watched it on a plane. Generally, the
great team beats the great player. I think Ukon is
going to beat Zach Edy. I think, I mean South

(01:59):
Carolina's one point had thirty points. Ioways had none, So
the better team. I frankly I thought Yukon women were
better than Iowa. I thought the last two games, Caitlyn
Clark just kept him close. I've heard Trey Young. She's
a better passer than Trey Young. Yeah, I mean it's

(02:20):
if at this point, even Lebron came on X and said, listen,
if you don't like your game, stay away from those people.
Those people are crazy people. Between the continuity and chemistry
of women's basketball, because they're all coming back juniors and seniors,
the quality of basketball is really good. I mean, but
the product's good when I watch it.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
I thought these last two games, and listen beside a
couple of times last year, it's not like I've been
glued to Caitlyn Clark's season. I was riveted. I mean
that yukon Game one because you think she's gonna lose. Yeah,
clearly you're playing geno in all time program, and she
willed her team to win. Colin I was tempted at
they were a big underdog. I almost gamble on women's

(03:01):
college basketball game and it wasn't going to be a
small amount, but I got obviously South Carolina had lost,
and you knew earlier, Like God, this South Carolina team
is loaded with athletes. They had five new starters from
last year. It's like the Alabama of college basketball right now.
But she is what I don't understand, and I get it,
Like I defend the guys in the NBA from the

(03:23):
eighties and nineties who could be negative towards the newer
guys that they're not talking about Steph Curry and Giannis.
They're talking about the percentage of guys making these two
hundred million dollar contracts that should not be making that
I'd be bitter too if I was them. You saw
a lot of former women's stars come out. It's like, guys,
this is I'm going to pay attention to what she
does in the WNBA now claiming I'm going to get

(03:45):
the WNBA package here. But she's the first player to
get me to pay attention. Obviously, college basketball, women's or
men's that their brand, IOWA brand is infinitely bigger than
the WNBA as a whole, right, So it's not it's
hard to compare, but she clearly has transcended it at all.
And to just we don't feel and see this that often, well, right,

(04:08):
it happens every so often, and especially in a sport
like women's college bat it is cool.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
Yeah, I mean, Cheryl Miller got twelve million viewers back
in eighty three. I went and looked it up on YouTube.
The women's game is much better, but it is a phenomena,
and phenomenons don't grow to the sky like the numbers
will come back down to earth. The games that get
ratings are ones with Caitlin and the game following one
with Caitlin, which retains about you know, about sixty.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Fifteen million people are watching these women's college basketball games.
I mean that's an incredible ACCOMPLI yeah, and the quality
is just better.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
But I think Cheryl Miller. I can remember being fascinated
with Cheryl Miller. Nancy Lieberman was great, but I don't
know if I was. I wasn't fascinated by her. She
was just great. But I think Caitlyn's got the magic dust,
and I don't think you get it very often. I
think Michael had it. I think Tiger had it. Tiger
changed my viewing habits on Sunday. The Sopranos and Tiger
would change my viewing habits. I mean, oh, Tani, I'll

(05:01):
tell you a guy that had it. I don't know
how long he had it, but when jose Canseco all
the steroid rumors came into Major League Baseball. I can
remember getting off a plane in San Diego, going down
to the luggage carousel, go down the escalator and everybody's
gathered around the bar and I'm like, what I mean,
like more five deep at an airport luggage. Jose Canseco

(05:26):
was at the plate, and I can remember going to
a Mariner's game. I got great seats like a one, two, three, four,
and the A's were in town. Mariner games didn't sell
out back then. There were fifty thousand people in the
Ugly Kingdom. So there are for various reasons, some people
are controversial Connor McGregor, Jose Canseco, but I think she
falls under its magical. It just doesn't look I mean,

(05:48):
she did a she missed a shot today, but she
took a step back. I'm like, that's a twenty eight
foot shot. That's that's Steph and only Steph's range.

Speaker 3 (05:58):
Well, I think when Steph did that at Dave and
it was unlike anything we'd ever seen. And obviously he
went on to become I don't know, a top ten
player of all time, but it was clear like I've
never quite seen anything like this, and maybe this has
happened in women's college basketball to some form or fashion before,
but people weren't watching. That's not being mean or anything.
That's just a fact. Yeah, And for whatever reason, this

(06:20):
girl got people. And I mean, my mom, I'm driving
around today. I see random people walking around with Iowa
T shirts all over Scottsdale.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
It is done.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
It's a powerful thing. I don't know what else to say.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah. I was flying back from Chicago. So the game started,
and then at halftime, that was about the time that
I could board the flight. But I was sitting there
in the lounge and I looked over and every single
person was on their phone watching, and I went to
grab something to eat and I just kind of looked

(06:54):
at everybody.

Speaker 3 (06:55):
Everybody.

Speaker 1 (06:56):
You don't see that in the NBA playoffs. You see
it in the NFL, where I can literally drive down
the street in Los Angeles and if I could see
inside houses on a Sunday night or a Saturday night.
With the NFL playoffs, everybody's watching, like every television in
LA sometimes a dispassionate football town. Everybody's watching. Everybody in

(07:16):
the lounge. I was in two man to Women young old.
So if it got twenty four million people, I would
not be shocked.

Speaker 3 (07:25):
I think there's something that resonates with people. I mean,
Tiger's a good example. When Phil Knight was following his
career in high school, right, I mean, Peyton Manning could
have gone wherever he wanted in high school. Steph Curry, remember,
couldn't even get recruited to his dad's alma Modern Virginia Tech.
Now Caden Clark, I think was a different level high
school project. But like Gino, wouldn't call her back. Yeah, so,
I mean clearly she feels like one of the great

(07:47):
girls that would have been at Yukon, that would have
been at Tennessee under Pat Summit or at South Carolina,
but she ended up at Iowa. With I don't have
the scouting report on all the top colleges, it doesn't
quite feel like their squad is as good as some
of these other squads from a talent standpoint, definitely from
a side standpoint. So what she did is just something
that we will know however her career goes on from here,

(08:09):
it'll be something that no one will ever forget, which
is cool. Like that what sports it about having some fun?

Speaker 1 (08:14):
Well?

Speaker 3 (08:15):
Yeah, I mean.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
It's what boxing needs. You know, boxing's been dying, Allie Tyson.
They just don't have anybody. And you know, the great,
the great male athletes aren't going into boxing. If they
want to fight, they go UFC. Sure, but it's just
you don't get these stories very often you get them.
I mean, I just I can count, you know, two

(08:37):
hands in my lifetime. I mean, as good as Phil
Micholson is and he drives me to a TV. But
I'm a sportscaster. Tiger was different. I always said, my mom,
my late mother, didn't know sports. She was from Great Britain.
She had no idea who Derek Jeter was. She knew
who a Rod was. That's a superstar. Sports fans, you know,

(08:58):
they know who Josh Allen is. My mom knew who
Brett Farv was, or Peyton Manning was, or Tom Brady was.
There's a big difference between There's a lot of good
basket Sue Byrd. I mean, there's been like dominant players before.
It's like, yeah, Caitlyn Clark's different. That's a comment. That's
a whole different ball game. So it's one thing to
see Caitlin Clark and women's basketball driving numbers. It's another

(09:21):
when the men are getting pretty good numbers and they're
not getting like Caitlin Clark numbers, but the march madness
for the men, you're not getting the continuity or the chemistry.
Zach Eaty was not changing channels last year. Yukon is
the most anonymous great program in the country's history. They've
had multiple coaches Kevin A Lee, Jim Calhoun, Dan Hurley.

(09:44):
They don't have one coach k And I was thinking
about this. I've gone back and forth on I understand
the Caitlyn Clark number, but the college basketball number is
maintaining its strength this year. And and I've thought, well,
we have legalized gambling in more and more states. That's something.

(10:05):
There's more and more people gambling on these games. It's
not a quality argument. Women's is a quality and icon argument.
Caitlyn's an icon. The quality is better. Men's college basketball
quality is not very good. And there's no Zachy. He's
a seven foot four guy. They're not gonna sell shoes
like Caitlyn Clark and I And a lot of it is,
I think, is that we like basketball in this country.

(10:29):
We like Olympic basketball, we like women's Now we've always
you know, magic, Steph Michael. There's been iconic players, and
we always like Men's March madness. But I do think
for a variety of reasons, the NBA feels like it's
just not it. There's not a you know a lot
of these stars Yo kich Yannis, they're not real andmbraceable.

(10:51):
They're just gifted. They're just fantastic players. And you know, Lebron,
there's a Lebron fatigue, John. I mean, let's be honest,
we've watched it. We've been in the league twenty one years. Yeah,
there's a Lebron fatigue. And I love Lebron. Also, STEP's
on an average team. I mean they're slightly better than
average and New York. I watched them Friday night in Chicago.

(11:12):
They're going nowhere. So I think it'd be one thing
if there were these riveting, compelling NBA stories. Kevin Garnett,
Kevin Durant's great, but he's never been somebody like we
get up and cheer for. He's a wanderer, he's sort
of a his own cat. He's a different dude. And
I think, to myself, do we want basketball like we

(11:33):
love football so much now that we need a little
break and the NFL Draft will come pouring in. The
country is looking for basketball, and I'm an NBA fan,
but it just feels like it's that Spurs dynasty where
it's like I'm not in love with anybody.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
I think this gets back to the way society is
in twenty four are options and the women's tournament felt
really big. It did. I mean these last her the
last three games, than the Elite eight, to the Final
four to the championship game. You just couldn't miss. If
you like sports, march madness does and continue. It is
a big event, right, We're gonna see the Masters this weekend,

(12:14):
even with the split of golf, like people are gonna
pay attention. Why it's a big event. And I think
the NBA two things won. The brands like Yogic is
and all, he's one of the greatest players I've ever seen.
The Nuggets, no one has, you say, the Nuggets, no
one cares. Yeah, okay, the Clippers, okay, see that, These brands. Yeah,
it's just that's where the Warriors and Lakers, you know,

(12:37):
I mean, the Warriors is gonna be the ten seed.
They easily could be won and done. The Lakers actually
probably should win a game and be a factor that'll
be big for the NBA. And like you said, I
mean the Knicks now with Julius Randall being injured, they're
not going anywhere. The Celtics could just run through the East.
I do think it just doesn't feel that big. Yeah,
I kind of just pay attention to the Dodgers because

(12:57):
I just know they're big and important. Like what's Otani
Mookie Bett's doing today? Yep. And I've kind of changed
the way, like I watched less and less NBA basketball, definitely,
and I just focus on big things, right, and I
just pay attention to things that matter. I'm not a
huge UFC guy, but like with Connor McGregor his next fight,
I'm gonna buy it. I'm gonna watch it because I

(13:18):
feel like I Jake Paul, Mike Tyson, I'm not gonna
miss it, and neither are most people in my life. Well,
but a lot of people aren't gonna watch the first
round of the NBA. I prompt you that. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:26):
In college football this year, ratings Michigan and Harbaugh felt huge.
There was a mass Sama fatigue, Georgia fatigue. Harball was controversial.
Their numbers were unbelievable.

Speaker 3 (13:39):
He got suspended twice in the season, twice beginning an end.

Speaker 1 (13:43):
If you look at what's happened to society since the
iPhone came around, we are so distracted regular seasons in hockey, baseball,
in the NBA, if you don't have a star, people
aren't interested. They just move on to other shit. My
wife's on TikTok for an hour every morning. I'm sitting there.
You'll go to see it. She'll play wordle, she'll go
seenn and then she's on TikTok for forty five minutes

(14:05):
having a coffee, and I'm you know, I'm going through
sports stuff. And it's just like I think, in a
distracted market, Otani feels big. A UFC three hundred doesn't
have a superstar, but it's got twelve champions or former champions.
It'll get talked about this weekend. Caitlyn Thart felt big,
and I think to your point, Zach Edie and Purdue

(14:26):
is a Big ten team in the final. That feels big.
The Big ten has always been a ratings monster when
they get a great team.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
I think the Brands. I was texting with a buddy
who played golf at Oregon who now works in the
golf industry, and he's just like, can't wait for the
schedule to come out. I mean the games that are
going to be played in football, and that only benefits
I'll never forget Calipari. I was watching an interview. He's like,
I'm the Wildcat's biggest football fan. The better they do,
the more money for us. I'm not an idiot. We

(14:54):
may be a basketball school, but I want the football
program to be good. Stoops, wins. We all all make money,
we all benefit. And I think the explosion of college
football and just football in general has benefited the brands
in college basketball because the casual fan I would fall
under that, and I'm a high end sports fan. I
don't know these players in men's college basketball, and I've

(15:15):
been watching men's college basketball for thirty years, but I
know all the schools, and the schools drop me. And
that's why it was pretty easy to watch the women's tournament.
Like I knew Kaitlyn Cakark, didn't know anyone else, but
I know South Carolina. I can name fifteen NFL guys.
You know Steve Spurrier. I feel I recognize the brand.
That's the one thing in the NBA, Like, I care
nothing about the Clippers. They do nothing for me. Yeah,

(15:37):
I mean they just and their players don't really doesn't,
you know. Just that's one thing the NBA really battles
is the brands, and I do think just it's turned
a lot of people off over the last couple of
years with the effort.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
Oh the load management stuff is horseshit. I hate it.

Speaker 3 (15:52):
It's one of the worst business decisions. David Stern would
never you talk shit about them all you want. That's
that's something that never would have loan because it hurt
the it hurt your consumer, and you're only as strong.
And the reason we talk about these ratings, I mean,
that's where all the money comes from. That's the health
of the business. Right Well.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
I watched Friday Night Bulls Nicks. If Julius Randall, who's
a B level player, is in that game, it feels bigger.
It didn't feel as big. It was Jalen Brunson and
a bunch of guys, and then it was Demartyrosen and
kind of a bunch of guys. If Julius Randold, just
one more guy was on the floor, the game would
have felt bigger. Nicks would have probably been able to

(16:30):
win the game. So yeah, it's and I also feel
the NBA. It's interesting. So the NFL media is critical
of the NFL. College football media is critical. Baseball media
can be harsh. The NBA is different. There's about six
players that matter, two three agents that matter. It's a
lot of cushy, soft reporting. And so instead of banging

(16:53):
on these guys for load management, we'd bang on celebrate.

Speaker 3 (16:56):
It was celebrated a lot of it, a lot of it.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
And now data has come out said, guys, it doesn't
make healthier. It doesn't. There's no data that says you're
being healthy. So I think what has happened is load
management ticks off fans. But the media has to protect
their sourcing on the NBA because in the NBA, it's
one thing. In baseball, if you cover baseball, you get
around the batting cage. There's no team or you just

(17:20):
you don't need any one team or player. Same in
the NFL unless you're like the Chiefs beat Ryder Mahomes.
But in basketball you need Lebron and Rich Paul and
his seven clients. And if you start ticking.

Speaker 3 (17:32):
Them off, you may not get them they cut you off.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
They cut you off, and so I look at load management.
I'm like, it's really and I and again, a lot
of people out there just don't like the NBA.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
I do.

Speaker 1 (17:43):
I go to my third game this year in person,
I get the NBA package. I watch it constantly, so
I think it hurts it. The everything I was thinking
about this weekend, we'll segue back to football, is that

(18:05):
when when Belichick got let go, it's a little like
John Caliparty. The culture changes and you kind of dig
your feet in. Calipari said, this is who I am.
Calipari's rumored to be going to Arkansas. By the way,
there's a big rumor tonight he's going to Arkansas. And
he would take the Kentucky money that'd have to pay
him out Andy, the Arkansas money, I'll be making a

(18:28):
guy who can making twenty five million year or something.
So whether or not that comes to fruition, Calipari to
Arkansas because Musselman took the USC job as a sage job.
But it's interesting, so they're basically the same. The world
changes for football after they wrote the billion dollar check
for CTE, NFL's like, we're cleaning this game up. It's
all offense. They pivoted exit stage right on all those

(18:51):
defensive stuff you could do, and so the game changed.
It benefited now Andy Reid and not Pete Carroll, Mike Tomlin,
Belichick college basket ball the one and done thing. You
can't win with freshmen if the teams that are winning
in this tournament are junior senior late and it's twenty
two year olds. And in both instances, Belichick's like, you know,
this is what I do. Look at my rings. Cal

(19:12):
Party was corded as saying, I don't know if I
can change, and I'm like, John, you can't not win.

Speaker 3 (19:19):
In March.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
The world changes and you dig your feet in. If
Calipari leaves Kentucky, because I'm watching Belichair in Husky gear,
Belichick is cemented he's a top three coach. Ever, if
Calipari gets leaves Kentucky, don't I think you failed. You

(19:42):
failed that you didn't win.

Speaker 3 (19:45):
I was hanging out with a buddy yesterday who's from
the SEC, and he went to Arkansas and one of
the things, I mean, they have a lot of money
at that program. Yes, I mean a lot of money.
And there are rumors he's like the one thing people
started noticing in the middle of the season, Muscle his
wife stopped sitting next to a couple of the big
money people. Yes, knew there were some riffs, and you

(20:05):
know he was going to go somewhere, whether it was Louisville, USC.
We were talking about how Cali Party brags that he
has three billion dollars worth of NBA contracts. Right, that's
always been its thing. Look at it, like, John, these
guys spent three months with you, Anthony Davis was getting
five hundred million in the NBA, whether Colin Coward, John
Middlecoff or John callib PARTI coached them, right, I mean

(20:27):
the majority of your players. What what are we talking about? Right?
And to me, it just I think it gets back
to the power of the money down there and the
pressure of the cash flowing into these programs in basketball
and football, and if Arkansas, if it pulls us off,
because my guys, I thought it was going to be
Chris Beard, remember got fired from Texas. Was an old

(20:48):
miss who was a couple of years ago was viewed
as like a rocket ship and had that incident with
his I don't know if she's his ex wife now,
but got fired. It turns out it wasn't as bad,
but they will cut enormous check. I mean we're talking
fifty fifty million dollars and not even blink. So I listen.
Maybe he's one. I think he's tad bit overrated. I mean,
the tournament's a little weird. Right when I lived in Philadelphia,

(21:11):
we you know, around the tournament time, j Jay Wright
was obviously close with Andy. Everyone was rooting for him,
and I remember they were losing early and this is
in the early twenty tens, and they could not like
advance in the tournament. And finally he turns. We all
acknowledge it's one of the best coaches of the last
several decades. Yeah, tournament's weird. But to lose consistently, to say,
winners to Oakland, I mean, give me a break. Yeah,

(21:33):
so I think it's a little bit. Maybe I'm just
over it. I'm leaving. I'm gonna go to someone who
will like me. Sometimes you just you know, you break
up with someone, you leave a company because someone else
is showing you a little bit more love you're tired of.
Let's face it, Kentucky basketball, Alabama football. I would imagine
North Carolina basketball, LSU football. It's it's a different beast,

(21:53):
you know. It's the pressure that and if you're not
getting it done once they start paying you a lot
and you're hanging your hat on a champion ship from
two thousand and ten or eleven, like it's twenty twenty four.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
Yeah right, yeah, yeah. Musselman Apparently, I was told his wife,
Danielle Musselman ticked off one of the boosters. It wasn't
Tyson's Foods. The Tyson Foods is one of the baseball
but it was somebody else. There's a third sponsor there
and was I was told that. You know, Musselman's intense,
He's not for everybody. I know Jen Cohen very well.

(22:26):
She she wanted somebody that was, you know, a grinder
and was really about basketball, and I think she got it.
Tom Crean is Jim Harbaught text to me. You know
a lot of people were in the Tom Crean corner,
you know, they really really like Tom. I thought Tom
would have been a fine choice, but I think Musselman's
a good choice. But it'll be interesting with Calipari because

(22:46):
it would be like Nick Saban was winning Natty's every
other year. And Calipari was getting dusted every other year
in the tournament. And those those were the two programs
of No Bama football and Kentucky basketball. And I could
argue it's easier in basketball because if you have one
or two NBA players, you're gonna run through a conference.

Speaker 3 (23:06):
I think the hard part about basketball relative to football,
Like he just had the equivalent of like a ten
and two or eleven in one year season, but you
get bounced in the first round, and it is just
it's it equals all your games from the regular season,
where in college football, well it's gonna change now with
the expanded playoff, but if you lost in the final four,
it was still a very successful season, right. But I

(23:29):
do think and you're gonna see it this year in
college football. Brian Kelly, who just might have the number
two pick in the draft, they had an incredible They
went nine and three and they lost Ole Miss and
Lane Kiffin like that. It's not gonna fly down there
for a long time. I mean, we've seen it. We're
Jim mckaway guys. Once that's snowball and negativity, they start
coming for you. Whether it's fair or not, there is
no stopping it, And I would say Kentucky basketball is

(23:52):
probably the closest thing in Who wouldn't you say to
like Alabama l Ship.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
Absolutely, Oh they're gorgeous arena, It's like North Carolina in Kentucky.
It's it's the the revenue, the facilities. I look at Calipari.
My knock on him was I used to joke Calapanzi,
I'm like, okay, I get the one and done scheme,
Like it's not working anymore. Let's let's like get juniors
and seniors.

Speaker 3 (24:15):
But if you and I were an ad, like who
would you rather be in business with? Jay Wright? Bill self?
And he start going to the other five guys, there's
not many, Dan Hurley, you would choose them all over Califari.
Well where even when Satan was a paying your ass,
Everyone's like, wow, I'd go with Nick right, be a
no brainer?

Speaker 1 (24:31):
Well yeah, And a lot of Mark Fugh is not
going to go there. So a lot of the college
basketball coaches, like Jay Wright was not leaving Villanova, Mark
Fugh is not leaving Gonzaga. UCLA's offered him the job
twice in Oregon once Kansas Nope. So what happens in
college basketball more than these football coaches will bounce anywhere.

(24:52):
But in college basketball, these guys that are they've got
of got a they've kind of they know they're getting
into the tournament every year. Like Beheim, you got it,
kind of you're getting into the tournament. In college football,
you can have a hell of a season you're Alabama,
you lose to Georgia, you're not in the tournament and
you're getting Remember that the time he lost to Auburn,
he had to go. He had to go to Texas
because his boosters were like, you know, Nick, I don't

(25:13):
know if it's working. You're like, I got like three titles,
what are you doing. Basketball guys will stay, so you're
not gonna get Jay Wright or Bill Self or Mark Feud.
They're not leaving. They're getting into the tournament every year,
and they like their wife's like it. They've got a
social circle. So and I understand that. For Calipari, I
do think he's a good coach. But the Kentucky thing,

(25:34):
if he leaves, is very interesting because he doesn't want
to budge on that one and done stuff. That's that's
his thing. And by the way, I've.

Speaker 3 (25:41):
Always easier, right, wouldn't you say it's easier. Well, it's
in there out.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
I think, if you know, it's the old inner scoreboard,
outer scoreboard. A lot of guys talk shit, but do
you really have confidence if you really trust your coaching,
like Jay Wright trust is coaching. He gets three star
guys and developed he doesn't early Yeah, they know they're
good coaches. Does Calipari have self doubt and think I

(26:06):
just need better? Dudes? Because name a coach in any
sport that has ever said, you know, I'm willing to
give up complete continuity. No coach likes it. There's not
a high school coach. There's no coach in the history
of any sport that says I want a revolving door
of players. Calipari is doing it because my take is,
deep down he questions his coaching. No, no coach wants

(26:28):
to cycle through players every year.

Speaker 3 (26:31):
He runs the most expensive AAU program in the country. Essentially, Yeah,
it's a good way to put you know. I mean,
I don't know what they generate, probably hundred million dollars
something that he's what he's running. Where you watch Purdue
or Dan Hurley, I mean they're running a college basketball program.
He's running like a bed and breakfast, you're in and
you're out.

Speaker 1 (26:49):
So I feel with some confidence that the first two
players picked in this draft are going to be Caleb
William and Jade and Daniel based on what I'm hearing
on Jade and Daniels playing style in Cliff Kingsbury's history,

(27:09):
that Washington thinks that's a better fit for the current staff,
and they also believe Jade and Daniel's ability. And you've
seen this to move buys you a couple of years
of figuring out complex NFL defenses. We saw it with Lamar,
which Jalen hurts, where you run around for Russell Wilson,

(27:30):
you run around for a couple of years until you
kind of figure out Josh Allen. You know, it's like
I'm gonna run around for a couple of years on
third and six, and it buys you drives, it buys
you wins, buys you time to figure out complex defenses.
Most quarterbacks say in year three, Mahomes, I think said
beginning of year three everything slowed down. I get it now,

(27:54):
So I am this is what I'm hearing that. If
I asked two executs ktives in the league, they said
their feeling was Caleb one, Jade and Daniels two. Drake
May's inconsistency scares them. But if you go back a
year to hit a year's ago, it.

Speaker 3 (28:16):
Was good two years ago.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
Yeah, if you go back to what it's a lot
like Jordan Love, there's a lot to like. If you
go back to the previous year, he ran for six
seven hundred yards anticipatory throws. Sometimes you lose a coordinator,
a left tackle, an NFL receiver, whatever it is. Jordan
Love lost a lot of people good good junior tape

(28:38):
or sophomore tape, bad junior tape. So anyway, I Cliff
Kingsbury Jaden Daniels is what I'm hearing.

Speaker 3 (28:45):
I think two things can be true. I think the
Caleb's in his own universe in this class. Yeah, So
whoever goes to it's hard to make an argument that
they made the wrong decision, right because, like you said,
Drake kind of fell off this year. Jayden Daniels somewhat
of a year. Wonder JJ McCarthy. His statistical profile, the
way he's spent what he's been asked to do is no.

(29:06):
I mean they could win games with him throwing nine
attempts a game. It's like Jimmy Garoppolo twenty nineteen against
the Packers. Yeah, I do think though, in knowing Adam Peters,
and this is why it's kind of been a little
cloak and dagger. He's kind of from the Belichick. He's
not a big talker to the media lettingm know what's
going on. Obviously, he's worked at places that are very
beholden to the head coach, and it's smart to give

(29:27):
the head coach and the operation who you want. But
Cliff Kingsbury, if they were to have success, like he
could get a college job. Like so anytime you draft
because of your coordinator, it's one thing if you draft
if Sean McVay is like, let's take Michael Pennix in
the first round, why not. As long as Sean mcvay's there,
he's the guy calling the place, or Lafleur or Kyle

(29:47):
or Andy. But like is Cliff Kingsbury if they have
success guaranteed to be there. That I always find that
their head coach is a defensive guy. And we've seen
before he's very predicated. His success was on Kyle and
then they had a little success with Sark and then
it kind of fell apart once they all left. So
I think you should take whoever you feel the best

(30:09):
player is. And it's hard if you throw on. Just
go to YouTube watch Jayden Daniels and Malik Davers. He's
really good. I mean, there's no disputing he's got a
big time arm. He's obviously an elite athlete. He's accurate
down the field. The knock is size. Wait that being
not right, but the way he plays, he's one of
Lamar's great attributes is he doesn't take big hits. Yeah,

(30:31):
Michael Vick was kind of the opposite. He kind of
took off. Jayden takes that on. And in the NFL,
this might not be nineteen eighty three, but you still
get hit hard.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
But if Dan Quinn says, Cliff, I'm gonna I'm gonna
give you a lot of say in this, and Cliff,
let's just say it's selfish, says, well, I've had the
Jade and Daniels style before. I can win with that style.

Speaker 3 (30:52):
He knows he can't.

Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, So I can see Dan relinquishing some to Adam
and Cliff and saying, Okay, you guys don't want input,
and Cliff's saying, well, I've worked with that before the
Jaden thing, I can use, I can do. I'm just
told that style Kingsbury, Jaden Daniels Right now, that's the
feeling that that's where they're going.

Speaker 3 (31:13):
I was talking to a buddy who's a high up
guy with a team that does not need a quarterback,
and his comment was, after Caleb Williams, I'm glad I'm
not in that business because it's it's just not that.
I mean, all these guys are talented, but I'm even
pro JJ McCarthy because my comp to him is a
little Alex Smith. Yeah, clearly he's a high level guy,
physical attributes, he goes to the rights place he can

(31:34):
have success. But history shows more than half of these
guys fail. Right, and it's an overwhelming position, even these
guys coming from LSU, Michigan, these big even North Carolina.
It's a whole different ballgame now. The popularity of the NFL,
the pressure of the NFL. You've talked about it. By
the second Thanksgiving, it's like either shit or get off
the pot here, so it's pedal to the metal. Money

(31:57):
doesn't matter anymore. We can pay you to leave. I
mean the Jets, there's a decent chance. The Jets cut
Zach Wilson. Clearly they're hoping to trade in. Well, no
one's trading for an eight million dollar backup.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
The campbellay, Well, this is one of the most circumstantial
drafts I remember. I'll give you a team, the New
York Giants. I was told this two days ago by
a higher up in the NFL in a front office.
He said, take a look at the New York Giants.
He goes, if Jaden Daniels or Drake May fall, they

(32:29):
will take them. They're not moving up, they don't have
they don't want to give up draft capital. They're stuck
with Daniel Jones. But they could either take Jaden Daniels
or Drake May. This executive said, that would make a
lot of sense if they fell to you. If they don't,
they would also potentially take a star receiver if Harrison

(32:50):
or Neighbors is available, or they look at it and think, oh,
those two receivers are now both gone. The Chargers can't
get out of five. They take Harrison, go to Arizona.
The Chargers can't move back. They take a receiver which
they need, and the Giants trade down. And this executive
said the Giants are a great example of you can

(33:10):
do a million mock drafts. It's going to depend on
what happens above them. Because his take is, it's really
rich when you have an average roster and the Giants
offensive roster is below average, below and that's for you
cannot give up multiple firsts like you need hits, and
the safest hits in this draft and any draft is

(33:31):
a first round pick in the top twelve. So this
person was just saying, the Giants are class example. They
could take They'll take a quarterback if they fall probably won't,
but they would. They'll take a receiver. If the Chargers don't,
they'll move down potentially. And he said there, he goes,
this draft is going to be outside of the top
couple of picks. He said, Washington and Chicago aren't moving.

(33:53):
After that, it's all circumstantial. It's who's is. If Minnesota
goes hyper aggressive, he goes. The other thing, he says,
keep your eye on Denver. Everybody's talking about falling back.
He said, if you like bow Nicks and the Raiders
jump ahead of you two spots and these quarterbacks start
drying up, McCarthy got four of them gone and you're

(34:14):
not into Pennix, which if you look at Peyton's offense,
Penis isn't a good fit. So I think we're just
gonna have kind of a wild draft. I do think
there's gonna be multiple teams trading down and I can't
wait for well.

Speaker 3 (34:24):
To me, the visits that you see come across the wire,
like so and so visited the team random guys. Sometimes
it can be smoke screens or whatever. But when you
see the top ten guys, when like all the receivers
are going to meet Harbaugh, when all the receivers are
going to New York, when Pennix and bow Nicks are
going to the Raiders and going to Denver, those are
enormous job interviews, right. I mean there's already been parts

(34:47):
of the job interview, but that's sitting down with the owner,
eating a meal, spending time with the entire staff for
large portions of a day. You feel one way or
another when that guy leaves because you already know him
as as a player, So it's like, do I trust
this guy? And that can be the swing for a
lot of these guys, right, Because this does not feel
like a draft, like you said, where anyone's hiding anything.

(35:09):
We all know who needs the receivers, we know who
needs the quarterbacks. The Dave Ball thing, though, after his
first year, is hard not to go. Got this guy's
a star. What he did with a pretty average roster
last year was pretty embarrassing. Yeah right, They doubled down
on Daniel Jones. It was immediately ugly. The coaches weren't
getting along. It's pretty embarrassing. It's not something that the
old school owner likes. There's pressure. He can't just have

(35:31):
another crappy season. Everything beat Kumbaya, especially Cowboys, and the
Eagles are having Now Washington starts trending up. You got
McVeigh and Shanahan crushing packers are good. It's like, what
the hell are the Giants doing getting lapped in obscurity
and embarrassment. So I would imagine if you're dable, you
want players, you don't want a quarterback, right because if
you get a rookie quarterback, the guy comes in, maybe

(35:54):
by late October, you're already kind of bad. Your offensive
weapons suck, and then you're you're gonna want one of
those wider maybe the second round, take another offensive weapon
and try to be competitive this year now that, And
that's where in the NFL some of these sometimes these
teams coming off bad years, the coach and the front
office and the ownership can have different visions and that's
where things can get weird. So if I was stable,

(36:16):
I would not want a quarterback because there's no guarantee.
The lasted four years, the Giants ran through like three
coaches six years.

Speaker 1 (36:22):
When you as we get ready for the draft in
a couple of weeks when you were with the Eagles.
From what I can tell is people are scouting up
until the draft like they're just you just keep scouting,
you keep digging, you keep getting reports and ship there

(36:44):
are teams that will two days before the draft, they
just won't like something they hear. I mean, give me,
give me your insight on a player. A year where
you felt like it was up to the draft, people
were still looking for information.

Speaker 3 (36:59):
Well, I just think anytime there are question marks off
the field, and I think around this time of year
you and I have been talking about forever, the media
can be so disingenuous, like some not everyone's a criminal,
but people have questionable.

Speaker 1 (37:10):
The Texas defensive tackle WI.

Speaker 3 (37:14):
Well, think about that and I looked right before we
hopped on. From what I read, he was arrested at
like I think around lunchtime. Like to me, it's like,
what's this guy drinking in the morning. I mean, it'd
be one thing like was he playing golf with his
buddies or was he just at a bar with the people?
What the hell's going on? That's a good example most
people I know, if they didn't start last week right
up until pro days. That ends and you've accumulated all

(37:38):
the information and then you go to meetings and now
a lot of these meetings I think are kind of
hybrid zoom and guys come in the high end guys
come in the other guys are on zoom, and a
lot of it is not going out you know, over
like how much they can bend, how strong they are
at this point, it's what is this kid's deal? Especially
with the top I would say seventy five pick a

(38:00):
guy that you would invest a first first two day
picking obviously the top guys, you're a very very fine
tooth comb, but even a second rounder, I mean that
could change your franchise. If it's AJ Brown or Deebo
Samuel or Nick Chubb or whoever. I mean, those are,
but you better know the person. So it's easy when
a guy gets at duy because then it's like, okay,
we got to really are we sure we trust this guy.

(38:21):
I think it's a lot harder when it's like, well, hey,
I've talked to some of his teachers or his academic
advisor and they just don't really trust them. Or sometimes
it's the opposite, like a coach can have a bad
experience with the player. We're all humans. You just don't
like guys more than other guys. But then the people
that you've trusted, that you've developed relationships in the program,

(38:42):
swear by them. So you really try to figure that out.
And this is why you're not drafting widgets. You're drafting humans.
And everyone has a different opinion on every single person.
How many people do you meet that someone's like, ah,
that guy's a dick, and then you meet him like
I kind of like the guy, or vice versa. You're like,
you know, I didn't really like the but you know
someone it's like I'm really close friends with him. We

(39:02):
all have individual interactions with.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
People and bias.

Speaker 3 (39:05):
So one thing. Yeah, and the thing with football now,
which makes it hard, and my scouting buddies that I
didn't have to deal with is the transfer portal. So
it's like, you know, you're at Texas one day and
you're like, oh, I should ask that coach because he
was with this kid at Washington who now transferred to Florida.
But that's hard too because usually when a guy transferreds like, ah,
it was kind of a diva, wouldn't listen. But then
he goes to the other program people love him, right,

(39:28):
so that balancing act. I actually think it's probably more
difficult trying to keep up with that because usually bo
Nix is a good example, like Michael Pennix is transferred
because his coach went there. It wasn't that crazy. Bo
Nicks had a bad experience at Auburn and then he
goes to Oregon and has an incredible experience. So maybe
if you're around some of the people at Auburn, their
experience around him wasn't great. I don't know that. I'm

(39:50):
just saying, using this as an example. You're not gonna
hear a negative thing at Oregon about that, right, So
you try to balance that and you can just go, well,
he's matured, got to a good place, put him around
the right people. So that's that that can make it
difficult and trying to You gotta be careful with the
head coaches because the head coaches have an agenda. The
higher their guys get drafted, the more they can put
them up on the boards. You know, when you enter

(40:11):
the program and the recruits come in, you got to
get with the assistant coaches, the graduate assistants, the people
off the field, and that just takes years of knowing
who you can trust and who you can't. Because most
of these guys that are drafted high have the talent
to play in the NFL. What separates them is all
the off the field stuff, right that the character, the

(40:32):
work ethic football sucks beside the games. Yeah, you lift
really hard, you train really hard, you get screamed at
NonStop in a meeting. This is you don't show up
to work at new I mean you're getting there bright
and early. You don't leave latest. You play once a
week and it's only in the fall. Well, you're still
like Harbaugh the charger driving practice right now, they're doing
OTA's like it's it's a lot of work, and it

(40:53):
it separates the men from the boys. Mentally, So that
to me that those conversations are just NonStop in these
meetings about kid, about the kid, what drives, how he's wired,
And you're just trying to figure out to make the
best educated guest humanly possible, because that's ultimately what you're doing.
You're getting a twenty to twenty two year old who
a lot of guys grow Tyron Matthews kicked off his

(41:13):
college team that unless you kicked him off, He's been
a team captain of four different teams. So it's like,
you know, but you gotta be careful, like that's that
could be an outlier situation. It's like, well this guy
could be the next Josh Allen, or it could be
the next Trey Lance. So it's this is this is
always a fascinating time of year because within six months

(41:33):
mid season, you're like gotta regret this one or God
love this. We got lucky on you. Just you're just
trying to mitigate all the potential potential land mines and
take the best educated guests with all the information possible.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
Don't want to talk about this. I'm taking my wife
to UFC three hundred, which is probably the most where
is it it's in Vegas. I think there's twelve current
or former champions. Great undercard. It's a stacked I mean
it's three hundred day stacked it. Dana White stacked it.

Speaker 3 (42:12):
Dana's got it rolling.

Speaker 1 (42:13):
Yeah, he does. No Dana well like Dana doesn't take
anybody's crap. I mean basically least an Island during COVID.

Speaker 3 (42:22):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (42:22):
Yeah, yeah, and it's interesting. So I was telling somebody
this the other day. You could not get my wife
to a baseball game. She's not going to a football game.
NBA and UFC there are events. Loves going to NBA games,
and I've taken her to UFC and she likes fights.

(42:45):
And you know, you have a girlfriend. I don't know
if she's a sports fan. But I was telling a
buddy about this. I said, you know, my wife's not
a sports fan. She's an event fan. So if it
was a Dare Devil of a hysterical magician, a singing act,
the UFC is it's crazy, like Trump will probably walk
in the place erupts. It's nuts. There's movie stars and

(43:06):
she likes the spectacle of it all. Plus, I mean
the UFC fights are like they're jarring to watch. I mean,
you're getting guys are kicking the you know what out
of each other? Do you? And I And I've said
before ufcson my top five World Cup NFL College Football UFC,
I would say March Madness rekindled my interest this year.

(43:28):
I've had a blast watching Mark. I kind of had
two or three years with the men's game I thought
was too deluded, too many transfers. I've loved men's and
women's this year. Where is UFC rank for you? And
by the way, if your girlfriend could choose, all right, John,
we're going to this, what would it be?

Speaker 3 (43:46):
Yeah? I mean she's a huge forty nine er fan.
She loves football. I mean she follows the forty nine ers.
I mean every player very closely. I mean she's she
has a missing snap since I've met her, I mean
in northern California. Her dad was a big forty nine
er fan. She just and that's I think she represents
a lot of people. We talked about this a lot,
the female fan base that the NFL has huge. It's
not just like someone's wife watching the games, like, no,

(44:08):
they're a fan of the Bills. Yeah, I have. When
I was I went to cal Pauly where Chuck Lydell went,
and my first couple of years there, Chuck was becoming
a star and he also trained there, so it was
a really really big deal. And Chad Mendez, who ended
up fighting Connor McGregor was my year, was my college roommates.

(44:29):
They lived in the dorms together, and I watched him
beat the shit out of some people at a party.
And I had never been around wrestlers in high school
and then cal Pauly, I wouldn't put him in like
Iowa Penn State, but they Chad ended up being like
the runner up for the national championship his senior year
had some good wrestlers. Chuck wrestled there once upon a time,
and I just remember, these guys are crazy, that they

(44:52):
were insane, and it was just in following Chad Mendes' career.
He fought Connor, he fought Aldough and he just he
didn't win, but he was just He's the toughest guy
I've ever seen. He weighed one hundred and fifty five pounds.
I mean he would be he could beat up I mean,
he could he could handle Aaron Donald. I'm not saying
he'd win the fight, but he'd have he wouldn't hesitate

(45:12):
these guys. The respect I have for never being around
these guys and then watching them just in a fistfight
at a party take down ten people before you could blink,
and I have listen you get in that octagon. You
are such a badass. I watched the last fight because
I started doing CrossFit a couple of days a week.
I haven't done it in a while, but Sugar Sean
was working out at that gym and so I was like, Oh,

(45:33):
this guy pink hair. So I ordered the fight when
he fought last time, and it was just it was excellent.
I mean, he was just like, God, this guy's fucking badass. Yeah,
so that's part of it. I just like, I'm not
like a fight die hard, but I have nothing but
appreciation because I've seen it firsthand. The level of craziness
that it takes, and how talented these guys, the training

(45:55):
levels of when these guys are preparing for a fight, right, Oh,
it's just it's insane.

Speaker 1 (46:02):
And you know, it's what's interesting about UFC is you
know you always knew the top fighters, you know made
a fortune. The promoters made a lot of money and
and in the end it was like the sport didn't
have a central figure like Dana White.

Speaker 3 (46:16):
And you know, whenever they remember, they battled a lot
of the political wins. I was just talking about this
on the golf course. John McCain was pushing back against
I remember, being like junior high and they couldn't do it.
And they tried to do it in San Jose I remember,
in like the late nineties and got in trouble, but
McCain was like the driving force, like this is barbaric,
remember that, and they just couldn't get and then they
finally somehow crossed that threshold and it's they've never looked back.

Speaker 1 (46:39):
Well, I mean we have. You know, we have a
rich history of boxing in this country and fighting in
this country. And I think one of the things that
Dana did very quickly to get in the Budweisers and
the big brands was they had to clean it up
about twenty years ago. They cleaned that there's eye gouging
and shit, they got out of that stuff. Dana very
smartly said, listen, we our guys are tough. We don't

(47:02):
want their eyes getting gouged that we need them, you know.
Nine weeks later to be in another fight. I think
they cleaned it up. And then I just think you
have to be forceful. I mean, running the volume every
day is a challenge. You got to be forceful. You
gotta have a plan of attack. And I think if
you look at what is hurt college football, the quality
of the product is great. There's no leadership boxing, there's

(47:25):
no leadership, And so when you look at sports, Roger
good I've been saying this forever, there's something about media
doesn't like people that don't need them. Roger Goodell, in
the NFL do not need newspapers, they do not need
radio guys, they don't even barely need TV networks. Now
is streaming is the NFL has almost no missteps. It's
just really well run. They've made their schedule release a day.

(47:49):
The combined is effective, like they have done the best.
And now they've said to the NBA, now we're gonna
knock you off Christmas. We're gonna take your ratings.

Speaker 3 (47:58):
There can we talk about some little inside baseball in
the NFL that they've they clearly just laid off a
lot of people and they are trimming down what they
do and the media's take is consistently this business is
making so much money. What are you doing yet? I'm
someone who literally makes a living off the NFL, who

(48:19):
couldn't follow it any more closely, and I never watch
NFL network. So just because your business of the games,
and one thing I've noticed at the gym I go to,
you know, they have pen TVs and ones always on
Fox News, the others on CNN, the others on ESPN,
the others on Fox Sports, the others on NFL network.
The only thing NFL Network now is playing is just games.
Like I looked out. I went this afternoon and I

(48:40):
looked up and it was the Colts Rams game from
earlier this year, overtime game, and they're just replaying it.
Could they probably getting the same rating. So it's like
just because the WNBA, I don't know if they make
money now, never made any money. The NBA just subsidized
them forever. Yeah, like the NFL, just because the games
are making money, the other entities they shouldn't. Just if
it's not working, people don't watch NFL network.

Speaker 1 (49:02):
NFL network has been up.

Speaker 3 (49:03):
They don't have talented people or whatever working for the network,
but it's not making any money.

Speaker 1 (49:07):
They've been that thing's been up for sale for seven years.
They've been trying to sell that thing. I know somebody
inside NBA TV that's dead because he watches that. Nobody
watches now. MLB network is different because shows like mine, ESBN, Fox,
we don't talk baseball. So the discussions you have on
the MLB network are unique. Nobody else is at me.

Speaker 3 (49:30):
Golf Channel, Golf Channel work.

Speaker 1 (49:32):
Yep, yep. And so NBA and NFL network all those debates,
they're on television all day. There's too much duplication. And
then I mean, listen, I don't watch the NFL network.
I think I know Peter Schrager very very well coled. Yeah,
it doesn't write job.

Speaker 3 (49:47):
They're good.

Speaker 1 (49:47):
When you move a show to the West coast, you
can't do a morning show out west, an effective morning show,
because you can't. When I came from ESBN to Fox
and they asked me what time, I was asked by
my radio network, work by TV network, what time do
you want to do? You pick the time slot? And
I said, well you can't. I can't do anything earlier

(50:08):
than nine am Pacific, which is noon Eastern. I said,
because you can't get I can't ask my staff to
get up at two point fifty and in Los Angeles.
In New York, a lot of people come down a
building and walk to work. In Los Angeles, everybody drives
to work. So I have to if you get if
you need to be there by my show right now,
you have to be there about five fifty five to six.
I get there about six. Ten staff gets there about

(50:31):
maybe six to say. We all get in at the
same time. If I was doing meaning they have to
get up probably at five ish shower at thirty five
minute drive. That's reasonable. You get into four three forty
five people have to get up. You can't get a staff.

Speaker 3 (50:49):
So if I was a betting man, the NFL network
will not have a morning show in the fall. They
will just show replays the games.

Speaker 1 (50:54):
Well, there's no way. If I live out East and
you move the show and you're asking me to get
up at three forty five, it's like I'm out. It's
nothing against the people. It's like that's they're just doing
that as a cost saving move and it's not a
knock on the people. I mean, I know Eisen, I
know Schreger really well, but it's like these people get

(51:15):
caught up in They just tend to forget is that
once there's duplication and you're not special. All these all
these sports created these networks, but nobody talks hockey except
the NHL network. Nobody talks baseball on a syndicated national
level except like local stations in the MLB. Never Guys

(51:36):
like me Steven A. Skipp, doesn't matter who it is, ESPN,
Fox all day, we talk NFL and the NBA. You
don't need the networks. They're dead something against anybody. So
and I listen, even at the volume, we're doing very well.
You're always you're always looking for ways to put your
best people on your best shows to make sure you

(51:57):
have the most efficiency. It's yeah, I'm not blaming anybody
for it. I just know the NFL network's been for
sale for like seven years.

Speaker 3 (52:05):
It's quietly been anybody wanted theory. I had what the
Dolphins should do after what just happened. So the Bills,
who I've said the overreaction that they're just gonna suck,
which maybe they take a huge step back, but they'll
be full by far, have the best quarterback who to
me is the second best quarterback in the league. And

(52:25):
clearly one of the great quarterbacks we've seen in recent memory.
Taw it was. The Dolphins have a big question mark
with their quarterback, who's turned out to be solid, but
in the biggest moments these last couple of years, has
crumbled like a cookie. And this year I remember talking
to Veach and Andy at the combine and they said,
and Veach specifically said, when you walked out on that
playoff game, He's like, that's the coldest thing I've ever encountered.

(52:48):
I was even nervous just for my own guys, even
though I knew we had Mahomes versus them, but I
was like, got it And it wasn't even close and
they had no shot the Dolphins. So now, before you
give a guy a couple hundred million dollars, wouldn't you
go no excuses? Now Belichick's with his kid in Seattle.
You got who knows what New England's doing. The Jets,

(53:10):
I mean are three pulled hamstrings and achilles from being
everyone getting fired, and the Bills lost a lot of
talent they just have. If we can't do it this year,
I mean, we just had it felt like a twenty
game lead halfway through the season and then somehow we
didn't win the division and they did. If we can't
win it this year, we can't pay this guy. And
then with that mean it's a home playoff game. We

(53:30):
should win a playoff game. Wouldn't you just play this
year out? You're already under the cap, like, he's already
his money's his money this year. My wife's pay him
this year. Let's let's kind of do approve it year
a little Flacco style.

Speaker 1 (53:40):
Dak and Tua, in my opinion, will be available on
the market potentially next year. There's no doubt in my mind.

Speaker 3 (53:47):
I mean, Jerry, I would not pay to a right now,
given everything that just happened, I.

Speaker 1 (53:50):
Wouldn't pay back if you start.

Speaker 3 (53:53):
I think they're hesitant to do that.

Speaker 1 (53:55):
Literally, Yeah, so I think I think two.

Speaker 3 (53:56):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (53:57):
I think Tua is gonna be on the market next year.
By the way, there's gonna be a Kirk Cousins level
guy in the market one minimum two probably for the
rest of the years. We do this for a living,
because it's pretty clear in the NFL now, two quarterbacks
get you to a super Bowl, a superstar. There's six,

(54:17):
you know. Stafford Allen, whoever malves or a really talented
young guy on a rookie contract.

Speaker 3 (54:23):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (54:23):
That's the only thing that gets in. So good guys
getting paid handsomely. Kirk Cousins, Dak Tua. You can't pay Tua,
So I think Tua will be on the market and
there'll be a team that's like, listen, we're stacked everywhere else.
Or competency gets rewarded. Kirk Cousins has made more money
than Tom Brady playing quarterback. Competency plus and that's what

(54:46):
Dak and Kirk Caarr. Competency plus gets paid in every
business for sure.

Speaker 3 (54:51):
I mean, I think Houston's a good example. They go,
we got the young quarterback who actually might be a
top five guy. All chips in the middle of the table. Yeah,
all of our chips are in the middle of the table.
And one of my takes last week was like, that's
kind of what all sports fans want. It's just teams
to be really aggressive. I mean, look at the most
popular teams over the last twenty years, the Heat, the Warriors, right,

(55:11):
the Dodgers, Randy Moss teams, the Dodgers, the Chiefs over
the last five years. Like, that's what we want. So
I commend them for doing this and because it's polarizing
all the press. You either win or if you don't,
it's a disaster. Why the Jets last year they went
all in for Aaron Rodgers and then it was the
all time shit show. And part of the story is
it gets even crazier when you don't win once you

(55:32):
put all your chips in the middle of the table.
So like I listen, I think the Houston Texans they
have had one of the great twelve month stretches that
they I would say they lucked in a little bit
because I do think they would have taken Bryce Young
if they would have had the number one pick. But hey,
Tua went ahead justin Herbert and the Chargers got him.
Who cares how you got the guy. You just got
the guy right, And now they have a chance. That

(55:52):
division is a little wonky, right. The Jags have a
lot going on, a lot of pressure on Trevor Lawrence,
the Titans that have no quarterback. I was actually peeking
at the TV today when the NFL Network was replaying
that Anthony Richardson when he was healthy in this rand.
Oh my god, good. You know he was pretty talented.
So they just got to kee him on the field.
He's he's pretty intriguing. I was like, I kind of

(56:13):
forgot about this guy. Uh, but it's I think they're
trying to throw their hat in the ring, right with
the Ravens, the chart or I mean with the Chiefs,
and just give themselves a chance. Now, there's also, you know,
part of being a great player in any sport or
being successful in anything in life. It's not just about
one hit or just one solid year of sales, like
can you do it year in year out? There is

(56:33):
just a lot of pressure on everyone's gunning for you. Now,
you're not sneaking up on anybody. Everyone's studying your tape
a little harder. It's no longer oh yeah, just playing out.
They're doing deep dives on you in the off season,
how to stop you. So I'm fascinated to watch this
Texans team how they kind of handle it because talent
is not going to be their issue.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
John Middlecoff is always on a Sunday night, buddy, great SENI.

Speaker 3 (56:54):
You see you, Colin.

Speaker 1 (57:00):
Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed the podcast,
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