Colin Cowherd Podcast - Wild Card Predictions, NFL Coaching Openings, Sean Payton Was RIGHT, Notre Dame’s Advantage, College Football Playoff Semifinals

Colin’s joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to break down the final week of the NFL season!

They start with the firing of several NFL head coaches and debate which opening would be most attractive (4:00), break down why the Chicago Bears opening is NOT a good job (7:15) and explain why ownership is one of the most important factors for creating a successful franchise (15:30). 

They look ahead and preview the wild card matchups between the Chargers/Texans (25:15) and the Ravens/Steelers (27:00) and they offer up a huge potential move the Steelers could make to shake things up (29:30). They predict a tough trip to Buffalo for the Broncos but Colin explains why even a first round exit is a HUGE success for the Broncos and Sean Payton (31:15).

Colin explains why the Eagles are his favorite bet of the week over the Packers but John offers one big reason for caution (35:45). They dissect the upcoming matchup between the Rams and Vikings and Colin points to a big matchup problem the Vikings present for the Rams (41:00).

They pivot to college football and preview the upcoming game between Notre Dame and Penn State and they identify a couple huge advantages for Notre Dame that could lead to years of sustained success (49:00). Finally, they break down Texas vs. Ohio State and debate whether Steve Sarkisian or Ryan Day faces more pressure to win (59:00). 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Our Week eighteen reaction is presented by Uber eats. Get
game day deals all season long on Uber eats. All right,
we're doing a Monday afternoon Monday night version. This past
weekend was pretty choppy, and I went to Chicago to

(00:26):
hang out with Ann and family, so I let John Middelkoff,
former NFL scout, take over the control. So instead we'll
do a late Monday afternoon podcast. We got a lot
of stuff to talk about. There's coaches getting fired left
and right. Girod Mayo out in New England, Doug Peterson.
You know, it's weird about these coaching ejections, Like Doug

(00:47):
Peterson in Philadelphia with a strong foundational owner and general manager,
had some real success, and then you put him with
Trent Bulke and the con family and in a shakier frame,
and he takes the fall. You know, it's it doesn't
matter if it's I mean Tom Coughlin, I guess is
the last coach that consistently won there? You know, of

(01:10):
all these openings right now, I mean, we know we've
got you know, we got the Jets and the Saints
and the Bears. We've got the Jags in New England.
Is there one that's attractive to you if you if
you were in the market to be a coach, is
there one John that's attractive to you.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, I gotta start by saying happy birthday, Happy fiftieth Thanks.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, there you go, buddy.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
I would say the Jags would be last on that list.
I mean that that is the place where, let's face,
the careers for coaches go to die. Yeah, and the
Trump Balke situation. You know, for a guy that started
at the Midge State in the Dakotas, he's a pretty
good politician. I mean he's he's run through a lot
of coaches in his career and that connection, you know,

(01:55):
part of being in a front office. You get an
unfair advantage during the game when the coach is on
the sideline with the players, you're usually sitting next to
the owner and Die Coke talking craft about what their decisions.
I think easily New England when you factor in the
quarterback and the longevity of the history they've proven with
Bill of you know, just letting a guy run it now.

(02:17):
They said Elliott Wolf, who I don't know personally, have
met him a couple times over the years. I mean
at one point in time he looked like the future
packer GM, but they said he's gonna stay. So if
Vrabel or whoever is interested in that job, do I
have to work with this guy? Is he technically not
the GM, he's just the head of personnel. It's a
little clunky. All these jobs are pretty clunky, Colin, and

(02:41):
I think one consistent theme we saw these owners don't
want to you know, ideally they don't want to go
on a search because on these searches with coaches and gms,
they're speaking Chinese while the owner's speaking Spanish. It's easy
for them to hire business people. Why they speak the
same language. The coaches coming in talking offensive a defensive scheme.

(03:01):
It'd be hard for me to follow, let alone these guys.
So I think when you saw John Mora, Jim Irsay,
Stephen Ross, they just wanted to know part of it.
I really think New England just so desperate for Mike Vrabel,
which I totally understand, is why Gerrod Mao. They put
out a statement of I would guess easily over a
thousand words, like five minutes after the game. You don't

(03:24):
write that. I mean the thing was written on Saturday Colin.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I agree with you. I
think the Patriots is the best gig. You know, Chicago's
so political. All the Chicago teams right now are struggling.
The White Sox are historically bad. The Wills family with Blackhawks,
they've got a billion dollar business beyond the hockey team.

(03:50):
But you know Ryansdorf, the Bulls situation, the Bears, the mccaskeys.
It's not a city despite being you know, the third
largest American city, It's not a city with rich owners.
It's got sort of older owners where the team is
the primary business. How do you grade how do you

(04:11):
grade the Bears as a job? I mean, there's obviously
some upside, but I consider this, and maybe this is
something coaches don't think about. But Jesus, the Packers win.
The Lions have everything in place. The Vikings have always
been a pretty solid, well run organization. With what is
the hot young coach in the NFL? Do you consider that?

(04:33):
Do you consider or do you just go get the coach?
The coach doesn't think about it. I mean Harbaugh saying
I want to take on Andy Reid. But the truth
is Denver and the Raiders are kind of been wobbly
franchises for most of the last seven eight years. Are
the Bears a good Is that a good job?

Speaker 1 (04:50):
I think it's a terrible job. And I think it
all gets back to ownership. You know, I think it's different.
But Mike Shanahan once upon a time took over the Redskins,
and you just don't overcome an owner. And I think
that's a consistent theme. Listen, whatever shot con seems like
a nice guy. Whatever's going on there with leaderships bad?
The Bears have now a pretty consistent history of you know,

(05:14):
it's a moment. I've had friends that have worked there
they discussed as being a mom and pop shop, and yeah,
that was a knock on the Chargers for a long time.
What did they do? They built a three hundred million
dollar practice facility. They break the bank for Jim Harbaugh. Obviously,
they they kind of luck into Herbert and it changes
their franchise, but they had to start spending serious money.
And I fully expect a random guy to be the

(05:35):
head coach of the Bears, if I had to guess
right now, would be like the Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator someone,
because that's typically when you just look at the history
and up until Jim Harbaugh was hired with the Chargers,
that was kind of there. You know, Brian and Staley,
Mike McCoy, Anthony Lynn. I just think anytime you get
Kevin Warren and you get Ryan Poles, and you get
a lot of people who do I answer to, that's

(05:56):
tough to overcome. I mean, the same teams Colin basically
win all all the time, all the time. I mean
the Pittsburgh Steelers, but they went. I mean, if if
I was Ben Johnson, do you know what I'd be
helping Pittsburgh Steelers get blown out? Maybe Mike Tomlin we
trade them. I'd want to go there, you know I
would not. Chicago's a place where guys go to get

(06:17):
fired really quickly. I mean, so we've seen the same
thing over and over.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
Let me list the top of the NFL draft. Tell
me if you've heard this before. Titans, Browns, Jaguars, Raiders, Jets, Panthers, Saints, Bears.
I mean, it's just like and increasingly the Giants. It's
the same teams every year. And I've argued this forever
that it's the ownership that's what it is. Don't you

(06:44):
can blame the players, the coach, and the GM, but
it's overwhelmingly upstairs.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
You know.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
A prime example is there's only one great quarterback that
didn't make the playoffs, Joe Burrow.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
That's it.

Speaker 2 (06:53):
All the other great quarterbacks made it. The Brown family
is arguably the most frugal in the league. Their front
office is considered just functional. Nothing against the GM, but
they don't make any moves. They're the opposite of the
Philadelphia Eagles. They make no moves, They do nothing clever,
they they don't do anything. They have their seven picks,
they take their picks, and it's just it's one of

(07:14):
those things where you know, generally, John, there's seven new
playoff teams a year. This year four and three of
those four got new quarterbacks. I think as the season
is extended and quarterbacks are more valuable, it's easier to
pick the NFL. I picked six of the eight divisions right,

(07:36):
and the two I missed on came down to the
last couple of weeks. Like I've said this multiple times
raising kids, the days are long, the years fly by.
In the NFL, picking the winners each week is hard,
but predicting the season is getting easier and I just
I start looking around at these teams. The only way

(07:56):
out from this abyss for Tennessee and Cleveland, New England.
Jacksonville is the quarterback to me, that feels like the only.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
Way out totally. Look at Cincinnati's a good example today
Zach Taylor fired the defensive coordinator who, like a couple
of years ago, everyone's like he's one of the best
defensive coordinators in the league. Well, what happened? They started
letting guys walk. What has Joe Burrow been hammering home
in his press conferences. You can't make a living letting
good players walk out of the building. Who would not
have let them walk? The Eagles, the Niners. When you

(08:25):
get really good impact players, you let them walk. Jesse
Bates walks right out. Their secondary was a trocis these
last couple of years, and I think it's really hard
to overcome that. And they got they've even Joe Burrows
forced the ownership to get a little more aggressive than
they're typically used to, and it feels like he's pressing
their hand, like I want t Higgins and Jamar Chase.
And he's probably still gonna lose out on that argument,

(08:47):
but I hear you I think that that number is
gonna the day and age of like this constant huge
turnover is dead. Because we also see like these young quarterbacks,
it's easier now to play quarterback than ever. It's definitely
less physical, like you can be a lot smaller than
you could twenty years ago because you don't get hit
as hard. But it is still very, very challenging, and

(09:10):
I think when you add the extra pressures from the
outside mentally can really break you. And we see that
happen a lot. But I think we see consistent teams
like who maybe the Steelers if they ever make a
big change a quarterback or coach could take a step
back for a year or two. But like what other
teams when you look at the playoff picture do you
see having big swings moving forward? Look at Tampa. Tampa's

(09:32):
just a well run organization now. Jason light just knows
what he's doing, and Todd Bowles is solid, not easy
replacing Bruce arians, but he's a solid coach. And they
got the quarterback right Baker Mayfield. Baker's a really good
player right now.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
Colin, Yeah, yeah, no, I covered the Buccaneers when I
work down there. The Glazer family was non medaling. Jason
light was one of the best scouts in pro football
for years now. He's the GM. They've always had good players.
Brady hands it off to Baker Mayfield, good quarterback play.
And Todd Bowles is not you know, he's not popular.

(10:05):
You know he's on that sideline. He's very quiet, doesn't
have much to say, but you always know you get
an excellent effort from him. I mean that team went
into LA and destroyed the Chargers. I mean, move the
ball up and down the field on the number one
defense in the league. So again, what I think you
and I are getting at is, I don't think you're
gonna I don't think you're gonna see these annual changes

(10:26):
in the NFL. I think I think what we have
here is if you have a good young quarterback. I
think Mahomes and Allen and Lamar and Herbert. I think
Jared Goff still is in his prime. I don't think
these teams are going anywhere. I think they're just going
to consistently win year after year.

Speaker 1 (10:41):
Well that's why the Coults are a good example. Jim
Rsay sticking with the guys. I love that, But what
are they gonna do if that quarterback they drafted him
fourth overall, he's just not gonna be good enough. One
he's not accurate. Two he can't stay healthy, Like I mean,
he has legitimate health concerns. You're just screwed. And you
actually get the benefit of doubt if you're Indie because
they're division stakes, but they're still how could anyone pick that.

(11:04):
I kind of liked him this year because I bet
maybe Anthony richhim becomes a good player Shane Styken turns
out I was wrong, And now you definitely can't belt
bet on it from a health standpoint. And I don't
know if you saw the visual of Jim Mersey getting
carted out, he looked like weaken the Bernice, you know,
he could barely. I mean, he's in bad shape. So
and he's you know, looks like he's ninety sixty five
years old. So that organization, that's one that was good

(11:27):
for a long time. Like I'm just betting against moving
forward until they figure out the quarterback situations that they
have it in almost a decade now.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yeah, I've talked about this. I think the one advantage.
Two there's a couple of things going on in the
NFL if you don't have a great quarterback, and there's
about six great quarterbacks at any one time in the league,
there's a lot of really. Liam Cohen's a great example.

(11:55):
Kevin O'Connell's another great example. There are more smart offensive
coaches than the league's ever head, which can take a
C quarterback and make him a B quarterback. There's a
lot of that, so that's the upside. Secondly, there's more
good quarterbacks. John if you go back to the twenty
eighteen class where now Darnald, Baker, Josh and Lamar all
had career years, that is, from twenty eighteen until this

(12:17):
past draft class, we've had three different classes that give
you four star quarterbacks. So, I mean it used to
be the Elway Marino class we talked about for thirty years,
and now it's like about every other draft. Every third
draft you get four or five guys that can play.
I mean, this draft isn't considered a strong one cam
Ward and Shudur Sanders, but Riley Leonard McCord out of

(12:41):
Syracuse I think will end up being I think he'll
end up being like a third round quarterback that sticks
in the league for a long time. Kyle McCord is,
and I just think we're getting to a point. The
good news is there's better quarterback coaching. You're getting a
more consistent three or four first round quarterbacks that can play.
But it is pretty clear there is a certain group

(13:04):
of owners that are either ersay kind of debilitating. You know,
they're in a bad state of affairs physically mccaskey's they're old,
a little bit out of touch, or they're Jerry Jones
where they have some sense of football knowledge they probably
don't possess. So I tell people this all the time.
If I remember, you know, going out with friends and

(13:25):
they asked me about my business. Everybody likes the NFL,
and I always say, they're seven great owners, seven great coaches,
seven great coordinators, seven great quarterbacks. I mean it's I
mean like Spags is unbelievable. I think Aaron Glenn and
Ben Johnson are unbelievable. Kingsbury is a coordinator is unbelievable.
There is a finite number of great Jesse Minterter I

(13:46):
think right now is great. Harbaugh is just look at
the teams right now, John, how many of them have
all three? I mean the Chargers now have great coach
great coordinator, great quarterback. Chiefs have that have that. You know,
there's not many. There's about five franchises that have everything
dialed up, the coach, the quarterback, and one great coordinator.

(14:09):
And I think what it's doing, it's dividing the league.
It's becoming more NBA, where you have a very strong top,
a small middle, and a really soft weak bottom.

Speaker 1 (14:19):
Yeah, I mean totally. I mean, if you had to
pick the NFC Championship in AFC Championship right now, you
would go Chiefs Bills are the Ravens, and last year
was Chiefs first, the Ravens. And if you had to
pick the NFC, obviously the forty nine ers missed, but
you would pick the Lions. They have the number one
seed and they just have to win one game to
get there. And you'd probably picked the Eagles, who last

(14:40):
year imploded, but the previous year were in the Super Bowl.
So it's like the same teams. When I went to
the combine last year for the first time in a
couple of years, and listen, I'm lucky I got hired
by Andy Reid, so I just knew, you know, the
Chiefs guys, the Eagles guys know the Niners. Guys. You
just kind of start seeing the emblems and the way
people carry themselves and the way they operate, and it's
like it was so evident at the combine and that

(15:02):
was before free agency. In the draft. It's a ten
team league. Look at the what the Ravens got going
right now. I mean, they've been good for what this
entire century? Yeah, the best, the most competitive foe they have,
even though they missed the playoffs, is the Bengals because
of the quarterback. But it's really hard to overcome that
organizational frugal mindset. At the end of the day, the Steelers,

(15:25):
in theory, should be but they're a I bet it's
a ten point you know spread by the time that
game kicks off. They have no quarterback help insight, and
the offense for whatever reason, feels like it's getting worse
by the year. And then the Browns, like I think
everyone thinks highly ast the Fansky and Andrew Berry, but
you can't overcome that owner. He gave the guy two
hundred thirty million dollars and they're just complete And today,

(15:47):
I don't know if you saw the news he now,
I don't know. This is no one's fault, but he
re hurt his achilles. Like that thing is just the
Russell Wilson. We've seen some of Carson Wentz, some of
these big contracts. Those don't hold a candle to the
financial disasters at the Browns haff and what do you
do right? They're drafting second So it's like, okay, let's
say you take cam Warder shed Door Sanders. You cannot

(16:07):
have Deshaun Watson there around that, so you just cut
them and take a you know, a historic hit. You
probably have to. And that's what the Ravens have to
deal with. Meanwhile, they'll just at worse they'll be in
the second round in a tight game against the Bills,
and at best maybe this is their year they're in
the super Bowl. But they don't have to worry about
that Francis. Meanwhile, the AFC West a good example. Obviously

(16:30):
the Raiders have a lot of question marks, but Andy's
really got to try. He's got harb on Sean Payton,
you know, coming after him. Two guys that know what
they're doing, that have been around the block and obviously
now have quarterbacks. I think Sean Payton I saw a
headline from our guy Mike silver that said, like, you
can't do this to other quarterback and thank god we
got one and figure it out, and they're just gonna
be a problem moving forward.

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Speaker 2 (18:16):
So let's look at the Chargers are two and a
half point favorites at the Texans. My lean is the
Chargers pass rush will give what's been a really shaky
Texans O line trouble. I would probably lean Chargers there.
I think the Texans have been a hard team to

(18:37):
figure out, have not been consistent in big games. I
don't think this year. I think the regression of CJ.
Stroud is mostly a protection issue. The Chargers come in
with a much better defense I'd lean La, what would
you lean?

Speaker 1 (18:52):
I would too, But you know their issue have been
up the middle. You know, obviously the Chargers dominant pass
rushes on the edges. Last year, everyone picked the Browns.
Now the Texans were playing better football, and remember the
Texans kicked their ass. Now Jim Harbaugh is a different
animal than Flacco and Herbert, but that's one I think

(19:14):
everyone's gonna pick the Chargers. I could listen the Chargers
playing a lot of ugly games. I could see that
thing being weird. That'd be a game that I you know,
looking at the early slate, I'm probably gonna stay away
because I think every I think all the money is
gonna come into the Chargers and then all of a
sudden it's a tie game in the third quarter. Plus
just road playoff games are difficult to win. So it's
just we saw last year they won a road play

(19:35):
or they won a home playoff game. It's a huge
advantage even for the shooty team that's the four seed
to host that game. I mean, that's to me, and
the Texans are clearly comfortable playing Saturday afternoon. That's I
think they've played like eight of the last ten years
in that spot.

Speaker 2 (19:50):
It's time to look at this weekend's tastiest matchup. In
this week's Monday Night food Ball, brought to you by
Uber Eat. There's two games I feel strongly about one
of them as Ravens minus tenant home against the Steelers.
You know, I think the Steelers their organizational superiority. They
beat some Raiders and Jets are ear in the season,
but down the stretches they just can't score. They can't

(20:12):
move the ball consistently. I like the Ravens to just
I think if they played ten times the Ravens this
current makeup of both teams, I would take the Ravens
to win eight of them. You have any different feeling
about that?

Speaker 1 (20:24):
Totally agree? I mean, how could anyone pick the Steelers
right now? They have what an awful month. I mean,
they got boat raced in an eleven day stretch and
then even on was the Saturday night they were down
nineteen to seven going into the fourth quarter.

Speaker 2 (20:36):
Yep, Russelle, it's a historically bad defense.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
As this weather's gotten bad, he's looked a little different now.
It's not all his fault, George Pickens. You know they've
hit on Antonio Brown's and the Plexicos and the you know,
Emmanuel Standers. They've hit on a lot of wide receivers
over the years. It feels like they were hoping this
guy would be that, and it feels like he's melting
a little bit under that pressure of being the number
one guy. How do they keep going with what they're doing?

(21:01):
I mean, just another one and done. I mean, Colin
they were a double digit underdog against their bitter division rifle.

Speaker 2 (21:09):
It's not even every Every Steeler team looks the same
to me, They're just a slight variation on the previous team.
Last year they won ten games. This year they won
ten games. So again, I think structurally, foundationally they're so
well run. They always have good defense, there's no chaos.

(21:29):
It's a consistent organization. And since a, let's be honest,
since twelve teams in the league, aren't they just win
those games for sure? But when you get to the
upper crust, I mean, they're a ten win team. Nobody
in their right mind thinks they have even They could
get several breaks and they wouldn't even get to the
conference championship. So it's to me, Mike Tomlin, who would

(21:53):
be a superstar on TV. I think he would knock
it out of the park. I'm you know, I always
say that the Steelers and the Packers, two small market teams.
One thirty years ago said we're going to be about offense, coaches, quarterbacks,
We're gonna draft defense in the first round, but we're
gonna be about drafting and developing offense, and we're never

(22:15):
gonna have battle lines. The Steelers since Chuck Nole, have
decided we're mostly going to be about defense. Even when
they had Big Ben, they were a physical, tough team,
like he was a physical, tough quarterback. And they both
have like, you know, a lot of Super Bowls. But
doesn't it feel over like doesn't it feel since Big
Ben got out of his prime about like eight years ago,

(22:35):
ten years ago? They they don't beat good teams. When
is the last Steeler playoff win over a star quarterback?
I mean, I can't think of one in a decade.

Speaker 1 (22:46):
Well, they haven't won a playoff games. It's twenty sixteen,
twenty twenty five. To me, the fix is pretty easy.
Mike Tomlin, I've been I said this last year looked
kind of foolish halfway through the year, but it's come
back to prove right that it's just time. Like Mike
tom he'd be awesome on TV. All these openings would

(23:07):
die to have by Tom. Why not go to the Bears?
Trade him to the Bears. Unlike some of these other
situations that got where you don't need to give a
first round pick. It's like the Bears would have to
get there maybe a two and a three or somehow
staggered over the course of a couple of years. Mike
Tomlin gets a fresh start, he gets a young quarterback,
and the Steelers can use their infrastructure of their organization,

(23:27):
go hire Ben Johnson and be equipped to handle him.
Get his idea with a quarterback. Changed the offense because
this league you said it forever about Belichick. The league
changed and it's still longer about super tough. Obviously you've
got to have a good defense, but like if that's
your number one goal, like you're probably not gonna win
many Super Bowls. Hell, they can't win a playoff game.
They can't win a playoff game. And now at one

(23:48):
point in time they were ten and three and now
wild Card weekend they're a ten point underdog against the
Ravens that they know better than anybody.

Speaker 2 (23:56):
That was this week's Monday Night Foodball, brought to you
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Now for game day, I do think it's a tough
spot for the Broncos. I think their defense keeps them
in it against the Bills. Usually if it's harsh weather,

(24:17):
it helps the underdog because it muddies the game for everybody.
But I do think the Bills win by about ten points.
I could see twenty eight, twenty thirty, twenty. Do you
see it differently?

Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah, it's hard to see a rookie quarterback long trip
at Buffalo. I kind of I like Buffalo handling them
pretty well. This is a tough spot. This is raging success, right.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
How about this? I want to throw something at you.
So I have Sean Payton's a friend, and you know,
one of the reasons in corporate America, it's hard to
get a lot of stuff done because you have, you know,
the HR person here, and there's certain things you can't say.
But in pro football, you know you can call out
another employee and be cost and abrasive. And you know

(25:02):
that's why in the NFL it's just a different ballgame.
And so Sean Payton comes in. He never once says
Russell Wilson and I are the future. Very early, it's like,
this office is embarrassing. You can't have a personal office.
He can't figure out the plays, he can't read a defense.
I mean, he goes after him. There's never a moment.
The whole experience is uncomfortable. It's all discomfort. You couldn't

(25:27):
do that in corporate America. You'd have to let somebody
go buy him out. You couldn't say the things he said,
and it's one you get sued. One of the things
that's great about the NFL, and the reason you can
turn around companies like the Chargers and the Broncos overnight,
is because you can be harsh and punitive and intense
and caustic. And people were giving Sean pate. Aaron Rodgers

(25:50):
was pushing back on the Nat Hackett comment. Sean Payton
was right onfing everything. He was right on everything is
that bo Nix is better than Russell Wilson. And Nat
Hackett did not know what he was doing, and it's
why the NFL works. The tech's got a little bit
of a feel like this. You can just rip another

(26:12):
you know, it's competitive. You just go after people, and
the NFL allows you to be incredibly harsh, blunt and hurtful.
But you can't turn around a corporation being precious and
completely thoughtful. You got to get certain people out of
the building. And as I go into this game, if
the Chargers, if the Broncos don't win, my takeaway is

(26:36):
this has been any team losing in the first round,
Washington and Denver, you'd have to tip your cat and say, say, guys,
well done, fantastic year.

Speaker 1 (26:49):
Well, Dan and Sean have definitely different personalities, don't those
two organizations parallel themselves. They got I mean, Denver had
a famous historic Hall of Fame level owner but was
obviously really sick, his daughters were running it was in
shambles that they were in a bad spot, and Washington
has one of the worst owners we've ever seen in
pro sports. They both get fresh ownership with lots of

(27:10):
money and they went out. What is the first thing
that Washington does. They hire Adam Peters, who'd been the
best GM prospect in five years and says, here, you
run it right. What did the Walton family do after
attempting the Rogers thing at fails? Wasn't all their fault?
Like they kind of came in. Sean Payton, here is
a ninetye hundred million dollars You do it? And what

(27:31):
else do you need? Open checkbook? Look at the two franchises,
and obviously both draft young quarterbacks that are equipped to
handle that. Why because Adam Peters has worked for Belichick,
Lway and John Lynch and Dan Quinn has a lot,
a lot of experience. Sean Payton's been doing this for
twenty five thirty years and both of them are the
by far, the best two spots for the guy to

(27:52):
go into. Look at Pennis. I like Pennix more than
most of my scouting buddies. He goes in Atlanta kind
of a shit show. It's like you got Cousins, even
though Cousin's a great guy. It's the weird spot for
a young quarterback. A ton of pressures, like everyone Atlanta's
gonna win. Then Cousins starts falling apart. Then they insert
him in late on a prayer, which is unfair. He

(28:12):
gets none of the reps and then they end up
missing the playoffs. Now they win eight games and hell,
the last game of the season, Bryce Young looks better
than Pennix. It's like, that's just not a way to operate.
And some of these people have no clue what they're doing.
And then you watch Washington and you watch Denver, it's like,
these people just know what they're doing. This leads hard enough.
It's gotta be one of the most competitive industries in America. Finance.

(28:34):
I mean, it's a short list, so it's hard enough
even if you know what you're doing. But you to
put yourself in a situation when you know what you're
doing has such an advantage over all. These teams that
are just feel like they're kind of peeing in the win.

Speaker 2 (28:47):
Okay, my favorite bet of the weekend is the Eagles
minus four and a half against Green Bay. Jordan Loves
hurt Christian Watson's out, I think, I think, and I
like Jordan Love a lot. I think his inconsistency is
why Matt Lafleur in this offseason went and got Josh Jacobs.
I think they were signaling, you know, it was a

(29:09):
little bit of a bat signal. It was We're gonna
be a power run team that I don't think Jordan
Love should be throwing at thirty six times a game.
I think it should be closer to twenty eight times
a game. And I think they're very effective. But I
think teams tell you what they think of their quarterbacks.
And Matt Lafleur was telling you that Jordan can be
erratic and a bit reckless. He's always been more far
than Aaron Rodgers. I think this is a tough spot

(29:33):
for him. I think Watson takes the lid off the defense.
I think losing him makes it easier for this team
to be defended. And I like Philadelphia kind of rolling
Green Bay.

Speaker 1 (29:43):
Did you see the headline that Jalen Hurts is still
in concussion protocol. I mean we're we're fifteen to twenty
days removed from that concussion. That to me is a
little concerning. Now could the Eagles at home with Kenny
if they had to do? I mean, we still got six
seven days from recording this to when they play, But
you gotta start Kenny, pickt or Tanner McKee like, I'm sorry,

(30:03):
you can lose a playoff game. But like you said,
the Packers have not looked that good down the stretch
at all. And Christian Watson, I think they became very
dependent on him last year because he looked like this
budding superstar injuries and then it looks like he's got
a torn acl It sucks to lose him, but maybe
big picture of this offseason, they can kind of pivot
find another guy to fill that role if Jalen hurts. Though,

(30:26):
like this, we talk about this in the NFL. It's
very coach and quarterback dependent. If your quarterback can't play
in a game and you got to go to a backup,
like you could lose to the Packers at home. So
that is something. If he's clears tomorrow or the next day,
feel fine, but that's something. Remember a couple of years ago,
was it Carson Wentz got a concussion in a playoff game?

(30:46):
You just these playoff games. Somehow Mahomes has like ankles
like he's a Lebron James. It can go the other way.
You know, ten minutes later he's back on the field.
But sometimes in these playoff games, your heart drops when
when the quarterback it's injured. In Hell, I would imagine
Philadelphia because the concussion protocol and like some other injuries,
is a little out of your control. It's something that

(31:08):
just you know, it's just I don't know. Now, their
roster's so good. I mean, they could just run the
ball and just overwhelm me.

Speaker 2 (31:14):
I thought Jalen Hurts about three weeks ago played the
best game I've seen him play as a pro. I
don't know where statistically it was when Jalen Hurts is
running and he's rolling and he's got the pass run option.
I think they're so hard to defend because the offensive
line in Barkley, they could just play football in between
the tackles and never run outside. And then when they
add that component, and then it's Aj Brown over the top.

(31:37):
I know everybody likes Kansas City to win another Super Bowl,
but when Philadelphia is healthy and when the Lions are healthy,
those rosters just look better than everybody. And that Philadelphia
offense again, they could just be eight between the tackle
power offense and be very effective when everything's working. I

(31:59):
think the drop off Jalen Hurts to backups is substantial. Now, again,
it depends on who you're playing, but we'll keep our
eye on that.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
I would say this, I would say health there's five
teams that can win the Super Bowl. Lions, Eagles, Chiefs,
Ravensville's Yeah agreement there. Yes, I have a hard time
seeing the Rams have just kind of looked I don't
even count the last game, but have not played well
down the stretch. The Bucks I just don't think have
enough on a personnel standpoint. And our guy Sam Darnold

(32:29):
came back to Earth a little bit the other night.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
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(32:55):
I don't have a strong feel for I want to
go to Rams at hosting Minnesota. So I like the
Minnesota matchup because I think people now are selling because
it was such a standalone game and had so many
viewers that people saw Donald and everybody is selling Donald Stock.
When I thought it was like it felt like a
playoff game. It was a precursor. It was like the
reason that restaurants have soft openings is you're not quite

(33:18):
ready for the speed of the big opening. And I
don't think Sam was quite ready for at Detroit, biggest
game in five decades, a better roster, a big pass rush.
I think Minnesota the Rams have really struggled to put
consistent hams of football together. Offensively, they're very Puka Nikua dependent.

(33:41):
Cooper Cup now is more of a blocker. We've talked
about this. If they can't engineer a running game to start,
they just become It's Stafford and Pooka. That's pretty much it.
I think the Vikings bounce back. I think their receiving
core is a real problem for the Rams. Secondary. Rams
will draft a quarterback second or third pick. They'll take
a corner number one. You have a strong feeling about

(34:03):
that game.

Speaker 1 (34:03):
Yeah, I mean I would lean, you know, I think
the Rams. Darnold starts seeing ghosts a little bit the
other night. Now granted they were blitzing him every single play,
but it really got to him. And the Rams have
better personnel than what the Lions were just rolling out.
Still pretty injured at least upfront, and if you can
get pressure on Sam. Here's the thing. Their left tackle

(34:26):
towards ACL a while back, so they still have some
question marks up front. Now, Sam, why we were so
high on him, He was moving around and making plays.
If he can shake that and be a goldfish and
forget about that game and get back to what he's
been most of the season, I'm with you, I like Minnesota,
But if any of that Lingers, is there a player
right now in the NFL with just more on the line.

(34:46):
It felt like in this game and last game. I
mean we're talking, we're craking one hundred and fifty million dollars,
and you play another game like that, all of a sudden,
it's like, yeah, maybe we'll franchise you. I think that's
the best part about the NFL, how fluid it is,
how fast it moves. Yeah, they do have at the
end of they do have this other quarterback sitting there.
Whether we think it's crazy or not, like he does
exist on their roster, and I would imagine most people

(35:07):
would say JJ McCarthy might be the number one pick
in this draft. We've said about Drake May, but there's
he definitely would be a top five pick in this draft.
Who you know, We'll see how it plays out. So
if you have another game where you're just looking atrocious
and overthrowing guys like that, that's how fast things change,
especially when I don't have any equity with you. We
saw it with Cousins. He had no equity. He just
showed up. No, not saying they don't you know, they

(35:28):
really like Sam clearly, but you lose the game against
me the number one see, then you lose a playoff
game in the first round. We all know these guys,
I mean that they could. We saw how fast Sean
McVay turned on Jared Goff and they had been working
together for years. So this league, this league, when you're
talking especially about the amount of money you're talking at
the quarterback position, it can be pretty cutthroat if you

(35:50):
don't produce. So I I feel like everyone's gonna kind
of overlean Minnesota. That was one off. I don't know.
I think Sean McVay what usually plays in the playff coaching, Well,
I would take Sean over Kevin O'Connell, even though I
like Kevin O'Connell, and I just think that they've been there,
done that. You know, there's a lot of pressure on
Sam going home Monday night football, that's a pretty intense

(36:13):
environmentconin Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
I mean, I thought last night Sam was overwhelmed. I
thought he missed on two potential touchdowns. He was high,
a lot of energy, a lot of juice, and it
kind of overwhelmed him. You know, I defended him today.
I said, you know, listen, last year Week eighteen, he
was starting for the Niners. Like he went from bust
to starting for the Niners to the biggest game in
the history of Detroit Lions football in my adult life.

(36:39):
So I like Minnesota, but you're not the first person
Jason McIntyre really likes the Rams. This week, I want
to talk about Notre Dame versus Penn State and Ohio
State versus Texas. So Ohio State Texas. We'll probably get

(37:02):
the bigger rating because of Buckeye's longhorns. But I was
thinking about this the other day. Is that Notre Dame.
I think Marcus Freeman was on my show, and I'm
not sure if he said it then or in the
preamble before he was on my show. They haven't lost
anybody in the transfer portal, and I was thinking about this, John,

(37:24):
the advantage Notre Dame has on the rest of the
country in this transfer portal. So they have a young
A plus plus recruiter and Marcus Freeman that in these
days that really helps a lot of these Brian Kelly's.
I was talking to a coach about Brian Kelly. I said,
what's wrong with LSU And the coach said, Brian Kelly
was about ready to retire in Notre Dame. He took

(37:46):
that job for the money. He didn't want to put
the time in. Their recruiting's gone down. Brian is on
the back nine. He's probably on the seventeenth hole. He
thought he could go down there and make it work
and win a Natty. But the truth is he was
worn out at Notre Dame and then somebody threw him
a pile of money that he never thought he would make.
But one of the things about this time, the transfer

(38:09):
portal of the nil old guys like saban Or in
basketball even easier in basketball. Jay Wright, older guy, it's
too much. Jim Lahronega, the coach, the Miami Hurricanes basketball coach,
like it's overwhelming. So if you have a young coach
a Ryan Day Amarcus Freeman. You have a young coach
with a ton of energy. Huge advantage. Secondly, Notre Dame

(38:31):
doesn't lose guys to the portal because the players that
go to Notre Dame are going there for the academic
experience and the football experience. So it is the one
football power in the country beyond Stanford and Northwestern, that
consistently has bigger revenue, has a better TV package, and
historically has paid more for coaches. And I look at
Notre Dame in Penn State and I think this could

(38:53):
be a really interesting ten year run for Notre Dame.
You watch the SEC this year, John, it was very
clear they just didn't look as dominant. I mean, it's
Notre Dame matched up with Georgia and you mean to me,
Ohio State looks like the most talented team in the country.
And Michigan was the best team last year. And if

(39:15):
Ohio State wins this year or Notre Dame, it's back
to back Northern teams winning. And the advantage Notre Dame
has is they may be the one team in the
transfer portal era, because what is the transfer portal creating?
John Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly know this chemistry issues.
These guys don't grow up together. It's just got ole

(39:36):
miss We'll go by eight great players, twelve great players
Notre Dame. If Notre Dame beats Penn State, I just
I've been thinking about this. They may have a cultural
edge on the rest of college football that they do
recruit elite players, but they don't you'll be able to
have a more formidable cohesion and chemistry with your roster
on an annual basis.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
Well, one thing Notre Dame a huge advantage they have.
And we had a good family friend growing up who
was a very successful businessman who had played at Notre
Dame in the sixties. And they get these golf tournaments
together all over the country because they're all their people,
you know, like a Stanford or a usc go work
New York, La Florida. They have a lot of money

(40:19):
behind that program. You know, when Greg Byrne at Alabama
comes out with a tweet begging fans for money, you
know who's not gonna have to do that. Notre Dame.
So at the end of the day, I think nil
is kind of a stupid Like that term feels a
little outdated. You're just you're just buying the player. I'm
paying them a salary to play for me. And if

(40:40):
Notre Dame true and Marcus Freeman you win a couple
of playoff games, all of a sudden, people are gonna
like that. They will not have a problem cutting huge checks.
I mean, I see it here with Kenny Dillingham on
the local news begging for money. It's hard. I can't
even imagine being in that situation. Marcus Freeman will never
have to beg for checks as long as he's winning.
And I think that is a huge advantage. I think
we see it with some of these Southern teams. That

(41:02):
is a disadvantage for Alabama. That is the advantage for LSU.
It's not you know, Texas text A and M not
a disadvantage because they have huge, huge Arkansas sneaking not
a disadvantage. He don't have the right coach. I think
Notre Dame if they can figure out how to balance
the academic requirements. But Northwestern's down, Stanford's down. Who are
they really competing against for that top? You know, Andrew Luck,

(41:25):
David di Castro, there are only so many of them.
Will they got the market cornered and to me, financially,
they have an unlimited part of the reason I think
Stanford hired Andrew Luck obviously he kind of missed it
and wanted the juice. But when Andrew Luck calls the
guy worth one hundred million dollars is to Stanford alone,
that guy will call him back. You know, if if
Troy Taylor the football coach, had called him, he might not.

(41:46):
And I think Marcus Freeman, now with the momentum going
and people start getting the taste, I think they've already
had this success where their budget is gonna be as
high as anyone because they have the funds. I mean,
it's impossible to not work in business around You're in
Los Angeles. How many Notre Dame people do you hear
of that just have unlimited amount of money and want
to be part of the program. It's a really that university.

(42:07):
If you went there, means a lot to these people.
And I think the one thing that they will always
fight against is it is hard to get certain positions
in there, like they never really have great wide receivers
right or top ten corners. Sometimes academically you got to
push and that's something the more success Marcus Freeman has
he can push back, but I think they have looked defensively.

(42:30):
Where fran Kelly had good teams, this team looks much
more like an SEC Ohio State Texas speed which like
holy shit.

Speaker 2 (42:36):
But when I watched Notre Dame Georgia and I watched
Notre Dame's corners, they were not getting beat down the field.
I felt like Notre Dame, you could switch jerseys. I
couldn't tell. I thought Notre Dame looked great, And I
do think you know, they're called collectives. I think I
think kind of the issue you're finding with this stuff

(42:57):
is that there's a chemistry problem. So you bring in
play they get paid, and then guys that are already
there don't get paid as much. And I think Notre
Dame's edges. You don't go to Notre Dame to get
a paycheck, you go for a legacy. I mean, that's
one of the reasons Duke Basketball and Mike Skrzhewski beat
John Calipari in Kentucky and Calipari so predictably through a

(43:20):
hissy fit, is that you know it was this one
and done culture, and then Shazhewski started selling We're not
about one and done. You're a blue devil for life.
This is more than basketball. And they started taking some
of those top players from Calipari, and Calipari is like, hey,
you know this this thing about selling for life, and
it's like John, you're a salesman. And and when John

(43:43):
Paul Calipari started saying, hey, I'm not here to win
in March, it's like, bro, it's over. Like, yes, you're hard,
but the point is Duke, like Notre Dame sold, you're
a Duchy for life. Our business connections for life will
set you up. Kentucky's not going to sell that. LSU

(44:03):
probably doesn't have that, but Notre Dame and Duke do well.

Speaker 1 (44:07):
Think about this. I saw someone tweet I don't know
the exact number, is like the amount of former NFL
players kids that are at Notre Dame now. Some of
them like Bryan Young played at Notre Dame. His son Bryce,
who I would bet on number thirty, the six foot
seven pass rusher who's a backup right now, who's a
true freshman being a future top ten pick in a
couple of years. But if you're a former player and

(44:28):
these guys now, guys that are fifty to fifty five
years old. A lot of their children are blue chip recruits.
If you play in the NFL long enough, you see
how cutthroat it can be, how fast everything can end.
You actually have a different perspective of just funnel to
the best college. You know for football, Well, I want
to go the best. It was a huge point of
difference for Stanford for a long time. We can take

(44:49):
you to the NFL, but we can also send you
to Wall Street or Silicon Valley where you can probably
end up making more money. So I think Notre Dame
has that double edge, you know. I think Ohio State
Mission again have always kind of had that because they've
had you know, it's a really really good school and
obviously they take football really seriously. But I think Marcus
Freeman the recruiting standpoint, they feel just much faster than

(45:11):
they did under the Brian Kelly. And now you watch
totally agree at LSU, You're like, maybe he doesn't have
a great feel Like one thing, Saban was the lead
at he could just identify a guy future top ten pick.
I mean, he was the best at it. And I
think Kirby clearly followed Saban from that, and they're great
at that but mostly like Ohio State at this point
in time, kind of recruits itself and they have they
can get anyone they want in the school whatever. Marcus

(45:32):
Freeman's figuring out that speed they had on defense against Georgia. Yeah,
these are mirror images of each other. Yes, And that's
where Brian Kelly used to get overwhelmed. Remember the speed
and the physicality. It's like, yeah, that's just a different
level of pace.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
I also think the SCC has had the best and
the most NFL bodies for twenty years. I think more
than any conference in college football. They're getting raided and
as you pointed out earlier, SEC teams do not have
many times the level of boosters. I mean, I think
the biggest Alabama booster I could be wrong is like

(46:05):
Bear Bryant's son. I mean, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame.
They just have certain Penn State have certain advantages. So
I think when I watched SEC football this year, it
just did not look as dominant, And I thought Notre
Dame's defense and Ohio State's offense and Michigan's O line
and D line last year looked better. My eye test,

(46:26):
is it shocking that Sark.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
I mean, what an advantage he has because forever it's
like house Texas going to be able to go into
the SEC. Well they will because they have a huge
bank account that's bigger than everyone else. Yeah, and they
came right in SEC championship. Who's gonna pick next year?
Sark's got to be a top one or two, you know,
in terms of the preseason ranking in the SEC. For
the foreseeable future. He has a massive advantage even just

(46:49):
over Alabama and LSU. He's gonna lap them yeap.

Speaker 2 (46:53):
So Ohio State faces Texas, This game to me is fascinating.
So I like Ohio State Texas. I could never wrap
my arms around them. I struggle sometimes for them to
get three straight good offensive series. I think they're hit
and miss. They're very much a splash offense. They need
big plays and they hit on them. I mean against

(47:13):
Arizona State, back into a corner, they hit on a
couple of big plays late. Who's facing more pressure, Ryan
Day or Sark? So think about this. You know, Ohio
State backed up the brinks truck twenty million dollars for
this team. They look esthetically like the best team, and
they have rebounded from that Michigan loss with two dominating wins.

(47:34):
But again again, if they lose to Texas, people are
going to say, when's the last time you beat Michigan.
That's probably the worst loss in our program in twenty years.
If Sark doesn't win a Natty, it'll probably be because
we feel like his roster underachieved, because I think going
into the season many felt that was the best roster.

(47:56):
To you, who's the pressure on this game? Is fascinating?
Ryan Day or Sark? Who's gonna get more shit when
they lose this game?

Speaker 1 (48:05):
Yeah, I don't even think it's closed. I think it's
Ryan Day. I mean Sark, Texas was dead and they're
going back to back years in the semi finals and
just he has the thing on an upward trajectory. He
just had him in the SEC Championship year one. Ryan
Day took over. You know, Uh, just a program that
was rolling right full of NFL guys and he just

(48:27):
hasn't quite got there now. The way they've looked the
last two weeks, I don't see how they would not
win the NACTUAL Championship if they can play like that
two more times. But I think there's still a ton
of pressure on Ryan Day. Now, if you're betting on this,
you'd have to pick Ohio State to win it all.
But I listen, Texas's roster isn't that much different than
Ohio State. And unless Will Howard can just keep playing,

(48:50):
is he just gonna keep playing like Peyton Manning in
his prime, Because if he does, then they're gonna beat everybody.
But if he has a bad game, Texas is really
good on defense. You know it took Skataboo having one
of the crazier halfs you've ever like. Eventually, Ohio State
is just gonna play in a tighter game. I mean
they have too just back to back absolute blowouts. What
do they look like when they get in a little
tighter game, Because we just saw him in a tight
game against Michigan, they kind of folded and whatever Ryan

(49:12):
Day has done and it was kind of easy, right,
they had really got embarrassed. All those guys are returned,
they got an extra week off and they came out
and they showed out. But I do think one of
these games, one of these last two games, I like
Penn State against Notre Dame. I think Penn State is
just a little more talented or at least equal to
Notre Dame. But I like their quarterback more, at least

(49:33):
the way, you know, from a throwing standpoint, and I
think Penn State could beat him, and I think Texas,
you know, in theory, could beat them. I'm picking Ohio State,
but if I State wins the national championship, you beat Texas,
then you beat Penn State or Notre Dame. Like that's
that'd be really impressive, and then haters like me wouldn't
be able to say anything about writing I always I
already think Sark, like Sark's already kind of proven, like

(49:53):
he's really good. Back to back semi finals, got arch Manning,
got a team just loaded with guys that aren't even
drafted eligible. I can't even imagine what they were transfer
portal class is gonna look like whenever the season ends,
like they're not going anywhere. I think this year was
all about Ryan Day, the cash they had spent on
the team. He got Chip Kelly makes three two and
a half three million dollars a year. I think there

(50:15):
was a lot of pressure on this individual team.

Speaker 2 (50:18):
Yeah, I think, And I also think Sark, if he
got heat, I think he's viewed in NFL circles as
capable of coaching at that league. You know, for years
Brian Kelly sniffed around at Notre Dame for the NFL,
and I was told by an NFL GM that people
thought he was a college coach, a really good college coach.
Sark is viewed by NFL guys as like if Sark

(50:40):
said tomorrow he loses to Ohio State and says I
want the Chicago Bears job, he'd be a top three
candidate immediately. I think the NFL. I mean, he was
a coordinator in the NFL and a very good one.
So I think I think Sark he.

Speaker 1 (50:53):
Works, doesn't it It just Sark Austin. It just feels like
a pretty seamless fit right now. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
I mean he's he's He's got a big presence, and
I think Sark is one of those guys people have
criticisms for him, but if in any industry, if you
keep getting hired by really smart people, I mean, Washington's
a good program, US He's a good program. Texas is
a good program. He's been the head coaching job. Nick
Saban knows what he's doing, you know, like, really smart

(51:19):
people and good programs keep hiring him. You know, it's
like when Andy Reid got let go by Philadelphia. Forty
five minutes later, he was on the phone with a
Hunt family smart pee. Jim Harbaugh is always going to
get work. John Harbaugh, he was available, would get work.
I think Sark's one of those guys that's imminently hirable.
I think his teams can be a little loose and

(51:39):
lack a little bit of an identity, you know, the
old thing the Patriots used to say, We're not a
collection of players, We're a team. Sometimes sark teams can
feel a little bit like a collection of a handful
of really good players, not a team. And it's not
I know he's a good coach. I know he's a
great recruiter. But his teams can be a little loose
for my taste sometimes, Like I think they throw too
many jump balls up the sidelines. Quin Yours too often

(52:01):
just throws it up for grabs. It drives me nuts.
I hate that low percentage fades or corners. But I
think I think I like Ohio State and Notre Dame.
But I will say about Penn State Abduall Carter that
rush end. If he's healthy, John, if he got drafted
number one. I don't think it's crazy. I think he's

(52:23):
so good.

Speaker 1 (52:24):
Don't They have a big advantage with the game getting delayed.
They played, you know, basically two days before Notre Dame.
Notre Dame then had to travel home. I think Penn
States looked really good. I like Penn State in that
game for sure.

Speaker 2 (52:42):
I don't think it's crazy. They've got They've got four
or five elite players. You know, James Franklin gets some
shit because he can't beat the good teams. But you know,
I would point out to you know, if you look
at his record against top ten teams, Yeah, that was
Georgia and LSU when they ruled college football. He was
in Vandy and it was Alabama Georgia. So he was
struggling at Vandy and now he's struggling with Ohio State

(53:04):
and Michigan with Hardbaugh. It's like, guys, you have to
contextualize James franklin struggles against top ten teams. It's been
Jim Harbaugh Ryan Day. And when he was down at Vandy,
he was facing you know, LSU teams and Nick Saban
teams and the beginning of Georgia's teams.

Speaker 1 (53:21):
If he beats Notre Dame and Ohio State takes advantage
of and you know, beats Texas. It is a pretty
good opportunity given how well he knows. Ohio State plays
him every year, played him, I mean the best they've
ever played him. This year had a very good chance,
obviously to tie the game at the goal line, and
they ran it right up the middle. Their team physically

(53:43):
given their quarterback, Like to me, the best NFL quarterback
prospect playing right now is Drew Aller, And one advantage
they have is they you know, these bowl games are
not outside in frigid temperatures, and Tyler Warren has been dominant.
The running back's been dominant. The question is a dual
carter and the arm injury. You know in college they
don't really have to talk about what the status is.

(54:05):
But if he's healthy, how good does their front seven look.
I mean, they are so physical, they got dbs, They
are very very Both these two teams, you could argue
all four someone's gonna get injured in these games. It's
just like the NFL playoffs, and if you're the winning
team and one of your impact players, that could be
a huge problem. Chip Kelly mentioned this at the start

(54:26):
of the playoffs. He's like, no one's really talking about this.
The attrition of guys aren't used to playing this many games,
and these are better teams. These are just more It's
usually just one Bowl game. Maybe the final four was two.
Now you're playing Ohio State would play four, Penn State
would play four, Texas would play four. That's a lot
of games on the bodies of twenty year olds, even

(54:47):
if they are future top ten, top twenty picks.

Speaker 2 (54:51):
John Middlecoff, former NFL scout, that was a good hour.
Put together almost an hour of good stuff. We head
to the playoffs. John is always buddy. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (55:04):
Can't wait. Happy birthday.

Speaker 2 (55:06):
Thanks man the volume