Colin Cowherd Podcast - Eagles Fly Over Dolphins, Power>Speed, Lamar Jackson, USC - podcast episode cover

Colin Cowherd Podcast - Eagles Fly Over Dolphins, Power>Speed, Lamar Jackson, USC

Oct 23, 202348 min
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Episode description

Colin reacts to the Eagles dominant performance over the Dolphins on Sunday Night Football. He explains why he’s warmed up to an “unstoppable” play, and why the Eagles proved they are built for late-season success while the Dolphins are not.

John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out,” joins Colin to debate whether Lamar Jackson has become the second best quarterback in the NFL and whether the Lions loss was a blip or a cause for real concern. They also perform an autopsy on USC and Caleb Williams after the Trojans’ home loss to Utah. 

Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #3AndOut #Herd

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Speaker 1

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it before it's gone. All right, Hi, everybody, Great Sunday Night Monday Morning Podcast. John Middlecoff, former NFL Scout three and out at the Volume, will join us. We have a lot of things to talk about in the NFL. I just love John's takes today. Plus we do some Caleb Williams USC and the mess with the Trojans in Lincoln Riley. But you know, my first takeaway on Philadelphia's resounding win in the second half, you know they just leaned on them, is so much of Miami. I've been

calling him the speedboat of the NFL. You know, the fake Gucci shoes, loafers, the fake gold watch, the speedboat. You know, it's really fast and really flashy and really fun. But this team's not built for November, December, January football. And that's why the Kansas City Chiefs are the current dynasty. They can do both. They can play real defense and dominate the line of scrimmage and be flashy and fun.

Miami has yet to prove they can just do the flashy fun stuff, which flourishes in September and October and early November and then it doesn't. So the two teams that have faced them, Buffalo and Philadelphia, that are physical teams, have pushed them all over the ring. But let me talk about Philadelphia first. That I don't like the aesthetics, the optics of the brotherly shove, the tush push whatever you want to call it, and I do think you have to worry about I mean, the NFL's a TV show.

It is. Baseball has never understood this. Networks have helped them a little over the last few years, but the NFL is always understood. We make our money in TV. We're a TV show. It's not good TV. It's why the NFL's cut back on preseason games. Empty seats looks bad. It's why the NFL got rid of the no catch rule. It looked bad. It's really smart. You're a TV show. That's where all the money comes from. So I don't think it looks very good, and I don't think you

want everybody in the league doing it. But I was thinking about this tonight. Why does the tush push, the broaderdy shove work for Philadelphia? Well, two reasons. They have the best center, Jason Kelcey probably in over a decade in the NFL top five center ever. And Jalen Hurts, a small, powerful, six hundred pound bench press quarterback, was built for it. Well, that's just the coach identifying the talent of his players, innovative ingenuity. Don't we want to

reward that in all businesses? It's not like the Eagles have a passive owner. You know, Jeffrey Lourie owns it, and they have this guy that owns five percent, and he's a shoe designer and he created a cleat that he put a patent on that he won't let anybody else build. And the cleat has an ability to has some sort of physical advantage over other shoes in the NFL, and nobody else can buy it or use it or no.

That feels like the Houston Astros. This is a coaching staff saying hurts his strength, Jason Kelsey, And they designed a play that people are trying to duplicate and they can't. It's a business model nobody can duplicate. And for that reason, because I'm all for trying new stuff, I kind of respect the hell out of it. It's not good to look at. I wouldn't want to see. You know, when the Wildcat started, thank god, it didn't work very long. Do you really want the NFL hiking the ball to

a tailback? It's not. It doesn't look good. And this stuff matters. I mean, the commissioners that understand the television dynamic and baseball, you know, Bud Seely didn't. He was he was leaning into steam heads and traditionalists. They're not paying the bills TV is So I don't love the look of it. I don't love the look of it. I think, you know, some teams are trying to duplicate it with six five quarterbacks and six six quarterbacks and

skinny quarterbacks. It doesn't work. But it is innovative. There's a genius to it. It's a coaching staff identifying it, kind of like it, learning to like it. This game ended up looking a lot like I thought it would look like. I mean, in the end, the Dolphins scored ten offensive points and had twelve first downs. That's it. Seventy points against Denver, twelve first downs against Philadelphia. So

you know, it's last week. I heard hierarchy. I forget where I had them like eight and people are like eight, and I'm like, yeah, that's about it. I heard hierarchy. I always consider the first four teams the super Bowl favorites. You know, Kansas City's up there, Baltimore's playing great, San Francisco. Those are gimmes. Miami's not a super Bowl team. They're fun. They should they should over the course of a season, as the weather gets colder, you know, have a little

less success. You're throw in twelve to fifteen mile an hour wins on the road. You know, you're in a division with Buffalo and New York and New England and there's those late season games. They're just not built for it. Even Miami, or excuse me, even New England in the second half early in the season pushed back on them. Was very competitive. So Buffalo's throttled them, Philadelphia's dominated him, and New England for a half did And I think

that's just who they are. I still think Miami's great for the NFL because a lot of people are going to use a lot of these motions. It's clever, they work. You know, I am for clever coaching and smart stuff and new football and so I'm I'm I like, I don't dislike Miami. I love watching them play, but I just think there's a ceiling on what they can do.

And they're the classic speedboat. They are built for warm weather, and there's been there's been a lot of teams like this, and we've seen a lot of bad gms through the years. You know, quarterback gets hot, people get hot. He signed him to big extensions in season. Don't do that's that's not what you do. Never forget that a majority of this football season is in cold weather November one to February. What is it tenth now is the majority of the

football season starts in the second week of September. So and Philadelphia is you know, Jalen Hurts is clearly not one hundred percent He's not. I mean I think it was once early he had a bootleg and just sat down and I thought, is he limping? And it was almost as if he was hiding it. Then later, I think it was in the first half. It could have been in the third quarter. I think it was first half. He ran to the sideline and he like limped over.

So let's give Philadelphia credit. The quarterback's not healthy. Jalen Hurds wasn't healthy last season. But I do believe they've been searching for an identity all season. I do believe Philadelphia has found their identity. I just feel like Aj Brown's more comfortable, he's getting attention, They're using the tight ends effectively. Swift Devonte Smith, I think it takes time. I don't care if you're running a business or a football team, right it takes about six seven weeks, kind

of practice, play, live games, more practice. What are we and I think what they are is a power football team. Even aj Brown the tight ends, you know these, how many times that night did Philadelphia gets stopped and they get three to four more yards? They lean, they drag a dolphin with them. It is a power football team. Miami is a speed football team. Both can win a lot of games. One is built for Thanksgiving on so again,

ten offensive points, twelve first downs. This sport with a regulated level of violence, is still about big, strong guys. And Philadelphia is You just don't want any part of Philadelphia Eagles or the Philadelphia Phillies. They just they're big,

they're brash, they're tough, they know it. And I felt, especially you know, you'll watch a football game and even when this game was tied, be honest, unless you're a Dolphin fan, even when it was tied, you kind of felt Philadelphia was the better team, right, Like like I was watching the Chargers and the Chiefs today and even though it was close early, it's tied, You're like, yeah, the Chargers lose games like this and the Chiefs always win games like this, and so hats off to Philadelphia,

a really good football team that has found more importantly, their identity. They're good now, really good. They're a super Bowl team now. And now for a segment called making it Look Easy, brought to you by Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Lamar Jackson made it look easy today against Detroit twenty one and twenty seven nimble Smart, three touchdowns, one hundred and fifty five point eight passer rating.

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Speaker 2

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and out. John middle Coff, former NFL scout, SO Kansas City's offense has been sputtering, sputtering, sputtering, sputtering, can't get it right. So they bring a receiver over who is not He's a three in this lay. I mean they let him go. So that's all you need to know. And then they get him back. And a lot of people today are going to say, what about what about Herbert?

What about Herbert? So Kansas City threw for four hundred and fifteen yards today with a receiving corps which with Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and Kelsey, they were struggling to score for twenty points. Today they get thirty one. Kelsey was a machine and so this is a great example of when the coach isn't right. I think in Buffalo McDermott, we just look at Josh Allen and go, how can you lose to Mac Jones. But ask yourself this, what do the Chargers do well? They had a special team's gaff.

They got to Mahomes one time, so they've got what's perceived to be they drafted a young kid out of sc good pass rusher. They've got real good pass rushers. One sack. The Chiefs got five sacks, and you've got an elite left tackle and slater and you have arguably another not as mobile as Mahomes, but a very mobile, big, strong, mobile quarterback. So special teams gaff Chargers, five sacks, Chiefs once again, big third down mistakes by the Chargers defense.

So when you don't have the coach right and you're not doing anything well, And to me, John, whenever you question the quarterback, ask yourself, what is the team do well? The Chargers don't do anything really well. So to me, Mahomes is obsolously brilliant. But that's probably the first time all year that Mahomes has done that. Should he really be doing it against the highest paid defense today in the National Football League with a defensive head coach Colin.

Speaker 2

He threw for more yards in the first half than he ever had in his career, and he's arguably had the greatest start to a career we've ever seen. I mean, these guys won multiple MVPs. He just set his own personal record. Now in a vacuum, losing to the Chiefs if you're the Chargers, isn't that crazy, But given the way their season has started, there's somewhat desperation. Now. Listen, I would still be a little stunned if we woke up on Monday morning he was gone. But you're two

and four. You got major issues. Listen. Like you said, everyone's gonna be like, look he through some picks at the end of the game, what the hell is Justin Herbert supposed to do? And the other thing is like, here's the thing with the Chiefs, right sky Moore, Everyone's like,

when he's who cares? They got another guy? Rice? The thing with Andy, They'll just keep taking swings and they'll eventually hit on a guy, and they'll keep coaching guys up, and the kream will eventually rise like Pajaco last year, the Rice kid. You know, Kelsey and and Patrick are. You could argue they got a chance to be the greatest combination we've ever seen. They're like their generation's version

of like Montana and Rice Rice. So now that their defense is good, Now, they did take a pretty major injury to their star linebacker, who I think the sideline reporter said was screaming in pain. So maybe he broke his wrists or something. That would be a little bit of a problem. But I think you see, you know,

I don't think the gap. Obviously, Mahomes is a better player than Herbert, but the gap between those two guys shouldn't be one team winning fourteen fifteen games with ease and another team scraping and klawn for eight and nine wins.

Speaker 1

Also, who's got the better left tackle Chargers. The best receiver in that game is Keenan Allen. The best back arguably is Austin Eckler. Why can't they move the ball? No, again, you can blame Herbert, but remember they lost Mike, so they don't really have a deep threat and Quentin Johnston, the rookie, appears to be a complete whiff. Yeah, so they Mike Williams is gone, who they love to throw the ball down the field. Keenan's not really that guy.

He's a third down receiver. He's a great, big, physical body, third down receiver. He's not a deep threat. So they don't have Yeah, they don't have a deep threat on the roster. It was Mike he's gone and Quentin Johnson appears to be at least one year in. Is he learning the playbook? Know from what i've If they're not even getting him in the game, if they're not targeting him, that means the coaches and the quarterback don't trust him generally.

That means he's not up to snuff right now. Currently with a system with a playbook takes time some rookies at all positions, takes time. But it's all gonna fall on Herbert. Ask yourself, name the quarterback whose big, strong, power, arm, athletic four to two major in college, who doesn't work now? Can he be a bit mechanical? Absolutely, that's a total. Mahomes is the most fluid guy that's ever played the position. Lamar is incredibly fluid. Allen can be fluid. Herbert can

be a little stiff. No, I'm not putting him in Mahomes' class. But Josh Allen now struggled for weeks Burrow had a bad September. Stuff happens. It's hard to play the position. But I'll just go back to this when you're questioning the quarterback. It's not as though this defense is playing lights out. Mahomes broke his own personal record throwing in the first half. Again, they don't have a number one receiver. How's that possible?

Speaker 2

One problem and the only way the AFC is going to take down this team. Obviously they did a couple of years ago. But I think Mahomes might have been like concussed in the second half when the Bengals beat him. You're just probably not beating them in Kansas City. You're gonna need them. Not that Kansas City couldn't win on the road in the playoffs. The Patriots are a good example.

During their dynasty, they're definitely equipped to. But if you're just giving them the number one seed year in year out, they're gonna consistently just be in the Super Bowl, and you kind of look at the way that's shaping out. I say this every week, and it was on four display today. Like the Patriots for those twenty years, they benefited a lot because they had five wins and most times six wins in their division. Look at the Chiefs

division right now. I mean, the Raiders just got curb stomped by a quarterback no one's ever heard of Denver won. But they are not any good and we just saw the Chargers. So that the Chiefs are going to have this thing locked up probably like by like December first, and it's just going to be very, very difficult, especially with the Taylor Swift edition, to beat them in Arrowhead. They're just not losing games there, Colin.

Speaker 1

Let's talk Denver. So there's two young quarterbacks I want to discuss Kenny Pickett in a second, Pittsburgh and Jordan Love. Now, so I had said on this podcast and on FS one multiple times that I had heard from a source I trust who had been around the Packers during the Jordan Love years. There was just no special It wasn't bad game manager. We saw how cautiously they coached them in the preseason. We know they give their quarterback protection.

They've got excellent backs, young urging tiden wide receivers. Today Jordan Love again, if you didn't watch the game, you're like, well, one interception, a couple of touchdown passes. You know, he's like twenty for twenty eight. Well, one of the touchdown passes was a deflection. The other one could have easily been intercepted. It was a jump ball. And one of his biggest plays of the day was a dump off to a running back and the Broncos defense surrendered thirty yards.

Is that it's it really becomes dump down stuff. I don't see him accurately consistently throw the ball down the field. I I mean, now, Russell Wilson's lost confidence. He missed on a four yard swing pass that he threw too low. He was like pushing the ball. That's a quarterback who's lost confidence. But I watched Jordan Love and you're a former NFL scout, like you can't. I don't see it. I don't see it at all. It's game managing four years in.

Speaker 2

Yeah, what do you use? Today? Was ugly? Obviously Denver's terrible on defense. We've seen all season long, and like you said, the only plays they could really mustered up to get any flow in their offense, I mean early on their offense was pretty embarrassing. Or screen passes were screened, were schemed up kind of wide receiver screen. Yes to me. The two touchdowns. Like you said, if you just go to the box score, you're like, all right through two touchdowns.

I think Sirtaan picks that off seventy percent of the time, the one the jump ball and the other pick. But the majority of time that balls tip, it always lands into defender's hands and he takes it one hundred yards the other way. So I'll get the Packers credit on this one though. And we've seen teams be in position where they pick up the fifth year option when they shouldn't, or they don't pick up a fifth year option, they just let it play out. Like the Giants. They extended

this guy on basically a backup quarterback contract. Remember they gave him like eleven million dollars over two years. They are gonna be in position, they have some young pieces, right, you can still get a quarterback. You could easily put him back to the backup spot financially. Didn't screw yourself. You took a calculated risk. But clearly the contract told you what they kind of believed in them. They're like,

we're not picking up the fifty year option. We're not giving you some extension here, give you eleven million dollars going right for a backup quarterback three four five million dollars a year. Nothing crazy. If he's a backup quarterback, has to play an individual game. Not terrible, but I think with every snap that plays out, probably pretty clear that they don't have their next Aaron Rodgers on their hand.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and so right now they're probably gonna draft in the you know, in the somewhere between twelve and six.

Speaker 2

They're not They're not very good colin I mean they are. The more you watch them, you're like, ah, this team five wins.

Speaker 1

Yeah. And so let's say they draft eleven. You could get I don't think bon Nicks rises to that. You could get Pennix Potentially, you're not gonna get caleber Drake May, but you could get the third or fourth best quarterback. And I think, you know, I will say this because I think they hit on receivers and tight ends and the last couple drafts I like all of them. And they got the Reid kid from Michigan State. I think he's from. Yeah, they added Yeah, they added another piece

with Watson and Romeo Dobs. So they have good young receivers. If you go get another quarterback, you can bring a veteran in spend some money and bring up bring a veteran in now because you got a bunch of young kids at tied end wide receiver. Probably got to draft your next David Baktiari. But they don't have a lot of huge holes, so they usually go defense. Green Bay does in the first round. Probably time to go get

another quarterback. Remember, if you hit on one of two, that's better than the league average.

Speaker 2

And the other thing. If you're a Packer fan, which probably feels because you're not used to this, it's gonna be a long season. Look at the NFC big picture right beside, like the Niners in the Eagles. Yeah, obviously the Lions are got exposed a little bit today, a lot today. It's not like you are playing in a conference with seven star young quarterbacks. So if you can within a year turn the thing over a little bit and just get to nine wins, you can compete to

be a wild card rams battle. You watch some of these teams, you know they are not the drop off after the top two teams roster wise. In the NFC is not like the AFC, because hey face, we talked about the Chargers. They get the right coach all of a sudden. They're an eleven win team next year.

Speaker 1

Right right, Hey, Brock Purdy right now, and Geno Smith. It was a playoff quarterbacks, right, So the NFC is very watered down. So let's go to the Rams Steelers. So the Steelers have a better roster, the Rams are in a bit of a rebuild, and I think the game felt like a go either way game until about eight minutes left, and then Pittsburgh's depth and physicality took

over and the better team won. But I don't love Kenny Pickett, but I do think he plays with confidence that Jordan Love doesn't, that Russell Wilson no longer does. And Pickett made two or three big throws downfield, and again, don't love him. I had a GM who we both know and respect. I'm not going to give it up. He's an AFCGM on the East Coast, and he told me he viewed him as a top of the third round. And this is a good GM, a top of the

third round pick. Pittsburgh takes the guy they needed a quarterback. I don't think there's a ton of special but he made big throws and he you know, Pittsburgh's one of the more infinite physical teams in the league, and I think part of that. To be a Steeler quarterback, you have to play with ego, Like it doesn't matter Bradshaw, big bet, you have to. You know, Mike Tomlin's teams are all big chest, big emotion, big swagger. They look great off the bus. And I think Kenny plays with

enough of that. It may be false confidence, but it's confidence. And I watched him today and I'm like, I don't love him, but he has some self belief. And I think when you're a b Ish B minus guy, if that gets you to a B or a C plus, it gets you to a B minus you And I know this confidence matters, and I think Kenny Pickett. I watched Jordan Love and I see a staff terrified of throwing the ball down the field. Yeah, Pittsburgh, Canada.

Speaker 2

He's dialing it up.

Speaker 1

He's asking him to make big froze and he made a couple.

Speaker 2

I don't know if you've seen some of these viral videos, Colin, but the Matt Canada hate from Steeler fans around the country has been growing and growing. Today was a good day. I listened as a fellow bald brother. I was rooting for him. The one thing. Listen, Historically, the mac Jones, Kenny Picketts, those talents are third fourth round picks. But we're in the time of quarterback inflation, where desperation meets the power of a rookie contract. There are a lot

of combinations leading to that quarterback inflation. But one guy went fifteenth, the other win twentieth. Listen, I'm not a mac Jones guy. I'm not even a Kenny Pickett guy. But you got us surround those guys with high end talent. Mac Jones obviously had a couple moments today, but for the most part is going to be very limited when he's playing with average players. The Steelers draft, develop and

find skill guys like no team in the league. Pickens look, i mean, let's face it, like a top seven eight wide receiver in the league today. Physically he definitely is. And he's making back shoulder plays plays down the scene, breaking tackles, and you get Johnson backed their explosion on the outside on Warren, the little running back. He had a speed element. So yeah, you just saw Pickens. Like

you said, confidence is a real thing. He's a mobile quarterback, not a great athlete, but He's not a bad athlete by any means. Can move the ball, and like you said, he's once he got in a rhythm. You saw Jones when he had success early on his career. Same thing, kind of that. Kirk Cousin's mold of rhythm matters a lot. They can't just at any moment go Josh Allen or Justin Herbert and pull some play into their ass. They don't have those physical capabilities.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and I thought, I mean Nause Harris Warren are that's a really nice combo. Probably both BB plus but good solid backs tight end. I like Deontay Johnson pick. It is tremendous. I don't think you know, I think the Canada thing is, I don't think he's one of

the more creative thinkers. Believe he's not. But you know, when you watch that game, if you wouldn't have known anything about football, it's a classic example of a rebuilding roster with some really nice players Pooka Nakua, Cooper Cup, Aaron Donald, Matt Stafford, haven Steinwright tackle some really and a really full blown super Bowl capable roster. And it looks really even until about late third and you're like, all right, Pittsburgh's just got way more guys.

Speaker 2

And one thing the Rams can't match is, you know, Donald, one of the great players of all time, kind of on an island. Now, you know, Aalen Ramsey's long gone. Some of their stud safeties just have passed. They've had to let go. Obviously, their linebacking corps pretty unknown. He doesn't have many high end friends on the defensive line anymore, a lot of young guys. Where you look at the other side of the ball. You got TJ. Watt, who's

like Donald, an elite Hall of Fame level guy. They have other sweet pass rushers in Highsmith Minu Fitzpatrick's one of the more verstable players in the NFL. Joey Porter's son looks like a future star. So they they got classic receivers coming on, are healthy, and their core, their ethos, the defensive side of the ball, the team speed, the

physicality the Seers have. I mean, the Steelers were able to just kind of keep their head above water, and now if they can just gain a little momentum on offense, you know that they should listen. I liked him, probably a little too much, but at the end of the day, they're probably an eleven win team, maybe not a fourteen win team like I thought, but they're definitely better than that eight to nine field that they definitely had for

what about two and a half weeks. He's like, got the Steelers are in trouble and they've they just to me, that's an organization so far this year that it's just kind of found a way and now they feel like they got a little momentum moving forward.

Speaker 1

Yeah, Pete Carroll did that today. Ugly win win. Yeah, Pete just sort of just teaches up, coaches up, and they play like crap for long stretches and you look up and the Steelers didn't play well, the Seahawks didn't, but veteran Hall of Fame level coaches, they just find ways to win ugly games.

Speaker 2

I do think one thing that was on full display today was divisional games. Regardless of the record, even if you've got new coaches, players know each other, so scouting reports on guys, you've played a guy for three or four years, the strengths and the weaknesses, things they like to do. You have an understanding of their schemes, of the things that they do. And you see it from

the Belichick beating the Bills. Think about Belichick. He has on every single player of the Bills, especially their high end ones. Think of the knowledge he has from a scouting report standpoint and that he can give to their players. Think even Arizona today, like their players knowledge, the guys that have been there for a couple of years, understanding

of DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jamal Adams weakness. So to me, Giants against Washington, these players, it's why you kind of sometimes have to throw the record out regardless of playoff team, you know, top seven drafting team when they're division matchups, even when the coaching staffs has turned over, because the players comfort level, even going into that stadium, you know

the locker room, you know where to come out. Sometimes the random games, right, you never know what you're going to get, like the Bears beating the crap out of the Raiders. But Bill's Patriots, like Belchik knows what Josh Allen does and what he doesn't do.

Speaker 1

Well. Yeah, I want to talk about the early game of the day, and it was my kind of favorite pick. I really liked the Ravens at home against Detroit. Now Detroit's not the Detroit of the last three years where golf last two years, where golf can only win at home, only on the dome, only a certain way. It's a different team. It's a great old line. They can run. I thought it was a bit of a snake pit. I did not like this matchup for Detroit. Baltimore's a tough place to play, And I said, I think I

told you this last week. I thought Baltimore's first half in London against Tennessee was the best half of football I've seen any team play in the league. I think Lamar right now is playing easily the best football. And for all the things the Ravens do well, they haven't in the last six seven years been a great wide receiver organization, the opposite of the Steelers. But say Flowers Odell, I think Lamar is healthy, He's got a contract. He feels buoyed by that. I mean, I think he's playing

with a ton of confidence. He's very happy now. That's not hanging over him. A guy that runs a lot and gets hurt, is he gonna get paid? He's paid, He's happy. I don't think less of Detroit today. I think San Francisco and the Ravens today, and then Kansas City after what I saw. But I'm tempering it because it was the Chargers defense. I think Baltimore is a great football team right now. I don't think Harriball's a special teams guy. The defense top five, the offense top five,

and Lamar. You know, contracts do different things to different people. I think Lamar it's really helped him because there was that Now he can play full speed. Now he played. Listen, man, if you run around, you've been banged up, and you're staring at three hundred million dollars, and I'd be like, you know, if I was stared at three hundred million.

Speaker 2

Dollars at twenty six years old, right, you'd be like, I'm a run out of bounds on this one.

Speaker 1

He's playing with like, hey, I got my money, I'm just gonna go win games. I think Lamar right now, I'm not serious. There are a lot of sundays he's the second best player in the league to Mahomes. I think he is so good right now.

Speaker 2

Well, two things. Knowing some people there, I know last year when it got weird, they never thought it was that weird because they really trusted the guy that They've all the people that have been around him the whole time, his character, everything that he stood for. They understood that the contract situation was kind of its own little thing

and it was throwing him off. But they always win football, like football came first for Lamar obviously this year, think about that Division two contracts Deshaun wat that thing's been weird, NonStop. Shoulder injury today, injury, it just feels. And their team talent wise is every bit as good as these top teams, but the Deshaun Watson situation is all just out of whack. When you look at the Ravens today, they showed up like Mike Tyson in his prime. That thing was over

in the first quarter. It was a knockout blow to me. If I was doing a little Herd hierarchy AFC, I would still have the Chiefs won. They've earned it, like they're just the resume of all those guys and their coach. I would have the Ravens two in the AFC. Though, Yeah, the way they're playing, and like we talked about earlier, if somehow, if I'm the Ravens like getting those home games, I do not want to go to Kansas City. Obviously

they have one less loss than you right now. But you know, Kansas City's probably a fourteen and three team. You got to keep stacking these wins because I do think the home field advantage for a team that and let's face it, the other elephant in the room is Lamar hasn't had that much really hasn't had any postseason success. So that's an element too. Going to Kansas City, I gotta do everything humanly posible to try to get that one seat. Because I'm with you, Lamar is he the

MVP right now? I mean, bask the end of October.

Speaker 1

I think he is, and I think again he's playing. He's playing with great confidence. Money can ruin players. It's made him a better player.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

And by the way, this team, this receiving group, they're only going to get better. They've only played six games together, right, Like like Odell's knew, uh, you know last year, Lamar's not healthy. Now they got the rookie wide receiver. It's like, oh, they're good now. We also said this, that's the fastest team in the league right now.

Speaker 2

He doesn't get enough credit. Mahomes didn't save Kansas City, he just elevated them. Right. The Ravens were dead before Lamar John Harbaugh's career was heading in the wrong direction in Baltimore. I'm not he would have got a job somewhere else. But the Flacco situation that the team was just kind of it just felt like it had run his course. They had lacked juice, and he came and he's not just resurrected that franchise, turned them into perennial power.

And it does feel like you said, adding is eight flowers. Mark Andrews playing really well. The scheme with Todd Munkin Like I was nervous that they were gonna try to get away from what they do well, right, but they've kind of integrated a more explosive passing offense. Yet he's still very active as a mover. I wouldn't call him running like he did in twenty nineteen tenty twenty, but his his activity level as an athlete is still there.

And it throws you. He had a touchdown today I think to go up twenty when nothing kind of scrambled around. It was just I don't know who else had that in the bag in the NFL.

Speaker 1

Well, it's almost like Jamie Fowxx was so naturally funny you forgot how good of an actor he was right like, you're like he can sing too, Yeah, but he was so naturally funny and good looking and funny that you forget like you ever watched his movies. Lamar was so gifted running. I don't think we've ever given him credit. Shit in the pocket. But for the record, he's the other guy in the league. Side arms it running left, can throw it, couldn't go the deep ball, can run right.

Like a lot of guys when they move Mahomes and Lamar, when they move, their accuracy doesn't depth, which is hard. Right you think about it, Think about you're moving, You're going up and down jar Lamar moving his feet are good. I just when I watched that game today, it's one of those Detroit's better than that. If they played in Detroit it would be better. But Detroit looked a little plodding. Baltimore looked like a track team.

Speaker 2

Just was so fast. I think the one red flag big picture is gonna be on Detroit because I'm with you, like this is gonna be a throwaway game. They'll be eleven and six and win that division easily. It's they'll probably win their first round game, depending on who they play some crappy wild card team, maybe a Seattle or the Rams. They could lose that game, but they're gonna

get a home and the place will be rocking. But the second game will they'll have to go on the road to San Francisco or to the Eagles, and Jared Goffs just not built to play outside and just an environment like that.

Speaker 1

Not in January.

Speaker 2

We both like him. He's he's earned a lot of respect since the trade. It's been remarkable, but there are limitations. He's kind of got the Cousins thing for him. When things are right, he can look really good. He can lead you to twelve wins, you can throw a lot of touchdowns, But do you really trust him when twenty five million people are watching and you're playing the two seed on the road. Probably not?

Speaker 1

All right, let's do ten minutes on USC football. Okay, so you know Alabama close one, Washington close one, Oklahoma close one, USC close lost once again the defense couldn't make a stop. So I think the defensive side, I think you can shore up a lot of what they do with a new defensive coordinator, with Alex Grinch losing, you know, moving on, I do think Bear Alexander will play in the pros. I think they have a linebacker who's a probe. I think they've got a safety that's

a pro. They don't have Michigan talent. They don't have Bama Georgia talent. But if you went to like team six to team sixteen in the college football world, their talents somewhat comparable. I mean, Washington doesn't have great talent. They have a good edge rusher. Here's something, let me throw at you. What's really regressed has been their offensive line, and you're like, they got a couple of NFL guys there. They absolutely upgraded with transfers. They actually have some depth

on the interior due to recruiting. What's happened as I watched them, I think Caleb is just ad libbing a lot more than he was last year. Between the confidence, the Heisman, the power, the nil money, he's sort of doing his own thing. And it's a little Josh Allen that when you're we always say the Bill's O line is terrible, it's not. They've got a pro bowler, but Josh at times, he's a little more this year. I think he's a little more defined or refined. But when Josh is out there running.

Speaker 2

It's hard.

Speaker 1

As an offensive lineman, you're kind of at the whim of what Josh Allen wanted to do. And when I watch you, because their O line looks terrible, but it's not terrible. Their personnel's not terrible. I wonder if Caleb now is sort of like, hey, I'm out of the natty picture, I got my nil money. I'm gonna do what I want to do. You think that could be possible.

Speaker 2

Do you remember when the division and really some of the animosity started in Seattle. You know, probably around seventeen eighteen, everyone started shitting on their offensive line and saying Russell Wilson was running for his life, and a lot of former offensive linemen said, well, he's taken off early and he would make hero ball plays now he would make them.

So it kind of bandiated, well look at what he did, but the result was you should have just stayed in the pocket, and clearly the coaching staff now everyone just kind of started button heads. I think Caleb's talent is extraordinary. His arm strength, his athleticism, his ability to throw moving left or right, especially across his body. My home style he had to throw last night across his body to the left side. That was only five guys on this

planet can do that. But he definitely has this hero ball syndrome, which might not be all his fault that the program is in somewhat disarray, I do think, and I get this a lot because they're like, oh, your boy, he's hyping Caleb up again. And listen, I'm guilty of this too. We kind of annoyed players as generational talents

are all. He has generational capabilities from an arm standpoint, but as a prospect, like if you go Luck or l Way or Manning, he's short relative to those guys, Like the great prospects have all been six four to six y five, right, and he's I talked to a guy who's been around them, thinks he's a shade under six foot one. But he's built like a tank. Yeah, and he knows that he's very thick and powerful. I

do think the all time great prospects stuff. He's a really good prospect who is gonna go ninety five percent number one overall and worst case scenario, go number two overall. But I think we see some plaus I mean, we see some of the numbers now against better teams, Notre Dame and especially Utah, high end defensive players, well coached guys. They're going to be playing on Sunday. And he doesn't look like he did against Arizona in some of these games.

Now I listen the program, I think banning the reporter, not allowing NFL scouts in there for a month and a half, not having the players talk, like to me, some of their priorities. It's like, is Nick Saban obsessed with that bullshit? Of course, not like what is Lincoln. I don't I think some of their priorities, and I think sometimes I remember when the forty nine ers drafted Hufunga and Drake Jackson and they said, obviously the sc

was in shambles. Then with Clay Hilton and they said, you know, Drake Jackson got a bad rap, but so do most players when coaches are getting fired and things are in disarray. Whufungo was the rare guy that even people that are getting fired, getting tarnished coaches, they all had good things to say about him. And that's a very very small percentage of humans that are able to kind of rise above it. And I don't know, Caleb,

I've never heard bad things. But it does feel like he's kind of in the middle right now of the weirdness. And I got to start with the blameing peigu one hundred and twenty million dollars. It does start with the head coach, and it feels like he's lost control a little bit of just some of the basic details of a high end program.

Speaker 1

Yeah. So Pete Carroll was perfect, and I didn't know it at the time, but it was obvious after about four or five years he'd been in the NFL. So he didn't care about people on campus. He didn't care about media. Pete treated at USC he was like scouts, gms, get in here, media.

Speaker 2

Snoop, doors wide open, everybody.

Speaker 1

Why these college coaches, people I like urban Meyer get very provincial, very Gainesville, very Tuscaloosa, small, timid media that has one game to cover in town. It's like Lincoln, We're We're not Norman, Oklahoma. There's two NFL teams, the Dodgers draw five million, two NBA teams, LAFC, the Galaxy, UCLA. It's like, we just we just don't need if us. He goes on a two game losing streak, LA doesn't go and so I think Lincoln's finding out and I

think college coaches have found this out. Here is that Pete was perfect. Pete's a big city, big thinker. He'd had Boston media, New York media. Pete knew you know you couldn't. Pete just was used to the win, the heat you get. Boston media is as cranky as any and so when Pete got to La, like he was take shots at me, I don't care. I think Lincoln sometimes feels a little like those small college town guys that want to control everything, and that's not La. We got options here.

Speaker 2

The other thing is Pete, having been an assistant coach for the great forty nine er teams, been with the Jets and then took over Bill Parcells squad. He understood what elite players looked like at every position, Like he valued Reggie Bush just like he did Brian Cushing, or a great defensive lineman or a great offensive lineman. They were good at every position because he emphasized it right. Look at Saban, how he's adapted. And that's my one question with Lincoln. I know he's gonna be able to

find quarterbacks and wide receivers and running backs. Does he truly understand how to find Ray mal Luga a linebacker or an elite You know, Minka Fitzpatrick at safety because he's never been around it at Oklahoma and his mentor in college football, and I think you are who your mentors are when you're young. As a football coach, it kind of shapes your offensive philosophy. Like if you watch

Kellen Moore, he kind of likes tricky shit. Well he comes from Chris Peterson who loved that stuff, and it gets ingrained in you as a coach. It doesn't mean you can't adapt. But Andy Reid played at BYU in the early eighties when they were the only college team throwing it forever. He's been throwing it for thirty plus years.

And you watch Lincoln offense, offense, offense, offense, and when that goes the defense, and you know better than me, he clearly really likes the defensive coordinator as a friend. Now they're presses like who's forcing him to fire? You know, I know from a football standpoint, he should, But are we one hundred percent sure like he's gonna do that?

Because I think he needs help in the personnel department on what to look for, and because I would go if I was him, I would go to like, you know, Bama Georgia, a program like that and hire their GM. What do you need, what's your salary? Five hundred grand? There, We'll give you a nine hundred grand to come here and help us build the defense the SEC way because I heard this, Well, there's not as many great defensive prospects in LA. Who gets a shit a twenty twenty three?

Go buy the best guys in the South or Texas, right, he has no pete used to do that well before NIL, their players were coming from Oh, Jersey, here, Pa, here, Louisiana here, that there is no excuse to USC. I honestly and listen to Utah. What Kyle Whittingham has done is freaking awesome. But you know those people at USC do not view Utah's equals. Last night was one thing last year. Okay, we get them at home this year. To lose like that, that is that's worse than Notre Dame lost.

Speaker 1

Hey, well, listen, listen. Utah had a backup quarterback throw for how many yards? Utah was great on third down?

Speaker 2

Big he's their third string colin because their backup got hurt in a scrimmage in he's their third string quarterback.

Speaker 1

Well, hey, Arizona's backup quarterback gave USC fits three weeks ago.

Speaker 2

Yeah, so it's one more. I watched a lot of the UNC game for what it was, just came at a time during the day. We're not Drake May, and I've been kind of hyping him up. He's a good prospect. I think he's like eighty eighty five percent of kind of Herbert big athletic good. All right, yes, but he's not. And I had a buddy that his assistant GM was like, you know, I'm glad we're not in the quarterback kind of realm because I think Caleb Thing's gonna get weird.

His dad plays a big role. There's a lot of things that are just gonna be said about just moving forward. And then the Drake May, he's gonna go really high. But he, by no means it's not just some guarantee savior franchise. And that's how it turns out every time. Because you know, I'm sure, like Caleb, are they one more loss away? Like would he play out the string or I just looked at their schedule obviously I think they play Cal this week. But then they go Oregon, Washington, Ucla.

They easily could lose all three of those games U S C LA. I didn't realize. I mean their defense, Anthony lin Slens, their defensive coordinator. They're really good on defense.

Speaker 1

Oh yeah, USC could lose. I think they will lose to Oregon. He'll be Cal, they'll beat Cal. I think they'll lose to Washington. I think they'll beat Ucla. But this is the Lincoln Riley. It's a bad time for the Pac twelve to be the best it's ever been. It's not a good year for Lincoln to scrub and by the way, bone Oregon Pro quarterback, Washington Pro quarterback, Ucla the five I don't think they've ever had a five star quarterback at a high school. It's the first five star guy.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

And so for the third string quarterback for Utah to just march up and down the field, it's like this is this.

Speaker 2

He hadn't thrown touchdowns. He was averaging like five yard ards a past attempt the last couple of weeks. He looked like Joe Montana out there moving around last night, making.

Speaker 1

For both both teams. Yesterday I think averaged six point nine yards of play. That's fine if you have Caleb, a third string quarterback can't average six point nine yards of play, So it is. It is big problems. All right, we're gonna go watch Sunday Night football.

Speaker 2

What a weekend.

Speaker 1

Good see anybody three and out? John middlecl former NFL scout. So much fun and uh, they're talking to you

Speaker 2

The volume

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