The volume. Our Week seventeen reaction is presented by Uber eats. Get game day deals all season long on uber eats. Forty to thirty four. The Lions roar back in the second half thanks to two brock pretty interceptions, and you know, I just it really cracks me up. If you're listening to this, you have a team, and you're a fan, many of your Niner fans, some of your Lion fans. You have to be an adult. If you're a general manager. You're watching John Lynch on TV tonight. How did he
react with those brock Purty picks? Baker Mayfield's making thirty three million this year. Brock Purty is not nearly as talented as Baker Mayfield. One's a first round pick. You know, one's number one pick. One's the last guy picked. Baker's got a better arm. I think Baker's a better athlete. Baker leads the NFL in touchdown passes the entire NFL, including Josh Allen and Joe Burrow since he started in Tampa. Well, he's got Mike Evans. Everybody's got a receiver. Everybody's got
at least one decent receiver. So here's a prime example, so defensive players in the NFL get hurt more than offensive players statistically, and Detroit's down like seven or eight starters. So this was a moment to really seize an opportunity to beat Detroit. I thought Detroit would win, and my takeaway was because I trusted Golf on the road more than brock pretty at home. I thought it would be a high scoring game just because the Lions, that's all
they can play now. They have so many players down and listen, it doesn't help that Jake Moody missed a fifty one yarder and a fifty eight yarder and a pat But folks, there's a reason they were settling for fifty one yarders and fifty eight yarders because there was, for instance, a key third pass by brock Purty in the second half the Juwan Jennings that was behind him. I just don't understand how you can watch brock Purty. In fact, I'd argue, when he got hurt, he'll be fine.
But when he got dinged up, they put in Josh Dobbs, who ran for a touchdown that athletically brock Purty would not have raced to the corner and got into the end zone. He could have scrambled, but he's not as fast as athletic as Josh Dobbs, who's a pretty remarkable player who just bounces around the league and he's always pretty effective. But people get so caught up on statistics. Well,
he had three hundred and seventy seven yards. First of all, Shanahan is one of the great play scriptors in the league. Andy Reid and Shanahan are probably one and two in the league. Sean Payton's probably third those three guys. Bow Next played Justin Herbert a week ago. Bo Nicks looked way better in the first half than Justin Herbert. Why because the first half is scripted. In the second half against the Chargers defense, bow Knicks didn't look as good.
That's about talent in the first half. Brock Purty on Kyle Shanahan's script is remarkable. In the second half, two picks behind Jowan Jennings on a key third down throw. Here are the numbers for Brock Purtty in the second half this year and again the first half, especially when you have elite offensive coordinators or elite play designers like Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Shanahan McVeigh, by the way, is not an elite play designer. The Rams have been an
average offense all first half. Nick Sirianni's an offensive coach. He's not an elite play designer. Not all offensive coaches are. Dan Campbell's more offensive side, He's not an elite play designer. Pretty in the second half. First half off and on script. Second half is talent pretty second half this year eight touchdowns, ten picks. That's bad. Jayden Daniels is remarkable in the fourth quarter. Broock Perty's awful. This is not his first
year in the league. He's got Kyle Shanahan. And the other thing is Shanahan you get so many open Ricky Pearsall and George Kill opportunities. And this is what Andy Reid does. I mean Andy Reid in a Super Bowl a couple of years ago, in their first Super Bowl win without Tyreek Hill. He's getting Sky Moore wide open looks in the red zone, that congested area. That's what great play designers do. By the way, Ben Johnson's very good tonight in the red zone down near the goal line.
You know Jared Goff had open receivers. That's what clever coaches do. So you know, and I'm not saying Jared Goff isn't benefiting from a good old line and an excellent play designer. But this is the second team Goff has done that with. And McVay is not known as a brilliant play designer. He is a culture guy. He's got a great eye for personnel, he's a motivator, he designs excellent run games. But so many of the completions
for brock Prudy are two wide open players. But the difference between good and great in this league is squeezing the ball in these little holes. Darnold did that yesterday multiple times. Jayden Daniels did that. Hell, Michael Pennix had a throw like that yesterday for a touchdown for Atlanta. The opening was the size of a football. And Pennis has real velocity. I mean, he can really cut it loose.
So brock Purdy isn't big, isn't super athletic, doesn't have a big arm, and benefits greatly from Shanahan's play calling. He's good, he's functional. But the idea, I'm gonna pay him forty and fifty million, Baker's make him thirty three million. You got to be kidding me. Yeah, it's just eight touchdowns, ten picks in the second half this year, and he was the difference in the game tonight. Don't blame the kicker,
those two second half picks, that was the difference. So yeah, when you and you know, listen, Detroit is one of those teams like Minnesota right now where they've got spectacular offensive players and excellent coaching Kevin O'Connell and Brian Flores Glenn defensive coordinator for Detroit Ben Johnson. So a lot of this stuff is coaching, a lot of this stuff when you look at the teams in this league, Spags and Andy Reid. I mean, look at San Francisco when
they had Demiko Ryans and Shanahan. That was their best staff in my opinion. Look at the results. You're getting the Super Bowls, you're getting the conference championships. So I think with Purty, you just have to be totally honest. I would just play it out. I'm not gonna pay him. You want to sit out, go ahead, but I need to see another year. There's no way I'm paying him early, no shot. Don't care what he does, don't care if he sits. If Sam Darnold's available, go pay for him.
But I'm and this is not hate. Second half numbers abysmal. Second half is off script. That's when the true talent comes out. That's when you see Mahomes win Super Bowls. Second half ad libbing, that's when Justin Herbert has been pretty spectacular. That's when Josh Allen takes over games. The other thing about Detroit that's fascinating, there's this sense that the AFC, because it's got the Bills and the Ravens and the Chiefs, is much better than the NFC. But
the NFC is wide open. I mean, the Bucks are three to ohero against NFC playoff teams. They beat Washington, Detroit, and Philly, and the Lions could potentially. They've been media darlings all year. They're a one loss on Sunday Night against Minnesota from being the number five seed going to Tampa or LA, and they beat LA. Remember earlier this year in overtime, LA was all beat up. LA is now the healthiest team in the league. The Rams are
the healthiest team in the league. All their starters are back, and they gave Detroit pushback when they were all banged up. Now Detroit's all banged up. So Detroit's been this media darling all year long. Can you imagine going to Tampa and facing that defensive line which doesn't allow you to run, and you know Montgomery comes back. Maybe that's the difference. But if Montgomery's not ready for a playoff game, yikes. I mean the NFC. I mean you got the Commanders
at the bottom of the NFC. I mean, Houston won a division in the AFC. Houston's a mess right now. Washington is sneaking in. I would want no part of Jaden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, Cliff Kingsbury and Washington. I would want no part of that. So the NFC is deeper. Their bottom is much stronger than the AFC, whereas the AFC's tops probably better. But you know it's funny. We've been watching all year just the NFC North is fascinating. So all year we're like, Detroit's the team, green Bay
second little young, and Minnesota is a great story. If Minnesota beats Detroit, they're the best team. Green Bay is still a little young. And Detroit goes to La or Tampa all beat up defensively, and I want to go back to that, you gotta win this game tonight if you're San Francisco, I don't want excuses. I mean, how many backups are playing for Troy on the defensive side. They were there for the taking. Detroit was there for the taking tonight. I know you guys think I'm not
a rock pretty guy. I am for thirty two million dollars after next season. But if you want me to pay him big boy money now a year early, not remotely interested, not gonna happen. Let him sit out. I mean, I've been saying this for eight weeks. I think the Niners are in a rebuild. They just don't know it yet. I mean, if you can't beat Detroit at home the week before their game of the year, when they were there for the taking, you're not that close. Forty thirty
four Detroit. How good is football? I want to add one NBA topic, So Adam Silver. I was told the NBA got a hold of me and said, Adam Silver is going to be in LA. Like to come on my show. I'd love to have him. He's the guest I've been asking to get for about a year. And j Mac got people riled up when he said one of the problems that the NBA has been having is their most popular show with Barkley and Jack, Kenny Smith
and Ernie Johnson. They're very, very critical of the NBA and every time you tune in, you know they're super critical of the NBA. And to that, I would say time out, because the top reporters in the NBA do not want to lose access to the top agents, and they break all these stories that by and large NBA coverage is can border on pandering. It's really really pretty tame. I mean NFL coverage. NFL reporters and talk show hosts
crush NFL players, crush them. I think the Barkley Shack Show works because it's the only coverage of the NBA that is critical. NBA TV is not. I think ESPN feels like they are the they are the network of the NBA, and it feels like it very complimentary. So Shack and Barkley and Kenny are the one critical place for NBA coverage and they should be. The league's got issues. There's too many three point shots. The domestic players, the young players don't feel like they're as skilled or as
focused as many of the international players. Those that's not negative criticism. That's that's forthright, up front and completely honest to me. I like the NBA, especially the playoffs, but I, for instance, baseball is a very tough sport for a reporter to be critical because one hundred and sixty two games spring training, you're with these players around the clock.
They'll shut you out. I've had friends. I wrote a couple books with a guy named Tim Kune who used to cover the San Francisco Giants, and he's like, listen, man, you get in the bad side of players, like you're a virus, like it, they will just stay away from you. They'll shut you out for the season. NBA is different. There's half as many games. There's also a lot of times even on your own team, the stars have their separate agents and separate camps, and there's more divisions. But
NBA coverage by and large is very favorable. Home announcing teams aren't critical the big your Shams woes when he worked in it, you know they're not beating guys over the head. It's a pretty tame media landscape in the NBA. The one show that's critical is that one, and the audience likes it. Fans like it. It's also it's not all critical. I mean, I watch inside the NBA in a regular basis. There have been nights I watched that more than the game. I'll literally tune in it's on TV.
I'll watch the halftime show or the pregame show. I'll watch fifteen minutes of the game, get bored and leave. I watch more of the pregame sho show and the halftime show in the game, especially in like you know, October, November, December, January. I don't think it's all negative. It's probably fifty to fifty split, but you remember the negative stuff more than the positive stuff. But leagues are covered differently, you know, like international soccer. I've read some of the coverage of
international soccer. Those guys are rock stars. There's really strong opinions in international soccer from the people who cover it. The NFL, college football, very strong opinions on coaches. Maybe that's just a football culture in America. We're more critical. But usually basketball, you know, it's a long season. Not a lot of reporters have fangs and much of a bite. That's not a criticism, it's just the reality of my entire life of watching NBA basketball and the media that
covers it. So if inside the NBA is the one guys that occasionally bring out the anvil, eh, But I mean, just do you watch listen to listen to NFL porters and former players of the NFL highly critical on a regular basis of the NFL any show. Anytime I bring somebody on my show, and I don't think they're negative people, they'll be critical regularly, be critical of players and coaches. It comes with a territory. It's so infrequent in the NBA.
You notice it when you hear it from Berkley. Well, it's the most wonderful time of the year forgetting in on all the basketball, football hockey action. At DraftKings sports Book, it's the season of giving, so we're being gifted college football and basketball, pro football, basketball, pro hockey to almost twenty four to seven. It's an absolutely great time of the year. So a lot of games every day, so
many opportunities to place your first bet. Now, if you're gonna bet for the first time, just make it simple. Pick a team to win, any team. Go to DraftKings Sports Book. They have an app. Download it ninety seconds. Here's the gift for all new customers bet five bucks just five bucks. If your bet wins, you get one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets. Download the Draft Kings Worsbook app. The code is Colin col I n New customers one hundred and fifty bucks in bonus bets
if you had five bucks in it wins. Happy Holidays from DraftKings Crown is Yours.
Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler In New York call eight seven seven eight hope and Y, or text hope and Y four six seven three six nine In Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling called eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino in Resorting, Kansas twenty one and over. Agent eligibility varies by jurisdiction, Void and Ontario. Bet must win to receive reward.
Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issue ins four. Additional terms and responsible gaming resources see DKNG, dot co slash bball.
All Right, here we go. Former NFL scout John Middlecoff. He has a podcast. Three and Out Minnesota twenty seven, Green Bay twenty five. So I had a conversation yesterday with a general manager in the league who said, yeah, you can forget. You can forget Sam Darnold at forty million. He said, you're not getting Sam Darnal. Look for forty million. Sam's moved into the five five oh five to one, and I watched him today even after his pick five
for five fifty five yards touchdown final drive. You know, he got a little bit lucky. Some play calling. You know, let's just be honest here. Kevin O'Connell's development and play calling is substantial, and between Jefferson, Addison and Naylor the Michigan State kid, they have incredible wide receiving group. So I'm not taking anything away. But Sam, here's the thing I take away John and you as a former scout. They're asking him to make big boy throws. Some of
this shit is these are hard. Even when they were leading late in the fourth. I'm like, guys, screen passes lighting up. They're asking Sam, this is not dink and dunk. These are tough throws.
Yeah. I mean, he's treating this guy like Mahomes meets Joe Montana in terms of his play calling. Complete trust. I mean Honestly, you remove two throws, the interception where he got greedy and the throw toward the end of the game that he airmailed Addison that could have been a disaster. Yeah, he was as good as the josh Allen mahomes lamar. I mean, that's a dominant, dominant, dominant performance.
I thought, given the hype in this game and the pressure, and we know Minnesota's got to be one of the better home field advantages, how loud.
It is maybe the best.
You know, sometimes you can be overjuiced to go seventeen of twenty two in the first half and just slice and dice this team. Do you know what I had to do immediately? I had to google Jordan Love's contract because I'm thinking and listen, Jordan Love, for whatever reason, for a good player. He is a slow starter in these games. Yeah, but I googled he got a seventy five million dollars signing bonus and one hundred and sixty
million dollars guaranteed. And if I'm Sam Darnold and we beat Detroit next week and we're the number one seed, I don't see how you could take anything less than that. It's like, because Jordan love got paid really off eight games. Remember the first half of the season, he was atrocious, and obviously he had been there longer, and they liked him and they know him. But every time I hear Kevin O'Connell talk about Sam Darnold, it's like the way I hear Andy talk about Mahomes. I mean, they love
the guy, and listen, they didn't. This is not a clunky Atlanta Falcons situation. This was good business. They paid a guy ten million dollars and they drafted a guy essentially fell into their lap that they liked as well JJ McCarthy. Things changed throughout the course of the year. This is not a thirty five year old strike and oil late in his career, right, This is not a Geno Smith situation. Twenty seven years old. He was one of the younger players to come in the league right
when he was drafted. Today was and they've been doing this all season. I was like, this is not It's not like they've peaking. They were blowing out teams immediately. The Giants they destroyed, they destroyed the forty nine ers, they destroyed the Texans, and in their fourth game they were up twenty eight to nothing on this Packer team in Green Bay, and the Green Bay came back, but they've been dominating start to finish with him at quarterback.
Look at the twenty eighteen draft class, Baker, Darnold, Josh Allen, Lamar all having last year's and it's funny, Like we used to always talk about the Marino and Lway class, We've had two classes now that have been like four star quarterbacks out of it, you know. And it's funny, John, because in baseball, we understand even if you're Bryce Harper, you go to the miners and it takes a while to get it going. In the NBA, even if you're Yiannis, it takes three to four years to build into something.
But in the NFL we figure it. Well, you know, you're twenty two. You went to college, but it's very similar if you don't get a good fit. I mean, Mahomes didn't play his first year, you know, Josh Allen was rough his first year. Like and if you go to a bad organization, I mean, so it's like you look at Sam now you're like, Sam has four to five more minimum peak years. Here's the other thing. I'm
never going to talk about a guy's money. Right, Like, but if you could take a little less to stay with Minnesota even though they have Jay J. McCarthy in the offing, it's weird like like, I mean, listen again, if somebody offers you fifty two and you know I'm Minnesota, I don't let him go. I think you and I agree,
I'm not letting him go. But if he goes to the if he goes to the market and somebody offers fifty one, but it's like the Raiders, or you can go to a place that's got better players and better personnel. Because I think what Sam has learned is Wow, coaching and weapons really matter, really matter, because I think, I mean, we can talk about Justin Jefferson, but Hell Naylor today, TJ. Hockinson, the run game, Addison, Kevin O'Connor. You know we haven't
talked about this. Is Kevin O'Connell the coach.
Of the year. You know, I'm sure we'll talk about Harball a little bit later, But to me, it's Kevin O'Connell or Jim Harbaugh. I mean, Jim Harbaugh took over a five win team. Kevin O'Connell. They started slow last year, but before Cousins Tours Achilles. They were really coming on and two years ago, if memory serves me correct, I think they were the two seed. Now they lost the Giants in the first round. But this team has been good for a couple of years. This is the best
version of it. But you know, I always say about play callers, you know certain people in any industry. Obviously you get better at whatever you're doing with reps and experience, but certain people are just much there's like an innate quality to them at what they're doing. Immediately McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan, Lafloor, you could just see it. We see some of these guys become play callers and you're like, yeah, this is
just not gonna work. Not because if you got him on a whiteboard they would know any less than Kevin O'Connell, but the flow of a game, maybe they freak out, maybe they get stressed, maybe they lose it. Whatever it is he today was it was like he would call the screen at the perfect time, he would call a perfect zone beating route in the perfect time, and him
in the quarterback. I don't see how you could ever pivot off when you're a play caller and you get a quarterback who's young and has these physical skills, and it's working with your weapons who are all under contract. Why you would want to mess with that is because you drafted a quarterback who cares.
Okay Bill's forty Jets fourteen Jets had sixteen penalties.
It's over.
So I will say this about Buffalo. I think these are the Sean McDermott playoffs. So Josh Allen, I looked it up today, in ten playoff games, has a passer rating of one hundred, twenty one touchdowns, four picks. This is not a Lamar Jackson situation. He has been a B plus to a quarterback in the playoffs. And again, I don't expect you to be as good as you are in the regular season because you're not playing Carolina and you're not playing shitty teams. So if you're one
hundred passer rating quarterback in the playoffs, that's exceptional. And Lamar has gotten tight, like you can see it, he's tight. That's not Josh. Josh has been excellent. If they get bound sturly in the playoffs, and I know this sounds crazy, and I like Sean McDermott, john if they lost, if they got if Cincinnati got in and played Buffalo in the first round and Cincinnati won, I'm telling you I think with dermott's in trouble because when I watch this team,
I don't want to hear about Josh Allen. Okay, this is not a Josh Allen referendum. He lost a game because he scored a touchdown with thirteen seconds left to Mahomes. He's been fine in the playoffs. This team, this coaching staff has real pressure on. I mean, think about this. Hardball's not going to get fired if they lose in the playoffs.
And he's not.
I mean, think of a coach that you know, I mean, Sirianni real pressure. Sean McDermott, real pressure. I am fascinated to watch Buffalo. They have to at minimum get to the conference championship. At minimum, in my opinion, Yeah.
I mean what they're going to be a more than likely. I think Denver's gonna win next week. If Andy rest everybody and it's a kitchen sink game for them, they would be a huge favorite in that game. I mean we're talking touchdown plus maybe eight nine points. I'm pretty confident Buffalo wins that game. Game the next game though it gets real. I mean, you're playing Baltimore, who feels like they're really coming on, right. I don't know what
Baltimore did, their defense looks better. That would be a make or breaker because then if you win that game all of a sudden, you'd have a lot of momentum going into Kansas City, right, and you've beat them already this year. So I think it go one to two ways. I think they're winning Week one or you know that
that first in Buffalo, no matter what. I have a hard time, but that Week two game against Baltimore is a massive, massive games because I because I would say this, if they go to Kansas City and they have another one of those and I listen, he's had some weird moments with clock management. If it feels like he blows the game, maybe, but if you get beats like some people just couldn't be Michael Jordan, some people just couldn't beat Tiger Woods, I don't think it. I think lose
to Baltimore, you already lost to him this season. You get him at home in the second round. I think you've got to be in the conference championship game. I think you can lose to the Chiefs and keep your head high. Yeah, even though it would start to feel like are we just always going to be second fiddle? Or us in Baltimore is always gonna be second? And
the fact is, yeah, you might. You know, that was kind of like Pittsburgh and some of these other teams to Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, you just played for second in your conference. But I think they'd have to win that game or else it could be weird because and listen, I think it's hard. I mean, what do you even make of the Jets? The Jets are a joke?
I mean, and I give the Bills credit. It was a little weird early and then it was forty to nothing and it's like, okay, you guys are just toying with him.
Well we learned this. Maddy Eberflus and Robert saw I got fired and their teams got worse. So I always believe be very careful about firing a coach in season, because if the interim coach wins, you get fan and player pressure to hire in him coach, and if he loses, then you lose the locker room. So they're two and nine since Robert Sala left. But I have always felt that Solo wasn't the problem. There's an argument he was not the solution, but I never thought he was the problem.
But really quick, before the Jets on the Bills, if you and I own the team and we were sitting down, like going to the playoffs, like, what are our different options if things go south? Our division is a disaster. The Jets couldn't be any more of a laughingstock. The Patriots are not even a year away from being a year away from winning nine games, and the Dolphins, I mean, I just don't really take the franchise safely, and we own them. So it's like, now, you know, trying to
go from really good to great. Totally admire anyone who's willing to do that, but it is a pretty risky proposition. Now, if that job became open, everyone and their mother would be calling them. But I just think that, like, you do have a pretty good thing going, yes, And to me, especially if you lose the Chiefs, you're gonna keep winning twelve thirteen games every year in this division, and you know you have a capable guy. I'm just saying it's
pretty yes, I do you just say you do? You ride the course a little bit because the Jets could go backwards from here and the Patriots could be stuck here for a couple of years. Yeah, no, I think I think it's I think it is something you got to take into account.
Yeah, I'm not saying I had fire Sean McDermott, but I do believe the pressure is on Sean McDermott notre whereas in Baltimore the pressure's on Lamar. John Harbaugh's got a ring the pressure with Joe Flacco. Lamar needs to play better. That's that's indisputable. He's got to play better. Josh has played very well in most spots.
I would agree with that organization. I think most people would choose the Ravens roster over the Bills roster. I think that there's gonna be a tough that game. I mean, we have to play it out to look at all the different games. That's gotta be one of the better playoff games of the entire tournament. If I tell you Ravens that Bills, what's on the line for those two guys, it doesn't. I mean that's Saturday or Sunday night the week two. Right, that's as good as it gets.
So I've been talking about this for two weeks. Nine teams right now have four wins or fewer less than half of that last year four this year. It's almost NBA like there is a lot of bad football. It is atrocious. We also have three thirteen win teams, so the top is bigger and the bottom's huge. Is it a one off or is it the reality now? Of two things? The league is now so quarterback centric that again Burrows the only good quarterback, elite quarterback that's not
going to make the playoffs. If you have one, you get in. And Cincinnati may still but if you have one, you get in. I mean, go, look, I went I'm going to go seven for eight I think potentially in my division picks. Why because I took the best quarterbacks. It's never been easier. And because of every owner's a billionaire, there's more chaos and ownership, they're more impulsive. They fire
people quicker, which creates more chaos. So the bad organizations are worse, you know, like the Giants have been bad for six years now they're I mean, it's despite today it's like, oh my god, this is embarrassing. Chicago's embarrassing. I don't think it's a one off I think we're gonna have a larger bottom because owners getting wealthier, wealthier, they're writing forty eight million dollars to get coaches off the payroll. As a rounding air, you used to just
stick it out? What do you make of this massive bottom tier?
Now? I feel like for the last couple decades, the quarterback thing has been pretty true. You know. I think you've been able to get away with it in the eighties and nineties if you built up your team. But I think that's been a pretty consistent theme, Like the shitty teams don't have a quarterback, that's why they're drafting high. I think the money aspect of it and the ability
to fire whoever. And I think on the flip side, you have coaches and executives doing everything humanly possible for power, and I would imagine the league's always been relatively political. But when there is this much money on the line to be a general manager and pay five I mean, how many gigs in America paid W two jobs pay five million dollars. An assistant coach as a coordinator makes
two three million dollars. They're not the decision maker, they're not near the top of the org chart, they're way down. They don't have any responsibility really beside calling the plays in terms of when shit hits the fan. So I think you have a lot of Like I think it's much more difficult. We talk about this a lot with players, you know, building a team, and I think young people naturally kind of gravitate toward each other and good teams like everyone's kind of friends. I think coaching is just
so corporate. Everyone's trying to take out each other. You can't trust anybody. I think the league, the amount of money that has come in for front office and coaching has made this completely separate from a lot of politicians in the end, just because you work in the NFL and I wasn't there long, but I always had this asp like once you get there, everyone is such a
high level guy. It's just not the case, right. And then the longer I've been around this, knowing a bunch of people with a bunch of teams, you hear these stories. It's just like any industry when there's a lot of money, the cream will always separate. But people can still make a lot of money being shitty. And how often do we see I mean, the Atlanta Falcons are about to play like McKay runs Arthur Blank's trust, you know, and
he like runs the football. But you know, it becomes like these family businesses, but these are billion dollar businesses. Most family. I've had some family business like close personal friends that run family businesses and got bought out for let's say twenty thirty million dollars. Like that's an American success story. They built this business, they sold it for thirty forty million dollars. These people have businesses that are
worth not a billion. We're talking like six seven. If Mark Davis put the Raiders for sale, I mean, could he get eight? Could he get nine? I mean, how many companies in America are worth as much money? I think, and the Raiders are a good example. They've always had these people that like leads their way in because it's just like a money training. I think it's hard for some of these owners. And we look at all the bad teams. It's all these owners that are listening to
the wrong people. Yeah, but you know who Steve Bushatty listens to Da Costa, Ozzy and Harbaugh. You know New York's it's New John and Kyle. It's like the I think the chiefs Andy and Veach are very simple. They operate like a small business. These others start operating like fortune five hundred companies where I want it on the board of directors, I got an idea for you. The kids are involved, and it just becomes Wackoville. And obviously because it's so public and it's a fun thing. It's
why Kevin Warren. Kevin Warren has a seven figure job, but you know what his job, No one cares. When he sells PSLs or sells the naming right steel for hundreds of millions of dollars, no one will give a shit. But you know what people care about your third round pick the offensive coordinator. And so when you can start getting involved with that, and I think that has permeated all over the league, or at least you know, all these crappy teams, and I think they struggle with that.
And these owners have money. Everyone's just trying to leach on because the money right now is I mean, it's like outrageous. I mean it's crazy. If you could bring back Lamar Hunt and Al Davis and Eddie de Barbelow and I would have told these guys in the eighties what this would become. No one could have foreseen what it has become. I mean we've seen it come in the last decade, but forty years when I was a kid in football. I mean the teller capt one point time.
I think when it first started, it wasn't like thirty forty million dollars. Yeah, that was thirty years ago. John Madden was being paid eight million dollars, making more than like all the players.
So listen to thirteen member committee selected, you know, the teams to get in. And this is what bureaucrats and you know, people who are political create. Is that nobody thought SMU and Boise State they didn't look the part in the regular season. You know they play in weaker conferences. But the thing that really outraged me was Oregon's first game against the winner of Ohio State Tennessee, which is a much tougher path than Penn State. It's against SMU
and Boise State. So the failing of the committee and committees are created to innately fail. I mean, it's thirteen different people with thirteen different opinions. We know, juries in this country have let the wrong people walk. In my life, I just look at Oregon season and they were the best team on the field, and it's very hard to ask somebody to beat somebody for a second time. I picked Ohio State to win it. I didn't think it would look like this. But that's not the inclusion of
Boise State or SMU. This is what bothered me.
Yeah, I mean, I clearly Oregon got a raw deal. But let's face it, the Walehio State has played the first game, and the way they look in the second game, I don't think anyone would sniff them right now. They would beat everyone in the country easily. But I hear you. I mean, I think part of it is they were so there's so much cya of not getting sued. We had to include a non power forward program showed out decently, I thought, yeah, right, and so today a shoe who
plays in the Power Fife Conference. But we all look at Big twelve like, are they any good?
Right?
I think you could argue also, Oregon, these teams, you're all tied in with the bulls, with this money, so many people with their hands in the cookie jar. How does Oregon not get a home game? How do these teams Texas? I mean, it's a pretty big advantage to play in these neutral site games. What's the point of play it all season?
Yeah, I mean Oregon did not get a home game. That to me is just you gotta be kidding me. I mean Notre Dame lost to a directional school and got one crazy not even a good directional school. Let's talk about Ohio State and listen, when you go to a movie, if you went to a movie that took a while to build up but the ending was great, I always thought that was usual suspects. It's a good movie, you go home feeling great. If a movie starts fast
and dies out, you never feel satisfied. College football now has a bigger, more dynamic ending to the season. But it does, and we knew this was coming.
John.
It's not that the regular season doesn't matter, but Ohio State not only lost a horrible game, they lost it late, and they looked like garbage against Michigan and they still got in. Now I don't have a problem with them getting in. I don't mind the regular season meaningless because I'm still gonna watch the games. I watch the NFL. I know that you can start off one and four and make the playoffs. I still watch the games. I think we put I think the narrative that it's going
to kill college football. College football ratings this year were good. It's just what it means is if you're a good team with lots of blowouts, you can even lose a really ugly game late and you get in. And my take is, yeah, the Kansas City Chiefs lost the Raiders late in the season last year and won the Super Bowl. You shouldn't be punished severely if you're excellent just because you lose in November and not in September. So I'm that part of it has never bothered me that the
regular season will mean less. I'm still watching the games.
I think there's a magnifying glass. I was just thinking to listen to you talk. I don't think there's a game that actually means more a non playoff game in college football or the NFL than Ohio State versus Michigan. I think it's clearly separated as the game that means the most. Saban recently went off. He can't comprehend because even in his mind, he was able to make every game the same, even though they had Auburn as one
of the biggest rivalries in college football. Tennessee is a big rivalry but it never felt any different than when they played Ole Miss than when they played LSU. He was BELICHICKI in that way, every opponent meant a lot. At Ohio State, it just doesn't. I mean even Ryan Day said like this can never happen again. That was three days before they lost, you know, so the emphasis that has been put on that game, and I think
Harbaugh helped take it to another level. And then Ryan Day starting to lose, and I just think that game feels like five games in one and then the way they lost, and in fairess, you watch Michigan twenty four hours ago against Alabama. Now I understand Alabama has had some opt outs. They look pretty good. I mean, they're coming to play. They have a defensive coordinator that makes two and a half million dollars that was just coaching at Baltimore a couple of years ago and was viewed
as one of the best defensive minds in football. So it's like that's a real, real defense. And I just think you look at that game, it was hard not to overreact, but it might have just been as simple as the coaching staff, specifically Ryan the players. They got a little tight because the way they've looked now, it's like a looseness. We have been talking about their roster and the talent on their team. Like to me, the difference of them in Texas, Texas man for man is
loaded as well their quarterback. I'm sorry, I just don't trust on a play and play. Will Howard's playing pretty well right now. Will Howard we have seen in the first playoff game and the second playoff game is gonna look like this. They're just not gonna lose, right And they have a wide receiver, an eighteen year old kid. It looks like you weighs two hundred and thirty pounds. That is unstoppable because John, like Oregon's not trying to cover them, they just can't.
You're you're a former NFL scout. Because Travis Hunter won to go both ways. If you told me today Caleb Downs and Jeremiah Smith and the Buckeyes were in this draft, I would take them one and two in any order because Travis Hunter, I do not like this high profile want to play both sides the ball. Eventually you're going to have to pick a side. I think Caleb Downs is a better corner than Travis Hunter. I think he's one of the best college players I've seen in the backfield.
I'm not kidding me when I say this. I was told by an NFL general manager that Caleb Downs will be the number one pick next year. He said, I don't care who improves he goes outside of a star quarterback, and we may have one. If Drew Allert Penn State flourishes, he may come out this year, next year, whatever. But Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs, and they're not eligible for the draft. Those guys are not college players. They're pros playing on Saturday. So my takeaway is Ohio State has
two players won on both sides. They're just not college players. I felt this about Jamar Chase at LSU. It's like, Okay, that's not a college player. It's a pro playing on Saturdays. If he was a basketball player, he'd be in the NBA.
I think the problem with Travis Hunter, and I saw Dion say this within the last month, do not draft him if you don't embrace him playing both ways, because that's the game plan. And to me, Dion not only speaks as his coach, it feels like he speaks as his parent, feels like he speaks as his agent, like that's his representation for Travis Hunter, and I do think that's going to be complicated because he is truly dead set on that and based on what he's doing in college.
I understand that mindset. I don't believe it can work because of the wear and tear. You know, same, But like you say, those other two guys like just have defined roles. It's very defined because I my thing with Travis Hunter is if you're my best corner, my best wide receiver, if you get injured, I lose two players. You know, were those other guys you also get rest,
So I yeah, I hear you. Jeremiah Smith thing. I don't remember seeing a wide receiver this time, this early, where his body type was that physically developed.
Yeah, I mean it reminds me of when I was a sportscaster in Las Vegas. I covered Larry Johnson, the basketball player at UNLV, and that was before weightlifting was a part of sports in general. I mean, it was out there, but it wasn't like basketball players weren't spending a lot of time in the gym. But Larry Johnson was so physically dominant that at the college level, you got twenty six points just on putbacks just on second opportunities. He weighs. He weighed forty five pounds more than other
forwards and was stronger than all of them. So I just look. And here's the thing about Will Howard. I mean to me, he's a big, strong kid who's mobile. So he's a draftable player.
You know.
I saw him play at Kansas State. I thought, that's a big strong kid. Now you give him star players. I don't know if he's an NFL starter, but I think right now Ohio State has the best combination of coaching and talent. Whether they have better talent than Georgia or or or Texas, you know, who knows. But last year Michigan only had like three five star guys. Alabama had like eighteen. You know, Georgia has fifteen over the last couple of years. So talent's hard to do. You
get the most out of your talent. But I don't think we're overreacting to say that the last two games, Ohio State's hitting harder, they're more explosive. They don't look these these games. They're intimidating Oregon, they intimidated Tennessee. They looked like Tyson at twenty one years old like other big men feared him in the ring. Ohio State looks. I think Oregon like surrendered about eight minutes in.
It was like it was over. Well. The irony was is when the other game ended and you came right to the game and it was seven to nothing and you're like, whoa, we'll there's a minute end of the game. And then Fowler was like, yeah, it was a two play seventy yard drive. You're like, uh, that's gonna be a problem. But we had just seen the same thing with Texas. And then they slowed down right Ohio State.
Their foot never came off the pedal. I do wonder if after because they tried to get into a heavyweight fight with Michigan instead of just slinging the rock around where Michigan wouldn't slow them down, and they lost and it bit them, and I think everyone called out their manhood and their toughness, like you think you're a tough program, We've seen you against this Harbaugh level operation, and I would say Michigan still has that soul in them the way they play, and you're not as tough as them,
and they go, we are a tough team. We've paid a premium for all these guys. I mean, you see the physicality and the speed in which they have and it's almost like they got to reset and take it personally because they've come out with a violence that you just haven't seen in college football.
I mean, I think perfect word is violent. They look violent defensively. Two takeaways. First, Kenny Dillingham, who was an offensive coordinator briefly at three schools, is a sensational coach. They had five hundred and ten yards. They had twenty eight to seventeen first down advantage. Evan is sixty play advantage, twenty eight to seventeen first down edge. And I don't believe they have a five star athlete one the level of coaching and you know what I like, they don't.
I mean cam Scoutabo is one Division one offer. Now he's gonna end up getting drafted. As you've talked about, this is the best running back draft in a long time. Jesus, I mean, good God, the Penn State has that Singleton kid. He didn't get talked about instead of Ashton Genty. If Singleton goes to the right team with a better offensive line, he could end up being the better running back in the NFL, so there's just running backs everywhere. But I mean,
I like Sam Levitt a lot. He's a very young quarterback. He will be a pro six two and a half two ten, dual threat mobile.
You know.
Again, you can see him and think, oh, that's what a pro is going to look like in two years. I think he's like twenty years old in two years, and so the quarterback's good. But to have that kind of dominance thirty seven to twenty two minute time of advantage when Texas has I bet you at least sixteen fourteen to sixteen five star guys and forty four star guys. To me, I thought, if I was start coming out of that game, I'd be a little embarrassed. I thought it was a coaching mismatch.
Yeah. I thought he even kind of mentioned that, like that was we gotta play a lot better. He was in his postgame interview on the field, it looked like he was pretty show shocked. I mean, at one point in time, it was fourth and thirteen. I me, it's basically fourth in Texas or the game's over. And then they scored that touchdown on the D bunk. Yeah, geez, Luise, Uh,
you know one thing. You know, the Boise State team that we saw play Penn State is not as good as Chris Peterson's Boisese teams, but they just have an all time great player. Yep. This ASU team. The more and more I watched them today reminded me a lot of those Chris Peterson teams because probably has more guys that you realize that it probably end up going like sixth, seventh round. And they just had a grittiness, a toughness
to him. The quarterback was really fantastic. I mean he had to pull plays out of as you know what, just to give them an opportunity. Yeah, and that running back, I mean, I thought, listen to hype on him. This kind of is easy for everyone to latch onto this
white guy running guys over. He might have had the flu or something today because he was clearly sucking some win and throwing up He single handedly gives them an edge and obviously the double pass, but he was freaking fantastic and break thirty against those guys.
Thirty you know, carries one hundred and forty three yards. I watched him and I thought he's the guy that played for Tampa years ago.
The ball stop Mike Alstadt.
Yeah, it's like he is a there's a Mike Allstock component. I think he's got a little better speed. Maybe he doesn't, but here he's a kid. I think he's out of like Sacramento or something. He had like one one scholarship offer that is a pro. But I think Dillingham, you know, he grew up a chandler Arizona. He always wanted to be Arizona State's coach. This is his dream job. This is not a stepping stone, like, this is the job
he always wanted. And it's cool because I think Arizona States has been one of those programs we think is a little bit of a sleeping giant, like why aren't they better? And I think they found they're Chris Peterson. I think they found a brilliant coach. But the Texas thing and I wrote this down and listen, Sark Saban loved him. Washington had a good ad that loved him, USC hired him. Texas is ad. Chris Decante is maybe
the smartest ad in the country. Smart people higher Sark Okay, John like three schools with big football brands have hired him. NFL teams liked him. Saban loved him. We know he's a good coach, but one of the things, and we know he can scheme plays. I mean they have. I thought today they had a couple of different crisis situations where they had good scheme plays. But I will say his teams feel loose. So it's easy from a couch from somebody to say he's overrated. But if Saban thinks
you're a good coach, and he won. He won Assistant of the Year in college under Saban, and he's had three different programs hire him, and again he may end up in the national you know. I mean, this guy is in the right spot, right he's in the playoff. How do you define him? My knock on him is that his teams always look loose, like they're just not buttoned up, which is interesting because he coached under Saban,
who's the opposite. That's my take. And I don't know, I don't know what his comp is, but I just feel like too many times on the passing game, it's a jump ball, like he doesn't have defined reads. Too often it's just like, let's just get better players and throw a ball at the sideline. Is that yours are sharp?
Yeah? To me? Been as critical in Sark as anyone over the years. I've been an astronomical amount of money when my guy did Bor played him last year and I thought that was it should have been easier. But I'm going to defend him here. I think you can look at yours box score. It doesn't look that bad. He's twenty to thirty three, twenty two. To me, he's
a liability. And I just I mean it for the talent that they have, because the one knock you've had on Sark, if you've just watched them coach over the year, it's like a kind of a soft operation, a little like Lincoln Riley, Well he pivoted pretty well, used that check book. Their defense is not soft. I mean, look today. I mean the way they got back into the game was a freak double pass where the guy's covered and he comes back Scouto underthrows him. You know, I I
the kicker missed a couple kicks. I mean it hadn't he been nails all season long? Yeah, so it's a little freakish. The way they came back. I mean that game was one for the ages. With the stuff. I think you look at quinn Ewers, who again if you just look at the box score, doesn't look that terrible. This a national championship roster without a national che ambiship quarterback. I actually think Sark has grown a lot. I think
he tries to call plays around this player. Sometimes. I think he gets into situations where he doesn't trust them. You know, that's the thing with Dilley Haam like they have full trust in that court doesn't have a choice, you know. I think sometimes just like hey, we could
just run some bubble screens. Our athletes are better than your athletes, right and sometimes for whatever reason, how this team fifty three yards rushing fifty three yards rushing against ASU, Like you would think with the amount of talent they have on their offensive line and the talent they have a running back. If you would have said what do they rush for coming into this ASU game, I would have said easily one hundred and forty yards and they
just had it wasn't working. They just abandoned it and ASU selling out like make Quinn youwers beat us, which ironically kind of did in the overtime because you didn't cover anyone in the end zone. But for most part, the reason they got back into it the interception. How many times this year have Texas been in a position where they can really put the nail in the coffin and Quinn Ewers turns the ball over, Or they're down in a game against George they're coming back and he
turns the ball over. There is just an element of I mean, if he was an NFL player, he would be highly, highly criticized, and I would imagine the Texas Reddit community, in the football community. He's a pretty polarizing guy, and everyone's like, we're going to arch banding next year. Know if fans or busts about it. If I was a Texas fan, I'd be like, well, why is he
just playing right now? Because if he's as good as everyone says he's gonna be, and he's a manning, I mean, who the only team that I've seen that could even remotely play with us would be Ohio State. We can't beat Ohio State with this player. That's what I would be thinking. And if there's a loyalty and listen, I think this is where coaches sometimes are different than personnel people definitely different fans. They're very loyal to a guy. Clearly,
him and Quinn have a long standing relationship. Now he's roaded with them this long. They've had a lot of success. Right last year they were in the playoffs. This year they're now in the final four. But man, I think you have this great I mean, they're defense. How many those guys look like NFL players and they have freshmen that look like they're gonna be top ten picks. And what are they gonna be against Ohio State? Would you guess a six point underdog? Oh?
Yeah, I would. That's a that's a great question. I would take Ohio State minus six to me. I wouldn't take Texas until we got into like seven and a half. Penn State thirty one Boise State fourteen. Boise State, for the record, had the ball in the red zone. I counted four times it could have been five, and didn't get any points. So Penn State gave them multiple opportunities to make that game much closer. Boise State had a touchdown that was called back because of a holding penalty.
So it was thirty one to fourteen, but it was it didn't look like a blowout. I mean there was multiple opportunities to a Boiset game. It was a good game. So it's really interesting. So First of all, Carter is a top five player. He got banged up. Great player Nick Singleton, who was a Gatorade player the year in high school. He's going to be a stud. Pro running
back Drew Aller is fascinating, big guy, big arm. There are stories out there that NFL scouts think he may still go pro, and many say he would go number one simply on arm, strength and size. Can I look at Penn State and I have great respect for the program, but they remind me a little bit of a poor man's Ohio State. They're just never quite they don't have quite as many NFL guys, They're just not quite as good. People criticize James Franklin, but the guy wonted Vandy, so
he's fine. He's a great recruiter. Can Penn State win the Natty?
I think they need Carter to be healthy because early in that game he had won pass rusher like Holy, that looks like Micah Parsons in number eleven. And then when you go with the other guys, I told you I think last week, I think they could win the whole thing. But he's I mean, you lose a top five player. I don't care how good your recruiting is it's pretty damn good. That'd be a big blow. But
how good does Warren look? The running backs look fantastic, the quarterbacks playing great is to you just trust James Franklin. I think the one thing we saw with ASU and Boise there's a gritty diss and a toughness that just even Ohio State. Ohio State's showing it now, but they go for a long period of time without it because
they don't need it. Yeah, Boise State for twenty five years is built on that, and I think Kenny Dillinghan has brought that to Arizona State, and that's why they can go toe to toe with a team where they don't have one guy that would start for the other team. I mean, that's that's truly if you remove Genty, which I mean gent would technically start for Penn State, but they would rotate the other guys in Yes, Singleton.
Singleton's a great running back.
Yeah, so I actually learn more about Genty in that game than I do with some of his two hundred and fifty yard games against New Mexico running over Penn State. It was an impressive, just gritty effort by the guy running for every yard was contested running his ass off. He's a he's a big time player. Yeah.
He he doesn't fumble, but he did twice in this game. Now he only f frea g Yeah, he only averaged three and a half yards of carry. I think part of gent's strength. I mean I don't put him on the class of Zeke or Saquon Adrian Peterson. Er McCaffrey is an NFL first round running back. I don't he'll go first round because it's a weak draft.
But he's five eight. I mean that's kind of a you know, it's not ideal.
Yeah, I think his strength is that he is so small and so powerful. He is hard, you know, like we're running backs. You don't want a six to two running back. I think he's hard. To get that pad level low enough to get him a shot, and so what you end up doing when you tackle him, it's almost always arm tackles because he's five to eight, so when he lowers, so when he runs and lowers his head, it's like tackling a five to five and a half guy.
He always has the center of gravity and he always has sort of leverage on you hips down, and so it's like Penn State guys held him to three and a half yards to carry, but he broke so many arm tackles and I so it's like, I look at him as a first round running back in a week draft. I don't look at him as an NFL superstar. I don't think he has the juice of Saquon I don't think he has the strength or speed of Adrian Peterson. I don't think he's his talent that is McCaffrey, who's
also small. I think part of the package with him is you just can't get under him and his size is and I think in the NFL he'll have success, but I don't know as I watch him. My take is he'll need the right fit in the NFL to be a star. But he is a starter.
Yeah, Well, to me, he's gonna get drafted really high. I think he's gonna be a good player in the NFL. I would struggle. You know, let's say somewhere between fifteen and twenty five. I think a lot of people think that's the range he's gonna get picked. Well, if I'm drafting twentieth and then my next pick is fiftieth, why wouldn't I If I could take a corner or no offensive lineman at twentieth. I can get one of these other good running backs at fiftieth. So it's kind of
supply demand. It's always why a lot of people why did Jim Harbaugh take the tackle at five and then take lad McConkey in the second round. Because there's a ton of wide receivers in every draft, So I'm gonna get a guy. It starts in the second round. We see it every year with wide receivers. Like, you know, would you take a wide receiver in the top ten? Well, if I'm drafting after you, I hope you do, so I can take another position. I can take a wide
receiver later. So I mean every game I watch Henderson for Ohio State, he's an NFL player. All these teams have NFL players and running back. So why would I take a running back in the first round if I think I get ninety five percent or ninety percent of that guy? Maybe in a third round? Well, if I get Skataboo, Skataboo's gonna run like a four to seven five. What if I can get the guy in the third run. You don't think Jim Harbaugh's gonna like Skataboo. Does that
guy have charger written all over? Yeah?
Well, I mean it's I think I told you this recently. Wood he marks for USC is their best back since Reggie Bush. He maybe a fifth round back. Now maybe Genti's better than him, He's not that much better than him. Like it is a loaded I mean this. This Singleton kid at Penn State was the National Gatorade Player of the Year, was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He Singleton is again. I mean, I don't know as measurables, but he's like six feet two twenty seven with a burst.
It's like if anybody dropped in the first round. I could see gent dropping. Not because he's not good, but because of the depth of the position, the volume