Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts - NFL Schedule Release Ant Is “Spectacular”, Lakers Next Coach,

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like Patrick Mahomes. There are things about Aunt, but the most Jordan thing about him is I remember watching Jordan against Phoenix in his prime and I was still on the couch with a friend watching it, and I'm like Okay, he's not the best shooter, the best ball hand, he's not the quickest guy in the league, and he's six to six. Why does it look like he's like the only Division IE player playing at the hy Like it's like it. He makes it look so easy. Ant gets

past people on the first step. These are NBA athletes. He just gets past everybody. So when you watch it on TV, I don't think you would appreciate it. The ability to always everybody knows where he's going. He loves the first step. He sizes you up. He makes the game look easy. Mahomes does this, Jordan did this. You're like, why how I'm watching Aunt? And even against good offenders. I mean Jamal Murray switched off to him one time. I'm like, this is not even competitive. Murray's a world

class athlete. I mean, you've been in gyms with guys. But I look at this and I'm like, when guys start making thirty eight points look easy, there's about three in the league one time that can do that. Maybe one.

doing the same thing. It's like that next level of elite, top tier athleticism. Honestly, I regardless of what happens the rest of this series, and I do think Denver is gonna be gonna pull this out now. I think they've effectively just rendered Minnesota's offense useless and and they're gonna go home, and I think they're gonna win Game five.

And the biggest thing, too, is like Minnesota hasn't been particularly competitive in either of these games, which is which is a major concern, right, But like, no matter what, it's very clear that Anthony Edwards is here to stay.

I think he's the next guy in that like line of truly transcendent great American basketball players, Like it went from MJ to Kobe, and it went from Kobe to Lebron, and like, there have been guys along the way that have had their little moments, but nobody that really had the potential to take over the league for a long time. And can't you just see it, Colin, can't you just kind of imagine what the next ten years are like for Ams? You could just kind of imagine him continuing

to ascend and getting better and better. I started to think tonight, like like, if it could have pulled this game out, it could have been one of those transcendent moments you think about, like you know Lebron in like two thousand and seven or two thousand and eight kind of thing. And honestly, like Denver's just too good. That's really all it is. Like Lebron ran into the O eight Spurs and got swept. So like, at a certain point, it doesn't matter how good you are at that phase

of your career. It is a team sport. And like, literally, while all of his veteran teammates were falling apart, he was continuing to ascend. It was really impressive.

to Jordan. That's what happens to Lebron. So to me, this is totally appropriate. We are amazed by the individual player, but they still have tweaking to do. I mean, we all know what Minnesota's gonna do in the off Season's probably gonna move Carl Anthony Towns and they're gonna get They're gonna get more offensive players. I mean, eventually Jordan

needed Pippin and Kerr, you know. I mean, like they don't have to be a nightly great player, but you do have to find players that take something off Ant's plate a little bit.

set the guys down, get ready for Tuesday. Be embarrassed. You know you'll be on fire Tuesday. So Og is hurt. Og got banged up this year as well. Brunson's not one hundred percent. We already know Mitchell Robbins and Julius Randall are out. So this is a limited team offensively without injuries. So we all kind of kept waiting for this team that was playing with Game seven intensity to just just collapse. Just the wheels came off and they sort of did. I still think they have a chance

to win this series. But I was saying this earlier this week, and I said it last time I was on with you. There's a lot of different scenarios with the Knicks, and it's very easy to talk yourself into we're just a piece away, but the East is going to get better. It's just gonna get better. Butler's gonna be healthy, Dane's gonna be healthy, Yannis will probably back,

and Beat'll get help. There's so many scenarios for the next and I do wonder if instead of looking at Kevin Durant and Nepaul George, they just they find another og on the market, you know, they go get another really good player, because I do think, you know, playing hard, maybe it has limitations if you fade. I don't think they can beat a Denver a Minnesota's length. But the Knicks have done something in the last three years that

they haven't done for twenty, which is they're patient. They're like you look at them and you're like, this is a well run team. They don't take I mean they used to take, you know, big reaches on Amari Stadameyer when he had bad knees. It's like, what are you doing? Like every GM in the league's like that. Amari's you know, he's he's got like two years left, he's cooked.

in that room. Nobody's pushing back on TIBs. I saw this on the internet, and I apologize for not giving credit, but somebody said, everybody starts somewhere. Is JJ Reddick supposed to go to the G League? You know a lot of these guys just don't want to coach college the NIL. They just don't want to deal with limitations NCAA. Is JJ Reddick? Is he a bad idea for the Lakers? I mean I think Budenholzer would have taken the Lakers

job and Lebron would have bought in. They couldn't get him out of town fast enough and he had a title in Milwaukee. Jannis wasn't a fan. Is JJ Reddick a terrible choice? Or are we over overstepping that that everybody starts somewhere. Where's he going to start? He's rich, he's not going to the G League's not taking that job. Jason Kidd first experiment not good. Now he's established himself. I mean, what is your take of JJ Reddick, who

people are getting gobbled up? Could be head of the class now for the Lakers.

he's the mediocre Because that's the other question here. This guy, if JJ happens to have the talent for it, if he happens to have the basketball like you or whatever for it, then by all means make the move. And so much of that depends on how he's acting behind the scenes in the interviews if they go through an interview process. But the second piece of it is you can counteract a lot of the lack of inexperience or a lack of experience with just putting experienced head coaches

on his staff. So you can address that by just giving him a really good assistant coaching staff. As far as I'm concerned with JJ Reddick, like when it comes to the Lakers, what I'm really looking for is somebody that holds players accountable because I look at them as a defensive minded team anchored by two big athletic forwards and Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Just look at the around the league. When the Lakers won, they won when they defended. You know, that was always their their bread

and butter. They made it to the Western Conference finals last year as a defensive minded team, they lost in the first round this year as an offensive minded team. Going back to twenty twenty, they won when they were a defensive minded team. So I'm really interested in somebody that's going to hold them accountable, And I don't really know if if JJ's willing to do that with Lebron, that's gonna be something that is going to have to

be flushed out in the interview process. But I'm not concerned about the experience simply because if JJ's got the talent, he's got the talent, and they're going to anchor him with experienced NBA coaches that will help him navigate the eighty two game regular season. And honestly, like it's it's really just going to be about like a collaborative effort between Lebron, James and the and JJ Redick to kind of identify what the strengths and weaknesses of the roster

are and go from there. It's really hard, honestly, Colin, I wonder what it's like for you cover in the NFL too, Like it's really difficult with coaches, especially new coaches. We're not there for the interviews. Like with a player, I can go look at tape and I can get a really good feel for what he's good and bad at. But like with JJ, it's like, well, what's his philosophy

going to be? What are what are his core his core principles that he's going to build the team on Like what is is he going to continue the five out offense they were running out of Darvin ham with Darvin hamm Are they going to run something different? Are they gonna do something different offensively? It's so hard to say because we're not in the room for those interviews.

But if JJ interviews well and they give him good assistant coaches and he's got the talent for it, I absolutely think it could work well.

It's an ascension. In every job I've ever had, I was a little over my skis for the first like six to eight weeks, like I'm bailing water here, I'm trying to catch I've had a friend once that got a job at Google and she was like I literally six weeks in, I'm like, oh, I'm dumb and this is a full of smart people. I'm too dumb to work at Google. And she goes then the light goes on, you start clicking, and then like six months into it, you're like okay, but it's like it's okay, Darvin Ham

learned on the job. If you're smart in any industry, you'll figure it out. Like a lot of this stuff with coaching is like I heard Frank Vogel, you know, some complex, defensive stuff. Beale didn't really buy in. Booker was close to an assistant coach, much closer than he was Vogel. Kevin was fine, but Kevin's Kevin at this point, and it was like Vogel just didn't he didn't resonate with all the guys in the room, JJ Redick. If Lebron buys him, we'll resonate with everybody in the room.

So my take is you start somewhere. If you get Lebron, there is some credibility, like with Jason Kidd, Like there is credibility player to player that JJ has. And I think it's kind of unspoken, but kind of the middle aged, you know, guy that didn't play. I always think you go into a locker room and about half the room is like if the star doesn't buy into it, half the room's not buying into it. Maybe that's cynical, but I think everybody would buy into JJ Redick.

I need you to do this. And Lebron's got to be like, okay, you know, and not only that, but I'll hold the rest of the team accountable to help him along the way. And so there, I do agree that's the gravitas piece. And by the way, that's why they hire Darvin Ham. They thought Darvin Ham would be able to bring some of that, yes, like real gravitas

to the situation. The thing with JJ is you got to acknowledge the risk because you're right, Like, they let Darvin Ham learn on the fly and he didn't really start making huge mistakes until this season with the roster when he was like leaning into camerad as we've gone over it, but like he made too many mistakes, and then the Lakers had a situation where they looked at the urgency of their situation and said, we have to

make a move. And so I just I just hope that the Lakers' front office and ownership understands that if you do take JJ, there is a risk. And even though I believe he could do this well, especially with good experienced staff behind him, anytime you go for a first time head coach, there's a like, what if he's just really bad at a in game adjustments? What if he's just really bad, Like we don't know what it's going to be, Like we're gonna find out over time.

And so that's where like the let's say the alternative, let's say they were to get like a Kenny Atkinson for instance, Like Kenny Atkinson is more of a known commodity. He might be a higher floor, but like maybe you don't get some of the upside you get if you get a freaked out to your point, Steve Kerr, like Steve Kerr is regarded as one of the best coaches in the league. I think he's the second best coach in the league behind Eric Spoulstra. Like that was a

risk signing Steve Curree. By the way, Steve Kerr was radical. He came into a Mark Jackson led team that was spam and pick and roll, and he said, Hey, Steph Curry, we're taking the ball out of your hands. We're gonna lead the league in passes. We're gonna run this motion

ball in player movement offense. And I'm sure there were moments in training camp where it looked ugly, and I'm sure there were moments where the front office was looking down like, ugh, this is weird, you know, like we just went, you know, two great playoff runs in twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, just having Steph run spread, pick and roll, So like, this is funky, but then it works and now Steve Kerr is regarded as one of the best coaches in the league. So like, there's upside to going

with the JJ, but there's also a risk. And so for me, I'm okay with that risk because I don't really think there's any candidate out there that's a home run anyway, right, So I think I think there's risk all around. To begin with.

the time, the bye weeks, the setup. This is an event sport. I mean's why it's taken off the way it has. Right.

as much as you can. I mean, you don't want to. You gotta be careful on Thursday because you want some close geographical matchups like New England Jets is a really easy trip for both teams. That's an easy trip. Buffalo Miami's not, but it's the first one.

Thursday night are gonna weaken Sunday to some degree. There are star quarterbacks being taken out of Sunday games.

so they're not going away. Streaming's not going away. To me, what jumped out though, is Netflix reportedly paid seventy five million dollars a game, and they got two of them. They are I looked at their market cap, top forty company in the world. Well are they gonna grow or are they gonna shrink over the next ten twenty years. And how you're in the business broadcast television, the cable bundle, we know how that's going. We know the change of everything.

We see it in our podcast business compared to traditional radio. To me, when I saw what they did at Netflix, they didn't just give them two random games on Christmas. They gave them chiefs at the Steelers and the Ravens at the Texans yep, so equivalent four playoff teams. You could argue the biggest star in the sport in Mahomes. The Ravens were right there to go to the super Bowl last year. The Texans are a trajectory like this, and the Steelers are a top five brand. To me,

Netflix a little bit of a precursor. Are we looking at the next television deal? Are there? Is there just a package on Netflix on Sunday? Maybe? Because let's face it, when I get in bed and she grabs the remote the first we don't turn on. We have YouTube TV? Which are she goes to Netflix? And I looked right before we hopped on they have eighty million subscribers in America. Maybe they're saying we get the NFL. Is that number one hundred within a couple of years?

Monday Night football. You kind of feel once you knew Thursday Night a lot of stars that we already knew the Friday night game. We didn't know the Sunday Night game. But I was like, I think the Niners are getting one of those. You looked at their schedule, It's like I could see them throwing the Cowboys or the Jets. And then once it was reported that the Cowboys did the Brady thing, which is genius. I mean, how many people are going to watch that game? Thirty five million

people on Sunday afternoon. The Niners, I mean the Niners when they're winning, or a top two or three brand in the league rating wise, Yes, And Aaron Rodgers buying, especially coming off this injury, you know, controversial to some, but he's just a polarizing player. And the Jets are a New York major brand. I don't know if the Jets are gonna be very good. I'm sure we'll dive into but you put that thing on, just like they did last year. I remember, like all of us around

the country, sitting there, Jets Bills. It's gonna feel really big and do a huge number. But tough game for him. It does get a little easy off the bat. Then he goes to the Titans. Then he plays the Pats, who I think are gonna be terrible. Denver rookie quarterback mcglinch's their right tackle. The Jets have a good pass rush Minnesota. We'll see. They're in a little transitional period.

So the Monday night game, if they can just get through that healthy, I do think they could rattle off a couple wins early.

game in weeks one through eleven. So the schedule the quarterbacks they face isn't daunting. They could have done them way more. Rest favors older quarterbacks and older people tend to be creatures of habit as I've aged. You know, I really like Peyton Manning hated Sunday night football games.

have stacked this schedule. You know, Detroit open at Detroit because though you know Chicago's a big brand, they gave them a couple of layups early.

you on the Titan situation. But then their next three games for a young quarterback who is extremely talented, Like, it's not like he's coming off an eleven wins seasons. Yes, I mean it was just it was a lot at the Texans at the Colts. I think both those teams are going to be really good. Yeah, they both loaded up. You know, Indy disdrafted a pass rusher in the top fifteen, the Texans added one during free agency. And then you play the Rams like, that's just a tough early stretch.

I don't care how talented you are. Young people, confidence can eb and flow, and the pressure of Chicago, the hype. I do think that's just a tough early stretch. Now, if all of a sudden they're three and two, I mean we might be looking at a ten or eleven win team.

won't be great. They get their three toughest to me, the three games that you look at and go the three best rosters they play will probably be San Francisco, Baltimore, and Detroit and those are all done by week eight. So if even if you go one and two on those, they could have stacked a couple of those, you know, week fourteen, week thirteen, so you go into these tough, brutal, cold weather road games and divisions. No, they got rid of their tough games early. Again, what do I like

Harbaugh getting a two and zero start. Listen Dallas Is. I thought it went in their favor. That was my take.

Week one. Everyone has the same hopes and dreams. They're everyone's OH to oh, especially at home, and Cleveland is a tough place to play. And the hype on that game with Brady calling it, that's a sneaky big game because then all of a sudden, like I think most people think the Saints were really shitty last year. They did go nine to eight and their offense was mainly putrid. Well, they had Kubiak's kid who comes from Shanahan. I think the Saints are gonna be better, and then you got Baltimore.

It's just a tough little early stretch for a team.

Aaron Rodgers like, that's rough. And did you see the last six quarterbacks Pittsburgh Faces Burrow, Deshaun Watson, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, Mahomes and Burrow Like, good, look, Mike Tomlin is going to be on a network broadcasting and by the way, I predict he'll be great. I've talked to two network execs who would hire Mike Tomlin tomorrow.

heavy eye on. Now. If he plays seventeen games, I think we'd all acknowledge they're going to be one of the better teams in the NFL. But if that thing crops up where it is, I mean, it would be a major problem. I thought the moment that they signed Russ, before we even knew their schedule or who they were playing one. They're not financially invested in them at all, right, They're paying them about a million dollars or even Denver last year. Let's say hypothetically Sean Payton was out on

him by October. First, financially, he had to see if he could make it work. And then the least there is not going to be long. They have no draft cap invested, they have nothing invested, and they do have another guy in a one year contract who might not be good either, but at least this physically brings a lot more to the table. And we saw Arthur Smith, you know, win with Ryan Tannehill and Mark's Mariota. So it's like, I just don't think this guy's getting a

long leash. He's not going to be Dnking and Duncan and they're one to three and he gets to keep his job. No, I mean, I just I look to you move teams and they're not paying anything. He better play well and they better have success or he will go to the pine.

any favors with Knight, standalones, international. I look at Pittsburgh and there's just no way if the Jets have the easiest schedule in terms of facing elite quarterbacks. The Steelers got hosed that last month and a half. They'll be underdogs potentially in all those games.

a similar spot the last several years. They usually don't have some huge margin for error, right they don't start the seasons nine to three that They've been hovering around five hundred right till the bitter end these last couple of years. So I understand what they did. I would have done with their moves at quarterback, getting rid of Kenny Pickett, getting rid of the group they had for

Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. But just because those guys are much more famous does mean they're going to be much more effective. And I'm not a Deshaun Watson guy, but obviously, if Lamar is healthy and Joe Burrow is healthy, the gap between Russell Wilson Justin Fields quarterback room is a mile long.