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This is prime Cuts, the best of mccollin Coward podcast. Nick Right and I had a wild conversation bunch of topics, boldest Week one NFL predictions to UFOs, my go to Cowboy insider Matt Mosley said, why this training camp is absolutely different than others. John Middlecoff stops by. We discuss why he's very bullish on Aaron Rodgers. But first my top takes so Sean Payton fires at Nathaniel Hackett day
later regrets saying it and apologizes. Aaron Rodgers talking to Peter Schrager fires back at Sean Payton, calls him insecure and should keep his favorite coach's name out of his mouth. This is good, old fashioned nineteen eighty five media, before everybody was terrified to be canceled and criticized, and the avalanche that follows this happened all the time. People were outspoken. Buddy Ryan would rip Mike Ditka, Buddy Ryan would rip Jimmy Johnson. Jimmy Johnson would rip Buddy Ryan, and it
was wildly entertaining. But there's so much money in sports now everybody's afraid to lose their position, their job, their tenure. Their gig. Sean Payton was in one of those moods, an intense guy said something he regretted. The day later, Aaron Rodgers defended his coach. I loved both Peyton's willingness to offend and Aaron Rodgers' tenacity on defending Nathaniel Hackett. I think Hackett from what I've been told many of my contemporaries, I've got a lot of sources in the league.
Hackett's one of the nicest guys in the league. Good dad, good father, wonderful guy. Just doesn't have an edge, doesn't have a bite to him, and you kind of sort of have to have that.
I mean, the five.
Best head coaches in my lifetime, I think a Walsh and Belichick and Andy Reid and Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells, they've all got an edge. Bill Walsh had a bite, Andy Reid had a bite. We all know Belichick, Parcels and Jimmy Johnson had a bite. Hackett doesn't. He's a coordinator. He's a position coach. Nothing wrong with that at all. Kyle Shanahan was a great coordinator, became a great coach. Dan Quinn's a great coordinator, tried the coaching, Okay, probably
gets a second chance. We don't know if he's a great head coach. We know he's a great coordinator defensively with the Cowboys, with Atlanta, with Seattle, or with the Cowboys and Seattle before he got the Falcons. Gig So I like these little whizzing matches media scrums. I think they're healthy. I think they're fun. Nobody gets hurt, and the winner is you and me and the consumer. When we lose is when people are terrified to be authentic and afraid to be honest. I've been doing radio for
thirty years, almost almost thirty years, twenty five years. I'm on the air live. Some things I say don't come out right. Some things I say are a little harsh. Some things aren't as funny as I think. It's an imperfect world. You take some big swings. It's not edited. Not every time you ask a quarterback or a coach and opinion, it should be fully edited. I don't want
PR people around it. Peyton didn't have a PR person around him, and Aaron Rodgers didn't have a PR person around him, and it was really really interesting raw content loved them both. I kind of feel like First round quarterback picks fall into three categories. The first is the most ideal. You got yourself a star justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, And in most cases you can identify it even if they're not playing Mahomes, even if
they've got some growth needed Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson. So that's ideal. We know who those guys are. Trevor Lawrence bad first year, you knew he was a star. The second one is he's not going to be a franchise quarterback for us, but can we salvage the first round pick show him off? The third is we got to miss So I think Trey Lance and Zach Wilson are
both in category two. I don't think Trey Lance will ever be the starting quarterback answer for the Niners, nor will Zach Wilson ever be the starting quarterback answer for the Jets. I think Aaron's around for two or three years. I think they're both in the salvage stage and the showoff stage. If I was the Niners, I would play Trey Lance a ton in the preseason, and I would set him up for success. I'd use a couple of starting offensive linemen, use some of your starters briefly or
top backups. Make him look good, get a fourth round pick. I've been watching this league forever, so of you. There's always seven teams, six teams, eight teams at the bottom that by the trade deadline can use a quarterback, especially a young one. I think Zach Wilson's in the same spot. He'll never be the franchise quarterback. Size, style, lack of self awareness. He's got what Lance doesn't, a world class arm. But I think Trey is probably a more mature guy. So if I was a Jets, I would play Zach
Wilson every available snap. I think Zach Wilson has the talent in the arm. It fooled Joe Douglas and many others. Somebody will give him a run, especially a team at the trade deadline. Maybe that's off to like a three and three start, and they're looking at it thinking, listen, the GM and the coach may get fired if they don't make the playoffs. You find a team that says, we got to go for it. I think it's very possible you could move Zach Wilson at the trade deadline.
He's had moments and games that have been impressive. Trey Lance really necessarily hasn't, so I think you have to take a flyer on him. But Tray's a good guy, quick learner, big body moves well. Salvag Jim So. I think for Trey Lance and Zach Wilson. I thought last year's biggest story in the preseason at quarterback was Kenny Pickett, and by the end of the year I was impressed with Kenny Pickett. I think Trey Lanson, Zach Wilson. I'm
interested to watch their preseasons. Sean McVay changed preseason for the best or worst, depending on how you look at it. Nobody plays their stars, nobody plays their starters. But I think Trey Lance and Zach Wilson are really interesting stories. Maybe not traded now, but they're in the salvage stage. Somebody's going to probably by the trade deadline, a three and three team loses a starter. I can see somebody
rolling the dice. I mean, let's be honest. If you've quarterback with Kyle Shanahan, a lot of people will say, man, you bring all that intellectual offensive capital to our franchise. You could sell that. You could sell that to a coach. All right, we bring on Nick Wright. First things first this podcast What's Right with Nick Wright? So first of all.
First of all, I'm interrupting you.
First of all, since you keep making fun of my hair, I pulled it back where I got a ponytail just for you, because you keep making fun of my hair on television.
It's very hurtful.
And I listened back to our previous podcast, which was the first one I had done with you. While I was drinking. I drank a couple of glasses of wine while we were talking. I thought it was outstanding. So now I've upped it to a nice glass of Lobos tequila. Shout out to our friends at Lobos. So you're always drinking during these pods. I know that I know what a little sauce collin sounds like, so I figure this should be dynamite.
But now go ahead.
Hey, I saw Oppenheim on Sunday night. Have you seen it yet?
So I have not.
I'm I was trying to get someone in my family to go with me, but it's three hours long. No one will go with me, so I'm gonna have to go by myself. But I want to see so I want to see Oppenheimer, and you know my favorite movie trilogy, you know, multi series is.
Mission Impossible the same.
And I haven't seen Mission Impossible yet either, because I'm such a nerd. When I knew it was coming out, I had to rewatch the whole six leading up to it to really fully prepare, and so I finished that this weekend. So I know everyone was talking about doing a Barbie Oppenheimer double feature. I want to do a Mission Impossible Oppenheimer double feature and just be blacked out for seven hours.
Be amazing.
Yeah, no, I'm the same way. You know, Tom Cruise is fascinating that he basically has saved theaters and now, I mean for about seven years. He's the last great movie star. And because of the scientology, a lot of people, my wife included, are just out just will not even consider talking about him. But he is really really interesting in that he's been very real about his beliefs on psychology and scientology, and that authentic belief has not at
all hurt him in the theater. So it's interesting it's not hurting him at all. It hurts his reputation, but people could easily cancel or protest him and many hate him. And my takeaway is, if this is how popular he is with scientology, how popular would he be or is Scientology like Twitter that story that it's like one percent of people actually care about it?
Well, I think it also he this is going to sound I don't know, this might be bad. He was almost grandfathered in as call him an odd guy or four. People started getting really under the microscope for stuff, and so it would have It feels like if he would have come out with all of the things that we learned about him twenty years ago, eighteen months ago, it maybe could have gone really bad for him. But we've known this about Tom Cruise for so long. Yeah, nobody.
People cared briefly and then didn't. And he is a such a dynamite talent, and that I think people I think people typically can separate the art from the artists to a degree like that, and then it's some there's different lines for different people and then there so for for a long time I would have told you my favorite musician ever was Kanye Kanye, and there was at no you know, for a long time Kanye was odd or a little annoying or whatever, and then at some
point he went to me six steps beyond the pale and the art. To me, the music got considerably worse, and I'm like.
Not, you know what I mean, I'm not worth it.
Tom Cruise is still awesome in every movie he makes and has been like the same level of weird guy since I was a kid. It feels like, you know what I mean, how long ago was he jumping on Oprah's couch? Twenty five years ago?
Yeah? And so yeah there.
I mean, there aren't very many movie stars like you know, Will Smith and Tom Cruise probably the two biggest movie stars. Will Smith not exactly a normal fella up there punching people at the oscars like so, I don't know.
Well, it does prove that mostly the noise doesn't matter Cruise, and Cruise is the most criticized actor in Hollywood for his personal views has zero impact. And that and that you and I have discussed this. It really doesn't matter what people say about you on social media. You either create a show that's entertaining or you don't. Nobody cares it just they don't care.
It is so and this I think where it matters is if the people let it affect them. I think that I think it becomes somewhat almost circular in that. I think the folks who get criticized by the anonymous masses and then it changes how they act or what they do, then it does matter, because then they're not You're not getting the same person.
Really.
Like, for instance, we talked about Anon Rodgers on your show and on my show today. Where I will give him credit is he for a guy who who historically I think was quite thin skinned, he has not. He has leaned into some of the non football things that he has been heavily criticized for and not run from it at all and simply said, yeah, I think my biggest critics are the people who could benefit the most from the things I do. Like I said that to Peter King, he was like one of his favorite lines.
And again I'll give him credit for this. It's a smart line, and I think there is some wisdom to it. He says, I wish people were less judgmental and more curious. And you know, so I don't judge him for the ayahuasca or the Darkness retreat. I think some of his views on modern medicine are potentially dangerous, and.
I'm not a big fan of that. But he does not run from that.
And because he doesn't run from it, like, how much can it actually affect him?
And the answer is not really much at all.
You are puzzled or dismayed by the lack of UFO coverage, And yeah, so I first of all, do not believe in UFOs. I think what happens is much like cell phone technology, where like Norway was ahead of us. We don't always have the best ideas. That's first of all. There are people that have like this whole thing about no exhaust. If there was exhaust with any of these Pentagon pieces of video, then we would know it's not
outside the galaxy. Is it possible that some other country, by the way, like China doesn't treat its citizens well, they spend every penny on weaponry. Is it possible that a Russia or a China, a non ally went out and created it ahead of us. Yeah, that's the first thing. Second of all, there are so many satellites in the air now, many of them Elon Musk created. There's just more in the sky, more moving, more blinking, and it's very easy for something like even a plane going overhead
in Los Angeles. I will sit there, have a cigar and show my wife and be like, what is that? And then she's like after ten minutes, she's like, oh, oh, it's a helicopter. So I think there's two things. People could be ahead of us, and there's just more crap in the sky. It would also help if one legitimate person, you know, like Bill Clinton, came out and said, yeah, we got UFOs. It's always like a whistleblower who heard from another whistle blower. So that's my take. Now I
want you to take from there. You do believe in UFOs?
Apparently?
No?
Hold on.
Oh wait, I want to be very clear about what.
I believe in.
I if I am not a deeply religious person, and I feel like it's almost man, if you're not a religious person, then it is just almost logically impossible that we are the only intelligent life for him in a universe that the expanse of it is, it's beyond our own mental comprehension. There are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand on every beach in the world. So there are trillions of stars in the sky. Our sun is just one of them.
So the expanse of it.
So I do I believe there's intelligent life for them out there past us.
Of course I do. It's impossible to not believe that.
Now that is a giant leap from there to they have visited us, and they've stopped by, and there's you know, they u Oposa landed.
I don't know that I believe that.
What was so concerning to me was not that I'm convinced aliens are here. What was concerning to me is the United States Congress had a hearing. The people testifying were from the Navy, from other branches of the military.
They were not some.
Wackad, do you know what I mean, coming out of off a bender.
They seemed to be like reputable people.
They clearly believed that they had either seen or had some contact. Again, they could be wrong. Their testimony didn't didn't concern What concerned me was, No one cared. What concerned me was. I went the next day to the New York Times homepage. It was not I scrolled to the bottom column. There wasn't a fucking store. It wasn't there. They had a long thing about the Appalachian Trail. They
had three articles on Trump, two on Ukraine. They had they had they had two, they had columns about diversity, equity and inclusion programs. All of this nothing on our congress. People interviewed our military, they said, we have the UFOs or UAPs as they called him. Didn't have an article on their front page. I went to the Washington Post. It's like, all right, maybe the Times is late. I don't know. Washingt poasts had one article. The headline was
Congress hears that UAPs have visited Earth. Americans react met and I'm like, this is not I'm not saying the movies a real life, but I watched Independance Day as a kid, and you know what was reassuring about that was not that Will Smith was going to kick the alien's ass, but it was the aliens showed up and everybody came together, was like, this is an existential threat.
We all need to set everything aside and unite. So what scared me was it seemed to be a bit of a Canarian the coal mine for do we as a general public have the capability anymore if something major were to happen, to set everything down, to turn off, like to get off our apps, to stop yelling at each other and be like, oh, we all need to pay attention and pull together for a common good, and I don't know.
That we can't.
I saw it was the same thing that the The Times.
I think it was The Times this morning.
It might not have been The Times rather the most street journal I don't know, but one of their polling one of the major reputable polling things, ask the question is it hotter than normal this summer? And the answer, whether you said yes or no, lined up directly with your political affiliation, and I'm like, oh, we might just be fucked here. Like even it's like, hey, what's the weather like? And the answer is, well, how do you vote?
Because it's say, it's hot, seems awful liberal and saying that feels the same is awful conservative.
And that's and so people. So That's what It.
Wasn't so much that I'm convinced aliens are here. It was if we get the you know, the alarms go off, and all of a sudden, the President of the United States is on TV and is like, there's an asteroid it's seventy two days away from hitting us. Would we all be like, all right, everybody stop, how are we gonna fit?
How are we gonna fix this?
Yeah? Or would we spend the first sixty eight days being like, that's fease full of it. No, he's not full of it and just yelling at each other. That's what concerned me about the thing. Do we still have the capability to pay attention to important things and come together?
And I don't.
I'm not convinced we do, so I'm going to ask you. But there's going to be an up seven week one that is a shocker. I'm gonna tell you mine, and then there's gonna be a team that's a shocker. So I'm gonna give you my upset. Shane Steiken goes to Indy. We don't know what the hell that offense is going to look like in Anthony Richardson. Jacksonville has got some new pieces, Calvin Ridley. They come in very confident as
a heavy favorite. It's a division rival game on the road, and we have no idea what Shane Steiken, who with Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts turned him into superstars, is that the Colts are going to upset the Jags in week one. Colts are not a good team, but you can be good for three hours in Week one when the locker room is still convinced you're a really good team. Bad teams have a lot of fight for about five weeks until they're zero to five or one and four.
So my upset of the week, I'm going to go with it Colts shock the world and beat Jacksonville. What's yours?
Okay?
So I don't think that's terrible. I obviously love the Jags this year and Trevor Lawrence if I were to pick a major Week one upset again, even though I do not believe in this team or this quarterback at all, with a whole off season to prepare with the real thing that is a Super Bowl hangover, is it impossible to believe Bill Belichick and the Patriots at home beat Philadelphia. That's not impossible to believe that, and people freak out and Philly will be fine.
They have too much talent, you know.
And I don't think New England's gonna be any good, Like I shouldn't say any good. They're not going to be a really good team. But that's that. I certainly like, here's the thing, that's the Patriots getting five at home, and that to me feels like that there's real value there in the Patriots money line, because if that maybe they lose by twenty one, and it's like, oh, Mac is not going to be good the Patriots, you know whatever. But if that's close, they can win that game. One
thousand percent they can win that game. And for Philadelphia there is the the I think the real hurdle of everything is going to feel a little slow motion. Ye until later in the year, and you might eat which wouldn't exist if they were in the AFC. There is, as you were doing earlier, in a different way, the sense of urgency of there's too many good, goddamn quarterbacks, like, we better not screw around here, because there's going to be some great quarterbacks that are on our heels or
ahead of us. In the NFC, the Eagles got to be like, Okay, there's US, there's San Francisco, there's Dallas, and then who are we talking about? A Vikings team who we annihilated last year and then fell, you know? So I think I think that that would be a Week one upset. Again, I haven't really dove into this entirely. I'm trying to look at the other ones that would make sense go ahead.
So I think we both picked one because that was my second choice. By the way, that was my really yeah, oh fun. Okay, now you have to have a wow prediction on a team, Okay, like somebody's gonna shock us. I'm gonna argue Carolina. So I think Frank Reich is really good. They built an excellent staff. It's a bad division. I don't trust the coach of the Saints. They have an excellent front seven. The corners are good but beat up that are now healthy. They ran the ball effectively
last year. The O line is young and emerging, and Bryce Young is really smart and capable. He may have a lower ceiling, but he'll be good in week one. I think week one, Week two, week three, you're gonna look at Carolina and you forget last year that defense was nasty. I think Carolina has a chance to win their division.
That is my wild pick.
Okay, So.
My only antie on that is I don't like tiny football players, and Bryce Young is tiny. That's my concern. It just a general belief of just so. I'm not going to tell you the team, but if I were to tell you, a team's first handful of games are against the Bears, Falcons, Saints, Lions, Raiders, Broncos. That is their first what was that five six games green Bay, could they get out to a great start. I think
the answer is yes. I think that that team is there is going to be a bit of a deep breath sigh of relief that the Aaron Rodgers stuff is just done with do I think there is going to be a real chip on their shoulder of.
Man, this guy sure love.
It's almost the the the person who's you know, spouse left them and then you see that the spouse and you know is giving interviews some about how in love they are with their new person, like, hey, I was great to you, like and like a little bit of oh really.
I think Lafoor is a good coach.
I think that division is open in this regard.
I think the Vikings are good. I think the Lions are good. I don't think there's a great team and the Lions, you know, everyone gas to the floor on the Lions concerns me a bit. So I think green Bay being you know, a nine win, ten win team and maybe finding a way into the playoffs because in the NFC finding seven playoff teams is not easy. So I think Green Bay is a viable thing. I want to kind of turn it on its head. Because everybody.
I shouldn't say everybody. People talk a lot about who's going to be the team that jumps up and shocks people. It's like, oh man, they're good.
We rarely put out there who's the team everyone thinks is going to be good that is going to fall flat on its face. I think it's going to be the Jets. I think that people have and the Jets it's the exact, by the way, same reason. The Broncos were my pick for that last year, and I was right. But it's a lot of the same recipe. A wide receiver corps that is wildly being all of a sudden overrated.
People last year we're talking about the Bronx are like, oh my god, all these weapons, and I'm like, I like Jerry Judy, fine, but in the wide receiver position has never been better than it is right now. He's not even close to one of the ten best in the league. And then I and then it was like, oh no, all these guys. People are talking about the Jets weapons like they're great. Garrett Wilson had an awesome rookie year. Okay, Alan Lazard was a below average number
two with Green Bay last year. Hardman's their three. And so if we're talking about weapons just in the AFC, Cincinnati's is better. The Chargers are better, the Dolphins are better. I would argue the Raiders are better. The Bills are right in line with them. So we're so they're running backs coming off in ACL, they're two. They have two left tackles. One has barely played two years because of injury. The other is thirty eight years old, literally thirty eight
years old. And Dwayne Brown. I don't think the coach is great the Jets. And also the other thing for the Jets is while the end of the year is very soft, how are the Jets, who are, keep in mind, on a six game losing streak from last year, going to react if they start?
What are they going to start? When it is.
Bills, Cowboys, Patriots, Chiefs and all of a sudden, big game against the Broncos, then Eagles. That first six games, you have the Bills, the Cowboys, the Chiefs, and the Eagles, and your easy games are the Patriots who have beaten you for seven years in a row every single time, and then the Broncos that all of a sudden is a blood feud because your dear friend Sean Payton went to scorch tarth on him. Yeah, that is not an
easy opening set. So I think the Jets are the team that is not going to meet expectations.
This was fun.
We did an hour almost we did fifty.
You got to think about which team's gonna sometime, either on the volume or on the show.
You don't have to tell me now.
I think Philadelphia is going to be good, but nine win good, not thirteen win good. I think they're gonna be in a dog fight with Dallas for the title. I think they're pulling back. And by the way Shane Stiken leaves, they lost multiple linebackers O lines getting Yeah, they oh line's old, still good, but it's older. They faced a conveyor belt of awful quarterbacks, I mean awful, terrible, and then they got to brought pretty break in the playoffs.
It's like, and every good quarterback after Week two lit them up, every single one.
My takeaway is Philadelphia is really good, but they don't feel like the Bully, you know, the broad Street Bully, that former Flyers team.
They don't like.
Last year they were beating teams like a college team, beating teams by thirty. I think they're going to be in a lot of close games. I think Dallas can line up with them. I think there's a lot of teams that can line up with them. And I think Jalen Hurts is terrific, but I think he'll pull back and I think he'll have to play from behind occasionally.
I mean, I love Jalen, but good God, when you play with a twenty point lead in the second quarter, it's just a different environment than trailing late in the third. It's a different position. So I think Philadelphia is good, but doesn't look nearly as good as last year.
I think that's the I buy the way. I by the way, I agree with.
That I I am. I'm gonna say this, hold on. You can keep this in, but don't have your people put this specific thing on social This is a special thing for you, for me, to you, for the people that made it. At the end of the podcast, I am ninety percent sure. I'm obviously picking the Chiefs in the AFC. It's gonna be hard to pick against a team that's literally gonna go win three straight Super Bowls.
So I'm gonna go ahead and go with them.
In the NFC, I I really think I'm picking Dallas like I don't think the Niners like I just I don't think the Niners can. You can't just have nobody's at quarterback for every year and just have it worked. At some point, it's got to just bite you. And the fact that your guy Mike Silver's like, hey, Trey Lance, he's throwing one hundred and twenty passes.
They might cut him. I'm like, are you what's and man?
And and Shanahan's like, hey, I'll turn Sam Darnold into Steve Young. I'm like, Okay, I picked the Niners who go to Super Bowl last year. I'm not doing it this year. So I'm doing the Niners. And the Eagles I thought were a good but not great team last year that got hot. Had you know they had more Saxony teams since eighty five Bears? They going to duplicate that. I don't think. So the quarterback thing is real. So if it's not nine Ers Eagles, who is it? Like?
Literally, am I picking Gino Smith to go to the Super Bowl?
No? Am I picking Jared Golf to go to the Super Bowl? No Am I picking Kirk Cousins. No, I know it's become very in vogue to say Justin Fields one of the five best quarterbacks in football. I'd like to see him play five great quarters before I'm ready to say that.
So, so we're running.
Out of teams. I think I'm gonna pick the Cowboys, which is so weird because I'm not the corner of people in sports media that are either I feel like eighty five percent of sports media is well established pro or anti Cowboys, and then there's a handful of you me a couple others that's like, ah, I you know, I find them interesting, but I don't love them.
Or hate them.
But I think I'm going to pick them to go to the Super Bowl. I just think I am. I just I'm running out of sea in the NFC signing Chiefs Cowboys Super Bowl, highest rated ever, Mahomes going for back to back Cowboys and for the further it would be uh Dyan Chiefs going for twenty and oh versus the Cowboys, Oh boy, oh boy.
All right, My guy, Matt Mosley Doomsday podcast with Ed Order. He's been embedded with the Cowboys and Oxnard. It's hot as you know what in California. We usually first of all, it rained like Seattle in the winter, and now it feels like Louisiana in the summer. It's humid and hot. So what you know, You've been to so many of these things. This feel like just another one. No, I mean, you know, I have been to a lot of them. And by the way, nobody cares about any southern California
heat wave. I landed back in Dallas at one oh five.
All right, It was one oh one at about nine o'clock when I landed, about one hundred or.
Something like that. Oh yeah, so speaking a hundred.
I just came from my grandmother's one hundredth birthday celebration. All right, Wow, Francis Hendricks Lawrence has turned one hundred. So pretty neat, pretty neat.
What's the secret to her life? Boy, it's been a lot of a lot of clean living.
Involved in that church secretary for many many years, had about a twenty five year run there. But just she comes from a long line of people who live a long time. And when my grandfather passed away, I don't know, sixteen seventeen years ago, just never missed a beat. It was just kind of like, you know what, I got to keep rolling here, and so as of today even.
I mean, she's just she was the bell of the ball.
Everybody came, you know, she had something to say to everybody. She knew who everybody was, and so it's pretty pretty awesome to watch and we're extremely fortunate.
So how does this camp feel different?
You know?
I think the McCarthy thing makes it different. With the play calling, He's handling himself in a different manner than when I've been around him. And I think Jerry with each passing year and Jerry's into his eighties now, I think Jerry sometimes has a little bit different way about him. I don't want to call it an edge, really, but Jerry, for one of the first times that I can recall, was all business at the State of the Union addressed
to start. You know, he's generally known for saying something off the wall in that in that setting, and he didn't even make an opening statement. I mean, we're all set, you know, we're set up to hear him talk before anybody ask a question for at least twenty minutes, and literally they just started the news conference and he said, okay, let's go, let's go some questions.
What do y'all have?
So there's all it's I think it's hard to have a sense of urgency. There are better places to have a since an urgency than in Auxnard because of where we're used to being and how it feels and how much nicer it is and the surroundings and everything. But I mean McCarthy met with his player counsel the night before that State of the Union and got a vibe that, I mean, the team sort of has a little hedge and they don't even have the pads on yet.
Pads come on tomorrow.
So to me, there was a little more edginess from the team To start a training camp. It's usually very laid back, not much going on, and I think they've since that, you know, a couple of twelve wins seasons, not being able to get by San Francisco, Like if they're ever going to do it, like.
It almost has to be this season.
Well, Zach Martin, tenth year in Dallas, eight time All Pro Jerry said, I'm not budgeting on the contract. This is one of the rare times I support Jerry. They made him the highest paid guard when he signed. He was for many of the years of his contract. He has made more money than any guard in the NFL, that's been in the league for ten years, and he's got a couple of years left on his contract. And you know, Patrick Mahomes right now is the seventh highest
paid quarterback. Is do you think that's a I don't think Jerry should budge, but do you think this could get ugly surly?
No?
Because Zach is not really he's not up to that. Zeke was willing a few years ago to stare Jerry down, and Znac doesn't have that in him. And I'm not even saying what Zeke did was wrong. Zeke did it because he knew his value. And the Cowboys cratered. They know they don't have to. I mean, like you know, if Zach truly didn't show up, I mean, that's that's a big problem. You can't start the season without your all pro right guard. I mean, they don't really have
anybody to turn to in that regard. I heard in Jerry's voice was the fact that, hey, there's two years left on his contract.
What's he talking about?
And and to your point, Colin, he got his rookie contract, he's a first round pick, and then he got another contract, and so Jerry's kind of right, like I mean, everybody loves Zach and it's not like and the other thing is he's a veteran and he's so good and he's so good at staying prepared that I don't know any other position, you know. And Zeke came in and was kind of ready to go at the last minute. This guy could be so I don't I don't sense any worry.
And I think you know, you heard Dak say. Dak was quoted saying, hey, the man talking about Zach and Jerry was asked about that, and Jerry had a very funny answer, which was, well, we pay the quarterbacks all the money.
That is funny.
By the way, I saw that Zeke visited the Patriots. You you said Zeke was a little bit the soul of the locker room. Now that he's gone, do you still believe that?
Oh yeah, yeah.
He was sending messages to the team on the eve of their first practice. I think in the meeting room, the running backs, they're still hearing from him. Tony Pollard still brings him up. I mean, people are still there's
still an aura about him. Now he had faded some of his playing ability, So you're okay, moving away from that but yeah, there's still some there's still and that's what the call that Bill Belichick made was to Stephen Jones, and he just wanted to know kind of where Zeke was and ed and I had a chance to go one on one with Steven or two on one, and that was one of the things Stephen talked about, was just his how he went on and on about Zeke and what he could mean in one of those running
back rooms. So, I mean, it tells you all you need to know, though, on how much he has left in the tank, on the fact that he's still out there. He's a workhorse, He's played through all sorts of injuries. I mean he's not I don't know if he's anywhere close to a lead back anymore. I mean, it's one of the few positions you can go from. Think about that last year the starter, even though Pollard took over, he was almost a symbolic starter. This year, he can't even get a role on a team. He can't even
get out there, right. But Belichick has had a way over the years of taking chances on certain veteran players that maybe have some deans on their character. This guy, he had some issues obviously, he was suspended for.
Several years ago. But in terms of like.
What the players think of him and the coaches, other than maybe Dak, there's no one who approaches Zeke in that regard.
Colin Pads are a poppin' football. It's kind of unofficially here preseason games, but week one, we're almost a month away from that Thursday Night doo zi of Dan Campbell versus Andy Reid.
Yeah, I wouldn't want to be Dan Campbell. Andy's been the best September coach in football. You know, I thought there was something interesting. So Andy all off season has been saying we're gonna put more on Patrick Mahomes plate. Okay, we're gonna put more on his plate. The Chargers get Kellen Moore inside the building. The feeling is with Lombardi. They weren't they weren't giving him enough on his plate.
Kellen Moore is gonna put more on his plate. I read a quote today about Dak Prescott where they're trying to make the cowboy offense Dak friendly take more off his plate, and my takeaway on that, John, you're a scout in this league is time out. The great ones, the Mannings, the Mahomes just keep throwing layers of stuff at him. Dak, They're pulling stuff off the table. I hate the sound of that. So Schottenheimer's a conservative OC. Mike tends to be a conservative OC seven to twelve
and one in his last twenty games play calling. That was one of those. Doesn't it sound like much? Didn't love the comment by Dallas.
I would say this, Colin, just because you pay a guy a premium doesn't mean he's a premium player. And once Dak got that forty million dollars a year contract didn't change his limitations. I would though, the last two years, the Cowboys have lost right in two years ago in the first round, in this year in the second round to the forty nine ers, and I think they started seeing themselves we're a defensive team because we could hang with their physicality, and last year they did. They went
blow for blow. It was like to Mike Tyson's hitting each other. It was the most physical game of the playoffs. But they lost because Dak did what Kyle Shanahan never allows his quarterback to do, for the most part, is ruin the game. He threw the picks, so you always had the stat when Zeke before he fell off a cliff, was like, run the ball, don't get too pass happy with Dak. That's when he kind of turns into a
more of an average quarterback. If you can keep him probably in the high twenties attempts, you got a chance. Especially with how good their defense is. And I would say that their defensive coordinator has turned in right there with Vic Fangio right as just their defensive personnel as one of the betters in the league. So they can play a game that most teams can't because most teams
don't have very good defenses. So if you don't turn the ball over, like I think, I'm going to pick the Cowboys to win the division, and not because I think Dak Prescott is better than Jalen. I just think they have like they kind of know who they are for the first time in a long time. With the Cowboys, they're always kind of fighting one side of the other
and they don't have a clear identity. I think they do have an identity now and if to me, it just comes down to Dak Prescott and not turning the ball over, because if he doesn't turn the ball over against the forty nine Ers, the forty nine ers lose that game.
Well, there's an I don't have it in front of me. With Dak Prescott, he wins almost eighty percent of his starts when he doesn't have a turnover, which is not abnormal for many quarterbacks. But what happens when he has just one or more he wins like thirty percent of his games, is that it's like Lebron James. Lebron James could have a bad shooting night and still be the most impactful player on the floor because he does so many things. Well, Dak's not talented enough to overcome a turnover.
He's just not. Brady has won super Bowls with pick sixes. Right, Mannings. Both Mannings have had a high interception years, farve huge interception years, and they win the division. Dak, the margins are tight. It's a little mac Jones, it's a little Kirk Cousins. Server brings down the wind total. Well, what's where Matt Stafford is I think sometimes talked about not in that top five to six, but in that next
crew guys. His physical attributes and talent is far superior from kind of that group, right, because he's gonna turn.
The ball over, But at any moment. He could throw four touchdowns in a half. He can stretch the field in one play, throw the ball, you know, forty fifty plus yards with his eyes closed. It's why you remember a couple of years ago when the Warriors, I think they won fifteen games. Steph got hurt, Clay got hurt, Kevin had just left, and they just fell apart. I know you know you're down in LA. You're close to
the Rams. Cooper Cup already injured. They are very dependent on like three guys, and if those three guys are healthy, they can be competitive because they got a really good coach. I think the Rams have a better chance of competing for Caleb Williams than they do a playoff spot. I think they're going to be really bad because I just think it's inevitable. Their players are a little older now. Stafford with the elbow, how often, you know, we see it all the time in baseball players. Once the alball
starts getting messed up, it kind of goes. We saw in Roethlisberger the elbow never the same. So Stafford's Cooper Cup now injured last year, injured again. Now Aaron Donald all time great player, but he can only do so much. We've seen great defensive players on shitty teams. I mean, JJ Watt's been a great player on bat You can't this isn't the NBA. So to me, the Rams, their margin feir is so thin just with the depth of their team, and we're already seeing the injuries happen, and
last year it happened and they were got awful. They just happened to not have their pick. I don't see why they think about the division. We know Seattle's going to be really competitive. Obviously the forty nine Ers are good. Even if Arizona stinks. They play the NFC East, so you get three playoff teams in Washington's feisty and they played the AFC North, so you're getting the Steelers, the Ravens, I mean, the Browns, even if they're not a playoff team,
have a lot of talent. And then obviously what team the Bengals, So I mean, he's got a really, really good ye that's a lot. That's a tough schedule.
So I came out and said I had a very good sol or so did Jason McIntyre. That we heard the Rams tried to restructure the Matt Stafford contact contract. I was shocked when a member of the executive team for the Rams came out and made a point of Times La Times article saying this is not true. These reported taking a shot at me. Two days later, Matt Stafford announces, Yeah, we tried to restructure my deal in the off season. The Rams are trying to fool us.
They had discussions, they wanted to restructure the deal, they couldn't and had to move off people. They like Matt. But Bucky Brooks told me yesterday and I've heard this, if Matt gets banged up, they're drafting a quarterback with a first pick. They know how good this draft is. They look three years ahead of time, and the feeling is this is the best draft in a four year window. The best quarterback draft next year. Last year wasn't good, The following year afters not great. So you get about
two great quarterback drafts every decade. Like four first round guys next year is that draft. And there's a belief even if Stafford plays pretty well and they're like a seven to eight win team, they'll be four guys. They'll be able to get a Quinn yours, a Michael Pennix junior at like twelve or thirteen or fifteen in the draft.
So I think the Rams. You know, if you go like and look at Kansas City last year, they had a star offensive coach, a star quarterback, a good enough O line, one star weapon, great defensive player, good linebacker, and kids everywhere. That's a little Rams Ish Ernest Jones, Aaron Donald, Cooper Cup, Matt Stafford. The difference, is h McVeigh, is that the Chiefs players are all in their prime, and to your point, the Rams star players are all
coming off injuries. So I do think their margins are thin. I'm just fascinated to watch Matt Stafford because he took a lot of hits in Detroit. He just rented a gorgeous house on the beach in Los Angeles, and the feeling is last year to in LA. He wants to have some fun. He knows it's not going to last forever.
Can I Sometimes it's unfair, right when a social clip comes out of your show. I didn't see the whole take, but you've had you nailed the Baker Mayfield thing from the start. You had to take. He's in part of probably the most irrelevant quarterback competition in the history of the league. Right now in Papa, I mean, absolutely no one cares. And you, I think you came out and said, you know, he should retire, Yeah, because he's got he's
head right to college football and be a star. I think that's kind of crazy just because he's making four million dollars. He wouldn't make four million dollars put away on TV. And he's got a chance if he can do this for a couple more years. But clearly he's headed toward and overall, and think about college football. I never saw Kirkhurbstreet throw pass. I don't remember a class pass. And Matt Lioner, who I think is really good, obviously had a very very you know, underwhelming NFL career right
for his college status, I think Baker. But clearly Baker's career is headed nowhere fast. In this Tampa team, I mean, they're definitely circling the Caleb wagons, right. They want a big part of that. It's I aunsw theer's twofold. Were you being dead serious on that? The retirement? And two have you ever nailed to take harder than because I think the Johnny Manziel a lot of people Baker was a guy number one overall. Yeah, I was wrong because I thought it really taught me over the last couple
of years. I thought he could be Drew Brees. Well, a huge part of Drew Brees was the character and the intangibles. And look at all the star quarterbacks. Now, the intangibles are have to be off the charts even for the average guys. We'll let alone the stars.
Well, you know, first of all, NFL scouts liked Sam Darnold too, so I missed on Donald. I think Johnny Manziel I kneeled, Baker, I kneeled. I didn't like Zach Wilson at all. I said he was going to be a boss, so he didn't. But I like Sam Darnold, and I still think if Donald got competent coaching and started in San Francisco, he could be a playoff quarterback. But he does have a slower delivery and he tends to be a hero ball quarterback. He wasn't usc and
he's not that athletic. He's athletic, he's not Josh. He's like a poor man's Josh Allen. Athletically, he's big strong, He's not that big and strong. I was being serious. My takeaway is there are people that aren't built to be backups. Cam Newton, Baker, Mayfield, Tim Tebow. They're too big, too many commercials, they're too big. You want Colt McCoy, you want Tyrod Taylor. Baker is too big to be a backup. So if he loses to Kyle Trask, he's still got a chip on his shoulder a mile long.
Last week, he was quoted saying in front of a camera, I don't need anybody to tell me how to play quarterback. It's who he is. So he's too big of a personality, too much edge to be a backup.
Right.
I always said a backup quarterback should be able to put a baseball hat on in the mall and dark sunglasses and be unnoticeable. Colt McCoy, melt tbo can't do that. Cam can't do that, and Baker can't do that. Secondly, he's making four million a year, but to be a top analyst at a football network you'd make about two two and a half. And the truth is you don't want to become a punchline. And if Baker plays for two or three more years and this year goes, you know,
starts and goes one to eight and gets hurt. And by the way, he's led the NFL in interception since he entered the league two and eight last year. If he went owen six this year and that means he went two and fourteen and his last sixteen NFL starts, he becomes a complete utter punchline. Sam Darnold failed, Baker failed. They're not punchlines like people still like Sam and Baker got to a playoff. So my takeaway is protect your brand. Also, money's not that big for him because he took every
available penny with all those insurance commercials. So if I was his agent, I'd be like, dude, if you lose the job to Kyle Trask, they're trying to lose privately in Tampa. You get to one in five, John, they're moving pieces at the trade deadline. They've got players for sure. Now, yeah, they do. Arizona may not do that because if Kyler Murray comes back in week six, they don't want to
bail on him and get him hurt. Right, They don't want him to get hurt because even if they were moving off him, hard to trade him if he's injury played. If they lose their first four in Tampa. I mean that front office. They're playing Trask. Baker couldn't beat out Trask. They're moving pieces. Guys can get hurt. So I'm dead serious. I would say, if you can't beat out Kyle, I'd retire.
I'd call the networks, take a year off practice, go to these companies, say I want to get good at this and go be a rock star.
I'm in agreement on the backup quarterback. You get too famous. I also think that happens sometimes when you're a former, really really high pick in a short period of time. Right, Zach Wilson would fall under that. But Aaron is such a star, he's already irrelevant. No one cares. That's where Trey Lance is kind of interesting, right, because you have Brock Purdy who was mister irrelevant, and even Sam Darnold's making three million dollars. Well, Brock Perty's the starter and
I'm a big believer. And they still got a lot of camp left. They got some joint practices, and like you said, the preseason games, I would imagine Trey's gonna get a lot of juice and maybe clearly he's improved his mechanics a little bit. But threw a bad pick today at practice. You never know. It's a fluid situation. I'm a believer that Sam's going to win the job because Kyle had already had that in his mind coming
into the year. It's why they convinced Sam, who had other opportunities to come to a place with like ten quarterbacks. He didn't miss randomly come So is Trey Lance, and it's not his fault. He makes nine million dollars, that's his draft slot. But there can't be there's not going to be a team in the NFL there's gonna have a nine million dollars third string quarterback. But the forty nine ers have had all these quarterback injuries that they
probably just roll with it. And he's a high character guy, so they're not really worried about that. But it is a bizarre situation for a team that, let's face it, has kind of one goal in mind, and that's, you know, to get to the big dance and win the thing. I mean, they're not Anthony Richardson's plant. They don't care if they They're just going to try to figure it out. Right, you see a lot of these young quarters that is not what the Niners are in They're in win now mode and win big.
There are a lot of these young coaches, McVeagh and Shanahan among them. They kind of want you to do what they tell you to do, Like they both love Kirk Cousins. McVeagh and Shanahan both love Kirk Cousins. Lamar Jackson's a great athlete. Josh Allen's a great athlete. I mean, you'd take Josh Allen. But the takeaway is a lot of these young coaches. Andy Reid is different. Andy Reid wanted Michael Vick. Andy Reid wanted Mahome. Andy wants playmakers. That's why he's the great coach. But a lot of
these young coaches just want somebody. Bill Walsh had this who can simply deliver on my play call. Sean Payton's a lot like that. Russell Wilson's going to be a challenge for Sean Payton's He's done. He's trying to mold Russell. Russell would rather go Deep Breeze, didn't throw Deep Breeze was eighteen yards and in so the play design and the play golf by Sean Payton was essential. Russell will run out of the play call he'll run out of
the play design. So that's a really interesting situation. Sean Payton, McVeigh, Shanahan. They kind of like you to do what they say. And you know, you know this, whatever gift God gives you a great singing voice, you're gonna use it in the shower, in your car, in a chorus. If God gives you a great arm, Josh Allen, you're gonna use it far big interceptions, name it the Big Interceptions Bradshaw
and so I kind of think McVeigh. I think Stafford mostly does what Sean wants, but he drives Sean crazy with the picks ad libbing. He wasn't as athletic. I was told very early they established he wasn't as athlete as they thought. It was evident, right, but they were okay with that. So their takeaway he was kind of a physical runner, not nimble and twitchy. But I was told Kyle was okay with that. I don't need too much twitch. By the end of the first camp, they
were like, man, we got a throwing issue. So what happens with Trey is not only isn't he athletic enough, but he doesn't give you the distribution excellence, so it doesn't work. Now, Darnold is a little more athletic than Trey can struggle with distribution. Pretty isn't that athletic great at distribution? So you can And they both love Kirk Cousins mcvah and Shanahan. So you can see the model here. A lot of these young coaches, John, you know this,
you scouted. Some of these coaches want you to run their play. That's what they want. Well, see, Andy is much more it's weird offensive lineman. When you think of him, tend to be just like conservative, tough guys. He's really more of a free spe let It flow and it comes back. He was taught in the early eighties at the BYU program that was well ahead of its time, throwing the ball all the time. And then his NFL stardom came with Brett farr right, the ultimate freelance gunslinger.
So a lot of coaches the Shanahan tree was all raised in. It's a lot of boot and play actions, dumping the ball off to a guy five feet in front of you. So I just now, eventually it's the NFL. You got to hurt, you have to hit a third and ten. But there is a lot of first and ten of a little flick to Debo or to Christian McCaffrey that if you put it at his feet, it's
a disaster because that's an easy thirteen yards. And that's where I think Perty came in and immediately did that, and it was almost like they became BFFs immediately, because that is what he's really looking for.
Right.
Most quarterbacks in the NFL can throw the ball fifty yards, right, that's not the majority of the game is not deep bombs, And that to me is the most fascinating part about all this quarterback Like what makes Mahomes really special? Obviously he's instinctive and the physical attributes. The guy is very very accurate when he has to be, and he's very very football smart. So Andy's always said this about even when Tyreek Hill was on the team, is I could tell him to do whatever I need to do when
he pick it up like that. You know, we talk a lot about in football all the physical characteristics and then all the schemes, but we don't talk enough about the intelligence because it's like teaching some of these guys that they can never get it and that limits their potential in the sport because the game is so complex and as the seat like the preseason now is a joke, right, but once the season comes in, you're putting in a new game plan every single week. The volume