David Pollack & Jesse Palmer Break Down DJ Lagway, Arch Manning & John Mateer

Summary

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See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack

Episode: David Pollack & Jesse Palmer Break Down DJ Lagway, Arch Manning & John Mateer

Date: September 18, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, host David Pollack is joined by analyst Brent Rollins and special guest Jesse Palmer for an in-depth breakdown of some of the hottest topics in college football today. The trio explores the current states of high-profile programs and quarterbacks: Clemson’s recent slide under Dabo Swinney, the developmental challenges facing Florida’s DJ Lagway, Texas’ Arch Manning, and Oklahoma’s emerging star John Mateer. The team delivers candid, knowledgeable analysis highlighted by Palmer’s signature honesty and directness, focusing on both performance and the evolving pressures unique to today’s college game.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

"Podium Kings" Segment – Coaching Hot Takes & Dabo Swinney’s Mindset

[03:24–05:21]

• The segment kicks off with lighthearted commentary on recent coach podium moments, including a dig at Georgia and coach Kirby Smart’s competitive nature.
• Focus shifts to Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, currently expressing frustration with mounting criticism—especially over the team’s start.

Notable Quotes:

• David Pollack:
  “If you know Dabo, he tries not to swear. I love Dabo Swinney... But if I was him, being berated about losing all the time, I'd want to point to those 10-win seasons and national championships.” [05:42]
• Pollack highlights that Dabo’s defensiveness is showing, suggesting he would help himself and the team by being more matter-of-fact about shortcomings in press conferences: “I’d love to see him just take it head-on: We didn't do good enough, we need to do this. I didn't do good enough, I need to do this.” [07:33]

[09:00–13:00]

• Discussion of Dabo’s shifting personality, potentially verging on “grumpy old man” territory, and the challenges of sustaining motivation and accountability years into a successful tenure.

• The impact of losing fiery, demanding assistants like Brent Venables in maintaining high standards at Clemson is debated.

• Co-host (possibly Wes): “What fans want to see above all else—they want to know their head coach is in control, that the outside world isn't getting to them.” [13:53]

• Pollack underscores that Dabo’s success raised expectations, making current struggles more glaring.

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Team & Quarterback Evaluation with Jesse Palmer

Clemson’s Trajectory & Dabo’s Reaction to Pressure

[15:13–20:43]

• Palmer enters with classic banter about his “bougie” food taste, then pivots to Clemson.
• Palmer remains optimistic about Clemson, reaffirming Dabo’s established credibility and accomplishments in context: “Still got into the playoffs, still won the conference. Just look at that roster. It's hard to move Clemson all the way over and quit on them.” [17:25]

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Alabama’s Resurgence and QB Ty Simpson

[21:33–24:19]

• Palmer addresses Alabama’s upward trajectory; their best players are starting to play like stars, especially Ty Simpson at quarterback.
• Palmer analyzes how early struggles (e.g., dropped balls, inconsistent protection) are being corrected as the “stars play like stars.”
• Praise for Ty Simpson: “Ball’s not hitting the ground... He’s playing fast, eyes in the right place, accurate, good decisions under duress.” [22:30]
• Suggests Alabama’s remaining schedule, particularly the game against Georgia, will define their true potential.

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DJ Lagway’s Developmental Struggles at Florida

[24:25–27:23]

• Palmer, himself a former Florida QB, offers insights into true sophomore DJ Lagway’s recent turnover-filled performances.
  • Emphasizes youthful errors and the mental leap required when the weight of expectations changes: “I think he’s pressing… There’s just so many throws into double and triple coverage in that LSU game... I feel like that game really snowballed on him.” [25:15]
• Pollack is concerned by decision-making more than accuracy: “Four or five were a clean pocket, we’re not pressured, and it's decision-making. When it's decision-making, man, I can't live with that.” [26:23]
• Palmer argues Lagway is under new pressure—now expected to be the guy, not merely the promising future.

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The Arch Manning Conundrum at Texas

[29:10–32:07]

• Palmer candidly reviews Arch Manning’s inconsistency despite immense hype and resources:
  • “Mechanics have been pretty poor up to this point... There are times when his eyes are in the wrong place, and when his mechanism can't catch up, he stays open, sidearms everything.” [30:05]
  • Names NIL—a factor new to players now—as a major new pressure: “Now, you also have to justify your NIL deal… $6.8 million or something reportedly, driving Lamborghinis in Austin.” [31:45]
• Palmer notes that this isn’t about feeling sorry for young QBs, but the context does add complexity.

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Comparing Development Paths: John Mateer and Other Portal QBs

[32:55–36:43]

• Palmer observes that second-year QBs (like Lagway, Manning) are struggling, but portal guys (like Oklahoma’s John Mateer) are thriving—mainly when there’s system continuity.
  • “When I’m looking at… right now John Mateer is the best player in the country. It’s way too early, three games in… but he’s playing so fast. You can tell he’s been in that system three years.” [34:27]
  • Draws analogy to Stetson Bennett at Georgia under Todd Monken—a quarterback who fully mastered his scheme.
• Both Pollack and Palmer enthusiastically agree they'd take John Mateer as the No. 1 pick in college football right now.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Clemson’s New Reality:
  “This is what happens, man. You win—he's got a different perspective than a lot of people, and so you're going to get criticized and this kind of stuff is going to happen.”
  — David Pollack [07:12]

• On Quarterback Pressures Nowadays:
  “You gotta start showing people why (you're worth the money) now… should we feel sorry for him? No. But I didn’t have to deal with that kind of pressure, social media, back in the day.”
  — Jesse Palmer [31:50]

• On John Mateer at Oklahoma:
  “Right now John Mateer is the best player in the country… There’s a different speed and different confidence and conviction level he’s playing at.”
  — Jesse Palmer [34:27]

• On Bama QB Ty Simpson:
  “Ty Simpson… ball’s not hitting the ground. He’s just so dialed in.”
  — Jesse Palmer [22:30]

• On Second-Year QB Struggles:
  “Year two for quarterbacks… that’s generally when quarterbacks make their biggest leap. And that’s been frustrating [not seeing it].”
  — Jesse Palmer [33:22]

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Key Timestamps

• 03:24 – "Podium Kings" segment: coaches’ podium antics, Dabo’s defensiveness
• 07:30 – Pollack on coach press conference psychology, accountability
• 13:00 – Dabo’s changing demeanor; program evolution at Clemson
• 15:13 – Jesse Palmer on Clemson’s expectations vs. recent reality
• 21:33 – Alabama’s bounce-back; Ty Simpson’s emergence
• 24:25 – Florida’s DJ Lagway’s struggles dissected
• 29:10 – Arch Manning’s development, NIL pressures
• 32:55 – John Mateer’s rapid rise at Oklahoma, portal QB trends
• 36:12 – Pollack and Palmer agree: Mateer is their current #1 overall pick

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Tone & Takeaways

The episode is relentlessly honest, colorful, and loaded with football insights from former players and top analysts. Pollack and Palmer's rapport is evident, mixing locker-room humor with tough critiques.

Main Takeaways:

• College coaching requires constant adaptation—Dabo Swinney and others must evolve in both tactics and messaging.
• The new pressures of NIL, along with social media, dramatically change the landscape for high-profile quarterbacks.
• QB development isn’t linear; experience with the right system, as seen with John Mateer, often trumps hype or talent alone.
• Alabama and Clemson are both at crossroads, but neither program is to be written off easily.
• Palmer and Pollack are bullish on John Mateer’s potential to be the most impactful player in the country.

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This breakdown offers a thorough snapshot of the episode’s substantive content, capturing the expertise, candor, and humor of the hosts and guest for any college football fan who missed the show.

Transcript

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[Brent Rollins]

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[Brent Rollins]

How about that Pollock Interception in the end zone.

[David Pollock]

Well, it's David Pollock. He's got a heart of a lion.

[Brent Rollins]

I'm real proud of that kid.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

This is C ball, Get Ball. College football's top show for football analysis.

[Brent Rollins]

Predictions and coach interviews.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

Now here's your host, three time All.

[David Pollock]

American, seven time Emmy award winner. Hi. Welcome everybody in. Thank you for joining us. Continue to hit that like subscribe rate. All that fun, fun stuff, man. That's what keeps us, keeps us going on the airs and we appreciate the growth from you guys. Brent Rollins, the great Brit Rollins joins me as always. Yeah, you like that? Great work for pff and just knows football inside and out. So we've already done the picks, guys, everybody, everybody that's listening, we've already put those out so you can, you can go find those as soon as you're done with this show. And we picked all the games, we gave you the scores and so you can Take those and do whatever you like with it.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

We're not going to hate on us.

[David Pollock]

To do that, but you can do whatever you want with it. We, um. And then now we get to the podium Kings. We got Jesse Palmer coming up too, man, like working with him for so many years, he's just, he's such a great dude. His, his football opinions and his study studying of tape is second to none. Like, he watches every single thing. Like he's probably gone and walked, watched, you know, games from a year ago of these guys that he has now because he's just that kind of a nerd. And he wants to have informed, strong opinions. So he'll be great. And we'll get some good opinions about Arch and John Matier and some of those guys that have been, you know, okay, and good and vice versa. But first, the segment that we absolutely love, Podium Kings. And we're going to go to Memphis first for this one because. Yeah, I said Memphis. You heard me correctly, we're going to hear from Memphis right now. And podium kicks.

[Brent Rollins]

Sure, we do this all the time, but generally on a Sunday afternoon, we meet with the team, we do two things and we always start off with not our standard. We always start with a negative and then not our standard is Georgia wide receiver, right? Arrested for driving 900 miles per hour over the speed limit. Right? That's a weekly occurrence.

[David Pollock]

So. All right, my man Salty, going for the local laugh, right? Like the, the people are there. I'm impressing. So I'm going to, I'm going to say that right out. But my comment to this would be, get Josh Brooks on the phone, athletic director of Georgia. Get me Memphis on the schedule. That if I was Kirby, that's. I'd be like, get me Memphis on the schedule. I don't care about what he said. Fine, so be it. Like, Kirby's not going to do that. That's not who he is and what he says. But he would say, if you want to play and I'll take care of business, I'll take care of business. That would be my response.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

Not only would he say that, he would bring it up in the pregame speech, he would bring it up at halftime, he would bring it up in the post game speech after demolishing. Just destroying them and making sure that his team does that. I also thought there was. Just the timing of it is a little interesting given the fact that Florida is struggling and maybe might be looking for a new coach. And if he's crapping on George a little bit, maybe he's sort of endearing himself to that fan base already.

[David Pollock]

Well, don't know the answer to that, but. But the next one's going to be.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

I wouldn't do that, by the way. I would never do that. It just. It does. Especially in that world where everybody's got their own issues.

[David Pollock]

Well, you got your. You got your peers, and then your kids are going to mess up, and then what are you going to say like that? That's definitely a part of it. But next you go to Clemson, South Carolina. Dabo is. Is. Is making his case, making his point. He's getting a little defensive about the start to the season. And so take a listen to the great Dabo Sweeney.

[Brent Rollins]

Hey, listen, I mean, the Clemson's tired of winning. They. They can send me on my way, but I'm gonna go somewhere else and coach. I ain't going to the beach. Hell, I'm 55. I got a long way to go. Y' all gonna have to deal with me for a while. A long way to go. Just getting going. I'm just now good enough to be a head coach. I'm just now figuring it out.

[David Pollock]

So we'll be around a while. All you needed to hear to really like, to understand that Dabos peed off is hell. Like to hear him say, hell, I'm going to be around a lot because if you know Dabo, like, he tries not to swear. I love Dabo Sweeney. I love his heart. I love who he is. If I was giving some. Some positive critique for him and some things to work on is just like, he tends to get defensive. And I get it, man, if I was in his shoes and you're always getting berated about losing, and like, I have a tendency. I'd have a tendency to go, okay, do you see this? Like, 10 win seasons, national championships, by the way. Let's talk about that. There's two guys in college sports that have multiple national championships. There's two active coaches. I'm one of them. Like, are you calling into doubt what I am, who I am? Like, I understand that, but, like, I think that if we can. If we can point to some of the clips before that, too, is like, you know, he's talking about, we played a good game versus Georgia Tech. Did you? Like, I didn't think they played a good game. Like, I didn't think they played solid. I thought they made, you know, a lot of mistakes offensively. I think that. And I think that the criticisms and the things people say, like, just take it, just wear it, and Say, like, we didn't play good. Like, Georgia Tech played better. I got to fix X, I got to fix Y. Like, we need Antonio Williams back, but defensively, like, and even after the game, like, you know, the defense let us down late. Yeah. But the offense kind of sucked, like, and just. Well, so this is what happens, man. You win. He's got a different perspective than a lot of people in this game. And so you're going to get criticized and this kind of stuff is going to happen. I would love to see him just take it head on. We didn't do good enough. We need to do this. I didn't do good enough. I need to do this. And listen, he's doing this in the locker room, okay? Like, he's giving it to his guys. Like, I can promise you that he does that. And he's not accepting losing. I just. I think he can make it easier on himself. And because there's a lot of people that every time there's the press conference that comes out, like, they just can't wait to share dabos. And look at this. You know, look at this. And I'm like, I don't really care about press conferences that much. Well, I do with podium kings. Podium kings make me care more about press. I literally sit there and Wes can vouch for me on this. I sit there on. On Tuesdays or Mondays, like, and I watch the different press conferences and I'm looking for clips. Like, that's where I found the drink clip of him talking about things. That's why I'm watching the reactions of the coaches, because I love hearing them react and how they react and what their demeanor is. Because, you know, this is a lot of times what the. This is a part of the psychology of coaching. Like, I have to be able to. To teach my guys, and sometimes I have to use the media. And Saban was masterful at that. Right? Like, use the media to call out my guys, to go get them to understand they haven't done anything or they need to fix this. Like, it all. You know, it's all psychological warfare. Like, all of it is with. With your players. But I just think that. Don't take it personal, right? Like, laugh at yourself. Be honest with yourself. Give honest critiques. Sometimes I don't think that's a bad idea.

[Brent Rollins]

Just be real.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

I think that's what fans and the media and just. Just be real. Look, guys, we. We struggled in certain areas. We weren't good enough. It wasn't good enough to get a victory. And the standard here is being good. And guess where it starts. It starts with me. I'm at the top. It's my responsibility to make sure that we're, our players are in positions to succeed, all that sort of stuff. I, I, that's what you typically hear, but you can also do that while saying, hey, we messed this up, we messed this up, we messed this up. But it's my responsibility to make it better kind of thing.

[David Pollock]

Do you think dabos? Do you think dabos? I'm gonna say this. And I feel like Dabo's demeanor, I feel like what he used to be and what he's starting to become, it.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

Seems like grumpy old man.

[David Pollock]

I'm not saying grumpy old man, but it definitely seems like, it seems like he's just, it almost seems like he's frustrated. It seems like he's kind of, he's kind of beat down a little bit. And listen, that's, that's what happens when you don't play good. And that when you, the longer you're at a place, man, like, it's hard to keep the juice and the energy and the, like, he's kind of been there, done that. And I'm not saying Dabo's washed up. That's not what I'm saying. And I'm not saying he's done. But I do feel like his demeanor and, and maybe his intensity a little bit. Like, I, I think, I think maybe the kids need to see that a little bit. And here's why I say that the most. What's changed about Clemson the most over the last four, five, six years? There's one thing that's changed the most. Like, there's been some coaches that have come and go. There's been some great players that have come and go. Venables like that intensity that put the thumb down that, that get back coach that like, get in your mother freaking booty when you need it. Because guess what? You need it. Like, you need to be yelled at. You need to be held to a standard. Like we say all in here. That's the standard. That's how we do this. And I saw it with coach Rick, Mark Rick, like, Mark Rick operated at his best with Brian Van Gorder. Why? Because Brian Van Gorder had no problem being the bad cop. Absolutely no problem being the blank. You, this is how we blanking do it. Get on the line. We're going to run like you. You have to have that. You, you can lead with love. There ain't no doubt about it, but like the accountability the. We're going to hold your feet to the fire. You need to bring them. And listen, Tom Allen's great for that, too. Tom Allen's got such a great personality and like, he wants to. He's going to bring it every single day. But I think you want, as a Clemson fan, you want to see more of that. Probably as a college sports fan, you want to see more of that.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

And so think about the situation they're in. One, he's created that standard, like his program and his success in the past has created that standard in the standard of 10 wins and national championships and those sorts.

[David Pollock]

Dang.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

Right, That's. He's part of that. But two is in terms of looking at all of this with a. I.

[David Pollock]

Love people trying to phrase things a certain way because you're trying to, like, not. Not say it. You don't want to say it the way you want to say it. You're kind of trying to be respectful in a certain way.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

No, actually, I just completely lost my train of thought of what.

[David Pollock]

I do that all the time. Welcome to my world. Like, that's when you've been hitting the head a lot. That's exactly what I do. I will start so many sentences and be like, crap, I don't even know what I'm talking about. But like, this is. This is the product of winning. This is the product of being somewhere for a long time. And like, Clemson has had it really, really good. They've won a lot. They've done it different. Now the evolution you're seeing, some. They went to the transfer portal. They changed the way they. They do things a little bit. Dabo fired his DC and hired a new guy. And so, like, I think that, you know, the evolution as a coach, you have to evolve.

[Brent Rollins]

You have to.

[David Pollock]

You saw Nick evolve, right? Like, you've seen Kirby evolve. Like, you've got to evolve and, and duck and bob and weave with the sport and, and. And. And Dabo and them are doing that. I compared Clemson when I was on game day four years ago, five years ago. Like, I, I compared him to Mike Shasheski and I was like, Mike Shasheski did not want to ball in or buy into the one and done. Like, that's not how he wanted to do it. He didn't do it for a while. He didn't win championships for a while. He, he, he evolved and he was like, okay, we can do this our way. Bought into the one and dones and da ding ding. We got more rings. Like, that's the way, you know, you have to continue to do so. I think, I think all of this is constant evolution. Did you, did you finally remember what you're going to say? Because you're motioning to me.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

The light bulb finally hit.

[David Pollock]

Okay, well, go. No, no, no, don't stop. Go, go. Don't forget, go.

[Brent Rollins]

What is.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

What is a fan and want to see among above all else, they want to know that their head coach is in control and that the outside world is not getting to them, that they're just dialed into coaching their team and doing everything that they can to win games. And this, to me, he looks like someone who's the outside world. The outside pressure, the. Everything outside of the building is kind of getting to him a little bit. And the. And losing and all they. It shouldn't bother him that it should just, you know, on to Syracuse. We're on to Syracuse.

[David Pollock]

That's so you. You want, you want dabo to be. Have a little bit more bite, right? Like, just a little more like, like bring it on. Like us against the world. Like, yeah, just keep doubting us at your own apparel. Like, you do that, we'll take care of business. But either way, Clemson, like, you know, what he's done for your program, man, is. It's, it's. It's set the bar really high. Like, really high. And that's, that's a really, really good thing. We all are works in progress that continue to. To shape and mold. But, like, when you go to, like, I'm 55, I'm not done.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

I was going to ask you that. Is that the new. Is 55 the new 40?

[David Pollock]

I hope so, because that means I'm the new 30. That would be great. I mean, I want, we want to continue to get. To get the young started.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

Yeah, I'm a man.

[David Pollock]

I'm a man. I'm 40. But no, it was, it was okay. Like now, on to the next. So let's get to our boy, Jesse Palmer. Now we're Welcoming him in. Mr. Handsome himself. Jesse Palmer, that's great hair. Such great flowing locks that Brent, you'll never know anything about. But Palmer, I've been with you for so many years, and the thing that I've always respected about you had nothing to do with your hair, which is fantastic. Nothing to do with your food choices, which. Which if you're a bougie foodie, you. You will like his food choices. I am not. It's not my thing, but it's always been the absolute honesty. That's what I love. Like when you walk into Death Valley and you're talking about them Clemsoning and, and you just like say it, like you just lay it out there and they weren't too happy about it for a while, but like, it's okay. It's, it's part of it. I don't know if you've been watching dabo and I don't know if you've been watching the press conferences, but like getting a little defensive, talking about like, hey, I'm be coaching. I'm 55, I'm getting in the coach. I'm, I'm in the coaching prime of my life. Like, I've got this, I got this figured out. And like, but there's some negativity like with going on and like, what have you thought so far with, with Clemson and obviously how they've started, but now like people are starting to, to circulate some dabo stuff and I don't know, I mean, you feel one way or another.

[Brent Rollins]

Well, first off, you never had to worry about my food choices because you never had to pay for it. You never lost credit card roulette number one. So you were just eating for free the whole time.

[David Pollock]

Fantastic.

[Brent Rollins]

Yeah, man. It's like, listen, obviously it is a disappointing start for Clemson. There is no question. And there were a lot of people that had very high expectations. I remember you and I were talking in the middle of one of our EA Sports college football recording sessions and you were like, I like Clemson to win the national championship. You were really high on them. You start to hear. And I think a lot of people were too, based on, you know, what was coming back. Obviously they haven't played well and you know, it's not even so much just LSU and Georgia Tech, but even in the Troy game, it wasn't great. And they just haven't been able to get, get an offense going consistently. I mean, Davos, Dabo's frustrated. I mean, I've watched the press conference. There are people calling it a crash out. I don't think that was a crash out. Like Mike Gundy, I'm a man, I'm 40. That was a crash out. That was back in the day. That was legendary. So listen. Yeah, he's just reminding people, hey, we've won a lot of games here. And by the way, I mean we all remember Clemson getting House last year against, against Georgia week one and then losing to Louisville middle of the season before losing to South Carolina at the end of the year, still got into the playoffs, still won the conference. I mean, just when you look at that roster. David I don't know. Like, you just look at the talent they have. It's just hard to to move Clemson all the way over and just forget about him and quit on him. I don't think I'm personally not ready to do that yet. But yeah, I mean, I'm sure in Clemson right now, for a lot of fans, it feels like the sky's falling a little bit and there hasn't been this expectation, I think, for Clemson entering a year, since Trevor Lawrence was probably there. From producer Jordan Peele, the movie him asks the question, would you sell your soul for greatness?

[David Pollock]

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[Brent Rollins]

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[Brent Rollins]

Right, like the Deshaun Watson years, the Trevor Lawrence years. So, I mean, I'm not as concerned. It's obviously been disappointing, but there are a lot of teams, there are a lot of other places around the country where things aren't going like they were supposed to either. And I think Dabo's I think he's built up the, the resume to sort of have that moment on the podium to say, hey, whoa, you know, where was this program before I showed up here? You and I were calling games at Clemson before Dabo was the head coach.

[David Pollock]

Yeah.

[Brent Rollins]

You know, you and I remember what that used to look like, and it's a totally different place now. So it. Honestly, for me, it. That, that didn't bother me at all.

[David Pollock]

Yeah, the, the equity is there. Like, he's always had that too. Like that chip on his shoulder and like, I want to prove you wrong. And like, oh, oh, you want 10 win seasons? Like, Bing, eat that. Like, he's had, he's had that, you know, throughout his life. You know, another team that I saw, Jesse and this, this bothers me so much and it, you know, it drives me nuts when people say things and then they take one clip and they go crazy. Like, Alabama's the worst team in history. Like, they suck so bad they shouldn't even dress out the rest of the year. Like barium, you got to call the first game and then you got to call them again. Like, I mean, just seeing Alabama and seeing Ty Simpson and, and seeing them start to get some reps, Ryan Williams start to look like Ryan Williams. Like, I mean, obviously first week, you know, meeting with coaches to now, like, how do you feel about the Tide?

[Brent Rollins]

Well, I feel a lot different about them after calling the Wisconsin game. No question. And I don't know how good Wisconsin is going to be by the end of the year. And I think when we look back on this, you know, that might be a good win, but I think certainly their biggest tests are still ahead of them. You know, David, to me, the biggest thing about Alabama and what was so disappointing in the Florida State game at the start of the, at the start of the season was just their best players, Alabama's best players weren't playing well. We talk about Kaden Proctor, that massive Left tackle they have 6, 7, 3, 6, 6. He's so athletic. And you know, David, if you watch the film, he goes through stretches of tape where you're watching him and you're like, oh, this is a, this is the top 10 pick. Like, he's, he's dominating. And then you put on the tape against Florida State, he allowed seven quarterback pressures in that game. And you got to be more consistent. Ryan Williams had three huge drops over the middle of the field. Everybody remembers, right? And so, you know, to LT Overton, you know, it was taking him a while. He hadn't had a sack in the first two games. And to me, you know, we talked about this in the Wisconsin game is just the stars got to be stars. And I think against Wisconsin, you saw that. And Kaden Proctor played lights out. Ryan Williams was unbelievable. He did drop a touchdown pass, by the way, in a post late in the game over the middle field, but still was doing unbelievable, believable things. It's like they're so loaded. We know full of NFL talent. When those guys are playing great, they're a hard team to beat. Now the guy who's playing the best right now is Ty Simpson, a quarterback, and the ball's not hitting the ground. He had some ups and downs against Florida State. Obviously you're going to do whatever you do against Louisiana. 17. 17, that's great. Not taking anything away from them. But Wisconsin, he's just so dialed in and you can tell he's playing fast, his eyes are in the right place, he's accurate, he's making good decisions under duress. And it's funny, you know, you think about the SEC and sort of what we thought the good quarterbacks were going to be at the start of the year, and Arch Manning and DJ Lagway and Lenora Sellers, all those guys are really struggling. And meanwhile, Ty Simpson, that was a big question mark. Like Alabama these last two weeks, he's looked like maybe, if not the best, the second best quarterback in the sec. And you say, hey, if he keeps playing like that week in, week out, I think Bama can still win the SEC and they can go to the College Football Playoff. The other thing I would say quickly, maybe Florida State's really, really good. Yeah, maybe they're really good. I mean, if you, if you watch them now for the first couple of weeks, the new offense with Gus Malls on Castellano is running the show. Their defense now with Tony White, the D coordinator, it's a different deal now. Like, they're like they. To me, Florida State looks legit. So I still think everything's out ahead Alabama, but obviously the game in two weeks at Georgia, that's the one that we're all going to watch to really find out what they are.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

So one name you mentioned there, and let's go to your school and the name that you mentioned, DJ Lagway. What are you seeing? Two parts.

[Brent Rollins]

What are you.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

What are you seeing in the two? What would Spurrier do to get him right? Make him feel comfortable, tell him all that sort of stuff.

[Brent Rollins]

Okay, well, I'll answer the second question first.

[David Pollock]

That's easy.

[Brent Rollins]

Yeah, I know what he would do. Hook so David, this guy knows it. Listen, it's funny. So I was talking to my dad this past weekend after. After the. The Florida LSU game, and my dad called me and he said, hey, just out of curiosity, how many interceptions did you ever throw in a game in Florida? What's the most you ever did? And I was like, I think it was. I think it was one. He said, is that it?

[David Pollock]

Wow.

[Brent Rollins]

One. That's. That's actually really good. I was like, dad, I was out after one. I threw one pick. I was out of the game like that. Like, you didn't have a chance to throw five or four, let alone three. I mean, two is pretty much the cutoff. So, I mean, to me, watching him, I think he's pressing. We hear that all the time with coaches. Right? Man, going back and watching that LSU game, there's just so many throws into double and triple coverage. So many, David. And it's. It's stuff that, you know, a guy with, with DJs experience up to this point, you'd like to kind of say, okay, you might do that once or twice, but you want to learn from that. I feel like that game really snowballed on him. He had that really bad interception the first quarter on the outbreak, and corner route throws and triple coverage, gets picked, throws one over the middle of the field, double coverage, safety jumps on a great play by the db, gets picked. And then from that point on, it's like he kept trying to get it back with every single throw. And he's, you know, he's obviously still a very young player. Yeah, but I don't. I don't know, David. I mean, how much. How much criticism. And Brent, how much criticism from a football standpoint is DJ Lagway ever had to. Had to handle in his life? I don't think very much, and I think he's. He's now living that. I think after the South Florida loss and now with that performance on the road at Death Valley, there are a lot of people now, there's a lot of chatter going on in Gainesville. It's not just Billy Napier, but it's. It's with DJ likewise as well. So this is something that he has to. He has to learn to navigate.

[David Pollock]

And my problem, Jesse, was like, I can deal with the accuracy because that's going to come and go. It's not always going to be elite, but the elite of the elite is good. Like the corner route against lsu, you're like, that's. That's nice. Touchdown. But to me, four or five were A clean pocket. We're not pressured. And it's decision making. And when it's decision making, man, like, I can't live with the decision making. But last year, backed in a corner in Gainesville, they fought their way out, man, like, nobody thought they were going to do it. I was impressed with their backbone, like, can they do it again, man? Or is this, is this, is this going sideways or like, I mean, just like, how do they. Because, because here's what Lagway looks like when he comes to the sidelines and he takes his helmet off, man, I see wide eyed, like, I see like, holy cow. And that's not like, that doesn't bode well because last year it wasn't on him, like, right, he wasn't the problem. It was like, oh, he's going to be the savior. Like he's the guy that's going to fix us. And now it's so like you talked about. It's in a different, different zone.

[Brent Rollins]

That's what I mean. I think the conversation around him is so different this year. You're right. Last year he's a true freshman. He's talented. He's the future. We're winning these games late in the year. Look at all the stuff we have to look forward to next year. This year he's expected to be the guy leading the Florida Gators to wins and that just isn't happening. And you know, it's. You always have to remember, yeah, he's a true sophomore and every time he's out on the field, it's a new experience and he's taking it all in. But the decision making is, you know, is worrisome. I think some of the missed throws, even in the South Florida game, he missed some touchdown passes in that game as well. When you go back and look at that, he sort of has to settle himself in. I think Florida can bounce back from it because, David, I just watch the film and I see that this is a much more talented team than they were a year ago in so many different positions. And if they get it right, then I think they can line up with most teams in the SEC and have a chance to win that game. I mean, even in the South Florida game, the penalties, you know, having touchdowns called back, sitting on people and then play calling, I mean, you know, when, when they've got. Everybody talks about DJ Lagway. When the Gators get Jaden Ball going, running the football at 245 pounds, animal, true sophomore, monster, man child. I mean, things generally are good. And all of A sudden I feel like the Gators sometimes get away from that and they get, they get a little cute and they start going this direction and it's double reverse throwback to the quarterback, passes like on the fringe when sometimes, you know, things get, get overthought a little bit. I think now that, now that the defense is getting at least on the D line, they're getting healthier again. I still think from a talent standpoint, they can line up and they can get it done, but obviously you're not going to go to Death Valley and win throwing five picks. Right? And even with that, they were still, with, they were still There, you know.

[David Pollock]

90 yard touchdown called back. But, but you're right, Lagway had 33 attempts. But okay, so another guy that's coming in that we had a lot of hype about Arch Manning, like, yeah, what, what, what do we see? Because, because me and Brent haven't had a lot of good things to say about him thus far in the season, man. And, and he did get some experience a year ago and we have seen, you know, some greatness, but the inconsistency is, is, is strange, honestly.

[Brent Rollins]

Yeah, yeah, we, you know, we, we called his game against San Jose State, Week two, and you know, so prepping for that game, I'm going back and I'm watching his film like you're talking about from last year. And granted it's against like UTSA and Louisiana Monroe and Mississippi State, but there are throws that you watch and you go, okay, that's a first round, future first round pick, talent. Right. Even though the competition wasn't as good as they would face coming into this year, and a lot of people have talked about this, mechanics have been pretty, pretty poor up to this point.

[David Pollock]

What part of the mechanics.

[Brent Rollins]

I asked Sark about that when we were getting ready for that game and what we talked about, Sark said, you know, there's times when Arch drops back to pass and his eyes are in the wrong place. And you know, Dave, like, as a thrower, like your eyes, you know, lead your feet, which leads your arm, it all has to kind of be together. And there are times when he's looking over here to make a throw, really, he should be looking this way. And when it's too late, after he realizes, oh, crap, the safety rotated that side, I'm supposed to be over here. Now he's got to get his shoulders turned around going this way and his feet aligned and he can't get it there as fast because Ryan Wingo is open right now. And the ball's got to get there. So his mechanism to speed up is he just stays open and he sidearms everything and he dips his shoulder and kind of wings it. And that's when the ball, you see like a lot of his misses. They just sort of torpedo into the ground and he's missing. So I think it starts with his eyes and just his mechanism to try to catch up with everything. But it's not, it's not all right right now. And in that San Jose State game, he threw four touchdown passes really quick. They were all wide open throws. But he also, he just misses throws. You got to be able to make in your sleep. And I think that's another example of a guy that, that's pressing too much. You know, it's funny, I was thinking about this, something that, that you and I never had to deal with, obviously was nil. And I do think something that, that, you know, amidst what the, you know, the pressures quarterbacks and just college football players have in general about what fans are saying, social media now, you and I didn't have to deal with that. You know, the noise on social media. What, what the media saying, what SportsCenter saying, all that stuff. You also have to justify your nil deal and what starts making 6.8 million or something.

[David Pollock]

Reportedly, them glasses. Them glasses are checking them, cashing them checks, baby.

[Brent Rollins]

I mean, they're driving Lamborghinis in Austin. So it's like, you know, it's, it's. And in your mind you're thinking, I'm the highest paid guy in college football. I gotta start, I gotta start showing people why now, should you, Brent, should we feel sorry for him? No, no, we should.

[David Pollock]

Palmer, Palmer, what would you have bought with a 6 million if you were making 6 million? Like, what would the investment have been? Like, what would Jesse Palmer have been driving in or had in college that he didn't have?

[Brent Rollins]

I probably would have had a lot of Abercrombie and Fitch cargo shirts. I have no idea. Like, I, I, what would I have, what would I have done? I, I didn't. I had no concept of money. I had no concept of cars, jewelry, anything. I just would have had, I would have had a new pair of cargo shorts every day down in Florida. That's all I would have, cargo shorts.

[David Pollock]

All right, Frank, go ahead.

[Brent Rollins]

Brothers.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

Well, so first off, 1. How does your dad not know that? How many your most interceptions in a game? Shame on dad, by the way.

[Brent Rollins]

That's.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

We gotta get that in there.

[Brent Rollins]

But.

[Co-host (possibly Wes)]

The QB part and you're talking about the struggles, but it's guys that are coming back and coming back to the same team versus some of the goodness that you've seen and some of the greatness that you've seen early from Matier, Aguilar, these guys that are portal guys that are in new situations. You, from the quarterback perspective, looking at that, what. What do you. Look at that when you. And see what do you. What's your thoughts on that word, These portal areas and not so much in.

[Brent Rollins]

That's a great point. I mean, and, you know, I think that's part of what's disappointing is that year two for quarterbacks, especially for quarterbacks. David, I always felt like year two, like true freshman to true sophomore, was the biggest jump in terms of development because you're just getting used to college. You're getting used to the new atmosphere. You're getting used to being away from home. You're getting used to your scheme, you're getting used to your teammates, the stadium, all that kind of stuff, the process. And so that, to me, always felt like that's generally, to me, when quarterbacks make their biggest leap from year one of playing to year two. And that's. That's been frustrating. But it is interesting because on the flip side of this conversation, when you look in the SEC quarterback play, when you look at a guy like John Mattier right now at Oklahoma and how well that guy's playing, and yes, he's playing in a new school and he went into the Portal, but he's playing for his same offensive coordinator in the same system he played for back in Washington State with Ben Arbuckle. And it's like, that's what it's supposed to look like to me. Like, when, when I'm looking at, like, I think right now John Mattier is the best player in the country. It's way too early, right? Three games in hands.

[David Pollock]

I love that.

[Brent Rollins]

It's like he, to me, though, he's playing so fast. Like, you can tell he's been in that system three years. He always knows, like, you're watching him against Michigan, he's throwing it from this arm angle and this arm angle and this arm angle, and he just spinning the bean everywhere. And he's taken off and running and.

[David Pollock]

With some revolutions on that, on that.

[Brent Rollins]

And it's like. And it's just. It's just coming out quick. And like, it reminds. Like, it reminds me when Stetson Bennett was rolling at Georgia with Monken's offense, you remember, like, just how he knew everything so Fat. You'd watch him like, he knew. He knew where he was going pre snap. And if you're playing man to man coverage and dudes are on crossing routes like sets and Bennett's out, like, every decision was so intentional. It was so fast, and it's like he just. He knew inherently what to do. And that's how I feel. Matier's playing right now in Oklahoma. There's a different speed and different confidence and conviction level. He's playing out. I'd like to see if he can do this now, week in, week out, throughout the course of the season. But I'm not saying we thought DJ Lagway would be that and Arch Manning would be that necessarily. But. But the Arch Manning problems that guys are running wide open, he's not hitting them. It has nothing to do with the system and has nothing to do with decisions. DJ Lagway has to do a little bit more with decisions right now, especially in that LSU game. And that's. That's. That's a little troublesome now. You know, lots of football to go, lots of evaluation left to go. But, you know, it definitely has been interesting watching it all.

[David Pollock]

All right, I know you gotta go, so I think you answered my question, but I'm gonna make sure I get you on record. I said if I have the number one draft pick in college football and I'm taking one guy, I'm taking John Mattier. Like, it's not debatable for me. Like, I'm taking him. Jesse Palmer putting the stamp of approval on that, or are you taking someone else?

[Brent Rollins]

No, no. You and I could be CO GMs, and we'll build our team around John Mateer. And, dude, I think. I think you got to feel good about it. I mean, he's a guy who has. Who succeeded everywhere. He's been through three games. Just watching the tape we have this year. Forget what he did at Washington State. He's got a. He's got a command to him, a moxie to him. And I would suggest everybody just keep taking Washington State quarterbacks in the portal because those will be the first picks of the draft. Yeah, Pretty good. Yeah, pretty good.

[David Pollock]

All right, big homie. Appreciate your time. The great Jesse Palmer. Appreciate you, my man.

[Brent Rollins]

Appreciate you guys. We'll see you.

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