← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
3 & Out - Jeremiyah Love at the combine, Speed is taking over the NFL, AI's impact on the NFL
00:46:33
Loading summary
Transcript15 lines
- [00:00]
John Middlekauff
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
- [00:04]
Verizon Advertiser
We all want the best without having to pay the most. That's where Verizon comes in. Get this. Now you can take your AT&T or T mobile bill into any Verizon store. They'll look at what you're paying and give you a better deal, period. You get the amazing coverage you want while keeping more cash in your pocket. Visit your local Verizon store to start saving today. Must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms and conditions apply.
- [00:35]
John Middlekauff
CBS Tuesday is NCIS Night with new episodes of ncis, NCIS Origins and NCIS Sydney. Possible abduction of the Marines. We need to move anybody who's a potential target. We're gonna do what we do and we're gonna figure out answers. Whatever they're planning, it's going down here. Ncis NCIS Night is all new. It's a night you've never seen. CBS Tuesday, starting 87 Central and streaming on Paramount Plus.
- [01:05]
Lavar Arrington
This is Lavar Arrington from Up on Game. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. It's a great time to apply for an Apple Card. You'll love earning unlimited daily cash on every Purchase. That includes 3% daily cash when you buy the latest iPhone, AirPods and Apple. Watch at Apple through this special referral offer. When you get a new Apple Card, you can earn bonus daily cash. To qualify, you must apply at Apple Co getdailycash Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs bank usa Salt Lake City. Branch offer may not be available elsewhere. Terms and limitations apply.
- [01:36]
John Middlekauff
This is Matt Rogers from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. This is Bowen Yang from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. Hey, so what if you could boost the WI fi to one of your devices when you need it most? Because Xfinity WI fi can. And what if your wifi could fix itself before there's even really a problem? Xfinity is so reliable. It does that too. What if your WI fi had parental instincts? Xfinity WI Fi is part nanny, part ninja, protecting your kids while they're online. And finally, what if your WI fi was like, the smartest WI fi? Yeah, it's wifi that is so smart, it makes everything work better together. Bottom line, Xfinity is smart and reliable. You deserve the peace of mind of having wifi that's got your back. Xfinity. Imagine that. The volume. What is going on, everybody? John Middlecock 3 Now podcast. Hopefully everyone is doing well. Better than Me feeling a little under the weather. That's you know, a couple day bender at the combine, having a newborn who's also kind of sick. I think he got sick from my niece came into town. So we just got germs and lack of sleep and you just gotta, you just gotta put on your big boy pants and you know, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and press record and do a podcast because we said the combine. So I want to do some big picture takeaways from the combine. From Jeremiah Love to Fernando Mendoza to, to just the quarterbacks at the combine from an NFL perspective to Florio saying that AI is coming for people's jobs in the league, talking to some GMs to just some overall takeaways from me walking around at the combine rubbing elbows with the people. So that, that is will be the plan today. I think we're going to do a big mailbag tomorrow at John Middle Coff at John Middle Cop is the Instagram. We have a, a former player that might turn into a current player here in a couple weeks that I think is going to join us for Wednesday show. So we got a big week upcoming. So buckle up. Let's. Let's just talk some football because you guys know the drill. If you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to the three and out separate podcast. Probably do. I'll probably do a Go Low podcast as well this week. Shane Lowry just all time implosion today on the golf course. He was up four, hit a couple in the water and ended up losing by two. But we'll talk about that in a couple days because they're playing Arnold Palmer this week and we got NFL free agency right around the corner. We got a lot going on. You can find all of our videos up on Netflix. So make sure you check that out and appreciate all you guys watching, appreciate all you guys interacting and. But let's just start with, let's start with Jeremiah Love, the Notre Dame running back. And I would say over the course of the last, I don't know, 10, 15 years, it has felt like the running back has been devalued. Remember like five or six years ago they did like a zoom call because they were pissed about being underpaid. It's like guys, the, these, these gms aren't colluding against you. It's just your value. It's supply, demand. We can always find guys in the middle rounds and get us a thousand yards and produce. And then it kind of came a crop of like hall of Fame level players. If you polled NFL GMs and head coaches on non quarterbacks who are the best players in the league, you might not make it past five without the name Bijan Robinson being said. I was talking to someone at the combine and I was like if they're, they're not going to do this. But if they did put Bijan Robinson on the trading block, they would get two one, two number one picks for the guy that would feel like something that would happen from the 80s or the 90s, but he's that good. I mean three years ago, Christian McCaffrey, the season he had for the 49ers easily could won the MVP. The year Lamar did last year, Saquon had like a historic season. So the, the running back has become what Jameer Gibbs is doing in Detroit has definitely become more and more back in the forefront of importance in the NFL. Now my takeaway is I, I have a pretty simple philosophy. It is really hard to get high end offensive tackles and elite pass rushers. So when you have an opportunity in the top six seven picks you always take Abdul Carter, Aiden Hutchinson, whoever, over the best running back on the board. But it's also a market value, right? And in 2026 there's a lot of debate on all these players. The only thing we know for certain is Fernando Mendoza is going number one. If you pulled 30 GMs and said after Mendoza rank one through 10 the next 10 best players, I think the rankings would be all over the place. But I think one thing that would be pretty consistent that you wouldn't get past a couple on everyone's list without Jeremiah Love coming up. And here's the thing, let's use Bijan saquon and Christian McCaffrey. I would put when Christian is right and obviously Bijan above Saquon slightly because of what they bring in the passing game. Like the one knock on Saquon is he's probably average in the passing game, has some bad drops, just not an area in which he excels. Adrian Peterson was not good in the passing game, but he was an all time runner right when Saquon's right as he was a couple years ago with good blocking, he went for two kids right now the other guys, their arsenal like Marshall Falk or like a Ladanian Tomlinson is just an unstoppable force because they are elite wide receivers and then awesome running backs. And all three of those guys fall into the category of super high character like face of the franchise, elite character, which is something that really matters in the NFL. When it comes to star players, and historically, running backs can be a little hit or miss. Like, sometimes those guys aren't exactly, you know, choir boys, which, listen, you can't have a team full of choir boys. You ain't going to win a championship or you're not going to win playoff games if you don't got some wild cards. So I'm not mandating that every guy just be Fernando Mendoza here. That ain't the case in the. In this story that came out that some GM or some scout or coach told Fernando Mendoza to get arrested. So. So he falls to them. It's like, guys, that's clearly a joke. Like, can't we just factor in some things that are. Like, that's clearly a joke. It ain't that serious. I. I see people and listen. I've spent less time the last four or five days on social media, and I felt extremely refreshed or refreshed. It's. It's crazy how enjoyable people are in the real world. And you just get on social media, you're like, does everyone just want to kill themselves like this? These are two separate realities, and one is actual reality, and the other one feels fake. A lot of people, you know, tweeting from their house, playing video games, how shitty the world is. Like, guys, stop being a scam artist here. But when I see the. Fernando Mendoza reacts like it was a joke, clearly. But back to Jeremiah Love is. He went to the combine, widely viewed as one of the best players in this draft. He's 6ft tall, 212 pounds. He ran a 4, 3, 6. His drill work, which is kind of important. We've all seen him play. He was going to excel at that. He did. And then they asked him, like, hey, can you do extra? Because in your offense. The passing game wasn't a huge part of the repertoire at Notre Dame. He did not need to do that. Honestly, once he ran a 4, 3, 6, he could say, guys, I'm not doing anything at the combine. I'm not doing anything at the pro day. And no one worth their salt would have judged him. Do you know what he said instead? Yeah, I'll do it. Let's roll. And when we talk about competitive, competitive nature, football, character, football, like, they talk about this a lot. Like, how willing are you to compete? How willing are you to do everything humanly possible when it comes to football? And it's easy to go, well, this. None of this stuff matters anymore. It did to Jeremiah Love. And Jeremiah Love is a lot better player than a lot of the guys at the draft who refused to do it. So it mattered to him and to me. When I watched his interview after he got done working out, I went, God, I mean, you could argue 20, 30 years ago, this guy is a lock to go number two in the draft. Right back in the day when running backs went one, you know, obviously Fernando Mendoza would probably go one in most drafts given the importance of quarterback and given that the Raiders just drafted a running back in the top six last year. But I, I think when you look at this class, Fernand or Jeremiah Love in 1997 and 1988 and 2002 would be the number two overall pick. And that's why my big takeaway was, you know, you guys know where I stand. I thought drafting Christian McCaffrey at 8 was nuts. I thought drafted Bijan Robinson at 8 was nuts. I thought drafting Saquon Barkley at 2 was nuts. Which is somewhat ironic because those three are like some of my favorite guys in the league. I love the way they play and I love everything they stand for. So it's like it's easy to. I almost feel like a hypocrite because the Falcons don't regret taking Bijan Robinson. Obviously McCaffrey was, you know, should have gone higher than 8 and Saquon was just on an awful team. But you put him on a good team, you see how talented the guy is. I think Jeremiah loves floor now like I thought, you know, make it to the Chiefs. I never thought the Chiefs were going to take him, but it's like I could see him getting to the Cowboys at 12, like there's no chance. I think the farthest key were to quote unquote fall would be the Saints at 8. I think if you're the Titans and they just made a trade, they traded the big D tackle from Texas who I remember every. A lot of people thought he was a major red flag to the jets for Jermaine Johnson who Salah was a part of drafting the edge rusher. Obviously I am a believer in taking linemen people in the trenches if all things are equal. But are we sure all these guys in the trenches are big time now I'm a big believer in Bain. The kid from Miami is going to be a high end NFL player. But teams get reluctant when your measurables are what they are because historically there aren't that many guys who are all time great players with those measurables. Now could he be an outlier? 100%. Russell Wilson was an outlier. Right. Like small guys there are Certain individuals who can break through most times. That's not the case though. When you look at the best pass rushers in the league, they're massive human beings. Miles Garrett, Aiden Hutchinson, the Bosa brothers. You know, Max Crosby's kind of a unique situation because he was a late round pick, but he's a monster. I saw this clip of him in the Octagon with Sean Strickland. I'm not some big UFC guy, but Strickland was just peppering him in the face and Max was like shaking it off and smiling. I'm like these guys now. Now Bane's competitive football character and his effort on the field is elite and his ability to play the position is high end. But like, I think he's going to go a little later than people realize because of the measurables. So I think the, I think Jeremiah Love could go as high as four with the Titans. I mean, I, the, the Giants, I know they took Scatter Boo last year, but I mean, we know the type football that the harbor brothers like. I think he is definitely going to be a long conversation now. If I was a betting man, they probably, you know, if they feel comfortable enough about the offensive lineman or Caleb Downs right there and then The Saints at 8 make a lot of sense, but like that's, that's Jeremiah. That's where Jeremiah loves going. Like he's not sniffing, falling out of the, of the top 10 and he earned it on the field and then he went to the combine. Double middle fingers to every guy that's like, yeah, I'm a little too cool for school. I'm not going to work out. My agent told me to do this. My agent told me to do that. I was with a couple GMs on Tuesday night of the combine and I mentioned this to Coward last week when we recorded a podcast and these guys have been illegal long time and the beers were flowing and they said it's crazy how often guys in these meetings be like, yeah, I'm not going to do anything, or I'll, I'll do the broad jump in the vertical. But that's it. It's like, well, what's the point of even. Like, what are you afraid to just do some drill work? You're going to do it anyway. Well, it's not their idea. It's their agents, which, listen, the agents are incentivized to, you know, try to control as much as they control and earn the couple percent that they're going to make ideally off these guys making a lot of money in the nf. But that has become a much more in vogue thing. And Jeremiah Love would have been the number one guy to not do anything. And he did everything. You know, Fernando Mendoza didn't throw. He just played 16 games, won the national championship. And speaking of Fernando Mendoza, one thing that really kind of became very obvious to me over the course of the combine. To win the national championship, you have to have good players and you have to be a really good team. And football is the team game. It's the ultimate team game, right? Even if you have Dan Marino made a Super Bowl a second year, never went back. Talk to anyone that played Dan Marino in the 80s and the early 90s, they'd be like, he's one of the best players I've ever seen. I played Montana, I played la. He's every bit as good. And I've known a lot of those guys. The, the reverence in which they hold. Damn. Marino's crazy. He never got back. I don't even think he won that many playoff games his career. I have to YouTube or Google that one. But when I look at the Indiana team, Fernando Mendoza is going to go number one. Talking to some different scouts and people in the league, there is a chance that another Indiana player doesn't come off the board till the third round. And that is Cooper. Not even Surat, who's probably going to be a day three pick. The corner, little undersized good player again. Round three, round four. You are not looking at some team. Like when you watched all those guys work out of Ohio State. You went my takeaway with Ohio State and people think I'm a hater and I kind of am. There is no disputing they're the number one college program in the country in terms of over the course of the Internet age. They might not win the national championship every year, but now that Saban is gone, you, you would say Alabama, but that was a Saban led deal. It hasn't mattered who their coach was with Trestle, with Urban, now with Ryan Day, they're an NFL franchise. I mean, every year they got four or five guys going in the first round. And this year, you know, from Sonny Styles to Reese to Caleb Downs, I didn't even think did that much at the combine. Don't blame him, he's a lock top 10 pick. And Carnell Tate, same thing. He's going to go in the top 20. Their best prospect arguably is still on the team in Jeremiah Smith, surely with a ton of other guys that will go in the first round next year. For Indiana to win that game, looking back that is an incredible accomplishment. Alabama is not the same Alabama under Saban. And let me obviously Alabama would be the best program over the Internet age. But I also think you have to factor in pre Saban and post Saban. It ain't the same. In the Alabama team we watched play this year is like eh, okay relative to their standard but Oregon you look up the tight end had like a historic day. I think he ran a 436 I, I, I, I did a little research. I remember because I was in college when Vernon Davis ran like a 440 or a 43 9. Complete freak show. Got drafted in the top five. Kyle Pitts a couple years ago ran a 44 0, got drafted in the top five. Sadiq, I mean that's, I don't know if he's going to go top five but he's going in the top 10. The white safety, I mean might be the fastest white guy in the history of athletics. Ran like a four three five. The guy that picked off Drew Aller in the overtime up in Happy Valley. And I'm not even factoring in their best prospect is their quarterback that returned to school. So I watched it running back workout. I mean this is a team loaded with guys. Oregon has been a pretty consistent four or five program in the country over the course of the last 15, 20 years. And then Miami who obviously has been down hit, their team this year was full of freaks. Do you know how many guys on that team over the course of the next couple years are going to get drafted in the first round? I mean they got two top 10 picks probably at the combine right now in Bane. And the offensive tackle who is a monstrous human being, you could argue the best player on their team this year was an 18 year old freshman. So what Signetti and the coaching staff and Fernando and the whole team coming together. It has to be one of the most incredible accomplishments we've ever seen because typically when these teams win it like Georgia when they went back to back, their Entire defense was first and second round picks and they had Lad McConkey and Brock Bowers on the team with several drafted offensive linemen on the team. You look at all those Alabama teams, the first round used to be like an Alabama invitational. You go back to some of those Urban Meyer Ohio State teams or the Urban Meyer Florida teams or the Pete Carroll teams or that Texas team with Vince Young. To win the national Joe Burrow and lsu you have to have a roster full not of NFL players, of elite NFL Players, especially when it comes just to the draft guys, they're going to get drafted in the top 40 picks and that was just not Indiana. So part of what Indiana, it wouldn't have been possible pre nil because they got a lot of transfers. I still don't think any team that lacks the amount of impact draft players, we're going to see this happen again. It truly became more impressive. I thought watching the combine that Indiana won this national championship. So when I see that Kurt Signetti is making $13 million, I go he's underpaid. He deserves more. Because if you just put decent coach like Sark or you, you just pick, you know, some top 15 coach in the country, no chance. I 0 chance. You could argue they wouldn't have beat Ohio State. They wouldn't have might not want a playoff game. So Signetti is a badass. The speed at the combine, when the defensive lineman ran, when the linebackers ran, when the DBs ran, when the running backs ran all D.J. and Rich Eisen kept saying fastest group in the history of the combine. Fastest group in the history of the combine. Fastest group in the history of the combine. I've been hammering this point for a long time. The reason we have more injuries now than ever is because we have never had more players in the NFL than were this fast. I, I don't know if it was Charles Davis or DJ made the point. You know, if you were a wide receiver or a safety and you ran like a 4, 5, 2, like that was a fine time. Like most guys were not Deion Sanders or DK Metcalf. Like if, if you ran a 451 or 45 2, it's like yeah, no big deal. Now if you ran a 4, 5 2, you felt slow. Like 448 used to be a good time. It feels like if you're not in the low four fours, you are bringing up the rear. So we have never had isolated training obviously nutrition really figuring out from a work out standpoint working on speed. Like guys top to bottom have never been faster from big guys. I mean I flipped on the. There was a Penn State defensive tackle that ran. It was like 300 pounds. He ran like a four seven zero. Like who the are these guys? It's insane. The Big Ten with Nil Collins been hammering this point. But you see it like the amount of skill that is going to the combine. A lot of those guys used to be in the sec. I mean Caleb down is a pretty good example. That guy would have been a Bama. Guy would have Been in Georgia, now the big tens opening up the checkbook like they're going to get a lot of these guys. Ohio State always has, but now a lot of these other programs are. And, and I think you see it when you look at the combine, you'll see it when you see the draft. But in football, it's a lot like, you know, boxing or the ufc. There's a reason you spar before you get in the ring, right? You want to build up the calluses. You want to build up the feeling of getting hit. Football is no different, right? You want to feel tackling physicality before you just play a game. Well, double days got wiped out 15 years ago. They haven't exist. I don't know if they even exist in high school anymore. They definitely do not exist in Division 1 football and they do not exist in the National Football League. And now there are rules like you can only practice three or four straight days before you get a day off. You go back 20, 30 years ago and listen, whether this right or wrong, you would have like weeks on end of double days. And if the coach, they didn't give you a day off, maybe they gave you an afternoon practice off. But there was no. I remember my first when I became a GA at Fresno State. And Fresno was like 108, 109, 110. During the, during the summer, especially in August, I. I felt like we went three straight weeks, double days. It was a war zone. And my first year in Philadelphia, same thing, double days, the physicality, it was like, Jesus, the nf, this is the NFL. And the next year the CBA changed and you couldn't do that anymore and it became a walkthrough league. And no one is more anti this than the coaches. The problem is the owners didn't care because they gave in that to the players and they kept more money. So it was all negotiations. And the owners look at it as a W because it was a financial negotiation, not an on the field negotiation. So when you look at the speed of these guys and they don't practice as much, when you see all these injuries on the field, yeah, they might not be as big as they once were, but they've never been faster. So the contact when these guys get hit and these guys get into these weird positions, they've never been working at the consistent speeds in which they work now. So my big takeaway was, yeah, all these guys are hauling ass, but this is why all these guys in the league get injured. There's never been more speed and there's never been less practice. And that's a combination that equals injured reserve. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Day. Florida's Sportsbook March is here. That means college basketball takes center stage. Stakes are rising and the shots are falling. Get it. All your action you need on Hard Rock Band Hoops is on every night. That means you can get same game parlays going every night of the week when you sign up today and double your winning on your first 10 bets on max 50. That's right. If you would have won a hundred bucks on your same game Parlay, make that 200 bucks. The hard Rock Bet Sportsbook app is the only legal sports book for whenever you're in Florida. It's also live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan. Plus Hard Rock Bet. They offer new promos every single day. So when whenever you're listening, just open up the app and check out what you've got. On any day of the week, download the Hard Rock Bet today and make your first deposit payable and bonus bets. Not a cash offer. Offered by Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida. Offered by Seminole hard Rock Digital LLC in all other states. You must be 21 plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida? Call 1833 playwise in Indiana. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-809 with it gambling problem. Call 1-800- Gambler Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia CBS Tuesday is NCIS night with new episodes of NCIS NCIS Origins and NCIS Sydney. Possible abduction of a Marines. We need to move anybody's potential target. We're gonna do what we do and we're gonna figure out answers. Whatever they're planning, it's going down here. Night is all new. It's a night you've never seen. CBS Tuesday, starting 8. 7 Central and streaming on Paramount plus,
- [26:23]
Lavar Arrington
this is Lavarrington from Up on Game. This message is brought to you by Apple Card It's a great time to apply for an Apple Card.
- [26:29]
John Middlekauff
You can.
- [26:29]
Lavar Arrington
You'll love earning unlimited daily cash on every Purchase. That includes 3% daily cash when you buy the latest iPhone, AirPods and Apple. Watch at Apple through this special referral offer. When you get a new Apple card, you can earn bonus daily cash. To qualify, you must apply at Apple Co getdaily Cash Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City branch offer may not be available elsewhere. Terms and limitations apply.
- [26:55]
Verizon Advertiser
All right, two truths and a lie. Here we go. I went to college with college football coach Jim McElwaine. I began my broadcasting career doing play by play for the Las Vegas Stars, and I've been a Verizon customer for 15 years. Okay, I lied. All three are true. Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, if you bring in your ATT or T Mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most waste to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. So take that AT and T or T Mobile. Build to your local Verizon store today, get a better deal and start saving based on root metrics. Best overall Mobile Network Performance U.S. 2nd Half 2025 All Rights Reserve must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions app.
- [27:50]
John Middlekauff
The the other big takeaway is the quarterbacks. And I'm not talking the college quarterbacks, I'm talking the NFL quarterbacks. All signs point to Tua Tonga By Loa getting cut. And if they wanted to take the entire hit right now, it'd be close to $100 million. I personally would do that. I would imagine that they split it into two because teams I I thought the, the Broncos several years ago when they cut Russell Wilson should do the same thing and they cut it in two. But I don't think it would be inconceivable given that they're trying to kind of reset the franchise. Kyler Murray, he's going to be cut as well. No one is trading for Kyler Murray. And all signs point to Malik Willis. And listen, timing is a huge part of life, right? I mean I knowing these coaches, they move a lot like you you asked them four years ago, try to sell in your house if you got a new job in 2021 or 2022. They're like, God, I made $500,000 and I lived in the thing for 18 months. Well, talk to them now. Trying to sell their house a little harder, interest rates a little higher, not as many people lined up at the front door to buy the thing. So timing matters. And Malik Willis really benefits right now from being 26 years old, played at a high level organization, proven he has dramatically improved last year was thrown into multiple situations. One just as a starter on a given week excelled. Another thrown in to the fire in the middle or early in a game where he was not the starter and excelled against the Bears. So he's got a lot of buzz. And it's not his fault that all the teams are going to be interested in him suck because you got to cash in. This league can turn on you in a dime. And to me, Malik Willis, my guess would be like three years, $75 million, like 50 million guaranteed. And there's a chance that he goes to the Cardinals, to the jets, to whoever's one of these bad teams. And it's just, it's a terrible situation. I, I would kind of bet on that being the case, but he doesn't have a choice. This is when you change the financial outcome of your life, and those are the teams willing to pay you, so you gotta, you gotta pounce. And he did enough this year that even if that doesn't go well, Malik was gonna play in the league for a long, long time. And he's gonna be really, really rich because of this contract. But we all kind of agree, like, I wouldn't sign to a. You probably wouldn't sign to a. Who knows if TUA lands anywhere. Kyler's pretty interesting, right? Because there is some physical talent there. Now, he's battled injuries, he's obviously battled some maturity questions, but, you know, one thing he's really got going against him is Ben Johnson talked about this at his press conference. I love Tyson bad, but listen, I, I believe he's one of the best 32 quarterbacks in the league. I think someone is going to trade for Tyson. He's under a cheap contract. Even if you got to give a fourth round pick, you would rather have the hope of Tyson because let's face it, I mean, you could argue hope is one of the most powerful things in our lives. What's it feel like when you have no hope? What does that usually mean? You're depressed, you're feeling down, you feel like crap. What happens even if you don't have much going on in life, but it's like, hey, I got this job interview coming up in a couple of weeks, or, hey, I got this girl I'm taking out on Friday night. The power of hope is real. And to me, Tyson Beget allows at least a team to have some hope. Maybe they found a diamond in the rough over Kyler or two. And I also think the comeback of Derek Carr dramatically hurts those two guys because he's proven to play in the league a long time. Super high character guy, been in a ton of different offenses. Now, I, I, Kyler's gonna get a spot, but my guess would be he's got to be a backup somewhere. And last but not least, I saw Florio put this article out on Pro Football Talk and the headline it it made it was so good it made me click on the article. It said fear of AI eliminating jobs makes its way to football. And one thing that Florio said was that during multiple meetings away from the cameras and microphones, folks currently employed by franchises questioned whether and to what extent AI will supplant positions currently held by humans. He must have been talking to people that I wasn't talking about because I didn't hear AI come up one time. But I I do think he brings up a couple good points, he said. He said we starting with the scouts. Many of the tasks currently performed by a team's staff of scouts can be performed by AI. As one GM explained it, the reports generated by AI based on the various data fed into the program were eerily thorough inaccurate. I'm going to sound like a homer because these are my people. This is that stepping stone led me to this in the life that I have now, which I feel very fortunate to have is while I won't disagree that there is going to be some sort of program that is going to be able to take measurables and probably even the film and generate some tape talk to any of these scouts their job beside maybe like six seventh round picks, the least important part of it is the evaluation part, especially as the area scouts. Maybe for pro scouts you'd be in some trouble. You know the number one job of the area scouts is to get all the information that that is not available. Find out about his character. Well guess what? That is not public information. When you have guys in this draft which like every draft are major question marks and have issues, whether it because of the law, whether it be because of maturity issues inside the facility, whatever it may be, you know what happens. The teams don't just give that stuff out. You get that information based on relationships based on other human beings. I saw a great tweet this weekend. Basically like I'm shorting all this AI and algo stuff because anytime you go somewhere with family, with friends and interact with humans, how good do you feel? When you sit and live in the algo, how good do you feel? I I even saw Ray Lewis called social media the the new drugs and I've said this forever. Like remember when all the talk about alcohol, young people don't drink alcohol. Remember the Thunder won the NBA championship and like half the team had never tried a beer. One takeaway I have from the combine is I saw a lot of guys, 20, 30 years old, some people that I had taken calls from and given advice to that are now scouts and playoff teams. Is really cool to see all having sea tails, all having beers, enjoying themselves. Didn't see any algos, didn't see any AI humans interacting with humans that bring and fill your cup. I promise you, if you need a lift in life, go interact with other humans. Because I did more than I typically do at the combine, I felt great despite having six hours of sleep. That works. Get yourself into the sun, talk to other people. And the thing with AI when it comes to the scouts, getting the information on the people, because if it was just the player, drafting would be easy. Why do most of these guys in the NFL fail? Because the person, because the wiring, because the focus. You can't measure. One of the guys who's one of my best buddies in the league, who's a coach, assistant coach, we went out and I was just picking his brain because he's so good with players and he was just telling me the different players he was interviewing and he's like, out on this guy, out on this guy. He's like, one thing I've learned is like, this is a serious ass league and guys that excel in this league are serious ass people. So when now I get it. You're in a draft class. You're still young and immature, but like dilly daggy, dilly dallying and being like, well, figure it out. Like I'm a, like, that doesn't work in the league. It is a league full of bad motherfuckers who are very, very serious about their craft. And you can, you can luck into a year, but you can't have a high end career without being all your chips in the middle of the table. The media has fought this forever. They loved the word balance. You need to be balanced. Balance doesn't fucking exist. There is. The way I lead my life is different in the way you lead your life. And there is no right or wrong. But for most of us that you know, whatever, you know, certain jobs you have a little less balance with maybe your family comes with the territory. Ask NFL coaches, ask Wall street bankers. It's part of the gig. And I just think when you look at what people are asking from the scouts, a lot of people can. I could teach anyone listening to this to evaluate some players. Now, some of you might be better than others, but I can't teach you all to go into programs where you need to develop Long standing relationships to find out, well, actually this guy was involved in a car accident where someone was left paralyzed. But because we live in this small town and control it, it's never gotten out. No one knows about it. Do you think the computer program can do that? Because I'm not sure they can. Now here's where I think I'd be a little nervous. And listen, coaches make more than scouts. So if you are a quality control coach, that means you're the lowest guy in the totem pole. For example, when I worked with the Eagles my first year, Doug Peterson was our quality control coach. My second year, Matt Nagy was the quality control coach. Couple years before I got there, Sean McDermott had been the quality control coach. If you become a quality control coach for the right person and you are a good coach, you are a lock to have a great career. Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVeigh started being quality control coaches for Jon Gruden. Like if you get with the right guy, it propels your career. So here's what Florio wrote for coaching staffs. The quality control position is typically held by a lower level employee whose job it is to compile information and clips requested by the head coach or typically the coordinators. Typically these are labor intensive exercises requiring more elbow grease than brain power. And it would be very easy to develop a tool to pull the same kind of information together without having a quality control assistant in place to perform that work. I think I saw this special on the ramps. And typically when you get the lowest position, the quality control position, or the offensive Assistant for Sean McVay, your job is to draw all the plays and on Monday and Tuesday you're working like 20 hour days drawing the plays. I don't disagree with this because these are positions now that pay 150, 200 grand and you're basically just drawing stuff into a computer program where you're not coaching a position, you're not coaching a unit, you're on the field but you're not doing anything. So I agree here, the quality control position would be in major trouble if you can develop a program that you can just say what you need and it draws all the plays, which to me feels pretty inevitable. And I don't even dispute that the programs will be able to figure out how to write up a player. But how are you calling the GM of Oregon football and going like, what happened to your running back? When it's not public information and it actually makes the football program look good? Because if it was me or you and I, I'm not using this as a specific example. The Oregon running back, I just picked a position and a program. I think the Oregon running back, I watched him work out, good guy. But you have to understand these programs in the south, in the Big Ten, they control the city and a lot of guys get off on a lot of that no one knows about. There's a player in this draft who's going to go really high, who was involved in a situation off the field the scouts know about, the public does not and the media then freaks out when stuff comes out. Well they did against you know how James Pierce work out. Red flags exist and people don't want to go on record and say what it is proprietary information that's kept within the leak until it's not. But it's going to be interesting to watch how this plays out. Can I tell you about my new friends ZBiotics? Let's face it, after a late night with drinks, I want to bounce back and I want to bounce back fast. Zbiotics is a pre alcohol probiotic drink that is the world's first first genetically engineered probiotic. It's been invented by PhD to tackle rough mornings after drinking. You have one before you start. You have a few cocktails you hydrate during and the pre alcohol produces an enzyme to break this byproduct down. Just remember to make pre alcohol your first drink of the night. Drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow. That's why every time I drink I have a Zebiotics ready. To try it, go to zbiotics.com 3&out now you'll get 15% off your first order when you use 3&out at checkout. Plus it's backed by 100% money back guarantee so there's no risk. Subscriptions are also available for maximum consistency. Remember to head to zbiotics.com 3&out and use the code 3&out at checkout for 15% off. CBS Tuesday is NCIS Night with new episodes of NCIS NCIS Origins and NCIS Sydney. Possible abduction of a Marine move anybody's potential target. We're going to do what we do and we're going to figure out answers. Whatever they're planning, it's going down here. NCIS NCIS Night is all new. It's a night you've never seen. CBS Tuesday, starting 8, 7 Central and streaming on Paramount.
- [41:46]
Lavar Arrington
Plus, this is Lavar Arrington from Up on Game. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. It's a great time to apply for an Apple Card, you'll love earning unlimited daily cash on every purchase. That includes 3% daily cash when you buy the latest iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at Apple through this special referral offer. When you get a new Apple Card, you can earn bonus daily cash. To qualify, you must apply at Apple Co getdaily Cash Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City. Branch offer may not be available elsewhere. Terms and limitations apply.
- [42:19]
Verizon Advertiser
All right, two Truths and a Lie. Here we go. I went to college with college football coach Jim McElwaine. I began my broadcasting career doing play by play for the Las Vegas Stars and I've been a Verizon customer for 15 years. Okay, I lied. All three are true. Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, if you bring in your ATT or T Mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most ways to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. So take that AT and T or T Mobile build to your local Verizon store today, get a better deal and start saving based on root metrics. Best Overall Mobile Network Performance U.S. 2nd Half 2025 All Rights Reserve must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.
- [43:14]
John Middlekauff
Couple other highlights from Mike Mike Combine for those of you long time listeners. Remember when Brandon Staley was the head coach of the Chargers? I used to make fun of his coaching a lot and kind of make fun of the person. I thought he was a little bit of, a little bit of a politician, not my type guy, not my type guy. But I, I don't know from a character standpoint it'd be some bad guy. What I, I've never tried to be too personal beside like I'm out on this guy. And the Chargers were too, they were out on him. They fired him. Well, Wednesday night I went to dinner with Jackson and we, we were having, we had a bunch of beers and cocktails and ate some dinner and then we were both gonna, you know that we shut down the, the restaurant bar at about 10 o' clock and we were staying at different hotels. I changed my hotel last minute so he was walking home, I was walking home and as I'm walking home I have to go through the JW Marriott where all the action is happening. So as I'm walking home and I, I was, I had a plane flight early at 6am the next day. I was honestly planning on just going home to bed. But you know, you've had four or five vodkas, you know, you're feeling pretty good. You're like, I'll just do one round. So I do a round. See some people I know start talking. I, I get very excited with some of the guys that young guys that I've known are having a lot of success and just talking to some different young scouts. One guy came up to me. He's with a really now is really cool. But I, I see, I, I text a good buddy. I'm like, hey, you going out tonight? He's like, yeah, I'll be at the JW in five minutes. So I waited. So I spent the, the night with him. And then about an hour in, he's like, hey, we're going to this other place. So I'm like, this is probably not the best idea. But I, I go to the front of the hotel. I'm like, hey, you guys have a water? They hand me a bottle of water. I'm like, I just maybe have a Coors Light or something at the, at the bar, but I'm just going to go. And so we're there. You can barely move. And I, I, I don't even think I've ever beside a strip club. I don't think I've ever been to a club in my life. I'm not a club guy now. This is a steakhouse, but it essentially turns into a club during the combine. You can't move. It's one of those. But it's not big, at least from what I see online of like a club. It's, it's, it's a restaurant. So now they take out all the tables. So it's just shoulder to shoulder. And a lot of these guys are NFL coaches or, you know, NFL people, just bigger people. So you can't move an inch. So you're just trying to make your way. You're seeing, oh, there's that guy, there's that guy. All of a sudden, I turn around and my guy goes, I want to introduce you to my buddy, Middlekopf. He's a massive podcaster. And I lock eyes. And at first I didn't recognize him because Brandon Staley is now bald. But Brandon looks at me, I look at him. It was almost like we both knew. Now you're in these weird situations. You just kind of say, hey, nice to meet you. But it was. And it's one of those, I've said forever. You feel a little fraudulent now. If he would ask, I would have Said, but it wasn't really. But you can't even hear anyone talk. But all of a sudden I'm being introduced in the middle of this bar club to Brandon Staley, who is now completely bald. And one thing I heard is obviously in New Orleans, he's a good defensive coach. Do, did a good job for them. They, they got, if they get Jeremiah Love in the, in the draft, I, they would be a sleeper playoff team next year. The New Orleans Saints, they got a lot going for them. But I, I met Brandon Staley and yeah, it's just kind of awkward. I'm not going to lie. Other two guys I met, which probably not my finest hour, I, I, I'd had a few too many. One, Anthony Weaver, who is the Ravens defensive coordinator, who was the Dolphins defensive coordinator last year, who was interviewed for head coaching jobs. I, as I told him, because I watched the Ravens press conference, I'm like, bro, you're a lot. Now he didn't, I mean, he is, he's a massive former NFL defensive lineman. He's huge. He's good looking, he's well spoken. I'm like, you're the total package, bro. You're going to be, you feel like a lock to be a head coach and just a really impressive guy. And Joe Brady was the other guy who, who has a, you know, a young millennial feel. You know, he's got the chain. He just kind of looks cool. He just, he doesn't feel like most of the other coaches, I would say, like when you see John Harbaugh or Mike Vrabel or just most of these guys. I met Mike McDonald. Who the guy I was out with Wednesday night, worked with him and, and goes, mike. Because I was like, hey, can you introduce me to Mike? So he's like, hey, hey. Mike was walking in the hotel room as we were leaving, and he introduces me to Mike. And Mike's, you know, is unassuming and under the radar. I mean, he'd be the last if you didn't know football. And you said, which guys do you think won the Super Bowl? It would be all these guys puffing their chest out, walking around the JW Marriott that are like DB coaches on the jets, you know, I'm not like, whoever the DB coaches on the Jets. I'm not saying that guy specifically. I'm just saying random guys, big egos. Like, who the fuck are you? Mike McDonald walked in, he's like, oh, me, I forget the guy's name. He's like, meet James. We went to high school together. And they were just like, out at dinner. I'm like, you guys, you and John Snyder got to be the most low key super bowl champs in the history of the league. I mean, easily history of the league. They just, the way they carry themselves, the way they act, how nice they are to people. Very, very impressive. And the way it was described to me, I'm like, why is he so impressive? We know how good he is as a defensive coach, right? As like a schemer. But the way it was described to me is like, you don't understand. When he went with Jim Harbaugh to the Michigan Wolverines. Well, when he got rehired by the Ravens, they named him the defensive coordinator. They had Anthony Weaver on the staff. They had Zach Orr on the staff, who was the defensive coordinator last year. They had all these established coaches on the staff that he basically left as an assistant, went with John's brother Jim to be a coordinator for one year, and then just jumped above when he got rehired. And he's like, how impressive he was dealing with those guys. He's like, it was a seamless transition. And right when that happened and the respect those guys had for him and the way he handled kind of a delicate situation because we're all human beings. If you're somewhere and you get passed over for a gig, especially one that pays as much as that, and as prestigious as that, the defensive coordinator for the Ravens, there could be a lot of animosity, a lot of hostility. Last time I checked, Zach Orr and Anthony Weaver played in the league. Mike McDonald didn't even play in college. And he's like, it didn't even phase any of them. And you look at Anthony Weaver like, fuck. I mean, that guy was taking orders from Mike McDonald. I was like, yeah, he did, no problem. So I, I left that combine like, I'll buy more Mike McDonald stock. Just a high level, easygoing cat. Obviously, he's good with the players, great with the coaches, which is an underrated aspect of being a coach, is how you deal with the other coaches. Because I've said it forever, the money these guys make is enormous. Like, if you're a position coach, you're making half a million dollars. You're on the low end. I mean, I heard stories of offensive line coaches making two, $3 million, getting mad at other coaches on their staff, not showing up to meetings. It's just like egos with the assistant coaches is as big as the players, which is ironic because they constantly preach to the players like, the team, the team be. Be A good teammate, be all in. It's like, well, you guys aren't. You guys are backstabbing everyone, trying to make it so. The NFL is a crazy place. It's like. It's like a millionaire high school with the gossip, you know? And these guys are public, famous people. It's like. It's like a Bravo show meets UFC meets, like, Wall Street. It's just a weird combination. It's hard to even describe, but when you're there, it's like, I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. And when these guys go to the combine, they really just let loose. So one piece of advice. If you ever want to break into football, there is not an easier way to meet people that you would basically have a very difficult time ever getting around than just going to Indianapolis for several days and whether you drink or not, just going out at night and just being social. Just going out at night and being social. I mean, there were times where I had friends I was waiting on. They were interviewing people, and I was kind of in between. Like, I didn't really have anywhere to go. I'd already eaten dinner. Jackson was getting up early the next day, so he was already in bed. I'm like, I'm only here for a couple. Jackson stayed the whole week. So I was like. I was like. I. I just got. I started roaming around by myself. I would never do now, ever. It honestly kind of brings you back to, like, when you were, like, young and hungry, you know, I'm 40 years old. That's stuff I would have done when I was, like, 24. I can't even imagine, but it kind of makes you feel good. You feel accomplished. When he left, Like, I haven't started talking to people that I. I talked to more people in two days than I probably have in six months. Beside you people, I have more people listening to me, but I don't actually get to interact with most of you guys. So combine man Brandon Staley, he would have been pretty low on my bingo card of people I not only would run into, but then have an interaction with. And I do think he's part of a team that's going to be really good. The volume. This is Julian Edelman from Games With Names. I want to take a second to talk about something that's personal to me. I've had the privilege of working closely with Robert Kraft for a long time, and one thing I've always respected is how seriously he takes up standing up to hate. As a Jewish athlete, my identity is something I am proud of. But I also know what it feels like to be singled out for it. That's why this new commercial for the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate that aired during the Big Game really hit home. It's about showing up for someone when they're targeted, even if you don't have the perfect words. And sometimes standing next to someone is enough. And you can show support by sharing the Blue Square CBS Tuesday is NCIS Night with new episodes of ncis, NCIS Origins and NCIS Sydney. Possible abduction of a Marine squad. Need to move anybody's potential target. We're gonna do what we do and we're gonna figure out answers. Whatever they're planning, it's going down here. NCIS Night is all new. It's a night you've never seen. CBS Tuesday starting 87 Central and streaming on Paramount. Plus everyone deserves to be connected. That's why T Mobile and US Cellular are joining forces. Switch to T Mobile and save up to 20% versus Verizon by getting built in benefits they leave out. Check the math@t mobile.com switch and now T Mobile is in US cellular stores.
- [54:09]
Lavar Arrington
Savings versus Comparable Verizon plans plus the cost of optional benefits plan features and
- [54:13]
John Middlekauff
taxes and fees vary. Savings with three plus lines include third line free via monthly bill credits. Credit stop if you cancel any lines. Qualifying credit required. Think Verizon is expensive? Think again. Anyone can bring their AT&T or T Mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better so bring us your bill. Walk in running pogo sticking teleport if you can ride on the back of a rollerblading yak or fly in on the wings of a majestic falcon. Any way you can bring your AT&T or T Mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal on the best network based on RouteMetric's best overall mobile network performance. US 2nd half 2025 all rights preserved. Must provide very recent postpaid consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.