The Herd with Colin Cowherd: “3 & Out – Massive Mailbag, Lane Kiffin Fallout, Do the Browns Have a Good Roster?”

Date: December 3, 2025
Host: John Middlekauff (Colin Cowherd’s feed)
Structure: Listener mailbag Q&A, heavy NFL and CFB insights
Podcast Link: The Herd

Episode Overview

This episode of “The Herd / 3 & Out” is an extended mailbag session hosted by John Middlekauff, driven entirely by listener questions on NFL and college football. Middlekauff tackles topics including the impact of coaching and quarterback continuity, Lane Kiffin’s chaotic exit from Ole Miss, the Browns’ roster debate, and the fate of various reclamation project quarterbacks. Loaded with big-picture insights and candid evaluations, Middlekauff also offers his trademark NFL front-office perspective and locker-room anecdotes.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sustaining Success in the NFL: Coaches vs. Quarterbacks

Timestamp: 04:00 – 10:00

• Success isn’t about a single good season but about consistent high-level play, which comes down to coaching continuity and high-level quarterback play.
• The most durable successful teams keep their coaching and core players together—see the Patriots (Belichick, Brady, core assistants/players), Chiefs (Reid, Mahomes, Kelce, Jones).
• Play-calling head coaches (e.g., Andy Reid, Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan) can manage offensive or defensive continuity even when staff turnover inevitably hits.

Quote:

“If your play-callers don’t change, your quarterback doesn’t change, your core two or three star players don’t change, you’re kind of cooking with gas. That really, really matters.” – John Middlekauff [06:00]

2. Drafting Injury-Prone Players: Michael Penix Example

Timestamp: 10:00 – 13:30

• Teams rely on medical professionals to assess injury risks and can be misled either way.
• Stories abound of team doctors steering GMs from players who turn out durable and vice versa.
• Penix’s medicals were controversial, with teams drawing their own lines.

Quote:

“You can’t predict things with bodies … as a GM or coach, you have to go off the information the doctors are telling you.” – John Middlekauff [11:00]

3. Miles Garrett: Sack Record vs. Team Success

Timestamp: 14:00 – 15:30

• Hypothetical: Would a star player like Miles Garrett prefer individual accolades or team playoff runs?
• Answer: Playoff runs matter more to star players, but personal stats often indicate team success anyway.

4. Lane Kiffin’s Exit From Ole Miss & LSU Coaching Drama

Timestamp: 15:30 – 22:00

• Detailed look at the awkward timing, Kiffin’s attitude, and the SEC’s “arms race” for coaches.
• Critiques Kiffin’s attempted “double-dipping” and Ole Miss’s lack of leverage.
• Compares SEC coach movement to a soap opera:
  “It’s like the NFL meets Bravo, Real Housewives… that’s why it’s so entertaining.” [21:00]

Notable Quote:

“If you’re married and you start getting worried she’s sleeping around… you either draw a line in the sand or tuck your tail. I think Ole Miss tried to figure it out and had to look in the mirror… We’re getting played here, we’re getting used.” – John Middlekauff [19:30]

5. Quarterback Reclamation Projects: Are They Real?

Timestamp: 25:00 – 28:30

• Evaluates recent “reclamations” (Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith, Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones).
• Points out that situation matters as much as talent—coaches and infrastructure are everything.
• Even Mahomes, in a bad situation, wouldn’t look like a superstar; quarterbacks need organizational competency.

Quote:

“You can’t resurrect your career in a situation that’s awful. It doesn’t happen.” – John Middlekauff [26:30]

6. 49ers, Justin Jefferson, and Wide Receiver Value

Timestamp: 28:30 – 32:00

• The show debunks the popular idea that the 49ers would target a high-volume WR like Justin Jefferson, due to scheme and philosophy.
• Discusses how receivers in the Shanahan offense are more “Robin than Batman.”
• Wideout value in Shanahan’s world: look at Iuke’s situation versus superstar WRs elsewhere.

7. T.J. Watt vs. Miles Garrett vs. Historic Defensive Greats

Timestamp: 32:00 – 34:20

• Debates the “best edge rusher” conversation, highlighting that supporting cast and team success dramatically shift perception.
• Belichick would still pick Lawrence Taylor as the best ever.

8. Ranking QBs You’d Build a Franchise Around

Timestamp: 35:00 – 37:30

• Emphasizes age and contract value; younger, unproven QBs often more attractive in today’s cap world than just elite producers.
• Risk-takers might swing for a Drake Maye or Jaden Daniels, but Allen/Mahomes types are “safe” for a reason.

9. NFL “Mercy Rule”?

Timestamp: 38:00 – 40:00

• On ending blowouts early to avoid injuries—Middlekauff says TV contracts make that impossible (“never in a million years would networks allow it”).

10. Browns’ Roster & Organizational Critique

Timestamp: 52:24 – 55:30

• Middlekauff is blunt: “To me, the franchise is a complete joke… Always the same shit.”
• Media gives Cleveland’s Ivy-educated leadership a pass, but on-field results lag badly despite decent draft classes.
• Drafting QBs in the third round for the sake of it is “one of the crazier draft picks in recent memory.”

Quote:

“Four wins every year—great. These other meatheads are winning 12.” [55:00]

11. Jauan Jennings Trash Talk & Locker Room Culture

Timestamp: 56:00 – 57:20

• Brief but funny discussion about what Niners WR Jauan Jennings says on the field: “You’d probably have to ask Christian McCaffrey.”
• Middlekauff notes “things that make people uncomfortable are said all the time in locker rooms, let alone on the field.”

12. Rosters Built Around Rookie-QB Salary Cap Flexibility

Timestamp: 57:20 – 58:40

• Success of teams with recent rookie QBs is as much about affordable contracts as about individual talent.
• Rookie wages let GMs “trade for a star left guard” or “pay for a center” compared to paying a veteran QB $50-60M.

13. Coaching Carousel: Sean McDermott, Steve Spagnuolo, Robert Saleh

Timestamp: 59:30 – 64:00

• Middlekauff thinks Sean McDermott is underrated; the real Bills issue is personnel, not coaching.
• Steve Spagnuolo’s age (65) is why he hasn’t gotten another head coaching job despite elite results.
• Robert Saleh as a Steeler: “He kind of looks like, if you didn’t know, he played for the Steelers… Even though he didn’t.”

14. Vikings, Justin Jefferson, and K.O.C. Job Security

Timestamp: 65:00 – 66:30

• O’Connell is totally secure even if the Vikings crater; someone would line up to hire him if he became available.
• GM’s future less certain, but big draft mistakes (e.g., J.J. McCarthy) always have organizational consequences.

Notable Quotes

• “Playoff grand slam. That’s pretty incredible.” – on Baker Mayfield’s career arc as a reclamation QB [26:00]
• “It’s not a normal industry at all… Even players. Most players aren’t two-team guys their entire career.” [45:30]
• “If you’re gonna talk some shit, you gotta take it.” – on Lane Kiffin’s run-in with a podcaster [44:42]

Memorable Moments

• Hilarious marriage analogy for the Lane Kiffin situation: “You get worried she’s sleeping around… you either draw a line or tuck your tail.” [19:30]
• Comparing SEC coaching poaching to “Real Housewives”: “That’s why it’s so entertaining.” [21:00]
• Open confession about NFL mercy rule impossibility due to TV contracts (“never in a million years”) [40:00].

Useful Timestamps

• Sustaining NFL Success: 04:00–10:00
• Michael Penix/Injury Risk: 10:00–13:30
• Lane Kiffin Fall-Out: 15:30–22:00
• QB Reclamation Reality: 25:00–28:30
• Browns Roster Debate: 52:24–55:30

Tone and Style

Middlekauff is casual, blunt, and opinionated—sprinkling in analogies, direct challenges to common narratives, and giving a peek behind the executive curtain on how the NFL really works. He mixes humor with hard truths for a highly digestible hour of sports talk that thrives on interaction and honest debate.

This summary covers content from the main mailbag segments, skipping advertisements and sponsor readouts.