← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
3 & Out - NFL Draft LOTTERY Proposal, Kyler Murray vs. JJ McCarthy, Cowboys-Giants SNF Week 1 + NFL Offseason Mailbag
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John Middelkoff
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John Middelkoff
What is going on my people? How are we doing? John Middelkoff three and Out Podcast hopefully everyone is enjoying some early Summer heat. It is warm here in Arizona and we got a lot going on because kind of hit me yesterday watching the NBA lottery play out should the NFL dabble. Some other stuff going on this week. Schedule release we know a couple of the early games. I wanted to guess who Seattle might end up playing in that opening Wednesday night game. Pelissaro had some comments in regards to a quarterback competition. When it comes to Minnesota, Juwan Jennings officially Minnesota Vikings starting wide receiver or a wide receiver I guess they got depending on the package. But he's, he's on the Vikings now with that with Addison and Justin Jefferson wants to do a little bail bag at John Middlekoff at John Middlekopf. Is the Instagram fire in those DMs questions answered here on the show. I'll have a go low pod tomorrow looking for the PGA Championship at a Ronamic course I've actually been to when I lived in Philly. We'll have some bets, see if I can stay hot and we can pick a, pick a winner here. And other than that, that'll kind of be the, that'll be the game plan today. So you guys know the drill. If you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to three and Out. We have a separate podcast feed if you want to watch it. It's on a little app called Netflix. Make sure you hit the alert and you'll never miss an episode. And let's talk some football. I do want to start with the draft lottery. You know, one thing the NFL has always kind of hung its hat on is parody. It doesn't have that much in common with basketball and baseball because the media rights are all national, right? In the NBA, the Lakers have local television deals. The Dodgers have a massive local television deal, right? And they keep the revenue from that. Now depending on how the league works with taxes, it can get a little complicated. But simply put in Wind Horse has talked about this forever. Like the Lakers in one game or two games make as much as the Grizzlies do throughout the season. So there are huge economic advantages in those sports when it comes to the media markets. Obviously the New York Knicks are going to make a ton more from local television than some of these. The Milwaukee Bucks, right? It's very self explanatory. Chicago Cubs, the LA Dodgers, the New York Yankees have a built in advantage over the Tampa Bay race. Or you know, you pick said small market. The the Oakland Sacramento Vegas Athletics, right? We're in football. Everyone is. It's, it's the greatest strength of the NFL really is. And this is. Jerry pushed back against this when he first got in the league. We all do this together. We're all in partnerships to generate a lot of money. And even though the Cincinnati Bengals might not rate as well as the Dallas Cowboys, all of a sudden, if the Chiefs, who aren't the biggest market, get a superstar player, they will throw their hat in the ring and do huge television rate. The Buffalo Bills, tiny market, have. Josh Allen have been raiding incredibly well for the last four or five years on television. Everyone, over the course of time will carry their weight, even though consistently. The Green Bay packers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, you know, have done the majority of the work, but everyone financially benefits. And their big thing is parody, right? At any moment, we see it every year, a team goes from bad to good. Multiple new teams come into the playoffs. Even in football. Like, no one coming into the year thought Seattle Seahawks were going to be the super bowl champion. Definitely not going to play the New England Patriots. Things get weird all the time. All the time. And it's. It's what's great about football. Even unlike college, like, the same teams are in the mix in the NFL. Like, at any moment, something can dramatically change. And obviously injuries play a role. And so the draft, because people don't tank. We saw it this year in basketball. Well, we didn't see it because most of us weren't watching, but more than a third of the league were literally trying to lose on a. On a nightly basis. They were actively trying to lose. And this wasn't like the last month of the season. Most of these teams actively tried from really the jump and definitely more than half the season. It was kind of a joke, but, like, if you get a star player and that guy turns out to be the next LeBron, the next Steph Curry, the ne. Next Jokic. It changes the course of your franchise. We're in football every year. Half the dudes don't have their fifth year option picked up. You have no clue. I'm high on Fernando Mendoza. I think he's going to be a good player. But if you tell me in three years, he stinks. Believable. Like, no one knows David Bailey, one of the most productive players in the history of college football. I've seen a lot of those guys, those type guys, really productive guy, dominant player, wasn't playing in the greatest conference. I mean, went up on a weekly basis against a lot of guys that aren't going to be playing on Sundays. And I'm not trying to on him I'm clearly he's a big time talent. But we've seen a lot of big time talents not work out. Sometimes the fit, sometimes, sometimes the scheme, sometimes, who knows. I mean it's all sorts of variables. I do wonder if the NFL looks at the NBA and goes could we add an element of this right? And I don't think that they would do every team that misses the playoffs because then you would be in a situation where like the Detroit Lions have the number one pick. They just went 9 and 8. They clearly are preloaded and could easily be a 13 win team this upcoming year. But I was wondering could you just take the top 10 teams? Now I look the last two years it would work out perfectly because the 10th team and the 11th team have different records. So this year for for example the Saints, the Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals who were 8, 9, 10 all went 6 and 11 and then the next rung up were 7, 8 win teams moving forward. And I looked the previous year, same thing. The 10th overall team in the draft, there was a break from 11. Now some years from pick nine to pick 13, they all have the same records and it gets broken down by tiebreak. So I, I don't know if this is a perfect solution but I do wonder if you could do some sort of made for TV event, maybe even during the NFL combine just on like Wednesday of the combine, boom, draft lottery for the top 10. And you could heavily weight it because for example the, the Washington Wizards are drafting number one overall. They just won the NBA lottery. The Utah Jazz are drafting two, which is a massive win in a draft like this. Both those two teams are great examples of organizations that desperately tried to lose. Like that's a embarrassment. Even if it is the right thing. You can't run a business doing that because those teams like all the other teams in the top 10 are playing other teams. These are on TV. It's a bad product. The, the Raiders are a good example of a team they're draft. They just drafted Fernando Mendoza number one overall. They desperately tried up until the last couple weeks to win every single week. They had hired Pete Carroll. It's not like he was making no money. They paid Chip Kelly $6 million a year, which is, you talk about an all time racket. You see some of these scams, government scams going on in the Internet. That, that, that's his, his agent deserves 50% of that. Are, are you kidding me? I mean talk about a guy that mailed it in seven years ago, but they were they didn't pay him $6 million. Cause I didn't think he was good. I, I, they could ask me, but they thought he was. And it backfired in their face. Like the New York jets, who didn't have an interception all year, Aaron Glenn did not show up to try to be the team drafted number two overall. The Arizona Cardinals were desperately trying on a weekly basis with a bunch of randoms because they had a bunch of injuries. So tanking is not a huge impact in the NFL. But this is a league that's always looking to create interest, to create moments, to create things that we're drawn to. The combine. Well, the combine is no longer that interesting, right? You got to be a pretty big nerd to watch guys do cone drills. But what is interesting at the combine is all the coaches talk, right? And then they're doing shows from there and they're doing all these interviews and then things that the coaches and general managers say throughout the week, carry the week of content for the NFL. And then within a week or two, free agency is here, and then after free agency, we have the draft. They like these moments in the off season to keep front and center because this is not a six month a year leak. This is like a ten and a half month a year leak. It really only goes dark for middle of June through kind of the end of July till training camp start. And I think this would be something that I would discuss now. I would still heavily weight it toward the teams that suck, right? If you were the Raiders, if you were the jets and you were the Cardinals, you would get a major opportunity that it's going to be hard for you not to draw the lottery balls to be drafting really high. But if you're like the Saints or the Chiefs, who, I mean the Chiefs have been to 5 and elastic super Bowls. The Saints were a team that the final stretch of the season that look like might have been the hottest team in that division. And obviously the Bengals, they lost Joe Burrow for two and a half, three months of the season. But like all of a sudden, would the Bengals have traded number 10 if during the lottery that had been pick three? Probably not, you know, so I do wonder if it's at least worth a discussion. Is there some way not going to take teams 15, 16, 17, 18, hell, even picks teams like the Dallas Cowboys. And some of the teams drafting in like 12, 13, 14, I think it'd be easy, just set it at the top 10. And however the tiebreak works, you know, on a given year, that would Suck if you have the same record. But the tiebreakers tiebreaker happens in the playoffs all the time. Some teams have the same record and one team gets in, the other team doesn't. So I think we can do the same thing with the draft lottery. You're telling me that on like coming up Wednesday night at 8:30 Eastern from the Indianapolis combine, there is going to be a draft lottery of the top 10. 11 through 32 would stay the same. You're not watching, you're not interested. And like I said, I'm not saying even odds 1 through 10. I would still wait it because again I give these teams. I have a lot of respect for Jonathan Gannon, the head coach that was just fired by the Arizona Cardinals. That's now with the Green Bay packers as their defensive coordinator. I thought given what happened last year with the injuries, it was admirable how hard his team was playing and how they were competing to like the final game when they were playing the Rams. I think week 18 and at one point in time it looked like the Rams were going to lose and Jacoby was slinging it like they, they tried the Raiders. You watched the game. I think it was like two or three weeks ago in the season. It was the week before they, they put Max on ice. Max was playing like it was a Super Bowl. It's like could you play any harder for a team that's going nowhere? Which is why we like football is because when you turn it on and this is where Monday Night Football benefits a lot. Sometimes on Monday Night Football you can get in December and you get Rams against the Falcons. And the Falcons aren't going to the playoffs. They've already been eliminated from the playoffs. And all of a sudden you look up and it's 1421-7 Falcons and Bijan's going for 180. And it's like you can't half ass football game. You could, you could be hungover in right field in a baseball game. I bet major league baseball players are all the time. You could go through the motions in basketball. It happens all season long in the NBA. You can't really do that in the NFL. Especially early in a game you will get injured, you will get your clock cleaned. But I do think this is a curveball that could just add free inventory. You're telling me this wouldn't do millions of people. You couldn't just. You created Thursday Night Football out of thin air. You could just create something out of thin air. Now this would be something that would have to be voted on But I do wonder if some owners would be interested because, like on a given year where I'm drafting eighth, all of a sudden I'm drafting third because I moved up in the lottery. I would watch and I think most of you would as well. Speaking about the games, you know, we have, someone told me, I haven't officially seen this, but we have the schedule release coming up this Thursday. If they, if Roger asked me, could we push back a week? I got some stuff going on later this week. But we'll, there's a will, there's a way, we'll figure it out. And we already know the opening game, Niners, Rams is on Thursday because they're playing in Australia. That's 75 hours away, which makes no sense to me. But the NFL and the owners are obsessed with going international, even if you have to go to a place where you have to kick off there locally at 10am but hey, that's. They know more about the business of international, you know, fans and revenue than I do. And I understand the UK games, right, because it's very easy to take teams from the Eastern Seaboard flying five hours. If Seattle plays the Carolina Panthers or the New York Giants play the LA Rams, the flight to wherever they're going is five plus hours. It happens on Monday Night Football all the time. The Rams played the Atlanta Falcons in that Monday Night Football game. Well, by the time the game ends, by the time they leave there, I mean, it's, it's, it's a pain in the ass. Especially when you're going. It's a little easier going east to west. It's harder to go west to east. You know, if you're like the, the Giants or the jets or the Pats or the Panthers or Tampa and you're playing the Chargers or you're playing the Raiders or you're playing Seattle or the Niners, you know, on Monday Night Football or even Sunday Night Football. What time do you think these guys are laying back in their bed? 6am the next day? I mean, it's a pain. So the NFL, Mrs. Belichick, has always pushed back against this. You have people in the league offices just don't give a shit about any of this because they've never ran a team, they've never coached team. Most of them didn't play, so they can't, they don't care. Their prerogative and their goal, which is what their job is, is to generate the most amount of money and get the most amount of interest humanly possible. And clearly they've Done a good job, but we know the Niners are playing the Rams in Australia. We. It was reported today that the Cowboys are going to head to New York. John Harbaugh. I can already see the NBC poster. It is Dak against Harbaugh with a, with a headset. Like, to me, Harbaugh is the poster child right now for the New York Giants. Massive night for Jackson Dart. Going to be a lot of hype on the Giants. A lot of people are going to pick them to win the. Maybe not win the division, but to be a team that makes the playoffs. A little patriot like last year, I'm not going quite there yet. I know they've added a couple defensive tackles over the course of the last six, seven days, but I know they got a lot of pass rushers who got a lot of talent. Can these guys stop the run? Only time will tell. But that is a game that's like just a go to, for the, for the, for the NFL. Sunday Night Football. Cowboys, Giants. It happened in 2013, happened in 2015, happened in 2017, happened a couple years ago in 23, now it happens in 25. If they knew both teams were good, they, that would be the opening game on Sunday Night Football every single year. But obviously the Giants have been a disaster. Cowboys have had some weird seasons over the years, so you just, you never feel that confident. But I don't think they could ever go wrong with those two markets. Week one, when everyone's 0 and 0. We'll see. Monday night could be any game, you know, obviously, hard to even guess. We do know that Seattle is going to open at home on Wednesday. Now, we don't know who the owner is going to be. They can't. They don't have an owner yet. There are only so many human beings alive that can even think about paying that much. And I think there was a report recently, we talked a little bit about it last week, but the interest hasn't been as strong. Well, I think part of it is you cost what costs, you know, 10, 11, $12 million. You know, my wife has kind of worked in the luxury real estate world over the course of the last, you know, 15, 18 months. And like, there are only so many people. It's like, well, you want to live in North Scottsdale, the house between 20 and 30 million dollars. Now she shows me these pictures of the house. She goes, they look fucking incredible. But you need a specific clientele that's going to be interested in that piece of property at that price point right there aren't that Many humans. And it's no different than owning a team like you need. And I'm not saying she's actually the one selling it. That would be awesome. But she's associated with these groups that are part of these deals and I think these teams are becoming, it's going to be, it's just going to be difficult to consistently find people willing to pay the prices. That I don't even blame the Allens would be like, hey, we'll sell it for $11 billion. I'd argue just keep the thing. I mean, the thing's a cash cow. You live your life through it, especially if you have children. Like, why would you ever give this thing up? What are you going to do with the money? Because it's like, well, wouldn't you sell something for $11 billion? Well, especially a place like Seattle, they're going to come after from a tax standpoint in America. Like, you're going to pay a ton in taxes. You're not going to have the business to live through anymore. Like, okay, yeah, $5 billion, $6 billion. You know, after, you know, you pay taxes. Your, your, your lifestyle is the exact same whether you just have the asset and you live through it. I, I don't quite understand the desire to get out of it when these teams are printing cash, but hell, it might just be as simple as we just don't care that much. Like you watch the, the Ursay Girls. I've been hard on the situation with her wearing the headset. I think it is kind of stupid. Like I think the best owners have consistently shown hire good people and then just let them be and then trust Steve Busciotti, you know, with the Ravens, wasn't just wearing a headset calling out Dacosta and John Harbaugh on a daily basis. You know, it's like it's a waste of his energy. You win, keep your jobs, you get extensions, you lose, you get fired. I mean it's pretty much. But I will say you watch some of the Colts content. She seems like a awesome person and a cool person to work for. She's very hands on. So it's like I, I'm not anti her at all. She seems pretty cool actually. But I do think Seattle, there are only a couple options, right? They can't open against the Niners or the Rams because they play the next day. They're not going to open against the Cardinals. Their other non conference home games are the Chargers and the Chiefs because the AFC west plays the NFC west this year. They haven't, you Know the every single year now with the 17th game you play a team from another conference. This year is the New England Patriots. I don't think the league would put the New England Patriots there because there's so much unknown with this Rossini story. Actually just saw a picture of her husband kissing Diana Rossini. I think the New York Post, it's like just never ending. Which, hey, to each his own. I don't think that would be me if I was him. But hey, I don't pretend to be, you know, in his situation behind closed doors, but seems a little awkward. And so to me, the Pats are out. I actually think it's down. So it's basically the Chargers, the Chiefs, the Bears or the Pats. So the Pats are out. I think even the Chiefs are out. You know, we'll have to see with this. Mahomes returning from injury. I think they're. You just never know. Maybe he has a setback. Maybe he's not playing week one. I wouldn't even risk it. I think it's between the Chargers and Bears, and I think pretty easily, I don't think anyone would complain if it's Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert, Chargers at Seattle. I think the move here is the Bears and you basically get, hey, this could be the NFC championship preview. This could be wild card preview. This is two teams that most people are going to pick to make the playoffs. Caleb Williams and just let's roll. Ben Johnson, Mike McDonald, hot shot offensive guy, hot shot defensive guy. So if I was a betting man right now, and who knows, by the time you're listening to this, maybe this story's already been confirmed and we already know who they're playing. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong. I personally would pick the Bears. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock bet, Florida's sportsbook. We obviously talk a lot of pig skin on this show, but the second round of the NBA playoffs is here now. And you better believe we're gambling because any single night, Wemby can go for a triple double. How about a little same game parlay? You like ant to score over 30 points. You want to hammer the Knicks to win it all? Just need to win eight more games. And if you're ever late to tip off, don't worry. Hard Rock Bet lets you live bet all game long. PGA Championships also this weekend. Love Cam Young to win it. So here's the thing. Try your first bet on Hard Rock bet today. You can score 150 in bonus bets. 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Whether you're a homeowner creating your dream space or a pro managing multiple projects, Ferguson Home is where it all comes together for Ferguson Home is designed for the way you want to shop. Experience today's top products by brands like KitchenAid firsthand by visiting a Ferguson Home showroom where you'll explore stunning displays featuring today's latest products and innovations, or browse their extended selection of products online. Ferguson Home understands that every project is made up of countless decisions, and that's why their expert consultants are committed to helping homeowners, builders, contractors and designers bring all the details together. You can count on support from them start to finish, from choosing the right products to coordinating deliveries with your project schedule. Book a one on one consultation at your local Ferguson Home showroom or shop online@fergusonhome.com whether you're working on a new kitchen, a new bathroom, or a whole home remodel, you'll find the latest designs and technologies from the brands you trust at Ferguson Home. And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show. Hey everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date? Oh no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Together we're married. Me to a human, him to a bird. Yeah, the bird looks out of your league. Anyways, get a quote@libertymutual.com or with your local agent. Liberty Liberty, Liberty, Liberty. If the world were like a sleep number mattress Everything would adapt for your comfort because as your life changes and your body changes. Sleep Number Mattresses adapt and shift to give you personalized comfort night after night. And now everything's on sale during our Memorial Day event. Save up to $1,200 on mattresses for a limited time to experience a whole new world of comfort, visit a Sleep Number store or go to sleepnumber.com sleep number to a good life Sleep. The other thing I saw today is Tom Pelissaro, who I talked to for a while at the combine. Awesome guy. I followed Tom's career since he was at USA Today. Big Minnesota guy, fantastic hair, just, just has a face for tv, looks the part and is is really dialed in with information. And the reporters I always respect are the ones that know the GMs and the coaches because if the only information you get is from agents, like, I just don't respect you, like, you got to tell me the people that are making decisions that are funneling you information. He's one of those guys. He lives in Minnesota. He's pretty dialed in with the Minnesota Vikings. And he told Eisen over the course of the last couple days that the Minnesota Vikings plan on this being a quarterback competition. J.J. mcCarthy versus Kyler Murray. My first response was, I don't think there's anything. I don't think quarterback competitions really exist anymore. And I think we have some recent examples of the moment you sign a Kyler Murray. It's his job to lose. Like they aren't equals when training camp starts, right? Kyler Murray is the lead dog in this. He was signed. Now, granted, he was signed partially because he was cheap, but in an independent situation, if they're both healthy, JJ McCarthy is not going to beat out Kyler Murray. JJ McCarthy wouldn't beat out a lot of guys. There'd be a lot of teams where, based on what we've seen, J.J. mcCarthy wouldn't beat out the backup quarterback. And we saw last year when Daniel Jones was signed to the Indianapolis Colts for $14 million. That wasn't a quarterback competition. Daniel Jones, the moment he signed that contract, was the starting quarterback unless things went exceptionally bad or he got injured in training camp. And what happened? Daniel Jones was starting quarterback couple years ago in a backup quarterback situation. It was like the 49ers assigned Sam Darnold and there's going to be a competition for the backup quarterback job. That's what Kyle Shanahan told everybody. It's like there's no competition. The moment Sam Darnold signed Trey Lance was Done. The only question was, would they keep a guy as the third overall quarterback just to be like, well, we drafted him, we used all these picks, and the answer was no. Sam Darnold beat him out or just did what he was going to do the whole time, be the backup quarterback. And Trey Lance was traded. I think they would have traded Anthony Richardson last year if they could have traded him. Doesn't seem like anyone wants them. And even right now, nobody wants them. So I, I think this situation with JJ McCarthy is my only question mark. Is JJ McCarthy on the roster Week 1 1? If I was a betting man, I would say no. Now, we have seen these situations. Anthony Richardson's a good example last year, maybe because we drafted them, we just keep them around. But we saw last year when there was like a soft benching and Carson Wentz played those games with like a broken spleen, a broken rib, a broken leg. It was like, why are they rolling Carson Wentz out here when JJ McCarthy is supposedly nursing a hamstring even though he's dressed. It was very bizarre. And when I look at this situation, Kyler Murray is going to be the starter week one, unless there's an injury, which is obviously you could be a caveat for any time you talk about football, but there aren't that many quarterback competitions anymore. I think they used to happen a lot, even just 10, 15, 20 years ago, but I think now with social media, with the pressure on these teams, you have a really, really good idea. Now, sometimes with a backup situation or a third string situation, you know, maybe there's a quote unquote competition, but most of these come down to a gut decision. Not necessarily like, hey, this guy threw 60%, this guy threw 30%. No brainer. Most of them are kind of a coin flip or you kind of based on the eye test in some of these preseason games. But Kyler Murray is going to be the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. Speaking of the Minnesota Vikings, this segment is Change of Scenery, sponsored by Toyota. And it was reported last week, I think, at the end of last week that Juwan Jennings has signed. I think we mentioned this with the Minnesota Vikings. I saw today he signed his contract in Minnesota. I was looking today for some of the details on the contract. Schefter said up to 13 million, which means he's probably making 5 to 8 guaranteed, and then he gets incentives. I've always liked Juwan Jennings, right? There's a physical nature to him. He's an incredible blocker. He makes huge catches on third down. He's made some massive plays for the 49ers over the years. He's played in a ton of big games, regular season and playoffs. He brings a lot to the table. Now, clearly, from a value standpoint, I think Minnesota benefited because he misplayed his hand. He thought, and I don't even blame him, he saw all these guys like Brandon Iukin, $30 million off 75 catches. Well, it's like, even if I'm not that, can I get 15 to 20 million dollars? And the answer was no. Because one thing in the NFL, unless you're a star slow guy like a DeAndre Hopkins, a Keenan Allen, if you're not very fast and you don't create separation, but you are a good player, your value to the team that you've been a good player on is always infinitely more than it will be to the open market because, like, well, he can't get open. So I got to scheme him open. But he's never going to be my number one wide receiver. And on this team, obviously he's going to be the third best wide receiver with Jefferson and Addison. But I actually think it's a pretty good scheme fit because you can put those two guys on the outside, you can put him in the slot, and he can just kind of be a big body guy for Kyler to throw it up to. He's a good 50, 50 contest catch guy, and in the run game, he'll block. So I think they look at it and go, we get a guy for relatively cheap because if it's up to 13 million, more than likely he's not going to hit it. Especially in a situation where are most of the balls going to get thrown to Jefferson and Addison. Right. So I think they just looked at this like a value stock and we get to buy low and we get a winning player in a division that's going to be very physical. It's going to be really difficult. And he's a physical player. He's a guy that's been through some wars. So I think for Juwan Jennings, you get an opportunity in a passing offense, because that's not Kyle Shanahan. Kyle Shanahan's a running offense. You know, in a perfect world, I think Kevin o' Connell will throw it every single play. In a perfect world, I think Kyle Shanahan would call Christian McCaffrey run every single play. Right. So it's just philosophically, what do you believe in as a head coach? And this guy likes to chuck the ball. Former quarterback probably views himself as like, God I wish I could do that. And I think Juwan Jennings is going to get probably more targets than he's gotten in recent memory and obviously over the last couple years because of some injuries and some different scenarios. He's been a featured guy because the Niners wide receivers have dropped like flies because of injuries and depending on Jefferson and Addison's availability, like you're just going to benefit from a team that's ideally wants to throw it a lot, run around Kyler and chuck some bumps. Now, Juwan Jennings is not a bomb guy. He's not very fast relative to NFL players. I mean relative to society. Probably beat most people in a race, but I I think that's a solid pickup. So props to the Vikings for just taking advantage of the market. Toyota reminds us that when people are the destination, it's not about where you're headed, but who you're headed there with. Learn more@toyota.com find a vehicle that fits your people. Today's podcast is brought to you by Ferguson Home. Whether you're a homeowner creating your dream space or a pro managing multiple projects, Ferguson Home is where it all comes together. Ferguson Home is designed for the way you want to shop. Experience today's top products by brands like KitchenAid firsthand by visiting a Ferguson Home showroom, where you'll explore stunning displays featuring today's latest products and innovations, or browse their extended selection of products online. Ferguson Home understands that every project is made up of countless decisions, and that's why their expert consultants are committed to helping homeowners, builders, contractors and designers bring all the details together. You can count on support from them start to finish, from choosing the right products to coordinating deliveries with your project schedule. Book a one on one consultation at your local Ferguson Home showroom or shop online@fergusonhome.com whether you're working on a new kitchen, a new bathroom or a whole home remodel, you'll find the latest designs and technologies from the brands you trust at Ferguson Home.
- [36:12]
Timbo Slice
Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the Internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in on Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source. The athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions. The stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs. The moments that never make the highlight reel. From viral moments to historic games. From Buzzer Beaters to controversial calls. We break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports slice on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice, Life12 and the TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.
- [37:04]
Kir Gaines
Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. With me, your host and your favorite therapist, Kir Gaines. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with social media. So many incredible guests. I'm talking Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard wide life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Cause you find it important to be a good person while you're here on Earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Cause that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, K. Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free I Heart radio app search Learn the Hard Way and listen now.
- [38:12]
John Middelkoff
Okay, let's do a little mailbag. At John Midkoff. At John Middelkoff is the Instagram fire in those DMS questions right here on the show. Again, just my name At John Middlekopf is the Instagram fire in those DMs questions right here on the show. Okay, we will start with Carson. Big, big Ravens fan. What were your thoughts on the off season so far and how did they draft? Well, I would say over the course of the last, I don't know, decade, they draft as consistently well as any team in the league. I mean, once upon a time, getting Lamar Jackson at pick 32, pretty sure they took Hayden Hurst in the middle of that round. But still, that's, that's a hell of a pick. That's fifth quarterback off the board and you get him. So I always give them the benefit of the doubt. You know, Eric Dacosta, when it comes to drafting, he's, he's cold blooded, man. He'll tell Max Crosby we want out. And I think that deal, when you look at it, it's like would you rather have Max Crosby or would you rather have Trey Hendrickson? And the Penn State offensive guard that's viewed as an immediate plug and play starter is going to be a Pro Bowler. You know, I think we all agree that's probably the right move. Zion Young, the guy they took in the second round, was also a guy viewed very, very highly. I'd be stunned if that guy's not good. Now I think I got two questions when it comes to the Ravens. One, the biggest question mark. Last year Lamar Jackson like missed multiple games and did not look like himself. Now it could have just been wear and tear injuries. He played 13 games, 21 touchdowns, seven interceptions. He was sacked a bunch 36 times. If, if he's right and going, you would think the Ravens will be right in the mix. But we have a new offensive coordinator, first time offensive coordinator, brand new head coach. You lose your center, you lose Isaiah likely Metabuque, like what's his deal with the neck injury? Is he ever going to be the same? Because a couple years ago he was awesome. Now they still, you know, from Roquan Smith to Wiggins, the dude from Clemson, obviously Kyle Hamilton, you had Trey, you had Zion. Their defense in theory with was Jesse Minter should be pretty good. It wouldn't shock me if they win 11 games. It also wouldn't shock me if they're eight, nine again. So you got to tell me like how many games Lamar play and was last year in aberration just banged up. So that looked weird. Like part of what makes Lamar special. This is what Deshaun Watson forgot. This is what obviously Jalen hurts forgets something like you're a dual threat guy. And when Lamar's humming as a dual threat guy, he's unstoppable. I mean some of those plays he made in that final game against Pittsburgh, it was like holy shit. That one play where he like scrambled out and threw that touchdown. Granted blown coverage, but one of the most incredible behind the line of scrimmage plays you'll ever see. Question for the mailbag thoughts on the Pats draft and off season. Seems like the majority of opinion is a big regression, but the roster has improved. On paper, no major departure. Year 3 Drake Year 2 coaching staff schedule will be a lot tougher. Not saying they should be a suitable favorite, but better than a borderline playoff team. Also you mentioned now it's time for GM such as Joe Shane could be fired. When GMs are fired, does the entire scouting department end up on the hot seat? Looks like Joe Shane's going to survive. So not only is he not fired, he wouldn't stun me at this point in time. You watch those videos, it feels like they're pretty close. It wasn't fake. That maybe gets a contract extension. I would say that my biggest question mark with New England is not the team, it's the coach. And like when Tiger woods got into that, it wasn't even a car accident. This was like the first one. His wife hit him in the face with a nine iron and he was on Ambien and backed up into the fire hydrant. He's gotten some legit car accidents without that, but no one ever looked at him the same. He had a press conference with his, with his, with his mom about he was going to sex rehab and he was like sex addiction. It's just not the same. Now. Vrabel hasn't done that. But like we're all judging. When we look at Mike Variable, it's like we all have different thoughts in our head. And clearly it impacted him because he left during the draft. It's been weird. He's a human being. There's no way he could walk down the halls in New England with his team, with Josh, with his coaches and have the normal same swag that he, that he's had for his whole life than right now when everyone's taking pictures of him. Like if, if Mike Vrabel just walked tonight in downtown Boston and got soft serve, everyone would be taking pictures of him. And it's not just because he's the head coach of the Patriots. We all know why. It's like he's a circus animal, you know, like what tmz, the way they treat some of these celebrities. So that to me is a huge question mark. They draft Lomo in the first round. Talented offensive lineman should fit right in and give them some flexibility. If Will Campbell can either become a high end left tackle or eventually move to guard, maybe you can figure it out there. A lot of people like Jack is the Illinois pass rusher. I don't know much about the Notre Dame tight end they took in the, in the second round. They trip. They sign Romeo Dobbs. Bad Kyle Williams last year rookie from Washington State. They got Trey Hendrickson. Not Trey Hendrickson, Trey Henderson, the Travion Henderson, the running back from Ohio State who at any moment can bust a 90 yard run. So in theory, you have a young star quarterback, you have an established playoff head coach and a dominant offensive coordinator. And your head coach is a defensive guy. You should be set up even if you quote, unquote, regress because how many games did the New England Patriots win last year? 14. They want. Yeah, 14 and three. Like they, they could be in theory better and win 11 or 12. But to me the variable thing is just weird. There, there's no way around it. Like he's just going to be completely normal in August. This all just passes because a huge part of football is like you get a huge summer break. This is not college where you're just recruiting. 365 in the NFL you get like 40 days to spend with your family. You know, I mean awkward maybe not. Maybe they're in an open relationship. I don't know. I love the show. Been falling for decades now. Not me, but Colin. Thoughts on multiple years of weak NFL drafts. You and Colin have discussed the impacts of parents not allowing kids to play football and the trickle effect of depth for NFL draft and fewer top level players. Collins mentioned that a lot. I don't know anyone in my life or in my experiences where football is becoming an issue of people not playing. I was just talking to a college coaching buddy in Southern California. He was at all the top programs. He said they look like college programs. Being in Arizona, this is a hotbed for recruiting in high school football. It's not Los Angeles but I mean it's really good produce a ton of Division 1 prospects here in, in Scottsdale area in the, in the greater, you know, Scottsdale area down to Tucson where Bijon's from. So I don't have the same experience of. And again I don't have those type people in my life that would even think like that. So I, I'm the wrong person to like feel that high school football is dropping off a cliff. What about nil effects on the money for athletes at younger age and affecting their drive to perform at the highest level. I'm pro paying college players but curious if there will be a trend like moving forward because money can make college students underperform. Like it can affect pro athletes. Someone who lost father at a younger age. It hits different when you become a dad yourself. I totally agree. You know what's funny is I asked friends a lot on the scouting just grind if they've seen a huge impact of when they talk to a coordinator at a big school and they're paying guys ton of money if it's impacted like their drive and their focus and I haven't heard that which is pretty incredible. My generation, if you would have given people I knew hundreds of thousands of dollars, no way they would have worked as hard. But I, I have not gotten that sense at all. I, maybe it's because these guys are drinking less, which I guess society is, I'm not quite sure. Like our college athletes drinking less than guys 20 years ago. I guess just based on the statistics, you would say yes, that probably has somewhat of an impact of decision making. But I've actually heard positive things. A lot of guys, I think it impacts more guys bouncing around than it does because the expectations, once I got you and I'm paying you a lot of money, is like we need you to produce. And it's intense. But yeah, I mean I, I haven't heard that many negative things, to be honest. And I talk to my buddies about it all the time, which is crazy. I mean it's, it's honestly a testament to this generation. Because I'll promise you this, people my age, late 30s, early 40s, would have handled it incredibly poorly. Like it would have gone south fast. I always, we talk about this a lot. Like a couple buddies I play golf with in Arizona. I can't even imagine what it would be like being 19 and this, you know, playing football and having someone pay you a hundred grand, let alone being one of these guys making seven figures. Because what would you even do with the money? A lot of these guys are in small towns. I, I don't even know. Like, what would you do? Pretty incredible that Mario Cristobal has a high priced team and keeps those guys focused down there. This year's draft seemed very shallow, especially in the last couple rounds. I typically know at least the name of a couple late round picks, but not this year. The consensus seems to be that this is a short term trend that will even out as we get further in the nil era. I disagree. What tends to excite me about many late round picks is the mystery bag of upside for players that have little experience played at a small school or that can really develop with a year or two in an NFL program as players freely transfer to bigger conferences and forego the draft for another year of nil money. I convince, I think it'll be harder for teams to convince themselves of potential, potential upside. Do you agree? I think a lot of guys over the last couple of years that were drafted in the second and third round, or maybe even the first would have been guys that were drafted later if the transfer portal didn't exist. Because if you are a guy at a smaller school, once you become good, you immediately transfer to a big boy for a lot of money. And once I'm Playing in Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Texas, Bama, Georgia, wherever, lsu. Every fucking person's watching me. Every single person. And where I might have played at. It's a bad example because Ashton Genti went sixth and the San Diego State corner this year went in the first round and the, I think the Toledo safety went in the second round and Quinon Mitchell, so obviously small school. I was at Fresno State, ryan matthews went 12th, you know, it's not like you couldn't get drafted high being elite prospect. But then that second tier guy that now goes pick 40 because I'm playing at Missouri would have been at McNee State and that guy might have gone in the fourth round or the fifth round and we look back and we go, God, this is the best 4th round pick of this GM's career. Where now that guy's playing at LSU or he's playing at Miami and he just goes in the second round. So I think these guys, which I heard, I watched Ed Dodds, he's the assistant GM for the, the Indianapolis Colts and he used an example of the safety, the AJ Halsey, the safety they took in the third round from LSU who transferred, you know, I think he's played at. So the guy they drafted in the third round pick, what pick was he? Pick 78, which you know, it's like if you're a third round pick in the NFL, that's pretty good. He started his career at New Mexico and then he transferred to Houston and then he played his last season at lsu, which while they had a disastrous season with Brian Kelly, they were, they've been good on defense the last couple years. So I think it's fair to say if he had just, if it's 2009 and the same player just plays at New Mexico Instead of pick 78, he might be pick 158. Instead of being a third rounder, he's a fifth rounder. And let's just say for argument's sake that AJ goes on to be a 10 year NFL starter and get a second contract and become a really good player. I think a big reason that they were probably all over him and willing to use the 78th pick is because of his year at LSU. You know, so even if he had been at Houston, Maybe he goes 50 picks farther because it's not quite the same of playing Georgia, of playing, you know, Miami, of playing whoever, Clemson, like all the high end teams that you played LSU and just if you just go to a practice, you watch LSU practice, they got NFL players everywhere. It's not the same at New Mexico and Houston. So I think it has a, I think transferring has a much more, is much more impactful to the draft than like Nil money. Now they're directly connected because I'm sure LSU paid him to transfer from Houston. But I, I think once you get to these programs and I'm paying you 750 grand, like my expectations are pretty high. Think about this. If you're listening to this and you're a younger person, you're in your 20s. If, if you're doing well, let's say you're making a couple hundred grand. If I was like, hey, I'm gonna pay you 600 grand but this ain't going to be lovey dovey. I'm not going to be tickling your taint every day. You'd be like, that's fine. You fucking scream me all you want. Going to give me that much money. I think it's part of the deal now with Nil. So these guys, you got to be careful the way you treat some of your younger players that aren't playing. But you can coach guys hard if you're paying them a lot of money. Can I tell you about my friends at Quints? Lately I've tried to be a little more intentional about what I wear. Leaning into pieces that feel easy, comfortable and still put together. That's where Quince comes through. Think a hundred percent European linen shorts and shirts from $34. Breathable, lightweight and comfortable. Their pants also hit the same balance. Relaxed and comfortable, but still polished enough to wear everywhere. And think about as you get older. Whether you're going on a date, whether you have a work trip, whether you just need to go to something that is a little more business casual. That's where they come through. But want to be comfortable. Everything is priced 50 to 80% less than what you would find for similar brands. So you not only look good, you're saving money at the same time. Refresh your everyday with luxury that you'll actually use. Head to quince.com three and out for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I N C E dot com the number three and out for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com three and out. Love the pod. I have a question about the new trend about rookies wearing retired special numbers. Obviously there's the Flores situation with Mendoza, but now Makai Lemon has taken nine from foals for the Eagles, which to me as an Eagles fan is a big no, no. Nick Foles is a backup quarterback who led us to our first Super Bowl. No one should be wearing that number for a long time. And although Foles is a statue, it's owned by Bud Light, so who knows how long it will stick around. If Makai is a bust or gone in five years. I will never forgive the Eagles for allowing that. Josh Sweat said he was not allowed to wear the number and Sweat won another super bowl for the Eagles. Personally, I couldn't care less if they get the blessing from the original player. This to me is an organizational call in general. What is the point of retiring a number if someone could just ask to wear it? That's a good question. I would say basketball, where you got 12 players, right? If you retired 15 numbers, it shouldn't impact you that much because you got so many options, you have so few players. And football can be a little more difficult because they've kind of gerrymander. I don't know if that works for this example, but the way that different positions can wear different numbers, like I, I'm a traditionalist. Like if you're wearing nine, you should your Josh Sweatsh. I don't like my defensive linemen to wear single digit numbers. Wear a number in the 50s or wear a number in the 90s. If you're an offensive lineman, you wear a number in the 50s or 60s. If you're a wide receiver, you wear a number in the 80s. You know if you're a running back, you wear a number in the 20s or the 30s. Like again, call me traditional list, call me old man, get off my lawn. I, I would I, I treat numbers a little bit like I do awards. Like I don't get that emotionally moved. Like I, I, I truly at this point in time in my life don't give a who wins an mvp. I, I, I really don't. I don't care about the Pro Bowl, All Pro, it does matter. So like, but random guys don't make the all Pro team. Like if you make the all pro team, you earn that shit. If you're an All American in college, you earned that. If you're an mvp, you earned it. But like I, I can understand like hey, we went with this guy instead of this guy. I got no issue. I don't really get that caught up in numbers like I said I would be okay with going to what we used to have. I think Brady was on this too. You shouldn't have single digit guys lining up a D tackle. This isn't college, but it is what it is, and I hear you. I, I, I can't get that worked up. I do think it is stupid, though. I'm with you. If a number is retired, was Abdul Carter last year who called like, Lawrence Taylor. It's like, no, Abdul, you're not wearing Lawrence Taylor's number. He could show up late on crack and still get three sacks. You show up late and get benched, which I like. Abdul Carter, I'm a big fan. I think he can be a great player. On a 1 to 10 scale, how much do NFL executives care about what fans think or say on Twitter? And how much do they actually care what media people say on their pods? I think it has to do with your security level. Like, I, I don't think I've heard very successful people kind of take backward jabs of like, hey, they, they say all the time around here, we don't, we're not aggressive enough. Or they say all the time around here, we, we shouldn't have let so and so walk. We're all human beings. And if you work in football, like most, in my experience, being in college football, around Pat Hill and then being around Andy and Howie and Veech, like, these guys like football. So if you love, they love football. If you love football, you're going to listen to people that talk about football. So you're naturally going to listen to some of the media stuff, right? And whether you like the guy or don't like the guy, maybe that impacts your opinion. But, like, if Pat McAfee during the fall is talking to football all day and Adam Schefter's on break, like they're paying attention now, how much do they care about? I would say this. If you are in a position of power in a company, whether it's football, whether it's a Fortune 500 company, I don't care. And you let Twitter impact the way you're doing something, you're a fucking idiot. And you're, I will bet against you. Now, if a customer personally says something to you, right? Like if you owned the team and they came up to you as an owner and said your concession sands suck, the hot dogs are awful, the cheeseburgers, and you don't take that into account, like, that's on you. But if the Denver Broncos lose a game and someone on Twitter is calling Sean Payton a terrible coach and he's awful play calls on third down, like, you think that person knows more football than Sean Payton. Now, I think we can nitpick and argue over the draft stuff, but it's like who knows? So I, I don't think most people worth their salt spend that much time worrying about it, especially in 2026. Like maybe 15 years ago it felt a little bit bigger. Maybe 10 years ago it's, it couldn't be any less relevant now. And if you can't turn off your phone and just do what you think is right, then that's on you and you're gonna fail. Now if you are specifically like I think what hurts the media situation is people that talk for a living become friends with these people. Right. I think Adam Schefter rap sheet or McAfee or myself do a podcast. I consider people friends or definitely people that I will text. And if you're just out talking shit about them and then texting them about information, like I could see the guy being like what you said is just completely wrong. So to me there's a fine line between quote unquote fans and what media people are saying. Especially if I'm giving you information, then you go and badmouth me or say the wrong thing. I can understand getting mad. I think that that happens a lot. But the fan thing, I, I think at this point in time probably happens less and less with people that are secure. What are your predictions on Ashton Genti's performance this year? He's in my dynasty league. Let's what were his final stat line last year? In fairness to him, their offensive line was terrible all time mail in job by Chip Kelly just you know Pete Carroll's kid by all accounts is one of the worst offensive line coaches ever. He averaged 3.7 yards of carry. He had 975 yards. He had five touchdowns. His long run was 64 yards. I think I remember that game. He how many catches did he have? He had 55 catches for 340 yards. A lot of checkdowns. And how many touchdowns do you have? I mean he did have 10 touchdowns last year. Rushing and receiving combined five each. Not it's probably not in 55 catches now granted they weren't productive but because he's only averaging six yards of catch, not as bad as I think people think. I if you told me rushes for 1400 yards and has 10 rushing touchdowns. Could he be the most improved player of the year this year? I listen you guys know where I stand. Thought it was a pretty bold pick. Didn't totally love it but I think I love by all accounts the human being. He's an easy guy to root for in terms of, you know what he stands for. High character. His story Coming from Boise, I like little running backs. I was a huge Darren Sprouls guy. Barry Sanders, one of my favorite athletes of all time. He was like 5, 8. Not comparing Ashton Jensen to Barry Sanders, but I think it's Fair to think 13, 1400 yards and five more touchdowns total in the aggregate. I think in a perfect world you would like around 1300 yards rushing. I think his receiving numbers, if you tell me catches 55 balls, again, that's good. I think you'd probably like that number to be more like 600 yards. Not as terrible. I would have guessed if you said how many catches did Ashton Genti have last year? I would have been like 20, 55 catches. Who led the team? Bowers was 64. Trey Tucker with 57 and him with 55. God, they had a rough year. 64 catches, 600 yards for Bowers, not great. Seven touchdowns. Wind on this. Kind of be cool if the Raiders made a little comeback. Can you explain how quarterback competitions and training camp work? Is there some sort of grading system that both quarterbacks are measured against or is just how coaches quote, feel is better? I think at this point in time, I mentioned this earlier that with the Kyler Murray and jj, I think coaches go in with some sort of idea who they think is going to be the quarterback at the first or second spot. So most teams at this point in time, if you look around the league, don't have a competition at one. Like I don't think the Minnesota Vikings have a competition. I think Kyler Murray's your starting quarterback. Is the quarterback competition in with the Raiders a competition like no. In a perfect world they want Fernando Mendoza to be the starter, but if he's not ready, they go with cousins like that. To me, that's not a competition. We definitely have some backup quarterback competitions and I think they're judged by every throw they make. A lot of times an individual through team is graded and accounted for. Practices mean something. Otas, how you know the playbook, how you handle everything in the line of scrimmage through training camp and once the pads come on and it starts getting exponentially more important. So what you do the next couple weeks at a practice in the middle of May is important and you're getting judged on it. But then as you come back from summer break and we go into training camp, you get judged harder. Pads come on way more intense in live drills where you really separate yourself those in a preseason game. And if you make plays in a preseason game, it's, it's, it's worth a lot. But all these decisions come down to really two things. Who the coaching staff, owner and GM think is the better player, whether it's short term, long term, and the money. Because if I'm paying this guy $5 million, maybe I keep all three court quarterbacks like there's a backup competition, but I've already guaranteed the backup $5 million and the other guy is a seventh round rookie. That happened the one year with Purdy. Right. They couldn't put Purdy as like the backup to Trey Lance over Jimmy Garoppolo. Even though I think they thought Purdy might be better in training. Like, they loved him, so he's kept him on the roster. Now granted, that's a good. That wasn't even a competition. He just ran with the threes. So sometimes you make the team because you play really well, but you're not even competing. Like, how many quarterback competitions around the league do we have? There aren't that many. Even the backup jobs, typically determined by the money. And so you go in, this guy gets the reps with the ones, this guy gets the reps with the twos, this guy gets the reps with the threes. But then if the third quarterback, by the end of camp, you're like, he might be better. You just kind of keep all three and then you just. It's very, very difficult because unlike these other sports, I can just give you a month as like a G league player. Bring them up, play them a bunch of NBA games, see what I got. Same thing in baseball. I can, I can call a guy up and play him a bunch of games in right field, bat him fifth every game in football, you just throw the quarterback out there, even the backup, right? If you think like, I think our third stringer, this fifth round rookie is better than Gardner Minshew. And again, I'm just picking some random backup, but I'm paying Gardner Minchu $7 million. If I go into a game, do I feel confident like that that is actually true because if my starting quarterback breaks his leg, that fifth round rookie goes in and if it's ugly, I'm gonna get ripped. Or even if Gardner Minchu sucks, like, well, you're putting Gardner Minchu. So I, I think there are a lot of variables, especially in 2026, and it just doesn't happen. It happens a lot in college. It, it, it's, it's actually much more rare in the NFL when you really think about it, like we're going into camp, we think we're going to be pretty good. Like how Many teams that think they're gonna be pretty good like quarterback competition I don't even think if we just look at the league does it even exist anywhere standings Even bad teams like the Miami Dolphins have a starting quarterback if Rogers resigns Starting quarterback, starting quarterback Cleveland like DeSean Watson's winning that job. There's no competition. Jacksonville, Houston, Indy, Titans. No Denver, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders. I mean I don't. Cousins and Mendoza doesn't count Eagles, Cowboys, Commanders. I mean there's just. They don't exist. Panthers, Bucks, I guess Falcons. If Penix is healthy, does he have to compete against tua? That might fall Seattle Rams, Niners card I mean they're just Jacoby Brissette's the starter if, if he's healthy it feels like it used to happen way up more often. So I, I hope that's a long winded way of answering the question that there's not a concrete. It's like you do X, Y and Z, you're winning the job. There's still a lot of gut feel and that's where the coach and the coordinator and the quarterback coach have a lot of influence. And the gm, I just like this guy more. I drafted him, we paid him, we believe in him. That's the other thing. There's a lot of intangible stuff with the quarterback. Do you know the plays? Do you know all the, the checks and the audibles, the offense? Do you have a rapport with your teammates? Do they like you? Would they believe in you? Could Dick Vermeil stand up there and say we're going to win with Kurt Warner, even if he might have been BSing. But whoever that player is, in Kurt Warner's shoes, like can the coach look at the team and go, we believe in this guy? Sometimes you do and sometimes you don't. So if the team believes in the guy and your team's good, I think that guy's always going to get the benefit of the doubt. Even if he's quote unquote, not as talented as his competition. The volume. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.