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- [00:00]
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- [00:36]
Colin Cowherd
doors and at the American Military University it can open doors for the whole family. If you have a loved one who served in the military, you may qualify for reduced tuition. AMU offers flexible online programs designed to fit your schedule so you can keep moving forward wherever life takes you. Learn more at AM AMU Apus Edu Military Open doors to the future for you and your family with the help of American Military University, Wasabi is purpose built to free your business from skyrocketing storage costs and fees from the big guys. Wasabi is the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. Check out Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage. Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals. Was Wasabi driving innovation in data storage for up to 80% less than the other guys. Try for free at wasabi.com, wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, proud partner of the Volume Podcast Network hi, it's Colin Coward. If you want your outdoor space to really stand out, Deckorator Surestone technology is where you should start. Decking with Shstone technology is made through a patented process that uses crushed rock, not wood fiber like other composites, which gives every board incredible strength and durability. And it's engineered with a unique surface design for better traction when things get wet. It's comfortable, it's safe, it's durable, and that just looks great too. Build season is coming fast, so order a sample today. Visit decorators.com herd to get your free sample. That's Decorators with A K Again, decorators.com herd thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio Here we go. On a Monday. We're only on FS1 for an hour today, then we move over to another channel. So you better be locked in. Colin, right? Colin, right.
- [02:59]
Jeff Schwartz
Wrong.
- [03:00]
Colin Cowherd
Top of next hour. It is great to have you in on a Monday. There's a lot going on. So maybe my message for my opening rant today is your life, by the time certainly you get to my age will be about the priorities that you chose. So tonight, OKC in San Antonio. Get used to it. Are playing in the Western Conference finals about a month ago with Rachel Nichols. I picked San Antonio to win the West. What was interesting yesterday, SGA won the mvp. Jokic second, Wemby third. That is now eight straight years an MVP has been from the international overseas players. Eight straight years. In fact, the only American to get a first place vote in five years is Cade Cunningham. And it was probably a Pistons beat writer. But tell me again how the basketball culture in America. It's all good. In baseball, there's been a massive infusion of international talent that is awesome. But there's still all sorts of great American players. Top of class Paul skeens, Bobby Witt Jr. S unbelievable. Aaron Judge, you know, Bryce Harper. Great domestic players everywhere mixed with amazing international players. Because in my opinion, our baseball culture is excellent. Our football culture is amazing. Hell, I'd say our hockey culture is great. There's not a lot of ice rinks all over the country, but we just beat the Canadians for the gold. Our hockey culture may not be massive, but it's well coached and they care about the right stuff. Our basketball culture, think of where we are now. Basketball was invented by Naismith here. We've developed it, we've manufactured it. And the majority of the best players now are from overseas. The last American player to even finish in the top two of voting is LeBron six years ago. So gold college basketball. I think the development of the 73 Spaniard center for Michigan from UCLA to Michigan. ADAI Mara. I thought that was the key for Michigan, that they had a great defensive player who became an offensive hub. And that is what has happened to basketball. And I think it's a grassroots problem. AAU basketball is all about track. Suit Tony getting his. It's not about developing young players overseas. They practice relentlessly and play infrequently. Therefore creating highly skilled, dedicated players in America. More games, more gyms. Hell, you'll see two California teams playing in Columbus, Ohio, two Ohio teams playing in Florida. It's all about making money. That's what it's About European players are more skilled and often more mature. Our players are often hyper athletic and fun to watch. But didn't we think John Zion before they went sideways emotionally, personally, we're going to wreck the league. And once again the message today your life is a result of your priorities. AAU basketball, the worst of American sports capitalism. And Adam Silver, who I think is a good commissioner. We got to get the guys paid. Let's go with the G League nonsense. If that works. Why are so few G League players top of the NBA? Find me all the G League all stars. G League is not about development. Develop some development in basketball in America is college. Excellent coaching, nutrition, travel, big time arenas. So you get a little bit like college football. You know in college football go play in Norman, Oklahoma on a Saturday that feels like playing against, you know, Buffalo or like playing in Green Bay or playing in Chicago. At college environment you go to Austin, Texas, Norman, Oklahoma, Athens, Georgia, Eugene, Oregon. That feels like pro football. Same in college basketball. You go to East Lansing, you go to Gonzaga, you go to Storrs, Connecticut, you go to Raleigh, North Carolina, Lawrence, Kansas. That's like an NBA arena. G League's not, but the G League gets everybody paid. Awful. And so congratulations to the new international players who are taking over the league. I like them, I think they're highly skilled. I think they're a credit to the sport. I have no problem with international players dominating our leagues. I think it's much, much broader and greater and going nowhere. Wemmy's going to win seven MVPs. Who are we getting here? Jokic is still the best player in the game. I would have voted Wemby MVP because his defensive dominance. But congrats to sga. Classy kid. All about the right stuff. Put the work in here. He is, it's special. All those guys have shaped the game of basketball.
- [08:20]
Jeff Schwartz
All those guys have changed the game and how it's played and how it's approached.
- [08:26]
Colin Cowherd
And so this before like to be in just that circle, to be in that conversation. Something that I don't take lightly. Smart, dedicated, classy kid, happy he won. But boy, look around at what has happened to our basketball culture. Priorities are in the wrong places. It's about developing young players. Hard coaching, fewer games at the au. Stop letting track suit Tony get the bag. Why are young, great, talented players aren't. And for the record, you know, nil I've argued is great for domestic players. I've been arguing this. I am not anti you getting paid. The nil is all about our college Guys getting paid but they stay in college. They stay in a major conference playing against other players in packed arenas with Tom Izzo and Dan Hurley and Mark few great dedicated coaching but they'll sit your butt if you don't play defense tracksuit. Tony's not doing that. I am not anti player getting paid. I love him getting paid in the right system with the right coaches and the right schedule. College basketball has been demonized forever and it's nonsense. It is a great place for all young people to go sports or not. Okay, so OTAs for the Steelers. We'll go to. We'll go to that later. Steelers are on the field. Aaron Rodgers is officially back the one year deal. So I've been critical of the Steelers and I've said the rest of the league appears to understand how important the quarterback position is. They treat it like a slot corner or an interior offensive lineman. We'll get to it later. Now I would feel bad for the Steelers if they really did care about it or they got trapped because there wasn't, there wasn't a lot of options. But I want you to think about this. Just in the last year to 2, they could have signed Sam Darnold for under 40 million that was available. They could have drafted Jackson Dart. They had the 21st pick. They wouldn't even even have had to move up. They could have drafted Jackson Dart. No, no, no. They took a guess which they guess what. They took a defensive tackle. So Pittsburgh signed Kyler Murray was available. Do you know how much it cost the Vikings? 1.3 million. So Darnold available, draft Jackson Dart, sign Kyler Murray for cheap. Also Daniel Jones, not my favorite, was available for a reasonable number. And for the record, Malik Willis, who I think is wildly underrated. J. Mac thinks I'm crazy. He was also available under 30 million. So there were four or five options. Two or three were obviously better. Malik Willis would be in my opinion, but that's yet to be proven. And you say Colin but did this is Aaron was excellent last year. Here are the Steelers quarterback rankings since 2019. They are 29th in passing yards, 26th and passing first downs. They are tied for 26. And passing touchdowns. Big pass plays, 27th passer rating, 23rd. It's not working. And I am not saying that winning Super Bowls is easy. It is not easy. Sometimes you need a trick play from Nick Foles and Doug Peterson. It's not easy. There's a little bit of randomness to winning the big game. But if you're not winning playoff games it is because absolutely, you're getting in your own way. And you could say, well Colin, you love Justin Herbert, he hasn't won a playoff game. That's right, because the Chargers, and I've told Dean Spanos, the owner of this, you guys went cheap on coaches when you finally paid money for a head coach. Jim Harbaugh, suddenly the roster's better and the team's better. So the longest NFL playoff droughts, winning a playoff game. There's a bunch of teams you've seen before, you know, not on TV during the playoffs, but Dolphins, Raiders, Jets, Cardinals, Panthers and the Steelers are included in that group. And that is embarrassing. From one of the great organizations in league history. That is absolutely embarrassing. And the two primary reasons, number one, spend way too much damn money on defense. Way too much money on defense. And number two, they just haven't been urgent at quarterback. And so a one year deal for a 42 year old quarterback is their official plan going forward. And it is absolutely perfect. They've gone from being known in, in the 70s and 80s is great defense to be in defensive about it. Well, I mean we weren't bad last year. I mean we didn't have a losing season last year. Your quarterback plan right now is a 42 year old, 43. Not that far down the road for a one year deal. It's just not that difficult. Winning Super Bowls is difficult. Winning an occasional playoff game in the last decade is not that difficult. It's like our, it's like for most of our young lives when you were in your early 20s, early 30s, get transportation and housing down, everything else can float. Just how am I getting to work and where am I sleeping tonight in the NFL it's kind of like get the quarterback somewhere in his prime or close to it and then protect him and elevate him. It's not that hard, although Pittsburgh makes it look hard. And here's Albert Brooks on the Steelers. I don't think ownership there wants to sink to the bottom of the league, which has colored a lot of the decision making there. And I, I think like a lot of football people would tell you that this is probably the point to rip the band aid off. In fact, you could have made an argument for that a year ago. They were an older team. A year ago this would have been the year where it's like, okay, like maybe we hire a Chris Shula to be our head coach, go with a 30 something guy like we've always done and we hit the reset button on the roster. Instead they go the Other way. And it just become a consistent theme with the Pittsburgh Steelers. So my Detroit Pistons lost in Game 7. Congrats, the J. Mac. Now the Knicks, who are not only well rested, they just got back from a siesta, in fact, in game one, it's almost a disadvantage. The Knicks have been off so long. Yeah, but I mean, I think the Knicks should be heavy favorites against either team. But especially, you know, when I watched that last and I watched the whole thing, even to the very end, I think it is again, kind of a reminder about if you play really hard in the regular season, like really, really hard, especially on defense every night. You play the Pistons every night because they have limited offensive skill. The Pistons play hard every night this year and really hard on defense, which in an 82 game schedule you would admit you get offense much more easily than defense. Defense is hard. It's effort, it's sweat, it's. It's hard to play defense in professional sports at any level, you get. Defensive players get hurt more. In pro football, the Pistons are a great example of. In the regular season, they won a lot of games off one superstar and tremendous coaching and effort. But in the playoffs, you need bucket getters and James Harden. Jared Allen was sensational last night. Donovan Mitchell rebounded from a crappy game 6. And in the end, Cleveland's flawed, but you got to have somebody to get buckets. And Detroit's regular season was largely based on a good coach, a good plan, and they played super hard. But as we both know, in the playoffs, everybody plays hard. And that's the difference regular to postseason. Pistons are a bunch of try hards. You're right. In the regular season, let me ask you. Cade Cunningham absolutely pooped his pants in game seven. 13 points on 16 shots, 0 for seven on three. Okay, can we, can we stop hearing about how much of a superstar he is? I mean, Donovan Mitchell, when they needed 43 from him in Game 4, showed up. Donovan Mitchell was the best player on the court in game seven. Like I need. Can we pump the brakes on Kate cutting him? No, I think, I think you're missing it. When you're the only. Go to guy. Shocker that in a game seven, when they're throwing bodies at you, you don't have much left. Donovan Mitchell could play poorly in a game, then Harden would step up or Jared Allen would step up. When you're the only offensive option, I can just throw bodies at you. That's when, that's why the Lakers, you know, it can't just be Luca, because if you, if, if, if, if they let Austin Reeves and LeBron go and they just built defense around Luca, it would be a better defensive team. But Luca in a playoff series, seven games against the well coached team and I think that's what happened to Cade Cunningham. Like they just kept throwing bodies and you know, outside of LeBron and Michael Jordan maybe or a Kobe, most players aren't relentless. They, you can wear them down with traps and bodies. And I think Cade, he did everything he could do. They just need another elite score. Pag basically the cat said we're going to pack the paint and we're going to dare you guys all star. Thompson, you can't shoot at all so you go ahead and take three point shots. You know Duncan Robinson, if you're missing Tobias Harris had nothing left in the tank last three games. He was terrible. So yeah, good strategy by the Cavs. It's not going to work against the Knicks. Sweep or five. Which, which is it for New York? Five. I think Cleveland will shoot their way to a win. So it'll be, I have San Antonio getting in. Although, you know, I made my prediction a month ago. If San Antonio, the best for the NBA would be New York, which is a fascinating team and it's a huge market. And the spurs, that's nothing against okc. But Wemby, I mean the players call him Alien. So I mean it's, I think Wemby against the Knicks, best case scenario for the league. If you could have gone before the season and said, okay, what would really be fascinating? You'd be like, oh, let's put Wemby in his first and let's give him the Knicks because the Celtics, the Knicks are more interesting than the Celtics. I think personally, and it's a bigger city, Boston feels more like a system than superstars, whereas, I mean the Knicks are on their second coach in two years. It's not just a system, it's, it's a really good roster. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, it's Ben, host of the Fifth Hour with Ben Maller. Would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking, what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a spin off of the Ben Mather Show, a cold hit overnights on fsr. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry in media, sports and more every week. Exploring Explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the iHeartRadio app. Apple podcast or wherever you get your
- [19:38]
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- [20:26]
Colin Cowherd
doors and at the American Military University, it can open doors for the whole family. If you have a loved one who served in the military, you may qualify for reduced tuition. AMU offers flexible online programs designed to fit your schedule so you can keep moving forward wherever life takes you. Learn more at AMU Apus Edu Military Open doors to the future for you and your family with the help of American Military University hi, it's Colin Coward. If you want your outdoor space to really stand out, Deckorator Surestone technology is where you should start when you build your deck. With Deckorators decking made with surestone technology, you're getting something totally different from the typical wood fiber composites out there. Decking with surestone technology is made through a patented process that uses crushed rock, which gives every board incredible strength and durability. And Deckorators engineered it with a unique surface design that increases traction in wet conditions. So if you live in a rainy area or you've got kids running around outside, it's a safer, more comfortable surface. Plus, there are more than 40 different color and size combos, so you can design a customized outdoor space that actually fits your home and your style. It's durable, it's safe, it looks great, and it's going to stand out. Build seasons right around the corner. Order a sample today. Visit decorators.com herd to get your free sample. That's Decorators with A K Again, decorators.com
- [21:54]
Public Investing Announcer
herd support for the show comes from public.
- [21:57]
Jeff Schwartz
Huh.
- [21:58]
Colin Cowherd
I wonder if this can beat the market everyone's talking about the NASDAQ 100. But let's get more specific. Software. Actually, too broad. How about software that's already profitable? Companies that beat the last five quarters. Oh, and I want founders who are marathon runners. That's discipline. Yeah, let's see what that looks like.
- [22:22]
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- [23:05]
Colin Cowherd
Colin wrong on a Monday. Here we go. Where Colin was right. Aaron Rodgers, one year deal with the Steelers. We have said, listen, they don't have a plan. So here they are with a guy that's going to turn 43 years old at some point next year in the season. And it's a one year plan. And the Steelers, you know, they don't want to bot him out. And I've been on this for five years. Like would you guys treat quarterback like it matters? Not an interior O lineman or a slot receiver. So the Steelers, it's just perfect. They'll lead the NFL in defensive spending for a fifth straight years and they have no future plan at quarterback. That is the Steelers. Where Colin was wrong. SGA beat Wemby for the most valuable player. I'm happy for him. But I pick Wemby about a month ago. It's interesting because SGA doesn't lead the NBA in any major category. None. Now he's a great player, but generally you gotta put like a stamp on something. And I thought Wimby as the best defensive player of our lives and Jokic just the best player. Probably had an edge. But SGA proved me wrong where Colin was right. I can remember when the media predicted during cte football is beginning to end. The be the regression is starting. And then the schedule came out. Thanksgiving Eve, Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday. That is easily the best schedule of my adult life. And then the Christmas schedule is going to clobber the NBA. I mean it's Unbelievable. The star coaches, the star quarterbacks, the star rosters, everybody I know Kaepernick. The league is in trouble. The holiday games and the international games are so much better than at any time in my life. It's not close where Collin was wrong. I thought the Pistons defensive effort, intensity and consistency would beat the up and down Cavs. And it went seven. And they went on the road in game six and looked impressive. But what a bagel yesterday. And the problem is when Detroit gets down 12, it feels like 24. When they're down 15, it feels like 30. Because after Kate Cunningham, there's not a lot of offensive greatness. I really like watching them play. I'm not against great defensive basketball, but I don't like ugly offensive basketball. And they just didn't have enough bucket getters where Colin was right. Been on this for years. International players have won eight straight MVPs. Why? Because the American basketball culture is stuck in a rut. Too much aau, too much about everybody getting paid in the G league. Not enough about player development, too much about me, not enough about we. The football, hockey, baseball cultures to me collectively are about the team and growth and development. And the basketball culture is too often about the player in the moment being taken care of. Often pandered to where Colin was wrong. After winning game one, I thought Minnesota would still probably lose the series. But I thought we were going to have a tug of war for the next 10 days. The spurs average winning margin in the games they won was 25. And it's scary because if you look at that t Wolves roster, I doubt Julius Randall's there next year. But that that Minnesota roster is long, smart, deep, physical, experienced and wemby. After the ejection, they just. I mean, he had aunt Edwards in the huddle congratulating them with eight minutes to go. It was lopsided. Where Colin was right. I said when the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons, they would be more flexible, have more good players, not one superstar and would be better. Well, what do you know? They're over under. This year was higher to start the season than last year and now it has moved up a game because of scheduling benefits that Dallas has. Like they will not endure a single short week road game and have at least 11 days off before their two toughest road opponents. So again, there was this sense that the roof was caving in when Micah Parsons was traded. And I kept saying, guys, Jerry Jones is an oil maverick. He is a deal maker. If you sign Micah, Jerry's going to have very little opportunity to make deals. But when they let him go, Quinn and Williams, Kenny Clark, Rashon Garry, Caleb Downs, Dallas defense with downs and added depth and resources up front is a different defense than the last year they had. Micah where Colin was right. I predicted the number one change you would see when the Bus family sold to the Dodgers owners would not be on the court. It would be in the front office. I said that's going to be the first move. They're going to expand the front office. The Buss family are good people and they worked hard, but it was a mom and pop operation. What did the Dodgers and now the new Laker owners do? Hired two new assistant vice presidents to work alongside for the time being. Rob Polinka so there's that. That's always been my complaint with the Lakers is guys, Rob Polinka was an agent and now you're asking him to be Sam Presti. He didn't have a scouting background. That's not who he is. And that's why I've said, I mean Rob Polinka is not. I mean he made some good moves. The scouting department found like Alex Caruso or Austin Reaves undrafted. They made moves but they let Caruso walk. And you know, they missed another draft pick. So the key to the new owners is not Lebron. The key is they're going to have a big boy front office. And in the NFL you see this all the time. Go look at the Rams and the Eagles front office money they spent and look how well they draft. There's a It's not a coincidence the Bengals don't crush the draft. They have a tiny scouting department and don't spend money on the right R D. Where Colin was right Where Colin was wrong. One more herd the herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.
- [29:41]
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- [30:28]
Colin Cowherd
doors and at the American Military University, it can open doors for the whole family. If you have a loved one who served in the military, you may qualify for reduced tuition. AMU offers flexible online programs designed to fit your schedule so you can keep moving, moving forward, wherever life takes you. Learn more at amu Apus Edu Military Open Doors to the future for you and your family with the help of American Military University hi, it's Colin Coward if you want your outdoor space to really stand out, Deckorator surestone technology is where you should start when you build your deck with Decorators Decking made with surestone technology, you're getting something totally different from the typical wood fiber composites out there. Decking with surestone technology is made through a patented process that uses crushed rock which gives every board incredible strength and durability. And Deckorators engineered it with a unique surface design that increases traction in wet conditions. So if you live in a rainy area or you've got kids running around outside, it's a safer, more comfortable surface. Plus, there are more than 40 different color and size combos, so you can design a customized outdoor space that actually fits your home and your style. It's durable, it's safe, it looks great, and it's going to stand out. Build seasons right around the corner. Order a sample today. Visit decorators.com herd to get your free sample. That's Decorators with a k again. Decorators.com herd support for the show comes from Public.
- [31:59]
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- [33:02]
Colin Cowherd
Jeff Schwartz, Fox Sports analyst, former NFL lineman in the NFL for eight years. Host of Bear Bets podcast with our buddy Chris Felica. So you didn't have to as a football player. You had to do minimum college football for three years. Most go for some go five. You know, I want to talk about that before we get in the NFL. There was a real narrative, Jeff, that the nil, because I'm a fan of nil. But it's imperfect, right? Like, like, I mean, how much do you have to spend to build a college football roster to compete? I would hope it's 20 million, not 44. But people talked about this year's draft, how the sixth and seventh rounds, nil killed it. It's like just, just average players. So I guess there's a duality to everything. With good comes bad. Do you think you get to a point where the nil, where maybe the last three to four rounds are bad and it becomes like a three and a half round draft? Or do you think this was just an outlier?
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Jeff Schwartz
I'm waiting for this to settle out. Right, Colin, like there's going to be a point where the return on investment is just not going to be there and the donors aren't going to want to give this money. I don't know when that is, but it's going to happen, right? It's impossible to keep going at this rate, in my opinion. And you know, the valuations are $40 million a roster and not win championships. At some point there's going to be a pullback. I don't know when that is. So yeah, for the next couple of years, maybe the draft is affected by that. We did see Ty Simpson come out and he was a first round pick because he did end up making that money. But there's a lot of talk about he's turned down $7 million to come to the NFL. So we'll see how that goes. But I think at some point there has to be a pullback, right? If you're spending all this money and you're one of these boosters donating year after year after year, without championships, without conference championships. And obviously the landscape is going to change here. Pretty soon it feels like you might pull back a little bit. So I'm curious when that happens. I felt it would happen sooner. It really hasn't. I think it's accelerated because there's new money right now. Look at What Texas Tech is. I love it, by the way. I love it. If you have the money, go spend for a roster, make these kids rich, go for broke. But at some point there has to be return on investment, I would imagine. Maybe not. And then there'll be a little bit of a pullback and maybe some guys will go to the NFL a little early like they used to.
- [35:08]
Colin Cowherd
So one more college football topic. When you were at Oregon, they had the number one rushing offense for a couple of years in the PAC 12. Former NFL lineman. When Pete Carroll dominated college football, you didn't have a Pac 12 championship. You didn't have a semifinal game you just waited for the computer to get you into. And one of the things that drove Pete Carroll crazy is one of his best teams with Mark Sanchez didn't get to play for a national title and it drove Pete crazy because he thought he had the best team, is that college football to me has always been a great movie with a weird ending. So I am for an expanded playoff. People are saying the 24 game playoff would ruin the regular season. I would argue this last couple years we've had a playoff, it's been like 12 teams. And the ratings have gone up for the regular season because Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Ohio State, it doesn't matter what the records are. Forget the play. It's always going to be gigantic. The real huge rivalries are, oh, I mean, I don't care if Auburn and Alabama have four wins each. The game is gigantic in that region. Do you think 24 teams is a little excessive?
- [36:14]
Jeff Schwartz
I do, but obviously I think I'm in a minority here when it comes to the people that run college football. I mean, they often do things, I think that are against the best interest of the sport. But you're right, people are going to watch it. Absolutely. It's going to change the important games, right? It's going to change the game that the rivalry game, right. That's still going to be played. I don't buy this idea, by the way, that if we expand, starters are going to sit out of the big game. Absolutely no chance. There's absolutely no chance. Starters sitting out of that game. I don't care what the records are. No one stay out of Oregon, Washington, right? It's never going to happen. Okay, but it's going to take that game between maybe two 10 win teams and the loser is still in the playoff. The winner gets bragging rights and maybe a higher seed. It's now going to move to like the 6 and 4 rivalry game between 2, 6 and 4 teams or 2, 7 and 3 teams, probably most likely 7 to 14. They'll move the significance of maybe the bigger rivalry games to smaller rivalry games. Look, I think a playoff is designed. It should be designed to get the teams in. They can win a championship. I thought last year was a mistake. I thought Notre Dame was left out. They were a team that was good enough to compete for a national championship. So just have one less G5 team. Put nerd aim in. You have the 12 teams you need. I'll watch 2014 playoff. We're all going to watch it. Obviously, coaches love it. Allows them to say that they're a playoff team, right? I'm not sure we're going to find a different champion. We're not going to have a different champion. I don't know if we need more weeks. Maybe we work in other buys. The conference championship game idea of moving that to basically a playing game is intriguing to me. I don't think the sport needs it, doesn't need it. It's going to get it. And we're just have the same, you know, 12 teams will be in every year, probably a couple of new teams here and there. And we'll continue to watch it. The ratings won't go down, I promise you that. I mean, look, we had games last year. They're uncompetitive and the ratings still went up.
- [37:52]
Colin Cowherd
So I want to switch to Aaron Rodgers. I've said before is they could have had Sam Darnold, Malik Willis, Kyler Murray. They could have drafted Jackson. Dart is that the Steelers are the only NFL franchise that treat quarterback like an interior O lineman or a slot corner that will get to it next year. It's like, guys, it's quarterback. Are you surprised? They have backed themselves into a corner so much that this is the best option, which today it is.
- [38:21]
Jeff Schwartz
I'm not surprised that they keep doing this right. They refuse to admit where they are in the NFL. Look, I think you build your team really one of two ways, right? You either go for it, all right, like you're going for it this year, or we're pulling back a little bit, rebuild on the fly, and we have hope for next year. That's sort of the way now if you can do both the same time. I think Seattle blended that, right? They were really good with all the rookies and young guys and they kind of went for last year with other players. Pittsburgh's in the middle. They're in the absolute worst place. They're not winning a championship. They're not. We know that they're not winning a championship. They're also not going to be bad enough to draft in the top seven or eight, which is in this draft feels like a good position to, to get a quarterback. They sort of refuse this idea of, of a rebuild. And you can do a rebuild on the fly without saying it. Just start Will Howard for the season, go five and 12 in this year, right. And draft eighth overall and get a quarterback like you could easily make this happen. But they refuse to acknowledge where they are. They are a historically winning franchise in the NFL. They should always believe they can win a Super bowl, but some years you can't. And going back to Rodgers makes no it doesn't help the future, right? He won't be the quarterback next year. It doesn't help him with the draft pick for next year, doesn't help them this year. They're not winning super bowl this season. They probably don't win the division this year. And so I don't understand this one year process they keep doing. At some point you have to be bold and find a quarterback in the future and they refuse to do that.
- [39:37]
Colin Cowherd
So I, I, here's my working theory is that if you asked any coach in the NFL taking over a football team and said, listen, you got and Pittsburgh never fires its coaches, right? More than any team, the Steelers, Mike McCarthy's going to coach here and then he's going to retire. He's not going to get fired. He's got, let's just say five years minimum. If you asked any coach that had a guaranteed contract going forward, if you said you can start your first year with an old guy at quarterback that you didn't get along with and it was really ugly, especially behind the scenes or bottom out play these two young kids and see if they can chop it up and play, every single coach ever would take the second option, which is let's see if Drew Aller can play, let's see if you know, Will Howard can play. And by the way, to add another layer to this next year's a great college quarterback draft, I think McCarthy is publicly taking a bullet because he would rather go with the kids. But he got the job. And part of the deal is don't bad mouth us when we bring Aaron back. Am I as my working theory, I
- [40:49]
Jeff Schwartz
mean, I have to imagine that this was talked about when they hired him, right? I'm sure he asked him to plan a quarterback and the plan I guess is to go win eight or nine games again. Look, you're right about the way this ended. Remember Aaron Rodgers and McCarthy did not end well. Like, he got him fired. He got him fired and now they're supposed to be best friends again and work this out. Look, they're professionals. They'll make a. They'll manage to make this work. But again, I don't if you're a Steelers fan, how are you looking forward to the season? You know exactly how it's going to be fair. You know the last 10 seasons, everyone won a playoff game in nine years. You know the last nine, we're going to go anyways. But this doesn't feel like any hope. And you're right about bottoming out. Look, I think that if you ask McCarthy, hey, let's, let's sort of get rid of the old guys. Let's go young this year and then next year we'll hit it hard. I think he would rather take that. But the pride of the organization, at some point you have to take. You have to say for a year or two we're going to be bad. And there's plenty examples of it working where teams are bad, if the Patriots are bad, if you've got Drake maybe like it works. It does work if you do it right and Pittsburgh refuses to do it right.
- [41:45]
Colin Cowherd
So schedules came out and you tell me as a former player what matters what was really interesting and you've been known to place a better to the Cowboys over under went up a full game based on not just Caleb Downs, not just it went up on a scheduling break where Dallas has almost the opposite of the Niners. They've got some favorable kind of quirky road advantages. You tell and I think Dallas a lot of their you know, they've got some youth but Kenny Clark's older and Rashawn Gary's older and Tack is older and you know, they've got some older players. I think older players need more rest than young guys. But were you surprised the over under changed for Dallas like a win and do you think that stuff matters as a player? Did. Did miles, I mean Niners 38,000. Did miles matter to you?
- [42:37]
Jeff Schwartz
It's funny on this side of it now seeing the analysis of the schedule because all the things people think we care about, that we care about, never once they think about rest disparity travel schedule. You look at bye week right? That's important for a mental refresh. You've got Thursday Night Football. You look at your week one opponent. You look at sort of where things are spaced out. Maybe there's a rivalry game for you just personally revenge game Four, you look at national TV games because you have an opportunity to play in front of your friends and family. The rest stuff obviously matters, right? But we've yet to see a lot of data. I get to see data showing me that rest disparity actually matters to wins and losses. Obviously strength of schedule matters, right? Who you play. But look, the Cowboys, I think it's time to admit that they're actually going to be good this season. I know people don't want to do that for fear of, fear of like. And I've done this before, I'm like, I'm on the Cowboys and Dak gets hurt. Look, Dak is a very good quarterback. When he has been healthy, he has been, I would say like in the tier two of quarterbacks in the NFL, right? If you have sort of tier one, the guys, you know, he's sort of at the top of tier two. He's been very good. The offensive line is good. The wide receivers are good. I think running backs just okay. They improved their defense a lot this offseason. Whether it was trades, draft, free agency and Shonheimer. I think we all thought that job was like a one year deal. Just they're going to put Shawn Heimer in there and they'll figure it out after the season. He did a good job. Good coaching staff, right? Great job last season. It's a legitimately good football team. And I think that their win total move because people realized after the schedule came out like, hey, schedule is pretty, pretty manageable and it's good football team. I think they're very locked in the division.
- [44:03]
Colin Cowherd
Okay? So the other schedule to me, and it hasn't gotten a lot of play is I saw a headline today that said does Kansas City have the three toughest. The toughest three game stretch in the NFL. Forget three Bills, Bills, Rams, Bengals, Patriots, Niners, Chargers. Six Pro bowl quarterbacks in a row, four on the road for a team that's moved off Tuney and McDuffie in the last two years. So they've gotten sneaky old. They got a lot of old and a lot of young and unproven and even Kenneth Walker, who's the big free agent acquisition, he's been banged up his entire career. And so I'm like that to me is the toughest schedule. Six Pro bowl quarterbacks, most on the road. Is that something that jumps out to you?
- [44:50]
Jeff Schwartz
Absolutely. And what jumps out to me too is a week five buy, a week 12 buy would have been nice for Kansas City, right? I mean you have that early buy after a pretty easy schedule and you play Denver at home, Colts, Dolphins, Raiders, you're probably three and one at the worst. And then you get your buy so early for, as you mentioned, some guys who could probably use a week 12 buy. And then you run through that gauntlet. Now, Kansas City is used to playing these schedules. It's not anything new to them, but as they're, as they're currently constructed, that I think that that buy is really what hurt. If you told me they got this schedule, but they got like a Week 12 buy in between Buffalo and LA to feel a lot better about it, but to basically go with a buy and then you play a bunch of road games, by the way, like in a row. I think it's pretty now they're used to it, obviously used to it. They need some guys defensively to step up. They need these young guys to play well pretty early. Maybe by the back half of the season you're playing much better. But you know, the NFL is telling you they got, they got Monday football, Sunday football, like Mahomes is going to play. Put out a video there is golfing. He's going to play early on. You know, can they get their young guys, especially on defense, up to speed before the end of the year? The last thing is this, and it's hard to project this now, but injuries have played a big role at the end of the season, right? How many guys are healthy? Like, that's a big part of this. But on, on paper, man, it looks like a pretty daunting schedule here at the back half that I hate that. But week five by is the worst. Give me like a week 11, week 10, week nine, somewhere around there by halfway through the season.
- [46:10]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, the, you know, it's, we were talking about the Steelers and they just, they just won't take quarterback seriously. Were you surprised at all that the Niners, already an old, expensive, brittle team, went out and got Dre Greenlaw, Mike Evans and Christian Kirk and I'm like time out. You just doubled down on age and injuries. Did that surprise you?
- [46:32]
Jeff Schwartz
I don't like the Niners roster building, man. It to me, they're, they're, they're older, as you mentioned, and there's no depth. And part of that is, I know there was a little bit of arrogance in San Francisco about this, but they have not drafted well. Look at their drafts. They have drafted terribly for four drafts in a row versus Seattle. Go look at Seattle's drafts. Like the reason these teams win is they draft really well. They have Veterans, of course, that are good, but you have to, you have to have that depth. If a couple guys get hurt on San Francisco, there's no depth, there's no backups, there's no one to fill these roles. And look, they kind of sort of know with commodities because they don't have the depth. Like, if Mike Evans is not there, who's a wide receiver for you? If Greenlaw's not playing, who are your linebackers? Who are the guys ready to play? So this is a failure on their part in the draft. Have not drafted very well for years now. And I know they sort of laughed at the idea about the consensus big boards. That's a real thing. It really does matter. We have data that shows year after year that if you draft sort of along what we think. And look, a lot of these guys that do the big boards, they talk to NFL teams, they also make up their own grades. They call around, hey, where do you have this guy graded? So it's a general idea of what these guys are. If you continually and routinely draft above the big board, right? Draft, overdraft, these guys. You get the Niners drafts. Go look at the drafts. They're terrible drafts. They have very few impact players right now that are on rookie contracts. And you cannot win long term the NFL if you don't have those guys.
- [47:53]
Colin Cowherd
Jeff Schwartz former Oregon Duck Bear Bets podcast with Chris Felica here's one that's totally random, but I'm into it. I pick an over under in the NFL every year. Okay, So I, I and I five years in a row. Last year I liked New England. I thought that was a. Who was my other one? Guys that new. No, New England. Minnesota one year. Rams, whatever. Denver a couple years ago. Okay, give me your over under a team because I. Vegas doesn't make a lot of mistakes, but they make enough the New York Giants to me again, I cross your fingers on Malik neighbors. I wonder if he's injury prone. But I mean, you start looking at the issues they solved. We've seen Brandon Staley to Harbaugh. A coach can literally change the culture. I loved their draft. My over team right now today is the New York Giants. You're staring at your screen. Give me one future bet that you would. You would embrace.
- [48:58]
Jeff Schwartz
Yeah. So I think the Giants is just so popular and trendy that it kind of worries me. Like everyone's on the Giants this year, right? Like it's a team. And I agree with you. Look, their, their team is probably better than the record the last couple of years. They've had injuries and the Jackson darkest they have. They got to figure out a way like it's you can be aggressive and run, just slide, just slide or dive. I think a dive actually is the way to go instead of sliding. But just get down a couple that I bet on. So far. I think Carolina is going to be good. It's seven and a half or six and a half. Look at what they did last season. I think they've had a very good two years ago in this roster. Dan Morgan's done a really good job of building this roster up. It comes down to Bryce Young continuing to improve and playing better. But he feels like or they feel like a team that in this division. I don't trust the Falcons really with their quarterback situation. I think the Bucks are a step back team this year. So I think we'll look back and think like, oh, you know, Mayfield's a little older now. The roster is sort of going through a little bit of a cycle where older players are out and younger players are in. So I think Carolina, me, six and a half is just over seven and a half would be playable. I think for me there, I think on the underside. I kind of like the Colts to go under this season. I just don't know how good they are. Look at their roster, look at the way last year ended. I don't trust Daniel Jones. I think that division is getting better, right? Jacksonville should be better again. Same sort of. I think Tennessee is getting better. Houston's going to be good again. Houston's defense, probably the best in the NFL right now. So the Colts to me feel like if they go one in five in division, you're going under seven and a half. And so those are a couple that I've eyed so far and can't wait to be here. Before we know it, college football too will be here soon and we'll be ready to go. I know you'll be at the Coliseum, week four. Maybe I'll fly in and we'll sit next to each other. I wear my organ gear. You could put on your USC shirt.
- [50:40]
Colin Cowherd
What is week four? Coliseum?
- [50:41]
Jeff Schwartz
What is it, Oregon or usc, buddy?
- [50:44]
Colin Cowherd
Oh, oh, yeah, I already got that as a W on my pocket calendar.
- [50:48]
Jeff Schwartz
I'm sure you do. Good seeing you, buddy. Take care, buddy.
- [50:54]
Colin Cowherd
Jeff Schwartz, who knows his stuff, brought
- [50:57]
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- [51:28]
Colin Cowherd
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