Best of The Herd

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd – "Best of The Herd"

Episode Information

• Title: Best of The Herd
• Release Date: August 11, 2025
• Host: Colin Cowherd
• Co-Hosts: Jason McIntyre, Matt Hasselbeck
• Produced by: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume
• Description: A comprehensive exploration of the top sports stories, featuring insightful discussions and expert opinions.

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1. Introduction to the Episode

The episode kicks off with Jason McIntyre welcoming listeners to "Best of The Herd," setting the stage for a deep dive into the latest NFL developments following a bustling weekend of games. The hosts express enthusiasm about the active participation of starting quarterbacks and the various player performances observed over the weekend.

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**2. NFL Quarterback Tier Rankings and Performance

Survey Insights: Jason McIntyre introduces Mike Sando's annual quarterback survey, which compiles opinions from 50 NFL executives and coaches. The survey categorizes quarterbacks into four tiers based on their performance and potential.

• Tier One: Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Matt Stafford
  “Your tier one is Mahomes, Burrow, Allen, Jackson, Stafford. I agree with that.” [02:36]

• Tier Two: Derek Carr, Justin Herbert, Geno Smith, C.J. Stroud, Jalen Hurts, Baker Mayfield, Ja’Marr Chase, Jordan Love, Brock Purdy
  “Tier 2 is Daniels, Herbert, Goff, CJ Stroud, Jalen Hurts, Baker, Jack Jordan, Love, Brock Purdy.” [02:36]

• Tier Three: Bo Nix and others, with some surprising placements
  “Tier three, they got Bo Nix closer to the middle than the top.” [03:05]

• Tier Four: Includes older and less active quarterbacks like Russell Wilson, Daniel Jones, Spencer Rattler, Joe Flacco
  “Tier four includes old Russell Wilson, Daniel Jones, Spencer Rattler, Joe Flacco.” [03:05]

Caleb Williams’ Position: Caleb Williams, the quarterback for the Chicago Bears, is discussed extensively. Placed at the bottom of Tier Three with 15 voters (30%) placing him in Tier Four, Williams’ performance is scrutinized.

• Criticism:

  • Coaches’ Feedback:
    “A defensive coordinator said, 'he was the worst quarterback we played against. He holds the ball forever.'” [04:00]
    “A head coach in the NFL said, 'his processing to me was alarming.'" [04:00]

  • Team Performance Impact:
    “15 voters are already knowing what a mess the Bears were last year. That wasn't Caleb's fault.” [04:00]

• Jason’s Defense: Jason argues that Caleb’s position is heavily influenced by the Bears' overall team performance rather than solely his abilities. He suggests protecting Caleb from undue public scrutiny.
  “Protecting Caleb from the court of public opinion... It has now been reported by me and Seth Wickersham.” [04:30]

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**3. Shedeur Sanders and Quarterback Development

Shedeur Sanders’ Potential: The discussion shifts to Shedeur Sanders, evaluating his potential as a franchise quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.

• Jason’s Perspective:

  • Physical Attributes:
    “Shador's size, his arm, his mobility are all good enough to be a franchise quarterback.” [08:00]

  • Comparative Analysis:
    “I do a Dak Prescott level. I think he throws a better ball than Dak, but he's not great at him.” [09:00]

  • Areas for Improvement:
    “He has to be better in the other 30 to 40% of quarterback play, which is maturity, focus, IQ, EQ, film study, pre-snap excellence.” [10:00]

• Kevin Stefanski’s Comments: Browns’ head coach Kevin Stefanski addresses Sanders’ development, emphasizing the team's focus on quarterback performance standards.
  “There are things that Shador can clean up, he will clean up.” [12:31]

• Jason’s Advocacy for Sanders: Jason champions Sanders, highlighting his comfort on the field, accuracy, and physical prime, while acknowledging areas needing growth.
  “He is absolutely, to me, a franchise quarterback with all that stuff.” [14:00]

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**4. Matt Stafford’s Back Injury Concerns

The hosts express concern over Matt Stafford’s back injury, emphasizing the implications for his performance and the Los Angeles Rams’ future.

• Jason’s Observation: “Matt Stafford did not. He's not even dressing for practice. He's got a back injury. Does that worry you a little?” [33:39]

• Colin’s Response: Colin shares a personal anecdote about a similar injury, underscoring the long-term effects and potential impact on Stafford’s playing career.
  “I am concerned about Matthew Stafford's back. I had a bad back injury in 2008.” [34:00]

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**5. Discussion on Other Quarterbacks

Bo Nix’s Ranking: Bo Nix is critiqued for being placed below seasoned quarterbacks like Geno Smith in the survey, sparking debate about his actual ability.

• “Bo Nix is tied for the 20th best quarterback in the league below Geno Smith.” [16:55]

Jackson Dart’s Performance: Jason defends Jackson Dart’s capabilities, arguing against the notion that he’s merely a young quarterback needing time to develop.
“Jackson Dart is a three-year starter in the SEC with Lane Kiffin. It's had private coaching, seven on seven.” [27:56]

Anthony Richardson’s Age: The discussion touches on Anthony Richardson, dismissing concerns about his age and emphasizing the importance of his on-field performance.
“I don't want to hear about Anthony Richardson's age, okay? He's hurt again. Nobody cares about age and experience.” [23:04]

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**6. Team Strategies and Coaching Decisions

Joe Alt’s Draft Impact: Jason praises Joe Alt’s selection in the draft, arguing that it was pivotal in saving the Chicago Bears’ season by addressing crucial offensive line needs.
“Joe Alt pick – Everybody wanted a receiver. They got Lad McConkey in the second round. They were fine. That Joe Alt pick could have saved the season.” [18:39]

Cleveland Browns’ Quarterback Depth: Colin discusses the Browns’ decision to maintain four quarterbacks, questioning the team's willingness to develop young talent like Shedeur Sanders.
“Will the Cleveland Browns have the courage to keep four quarterbacks? And courage is the word I'm using because it's like no one else does that.” [30:00]

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**7. Player Development and Traits

Traits vs. Intangibles: The conversation delves into the balance between measurable traits (arm strength, mobility) and intangibles (leadership, film study) in evaluating quarterbacks.

• Jason’s View: “60% of this quarterback position we can all see, we don't see the 40%. Shador's got to be really good at that.” [37:03]
  Emphasizes that while physical traits are crucial, the unseen aspects like discipline and intelligence are equally important for a quarterback’s success.

• Colin’s Insight: “J.J. McCarthy has the intangibles that you cannot coach. I think you can coach the use of other clubs in your bag.” [35:00]
  Highlights the importance of experience and adaptability in quarterback performance.

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**8. NFL and NBA Observations

League Balance: Jason comments on the perceived imbalance in the NBA’s scheduling, noting the dominance of Western Conference teams over Eastern counterparts, drawing parallels to the NFL’s competitive landscape.

• “Even the NBA is acknowledging with their Christmas and opening day schedule the league is lopsided. The Christmas games are the San Antonio Spurs against the Thunder, Rockets, Lakers, Mavs, Warriors, T Wolves, Denver.” [21:38]

Implications for Team Performance: Discusses how strategic team compositions and player acquisitions, like LeBron joining the Lakers, could shift the competitive balance in favor of Eastern Conference teams.

• “LeBron in the Lakers out East. Oh, they could compete. Luca, LeBron, Austin, Reeves could compete to get to the Eastern Conference finals.” [23:37]

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**9. Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts

Final Analysis: The hosts wrap up with reflections on quarterback performances and team strategies, reinforcing their positions on player potential and management decisions.

• Jason’s Final Thoughts: “He didn’t have a weird delivery. He's not slinging it sidearm. He's a franchise quarterback, but he better be buttoned up on the other stuff because that's what's made Dak rich.” [37:03]
  Summarizes the necessity for quarterbacks to excel both in physical traits and intangible skills to sustain their roles as franchise leaders.

• Colin’s Concluding Statement: “This is an iHeart podcast.” [37:57]
  Signifies the end of the main content, reaffirming the podcast’s affiliation and brand.

---

Notable Quotes

• Jason McIntyre:
  “Protecting Caleb from the court of public opinion... It has now been reported by me and Seth Wickersham.” [04:30]

• Kevin Stefanski:
  “There are things that Shador can clean up, he will clean up.” [12:31]

• Colin Cowherd:
  “I am concerned about Matthew Stafford's back. I had a bad back injury in 2008.” [34:00]

• Jason McIntyre:
  “He is absolutely, to me, a franchise quarterback with all that stuff.” [14:00]

• Colin Cowherd:
  “This quarterback tears is Sando's on the show tomorrow.” [31:37]

---

Conclusion

In this episode of "Best of The Herd," Colin Cowherd, along with co-hosts Jason McIntyre and Matt Hasselbeck, provide an in-depth analysis of the current NFL quarterback landscape. From tier rankings and player performances to team strategies and player development, the discussion offers valuable insights for sports enthusiasts. Notably, the conversation emphasizes the balance between physical traits and intangible skills in determining a quarterback's success, while also addressing concerns over player injuries and management decisions. The episode serves as a comprehensive guide for listeners seeking to understand the complexities of quarterback evaluations and their impact on team dynamics.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Jason McIntyre]

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[Jason McIntyre]

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[Jason McIntyre]

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 [e-mail] or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.

[Matt Hasselbeck]

This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Radio.

[Jason McIntyre]

All right, it is a Monday after a busy NFL weekend. We are live. It is the Herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. J Mac we finally got some football and the quarterbacks played. Joe Burrow's playing over the course of the weekend. The two is playing. Starters are playing. Matt Stafford didn't we knew that but Caleb Williams interesting did not play and I want to get to that. Okay. Justin Field played and look good.

[Gambling Announcer]

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[Jason McIntyre]

So one hour from now. Colin right? Colin wrong. So what's interesting is Mike Sando. We'll have him on tomorrow. His annual survey came out this morning. So Mike Sando has been doing this For a year. It's kind of the bible of what the league thinks of its quarterbacks. He has 50 voters, so he has six GMs, six assistant GMs, six former GMs, eight head coaches, five execs, 19 assistant coaches. So this is a wide array of opinions. Upstairs, below, upstairs, people who have played against quarterbacks. And so the tiers are pretty predictable. I don't have any real squabbles. Your tier one is Mahomesboro, Allen, Lamar, Jackson, Stafford. I agree with that. Tier 2 is Daniels, Herbert Goff, CJ Stroud, Jalen Hurts, Baker, Jack Jordan, Love, Brock Purdy. I'd have you know, tier three, they got Bo Nicks closer to the middle than the top. I'd probably change that. But here's what's interesting. Caleb Williams is bottom of Tier 3, but 15 voters, about 30% of voters, already knowing what a mess the Bears were last year. That wasn't Caleb's fault. The coaching staff, 15 voters have Caleb in tier four. Tier four. I'm not even putting on the screen. It's old Russell Wilson, it's Daniel Jones, it's Spencer Rattler, it's. It's Joe Flacco. 50, 30% of the voters are. Yeah, not gonna work. That's alarming. Here's the other thing. There were a couple of quotes from coaches, and I've said, I'm rooting for Caleb. I. I'm now in Chicago a lot. I want the football team to be good. Here's two quotes from coaches. One of them a defensive coordinator who said, in terms of processing ability and getting the ball out of his hands, he was the worst quarterback we played against. He holds the ball forever. A head coach in the NFL said his processing to me was alarming. Watching the tape, alarming. Also before the game, a lot of quarterbacks played Joe Burrow, played Mahomes, played Ben Johnson. Because they had a, you know, scrimmage against Miami earlier in the week. Ben Johnson decided not to play him at all yesterday. And here was Ben Johnson's reasoning.

[Ben Johnson]

There is no substitute for real live bullets. I get that. But at the same time, when you can accumulate 70 plus reps in a day, that's pretty good. That goes a long way in terms of where you want to go with the connection with the quarterback and his pass catchers.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah, and a lot of other quarterbacks in those inner squad games, whatever you want to call them, they had 60, 70 snaps, too. Bryce Young played Joe Burrow, played Mahomes, played Spencer Rattler, played everybody but Tom Brady played this weekend, and he did not, Caleb didn't, and I'm a fan. But there is a certain weight to this quarterback situation. I said it when he got drafted by Chicago, and it has now been reported by me and Seth Wickersham. This was not their first choice. This is a big, loud, aggressive media. It is a poorly owned franchise with a GM that got an extension based basically on one big trade that got him DJ more in draft picks. So I don't know. I look at it and I think to myself, was Ben Johnson. Actually, could I suggest this sort of protecting Caleb from the court of public opinion? It was kind of a standalone, big TV game. Let Miami and TUA get all the speculation and the heat. We're gonna let him, you know, just let him sit and watch this thing. It's not like he couldn't use the snaps when. When tech companies delay the release. Okay. It's usually because, like, you're still in the beta stage, right? You're just not quite comfortable putting it out to the public. And everybody in house knows it, but you're just like, you know, we just. We're just gonna not release our product yet, says Apple. We just want to tighten it. I mean, the product is great. It's gonna be revolutionary, but it's just not quite there. I think there's some eggshells here. I think Caleb's not quite where Ben Johnson wants him. That is okay. And I don't blame him for all of last year's sacks and the mess, but everybody played this weekend. I mean, starters played a lot. Let's talk Shedeur. I love that Nike's already got. Nike's already got an ad out. Sam Darnold was almost MVP last year. Could you get an ad for Sam Darnold? No. Okay. All right. So only a matter of time, says the poster. So I want to throw this at you. There is a video, and it's not hostile, of Shador Sanders after making a point after his first preseason game of finding a local. A very popular local guy, Tony Gross. He's a talk show host. Very popular guy. I don't listen to a lot of Cleveland radio, but I know who he is. Very, very popular. And again, it's not ugly. And I do think Shedeur is a good kid. I question his judgment and maturity, but they kind of laugh in the end. It's fine. But this thing is like, Shador, what are you doing? Get out of there. I don't want you watching Tony Grossi TikTok clips. And here's the thing I've said about Shador and I've defended him, his size, his arm, his mobility are all good enough to be a franchise quarterback. And I think his accuracy, I think it's really good. I think it's really good moving, stationary. I like his accuracy. You're seeing these are pro athletes, he moves around fine and I think he's very, that's a very accurate throw. I think his traits, the arm, the size, the mobility, I think they're all good enough to be a mid tier NFL quarterback. I do a Dak Prescott level. I do. I think he throws a better ball than Dak, but he's not great at him. He's not Cam, he's not Big Ben, he's not Josh Allen, he's not Mahomes, he's not Stafford. So he's going to be have to be better in the other 30 to 40% of quarterback play, which is maturity, focus, IQ, EQ, film study, pre snap excellence. By the way, Tom Brady's traits, doesn't move at all, doesn't have a huge arm. Tom's the best ever at the other stuff. Dak Prescott is a C plus in the pocket, throwing the ball down the field guy. Dan Mullen, his college coach, said that. But Dak is a plus plus plus leadership, iq, EQ at the podium, film study, pre snap. Dax great. So if you're not outstanding in the trait stuff and I like Shadour and he's not, I do think his accuracy is an excellent trait. I'll argue, I'll even argue with Greg Cosell. I think he throws a really beautiful catchable ball. He's an easy thrower. But I would like to say Herbert's this Herbert just comes out and the ball's accurate. C.J. stroud ball comes out on platform, off left, right up back. C.J. stroud's accurate. Herbert's accurate. I think Shedeur and I also think he moves much. He's not Deion. Everybody says, well, he got his mom's athletic ability. Well, his mom must be a good athlete because he moves well and Shador had a good game. But my take is and I'm tired of Cleveland fans saying, colin, you're making a lot out of this little stuff. Oh, right, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what you said about Johnny Manziel and Baker Mayfield and Deshaun Watson's court stuff in Houston. How about you sit this one out, Browns fan? You're all for three on it's no big deal. The speeding tickets. His own GM called him Dumb this right here Chadoo or you're a good kid, get out of there. Don't look for sympathy and support from local radio guy. Watch film and again, it's not the end of the world. He is a good kid but the judgment thing for him is going to have to be exceptional. He is not Big Ben, Josh Allen, Cam Steve Young fart. That's not what he is and Brady knew it. And Peyton Manning knew it. Peyton Manning never threw a tight spiral. Peyton Manning didn't move well. Peyton Manning had a good arm. He didn't have a rocket. So when you're not the traits aren't a Dakota had so much self awareness. I said this from the very beginning. Dak was one of those strangely mature guys like 23. Dak was 23 going on 33. Jalen hurts. He was not real big and not a great pocket guy. He's like 27 going on 47. So this is where Shador has got to get that stuff tightened up. Don't worry about what local media says, like just stay away from that stuff. And Cleveland fan, sit it out. You've been telling me for years that stuff doesn't matter. I've been right three, three out of three times. You got rid of Baker. I told you, get off television in the commercials. Baker just get the quarterback thing right. Forget the commercials. He was good in the commercials. Here's Kevin Stefanski on whether Shedeur is going to get number one quarterback reps this week.

[Kevin Stefanski]

I'm really focused on all of our quarterbacks development and every single one of these reps we have a standard for that position and really every position but certainly the quarterback position. There's a standard by which we play and how we play and how we operate and how we take care of the football and those type of things. So there are things that Shador can clean up, he will clean up.

[Jason McIntyre]

And I don't want to hear your anti Shador. No, I'm not. I thought he was underdrafted. I thought Jackson Dart was overdrafted. He's more of a second round pick. I think Shedeur was underdrafted and when you watch him play, he's very comfortable. He's a real 6 2, 2 18. He's not a weight room junkie but he's, he's. If you're 6 foot 2, you're in the 96 percentile in this country. Anytime you see him standing around normal guys, he's tall, he carries his weight well. He's not spindly like Teddy Bridgewater or Matt Ryan skinny or golf. He's not top heavy like Will Levis. He looks like a franchise quarterback. Six, two, two, 18, easily accurate, moves very well. He's not great at that stuff, but he is absolutely, to me, a franchise quarterback with all that stuff. He didn't have a weird delivery. He's not slinging it sidearm. He. He's a franchise quarterback, but he better be buttoned up on the other stuff because that's what's made Dak rich. Not the arm, not the traits. And I don't know, traits are probably 60% of this stuff. 60 to 65%. But the other 35%, if I told you to be successful in life, 65% is, you know, DNA. But 35% is discipline. Well, you better be disciplined. That's a big chunk of life. All right, J. Mac. Colin, right? Colin wrong. This. This quarterback tears is Sando's on the show tomorrow. I love it for a million reasons. By and large, I agree with most of it. I do think Bo Nixon under tua. Bo Nicks is more athletic with a better arm and never been hurt. Feels a little wonky. But that's probably the NFL executives telling you how much they think of Sean Payton. They think Peyton has taken Bo to a level that he's probably not by himself. It doesn't bother me. We'll talk about more about this today and tomorrow. But the other thing is, I know you're a Jets fan, not a Giants fan, but the Jackson Dart thing is interesting. Oh, yeah, it's. And he looked good. I can take it wrong on that. I thought he looked, you know, again, it's, it's backups, whatever. He's playing with him and he's playing against him. But I want to address Jackson Dart and the Giants because there is something I'm tired of hearing about. Quarterback. Well, they're young. Well, they, you know, they just got into the league. I don't want to hear that with Jackson Dart. We'll talk about that next.

[Matt Hasselbeck]

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the iHeartRadio app.

[Jay]

Hi, this is Jay. I'm the producer of the Paulie and Tony Fusco Show. Usually in these promos, they ask you to listen to the show. I'm here to ask you, please don't listen to the show. The hosts are two absolute morons who have the dumbest takes on sports imaginable. Don't listen to this show so it can get canceled.

[Jason McIntyre]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. What the hell are you doing in our studio?

[Colin Cowherd]

Get him, Paulie. Ignore that fool. Listen to the Paulie and Tony Fusco show on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.

[Jason McIntyre]

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[Jason McIntyre]

He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast, too.

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[Jason McIntyre]

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[Jason McIntyre]

Here we go. It's hour two. We're ready to roll. We are live. It is the Herd. Matt Hasselbeck is around the corner. Quarterbacks, all of them. Joe Burrows playing. Mahomes is playing. Everybody but Aaron and Matt Stafford. They're not playing. And we'll get to the Matt Stafford back injury on that. It was fun. I sat and watched the Bears and Dolphins. I watched the jets and the Packers. Boy, jets look like it's one of the great teams ever assembled in Lambeau. It's always funny how good the J August. It's just amazing. And they got Jones coming off the pup list. The kid at fsu, who was awesome two years ago, missed all of last year.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'm just telling you that defense has a chance to be nasty.

[Jason McIntyre]

The front seven. Sauce Gardner got paid.

[Colin Cowherd]

He's happy.

[Jason McIntyre]

The defense will be a problem. No, I implies Aaron Glenn's defensive coach. I don't doubt that. There you go. All right. We do it every Monday. It's more fun, obviously, when we have football. Colin right. Colin wrong.

[Matt Hasselbeck]

And here we go, where Colin was right.

[Jason McIntyre]

Jim Harbaugh a couple years ago when he drafted Joe Alt. Remember last year's draft and everybody said, oh, he should have taken a receiver. Well, Tate, we defended him. We said, no go Joe Alt. And Joe Alt is saving the season. Rashawn Slater's out for the year at left tackle. They can move Joe Alt, who I've been told has had a great camp. They can now move him to the left tackle. Makai Becton maybe goes to right tackle, but this is why he's the anti Mike McDaniel. It's all about building center guard tackles out, not wide receivers in. And that Joe Alt pick. Everybody wanted a receiver. They got Lad McConkey in the second round. They were fine. That Joe Alt pick could have saved the season.

[Matt Hasselbeck]

Where Colin was wrong.

[Jason McIntyre]

Well, Arch Manning's family is saying he's staying at Texas two more years, so I will take for now a wrong. I think if he slices up Ohio State, there is going to be incredible momentum. And I think he's really good. I didn't watch a ton of them. I thought he was better than Quinn Ewers, more athletic, throws a better ball. For now, I'll take a wrong. I think it's the right thing to say in the Mannings usually say the right thing.

[Matt Hasselbeck]

So I'll take this L where Colin was right.

[Jason McIntyre]

Joe Shad Dolphins reporter, reporting that culture, accountability and physicality are what Mike McDaniels is preaching in this camp. What a shock. That's exactly what we've been saying. And it gotten. We've gotten pushback from Dolphin fans. My take is lotta sizzle. Three years into this coaching reign, where's this? Where's the steak? Where's the meat in the sandwich? They're not physical. Tyreek Hill sort of says and does what he wants. What? What makes McVeigh or Shanahan or Andy Reid special is their teams are physical and they can be finessed. Finally, I at least appreciate the coach acknowledging what the issue is.

[Matt Hasselbeck]

Where Colin was wrong.

[Jason McIntyre]

50 NFL executives and coaches came out in Mike Sando's annual survey and they've got Bo Nix tied for the 20th best quarterback in the league below Geno Smith. Geno Smith's been in this league 11 years. He's made the playoff once. Vo Nix has been in the year in the NFL one year in a division last year with Herbert Harbaugh, Andy Reed and Mahomes in the AFC and he made the playoffs. I Sean Payton and I love B Knicks. We're apparently on an island because they even have him below TUA who's smaller, not as athletic, more injury prone and I'd say B Nick slightly has the better arm.

[Matt Hasselbeck]

I don't get it where Colin was right?

[Jason McIntyre]

Well, not to pick on anybody but the last two years people have been telling me, quinn, yours is something. And I keep saying I don't see the great traits. Five of 18, two fumbles sacked twice. I didn't get it at Texas. I don't get it. I don't see what everybody sees Now I know he dropped to the seventh round but before the draft people were talking second, third, fourth. I don't see it. You gotta have a trait. I go, wow, with not a great anticipatory thrower. You know, he kind of slings. It did not look like he was. I mean he looked like it's a long way to go and that's what I've been saying for two years.

[Matt Hasselbeck]

Where Colin was wrong.

[Jason McIntyre]

I thought Jackson dart was better than anticipating. I thought he threw with anticipation. I always thought he was pretty athletic. I thought he looked really poised. I thought he looked really comfortable, you know, like a bonix. Maybe a little more athletic than I gave him credit for. But you know, when he got drafted, I said I, I probably wouldn't give up picks to draft him in the first round, but you have to be pretty happy. 12, 19, 154 yards. Again, looked comfortable playing with backup offensive linemen. Good arm strength. I thought he was impressive. I thought he was really impressive.

[Matt Hasselbeck]

Where Colin was right.

[Jason McIntyre]

I don't want to hear about Anthony Richardson's age, okay? He's hurt again. Nobody cares about age and experience. You're in year three, you got to be able to play. And so I had said this going into the season he has Shane Steichen, one of the really bright offensive minds and he regressed last year so he was a boomer, a bus pick. I, I just think by this time you can't be taking those hits and.

[Matt Hasselbeck]

It feels like a miss where Colin was right.

[Jason McIntyre]

Even the NBA is acknowledging with their Christmas and opening day schedule the league is lopsided. The Christmas games are the San Antonio spurs against the Thunder, Rockets, Lakers, Mavs, Warriors, T Wolves, Denver. They have one Eastern Conference game and it's the Knicks. The west is so much better than the East. Honest to God. It feels like the SEC and the PAC 12 for about 15 years. Even their opening night games are a hundred hundred percent Western Conference teams. And that's with big brands out East. Philly, New York Heat, Celtics. So you know, we, we've said this before. You put LeBron in the Lakers out East. Oh, they could compete. Luca, LeBron, Austin, Reeves could compete to get to the Eastern Conference finals. They're a five seed, probably maybe a six to a seven. In the West.

[Matt Hasselbeck]

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.

[Jason McIntyre]

Banking with Capital One helps you keep.

[Capital One Bank Guy]

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[Jason McIntyre]

He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too.

[Capital One Bank Guy]

Oh, really?

[Jason McIntyre]

Thanks.

[Capital One Bank Guy]

Capital One bank guy. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capital1.com bank, capital1, NA member, FDIC.

[Jason McIntyre]

And with that. Oh, I'm interesting, interested. Excuse me. And Matt Hasselbeck, 18 years in the NFL.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'm very interested and you are interesting.

[Jason McIntyre]

Colin. Yeah, it's supposed to be a little. Okay, first I'm going to start with I'm jealous because you and I love this, took the train and went to a Nate Barghazi. He's a great comedian in Boston last night. You just got back. I think he's absolutely outrageously funny. So I'm just going to say right now I'm not only jealous of your pro career, but your comedic choices. So congratulations. You're a little road weary and I appreciate that.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I'm good, I'm good. But listen, you were at the live tour, so it's not like you had a boring weekend. I mean, come on, let's, let's not lie here.

[Jason McIntyre]

Okay? So I said it's okay if you don't want to pay. Play Caleb Williams. But I do think it was a little strategic. Burrow played Mahomes, played Spencer Rattler, played everybody. But Tom Brady played like the whole world played this weekend. And it was almost like he was saying, you know, he's not quite there. I don't need another week of heat from the Chicago media. He took a lot of snaps in practice. It felt a little strategic, did it not?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I sort of agree. I mean, everything that Caleb Williams does because he was the first pick overall, because they basically got rid of everyone around him last year, built the team around him this year, everything he does is under the microscope. So, yeah, I'm sure there is some of that protecting him. There's also something with joint practices now where coaches don't feel like they need to play their ones in the preseason game because they get those reps in a controlled environment where guys don't take hits, where the quarterback wears a different color jersey and you know you're keeping your guy healthy. And I think that might be part of this also. If there wasn't a joint practice, I think he would have played in the game.

[Jason McIntyre]

Okay, so I said this earlier about Jackson Dart. You and your generation got thrown to the wolves. You didn't have 10,000 snaps by the time you were 14. Jackson Dart is a three year starter in the SEC with Lane Kiffin. It's had private coaching, seven on seven. I don't want to hear about, you know, we're going to work him in. It's like, you know what, Matt, they got a great left tackle, a number one receiver. I think Brian Dabel is a pretty darn good offensive coach. I, maybe you give Russell the first start. I, this is Not Anthony Richardson. 41 college starts in the SEC with Lane Kiffin. Why would you not just figure out if the kid can play?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I hear what you're saying, and I'm actually just peeking at some of the ages of some of the rookie quarterbacks. I mean, just because a guy's a rookie doesn't mean he's the youngest guy. Bo Nix was 25 years old as an example. But no, I did. I grew up in the era of, you know, you sit on the bench for a while. I mean, Tom Brady did that, Aaron Rodgers did that. I know. That was my experience as well. I think the New York Giants have been burned and so they are really sticking to the plan. They've invested heavily in veteran quarterbacks in leadership, in process driven guys who've been there, done it, made mistakes, had success, and Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson. So I think they're going to be slow and measured and patient with Jackson Dart, who they do like a lot. But I don't think he's ready. And I do think the best plan is to start a guy like Russell Wilson and let Jackson watch. But here's the, here's the Danger. Don't just have him sit there and watch, train him and prepare him to play the way that Patrick Mahomes was trained and preparing to play when he was sitting back watching Alex Smith start during his rookie year at the Kansas City Chiefs. There's that, there's activeness to the passivity of being the backup if you do it right.

[Jason McIntyre]

So I watched every snap Shador Sanders took and I know there's a lot I don't know. Film study, galvanizing teammates, coachability, pre snap stuff. I've always understood that's 30, 35, 40% of quarterback. I don't see that, but I do see how comfortable are you. Frenetic. Are you comfortable? Are you confident? Do you move? Well, all the stuff that I'm allowed to see. I think Shedeur's college traits transferred to the NFL. I think he was accurate. I think he's more, I'm tired of hearing he's a pocket guy, he moves. I have highlights, he moves fine. I don't know how he is off, I don't know film. But I was impressed with him. Why should I not be?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I think there's a lot of encouraging things there. I mean, on the field he's a guy that looks like he belongs. I don't think he's going to be their starting quarterback this year. I think Joe Flacco will be their starting quarterback. And it's just a weird situation because got four guys and someone's got to go. You would think, well, Kenny Pickett's missed so much time in training camp. He really hasn't been around. And then the young quarterback, Gabriel, he's, you know, he's been injured also. So this is, this is an opportunity for sure. My big question is, will the Cleveland Browns have the courage to keep four quarterbacks? And courage is the word I'm using because it's like no one else does that. It doesn't make any sense. But you know, Ray Rhodes, one of my old head coaches, used to say, hey, we're going to kill a mosquito with a sledgehammer at this position. And it's like, you know, that's not the best way to kill a mosquito. But I get the, I get the point. We're going to overdo it. And I think this is a quarterback that has, this is a team that has gone without a quarterback for so long that they might just say, hey, listen, it's that important of a position. We like what we have here. The traits that he's showing, let's hold on to him and develop him on the field. He doesn't give me pause at all. He doesn't worry me at all off the field. And what he's like in the locker room, that's the part that I just don't know. There are some red flags, but it's hard for me to sit here and judge that from where I'm sitting. But. But I just know that, you know, being the backup quarterback to someone like Joe Flacco, you're probably not going to have a guy walking with you on your entrance getting off the bus this year. It's going to be a different feeling from being the star quarterback in college to potentially, you know, the second, third or maybe even fourth string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.

[Jason McIntyre]

So Burl played. I don't want Aaron Rodgers playing behind backup offensive lineman at his age. I don't, I don't want Kirk Cousins playing. We'll get Stafford in about three minutes. But I, I just want to ask Burrow played, Mahomes played. Did you want to. When you were not at your last year, but I'm talking about maybe four years left to play. So you don't want to get hit, but. And you know the game and you know the reads, but did you want to be out there in preseason?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, absolutely, I wanted to play. And like, when Mike Holmgren was the head coach, like, we basically had this kind of agreement and he basically was like, all right, you can play until you take a hit. Like until you take an unnecessary hit or till you take a hit. You know, the tough thing for me as a, as a starting quarterback, I would feel bad for my offensive lineman because they had to stay in the game as long as I was in the game. And so like, you know, I'm putting them at risk. Maybe I'm not at risk, but I'm putting them at risk, you know. And so like, usually I think like after about a quarter, you're feeling like, okay, it's time to go now. The one thing that I did like and I thought was really good in terms of process is I like, you know, coming in at halftime, getting used to that halftime break and then coming back out and having a drive or right before the end of the first half, getting a chance to work on 2 minute with all your new hand signals with any players that are new players on your team. Those things are really valuable that you don't get to simulate in practice. But sure, you want to compete, you want to be out there. And usually you need the coaches to say, no, no, no time for you to sit down. You don't get to play anymore today.

[Jason McIntyre]

So Matt Stafford did not. He's not even dressing for practice. And as I've aged, I feel pretty good. My back isn't great. I wake up, need to stretch. Matt Stafford's got a back injury. He's taken a lot of hits, most of them in Detroit. Does that worry you a little?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, your back doesn't surprise me. First off, okay, sitting is the new smoking. You sit all day long, so your back probably feels like trash. No, I am, I am concerned about Matthew Stafford's back. I had a bad back injury in 2008. Usually you can tell how bad a quarterback's back injury is by if the team sends him to California to see Dr. Bob Watkins. If they do that, you know, it's serious. Now, it's a little harder here because he's already in la. But no, I'm concerned. I'm definitely concerned if you take the factors of his age and all those types of things. Listen, in 08, I hurt my back in a preseason game against Jared Allen and the Minnesota Vikings. It was just like this weird thing. It wasn't that bad, but it never got better. It like never got better that entire year. And you know, the closest thing I could equate it to is like you burn your mouth like on a hot piece of pizza or something and it just, it doesn't get better quick. And that's kind of what the back injury typically is. There's all different types of back injuries, but they just don't seem to get better quick. And then even if they do get better, you've missed all this time of like heavy weight training or physicality that goes into your off season and you're just not the version of yourself that you normally are. So I'd be very concerned if I was a Rams fan right now just because Stafford is valuable and it's just not a great place to be up in there.

[Jason McIntyre]

Okay, so J.J. mcCarthy made one really good throw, it was a heater. And then on another throw, he badly overthrew an open receiver and it was a heater. And I've heard these comments. They're trying to get him to do some off speed stuff every morning when Kaepernick was in, that was the knock. Like everything's a fastball. And I think to myself, I mean, he's been playing since he was price seven. Like they're teaching him how to play quarterback. I mean, I don't know, I look at that and I think you don't hear very often where a first round quarterback, you're trying to get, you know, trying to the tempo of the speed of the ball. I'm like, that's, I mean, Kevin o' Connell is probably a great teacher, but what do I, what do I watch them? And I thought it's fine, but like there is kind of one speed. What do I make of those comments?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, he's got good coaches and Kevin O' Connell and Josh McCown, we trust those guys. But to me, I would say you got to use the other clubs in your bag. It can't be driver three with two iron. Four. Four iron. Sometimes there is the two. There's a, there's a nine iron in there. There's a, there's a sand wedge. I mean there's, there's phrases in the quarterback room like kyp, know your personnel. If you're throwing to certain guys, it's got to be a different club. Sometimes you're throwing over defenders instead of through lanes. And so those are all things that I think come with experience. He played a lot at Michigan, didn't throw the ball a ton at Michigan. But I think what J.J. mcCarthy has, he's got the intangibles that you cannot coach. I think you can coach the. What club in the bag are you using? I think you, you can coach that. I'm someone who would buy on the Minnesota Vikings right now. I think this is a good team. I think this quarterback will have a good year. But certainly the analogy that you use with a young Colin Kaepernick, I think that's a great example of a guy that, you know, has a great arm, a very strong arm, can throw a tight spiral, throw it far. But the clubs in the bag is certainly a thing.

[Jason McIntyre]

Matt Hasselbeck, road weary. I mean, just literally racing to the, in front of his screen to get on the, on the show, buddy. And I always appreciate that, the effort.

[Colin Cowherd]

Awesome. See you, Colin.

[Jason McIntyre]

All right. Matt Hasselbeck. Yeah, it's. I, I think his comment on Shador was mine. 60% of this quarterback position we can all see, we don't see the 40%. And that is. Shador's got to be really good at that. Dak is. Jalen hurts is. Brock Purdy is. Because they're not, their traits aren't exceptional. Shador's traits aren't exceptional. But if I have to hear again, he's just a pocket guy. No, he's not. He can move. He moves better than a lot of quarterbacks in this league. And he's also it matters. He's in his athletic prime. For the next seven years, he's in his athletic prime. So I thought it looked pretty good. I thought he looked like he did. Colorado accurate, mobile enough arms good enough. It matters.

[Colin Cowherd]

This is an iHeart podcast.