Colin Cowherd (17:07)

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Danny Parkins (17:51)

Gambling problem. Call 1-800-Gambler in New York. Call 877-8-Hopeny or text hopeny467-369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and resort in Kansas. 21 plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario bon seven days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG co audio of this week. Cole Comet will join me from Bears training camp in just under 10 minutes or so. We'll talk Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams and if the Bears will finally have a good offense for basically the first time in my entire life as someone who was born in Chicago in 1990, 86 but every year around this time it's who's going to be the breakout candidate, what's the team that's going to surprise, who's going to disappoint, who's under the most pressure, who's on the hot seat. And there's it's totally open ended. There's a bunch of different ways you can go with any of that stuff, right? I think for who needs a Super bowl win the most, whose legacy reputation would benefit from one the most. There's a pretty obvious answer here and it is Josh Allen. And Josh Allen to me he's a guy I root for. I've never met him, I've never spoke to him. I have absolutely no connection to the Buffalo Bills organization in any way. But Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, all time greats who played during the Michael Jordan era, like man, that must have been tough. That's what it feels like. Josh Allen is in the Patrick Mahomes era because we saw this not that long ago, right? It was Brady and Manning, but there was also Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers in the afc it was just a dominant thing and Ben Roethlisberger got his Philip Rivers never did and it'll probably keep Philip Rivers out of Canton even though he's sixth all time in yards and touchdowns. Josh Allen is the second best player in football. Lamar Jackson made that an interesting conversation last year when he had over 40 passing touchdowns and under five interceptions going with Full Rogers. But for a real body of work it has been Josh Allen. And obviously Josh got his MVP last year. But if you look at the sample of five years, his prime basically like since Josh Allen became Josh Allen, if it wasn't for Patrick Mahomes, it would be universally agreed upon that this guy was the best player in football. Because it is universally agreed upon that Patrick Mahomes is the best player in football. And the only thing that Josh Allen can't do is be better than Patrick Mahomes. He's second in wins, he's second in passing yards, and he's second in passing touchdowns. Over the last five years, with Mahomes being first, first and first across the board, that has got to be a maddening existence. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. FS1 and the iHeartRadio app spoke a lot to me and I really appreciate him sharing those words. But yeah, it's, it's, it's kind of crazy where you just kind of coming out here and you're doing everything that you can for a quick enjoyment of it, and then you're on to the next. And it's again, it's like the MVP awards. Like, I don't look back and think about that night. Like it happened, it was over with, and I'll never think about it again, to be honest. There is something that's sad about that, but any high performer would understand. It's the journey, it's the process. It's what you go through to get there, because that's what actually takes the time. And then when you sink the final putt or you hoist the Lombardi Trophy at some point, that night ends and you just go back. I think it makes a ton of sense what Scheffler said, that it would relate with Josh Allen. But if Josh Allen were to win, like, let's just play out the hypothetical. Let's say Josh Allen plays the Chiefs in the playoffs again and this time he beats them. And the Bills, who are a slightly better favorite in the AFC than the Chiefs. That's mostly because they play in the AFC east, but still, let's say the Bills won that super bowl and Josh Allen had his super bowl moment, was the super bowl mvp. All of a sudden he's like, all right, I've got an mvp, I've got a Super Bowl, I've got a Super bowl mvp, and I beat Mahomes on the way there. He would still be a distant second to Mahomes. Obviously, multiple MVPs, the three rings, the multiple appearances, all. Obviously there's nothing that could happen this year that could have Josh Allen passing Patrick Mahomes. But at least the Manning Brady rivalry could potentially start to creep back into existence because Brady has the way better trophy case. But Peyton Manning was looked at as a worthy adversary, an all time great, a first ballot hall of Famer, a truly worthy number two to Brady's number one. He got to the four Super Bowls, he won a couple of them. They had epic regular season battles. They both were able to beat each other in the postseason. The regular season, same thing. Now it's Josh has beaten Patrick in the regular season, but never in the postseason, and Mahomes has all of the hardware. When Josh Allen has to look around and he's like, I'm just as good as this guy, he has to believe that even if you and I don't. Because if he is that close to him statistically, over a huge sample size for that long and he's beaten him in the regular season. I have no reason to believe that he doesn't believe that he can get there. And quick aside, I'm glad that Scottie Scheffler is having his moment here. After the open takes the Claret jug and he goes to the Happy Gilmore 2 premiere. And now Happy Gilmore 2 is out. Y' all need to relax a little bit. Everybody's relax with the hot takes on Happy Gilmore 2. The movie's fine. You go in with low expectations and then it clears them. It was nostalgic. There were cameos. I won't give anything away, but Scheffler's was hilarious. Will Zalatoris was hilarious. John Daly's was funny. You know what you're getting going into an Adam Sandler movie. He's a volume shooter. Can he give you uncut gems and punch drunk love? Yeah. But he also wants to put his family and friends in movies and have a good time and hang out and do some ridiculousness and do some dumb stuff and do some callbacks. It was a movie. It was fine. I'll never watch it again. But this. It was the best thing ever. It was the worst thing ever. No, it was an Adam Sandler movie in 2025 that hundreds of millions of people somehow will somehow watch it based on the Netflix algorithm, and we'll all keep going on with our lives. And you can't recreate the nostalgia of the classic from the 90s, but we grew up. That's kind of how it works. So I'm glad Scotty Scheffler had his moment, though, because he's seen as this, like, robotic golfer. And then he was hilarious in the movie. But Josh Allen, having the ability to come to grips with being second and having that emotional maturity to understand I'm doing everything I can. I have been great. I have been great in the regular season. I have been great in the postseason. And no one looks around. Very good offensive line. They transitioned and gave him a more balanced attack with Cook. They've changed offensive coordinators. They have figured out a way to consistently be great with a great quarterback. Not with a super team, not with all pros everywhere. Just on the talent and the development and the leadership of that guy. Of Josh Allen. They have figured out a way to put themselves in a position to every single year be competing for a shot at a Lombardi Trophy. There is no doubt in my mind that Josh Allen is going to win. At some point. He's just got to Slay that dragon. And then when he does, I would say the rivalry is on. So I hope we get Bill's Chiefs again in the playoffs. And even though I covered the Chiefs for years and lived in Kansas City, if Josh Allen got his, I'd feel like he's earned it because he's been the second best of Mahomes for five years at this point. Speaking of the Chiefs, there is a Access is good and we see stories all the time now because we're on the Internet and we are addicted to football that we want any little nugget or morsel of information. Anthony Richardson threw an interception. He's going to never figure it out. Caleb Williams threw an interception. Ben Johnson's innovation on offense isn't working. That is just how it works in the information age and how addicted to football we are. And I'm not even saying that there's nothing that you can take out of reports from training camp. Hey, they put lines on these preseason games. I'm not above gambling on the hall of Fame game. I think it can have impact on your fantasy drafts. I'm not saying don't pay attention to it, but judging stats or results from practices is insane. Almost none of it matters. But if you want a topic from training camp that does matter, I would give you Josh Simmons. Being with the ones for the Kansas City Chiefs already. Josh Simmons was supposed to be a top 15 pick out of Ohio State and he broke his patellar tendon and he fell to the Chiefs with a 31st pick in the draft. And anyone who remembers the chief season last year, it was a revolving door, right? Four different guys played left tackle for the Chiefs, so much so that they had to shift Joe Thuney. They're all pro guard from left guard to left tackle. And now he's on the Bears. So it became a situation where then the Eagles of course dominated the Chiefs offensive line. Among other things that they dominated in that Super Bowl. And it brought flashbacks to when the Chiefs lost to Tampa in the Super Bowl. When Mahomes offensive line fell apart last year. This was the worst offensive line of the Mahomes era. He was hit 118 times. He was sacked 41 times. Four different left tackles. They lose their left guard to the Bears. The guy they drafted, Kingsley, Sue Matiata or Sumatiala, excuse me, in the second round two years ago. Now he's going to be their left guard. But if Josh Simmons is what Josh Simmons is supposed to be, a top 15 pick on a cheap contract who immediately comes in and plays left tackle. Well, now all of a sudden you've got an elite prospect on a cheap contract at left tackle. Kingsley goes from left tackle to left guard. Second year in the league. Creed Humphrey center, one of the best centers in the NFL under a long term contract. Trey Smith, one of the best right guards in the NFL under a long term contract. And while Juwan Taylor frustrates people because he gets a few too many penalties and he does that like little quick jump off where it feels like he's getting a jump off the line of scrimmage that a bunch of guys do. Joanne Taylor is a fine right tackle. And then they signed more the backup from the Niners to a healthy contract. All of a sudden the Chiefs offensive line, if Simmons is legit, goes from huge liability, huge weakness to massive strength. And last season the Chiefs offense was just not impressive. It was not impressive in terms of points scored obviously, but the big one that anyone could see if you watch the game was like, where did the big plays go? And it wasn't just like Tyreek Hill, he's been gone for a few years. Like, wait, where is. And it's not. Did Mahomes forget how to throw the deep ball? No. Is it all just that the opposing defensive coordinators are doing the COVID 2 shell and daring you to beat him underneath? Yeah, that's some of it. They were last in the NFL in touchdowns that went 20 plus yards. Rasheed Rice and Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy played a grand total of 0 snaps together last year. Hollywood Brown is healthy. We'll see what discipline comes for Rasheed Rice off the field. Xavier Worthy had the great super bowl, but those three guys are going to play together this year. And the offensive line should be better. So that means the offense should be better. And those are the types of training camp stories. To me that matters. New guy in new place, rookie making an adjustment. Healthy or not healthy, when a player throws an interception. Well, did the coach before the rep tell him you've got to go to this route because we've got to work on the timing there. Was he playing against the ones or the twos? What was going on at the offensive line? It's. We just don't, we don't know. We don't know so many of the details of what they were trying to accomplish in a given play or a given drill that reporting on successes or failures or stats or any of that just feels like a fool's errand. But the Kansas City Chiefs got a franchise caliber left tackle with a 31st pick in the draft who we didn't know if he was going to be healthy for week one, and he was healthy for day one of training camp. So the guy they signed from the Niners game is now rotating on the right side of the offensive line instead of the left side of the offensive line. Yeah, that's a story. Chiefs offense catching up with the Chiefs defense, which has carried them the last couple of years. That's a story because if Spagnolo gets the defense to be what the defense has been, the offense gets back to being what the offense was. That's why the Chiefs aren't afraid of the Broncos or the Chargers or the improved Raiders or anyone else. Because last year, I mean, two years ago, they won the super bowl, leading the league in drops. Last year, they had the least explosive offense in the NFL, had four different left tackles, and they won 15 games and made it to the Super Bowl. So you want a training camp story that matters. Josh Simmons getting reps already? Forget reps. He's your first string left tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs. That is a training camp story that matters. We had some tech issues with Cole Comet. We'll try to figure that out. But on the other side, there's a big lesson that Caleb Williams learned from last season, and it's worth getting into. Danny Parkins. This is the Herd. 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. Top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL heading into the 2025 NFL season. Number 10, Jalen Hurts. I said it, and I mean it. He was like, you got to give him more credit for winning the Super Bowl. I am. He was outside of my top 10 last year. Like, spoiler alert. He's ahead of Dak Prescott. He wasn't this time last season. Kalen Hurts. Great leader, clutch. Perfect for that team in that system, but not asked to do nearly as much for his team's success as the guys nine through one on my list. Number nine, the Bake Show. Baker Mayfield is the poster child for patience. We'll see what Bryce Young ends up being in Carolina. But Baker Mayfield, man, they haven't figured it out in Carolina. They haven't figured it out in Cleveland. This guy, the last two seasons, comfortably inside the top 10. He's first in passing touchdowns, second in passing yards, fourth in passer rating and sixth in yards per attempt. Baker Mayfield. All the respect. Number eight, Jared Goff, Like Jalen Hurts, has a ton around him, no doubt about it. But doing it with two different franchises, with the Rams to a Super bowl and now the Lions as perennial contenders year in and year out matters. And last year, I mean career highs in points per game, 33 completion percentage, passing touchdowns, passer rating, yards per attempt and oh yeah, by the way, wins. Jared Goff's a stud and he's playing up to the billing of being the number one overall pick. Number seven. It's the best rookie season I've ever seen. Jaden Daniels is the guy on this list who at the end that top four is just so ironclad. It's like Mount Rushmore. Hey, you know, we should do that as a sports radio hook. Mount Rushmore. Has anyone ever thought of that? But if there was a guy outside of the top four who could jump in. If Jaden Daniels builds on a rookie season with the third down efficiency, the fourth down efficiency, the winning the one score victories, if he takes that Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes type of leap, he's in the MVP conversation, he's in the top four conversation. Number six, Matt Stafford's been that dude for well over a decade. As soon as he leaves Detroit, he goes to the Rams. He gets better coaching, he gets a little better talent around him, he gets a better system and he gets a ring in the playoffs. He's been a stud with McVeigh, he's been a stud. And this one is still a bit of the eye test. We'll see what the offensive line is for the Rams this year. Left tackles already hurt. They've got some questions, kind of across the board board with Humphreys there. But at his age he needs good protection. But if he gets good protection, there's really no one in the world that's better at throwing the football. Number five. Except for maybe my guy, Justin Herbert, who I think is very Matt Stafford esque and still by the way, on the exact same career trajectory as Peyton Manning. Big year for Herbert with Harbaugh, with the running game, with arguably the best tackle duo outside of Philadelphia in the NFL. 500 plus pass attempts, three or fewer interceptions. Justin Herbert last year Aaron Rodgers give him more weapons, which they did in the draft. The passing game produces even more. Justin Herbert, absolute stud, the fifth best quarterback in the NFL. Number four. This one I struggle with, but I'm giving it to Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson statistically last year year him and Aaron Rodgers only quarterbacks with more than 40 passing touchdowns and fewer than five interceptions. He was brilliant, but he didn't win the MVP to Josh Allen. Once you get into the top four, I think we are dealing with parsing greatness among the guys in the postseason. And Lamar still has a losing record in the postseason, but he's a first ballot hall of Famer. Give him a ring, he jumps up on the list. Number three, Joe Burrow. I'm not going to knock him for his defense. Joe Burrow had a losing record in games where his team scored more than 30 points last year. It's an impossibility. He, he has a middle of the road defense. He's the MVP of the league. Last year his passer rating in losses was 108.2, second highest pass rating and losses ever for a quarter quarterback to lose eight or more games. Joe Burrow, third best quarterback in the league. Number two. I've said it before, I'll say it again. It's very clearly Josh Allen. If it wasn't for Patrick Mahomes, it would be universally accepted that this guy was the best in the NFL. He's second to Mahomes and wins. He's second to Mahomes in passing yards. He seconded Homes in passing touchdowns in the last five seasons. This is your second best quarterback. This is your second best player in football. Which frankly ruins the suspense for number one. Number one, Mahomes is still on that Brady track. Through eight seasons, he's still there. Double digit win seasons, he's still on the track. The Super Bowls, he's still on the track. The regular season wins, he's ahead of him. The playoff wins, he's ahead of him. The conference titles, he's ahead of him. Super Bowls, he's even to him. Guy's gonna play football for another 10 players plus years and that Brady conversation is going to start really picking up. Give him that off. Explosive offense back with the Spagnolo's defense, he'll just add more to his trophy case. There's your top 10 quarterbacks heading in to this season. What a perfect list, by the way. I don't know how anyone could dispute anything on there except apparently Philly fans. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. FS1 and the iHeartRadio Apple back in on the Herd. I'm Danny Parkins in for Colin Cowherd today, tomorrow and Wednesday, huge news in the world of college football, in the world of sports because while Deion Sanders is a fixture in college football, he's one of the most famous athletes alive and one of the greatest athletes alive. Announcing that he had his bladder removed because of a cancerous tumor that was on his bladder. That announcement coming just moments ago. So it's a great time to welcome to the herd. Bruce Feldman, Fox Sports college football reporter and New York Times best selling author. Bruce, thank you very much for the time. Obviously, good news that the surgery was successful, but your reaction to the Deion Sanders press conference with his whole medical team there at Colorado.

Bruce Feldman (41:21)

Yeah, it's. It's pretty jolting just to hear the, how serious this was to have the bladder removed, to have. It was a cancerous tumor that was in there. They actually, according to the doctors who were at the press conference, they actually had the procedure done by robot. And when one of the doctors was explaining kind of the process here, when, when Dion was diagnosed with it, it was like he was told, with this kind of cancer, there's a 50% chance of reoccurrence. And he wanted to explore his other options. And so that became this. To basically have a new bladder built for him and have the old one removed. I mean, it's crazy because in the course of this press conference, the doctor had said this was his 14th surgery that he's had just in the last four years, which is kind of mind blowing that he's had that many procedures. I had seen him@big12 media days earlier this month in Texas, and he wasn't really back on the job, at least in terms of back with his team. But talking to him for a couple of minutes, you could tell that, you know, something significant had happened. It wasn't like this was a guy who was on vacation for a month or went to Europe or anything. And even for the people I know who are close to him, they, you know, they really kind of stressed something, you know, significant had happened. And now to hear it, it's really eye opening.

Danny Parkins (42:49)

Yeah. And it's courageous to be public with anything like that. So that'll make a huge difference both for those kids in the program, but anyone who follows sports and hears that sort of thing. So again, congrats to Dion for the positive medical news there and in what apparently was a successful surgery. Football is so secondary here, but they kind of took the college football world by storm with Shador Sanders and Travis Hunter, who are not there anymore. How do you follow it up? What are you expecting from Colorado this season?

Bruce Feldman (43:18)

It's going to be, I think, a rebuild. Not like the rebuild that that he and they had when they all came from Jackson State. And it was an awful program. They had won one game the previous year and he made them respectable. You know, they went from four wins in the first year to nine wins in a top 25 season last year. But as you said, now his star quarterback who is the leader of the offense, his son is in the NFL and the real star of the team, the guy who won the Heisman, Travis Hunters in Jacksonville and he was such a two way force and a difference maker. I think replacing not just the leadership but the star power of hey, we need a big play and those guys could step up and make it. We saw that time and time again, especially with Travis Hunter. Those guys are gone now. So you have new quarterbacks. Kaden Salter, who's played a lot more of a running quarterback from Liberty. Juju Lewis is a 17 year old quarterback who is a big recruit. I think you'll see some, some version of a split. You'll see probably both quarterbacks play. There's, I think there's more talent in the trenches right now at CU than they had in Dion's first two years. I think they're probably a little more balanced across the board. I don't think they have the wow players and the splash players certainly led by Travis and they have a real tough opener. Georgia Tech has to come to Boulder, but this is a really good team. Remember, this is the same team that took Georgia to like 10 overtimes Thanksgiving weekend. They're good and they're physical. It is very much like the same team, same style of team that blew Colorado out in the Alamo bowl, that BYU team, really physical, punishing run game, very, you know, very diverse in how they attack you in the run game. And I think those are the challenges that, that Colorado is going to have to learn from and see if they're up to it because this is going to be a real physical test for them right out of the gate.

Danny Parkins (45:16)

Talking college football with Bruce Feldman, we are just over a month from the two teams with the two best title odds, Texas and Ohio State playing each other. An unbelievable way to start it off for those two powerhouse programs. Who has the edge.

Bruce Feldman (45:34)

In this case? I'm going to say it's the team that's the home team, which is Ohio State. You know, so many changes. Obviously both teams are replacing quarterbacks. You also have on the Ohio State side, they have to replace both the offensive and defensive coordinators. Ohio State lost, you know, pretty much its entire D line, whereas, whereas Texas lost four of its five starters who were going to be in front of Arch Manning. Now I think it's a really interesting Chess match here between Steve Sarkeesian and Arch Manning against Matt Patricia, who's now the defensive coordinator, comes from the NFL to the Big Ten. Now what I think is a big help, in addition to it being a home game for the Buckeyes, they have the best offensive and the best defensive players in the country. Coming back, Jeremiah Smith, who you're seeing all the highlights of now, that great receiver, he's 6 3, 225 pounds and is unguardable. You have to double team them. You may even have to triple team them. And then on the other side of the ball, Caleb Downs is a phenomenal safety who makes big plays all over the field and is really a leader and probably the smartest defensive player in college football. Those two guys are such difference makers. I think that gives them a big advantage. And again, Texas is loaded. I think they're a top five team. But with a rebuilt offensive line completely and going into a real hostile environment and a team that has such star power, I would give the edge, not a huge one, but I would give the edge to Ohio State at the start of the year at least.

Danny Parkins (47:03)

Yeah, I can't believe Jeremiah Smith still can't enter the NFL. The guy's an absolute beast. You mentioned the offensive line in front of Arch Manning. You'll be asked this a million times between now and the end of the year. Do you expect him to be an NFL draft pick at the end of this season?

Bruce Feldman (47:21)

I don't. I think just knowing the Mannings and his parents a little bit, I think they know that it's probably in his best interest to keep getting reps and keep playing and keep getting game action. Now it's a little different these days compared to just, you know, when, when his bro, his uncles were playing where the season could be a lot longer. I mean, if Texas is as good and does as well as I think they're going to do, they're probably going to play 16 games and that's a lot more than a 12 game schedule. There's also more injury risk with a longer stretch. I mean, he only started two games though last year. He's played some, but not a lot. And I think just to be a one year starter, even if everything goes great and let's say he leads them to a national title and they go 15 and one and win a national title, I still think there's going to be some, you know, hesitation about is he ready, is it in his best interest to jump into the NFL? I, you know, when I talked to Cooper Manning, his Dad, a couple months ago, one of the things we talked about was just, you know, he brought up about when you're ready. You know, he's seen so many examples of, especially in the NFL, quarterbacks who might not be as ready as they could be getting thrown under the bus pretty quick because the process doesn't, doesn't wait, doesn't have much patience. But I think he's super talented. Everybody I talk to at Texas raves about his football intelligence. He's really athletic. I think he's in a really good position. It's just, I think time is something that's, you know, you can't put a price on that. I just think that maybe the added reps of being a two year starter probably would help his long term development. But, you know, let's see, we don't have a crystal ball. We're just kind of, just kind of going on how we think the process.

Danny Parkins (49:10)

Will play out for him. All right, I got to do this quickly. I feel like I owe it to Colin Cowherd since he's letting me sit in this seat. What do you make of this idea of Nick Saban maybe not being done coaching? And if he is better suited nowadays for the NFL than college and he's.

Bruce Feldman (49:28)

Going to be 74 in a couple of months, I just, I think he is, even if he's tempted to look at the NFL, look, you know, Pete Carroll's around the same age and he's in Las Vegas and he's got a ton of energy. Saban seems to have a ton of energy. I know from, from the conversations he had when he walked away at Alabama. It was, it was all the things going around the sport and the way everything's run, just he didn't need it anymore. He seems like he's doing a really good job in tv. I just think if he's going to jump back into it, you know, that's not just him, that's him and his wife who have to, you know, make that decision. I'd still be very surprised, being in his mid-70s, if he decided to come back to the grind that is coaching. Even if it's in the NFL. You have more of an off season than you do as a college coach.

Danny Parkins (50:19)

Bruce Feldman, football college football reporter for Fox Sports and New York Times best selling author. Thank you so much for the time on a big news day in college football. Thank you, Bruce. This is an iHeart podcast.