← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts - Jayden Daniels A Top 5 QB? NBA MVP Debate, Where Will Aaron Rodgers Land?
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- [00:00]
Colin Cowherd
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- [00:36]
Danny Parkins
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- [00:42]
Colin Cowherd
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Danny Parkins
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- [00:48]
Nikki Glaser
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- [01:52]
Greg Rosenthal
It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agen podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs, mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
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Colin Cowherd
The volume.
- [02:27]
Jason Tempf
Foreign.
- [02:31]
Colin Cowherd
Busy NBA docket. A lot to talk about. Jason Tempf, host of HOOPS Tonight. You know, it's funny, I saw a piece of video, so I had said on the Luca trade, I would never have traded him, but if you gave me three firsts, AD and Austin Rivers, I'd sleep on it. And I said that because I've always said Luke is a much better Carmelo. I never think he's in great shape. I don't know. I think he sometimes takes the ball out of teammates hands. And you know, I don't think. And I love Luka, but I saw when Luka first arrived in Los Angeles, he looked puffy, hadn't played since December. He's never been in great shape. But my take was la get you in better shape. The lifestyle's different. And LeBron and the pressure, you know, to kind of impress LeBron. You can see Steph's showing off with Jimmy Butler, LeBron's kind of showing off with Luke. I mean, it's just, it's. It's ego. It's fun. You finally got your match. And the players, I mean, God, Steph is more efficient. LeBron's playing with an energy of a 27 year old. So. But, but somebody pointed this out to me yesterday because I watched the entire game. They said, look at the energy of Jayson Tatum on both ends of the floor. And Luka has bad stretches like right now. Like he has these four or five minute or longer moments on the floor. And you're. Bro, you're just, you're a negative right now. Like, you're just, you're just getting beat off the ball. And do you think this is something Luca. Because like, you're nodding your head. You're seeing it too. Does Luca play himself into better shape or did Dallas with their concerns about these consistent calf injuries, about not being in shape and lifestyle. Do you think we're getting 80% in Los Angeles of Luca that, that some of the videos on the Internet that show him three years ago, dude, he was, he was tomahawking it. And you're like, not really quite what I see. Now what is your take on where Luke is at and where he'll end up as a Laker?
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Unnamed Analyst
So that's a tough game for under any circumstances to go on the road in Boston, a Boston team that's had some disappointing losses at home this year.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [04:42]
Unnamed Analyst
And was. And was kind of itching for. They were itching for a signature win. Like the Celtics really wanted that one. I mean, you could tell the, the level of intensity they brought right from the opening tip. It's a tough game under any circumstances. Luca is not yet back into his peak shape. It's going to take a little while to get there. I actually think it'll be somewhat. There's a little bit of a blessing in disguise with the LeBron injury because LeBron has been going full bore since like mid January and it was kind of inevitable that there'd be some sort of nagging thing that would arise over the course of this stretch. And I actually think it'll be pretty nice for LeBron to get like a month off here, a couple weeks off here, just to take a little break before the, the postseason. That'll get more time for Luca to really lean into usage, to really lean into having the ball in his hands and build his rhythm back. That said, like, this goes back to the Dallas series. The Dallas series is a different type of challenge. The Dallas Boston series in the finals, it was a different type of challenge because Boston had all sorts of dudes that they could help off of. They were putting Kristaps Porzingis onto P.J. washington and, and Derrick Jones Jr. And leaving him under the basket. The Lakers will be able to create more space for him, but he wasn't even getting past Jalen Brown for the most part last night. Like just one on one. Jalen Brown had him in clamps and was bringing a ton of physicality. And like there's this kind of recurring theme I've seen OG Anunoby did a little bit on Thursday night. I don't know if you caught the Knicks game. It was kind of a little bit similar in that game. All the way back to the second round series with Oklahoma City. Last year, Lou Dort gave Luca some issues. Luca struggles with the really big and strong forwards that can guard. And so there's a little mini challenge here. If the Lakers are going to be able to defeat a team like Boston in the finals, Luka is going to have to overcome the Jaylen Brown problem. But as far as the big picture goes, he's 25 years old. He's playing alongside one of the greatest work ethic dudes you're going to meet in the league. One of the greatest take care of your body type of dudes that you see in the league. I think Luka is going to get to a level of better conditioning. That said, I don't think he's going to be the dude who had like 17 dunks in his rookie year. I think those shit. I think that ship might have sailed.
- [06:46]
Colin Cowherd
You know, I say this often on the show, that there's. There's a real gap in them in what fans view as hate and what I view as contextualization. So every time I talk about Jayson Tatum, I always say he's great. He's a great player. He's a top eight player in the league. I'm not. I don't believe he's top three. I trust SGA offensively more. I trust Jokic is all around better. I trust Giannis defensively more. I think Luka at his best is a better, more natural offensive player. Hell, if you gave me one quarter to win it all, game seven, I'd take LeBron over Jason Tatum. I actually would. But he's a great player. He's going to be a Hall of Famer. He's a nice kid. But I've said this. There are games where I'm like, where is he? Is he on the floor now? This was not one of them. He was terrific. And I've watched him now play live three or four times. I get to the arena early, he's the first guy on the floor. But it is interesting that people get very upset about this. And I've said this in the Olympics, when you're playing with the world's best players, he was a coach's decision, do not play against Serbia. And he had two in the gold medal game. And that LeBron and Steph flourished in those games. There are players that sometimes when are around great players. LeBron was like this very early in his first Olympics. He was like, finally it opened up more of LeBron. And then there are players that actually love playing within a system. I think Jason is one of those players. I think his God, his DNA is he's a teammate. You know, he likes being part of a collective. He chose Duke so he could play with other great players. Right. Like Krzyzewski makes you play defense. He was there with Grayson Allen, Luke Kennard, if I'm remembering right. So my take is I think he's a star. I think the NBA's only ever had three true faces of the league. Magic, Michael, LeBron. I think Bird was a reluctant because he was conjoined with Magic. He was facing the league, but Magic was the face of the league. He loved it. You know, French Lick, Indiana, Pimples on the face, Grumpy Larry. Bird didn't feel face of the league. But, you know, you join him at the hit with Magic and it's like, okay, and Shaq and Kobe. I think you could argue as a pair were face of the league for several years. Duncan never was. Akeem never was. Karl Malone never was. So what do you make of kind of my criticism of Tatum? It's not a criticism. It's more like, listen, at any one time, the NBA has two faces or one face of the league, two global stars, and about 15 other stars. Carmelo Anthony. Guys, is that unrealistic to say?
- [09:23]
Unnamed Analyst
No. I mean, I heard your rant about Jason Tatum and frankly, like, there is, there is truth to the fact that Tatum lacks, like, the traditional NBA aura, right? Like, he's a good dunker, but he's not Vince Carter, right? He's a good shooter, but he's not Kevin Durant. He's big and strong, but he's not LeBron. He's a good playmaker, but he's not Luka Doncic. He's a good defender, but he's not what Kawhi Leonard was in his prime. And he doesn't really have a very big personality. So, like, it's really hard to, like, put together, you know, something specific about Jason Tatum to, like, market really well as far as, like, face of the league type of stuff. That said, like, he's really good at all of those things still. So and so he's become like, just by virtue of him being a jack of all trades, he's become one of the most useful players in the entire NBA. This has kind of been the interesting trajectory of Jason Tatum's career. If you go back in the early years in like 18, 19, 20. In those years, Tatum was like, projected to be one of the best shooting forwards in the league. He had some unbelievable jump shooting seasons during that stretch. Then what happened was, is he started to bulk up and he got really big and strong and it greatly improved his defensive versatility. He improved as a playmaker. But in that stretch, 20, 21, 20, 22, 23, 24, his jump shot fell apart and became super unreliable to the point where it was like, sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't. They'll have 50 in a playoff game, you'll have 17 in a playoff game. You know, like, it became one of those things where he couldn't rely on the jump shot. Honestly, I think the Team USA situation right off of the heels of last year's playoff run as he shot very poorly in the playoffs on jump shots and then he shot, what, over 16 with Team USA. I think he got humiliated and spent the entire summer in the gym. And he's added like a reliable jump shot to The Swiss army knife that he already was. And now it's one of those things where, like, I agree with you, I think Jokic is better. I think Giannis is better. I think Shay's better. I think Luka Doncic is better. I think if you asked, like, league average role players alongside all those players, I think Tatum is behind those guys, but I do think he's closer to that tier or in that tier at the bottom, as opposed to the next set of guys. Like, when you look at next set of guys, like, I think Tatum brings more on a night in, night out basis than Anthony Davis does. I think Tatum brings more on a night in, night out basis than that next tier of guys. Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Steph Curry. I think he deserves credit for being like a foundational, like, reliable, you can count on this dude type of superstar. But I also think everything you said regarding he does not have a flashpoint in his skill set. There's nothing like that.
- [12:12]
Colin Cowherd
There's nothing you can close your eyes. I've said this and I can think of like, five, Michael plays, six, LeBron plays a bunch of Magic Bird. You close your eyes with Tatum and you're like, it's like Karl Malone. I don't have a Karl Malone play. I don't have a Duncan play. There is something about the Persona, the aura, the imagery that is face of the league. Okay, So I watch most of the Nuggets Thunder game. I missed the first quarter, but Shea went off for 40. Of course, this week, Jokic had a, you know, 30, 20, 20 plus game, right? He's. It's. I think it was the first time ever in league history to somebody to do that. So I love Jokic. I thought he should have won three straight. Embiid was sort of gifted one. But I'll tell you why I would give it to sga. I'd give it to Shay. So I've said this on many occasions. Words matter. You can get in trouble for the wrong word, but you have to watch the words. It's most valuable. Now, production is a huge component to value, right? Like, valuable is. I mean, I always say this. Moms are usually the most valuable person in a house. Dad may make more. The kids may have a brighter future. Mom's the mvp. She's the glue, and she's super productive, right? Like, at least in my house, mom was the most valuable player. Dad, my dad was the local optometrist. He paid the bills. So Jokic, you can argue, is more productive. Okay? But he's Playing with Gordon Porter, Jamal Murray, and a coach that's got a ring thanks to Jokic. SGA, and this is about 15% of it, is a better defender. SGA plays with a roster that is so young, it only averages one year older than the Auburn Tigers roster. So he is playing with kids and that matters. They're still figuring out how to play basketball. Not to mention Chet Holmkin, you know, has been out for a while. I mean, you can argue outside of Shea, nobody else on that roster, none of their best offensive players have even hit their prime yet. So. And that's one of the reasons I worry about them in the playoffs, winning big road games with this young roster. So based on the fact that his production isn't Jokic, but it's damn good he's a better defender. He's carrying a younger roster and didn't have homegrown for a spell, I would narrowly give Shea the mvp. What say you?
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Unnamed Analyst
So I actually think Shea has a decent sized lead. It really. Let's just get to the, the foundational piece of the case. He's 12 games ahead of Denver in the standings.
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Jason Tempf
12.
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Colin Cowherd
That matters too.
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Jason Tempf
That's.
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Unnamed Analyst
That's an enormous gap between those two teams. And so when you start to make a case for Jokic, it needs to be overwhelming. And there are some things with Jokic that I think are realities. I think Jokic is a better basketball player than Shake Elders.
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Colin Cowherd
Alexander same.
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Unnamed Analyst
I think Denver would fall apart more than OKC would fall apart if the two players were removed. But that's never been the way that we've given mvp. It's never been sheer value in a vacuum. It's never been who's the guy that we think is the best player for a 16 win playoff run. Right. That's never been the way we've done it. It's always been a combination of a bunch of factors. Team success, your individual value, like your reputation in the league. There's always been a narrative element that's it's. Regardless of how we want to pretend, like it should be factored in. It does get factored in. There's narrative, there's momentum, there's all of that kind of stuff. It's kind of like the Jokic 30, 20, 20 game. It's like, well, here we are 2/3 of the way through the season. Jokic puts together a stat line that's never happened in NBA history. Hey, let's revisit this thing. Even though the Thunder have been consistently a better basketball team this year, I think two things One, Shay's having a much better offensive season than people are giving him credit for. You mentioned the youth. The youth for the Thunder manifests in inconsistency. J J Dub is an incredible player. He is what, 22 or. He's, he's young, he's super inconsistent. Chet, incredible player. He's young, he's going to make mistakes. He's not a guy that's super dependable night and night out. He shot 20 something percent from three in the series against Dallas last year. Shea is the grown up in the room. Shea is the night tonight guy. So many of these games break down for, for the Thunder against good teams in particular. So many of these games break down where it looks like every single Thunder player is uncomfortable and a little bit like, a little bit like, like kind of shying away from the moment.
- [16:44]
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
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Unnamed Analyst
Shay and Shea has to grab the reins and like control things and like as Chad's been out of the a bunch this year as J Dub has had a down shooting season and is. He's coming on as of late, but he's had a down shooting season. Shay's been carrying him through that. Shea has been the guy that has lifted their elite defense to the point where they can win games. And so I think he deserves more credit than that. The second piece of it is a reality with Denver. Denver has lost a lot of games this year because they can't guard oh at all. And Jokic, for the record in the 2023 postseason, had a very good playoff run defensively. He is capable of having good moments on defense. However, there's a simple reality with Jokic that causes a lot of problems for Denver's defense. He cannot switch onto perimeter players and he can't play on his heels back at the rim because guys just jump right over him and go around him. That forces Jokic to come out to the level of ball screens and put two on the ball. So Denver persistently exists in rotation. They persistently exist in four on threes. That's how the sun score on them so easily. That's how the Lakers scored on them so easily. That is the problem that they consistently run into is Jokic has to come up to the level. When he comes up to the level, it's a simple pocket pass or skip pass and they're playing four on three out of it. And they just haven't been very good defensively this year on the back line rotating out of it and so they just haven't been as good. Their defense is bad. Jokic is a Significant part of that, I think that gets factored into this debate. And so when I really look at it in the big picture, there's not enough for Jokic, even though I think he's having an unbelievable season, arguably the best offensive season ever. But if you look at it, it's not enough to justify that 12 game gap in the standings and then to tie things up, shay just dropped 40 on him today as a guy.
- [18:37]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, yeah. No, I think we're on the same page. I thought a month before it happened, I said, warriors, just get Jimmy Butler. I don't care what analytics say. Steph is sleepwalking. And I remember saying Butler's the anti Wiggins. Like every possession is intentional, totally intense. Everything's a street fight. I always thought Wiggins was talented. Little passive. You didn't know possession of possession if he was engaged. I think we talked about this last time, so I thought Butler would be a big help. It is amazing. They were 11 and 2 since Jimmy Butler arrived. What's interesting now, if you start looking at their playoff position, they could end up against Houston, which I think is the dream scenario for Golden State because Houston can't shoot. Like that's the team you want to play. A young team that struggles shooting, you can beat Golden State. You know, they don't have a ton of offensive firepower from the perimeter. Outside of Steph pods a little bit, but when you watch the warriors, it's really interesting. Oklahoma City, again, tremendous defensive team, but I don't trust them OKC in a big road playoff game. They're too young. I think Golden State has a lower ceiling but an incredibly high floor. And I think outside of maybe a Cleveland, Boston could go seven games with almost anybody. Is. Is there a team? Let's just, let's just look ahead. Is there a team the warriors would not want to face in the west in the playoffs that you just don't think is a good matchup at all?
- [20:15]
Unnamed Analyst
Oh, that's an interesting question because Dallas.
- [20:18]
Colin Cowherd
If healthy, would be tough with. With Gafford, lively ad. Their center rotation is great. They're a big team and I could see that team slowing it down and being just a handful for the warriors, but I think they're going to go into a soft tank here and just keep everybody out. I don't think it's a terrible idea. So Minnesota, if they had the Twin Towers, you know, if they had Cat and Go Bear, could be problematic. But I sort of look at the West, I'm like, I don't know, is.
- [20:49]
Unnamed Analyst
There A team I think they're going to get out of the plan. It's been really fascinating just how immediately good they've been and it's been kind of like a kind of a proof of concept for me about roster balance. Just like no matter what you're doing, if you ever ask somebody to do too much, they're going to be inefficient, they're going to start making mistakes and there were so many role players for that team that were being asked to do so much more than they're doing now because there was no Jimmy and Jimmy's come in and just like crystallize everyone's roles and everyone just has consistent minutes in the rotation now and everything's coming together for them. They're going to get out of the plan. In my opinion, if that's the case, it's the team that I would want to face if I was. Golden State is a team that they can load up on defensively and so I think a team like Denver, if they got the 6, 3 matchup against a team like Denver, that'd be good. Memphis is another team like that. That is a poor spot up team that they could load pain up on. The other thing I like we talked about earlier with being able to bring Jokic up to the level, Steph is that guy. Steph is the guy that will consistently get Denver's defense into rotation and now they have Jimmy Butler to be the guy that kind of helps pay off those sequences as he's been so good in the middle of the floor this year. I think yeah, I, I would lean towards if I was the, the problem with The Lakers is LeBron and Luca will just hunt their small guards all day long in space and I think that that could be a problem for them. And the Laker defense like we talked about earlier is keyed up on the ability to help off of people and there are a couple guys for Golden State that they feel like they can help off of. So I think Denver, if they got into that six spot I'd be looking at if Denver slipped to the three as a potential matchup that they could upset. Houston and Memphis to me are both gettable. I look at it as. I don't know about how you feel Colin, but I think there's a five team inner circle. I think it's Boston and Cleveland out east and I think it's okc, Denver and the Lakers out west. I think those five teams are the like if those five teams are the teams that have substantial chances to win the championship behind that. All of those teams I think are pretty heavily flawed. Golden State has been really good since the Jimmy Butler trade, but they've played a relatively light schedule. So I'd like to see a little bit more before I decide where they kind of fit into all of this. Like the Lakers before they beat, before they lost to Boston, they beat 14 straight. 500 or better teams like that. That's how good the Lakers were playing before that Celtics game. I, I'm not going to bail on them because they flew across the country after a bunch of after a brutal.
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Colin Cowherd
Schedule and missing two of their long players.
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Unnamed Analyst
Yeah, yeah. Two vitally important starters. Their vertical spacer and Jackson Hay. Like how, how often did you see Jared Vanderbilt catch the ball under the basket yesterday with no idea what to do because he can't finish over anybody. But like that, that's the thing. Like I, I, I, I kind of have a feeling that the Lakers are one of the inner circle teams because I've just seen them be so good for so long against so many good teams. I want to see a little bit more like from Golden State because I do think they can enter into that group, but I just want to see a little bit more from them. But I think between Denver and la, I'd want to play Denver if I was them.
- [23:51]
Colin Cowherd
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- [24:38]
Danny Parkins
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- [25:13]
Colin Cowherd
Danny Parkins Co Host Breakfast Ball the winner of the Mythical FS1 NFL Picks Championship. It should be noted, it's just like the USA Today High school basketball championship. It's all mythical. So let's not go crazy on this shit.
- [25:30]
Jason Tempf
Listen, it is definitely true that I only made it a competition between you, me and Nick once I started to crush it and distance myself from the field. Yeah. So, you know, going into next year, if I start four and nine, you know, it's just luck. But when I'm crushing it, it's skill. And you guys are in a competition you didn't even know you had entered.
- [25:56]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I had no idea. Yeah. So I thought it was interesting today where Adam Schefter was almost annoyed with Aaron Rodgers, where he came out and said, pick a team. So I said this on the air today. If you ever tell a corporation, listen, I need more time, I'll get back to you. You have to have the self awareness to know how that lands to the corporation, especially if you're in a valuable position. It's a big fu. You're literally going back thinking, ugh, what a prima donna. And I usually tend to think really smart people have excellent self awareness. And I wonder sometimes with Aaron, is he the rare smart dude, doesn't read the room well? I mean, he goes on this darkness retreat in Green Bay and then is shocked when they're like, take a hike. Like, how can you be shocked?
- [26:56]
Jason Tempf
But here's the thing with Rogers, and there's a lot of it. Do we. He talks a lot, but do we believe anything he says?
- [27:05]
Colin Cowherd
Like, what do you mean?
- [27:07]
Jason Tempf
He said he didn't have cell service. Like, he's like. He's like, oh, you live in Malibu in like a $25 million house. You have cell service. Like, it was just. I think that he has a lot of narcissism to him. And he's like, I love the silence. And then he brought a film crew.
- [27:27]
Colin Cowherd
Like, what do you.
- [27:28]
Jason Tempf
These things are just in conflict with each other. I just. You know what I mean? I think that he is a. So I don't know that he knows exactly what he wants. And I think he loves attention. And I think that he. He told Mark Schlerith and Stink has told the story publicly. He did like a Week 16 or 17 jets game and he. Stink said that they talked for almost 30 minutes. 20 Something was about the running game because Stink's insane. And he was like five or ten minutes was about his future. And he's like, Aaron told me point blank, like, I'm only going to keep playing if the situation is perfect. Well, now apparently it's down to the Steelers and the Giants. Imperfect, imperfect. Now at least the Steelers to me makes perfect sense. That one makes perfect sense. He loves Mike Tomlin. Mike Tomlin loves him. Mike Tomlin. Apparently it's impossible for this guy to have a losing season. Mason Rudolph, Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, Duck Hodges, it doesn't matter. It's impossible for this guy to have a losing season. So obviously you're hyper relevant. The fans care. You'll look good in the iconic jersey. You'll get to play against Joe Burrow. You'll play against Lamar Jackson. The AFC north plays the NFC north this year. So the Steelers host the Packers. They go to Chicago. Aaron will eat that shit up. Like, he will like that. To me, that makes sense. He can have an expectation of playing in a playoff game and maybe winning a playoff game that Tomlin hasn't done since 2016. They're not going to win a Super bowl, but that makes sense. If he comes back and he plays for the Giants.
- [29:14]
Unnamed Analyst
I.
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Jason Tempf
It's just pure vanity. It's just pure. I want to.
- [29:19]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, so I'm going to argue because we. This was a discussion today on our show and I said because I've moved so many times that I get a yellow pad out pros and cons. And I said, I'm going to be Aaron Rodgers. I don't have to move. I get an offensive coach. I get neighbors and a really good left tackle. And I'm going to have more juice in the building because the coach and the GM are getting fired or they lost Najee Harris in their left tackle. They're completely tone deaf to offense. I'm old and don't want to get hit and they haven't had a good line for seven years. I'll have really no power in the building and I'm going to have two guys that are both going to demand the ball and neither one runs a complete route tree. I can make an argument selfishly, like every time I've ever thought about moving. My take is who is my Svengali in the building? Will somebody get me Brian Dabel's work with Daniel Jones? He's worked with Josh Allen. Brian Dable's been around forever. Mangini calls him one of his best assistants he's ever known. Like, you go into a building with a guy, you can literally be on the same wavelength. I mean, Arthur Smith does not appear to be likable, and Mike Tomlin does not appear to care about offense. And you got two receivers who want to be ones. I look at Pittsburgh and think this is a powder kick.
- [30:43]
Jason Tempf
So two things. One, I could be wrong. I obviously don't know the man. I don't think he cares about moving. He'll.
- [30:54]
Colin Cowherd
He'll.
- [30:55]
Jason Tempf
Like, like, come on. He travels to Tahiti and Thailand, and he lived for 15 years in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In. You know, he'll be fine for eight months in Pittsburgh. I have a hard time believing that that is going to be a determining factor for him. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just. I think he'll be fine. He's a very well traveled individual. He'll have as much power in the offensive side as he wants. Who knows? Maybe they'll fire Arthur Smith and they'll hire Nathaniel Hackett. Like, he's an. He's the offensive coordinator in and of himself. I think he loves Tomlin. I think that they've flirted with each other. They wink at each other on the sideline. He shouts them out when he does the McAfee interviews. I think he's got a respect for conspiracy theory. McAfee today retweeted a video of Rogers talking about Tomlin from, like, 2021. I think it's happening. I think it's happening. I think he's going to announce it on that show. McAfee is a Pittsburgh guy or a Pennsylvania guy, whatever he is. He's doing some show in Pittsburgh coming out soon. He's calling it big night. Act like I don't fully understand the McAfee universe, but, like, I think Rogers, who's apparently making seven figures from the guy, which is amazing. Good gig if you can get it. I think he's announcing that he's going to Pittsburgh with McAfee at his show in Pittsburgh. And he's a Steeler. That's what I think is happening.
- [32:26]
Colin Cowherd
All right. Interesting. You're probably right. I'm just telling you the stuff that matters to me, which is don't have to worry about moving left tackle, offensive coach, great weapon, and I'm going to have power in the building. I'll get a say in the building.
- [32:39]
Jason Tempf
Where do you think he wins more football games?
- [32:44]
Colin Cowherd
Pittsburgh.
- [32:45]
Jason Tempf
Yeah. So I guess. Okay. And then. So the other thing I wanted to say to you, and this is like developing more as my media career continues, I just get older or whatever. I root for Interesting powder keg. Great. Awesome. It is so much more interesting if Aaron Rodgers is in Pittsburgh with Mike Tomlin that.
- [33:11]
Colin Cowherd
You know what, I've said it.
- [33:13]
Jason Tempf
I had our guys work up a photoshop of him in a Steelers uniform the day the season ended. Like, to me it's made. Obviously, if Minnesota wants him, that's a better situation, obviously. So I see him hold. I can see him holding out for that. I think they're going to go J.J. mcCarthy, we'll see. But. And the Steelers would be on national TV six times. They would be hyper relevant and hyper interesting. Good or bad? Good or bad. So I am, I. If he's gonna play and we're gonna talk about him and he's gonna suck all the oxygen out of a room, I would much rather him do it on a 10 or 11 win team than a 5 or a 6 win team. So I'm personally am rooting for Pittsburgh.
- [33:55]
Colin Cowherd
You know, it's, it's interesting. You and I both. That's, you know, I, I like fresh produce. I'm a chef. Just give me the best ingredients. That's all I care about. J. Mac last year before the season said Chicago's the most interesting team. And they were early until they were just, you know, obviously bad. And then by week, like 10, you're like, okay, they're not interesting. If let's, let's think about this, the three most interesting teams next year. So I, I think this year the Bears are really interesting because if Caleb struggles again, he may not be the guy. In fact, he's probably not. So rookie quarterbacks. I never think the team is too interesting because it's going to be ugly and you can't make any stern judgments. Like, obviously Jaden Daniels is terrific. He's Lamar Jackson, nfc. It's over. We don't have to argue about that. So I think Chicago is my most interesting team.
- [34:54]
Jason Tempf
Well, then let's get those weekly hits on the TV show going, buddy. Let's go Chicago.
- [35:00]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, let me think about, let me think about this for a second.
- [35:06]
Jason Tempf
I mean, I think Washington's pretty high on the list.
- [35:10]
Colin Cowherd
I, I will say this. I think Kansas City pulling back for a year because the offensive line is absolutely in flux. Their left tackle has never been a starting left tackle. It's like, boys, that's honestly like having a Bentley and finding the cheapest insurance. On the market for it. It's like no, just, just call progressive or something. Okay. Let's not go discount insurance. So I think Kansas City. I predicted the Niners in Dallas would pull back last this year. They did. I'm going to, I'm going to say Kansas City is going to pull back for a year. Their offensive line is in flux. I mean if this kid from San Francisco to left T also Joe Tuney may have been the most.
- [35:59]
Jason Tempf
Had more.
- [36:00]
Colin Cowherd
Dexterity than any offensive lineman in the league last year. He's gone. So Chicago, Kansas City are fascinating. How about this? Green Bay. I loved Jordan Love last year gave me pause. What if Jordan Love struggles this year? Like what if it's God's ears? Chicago's better. Detroit's really good. As long as Kevin O'Connell is coaching Minnesota, they're viable. I, I like, I really like Jordan Love. And then there were times I watched them last year and I'm like oh, I don't know if the coaching staff right now trust Jordan Love. Like I'm not sure they do. So I'm going to go Chicago, Kansas City, Green Bay and we'll do four. I'm going to say and I don't know how interesting they'll be. I think New England, Vrabel, drake may basically 30% new roster. I do think they'll get Travis Hunter. I think that's going to be a pretty damn interesting team. Those are my four Bears, Chiefs, Packers, Patriots.
- [37:14]
Jason Tempf
Yeah. So let's revisit this after the draft because I'm not at all convinced that the guy that the Chiefs paid is for sure the left tackle. I think is for sure the left tackle now but I could see them. This is the last year of Kelsey. He's made it clear we don't know how much more Chris Jones has in him. Obviously Mahomes is going to be there and Reed will be there and they're going to be good for a long time. But I could see the Chiefs trading up in the first round for a, for a tackle. I could see that happening.
- [37:50]
Colin Cowherd
Or a tight end.
- [37:51]
Jason Tempf
Or a tight end. Yes. Like I just think I could see a big draft day move for the Chiefs to try to inject a blue chip offensive player. So you know where should door Sanders goes, how far he falls? Is Deion Sanders like coach in waiting like, like that? Like does your Sanders fall to 21 and he goes to Pittsburgh and he goes to Mike Tomlin and he sits behind Aaron Rodgers then they're really damn interesting. Or does he go to the Giants and it feels like a mortal lock that Brian Dable gets fired and they hire Deion Sanders. Pretty damn interesting either way. So I think that we're going to change a little bit of this out of the draft. I love what Urban Meyer said on your show by the way. Side note, parenthetical on Travis Hunter. If you believe Cam Ward is a superstar, then Cam Ward's the number one pick in the draft. If you have any doubt, then clearly Travis Hunter is the number one pick in the draft in my opinion because it's just a value proposition. Like if you think he can be a Pro bowl corner, well that's 25 million a year and if he can also be a slot receiver, well that's 15 million a year even if he's a slot receiver for 12 snaps a game. So I love and I so I think wherever Travis Hunter goes, his team immediately becomes interesting. But let's remove the draft from it. To get back to your point, obviously I'm with you on the Bears. I think the Chiefs in an all in situation is a great pick. The thing that I don't agree with on the New England point is is that all the guy the guys that they added are new but not terribly interesting. And while I love Drake May, I think he looks like Justin Herbert to me, I was disappointed that they didn't figure out a way to get him a number one. He has nobody to throw the ball to. And yeah, even if the line is better and Morgan Moses upgrades their left tackle situation. No doubt Vrabel, they spent all that money on like Carlton Davis and Spillan and Milton Williams and I'm like man, help your quarterback with a rocket arm please. Like now I know Godwin went back to Tampa. They can't help that. I know the Bengals franchise tag T. Higgins can't help that you couldn't beat the 58th pick for DK Metcalf. Like Cooper cup better be a Patriot. Like do something to help out Drake May in terms of pass catchers because he has nothing in that regard. So to me they need some weapon to totally get there and Green Bay is just not new enough. Like everyone's back Watson, Dobbs, Wicks, Reed. They're so young. You know, they're so young that there's just not a lot of turnover there to make them all that interesting though I'm definitely rooting against Jordan Love and the packers in general. Just like the Chicago in in me trying to think who you left out. So so I think Washington the reason I said Washington while you were thinking about it is I think Jaden Daniels had the best rookie quarterback season of my lifetime. I think he was better than Herbert who set the touchdown record, better than Andrew. Andrew Lucky 3.
- [41:26]
Colin Cowherd
Cam Newton especially if you look at his third down and fourth quarter numbers. It's in their Joe Montana, his 11th year in the league.
- [41:35]
Jason Tempf
They led the league in fourth down conversions. Fourth down conversions with a rookie quarterback. They led the league. It was, it was remarkable what he. And then he won playoff. He went to the NFC championship game. But the guys who've had amazing rookie seasons recently, Justin Herbert, it's been up and down CJ Stroud this past year he won another playoff game. I don't think it was all his fault. He was staring at the sky so much. His offensive line was the disaster. Diggs got hurt, Tank Dell got hurt, Nico Collins got hurt at various points. But CJ Stroud did not take another step from his rookie year. Well, we could say plateaued. If Jaden Daniels takes another step like the year two in the system, year two in the league jump well then he's going to win mvp. He will win MVP like Mahomes won MVP his second year in the league like Lamar Jackson won MVP his third year in the league, second year in a system like he will. He will be the MVP of the league.
- [42:44]
Colin Cowherd
Well also if he's great, not to interrupt but if he's great again then we have found our top five quarterbacks. Mahomes, Allen, Lamar Burrow, Jaden. Because we all like Jalen hurts but we're like well the line that.
- [42:58]
Jason Tempf
I think it's ridiculous. I think it's ridiculous. Still I Eagles fans kind of Eagles fans kind of bother me with this.
- [43:07]
Colin Cowherd
But I don't remember a time most of my life there have been three great quarterbacks, maybe four in the league and then it kind of peters out to have five first ballot level hall of Fame talent. If Jaden comes out and even duplicates last year with much better players around him, then we've got five first ballot guy. And by the way, now I'm moving because of his mobility. I'm moving Stafford to six and he I believe he especially if he could get in that super bowl circle again. Win or lose, you're gonna have a hard time keeping him.
- [43:45]
Jason Tempf
I think Stafford, now that he has a ring is pretty. I will be shocked if he's not a Hall of Famer with where his numbers are.
- [43:53]
Colin Cowherd
He's not far from his prime. Okay for him to be the sixth best quarterback in the league mostly because he doesn't move the other guys. Booth. The NFL. Like I've said this. We're in the golden age of quarterbacking, folks. Like, if he's six, if Herbert and Hertz are seventh, we are at an all time high.
- [44:15]
Jason Tempf
By the way, do you have a line to Harbaugh? Can you like.
- [44:19]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [44:20]
Jason Tempf
Can you tell him to throw a little bit more, please?
- [44:24]
Colin Cowherd
To who?
- [44:25]
Jason Tempf
Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. But you use the Bentley analogy. I know that the winning went up and I know the passer rating was very good. And I know he loves to run the ball. Can you just. From the Football Appreciation Society, don't let my guy. Let my guy, Justin Herbert, not be 26th in the NFL and attempts again or whatever he was. Please.
- [44:49]
Colin Cowherd
Well, they lost Palmer, so Now they have lad McConkey. They need a tight end in the first round and a receiver in the third. Like, it's one of those things where. And I've said this about Jim Harbaugh, it's kind of fascinating. San Francisco, he had Michael Crabtree. It was an O line, D line, physicality. John Harbaugh is the same way. What's the one thing the Ravens haven't had? Wide receiver talent. They've always been a little shy, the Harbaughs, it's their nature. He could have taken Michael Thomas, who he loved. He took Joe Alt. It's who they are. Their DNA is. We want to intimidate you. We want to physically, like, listen, they let go of Mike Williams and Kenan Allen. They kept Bosa and Khalil Mack. That was very clear DNA.
- [45:29]
Jason Tempf
I know. I just. As a guy who loves Justin Herbert, I wanna. I wanna see the guy throw a little bit more. What were we just talking about? I'm sorry, I feel like I lost my train of thought on oh, but so j. But Washington, what Houston did off of CK Stroud's rookie year was correct. Oh, my God. We have a quarterback. He turned our franchise around. We won a playoff game. We have a ton of cap space and a stud quarterback who we know we have to pay on a cheap deal. Let's go all in. And Stefan Diggs was crazy expensive. Daniel Hunter was crazy expensive. They paid mix. And like, mixing didn't really work. He was fine. It wasn't really his fault. The offensive line was a disaster. Diggs was working, then got hurt. Daniel Hunter was fantastic. Washington is in the exact same spot. And we've now seen what they've done. Like, they debo. We're going to give Kingsbury and Terry McLaurin and Jaden Daniels. We're going to give them a toy and see how it works. We are going to trade a ton of capital for one of the best pass blocking left tackles of his generation to protect our investment. And then they paid Kinlaw, I think too much money. But they didn't want to get too much weaker on the defensive line when they lost Allen and they brought in Ken like so maybe they'll do one more trade or for a move or whatever, but they're going to maintain Catholics. But we've seen their moves. D tackle, left tackle, Debo Samuel, plus what they had in the draft. They're better. And Philly got worse. Now Philly got worse by design and we know it. And they should because they didn't want to pay Milton Williams $100 million so they could pay Jalen Carter $150 million next year. Philly's top 10 players are still all excellent. They deserve to be the favorite. But I think that what Jaden Daniels did and like year two, does it plateau? Does it go down? Does it go up? Because he's got way more talent and he should be only more comfortable in the NFL. So of the to me, they are very high on my list of interesting.
- [47:45]
Colin Cowherd
Danny Perkins this was fun.
- [47:48]
Jason Tempf
As always.
- [47:51]
Colin Cowherd
The volume.
- [47:54]
Nikki Glaser
This is Nikki Glaser from the Nikki Glaser Podcast. On a more serious note, I'm still thinking about that commercial with Tom Brady and Snoop Dogg hating on each other. Because when you listen to the reasons for hating someone or something, you realize just how stupid they really are. There is too much hate in this country and it's gotta stop. So join us at iHeart in standing up to it. If you see hate, speak up, call it out, and you can learn more by following hat's upwithhate.
- [48:21]
This podcast is sponsored by talkspace. You know, when you're really stressed or not feeling so great about your life or about yourself, talking to someone who understands can really help. But who is that person? How do you find them? Where do you even start? Talkspace. Talkspace makes it easy to get the support you need. With Talkspace, you can go online, answer a few questions about your preferences, and be matched with a therapist. And because you'll meet your therapist online, you don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule wherever you feel most at ease. If you're depressed, stressed, struggling with a relationship, or if you want some counseling for you and your partner or just need a little extra one on one support. Talkspace is here for you. Plus Talkspace works with most major insurers and most insured members have a zero dollar copay. No insurance, no problem. Now get 80 off of your first month with promo code space80 when you go to talkspace.com match with a licensed therapist today at talkspace.com save $80 with code space80@talkspace.com what's up everyone?
- [49:22]
Greg Rosenthal
It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast cast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs, mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [49:52]
Jeremy Hobson
We live in a divided country, and our media couldn't be more polarizing. That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation. Each week we hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country. And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news. Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.