← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Colin Cowherd Podcast - Who Should Draft Shedeur? Best NFL Over/Under Win Totals, College Football Is Better Than Ever
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- [00:00]
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- [00:43]
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 podcasts.
- [01:15]
Narrator
Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley Season one.
- [01:22]
Gilbert King
Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.
- [01:27]
Narrator
I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.
- [01:32]
Gilbert King
At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.
- [01:34]
Narrator
Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2, starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:45]
Colin Cowherd
The Volume As I've told you, Fubo is my favorite way to watch live sports. Flying from Chicago to LA this past week, I'm all over fubo. NFL, NBA baseball, college sports tournament, baseball's here. Masters next week. You know, sometimes you're at one of your kids games, you're at a family function. You just want. You want that phone and you want Fubo next to you. Just go to fubotv.com Colin F U B O fubotv.com Colin get $50 off two months of fubot. I have been using it for years. I'm addicted to it, it is the first place I check when I'm out. Want to keep attached and informed on sports and they've got more than sports, but check it out. Fubotv.com Colin Fifty bucks off, two months. FuboTV all right. John Middelikoff, former NFL scout. You know him, you love him. The podcast three and out. Loves his golf as well as we get ready for the Masters. That's around the corner, but we've got some NFL stuff to talk about. So we got into this discussion on the show today and I said, you know, obviously when the NFL had to write almost a, you know, a billion dollar check for cte, the game got safer really fast. And you can't touch quarterbacks. You really can't go high or at the wrong angle on anybody but a running back going forward. That's why it's, it's really makes sense to have two and three running backs in the rotation because it's the last position you can really clobber from any angle at any time. And I said, because it's become such an offensive league, there's only one way to win with exceptional offensive quarterback play. And I said, here's the thing about Shador Sanders. If you're Cleveland, if you draft him, he is at best the third best quarterback in that division. He'll never be as good as Burrow. He's not that kind of prospect. And he's not Lamar Jackson. If the Steelers hit on a quarterback in the next two years, he could be four. He's not an exceptional athlete, not an exceptional arm. And if, and if, for instance, the Giants wanted him, he's not going to be Jaden Daniels. And he's not special athletically like Jalen Hurts. He may be better than Dak, but again, he would be third best quarterback in a division. And so my takeaway on Shador Sanders is do teams think like that? Like, like it only takes one coach to love Bo Nix, right? Like Sean Payton loved him because there's a little bit of a doppelganger with Drew Brees. But when I look at Shador and I like him, I can't argue that Burl Lamar Shador is three. I can't argue that Jalen and Jaden Daniels Shedeur is three. And those kind of quarterbacks are infrequent playoff quarterbacks. Do scouts think like that?
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Narrator
Yeah.
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John Middelkoff
I mean, these conversations definitely come up not only right now, but throughout the fall when your scouts are going in. The problem with that mindset, you would never draft a quarterback because who the Hell is ever going to be better than Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow, Right. Or, you know, you're never going to. How are you ever going to find like a 23 year old matt Stafford? Like right. More than likely you're not going to draft this high again. And you know, two names that I hear come up a lot or definitely one, and I'll use another name, is Andy Dalton. And I would throw Derek Carr in there as well. You know, I think people that say, you know, that type skill set, historically, Shador Sanders, those guys went pick 35 and pick 36, I think 10 years ago. He's going in the second round and people are very excited about him. Jimmy Garoppolo as well at the end of the second round. Andy Dalton has made 168 starts in the NFL and he was in a division with a fantastic Ravens defense and Roethlisberger in his prime. And they were going to the playoffs all the time. Carr took a dysfunctional Raider team twice to the playoffs. So if Shador is in that mold, it's really on the organization. And if you're the Browns, Andrew Barry's pretty good gm, Stefanski's pretty good coach. They got a lot of talent on the team. So if he can just become that Andy Dalton, Jimmy Garoppolo, Derek Carr, yeah, you're not going to beat, you know, if Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow are on, they're going to beat you. But you still have a lot of other games throughout the season. So it's. If you can build the team well enough, can't you compete to make the playoffs? I mean, they're drafting two over a hole right now.
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Colin Cowherd
Right.
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John Middelkoff
And granted that's because, I mean, DeShawn became one of the worst quarterbacks we've ever seen. Their, their, their team just fell apart this year, but more than likely they're not going to draft this high again. Now, is it an overdraft? Yeah, but the reason Mac Jones and Daniel Jones and those type guys became disastrous, you couldn't even function with them as your starting quarterback. Right. Andy Dalton for seven straight years with the right with the Bengals, they did a good job. You could just. Every year you went in like, we're going to win 10 plus games. The Browns would die to do that. Their owner, who can be a little off the wall sometimes. I give them credit for making the comment the other day. You never hear that, you know, admitting we still owe the guy $90 million. It's a disaster. It's like, well, yeah, that's true. Well, yeah, they never say that. He is spending a lot of cash. Like, the salary cap's different than cash being spent. Jeffrey Lurie talked about that. I saw today. They are spending. I think they've spent more money over the last four years in cash than any other team in the league. It's like well over a billion dollars. So he is not in this to lose. But the betting markets have Abdul Carter as the heavy favorite to be the number two overall pick. So maybe they're thinking Shador Sanders. What the hell's the difference of Shador Sanders? I know you like, like Riley Leonards of the world and those type guys. We can get a guy like that in the second or third round, and maybe he can be like our cousins or Dak. They also talk and think like that. So maybe they go, I'd rather have Riley Leonard or Kyle McCord and Abdul Carter than Shador Sanders and whoever else we would get in the second round. So I think you're doing a lot of those conversations.
- [07:43]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, you know, it's. It's. There's a lot of people saying that Jackson Dart has a better arm than Shador Sanders, so you might as well just wait and draft Jackson Dart. Although I would say he's not nearly as accurate as Shador Sanders. And accuracy, to me, is like a real thing. Maybe most important thing, Jalen Melrose, Mechanical. I think he has to fall to the right hands. Or he could just be Anthony Richards at 2.0. Yeah. You know, I've said Kyle McCourt at Syracuse. I take him in the second round and feel pretty good. I will say this, though, that, you know, people say it's not a very good draft. And I'll tell you, I look at certain teams that need skill players, like the New York Giants, if they got Travis Hunter with their first pick and in their second pick got. Is it Trayvon Henderson from Ohio State?
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John Middelkoff
Yeah.
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Colin Cowherd
With Malik Neighbors. I look at that and I think to myself, oh, that's a great draft for the New York Giants because I like their head coach as an offensive coach. And I think Russell will actually be a better version of the Pittsburgh Russell because I think Mike Tomlin's culture is years behind Brian Dable offensively. Is there a team in this draft that you look at and think, you know, it's not a great draft, but what they need, running back, tight end, defensive tackle, there's a surplus of in this draft?
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John Middelkoff
Well, I think if you look at the Giants, if you're Brian Dayball, people go, why would they sign Both those two guys. Because Brian Dabel's coaching for his job. Shador Sanders does not help him at all in 2025. So he can take two quarterbacks, let the cream rise out of the two and go back and forth. He would go all in on Travis Hunter. He would want players that help him win immediately. So if you tell me they get Travis Hunter and they're starting running back or starting tight end or just another more explosive player. Yeah, I mean, I think the Giants are just much more feasible. You watch them at the end of the year, last year when they had some injuries. It's like that. This team has a lot of parallels with the Patriots. Right? Just no talent. What's going on here. But all of a sudden you get Malik neighbors, which he has concussion issues. You know, you get another concussion that's a little scary. But there is no disputing his. His physical gifts. I mean, he's a freak. I mean, that. That's one. You look back and this is the hard part about the draft. There is no such thing as a high floor because any player might not work out. It doesn't matter how your floor is determined once you get in the NFL. All I heard last year was like, Marvin Harrison's floor is so high, Malik's. Malik could be Boomer bust. And then you watch, you're like, you don't think the Arizona Cardinals regret not going Malik neighbors over Marvin Harrison Jr. Because they do. And the Giants benefited from them making that choice. And I think we use that term a lot. Ceilings are real. Like, certain guys have higher ceilings. Cam Ward ceiling is obviously higher than Shador Sanders, but a floor like, we've seen all sorts of players not work out in the end. You never know. And we always played this game a couple of years later. Should have taken him. Should have taken him. No one knew that information. As we sit here a month away from the draft, if we would have known Richard Sherman and George Kittle and these guys existed the fifth round, they would have been top 20 picks. So it is a little bit of a crapshoot. And I think it gets more difficult in a class like this, which obviously they're going to be a lot of really good players that come out of this draft, but no one feels that confident on a lot of these guys. You know, it's like, well, how high is Mason Graham ceiling? Or it's like, what's his name, the LSU tackle? It's like, well, yeah, arm length kind of matters at left tackle, but what if in five years, he just Becomes an all pro guard. But you don't take an all pro guard probably at 5 overall. Right. You'd rather have a tackle. So there's just a lot of unknown which I think a lot of these, the scouting community is just, there's like yeah, it's kind of coin flip year.
- [11:39]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. I mean in your years of being a scout, I mean you have your top 150 players like and you also have the red players that you won't draft either personnel, personality problems, character issues or injuries. Are there any dramatic moves with two to three weeks to go in the draft process when in your experience.
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John Middelkoff
Yeah, I would say, you know the information. Most of these teams, you know with the owner's meeting. So all the GMs and coaches are flying home, if not last night today and by either the end of the week or first thing next week, all your scouts come in. And the scouts and your, you know, your personnel people, some of your other executives have been on campuses over the last month. Right. Meeting with coaches, other personnel. At those schools, certain guys, you don't have to worry about anything off the field. Like they're just, it's just perfect, you know, Andrew Locks or. But there are a ton of those guys in the draft where it's like you don't even. But there are some guys, maybe not legal, like they've been arrested or you know, crazy bad things, but they're just like how much does he really like football? Which might be a non negotiable in the organization. Like the Ravens don't draft many people that aren't addicted to football watch them play over the last 20 years. So you're just like maybe you've heard some stuff and you bring that information back to your gm, to your head coach and that can sway stuff. So it's not like a dramatic. Unless someone gets in trouble and that becomes public knowledge. But it's basic things like yeah, heard some things that this guy might not be quite what we thought as a person because I, I think when you, you know a lot of these people, when you talk to coaches and executives, most people fail especially draft in the first couple rounds. Like they're meeting a lot of the requirements of height, weight, speed played at sweet schools. It's usually the person that fails focus, screw around. Yeah, not dialed in. Doesn't really like football. Football's not like baseball where you just get to play every day. Or basketball where you play three times a week, you practice basically five days a week and you play once and you only hit 17 of those games for the majority of the league, you don't go to the playoffs and then you get OTAs, you get training camp. It's a lot of sitting in a room, watching tape, getting yelled at, getting up early, going to, you know, going to bed sore. It's not, you know, Ray Lewis, you pay me Monday through Saturday. Sundays are for free. There's a lot to that. It's why the best players typically are football addicts at all the positions, right? The J.J. watts, the Trent Williams that you just go around, George Kittle, you know, Travis Kelsey forever. All the Patriot type guys, the human being. But you got to be careful with overvaluing that because you do need to be able to play. And that's. I think Belichick got in trouble at the end of his career. So it's. It's hard. I mean, you run a company hiring people. You've had a lot of people on your show for years before even the volume. It's. You're dealing with human beings with a lot of pressure, with a very public job.
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Colin Cowherd
It's.
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John Middelkoff
We all shit on it when guys miss. And it's fair sometimes, but it's also like, this is really, really difficult to, you know, pick a guy. I hear this a lot. Why can't the Chiefs find a tackle? Well, it's like, guys they draft 31 or 32nd every single year, they don't have that much cap space. And I don't know if you've checked free agency, usually hall of Fame tack, don't hit free agency. It's like, what do you want them to do? Like, Lane Johnson isn't usually sitting there at pick 32. And when you're drafting at pick 32, you're also drafting at the end of the second round and the third round. It's much easier to draft when you're the Titans and you dictate every round than it is when you're the Bills or the Ravens or the Chiefs.
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Colin Cowherd
How do you. How do you think the entire league except San Francisco missed on Brock Purdy? I mean, listen, I don't think I understand that he's not big, strong, but when he left Iowa State with a good coach, Matt Campbell, that program was a mess the next year. Like, they were a mess. Did they overthink the room? I mean, again, I understand it. In Brady's generation, dude, all of his games are on tv. They're on some network somewhere. There are bigger scouting departments than ever. Why do you think people missed on Brock Purdy? Who this week, Jed York Said, yeah, we're going to sign him to. He's a top 10 quarterback in the league.
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John Middelkoff
Well, I think we naturally discriminate against shorter quarterbacks. I mean, you know, you got to be pretty, pretty special to be a short quarterback like Kyler Murray. You know, Baker Mayfield's winning the Heisman. He's at a smaller, you know, non traditional power. I heard Daniel Jeremiah say something a couple days ago to our buddy Yogi Roth and I guess he did a photo shoot with Brock or did something through Toyota and spent some time with him. And asked DJ asked Purdy like, what do you think? We miss people that evaluate on your position that you never hear anyone talk about. And Brock responded, he's like, I don't ever hear anyone say like does this guy inspire his teammates? And DJ was like, I've never heard anyone talk like that. And then he started thinking the best quarterbacks, Brady, you know, Breeze, Favre, Manning, it's like, ah, they kind of were just like Mel Gibson leading the troops here.
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Colin Cowherd
Right.
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John Middelkoff
And I'll never forget when Purdy, when Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo broke his foot and remember the Niners were rolling with him. It was like they're screwed. The seventh rounder. And I'll never forget that next week leading into the game, guys like Fred Warner and people on defense and Nick Bosa saying because they had been practicing against him because he was the scout team quarterback.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
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John Middelkoff
Talk about him like he had been like a five year NFL pro. And it's like I don't think Fred Warner and Nick Bosa. I've watched these guys careers, they don't just throw around this. He is really good in the locker room with his guys. And that goes from Trent Williams to I was on a plane flight going to the super bowl with Debo Samuel.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
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John Middelkoff
Who at the time is asking for a trade. And the way he spoke, he loves Brock and obviously Brock is an accurate player. He's smart, he can process stuff, he's good in Kyle scheme. He's an underrated athlete. But like, you know, Brady's the greatest teammate of all time. Right. Peyton Manning clearly just resonates with the guys. It's kind of been a knock on Rogers, but you look at Mahomes, team loves him. Josh Allen loved Lamar loved Burrow. These guys love Burrow. That kind of matters. And I think Purdy just, there's something about him that he just gets guys because at the end of the day from a player standpoint, he's kind of as the quarterback, you're the CEO of the team, and he's kind of good at that. I remember hearing that in Philly when, remember when Jalen technically wasn't a Wally Pip because Carson wasn't injured, he just got benched. It's like, yeah, the guys just like Jalen more. They just like, they don't really get Carson. They just like Jalen. And it's like, we don't really discuss that. And sometimes you see it, it's like, yeah, I don't think the team really likes this quarterback. It's kind of been a thing with.
- [18:45]
Colin Cowherd
Russell over the years. I mean, Russell, the minute he got out of his athletic prime, he couldn't do it. He couldn't do it on motivation and inspiration. He did it on elusiveness. And the minute that was gone, he aged very, very quickly. And I, and I think there's something to that. I think Cam Newton had a little bit of that where Cam was sort of about Cam. And once he was out of his prime, wow. He aged very, very quickly. The finals are here, and the only thing for certain, it's the last time to bet on college basketball. This season. We've got amazing games. Duke in Houston.
- [19:22]
John Middelkoff
Wow.
- [19:22]
Colin Cowherd
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- [20:01]
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- [20:31]
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- [21:07]
Colin Cowherd
Pack air.
- [21:08]
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- [21:56]
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- [22:27]
Jeremy Hobson
We live in a divided country.
- [22:29]
Narrator
I am a lifelong Republican with all.
- [22:32]
Jeremy Hobson
Kinds of different people.
- [22:33]
John Middelkoff
You know, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother.
- [22:36]
Jeremy Hobson
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.
- [22:44]
Oikos Ad
Anna, I'm calling from Las Vegas.
- [22:46]
Jeremy Hobson
Each week we bring together an all star panel. Mark Cuban, so great to have you on the middle.
- [22:51]
Narrator
Thanks for having me, Jeremy.
- [22:52]
Jeremy Hobson
Neil Degrasse Tyson, welcome to the middle.
- [22:54]
Oikos Ad
Thanks for having me.
- [22:55]
Jeremy Hobson
And hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country. On the most important issues.
- [22:59]
Oikos Ad
Hi, my name is Venkat. I'm calling you from Atlanta, Georgia.
- [23:03]
Jeremy Hobson
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.
- [23:12]
Oikos Ad
We should be examining what our government spends its money on and are these jobs necessary? And what are we doing here? But that doesn't seem to be what we're doing in this situation.
- [23:20]
Jeremy Hobson
Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [23:27]
Narrator
Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley Season one.
- [23:34]
Colin Cowherd
I just knew him as a kid.
- [23:36]
Narrator
Long silent voices from his past came.
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Gilbert King
Forward and he was just staring at me.
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Narrator
And they had secrets of their own to share.
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Gilbert King
Gilbert King I'm the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.
- [23:52]
Narrator
I was no longer just telling the story. I was part of it.
- [23:56]
Gilbert King
Every time I hear about my dad, it's, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.
- [24:00]
Narrator
I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.
- [24:05]
Gilbert King
If the cops and everything would have done their job properly, my dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.
- [24:10]
Narrator
I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.
- [24:17]
Gilbert King
At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.
- [24:20]
Narrator
Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy.
- [24:24]
Gilbert King
Jeremy, I want to tell you something.
- [24:26]
Narrator
Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content starting April 9th. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.
- [24:53]
Colin Cowherd
I wanted to so the, you know, the overs and unders are coming out. So I want us to give the audience have some fun here. Two overs and two unders and I'll start this. All the odds are provided by DraftKings Sportsbook. So I'm going to give you an under, then you give me an under and then I'll give you another under and then we'll do two overs. So my first under is the Chiefs at 11 and a half. Okay. Joe Tuney was by far and away the most had the most dexterity of any of their offensive linemen. He's gone. They are now crossing their fingers on a backup left tackle from San Francisco. They were 11 and oh in one possession games right like and now the division is much better. The coaching and the quarterback play. Bo Nixon Year 2 Geno Smith if they get a running back in the first round. Geno Smith has a 106 passer rating in Seattle on play action passing. Look, if you give him a run game, Geno's very good on third and two. Right. He's very good with play action passing. Second and five, third and two, third and three. So I, I don't think I would take the under now. Maybe they just go 11 and 6. But I think the division is going to be improved. The quarterback play between Geno second year bow again. I thought last year there were offensive line injuries with the Chargers. I. My guess is they'll be healthier. Okay, what say you give me an, give me an under.
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John Middelkoff
Did you say ten and a half on that number?
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Colin Cowherd
It's eleven and a half. DraftKings has the Chiefs at eleven and a half. I would bet the under got you.
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John Middelkoff
They, they've won over 12 games. I think every year Mahomes has started beside one. Yeah, but I hear you.
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- [26:49]
John Middelkoff
You can have a good year. I mean they won a Super bowl win at 11. I would say an under. I like, I do think the 49ers, who are the Rams won that division and were really good and honestly, I mean a couple plays away from potentially beating the Eagles and who knows, they might end up in the super bowl and win it. They wanted a 10 and 7. Right. So. And they're a team going through a lot of transition. So the 49ers won six games though they were in a lot of them. They kind of melted at the end in a lot of them. So I, I actually think, I think a lot of people are going to think they're going to win like six or seven games. I think they're going to be better than people think. But once you start getting over 10, like 10 and a half, like you could win nine or 10 games, be that seven seed, hell compete to win the division and have a good season. So I think the days, you know, definitely this season that's going to be a very dependent on young rookie players.
- [27:47]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, they have 12 draft picks.
- [27:49]
John Middelkoff
Yeah, I mean that's. We've seen the Rams the last couple of years. I don't know exactly. They've been a fantastic team at the end of the year that they're not winning 12 games. So I think the Niners probably more likely to win nine or 10 games. I also think that division is just going to be, you know, the Cardinals are just a tough game every time you play them. Obviously the Rams are good in Seattle, going through a little bit of a transitional period, but their head coach, I think they're pretty well run operation.
- [28:15]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, listen, they're one of my unders too at ten and a half.
- [28:19]
John Middelkoff
Seattle.
- [28:19]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, they tried to get Greenlaw back from Denver. They did not want to lose Hufanga. Okay. Those were two big defensive losses. And let's be honest, John, the Boses get hurt. When Bosa was off the field last year, they were not a very good defense. They were really inconsistent. So now Hufanga's gone, Greenlaw's gone, Bosa will miss a stretch and it's not a great draft. So I don't think there's an impact player defensively. Maybe if they got like Will Johnson at corner from Michigan, I think that would be a really, really. You'd have to be happy with that.
- [28:54]
John Middelkoff
I.
- [28:55]
Colin Cowherd
But yeah, I think I have San Francisco as a under, so I have Kansas City, you have San Francisco, I have San Francisco. Give me another under.
- [29:05]
John Middelkoff
I would say I think there's a chance Miami is like the one of the worst teams in the NFL. Like it would not shock me if you tell me as you and I are sitting here doing a pre draft a couple weeks. Miami's in the mix. Maybe they don't have the number one overall pick, but I could see him being like the Giants or the Patriots drafting three or four. It would not shock me to see them struggle to win four or five games. I think they're going to be terrible. I thought that last year and they just obviously went two is on the field. They're more functional. It would not surprise me at all if this Tyreek situation doesn't go away and he ends up playing for another team this year. I don't know if that trade would happen during the draft. I know they've pushed back against that maybe at the end of training camp, but I just expect Miami to implode. I really do. I mean, I don't really like the jets that much either, but like even last year the jets do have a lot of good players.
- [29:57]
Colin Cowherd
Oh, absolutely.
- [29:58]
John Middelkoff
I just don't think Miami has that many good players. And they are one concussion away from all of a sudden. Zach Wilson's are starting quarterback.
- [30:04]
Colin Cowherd
Yes. Okay, I'll give you an over. I think Brian Callahan's a good coach. I think Will Levis is a really, really bad NFL quarterback. I don't think he was a great college quarterback. And so I look at the over under on Tennessee and you know, it's, it's Five and a half. Some have had it at six and a half. I think they clear that bar easily. First of all, Cam Ward's a playmaker and nobody's got real film on him. He didn't do a lot of straight pocket stuff in college. It was a lot of backyard stuff. And I think the league will take a while and they did this with Jaden Daniels. It took a while to decode him. People were bo Nix. You're not quite sure what he is. It's a weak division. The Jags could be bad, the Colts would be bad. Houston should be pretty good, but not great. I think I'm going to take the Titans over. I think it's a pretty weak schedule. I think Cam Ward is one of the only players in the draft that can equal wins. I think people think Callahan's a pretty good coach. And Callahan didn't just lack trust in Will Levis. If you listened to his post game comments after losses, he lost them three games straight out. And you watched his body language. He almost resented that Will Levis was getting in the way of wins. And so I. Titans to me aren't over.
- [31:39]
John Middelkoff
Yeah, I don't think people, you know, we talk a lot about the Browns because of Watts, because Deshaun Watson's quarterback play by the a month in, no one was watching the Titans. Their quarterback play was like historically poor. I mean the turnovers, the sacks he was taking, it was. Their defense was actually pretty good.
- [31:56]
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
- [31:57]
John Middelkoff
And like any team with a pretty good defense, when your offense is that crappy by the time you get to like mid November, they can't maintain that level of play because they're on the field so much. So if their offense is just solid, I'm with you. I mean he's got his dad there coaching offensive line, massive upgrade just based on talent alone. I would say this, if you look at Vrabel like the linebacker version of Harbaugh, you know, wants to play defense, wants to run the ball. Former players, just guys that just win. I think the Patriots were right up there with the Bears as one of the worst coach teams you will ever see. Last season, why couldn't they go 9 and 8 this year? If you go, the jets are. The jets are going to be awful. I think the Dolphins are going to be worse. Listen, the Bills, who cares even if they sweep you, I could see the Patriots winning eight or nine games.
- [32:46]
Colin Cowherd
Listen, they were seven and a half draft kings. They are now up to eight and a half. So the Sharps, it looks like we're all over the Patriots. So New England was one of my overs. And I said the other day on the air I said I think Vrabel from Gerard Mayo is worth three points. I think Drake May is worth another point based on sophomore season. And I think it's reasonable assume 190 million in free agency and eight to nine draft picks is worth one and a half to two points. So if they're just five and a half points to six points better. And again you're talking about between the draft and free agency like eight to nine new starters and a couple of high end starters. You're talking about Drake May potentially with a Travis Hunter. You're talking about the worst coach team to probably one of the seven to eight to nine best coach teams. That's five and a half to six points. They were three and six in one possession games with a rookie quarterback. If that's just six and three you don't have to go nine and oh, this is an eight to nine win team. And again the jets are a bit lost. I agree with you. Miami's a mess. So I think New England's in play.
- [33:55]
John Middelkoff
I would say the other team would be. Speaking of Harbaugh, the Chargers, you know, last year I just didn't pull the trigger and he did exactly what he did. They were the five seed. Well this year it's nine and a half and everyone always gets off the scent with them during like free agency. Jim is not going to trade for DK Metcalf and give him $150 million. He didn't do it last year, he's not going to do it this year, he won't do it next year. You know what he will do though in like the second round all of a sudden he will draft his starting tight end for the next seven years and in the third round find a defensive tackle that everyone's going to. This guy's not that sexy who will just be a starter for him for a long time. Then you watch the season and you just go, God, their team is just physical and good. He has a really talented quarterback. Why couldn't they win 12 games? I mean they're over under right now is nine and a half. I think they are a lock. I mean Jim Harbaugh is now coached in the NFL five years and made the playoffs in four of them. So I don't know if they can overtake the Chiefs, but it wouldn't shock me if it gets a little closer. And don't let free agency fool you, he's never going to play and swim in that end of the pool. They are never going to do that. But you know, you've talked about this huge advantage for Jim, all these kids coming in the draft. He's recruited them all, especially the good ones. So he's going to know these guys. It's going to be a huge point of difference for him. I would expect them to have a good draft. His gm, I think, is pretty good. I mean, look at last year. It's like, how did they pass on Malik Davers? I don't know. They just got their starting tackle for the next decade. So I think the Chargers, they fooled me is the wrong word. I just didn't have the cojones just because I was like, I don't know if their roster is quite good enough. They're not going to have great wide receivers. He typically never does and he always wins. He won a national championship, he went to a Super Bowl. Like, he's not exactly going to have Jerry Rice in his prime and it's going to work out just fine.
- [35:45]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. Speaking of college football, so I mean, in the draft is obviously a convergence of pro and college football. I love this whole Andrew Luck, GM of Stanford. And like now college football has an NFL feel where teams are paying players and there's a general manager. You know, I got into this conversation the other day with somebody about, you know, the NFL draft and Deion Sanders. And Deion looks like he is all in on Colorado and he looks like he is stepping back on, you know, helicoptering as a dad, which I understand on his son, Chador Sanders. Are you surprised that Deion Sanders appears to be all in on college football and all in in the most unlikely place that Deion Sanders, a Christian man, would land Boulder, Colorado, which is you can smell the cannabis from Denver. It is a quirky anti establishment. I mean, it's Eugene, Oregon, which I love, but it's. I would have never guessed that Deion Sanders would have picked Colorado. And when he signed that extension, I thought, Jesus, he's really all in on this thing. Are you surprised?
- [37:13]
John Middelkoff
A little. And I always give a guy a lot of credit and I don't have Deon's financials in front of me, but I think it's safe to say he did not need to go into college football for money. Like he was already pretty well off and done pretty well financially. And one thing, once his children leave, right, to go to the NFL, he easily could have been like, it's been a good run. Maybe I'll do it for a Couple more. It feels like Deion Sanders more than likely is going to be coaching for years to come. And eventually I expect him one day to be in the SEC or some big program, right? John lynch did the same thing. It's like John lynch really going to be the gm. Nine years later, the guy's all in. He's going through, like, transitional periods. He's like, let's do it. It's like these guys love football. I mean, having been around coaches and these players that get into coaching, you got to be a football addict. And I think people underestimate, especially Dion. I'll never forget, I've told this story before, Bobby April, who is a special teams coach in Atlanta. He's like, you know, everyone got it wrong with Dion because at the time he's in these music videos and the chains and kind of just the way he carried himself. This guy sat in the front of my meetings. No one practiced harder. And like, he was just a special guy to coach. He's like, no one I would rather coach than a guy like Deion Sanders. And I think if you would ask me, at 15 years old, in the mid-90s, like is, Dion would have felt like a pain in the butt. Like a to he was the opposite, I think as a player, people loved coaching him. Here's the other thing he's got going on now. His buddies are with him. Warren Saps, his defensive line coach, Marshall Faulks, his running back coach. I bet he's just pretty cool place to work. Plus, here's the thing with Colorado, they kind of needed him more than he needed them. And now they've paid him a lot of money, like. And the other thing with the transfer portal, if you're willing to cut checks, I think obviously you're going to have advantages at Texas or Ohio State. But at Colorado in his. The other thing. Look at his. Look at his conference. Why can't he compete? You know, Oklahoma State's kind of falling apart and T. Boon Pickens is no longer around. Why couldn't he make serious. Arizona State was just in the playoffs. He's got to be thinking, if we can recruit pretty well the next couple of years, why couldn't we win 10, 11 games and win this conference, get a bid? And he's not wrong. And then eventually, if Florida or one of those schools calls, I think he would eventually take it. But I don't think he's just leaving for a quote unquote, like lateral job anymore. It would have to be a cream of the crop gig. Like he's, they're paying him what, basically 10, 11, $12 million a year for the next five years.
- [39:43]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, it's. I, I've got to be, I've got to be upfront here. I always thought Deion was a little inauthentic. I mean, I knew he had a belief, you know, religious conviction, but he was always a little showy. For me, the Tim McCarver baseball stuff.
- [39:59]
John Middelkoff
You know, that's what Bobby April used to say. Don't let that fool you because at his core, he loves. When they were, for his first year, during spring practice, they were tackling to the ground. And I went, you know where Deion gets mistaken by a lot of people. This guy's an 80s 90s football guy. This guy grew up around George Seifert with those cowboy teams. Even the Atlanta teams when he first got there weren't terrible. Like, this guy was used to a culture in football that is not the culture now. Right. That's why when that, the story came out about Troy Taylor, who Andrew Luck just fired and Stanford fired, I was like, there's not enough detail, like, is this guy just an asshole or is he legitimately crossing the line? Because they're. Football culture is not like a pretty place. You're getting yelled at a lot, a.
- [40:42]
Colin Cowherd
Lot of swear words.
- [40:44]
John Middelkoff
Just, it's just an edgy environment off season and in season. And I think Deion's just. Dion's very comfortable in football. You know, certain people, you're comfortable behind a mic. Dion's just comfortable around football players running football practice. Now he's clearly, you know, I was impressed. Warren Sapp, they hired him to be the D line coach. And by the midseason, I was gambling on Colorado a lot. I was like, God, their defensive line is really improved.
- [41:12]
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- [41:44]
Jeremy Hobson
We live in a divided country.
- [41:45]
John Middelkoff
I am a lifelong Republican with all.
- [41:48]
Jeremy Hobson
Kinds of different people.
- [41:49]
John Middelkoff
You know, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother.
- [41:52]
Jeremy Hobson
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.
- [42:00]
Oikos Ad
Anna, I'm calling from Los Angeles. Vegas.
- [42:02]
Jeremy Hobson
Each week we bring together an all star panel. Mark Cuban, so great to have you on the Middle.
- [42:07]
Narrator
Thanks for having me, Jeremy.
- [42:08]
Jeremy Hobson
Neil Degrasse Tyson, welcome to the Middle.
- [42:10]
Oikos Ad
Thanks for having me.
- [42:11]
Jeremy Hobson
And hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country on the most important issues.
- [42:16]
Oikos Ad
Hi, my name is Venkat. I'm calling you from Atlanta, Georgia.
- [42:19]
Jeremy Hobson
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.
- [42:27]
Oikos Ad
Of we should be examining what our government spends its money on and are these jobs necessary? And what are we doing here? But that doesn't seem to be what we're doing in this situation.
- [42:36]
Jeremy Hobson
Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [42:43]
Narrator
Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley Season one.
- [42:50]
Colin Cowherd
I just knew him as a kid.
- [42:53]
Narrator
Long, silent voices from his past came.
- [42:56]
Gilbert King
Forward and he was just staring at me.
- [42:59]
Narrator
And they had secrets of their own to share.
- [43:02]
Gilbert King
Gilbert King I'm the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.
- [43:08]
Narrator
I was no longer just telling the story. I was part of it.
- [43:12]
Gilbert King
Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.
- [43:17]
Narrator
I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never knew.
- [43:21]
Gilbert King
Known if the cops and everything would have done their job properly, my dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.
- [43:27]
Narrator
I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.
- [43:34]
Gilbert King
At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.
- [43:36]
Narrator
Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy, Jeremy, I.
- [43:41]
John Middelkoff
Want to tell you something.
- [43:42]
Narrator
Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content starting April 9th. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.
- [44:01]
Colin Cowherd
And now for our next segment, whiskey business, brought to you by Green River Whiskey, the official whiskey of the Colin Cowherd podcast. If you want to enjoy life's simple pleasures, reach for Green River Whiskey. Whether it's rye whiskey, single barrel bourbon, you're getting over a century of craftsmanship packed into every bottle. Hop on over to greenriverwhiskey.com and discover legend in a bottle today. Sports right now is in an interesting place. Baseball's on fire. I mean, the Torpedo bats. I mean, there's just. It's great. And I mean, women's basketball, Caitlin Clark is a real. She's a real sensation. I mean, the Jimmy Butler move to the warriors and Luka LeBron is absolutely infused the league, there's no question. And the College Football Playoff. I. I told J. Mac and I talked about this last this week, and I said, when I got into this business, like, when football ended, you had like a month of. It was dead. And I'm like, well, now football's been extended two weeks, and they're going to add an 18th game and they're going to give us another buy. So that will extend it two more weeks. And I'm like, football now is Labor Day to March 1. You get a week on vacation, you come back, it's free agency and the tournament. And I really like what college football is doing. I'm not a traditionalist. And I do think the nil bringing in general managers now is necessary. I don't want, you know, I don't want Lincoln Riley and Ryan Day being capologists. Like, let's get somebody in the building that knows what the hell they're doing. But I, you know, the only fear I have about football. This is weird, but, you know, rumor a few years ago, when the NFL really made a point of targeting women and moms, because you were having. In certain states, the turnout level dropped precipitously with concussion fears. And I was thinking about this the other day, John. I don't remember a draft with less hyperbole. People are saying this is as bad a draft as we've had. Like, outside of running back and maybe defensive tackle, there's just not a ton of talent. And I do wonder if this is the first draft and this now the NBA. Two out of three drafts don't give us much. I mean, Cooper Flag is a domestic product. This good is so rare. You can't even name the last domestic product that was looked this good. Zion was fantastic, but he didn't have the dimensions and the dexterity and the overall game of Cooper Flag. He was. He was a torque machine. He wasn't this. He wasn't close to this. His game didn't look like this. Is that in college football? I'm wondering if about every third or fourth draft this point forward because turnout levels have dropped because there's a fear of concussions with kids. I wonder if we're going to become the NFL. It's got a little NBA feel to it. Last year, John, you had 10 virtually unwatchable teams, double the number of teams that were non competitive by early December. Do you think it's possible with lower turnouts and that the game will start to be a little more NBA, which there is eight. Great. Eight. Okay. And 12 unwatchables.
- [47:19]
John Middelkoff
I do think the NFL drafts have always been like, you have some bad drafts, they don't happen as frequently, I would say as the NBA. But last year looks like has a chance to be like a historically great quarterback draft, which is pretty crazy. I mean these. Now Obviously they had 12 guys in the top or six guys in the top 12, but three of them are already pretty good. I would say that one concerning part in football is, you know, Brady's big thing. It's never been easier to play quarterback and he's not wrong because you don't get penalized throwing over the middle. They can't hit you. But the quarterback play can be pretty bad. I mean I feel like guys like 15 through 32 are really hit or miss and they're backups. It's just, it's. And I think a lot of this is the training in college now with guys transferring the training in, in the pros you don't have as much. I mean training camp I feel. And again this salary cap has changed things. But I remember growing up, a lot of teams went too deep with starters.
- [48:16]
Colin Cowherd
Yes, right.
- [48:17]
John Middelkoff
Their backup was like De Burg or whoever and it was like that guy could be a starter somewhere else. And that really isn't the case anymore. It feels like a lot of teams, like if their starter gets hurt, they will lose every single week.
- [48:28]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [48:29]
John Middelkoff
And so I think the importance on the quarterback is awesome when it works, when you, when you nail it.
- [48:36]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [48:36]
John Middelkoff
But if you miss or that guy gets injured, the fall off is precipitous and it's a problem. But I do think that if you just look over the next couple of years, I think the talent in college football feels pretty high now. The difference though is, you know, if I, if I was an offensive lineman and I went to Iowa or Wisconsin or just some of these schools, like I was going to get developed and more than likely I was going to get drafted. If I was a good player, even if I wasn't a first round pick, second, third, fourth round, I'd play in the NFL a long time. Well now if I'm starting at Iowa, they're like, God, this guy's an all conference guy, Ohio State, Georgia and Texas call you. So you start moving around in your development, maybe change schemes.
- [49:18]
Colin Cowherd
Good point.
- [49:18]
John Middelkoff
And I do wonder in football.
- [49:20]
Colin Cowherd
Good point.
- [49:21]
John Middelkoff
You know, in the NFL, like, part of the reason I saw Kyle Shanahan, he's like, God, I didn't expect our backup tackle to get $15 million a year. Well, I was texting with Andy. They love the guy because they think, you know, the only reason he didn't start is because hall of Fame tackle and that guy has played before. They like what they saw and they know he's a good guy and they know he's been coached well. Same place, same coaching staff for four years. So that, that guy, you don't last that long. And they depend on you to basically be their swing tackle for four straight years. If they don't think really highly of you now, do they overpay a little bit? We can debate that, but they know exactly who's been coaching him in college. It's like, well, he's been two different programs and three different coordinators. It's a lot of movement now, changing stuff, which I, I think these, the front offices are still trying to get a feel for this because it's, it's never quite been with quarterbacks. It's a little easier with some of these other positions. Is there development? Do they actually have room to grow in the pros? You know, that maybe they would have been maxed out before.
- [50:19]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. I mean, take Will Howard. I liked him at Kansas State and then at Ohio State, did my perception change and my expectations because I didn't like him as much because I was like, well, they got better talent. You have to be consistently good. Kyle McCord, at Ohio State, I was like, Hammond Egger. Then I watched them at Syracuse and I'm like, shit, that's a second round pick. That guy's good. So I'm wondering if scouts are doing that, like just Ohio State quarterbacks. I'm like, will Howard, I wanted more. I saw him at Kansas State. I wanted more. I'm disappointed. He may not have changed at all. Kyle McCord, I'm now on a high because I think he played with far less talent and he put up huge numbers.
- [51:00]
John Middelkoff
Well, we talked about Purdy. Purdy's a good example. After his junior year at Iowa State when he was really good and they were competing to be like a top 15 team, you don't think teams, I mean, Oregon's done this now, like three years in a row. They, you know, Dylan Gabriel, Bo Nixon, teams like that would have called Brock Purdy. And who knows, maybe Brock Purdy then goes to Oregon. He's playing on national television games. And if he's good, instead of going last pick in the seventh round, maybe Purdy goes in the fourth or the third round.
- [51:26]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [51:26]
John Middelkoff
So look at these transfer quarterbacks. Besides J.J. mcCarthy last year, all transfer guys. Drake May didn't, but remember Mack Brown came out going into his junior year was like he's offered $5 million. Luckily he's loyal to us. And it was pretty clear like the three teams offering him that much money this year, all the quarterbacks are transfer guys. Cam ward, this is third school Shador. Kyle McCord, you know, it's like Cam Ward is a great example. He was going to the East West Shrine Game when he decided to commit to Miami. He probably would have gone probably third or fourth round last year. Now he's, he's been, I mean the Titans, from what I've heard. I was in Nashville a month ago, pretty good source. They'd been dead set on him for like a month. This guy's going the number one pick, all because he transferred. If I were these quarterbacks, it's a no brainer if you get the opportunity to jump up to a top 20 team. And even if you're. It is not just Washington State, what if you're at like Minnesota or some of these programs and you can just take that next step. So that's where in the conference the top dogs can just. They're just feeder systems. All these programs beside the top 15, 20 programs are essentially now the Billy Bean Oakland Ace. They are a minor league program that I'm eventually going to take. Your best players.
- [52:42]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, the nil. One of the things I love about sports is innovation because it makes me think. I get bored of just watching game after game after game. I like trades, I like acquisitions. I love free agency, period. And the nil. It can be tricky because there's so much mobility and movement among coaches and players. In the NFL, the pension is so good for a coach. Garnecchia could have bounced around and made more money. He's like, I'm going to stay here. Pension's going to be great. I'm going to make $20,000 a month pension once I leave this sport. Why bounce around? Ernie Adams, Why bounce around? But in college you don't get that pension. So coaches are just constantly hopscotching program to program to program. And they all seemingly all want to be either coordinators or head coaches. And in the NFL, I Find there are some position coaches that make between 800,000 and a million.
- [53:37]
John Middelkoff
Ford, it's like pays a lot.
- [53:39]
Colin Cowherd
And the pensions. Herm Edwards told me his coaching pensions are better than his player pensions. And so there's so much mobility at the college level for coaches and now the players are moving. So the chances, I mean, Bo nixed. Didn't he have like five coordinators?
- [53:55]
John Middelkoff
Yeah, a lot. I actually have met a guy that through the podcast in Arizona that I play golf with. His son was a big Division 1 football recruit over the last couple of years. And he was one of those guys that showed up at school early, you know, like right after the winter, you know, when the start of technically the winter semester. Within two days of him enrolling early, his coach takes another job. And forever. The media used to freak how unfair it is. How unfair it is. That kid immediately had the opportunity to follow his coach or to go 10 other places that had been recruiting him. His phone was blowing up. Now he chose to stay because he said it was a lot going on for an 18 year old. But like that opportunity that you can move when stuff like that happens to me is like neutralized the anger, you know, the Maryland coach, everyone's up in arms. It's like, guys, the players can all leave now too. So it's like everyone is under the same umbrella of. And the difference is if I steal a coach, typically I have to pay a buyout. These, the players can just leave it. Free will, right. It's like, I mean, who knows some of these deals that are getting done. So I'm with you. I think the nil, which is kind of stupid. I heard Dion say this. He's like, how many besides like Shador Sanders? I turn on television, I don't see anyone in commercials. It's just pay to play.
- [55:16]
Oikos Ad
Right.
- [55:17]
John Middelkoff
Which is fine. Which is eventually going to change and go to the revenue sharing be a salary cap. And that's where to me the general managers, you know, the Lombardis and the gym naggies and these guys, the GM jobs in college football are paying. It's not like they're paying a hundred thousand. Some of them are paying seven figures. These guys are making or even if you're making 750, $800,000 if you're at an SEC school, Google how much the homes are in those areas. You are. You're one of the highest paid W2 employees in the area.
- [55:45]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, it's. Yeah, there's. I look at football today and for the first time in my life, I feel that college football has been pushed and prodded, but it is starting to now look closer to the NFL. And to me that is a great thing because I've always said there's one big problem with college football. We have a big game problem. I mean, Labor Day weekend, you get one or two big games. NFL, every one o'clock window. That's, that's the boring window. The best games are Sunday night, Fox and cbs, late afternoon and Monday night and Thursday night. Now Amazon buys big games. The 1 o'clock window has at least two big time games every week. I mean there's only like 14 games in the NFL a weekend. Seven to eight feel big. College football's got 60 games and four feel big. And I think these super conferences are creating. I mean, I mean you look at USC schedule this year, there's like five, six games. It's like, oh, you have to watch those. Those are really exciting games. So I, I like the pivot. I mean in a lot of It's Fox and ESPN said, guys, we're getting rid of the PAC 12. We're going to make these two super conferences. We're going to even this expansion to 14 games in the playoffs from 12. This is all about networks. I have no problem with it. We gave college football free license forever to do what they want. And they avoided big games and people. The conferences couldn't face the same number of conference opponents. It was uneven. And finally the network stepped in and said, all right, we're going to take charge. And I like it. Last year there were more big games than ever before.
- [57:29]
John Middelkoff
Totally. And I think I'm pretty confident. I don't know when this is going to happen, but it does feel inevitable, right, that all the conferences, especially if we go to like an afc, nfc, sec, sec, Big Ten, where it's headed. You play the same number of conference games, nine. And then you do some sort of rotating with those extra three, maybe you get, you're allowed one non power for a Fresno State, San Diego State type. But no more UC Davis playing usc like those days have to end. You're not allowed to play a Division 1 double A team. So I, I still think we can make a couple more steps because I looked at, because I saw Belichick had Mark Andrew, not Mark Andrews, but David Andrews, his former center, talked to the team. So I googled their schedule. I mean they got some games on that schedule. It's like this is, it's not his fault. I mean he didn't. But some of these teams still, I mean, there are weeks. You know, Saban fought this forever. It's like no one wants to watch you play Mercer. And luckily in the NFL, you know, even if the Eagles are playing the Titans on a given week, it could end up being a decent game. And every team is has pros. Like there are such a stark difference when Texas is playing McNeese State. It's like you cannot get mad at all the fraternities for not showing up to that game 50 to nothing at halftime. So I think we just keep moving, moving forward. Especially now you can lose games like they're. As we expand the playoffs, go to 14 teams or whatever, there is inevitably going to be a three loss team getting it. I mean there almost was this year.
- [58:58]
Colin Cowherd
Ohio State was a 20 point favorite and lost at home to a bad Michigan team and won the Natty. So yeah, I think, yeah, I think again, I never liked college football. It really mattered when you lost. And I watched Kansas City win a Super bowl two years ago and play poorly in December. Like when, you know, they always say idealism and cynicism kill progress. And there were just college football and baseball fans, too many purists and traditionalists for me. Like, let's just make it better. Let's have more big games. Let's not crush a season because you lose in October for the second time. Like if you reel off seven straight wins, get you in the playoff. Like this, this idea of, you know, and there's some old things I like there, there are things in sports that I miss the Rose bowl, like when it really mattered. But how many times could I watch, you know, Washington and Iowa? Like let's at some point and I, and I think what happens, John. And I've over the course of my life I've learned this. Everybody, certain people seek comfort in tradition. Totally get it. And not everybody grows at the same time. It took a lot of Americans to get comfortable with gay marriage. It took a lot of people. Many still aren't comfortable with legal cannabis. And there's a lot of sports fans like they are just kicking and screaming. Here's all I know about college football. Ohio State can lose as a 20 point favorite and still get in. It's like of course they should get in. Of course they're one of the 12 best teams. And Ohio State's opening with Texas, Texas is opening with Ohio State. It doesn't matter who loses. Ohio State lost to Oregon. It doesn't matter. In the end, if it's a competitive game, they'll both get into the playoff.
- [60:46]
John Middelkoff
I mean I'm open minded like you. But there are parts like I do think watching the NCAA tournament, it was weird seeing Oregon play Arizona and going, this is a Big Ten versus Big 12 match. That was a little bizarre. Sweet 16, but like, should Washington State be in a Power Four conference? And I appreciate how hard they try and everything. They should probably play Boise State, Fresno State and San Diego State. That feels right. So it's like you could argue you could even trim the fat with some of the teams in the Big Ten. Right. I mean, some of these programs. Yeah. I mean Maryland, I mean, you see that coach, he's like, I'm out for Villanova, you know, so it's just like I, I think it's ultimately going to happen. An afc, NFC version of college football. It's clear where it's headed. It's the SEC and the Big Ten. We know Notre Dame well, they'll gravitate to. Or Clemson and Florida State, Miami will gravitate to. In North Carolina, maybe you take Stanford and some of the academic schools with you to the Northern one and that's what's going to happen. And then you only play each other because why. The other thing is now, with the amount of money that's on the line, why would I pay UC Davis or Montana to come in for one and a half million dollars? Why wouldn't we just. The NFL would never do that. They just pool their money and they keep it to spread it with their partners. That's why the SEC gets so angry. They're making so much money and they push back. We should get more people into the playoffs. And I don't even think they're necessarily wrong, but it's like, how about we all get under the same umbrella?
- [62:16]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [62:16]
John Middelkoff
And then those teams all have the opportunity to go. But like the NFL, everyone's playing everybody. They don't like randomly. The Patriots don't get to schedule the ufl, the Birmingham Bombers. Right, right. Because they got the Bills coming up next week. And that to me is the next step. Which feels closer to like 10 years away than two years away. But it does feel inevitable at this point in time. Right. With the amount of money and with how much they're going to have to pay these players because obviously the quarterbacks make a lot of money. But you and I hear stories about how much some of these other guys are making. It's. The numbers aren't going to go down. They're only going to rise. So let's keep all a pool, all of our money. Like the NFL or like the NBA and just keep everyone in the same pool and it sucks. But Washington states and the Fresno states and the you're kind of just shit out of luck.
- [63:08]
Colin Cowherd
Sean Middelkoff, as always, buddy, thanks. Appreciate it.
- [63:11]
John Middelkoff
Thanks, Colin.
- [63:14]
Colin Cowherd
The Volume.
- [63:17]
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 podcasts.
- [63:49]
Narrator
Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley Season one.
- [63:57]
Gilbert King
Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.
- [64:01]
Narrator
I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.
- [64:06]
Gilbert King
At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.
- [64:09]
Narrator
Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2, starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.