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- [00:00]
Colin Cowherd
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
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- [01:05]
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- [02:59]
Danny Parkins
Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports radio hour number two, the herd. I'm Danny Parkins from FS1 and soon to be first things first in for Colin Cowherd. Absolute thrill to be here. Thank you very much for tuning in and listening wherever you are. Colin does his Blazin 5. He's been doing it for a while. What do the Sharps think? Should just ask what do I think? Because I went 65% in the NFL against the spread last year and you're like why does he keep bringing it up? Because that's really hard to do and it was the best year of my life. Although it is back to back 60 plus percent seasons against the spread in the NFL. So I couldn't pass up the opportunity being in this chair for Cowan to leave you with some wagering opportunities if you see fit. How I see the NFL heading in to the 20252026 season. Why do a 5 favorite over under or 10 favorite over under when you can give your 32 favorite over unders for the upcoming NFL season? Let's begin in the NFC north where I picked the Lions to be in the Super Bowl. Back to back years. Not sure if I'll do it again this year, but I'm definitely picking them for over at 10 and a half 27 wins over the last two seasons, most in the NFL. That's more than the Kansas City Chiefs. Interior, offensive line questions, loss of coordinator questions. But if their defense is just normal hurts instead of extreme hurt, the offense is too good, that's still an 11 or 12 win team. Yes, in that division. Yes, with their schedule The Vikings were 9 and 1 in one score games last year. I like JJ McCarthy, I love Kevin O'. Connell. But that's an under. That's an under if I've ever seen one for them. At 9 1/2 14 wins felt like a fluke last year. Win 78 games, have your quarterback for the future. They'll be fine. The packers are under at nine and a half. This division is going to be very bunched up. I think between 2, 3 and 4. Obviously those could finish in any order 2 and 6 against teams that made the playoffs last year were the Green Bay packers and I was surprised. I know they love golden the first round pick. I was surprised they invested in another asset into receiver on the offensive side of the ball. They need more pass rush for me. They lived and died by the turnover last year with the new defensive coordinator Bump and McKinney had an unbelievable first year in green Bay. If they don't have as much turnover luck this year, I think it's more like an eight win season for the Packers. And I know the Bears are the all hype team but everything in the world went wrong for them last year. If just a few things go right, the amount of upgrades that they had at coach, play caller, offensive line, defensive line, two tight ends set. Second year of Caleb Williams in the pros people. Oh Caleb Williams was a bust. Caleb Williams wasn't good. That was the best quarterback season that the Bears had had in a decade. Not hyperbole. 3500 passing yards was the most the Bears quarterback had had since 2016. He'll be better. The Bears will be better. They're a 9 or a 10 win team this season. Let's go to the NFC East. The Eagles are the best team in football. The Eagles are an over team. Their totals at 11 and a half which is very high. But they've gone over their win total Under Nick Sirianni 3 of 4 years and if they have no weaknesses it's hard to pick them to not hit their over. You can say well it could be injuries. Sure it could be injuries for any team. I'm not going to go 32 for 32 though. That is the goal on this exercise. But also part of it for the Eagles is that I think the next two teams that everyone thinks are going to challenge them in the NFC east, the Commanders and Cowboys, I have both of them going under their win total this year. The Commanders might be the team with the better roster, but the worst win loss record, I just don't know that you can replicate converting 87% of your fourth downs which is what they did last year. They lived on the edge and it was one score victories and it was impressive and it was remarkable that it was being done by a rookie quarterback. But if that regresses to the mean even a little bit. The Commanders are an under team. Remember they beat Tampa in that playoff game by three points. Cowboys under eight and a half. We talk about Dallas last year. Like Dak Prescott got hurt in the first game of the season. They were 3 and 5 with Dak Prescott with not impressive Wins end of the game win against the Steelers, a win over the Giants, a win over the Browns. It was just not an impressive football team and I think they've got a ton of questions on their offensive line. The Giants are an over team for me at five and a half even though their schedule is absolutely brutal. Jeff Schwartz was on yesterday, he had their under there. There's no question the schedule is brutal. But what if they're a top 10 defense because they were eighth in sacks last year and they added Abdul Carter. Their front seven is nasty. Malik Neighbors is nasty. I don't know what did Jackson dart and Russell Wilson. It's probably going to be bottom 10 quarterback play in the NFL and coach and GM are definitely on the hot seat. But if you've got a top 10 defense, you're in a lot of games. Let's go to the NFC South. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the best organization in the NFL that people just don't respect enough. Baker Mayfield last two seasons comfortably inside the top 10 in touchdowns, yards, points. That's useful. Over at nine and a half teams in the NFL, quick trivia question that have made the playoffs five or more straight years. Three teams. Chiefs, Bills, Bucks. Now some of that's Tom Brady obviously, but Bucks are a well oiled machine at this point on the offensive side of the ball. Falcons have bit me before and I'm going to go back to the well here and say the Falcons get over on seven and a half wins. Michael Penix with his huge arms seemed to unlock some of the skill position guys. It was like hey, let's draft Drake London and Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson and then not give him the ball. It was a bold strategy and it did not work out for him. But Penix looks really good in the three games even though he's an unconventional quarterback but he fires the ball down the field. And they've had the worst pass rush in the NFL the last five years and they used basically two first round picks to go out and get some young pass rushers traded next year's first to move up and then their first round pick this year. So their pass rush is even average. I think the Falcons are an over team. Same with the Panthers. The schedule's easy and Bryce Young looks better at the end of the year and some of the upgrades like if they are just a bottom, they're like the 22nd best defense in the NFL instead of dead last. Especially against the run where they were historically terrible. And Bryce Young continues to progress. Guy had seven touchdowns against zero picks in his last three games. They can win seven games. The Saints, however, cannot win six. The Saints are an under five and a half team. I think they are tanking. I think they are a prime trade candidate. I hope Alvin Kamara does not finish the season with the Saints. The Saints, by the way, went 07 in games last year whenever Derek Carr was not their starting quarterback and producer. Note Derek Carr not their starting quarterback to the NFC West. The Rams have won over 10 games in six of the eight years with Sean McVay. It's embarrassing how much I went back and forth on this total just because I do really worry about the injuries on their offensive line. But Puka, Nakua, Devonte Adams, Sean McVey calling the plays with Matt Stafford slinging it with Fisk and Verse on the defensive line. I just can't quit the Rams and the Niners. Purdy's not great, but he's good enough. Shanahan's elite. To me, the key is Christian McCaffrey's health. He's worth four points per game when he's in the lineup versus not in the lineup for the Niners. Kyle Shanahan got Alfred Morris to be productive like with Atlanta, with San Francisco. Anybody produces in the running game for Kyle Shanahan, you give him Christian McCaffrey. It's a cheat code. All indications are that he is 100% healthy, changed his regimen, is going to be good to go for this year. The Seahawks at under eight and a half. I got huge offensive line questions. I've got huge Sam Darnold questions, how he finished last year in that game against the Vikings and the playoff game leaves a bat. I mean, going from Kevin o' Connell and Justin Jefferson and that offensive line to everything that he's got going on in Seattle right now, that just feels like a rude awakening, but an absolutely legendary off season at the bank. And then the Cardinals, under eight and a half, struggled with this one too. But they've only won more than eight games with Kyler Murray once. I like Harrison, I like McBride. They run the ball when Kyler Murray is in there. But I think the division is really good at the top and I just can't count on them to stay healthy. And they didn't do anything in terms of additions on the offensive side of the ball. Get to the afc. We're doing it like a clock. I was told North, East, Southwest, it makes sense. AFC North. Yeah, it checks. It works. You don't have to double check me on that. Ravens under 11 and a half five of the first six games are against playoff teams from last year and their offense was so historic. I mean LaMar Jackson had four interceptions last year. Derrick Henry was healthy. It was an impossible offense. Feels even though I think Zay Flowers will be much better this year, feels very difficult to replicate that. I think that they can be a 10 win team that still is very dangerous and has a very high ceiling but with their schedule regresses a little bit. It's also because I believe in the Bengals and the Steelers. I have overs for both of them. This Bengals fact is maybe my favorite one of the whole exercise that we're doing here as I go through all 32 over unders. They averaged 27.8 points per game last year. Last five years if you score 27 or more points on average, you win 12 games. They won nine. Just be competent defensively. Use three of your first four picks on defensive players in the draft. Defensive coordinator bump. Bengals are a double digit win team. Steelers just have to be okay on offense to hit this over. They're 376 in their last five years. If they score 20 points in a game, 376 score 20. Aaron Rodgers, you had DK Metcalf and John who Smith and Jalen Warren in Friarmouth. Can you score 21 points per game? If you can, Mike Tomlin's gonna get you to over eight and a half. Let's go through the Browns first six games, shall we? You'll understand why they're at under five and a half. Bengals, Ravens, Packers, Lions, Vikings, Steelers. Yikes. That feels like an 06 start for the Cleveland Browns. I got them under five and a half wins to the AFC East. The Buffalo Bills. No one's caught up to them in this division. Patriots have gotten better, no doubt about it. But I think people are going a little crazy there. Buffalo is odds on favorite to be the 1 seed in the AFC. The biggest favorite to win a division of any team in the NFL. Awesome offensive line, a few key defensive additions, the MVP of the league, a balanced attack. Finally, the young wide receivers like Shakira and Coleman should only get better. They bludgeoned teams in the regular season. Best regular season point differential the last five years. Bills are a clear overteam at eleven and a half. The Patriots I feel like raised their floor but not their ceiling. I love Drake May I own all the Drake May stock you could possibly own. They've had one year where they've won more than eight games since Tom Brady and it feels like they're one year away from getting There. I like what they did. It's about like the infrastructure and the guts of the team. But I still think they need a little bit more, you know, weapons and help to put the ball in the end zone for Drake May. So I think they're a year away from being a playoff team. I mean, the jets are a disaster. Jets are an under five and a half win team. And I love Justin Fields as a guy, but he is not in a good situation to be successful despite any reports that he knew Garrett Wilson in college.
- [15:25]
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- [15:25]
Danny Parkins
That's not enough for them to win six games this season. And the Dolphins at seven and a half, the injuries are already starting to pile up. And Tua, I mean, when he played 17 games, great. When he doesn't. No one else can operate Mike McDaniel's offense and talk to a Dolphins fan. They're like, the NFL has figured out our offense. That's not good. If every Dolphins fan's like, yeah, everyone knows what's coming every single play. Probably not a good recipe to win eight or nine games. Let's go to the AFC south as we go through all 32 NFL over unders this year. The Texans were 5 and 1 against the AFC south last year and 5 and 6 against everyone else. One in five against playoff teams. Yes, they had offensive line injuries, yes, they had wide receiver injuries. But C.J. stroud spent most of the season on his back looking up at the domed ceiling. And then they traded away Laramie Tunsil. I don't get that one under nine and a half for the Texans. I think the Colts are a good organization with a good coach and people seem to love Daniel Jones. Okay, fine, I love Anthony Richardson's talent. But they've won eight or more games in four of the last five years. The Colts are good. The Colts are feisty. They maybe don't have as high of a ceiling as some of these other teams, but they've won eight or more games in four of the last five years despite having eight different quarterbacks. It's a good organization. Jaguars under seven and a half. I mean, Liam Cohen, maybe. I love Travis Hunter, but I gotta see it before I believe it. They've gone under their win total in three of four years with Trevor Lawrence as their starting quarterback. The Titans offense last year was so historically bad that if Cam Ward gives them anything, I think they hit their over on five and a half wins. Fourth worst in the NFL averaging 182 passing yards the last three seasons. If he gets them to like 225 that's such a massive improvement. I think they can eke out to six wins. So the division that people think is the best in the NFL will wrap it up in the AFC West. The Chiefs aren't over team until proven otherwise. It's a cliche but they know how to win. But they improve their offensive line, they improve the health of the receiver core. They lost Joe Tuni but they seem to have upgraded at left tackle. Their defense is top three in the NFL. 12 or more wins in six of seven seasons with Patrick Mahomes as a starter. Andy Reid is an over machine. He hit his overs when he had Alex Smith as his quarterback in Kansas city. They're a 13 win team until proven otherwise. You guys know I can't quit Justin Herbert and the chargers. But number one scoring defense. Year two of Harbaugh, first round pick, running back, second round pick, deep threat, wide receiver to help out lad McConkey an absolute stud. Arguably the best tackle duo in the NFL. Harbaugh goes 11 and 6 last year. This is an over for the chargers. Broncos went five and five through 10 games and then they won five of their last seven. They are a very good team. This is a very good division. Someone has to go under and I'm betting on there being a little bit of a plateau for the Broncos offense and we'll see. I mean Ingram, Hufanga, Greenlaw, they made additions but they also have some injury concerns for me with some of the guys that they added. So I'm not ready to say that. They're a back to back double digit win team. But the Raiders go over on six and a half. No team in the NFL upgraded more at coach and quarterback. Geno Smith is good. He's not great but he is accurate. He slings it. And he had no offensive line. There are questions about the Raiders offensive line no doubt. But my point is he's used to it and now he gets a confident head coach. He gets Ashton Genti, he gets Brock Bowers. That's going to be a fun team to watch and a really difficult team to game plan against. So I think the Raiders are a pesky team in the AFC this year and that concludes 32 NFL over unders. That feels like what, 29:3 against the spread right there. I felt like 29:3. A little shaky on maybe the Cardinals, the Panthers. But hey, if you go 65% against the spread of the NFL last year, you got to have some confidence heading into the next year. So that's how I see the NFL heading into the 2025 NFL season. How much longer are the Cowboys going to wait to pay? Micah? We go around the NFL. With who? Mike Jones? Sorry, I had to. Danny Parkinson said for Colin, this is the herd. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.
- [20:12]
Covino
Hey, we're Covino and Rich, Fox Sports radio every day, 5 to 7pm Eastern. But here's the thing. We never have enough time to get to everything we want to get to.
- [20:21]
Rich
And that's why we have a brand new podcast called Over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun in our two hour show. We never get to everything, honestly, because this guy is over promising things we never have time for.
- [20:33]
Danny Parkins
Yeah, you blubber lips blaming me.
- [20:35]
Covino
Well, you know what it's called? Over Promise. You should be good at it because you've been over promising women for years.
- [20:39]
Rich
Well, it's a Covino and Rich after show and we want you to be a part of it. We're gonna be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing about something or we didn't have enough time, it will continue on our after show called Over Promised.
- [20:53]
Covino
Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make sure you check out Over Promised and also uncensored, by the way, so maybe we'll go at it even a little harder. It's gonna be the best after show podcast of all time.
- [21:03]
Rich
There you go. Over Promising. And remember, you could see it on YouTube, but definitely. Join us Listen to Over Promised with Covino and rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [21:16]
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- [22:16]
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- [23:16]
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- [25:02]
Danny Parkins
Welcome back in to the Herd. I'm Danny Parkins or Colin Cowherd. Coming up in a little bit, we'll get to a quarterback from last year who probably deserves a little bit more hype heading into this year, but he's a victim of circumstance. But right now, let's go around the NFL. Our next guest covers the league for the athletic national NFL writer Mike Jones with us on the Hurries cover the NFL for the last 15 years. Mike, thank you so much for the time. I began today's show reacting to Jimmy Haslam's comments about Arch Manning because he says he's probably going to stay in college for two years. It's very rare that we have a college prospect talked about as the number one pick before he's really accomplished anything in college. I get it, the last name on the jersey, Heisman trophy favorite, second best team in the country. But I'm curious, how do you think the league at this point views Arch Manning, the NFL prospect?
- [25:58]
Colin Cowherd
I mean, they've only seen a little flashes here and there of him. You haven't seen him in a full time basis. So I don't think that anybody's getting overly exciting. Obviously there's intrigue there because of the name and the athleticism and ability that you see. But let's wait until we see him, you know, as a full time starter and, you know, then I think that we'll have a better idea. Obviously people have been taking notes. They have the body of work that he's shown, even though it's limited. But I haven't talked to any scouts or anybody that's like overly excited about him this early.
- [26:34]
Danny Parkins
So a guy who people were overly excited about, and I would say for good reason, was Travis Hunter. And I think he's going to break the record for most snaps played in a season as a rookie. I he if he just did what he did last year in college in the pros, he would shatter it. And he did that in 13 games. The Jaguars seem to be like very committed to playing him both ways, but everyone on the outside is like, are they really going to play him both ways? How do you think this is going to go?
- [27:00]
Colin Cowherd
You know, it's going to be a real interesting experiment as we see them go out there because look, you've got to see what his effectiveness is going to be. Obviously in training camp and the practices. He probably looks good. You know, he's got good Conditioning. We've seen him play multiple seasons this way, but the NFL is just another level up the, the physicality, the speed and everything. So I think there's going to be a, you know, maybe a snap count that they have on him early on as they try to figure out what he can handle, how he's able to be effective, you know, as a wide receiver, as a defensive back. I talk to scouts who feel like he is an elite level defensive back and probably a pretty decent wide receiver. Did talk to one that thought he might be a better receiver with his ball skills than a cornerback. But he is really excited to see how they handle this and what his ability to handle the workload and play at a high level is going to be like.
- [27:57]
Danny Parkins
My theory on it is we are all former athletes, regular people like you, and maybe media, we are behind in understanding the full impacts of sports science and how amazing the modern athletes are. The example I use was like back in the day, oh, a running back hits 27, they're falling off a cliff. Now we've got Derek Henry at 30, approaching 2000 yard seasons, like it's nothing, right? Athletes have just gotten better. We see in Green Bay, they're working out Bo Melton, trying to maybe turn him into a two way player because of some injuries that they had at corner. I feel like if Travis Hunter works, it could open the floodgates for these elite athletes and we could start seeing more guys try to do it. Or do you think I'm insane?
- [28:40]
Colin Cowherd
No, I don't think you're insane. I do think that everybody's going to be watching. I think there are kids in college and coaches in college who are going to be watching. And as you see more guys come out and more guys able to execute at an elite level, if there is a two way player, then sure there will be a ripple effect throughout the NFL. And you're definitely right. Like the science behind all of this has changed. These guys have chips on their uniforms, in their pads. They can look and see how many miles per hour he's running in the first part of practice compared to the last part of practice in the first quarter of a game as opposed to the fourth quarter of a game. So they're going to have all of the science. Even if he's saying I feel good, they'll be able to tell if he's slowing down, if there's a drop off or anything like that. And so all of that science is going to go into the decision on how much of a workload they give him. And it's going to be fascinating.
- [29:33]
Danny Parkins
Mike Jones from the Athletic is our guest. So Trey Hendrickson reports to camp. Terry McLaurin reports to camp. They don't have new contracts yet. My theory is basically in a post levy on Bell World. It's an endangered species, like the true holdout of missing games. I know Chris Jones did it, I know Jonathan Taylor did it. But it's. It's way less now than back in the day because the money is just so insane. It's so hard for these guys to really turn it down. So I view off season contract consternation as just media filler. Like, oh, Trey Hendrickson's upset with his contract. Yeah, it's July. He's supposed to be. Or it was May, he was supposed to be. And I think that these are inevitable, that they are going to get done. What about you?
- [30:15]
Colin Cowherd
I do think they get done. It's unfortunate for the players that in the last CBA they negotiated and so the teams can find them $50,000 a day. And so that adds up. You hang out for three days and you're like, okay, that's $150 fine. And then it starts really getting a little painful and you decide to come back and we'll see more hold ins rather than hold outs. Yes. I think that eventually these two sides are talking in Cincinnati, the two sides are talking in Washington. They'll eventually get something done because obviously the pressure is there for these coaches to win. They need these marquee players, and so these owners will drag their feet, drag their feet. But eventually everybody's going to come to the point and get it all done and all this would have been for nothing.
- [31:04]
Danny Parkins
What do you think about the reputation that Dallas is stacking up now about how they handle their star players contracts?
- [31:11]
Colin Cowherd
It's the cowboy way. It's Jerry Jones. And I think that he loves this because what does he love is the Cowboys being on the forefront of everybody's mind and talking about them. Any press is good press for him. And so we've seen him do it again and again and again, drag his feet on paying a top level player, a guy who has proven himself to be very valuable. And then the last minute, he finally winds up opening the checkbook even though it cost him tens of thousands and, you know, millions of dollars more, rather than have taken care of the guy way earlier. And then every time somebody at the position signs a new contract, the price tag goes up. And so Micah Parsons is going to wind up surpassing TJ Watt as far as the highest paid pass rusher. It's just a matter of time.
- [32:02]
Danny Parkins
All right, let me devil's advocate that one though. Micah Parsons should make more money than T.J. watt. He's younger and Dak Prescott had a no tag clause and a no trade clause. So he wanted Jordan Love to sign first. He wanted to to sign for CD Lam, wanted to see what Justin Jefferson would do to set the market. Micah Parsons wants to wait for Miles Garrett and TJ Watt. Like when you have truly elite Tier one players at their position with leverage, the player probably wants to wait too for the Cowboys to get these deals done.
- [32:41]
Colin Cowherd
I'm sure there's part of them that would just like to get it out of the way. But at the same time, I think that's probably part of the reason why Micah Parsons like, hey, look, I'm coming to work. I owe this to my teammates. I want to be in the best position to be able to help us win. Because he knows, hey, eventually it's going to get done. And as like you said, more guys in my position get paid, my price tag keeps going up and Jerry's going to wind up doing what Jerry does and make me the highest paid player in the league at my position. And so yes, it's probably annoying having it hanging over, but they know eventually it's all going to work out for them.
- [33:13]
Danny Parkins
Is there anything that could happen in Pittsburgh this year where we would even say that forget hot seat, that the seat was lukewarm for Mike Tomlin?
- [33:25]
Colin Cowherd
I think so. I think this has the really the potential to be disastrously bad. You know, I mean, this Aaron Rodgers that we see right here is not the same guy that we're thinking of from Green Bay. We did see him look a little better down the stretch the season with the jets last year, but if he and Arthur Smith don't gel just right, if the offense isn't clicking, what does Aaron Rodgers do when things aren't going well? He starts pointing fingers. He'll pull back the curtain on the ineffectiveness of the organization. People have said for a while that as great a leader as Mike Tomlin is, he has not evolved the practices of that organization and that coaching staff and the way they do things. And so if Aaron Rodgers, if things don't go well and there's finger pointing and things like that that he is known for as of late, then yeah, things will look bad and go poorly. And you know, that seat for Mike Tomlin could heat up because they basically just pushed all their chips into the middle this year. Very un Pittsburgh Steelers like off season. And if it doesn't plan out well, then, you know, then we could be asking questions.
- [34:36]
Danny Parkins
All right, I want to get your take on my guy, Justin Herbert. The guy is the ultimate eye test quarterback. Four interceptions, even though a couple were off his guy's hands and his interior offensive line was collapsing around him. Still bad playoff game, 0 and 2 in the playoffs. But I am just convinced from watching the guy play football that he's a star and he's going to do great things. Where do you come out on I test versus actual results for the team for Justin Herbert?
- [35:03]
Colin Cowherd
I agree with you that he is as talented as they come. His ceiling is very high. My question is everything around him. I do think that Harbaugh was good for him last year. I think another season with him would be good for him. The questions are just, okay, does he have enough as far as weapons around him? Do they really improve the line significantly enough? You know, they got Makai Becton, but you know, he was really good last year with Philadelphia, which is an offensive line factory and they work together so well. Is he going to be as effective in a new surroundings? You know, does Justin Herbert have the wide receivers to go to enough weapons? Because the thing is, they're in this division with the Chiefs and until somebody proves they can knock off the Chiefs, you know, I will take them every time. So, yes, he's super talented. He gives you everything you could ask for in a quarterback, but everything around him is the big question mark.
- [36:01]
Danny Parkins
The guy who has everything around him is Jalen Hurts. And Philly fans get mad at me because I say Jalen Hurts is a top 10 quarterback who benefits tremendously from having guys that are better at their jobs than he is at his. Around him, he's clutch, he's a leader, he's smart. But for example, like Saquon Barkley is a better running back than Jalen Hurts as a quarterback. A.J. brown is a better receiver than Hurts as a quarterback. Lane, Johnson, Jordan, My Lotta, Jalen, Carter, etc. I don't see that as a knock on Hertz. Anyone would benefit from being in that situation. And then you add, he's clutch, he's a gamer, he's a leader, he's smart. And that's what leads you to bludgeoning teams on the way to the Super Bowl. How do you evaluate Hertz individually amidst the super team that's around him?
- [36:50]
Colin Cowherd
I think he's super underrated. I mean, the dude just makes the plays that he has to make. When you need them the most. He's got an accurate, deep ball. He can extend plays. He's a strong, powerful runner. He's got good instincts. He doesn't force things. He just really basically is disciplined and says, okay, I'm going to take what the defense gives to me. He doesn't care what his stats look like if it means that they're winning. And he's got the best mindset that you could ask for in a quarterback. And so I don't get the, you know, the lack of love for him because he just proved this past year what he was able to do. And he just, you know, he kept doing it again and again. Yes, he's got a lot to work with. He's got a great offensive line, great weapons, you know, running back at receiver, great defense, but still he makes the big plays when they need them the most. And so I think that he is one of the top at his position.
- [37:47]
Danny Parkins
One of the top. So the top, like, behind the big four. You would put him right next, right behind Lamar Burrow, Allen Mahomes. Is he. He's. You said you put him right there.
- [37:55]
Colin Cowherd
I think he's got to be right there. Yeah. You know, after that, that those guys. I mean, he's got the super bowl ring, he's got the production. You know, he's.
- [38:04]
Danny Parkins
Again, he's got the club. Well, well, hey, he was 22nd in the league in pass attempts, and he had less than 20 passing touchdowns.
- [38:14]
Colin Cowherd
But that's not his fault that they have Saquon Barkley. I would hand it off to him, too, but when you ask him to put the ball in the air and to make the plays, he makes the plays. So, I mean, who's. Whose fault is that, that he's not passing more? I mean, he could pass more. You know, A.J. brown.
- [38:31]
Danny Parkins
A.J.
- [38:31]
Colin Cowherd
Brown'S frustrated because they're not throwing more, but they just know that, hey, like you said, we've got an elite running back, we've got an elite offensive line. We believe in balance and it's working.
- [38:41]
Danny Parkins
So first four games of last year, they were 2 and 2 when he was throwing the ball 32, 33 times a game. And they're like, we're going to start running more. And again, he's really good. But they won all playoff games without throwing more than 28 times in a game because they just bludgeon people and then play from a lead. It's. It's a. It's a super team and he benefits from it. And I feel like that's an okay thing to say. He runs their system perfectly.
- [39:04]
Colin Cowherd
He does. And also, I really am waiting for the year that we can see him in a system consecutive years instead of changing offensive coordinators every single year. Because then I think we'll really see him go to another level. Fortunately, their office coordinator this year has been there for a while, so hopefully he has a little more continuity. But again, the guy makes the plays when you need them. He gets the job done. I'm not complaining about him.
- [39:29]
Danny Parkins
Mike Jones covers the NFL for the Athletic. Thank you, sir.
- [39:33]
Colin Cowherd
All right, have a good one. Thanks for having me.
- [39:35]
Danny Parkins
Absolutely. It was our pleasure. Thank you. That's Mike Jones covers the NFL for the Athletic. Now that's the craziest. Jalen Hurst that of all of them going back to college. It's like nine offensive coordinators in nine years. That is ridiculous. And again, it's why I always lead with unbelievably smart, unbelievable leader. But coming up next, last year's quarterback class was historic. And frankly, I think there's one guy who probably should be looking around and be like, why am I not getting a little bit more love? Tell you who it is next. Danny Parkinson for Colin on the Hurt. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.
- [40:18]
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- [42:16]
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- [43:18]
Colin Cowherd
Okay.
- [43:19]
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- [44:05]
Danny Parkins
Back in on the herd. I'm Danny Parkins in for Colin Cowherd. Insane expectations for Arch Manning in his first year as a starter. We'll get to it coming up at the top of the hour. And next hour, Eric Mangini going to join the show as well. So last year's quarterback class in the NFL was special. I mean, six quarterbacks get taken in the first round. There's obviously a lot of very, very high end talent at that spot. And part of this is just how the media works. But Caleb Williams had all the hype. USC celebrity quarterback, number one pick, former Heisman Trophy winner, goes to a big market team, that's quarterback starved in Chicago. That's going to be a massive story. Then Jaden Daniels, number two pick, NFC Championship Drake, May 3rd pick. All right, looks interesting, but has nothing around him. We'll get to that in a minute. J.J. mcCarthy gets hurt. Okay, fine, we'll punt on that one. But it's Michigan, it's Kevin O', Connell, Justin Jefferson. They end up winning 14 games. Fascinating. We'll get to that. And then there was Bo Nix and I know Michael Panicks too, but we'll get to panics in a second. Bo Nix, if it was not for Jaden Daniels, would be able to say, hey guys, where's my hype? Where's my love? Because he had more passing yards and more touchdowns passing than Jaden Daniels did. If I just told you Bo Nix's resume, second most passing touchdowns ever for a rookie quarterback and he went to the playoffs and he had Sean Payton, you'd be like, we'd be talking a ton about this guy. I hate the NFL top 100 list. I think the players don't apply any consistency to it. They really only rate. It seems like last year instead of a body of work to truly and fairly evaluate a player. I think it's mostly a useless exercise, but it does sometimes lead to interesting quotes or sound bites. Bo Nix came in ranked 64th among his peers after his rookie year. Here's how he responded.
- [46:29]
Bo Nix
I think it's, it's obviously cool honor for, you know, because that's your peers thing. That's you got guys, you play, but at the same time, you know, just the way I, I think the way I and motivated, I want to continue to, you know, get higher. And not even for the, the ranking, you know, it doesn't really matter what you're ranked. It's just, you know, an internal standard that I have that I want to be the best in the world. And I know there's a lot of guys that I'm competing for that with and I'm not going to stop until I at least give it my best try.
- [47:03]
Danny Parkins
So, cliches notwithstanding, he's on his way. Do I think he's going to be the Best in the world. No, but I'll tell you this, if you watched the Broncos the first three and a half, four games of last season, it was like, yo, does, does Bonix belong in the league? What is going on here? And then by the end of the season, they've won double digit games, they're in the playoffs. He had 29 passing touchdowns and some of his highlights were absolutely insane. Like Justin Herbert is dining out in a lot of people's mind off that 31 touchdown pass rookie season that he had. Bo Nicks had 29 and was in the playoffs and acquitted himself well. And Sean Payton obviously believed in him a ton. There have been the Drew Brees comparisons. I think that's more coach than style, but there are a few similarities that you can see in terms of just pocket pass or that sort of thing. But it's a, it's a quarterback class that I find fascinating because we can reverse order it. We talk about Bo Nicks. The Broncos are obviously thrilled with what they got out of Bo nicks. Absolutely thrilled. 3,700 passing yards, three to one touchdown interception ratio. Just, I guess a little worse than three to three to one. Like two and a half to one touchdown interception ratio and a playoff appearance. The Falcons, in three games with Michael Penix, felt like he unlocked their offense in terms of Bijan Robinson and Drake London and putting the ball in the end zone. And he's also just fun to watch, a lefty with a rocket arm. It's, it's unconventional, but it feels. Think about the vote of confidence that Atlanta has shown in panics. They gave Kirk Cousins 100 million guaranteed $180 million, and off three games they're like, yep, Penix is our guy. That's pretty significant. So Bijan, Drake, London, Kyle Pitts, okay, now you got Michael Penix. Let's see what the Falcons can do. Falcons happy with their guy. Broncos happy with their guy. J.J. mcCarthy. Kevin O' Connell believes in him enough that he traded up one spot to get him. Sam Darnold won 14 games last season through for what? 4,500 yards, was good enough to get $100 million. And the Vikings were like, yeah, we're good. We're turning it over to the guy coming off the injury who didn't throw it a ton in college, who won national championship. But how much of it was the system around him? How much of it was him? We're going to turn it over to JJ McCarthy. That's a massive vote of confidence for a guy who has thrown preseason passes in his NFL career to move on from Sam Darnold. And by the way, I supported the move. The point of this exercise is it is very rare that you can have. First of all, it's rare to have six quarterbacks taken in a first round, but it's very rare that you go through a full season of the NFL and every team is still happy about the guy they drafted. Atlanta happy about Penix, Denver happy about Bo Nix. Minnesota clearly happy about J.J. mcCarthy. They moved on from Sam Darnold in New England. Drake May had the worst offensive line in football. They fired his coach and basically no one listening right now can name a single pass catcher on the team. And the guy was standing at the end of the year, made awesome throws, carried himself like a pro, got better as the year went on, displayed some serious toughness, and now all of a sudden upgraded coach, couple hundred million bucks in free agent contracts later. You add Stefan Diggs, you give him Josh McDaniels, you kind of have the organization catch up to the talent of the quarterback all of a sudden. The Patriots. When people start making official predictions, my guess is half the media thinks they're going to the playoffs this year. Vegas has them as an eight or a nine win team. That's a tremendous vote of confidence for a guy who threw 15 touchdowns last year. Then Jaden Daniels, no one needs to say anything about. Third down, fourth down, one score games, playoff games, NFC championship game. It's probably the most impressive. When you combine stats and winning, I would argue it's the most impressive rookie season we've ever had because what they were actually asking him to do. And then Caleb, the number one pick, the team that did not even bring in Jaden Daniels, did not even bring in Drake May. He's the guy that everyone has the most questions about. It's a wild quarterback draft. Just think back to that Trevor Lawrence draft. After year one, it was like, okay, well, we got massive questions about Justin Fields, we got massive questions about Trey Lance, there are some questions about Mac Jones. Trevor Lawrence still hasn't answered it all these years later. And Zach Wilson, where's he? So it's really rare to have that many quarterbacks drafted. And if we did it all again, obviously everyone would want Jaden Daniels, but other than that, everyone's thrilled with who they got. And then there's poor Bo Nicks with 29 touchdowns in a playoff appearance. Being like, no one ever talks about me. It really was one of the great rookie seasons that we've seen and we'll see how he builds on it. Coming up for this year, what do the Browns say about Arch Manning? Are they already throwing cold water on it? That's coming up next. Danny Pargets in for Colin. The Herd.
- [52:45]
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- [53:45]
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- [55:44]
Colin Cowherd
This is an iHeart podcast.