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- [00:00]
Danny Parkins
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:04]
Nick Wright
Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One Bank Guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too. Oh really? Thanks Capital One Bank Guy. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capital1.com Bank Capital One NA Member FDIC okay, have you heard about this? Last year, Degree changed the formula for their Cool Rush deodorant and their fans rebelled and wanted the old scent back. And Degree listened. That doesn't happen often. They admitted they effed up and they're bringing back the original Cool Rush scent. They're bringing it back and it's exactly how you remember it. Cool, crisp and fresh. There's a reason it's the number one men's antiperspirant and it's back in Walmart, Target and other stores now for under four bucks. So try and see what the fuss is about. Head to your local Walmart or Target to try the OG Degree Cool Rush for yourself. Wasabi Technologies is purpose built to free businesses from skyrocketing storage costs and unpredictable egress fees from those old and top heavy legacy providers. You know the big guys. Wasabi is the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. From Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage, Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals, Wasabi is driving innovation in data storage, all for up to 80% less than the other guys. Triumph for free@wasabi.com Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage proud partner of the Volume Podcast Network. All right folks, this is insane. For the first time ever, we got a full blown all women's boxing mega event going down in New York City. Two title fights same night. Let's go. If you're like me and Love the action, DraftKings Sportsbook is where it's at. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app right now. The promo code is heard H E R D New Customers 150 bucks in bonus bets instantly. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours.
- [02:20]
Danny Parkins
Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York. Call 877-8-HOPENY or text hopeny467-369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas. 21 + age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario, bonus bets expire. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG Co Audio.
- [02:51]
Nick Wright
Thanks for listening to the Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
- [03:11]
Danny Parkins
Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports radio.
- [03:17]
Nick Wright
Our.
- [03:18]
Danny Parkins
Number two of the herd. I'm Danny Parkins from FS1 and soon to be First Things first coming at you from la. I'll be in for Colin tomorrow. From Chicago we have Nick Wright of First Things first joining us for his normal appearance coming up in just a couple of minutes, which is truly surreal, I would say for both of us given that the first time we ever hosted together was doing a Syracuse Providence basketball basketball post game show on WAER and college radio. So we'll have some fun coming up in about five minutes where I assume Nick will just agree with every brilliant thing that I say and we'll keep it moving or not. But before we get to Nick, we will begin with my top 10 teams heading in to the upcoming football season. Because if not now, when? And we'll see if Philly Burns maybe feel a little better. Number 10, the Chargers of Los Angeles. You know what I think of Justin Herbert. You know what everyone thinks of Jim Harbaugh. Did you know they were the number one scoring defense in the NFL last year? If they just get a little bit more explosive on offense and I think Hampton and Harris, their two draft picks will help and year two under Harbaugh will help they take the leap offensively. They get a little bit of health luck which every team needs. The Chargers, I expect them back in the playoffs and maybe they'd be rising up this list over the course of the season. Number nine, the Washington Commanders. I think better team, worse record, nine one score victories last season. Jaden Daniels is a superstar. I like the Tunsil addition. We'll see about Debo and how he fits. I don't know if you can win that many close games again, but I think they got the right coach, the right quarterback. Obviously a tough division with Philly and Dallas will be better. I think they're a better roster and a worse team. Number eight, the San Francisco 49ers. It's time to bounce back. Brock Purdy to me should not be quite as polarizing as people make him out to be, but he actually impressed me when he lost some of the stuff around him. He's not a superstar, he's not a top 10 quarterback, but in Kyle Shanahan's offense, he's got good post snap processing. He can get the ball out quick and I think that's enough. Assuming the rest of their stars stay healthy, Kittle, Trent Williams and namely Christian McCaffrey, who's the key to everything and frankly, a cheat code in Kyle Shanahan's offense. Number seven Just be competent on defense. Cincinnati Bengals, your offense is super bowl caliber. You went three and four in games where you scored 30 or more points last year. Figure it out with Hendrickson. Have Shemar Stewart hit you upgraded at defensive coordinator because you just had to in the super bowl era. For teams that lost five or more games. The Cincinnati Bengals most points per game in losses any team. They scored 28 points per game in their losses last year. Just be the 20th best defense in the NFL and you'll be fine. Number six. I can't quit this Rams team. I think them and the Niners is going to be a great battle all year long. Offensive line health concerns me. Stafford is a stud. McVeigh's a stud. The Devonte Adams ad is great and Fisk and Verse. They didn't have a first round pick this year, but their draft hit tremendously last year. If either they're the linebacker or the tight end, they hit in the second and third round. If they can just add one more piece. They were the team that gave Philly the best challenge really the last four and a half months of football. I think they're right there as a contender. Number five. Maybe this is too low, but it's the Baltimore Ravens. It was a historic offense last year when you combine running and passing, but their inability to get it done consistently in January, once you get up to this level concerns me from the quarterback on down. But this team has a legitimate argument for being the best roster in the NFL. Hopefully for Ravens fans, this is the year they break through number four. But I still have the Bills in front of them both because of their playoff history. I happen to think Josh Allen is better than Lamar Jackson and they just have been bludgeoning people. It's the team with the best point differential in the NFL over a sample of five years and it's not close. You'd say, oh, I would assume that would be the Chiefs. The Chiefs are third. The Ravens are second. They've outscored opponents by 555 points in the last five years. The Bills have outscored their opponents by nearly 800 points the last five years. They're a regular season juggernaut. Can they break through in January? Number three. Speaking of a team I can't quit, I think we were robbed of a Lions Eagles NFC Championship game last year. The Detroit Lions come in at number three. This offense should be electric. I think Ben Johnson was a bigger ad for the Bears than he was lost for the Lions. If they just had normal bad luck for health on defense, we would have seen them in the NFC championship game last year. They gave up 31 points per game. Their last six games of the year. Injuries caught up to them. Number two, the Kansas City Chiefs. Their defense is electric. They've got the best quarterback, they've got the best coach. They've improved their offensive line, especially if they can stay healthy. They now have a little depth. Rasheed Rice, Hollywood Brown, Xavier Worthy played zero snaps together last season. If the explosiveness can return to the Chiefs offense, I expect them back in the Super Bowl. Number one, the Philadelphia Eagles are the best organization with the best roster. My guess is Eagles fans will not be nearly as happy about this ranking as they were upset about the Jalen Hurts ranking. But winning more than 17 games and rushing for more than 3,000 yards, it puts you in company with the 85 Bears, the 72 Dolphins, the 98 Broncos and last year's Eagles team. It's a tough combination and it's one that's going to win you a ton of football games. There's your top 10 teams heading in to this football season, which now allows us to be joined by my friend and now co worker and colleague at First Things First, Nick Wright.
- [09:42]
Colin Cowherd
Hey buddy, what's up? How's it going?
- [09:43]
Danny Parkins
It's. It's going well.
- [09:44]
Colin Cowherd
I really liked, I really liked your top 10 teams and I think it's really cool that you were able to just run back the exact 10 teams you loved last year. Just add the Washington to it. That's all your teams. Yes. Every single one. You're doing the same thing everyone's doing. You know who's going to be good? The teams that I thought were going to be good last year. This is your same list as a year ago at this time of year, plus Washington 100%.
- [10:12]
Danny Parkins
I did not have the Eagles at 1. I did not have the Eagles winning the division last year. I was very wrong about Dallas. So the Number one team. You know, I'm going to honor the Super Bowl. I do have a lot of respect for the Bengals and the Niners to bounce back. You can admit it. It's a perfect list.
- [10:30]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, so let's talk about the two teams because I do find it interesting. The two teams that weren't good last year that you think are going to be good this year. Okay. Because I have different teams. That and your total abandonment in faith of the Bears is a total topic for another day. Why will this season be different for the Bengals than last year? What's one reason?
- [10:55]
Danny Parkins
New defensive coordinator that I don't know.
- [10:59]
Colin Cowherd
That it's an upgrade. I mean, I guess that's the hope. I just feel. I feel like the Bengals. I don't know how their offense can't be better than it was.
- [11:09]
Danny Parkins
That's right.
- [11:10]
Colin Cowherd
And so maybe it stays equal. I mean, you are more in the mainstream than I am on the Bengals this year because most people seem to think they're a real threat. Last year was an aberration. They'll get back to being a contender. Ish. But I don't see why I would believe that. I think the defense is maybe going to be worse than last year having with Trey Hendrickson not there right now. I don't know that they had an upgrade AT D coordinator and the offense played basically perfectly last year. Like, so I don't. I feel like the Bengals are doing have the exact same plan they had a year ago, except now the guys are more expensive and we're supposed to think that's going to make them better. I don't buy them. For real.
- [11:55]
Danny Parkins
Well, listen, that. That if you score that many points historically, you're just supposed to be much better. I'm not saying that they're going to win the super bowl with a terrible defense, but if you've got a great offense, you're supposed to be a better team than last year. I figured your biggest beef was gonna be with the Niners because of your just unrelenting, unflinching stance and hatred of Brock Purdy.
- [12:15]
Colin Cowherd
Well, it's not. Listen, it's not hatred, but I, you know, there are certain things. It's so interesting where. And I asked this question this morning on what's Right, the podcast, which is at what point does someone's like, public perception shift from being a hater to. To being correctly skeptical? So the reason I did not buy into Brock Purdy when he nearly won MVP and got his team to overtime of the Super bowl in 2023 was very simple in that, you know what? I thought it was a such a stacked team with such a brilliant play caller that I had real questions. What would he look like if some of those pieces chipped away? And then by the grace of the sports gods, we got to see exactly what he would look like if he didn't have all those weapons. And the team finished what, in last place in their division? Second to last in their division, Won six, seven games. And now everyone's like just wants to pretend that didn't happen. And you are more optimistic about the Niners this year than I am. You're right about that because I thought they one of the reasons people, and credit you for not being one of them it seems are buying into the Broncos so much is because of two Niners defenders that they took. The Niners defense lost massive personnel at each and every level. The wide receiver room right now is super banged up and they are desperately relying on Christian McCaffrey, who's awesome but a huge injury risk and the oldest tackle in the league. And so a lot of folks rationale for the Niners is they won't be as injured as they were last year. And my answer is, well, they're not as deep as they were last year and I do think they are one of the more injury risk, you know, higher injury risk teams. So no, I'm not a Niners believer. For the second consecutive year with Kyle.
- [14:18]
Danny Parkins
Shanahan, Christian McCaffrey, when they play together, not the Kyle Shanahan plays, but when McCaffrey plays for Kyle Shanahan, you know what I'm saying, they win 75% of their games. They're 23 and eight. When McCaffrey is out there eight and 12 and he's worth about four points per game, it feels to me like that coach with that player is a cheat code. Which is why I'm going to still believe in them. But if we're going to just react to my lists, I know you want to and I know we've done it on FtF, we've done it on your couch, we've done it via text and group chat. Explain to me why Justin Herbert isn't the fifth best quarterback in football. Because he passes my beautiful eye test.
- [14:59]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. I mean, just because when you are as close to year 10 as you are your rookie year, when you're the same college recruiting class as Nikki Bosa and the same draft class as Justin Jefferson, you have to be judged on what you've actually done, not what you theoretically could be. And what you Justin Herbert sycophants. And I think he's a good player. What you guys all refuse to admit is for most of you, three or four of the last five years you have gone into the season not just talking about how good Herbert is, but how good the team is.
- [15:41]
Danny Parkins
That's true.
- [15:42]
Colin Cowherd
How dangerous the Chargers are, how stacked it is. And then the year ends, they're mediocre and he's bad in the big spot. And everyone's like, he needs more help. He. And so. And you said it last year, they had the number one defense in the NFL. They had the good offensive line with the now the highest paid left tackle in football, Joe Alder, right tackle, a great coach. And he could not get out of his own way against a Texans team that was dying to be beaten.
- [16:16]
Danny Parkins
Interception hands.
- [16:18]
Colin Cowherd
Nick, you're not kidding. You're not serious. You're not ser.
- [16:21]
Danny Parkins
Two of them were.
- [16:22]
Colin Cowherd
He was awful. He was awful in that game.
- [16:25]
Danny Parkins
He was bad.
- [16:25]
Colin Cowherd
And here is to me, and I'm not, you know, known as a Jalen Hurts guy. But what I do think is fair is last year the Chargers asked Justin Herbert to be the quarterback that Jalen Hurts was for Philadelphia in 2022 when they made their first Super Bowl. We're going to run the ball, we're going to throw it sparingly, we're going to play great defense, don't turn it over, and three or four times a game in the playoffs make big plays. And Jalen Hurts executed that exact playbook almost flawlessly to the tune of playing neck and neck to Mahomes in the Super Bowl. Justin Herbert was asked to do that and had one of the worst games of his life against the Texans. And folks just want to pretend it didn't happen. We've seen Herbert play in three, either playoff or winner take all games because the Week 18 game against the Raiders couple or a few years ago, and he has been bad in all three of them. And he's five years into his career. I know he's talented. I know he throws a beautiful ball. But at some point it has to be about what you've actually accomplished.
- [17:43]
Danny Parkins
And.
- [17:43]
Colin Cowherd
And even though I'm not the biggest Jalen Hurts guy in the world, having Herbert ahead of Hertz and Stafford is mortifying. And it makes you question, why do we actually play the games? Like, hold on, why?
- [17:59]
Danny Parkins
Real, real quick. If the trade was offered Jalen Hurts.
- [18:04]
Colin Cowherd
For Justin Herbert, the Eagles would say.
- [18:07]
Danny Parkins
No, you're out of your minds. You're out. You're out of Your mind, the guy is more talented. He would be able to hand the ball off to Saquon Barkley just like Jalen Hurts can. And Instead of the one yard quarterback they would just A.J. brown and Devontae Smith more.
- [18:26]
Colin Cowherd
Can. Can I ask you. Can I. Let's stay here then. Do you think if we're going to play in this make believe world that last year if Jalen Hurts was the Chargers quarterback, they would have beaten the Texans? Because I do that. Texas. No, hold on. Because the only. Because the only reason they lost was the four interceptions. Would they have Justin Herbert.
- [18:51]
Danny Parkins
That was an outlier terrible game. The guy threw over 500 passes in the regular season and had three interceptions.
- [18:57]
Colin Cowherd
Right, but, but Danny, that doesn't mean something. Danny, if you, if you went before you go back to the first time you were filling in for college.
- [19:08]
Danny Parkins
Oh, here we go.
- [19:10]
Colin Cowherd
If you had never dropped an F bomb in your entire, the entire year of doing live radio and then in the first hour of doing the Herd, you dropped three, would that be bad luck or would that be ooh, the moment got to him.
- [19:27]
Danny Parkins
You gotta work on your cowherd level analogies. That's not okay, that's fine.
- [19:31]
Colin Cowherd
But you follow and so I don't agree with you that they eat now. I do think that if you didn't have a team built yet like you were. That's a different question. You would the Eagles trade Herbert for Hertz is a different question than I am starting a team from scratch. What player do I think is more malleable?
- [19:52]
Danny Parkins
Wait a minute though. Okay, but if we're doing a top 10 list, if every player was available to be drafted.
- [20:01]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [20:01]
Danny Parkins
32 general managers just.
- [20:03]
Colin Cowherd
I wouldn't take Herbert fifth. But you would certainly wouldn't take him fifth.
- [20:07]
Danny Parkins
You would take it before Jalen Hurts.
- [20:09]
Colin Cowherd
Maybe, maybe then he's better. But that's.
- [20:12]
Danny Parkins
Then he's better.
- [20:14]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, so he at some point again, the accomplishment much, much must matter. That's first of all. And second of all, you can't by that metric, Danny though, who would you take ahead? I don't know if anybody would take him. If we're talking about for long term, would take him ahead of Jaden Daniels and if we're talking about for short term, would take him ahead of Matt Stafford. So like you just love him. You'll never quit him. You've always loved him. And just the audience needs to know like for some reason you're a Justin Herbert guy. It's a weird guy. It's a weird thing. But it's fine.
- [20:47]
Danny Parkins
All right. Speaking of a guy who is one of your guys, but I feel like he should be everybody's guy. Professional athlete works out in off season. I didn't know was worthy of a cover story. Like why are people rushing to bet Luka Doncic for mvp? Like I've seen the guy carry a team to the NBA Finals and average 33, 9 and 10. He already. I didn't, I didn't know that public opinion on him had slid so much that we were, that we were doubting Luka Doncic, that I needed to see him intermittent fast. I guess I missed that.
- [21:21]
Colin Cowherd
Oh, you're watching too many old Justin Herbert Oregon clips because that's where the whole media's been.
- [21:26]
Danny Parkins
That's insane.
- [21:29]
Colin Cowherd
Luka Doncic in The span of 10 months went from in like probably the first person named in the after Joker who's the best player in the league discussion to basically a past his prime fat alcoholic in the public eye. And it's really unbelievable. 12 months ago today, not a person in the world thought Shea or Anthony Edwards was better than him. And then prior to this cover story it seemed like everyone had just decided Shea and Anthony Edwards were better than him. I. Listen Luke, the amount of Luca had a down year. It coincided with the first major injury of his career. A truly I think traumatic event in being traded that shocked him and threw him off and he was, and he was out of shape. But it came on the heels of the best season regular and post of his life where as you mentioned, he won the scoring title, averaged 34.9 and 10 single handedly. Let a team shouldn't say single handedly. Kyrie was good but you know, led a team to the NBA finals and made his fifth all NBA first team which for the record is more than Steph or Chris Paul have in their career and is only one less than Kevin freaking Durant who's been unbelievable for almost 20 years. That's how good Luka is. So I but I do think it's noteworthy that he took it to heart that last year he was a little out of shape. It didn't go the way he wanted to. And for the most notable part of that story, other than the fake news about his 42 inch vertical was that the gym he has worked in every summer since he was a teenager did not have weights in it until this year. He just went there and bald and then so now he brought in weights. So I think that is good. And now listen, is there a bit of osmosis of spending a few months around LeBron and realizing he needs to get in shape, probably. But I'll give Luca credit for it. Anyway.
- [23:38]
Danny Parkins
We've come a long way from Syracuse, Providence, post game shows on WA R, my friend. I cannot believe that coming up.
- [23:45]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, but I think your takes were better than. I got to tell you, I think we need to go back and get some of those tapes. Unless there was some lacrosse player who had never done anything in his five year college career and you're like, he's better than Gary Gates. I don't know. But. But yeah, I can't wait. It's going to be really cool to be working with you every day for the first time since, you know, in 20 years. It's going to be great. I. I'm going to love it. And it's going to be even more exciting when Herbert goes eight and nine and you're like. But actually he throws such a tight spiral.
- [24:17]
Danny Parkins
It is a very tight spiral. Nick Wright will be watching on First Things First. Thank you, my friend.
- [24:22]
Colin Cowherd
See you, buddy.
- [24:23]
Danny Parkins
All right, that's Nick Wright from First Things first, of which I will be joining when they expand to three hours this upcoming football season. That show will be three to six Eastern. Coming up next. And by the way, I got Nick to concede that he would draft Herbert over Hertz. I'm chalking that whole thing up as a win. There's a massive disconnect on this show and elsewhere on Shador Sanders. We'll get into it next. The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific. 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. 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. Yeah, you blubberlips.
- [25:15]
Colin Cowherd
Blaming me.
- [25:15]
Danny Parkins
Well, you know what it's called? Over Promise. You should be good at it because you've been over promising women for years. Well, it's a Covino and Rich after show and we want you to be a part of it. We're going to be talking sports, of course, but we're also going to talk life and relationships and. 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. Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make sure you check out Over Promise and also uncensored by the way, so maybe we'll go at it.
- [25:40]
Nick Wright
Even a little harder.
- [25:41]
Danny Parkins
It's going to be the best after show podcast of all time. There you go, overpromising. 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.
- [25:55]
Nick Wright
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- [27:02]
Danny Parkins
Welcome back into the Herd. I'm Danny Parkins in for Colin Cowherd. It's a true honor to do this yesterday, today and tomorrow. Jeff Schwartz will be on the program a little bit later on in the show, which is also kind of surreal given that when I was covering the Chiefs and doing radio in Kansas City, he was the first guy I ever talked to covering an NFL locker room. So Known AJ Brzezinski a long time. Jeff Schwartz a long time. No one longer than Nick Wright who was just on. So it's been really fun to be able to do this here. Sitting in the big chair for Colin Cowherd and wanted to talk a little bit about what I think is maybe one of the bigger disconnects between media and reality in the sports world that we've seen in a long time. And I know Colin, he makes fun of himself when he's like, I don't know if everyone else is as fascinated by the Browns QB situation, but I am fascinated by it. And I'm like, I Don't know that I am quite there with you, Colin, because Shador Sanders was a fifth round pick, you know, fifth round pick, famous dad, interesting prospect. We thought he was going to be a higher pick, but the NFL said 5th round pick, and Shador Sanders seems to know that. And I'm not sure that the rest of the media world has completely caught up to it. I'm gonna play a couple of things for you here and then I'll start to unpack what I think's happened. But first, his father, Deion Sanders was on Michael Irvin's podcast talking about how and why Deion Sanders will not be attending Brown's training camp anytime soon. He didn't want me to come. He's like, dad, I may get three, four reps of practice. I don't want you seeing that. Like, come on. No, no. I'm not where I need to be. Let me get where I need to be. And it's so funny because this is the first time, man. Yeah. Album. And he's dealing with it like a pro. Like. Like he ain't mad, he ain't bitter. He's like, I got work to do and I'm gonna put in this work. One thing they gonna have to let me play. Preseason gonna come and when. Pre season, come watch me work. Okay. I hope he's right. That sounds like a former coach and current and always dad rooting for his son. But he's right. Shador Sanders will at some point play in the preseason. And in theory, the Kenny Pickett injury opens up some reps for him to move up the depth chart, but not all. But some of the reporting, or the reaction to the reporting, more accurately, it's been like, man, Shador Sanders hasn't gotten any reps with the ones yet. Yeah, he was a 5th round pick. Say what you want about Joe Flacco, we're not that far removed from Joe Flacco in NFL playoff games. Say what you will about Kenny Pickett, but he's a young quarterback who was a first round pick. And say what you will about Dylan Gabriel, but this team, the team that drafted Shador Sanders in the fifth round, took him in the third round. And this was from this morning, the owner of the Cleveland Browns, Jimmy Haslam, maybe he's surprised, but he's also being asked questions about his fifth round pick at quarterback.
- [30:44]
Nick Wright
If you'd have told me, you said we picked him on Saturday, right? Friday night, driving home, y' all are gonna fix Shador, I would say that that's not happening. But we had a conversation early that morning and then we had a conversation later that day. I think we had the right people involved in the conversation at the end of the day, that's Andrew Barry's call. Andrew made the call to pick Shador.
- [31:06]
Danny Parkins
So Andrew Barry also made the call to pick the Dylan Gabriel. And I think we just need to come to grips cuz it seems like Shador Sanders has understood it. He made some mistakes with the speeding tickets that put himself back into the news. But by all accounts he is showing up on time, doing the work, not complaining, trying not to be a distraction, fulfilling his media obligations. As asked, I was reading a story about how when he came in to a, you know, a media tent off the side of a practice field, a veteran on the team was doing his media responsibilities. And the reporters started to leave that players to go over and kind of camp out to get the best microphone space for Shadors. And Shador told the PR guy, you know, I'm not going to talk to the media until the veteran player is done out of a sign of respect. So it seems like Shador, who by all accounts was a good kid at Colorado, is doing the right things in terms of being a professional. Again, notable exception of the multiple speeding tickets. But to me those are very little minor transgressions that are just little blips. They're not anything to really get my, my antenna up here. But the disconnect to me is fascinating on this level. We messed up. The media messed up. And when I say the media, I am including quote unquote draft experts, the mel Kuipers, Todd McShays, Matt Miller's Joel Klatz, Dane Bruglers of the world. And I'm not saying any of them are bad or anything about it. It's an unbelievable industry that has been created where we watch college football and we watch the NFL and then a segment of the industry can make a 365 day a year job out of figuring out the transition of some players from college to the NFL. And I eat it up. I like drafts coverage too. But I also don't really pretend that I know anything because I think that at least when I am talking about a player in a game, I can watch the game and then I can have my NFL game pass and I can watch the all 22 and I can get access to the stats and I can feel relatively informed. You still have what was the play call? What was this? What was a guy's health? You still have plenty of things you don't know, but we don't know an immense amount compared to the draft and there's just so many information gaps that it's hard for me to really put much stock into any of the pre draft process. What happens in draft season is if your team is picking 20th and you get a guy who in the consensus mock drafts was slated to go 14th, the reaction the day after the draft is you gotta steal. And then if you're drafting 20th and you took a guy who in the consensus mock drafts was slated to go 29th, you got a reach and you got a bad grade. So we are, the media is judging your successes or your failures off of our rankings. Shador Sanders is the best example example we've ever had of the NFL doesn't agree with our rankings. Now normally the media is not as far off as they were with Shador Sanders and it was a boring draft and the Titans had the number one pick and he is Deion Sanders son. Like there was just an element of celebrity and a desire to fuel the coverage of post super bowl leading into the draft, which is normally a football rich time. We've got to make a story. And so this kid got built up into something that the NFL clearly did not think that he was. And then on draft night the story became the story that the media created. The build of Shador Sanders became the fall of Shador Sanders. And athletes have complained about this all the time. You build us up to tear us down. You build us up to tear us down. Shador Sanders is the perfect example of that. I would bet he doesn't play a game this year. Fifth round picks sometimes get cut. There is no guarantee that Shador Sanders ever plays a game in the NFL. Will he? Probably. But Joe Flacco is now the favorite to start and I think Kenny Pickett coming back from a hamstring injury is a kind of co favorite to start. And Cleveland's going to be really bad. And next year's quarterback class is supposed to be really good. So if they take Aller or Manning or Nussmeier or whoever they take in next year's draft, that guy will slot in ahead of Shador Sanders. And if he's even still in on the team. And my guess is the Browns want to see what they have from Dylan Gabriel before they see anything from Shador Sanders. Because judge them by their actions, not their words. They drafted Dylan Gabriel in the third round and Shador Sanders in the fifth. But Shador seems to get it. Hey dad, don't come to practice. You're not just a normal dad, you're Deion Sanders. I don't want to be more of a distraction to because I am fourth on a bad quarterback depth chart for a bad organization that has done a bad job of developing quarterbacks. But it's like, because in March we believe that this guy could be the second pick in the draft, we have to be like, you know, the next, the next Dak Prescott or Brock Purdy or Tom Brady is just sitting there in Cleveland. The overwhelming likelihood is that the media was just wrong and we fell for group think and Shador Sanders is not going to be an NFL quarterback for very long and he will be out of the NFL in a couple of years. Like that is the overwhelming likelihood. Not what I'm rooting for. I have nothing against the kid. In fact, I kind of feel bad for him. Think he got some bad advice. I think the legendary thing was a little bit of a mistake being in the shadow of Deion Sanders coming into the sports take industrial complex and getting overrated to then where now you've got no shot to live up to those expectations. I feel a little bad for the kid, so I'm not personally rooting against him in any way, but the NFL's actions have said he ain't an NFL player. And my guess is if you're dying to see Shador Sanders playing an NFL game that matters. You're going to be waiting for at least a year because if you're fourth on that depth chart, you're a long ways away from actually playing meaningful football in the NFL. So I don't think that's that big of a deal for the Browns. But there's another one. Oh boy. I don't know how you could be a fan of this team and then watch this player and actually it's really three teams if you think about it, and not just have pain every NFL Sunday. I'll tell you who I'm talking about next. Danny Parkinson for Colin this is the Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.
- [38:30]
Nick Wright
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- [39:34]
Danny Parkins
Podcast network in 50 states. NMLS consumeraccess.org Number 3030, Danny Parkins in for Colin here on the Herd. And you know, we were just talking Shador Sanders and the desert that is the Browns quarterback. One of those pictures that always goes viral is that fan with all the names of all the different quarterbacks that have started there, going back to Tim Couch and beyond. And it's just, you know, a quarterback wasteland in Cleveland. I don't know how a Browns fan could watch what Baker Mayfield has done in Tampa and not just throw the remote against the TV like rage quit in a video game and just turn it off. And I know in Cleveland they gave Baker time, right? I mean, he, he was there. He was there for four years. He started 13 games, then 16, then 16, then 14. I'm not saying that they shortchanged him, but a number of games. But Baker Mayfield did win a playoff game for them in 2020. Baker Mayfield was a guy who in Cleveland did have an 11 and 5 season his third year. And then it was like, well, Baker's the problem. I mean, Baker and Odell Beckham, we got it. There's a breakup here. We got to choose. You chose poorly. And since then, right. Browns, Panthers, Rams bounced around. Former number one overall pick. Was he too cocky? Does he do the, you know, show me the money, Planting the flag at Oklahoma? Is he the wrong type of guy to translate? Is he too small to really put up anything in the NFL? Well, he gets to Tampa and he consistently improves in every statistical category, dramatically, immediately and consistently. 2021 and 2022, Browns, Panthers and Rams. He goes 8 and 16 and completes 60% of his passes. Last two years of the Bucks, 19 and 15, complete 68% of his passes. Passer rating over 100 with the Bucks. And he's found a home and he got some contract stuff worked out here we can play him on it in just a second. And he's under contract with Tampa through next year. But more so than just Baker and Tampa, I think there's a lesson for the Browns and probably about 15 other teams in the league. But we'll start with the news on Baker's contract. Right now. It was, you know, I'm under contract through 26, so it was really just about getting guaranteed money for 26. And they did that. And that's. That's all I can ask for. I signed the contract. I knew what it was. You know, it's. Right now it's winning. And I know good things will happen after that, but I trust this place. I love being here. Obviously, used to bouncing around. I've done that before, but I don't want to leave. So it's. How can we win right now? We have a team that's really, really well built. And Jason, those guys did it. And so if we win right now, good things will happen. The Bucks are probably the best organization in the NFL that people just do not give credit for. They brought everybody back on offense. They've been consistently a top 10 offense the last couple of years. They've had coordinators get hired to be head coaches. Liam Cohen, most notably this past year. And they just keep on humming. And Baker Mayfield is the single biggest reason why no player in football has more passing touchdowns than Baker Mayfield. The last two seasons, he's thrown for the 2nd most passing yards in the NFL. The last two seasons, he's got the 4th best passer rating in the NFL. The last 2 seasons, like Baker Mayfield has been performing and producing statistically like a top five quarterback in the NFL when he's got a good support. Tristan Wurfs is elite. Evans and Godwin is a great duo. Bucky Irving's really talented, but no one would say he's got the same supporting cast as Detroit or Philly or some of the teams that we put up in that upper echelon of total roster talent in the NFL. And then Chris Godwin went back to Tampa and took $30 million less than the Patriots were offering him, reportedly. Like they're building something special down in Tampa, especially on the offensive side of the ball. But when I see Baker, I think about the jets and Sam Darnold. How badly do the jets wish this version of Sam Darnold was their quarterback? And I know sometimes you need to break up. You need to change a scenery, right? If you see your ex happy on social media when they get married to somebody else, if you're not jealous, you're like, well, I know that they weren't going to be able to be happy with me. I was going to be happy with them.
- [44:33]
Nick Wright
Fine.
- [44:33]
Danny Parkins
Sometimes breakups need to happen and change of sceneries need to happen. I understand that. But there are so many teams that I think for a long time it's a sunk cost. We've got to cut bait. If I was the Colts, for example, and I had Anthony Richardson and I drafted him fourth overall and I knew he was just this like unmolded piece of clay that we had to develop, that it was going to take time because he had played so little in college and he's just this really talented athlete who's arguably the best athlete of any quarterback in the NFL and he does these unbelievable things and he can Uncle Rico it and throw the ball over the mountain, but he's struggled with his post snap processing. He's struggled most notably with staying healthy and staying on the field. Seems like maybe he only has a fastball, doesn't take the velocity off the throws so much and some of the shorter in intermediate routes. I will be floored if the Colts, even if Daniel Jones starts this year, and even if Daniel Jones played all 17 games this year and had a monochrome of success, I will be floored if the Colts move off of Anthony Richardson, cut him, trade him for a mid round pick, whatever it would be. Because I think they believe in the talent and I think good teams, good organizations, smart organizations are paying attention and being like, it takes a while for this to work. It takes a while to develop. Not everybody is Jaden Daniels, not everybody is C.J. stroud. Those are outliers. It is two things can be true. It can be getting easier to transition from college to the pros because the pro offenses are more like college offenses. I think that is objectively true, but it is still the pros and the raw you are as a talent or the worse of a situation you go into, the more instability, the worst coaching, whatever it may be. Baker Mayfield should be the poster child for patience because he's 30 and he just got 30 million more guaranteed for next year. And Baker now looks like he's going to be a starting quarterback in the league until he's 37, 38 years old, which a Browns fan, a Panthers fan, must be impossible for you to believe. But coming up next, I'm cautiously optimistic about the Steelers this year, but I've been wrong many times before and I don't care how much Nick Wright makes fun of me. I'll never quit you, Justin Herbert. Next, the Herd.
- [47:08]
Nick Wright
Okay, have you heard about this? Last year, Degree changed the formula for their Cool Rush deodorant, and their fans rebelled and wanted the old scent back. And Degree listened. That doesn't happen often, they admitted. They effed up and they're bringing back the original Cool Rush scent. They're bringing it back and it's exactly how you remember it. Cool, crisp and fresh. There's a reason it's the number one men's antiperspirant. And it's back in Walmart, Target, and other stores now for under four bucks. So try and see what the fuss is about. Head to your local Walmart or Target to try the OG Degree Cool Rush for yourself.
- [47:40]
Danny Parkins
This is an I Heart podcast.