← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
THE HERD - Hour 2 - Marcus Freeman explains why he passed up on the NFL to stay at Notre Dame
00:40:28
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- [01:47]
Kat (College Athlete)
Hey there, I'm Kat. I'm a college athlete.
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Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis which caused back pain and stiffness every day.
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Kat (College Athlete)
With cosenty I'm able to stay active.
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Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
Ask a rheumatologist about Cosentyx.
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Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio at 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.
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Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
Now let's get this party started.
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Fox Sports Radio Announcer
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
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Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Here we go. Hour 2 Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame football coach around the corner. Great to have you in on a Friday. Everybody getting warm. John Middle Kaufman joining me all week. So you know I've pushed back on this apocalyptic belief that a baseball the haves and the have nots. I just looked this morning. The lowest, the lowest payroll in baseball I think is the Guardians. They're in first place. So I read a story this morning about the league is heading toward labor strife. If you go, I thought I would check in with the 10 highest payrolls in baseball and see how they're doing. Okay, let's start with the New York Mets on the screen. Third place, Juan Soto is hurt. Boba Shet can't hit. I'll get back to the Dodgers. The Yankees just lost three of four to the A's and the Marlins and they are the third worst hitting team in baseball. They can't score. The Phillies 27th and run differential and currently on a 20 inning scoreless streak. Shut out by the Giants twice. The Blue Jays have lost six of seven. The Braves have lost three of five. Just got into a brawl and they're in. Starting staff's got three injuries, so a lot of that's just injuries. The Astros have the worst bullpen in baseball and just got swept by the Rockies and have lost four of five. The Cubs are in last place in the National League Central. The Padres have this great closer, Mason Miller, but what's the point when you go into late innings trailing? So The Padres are hitting.214 as a team and the Tigers have the worst record in baseball, nine of 10 of the highest payrolls. Struggling now you Say, what about the Dodgers? Oh gosh, one of the top 10 payrolls is crushing. Yes. Great manager, best owners, best general manager, best R and D scouting. The Dodgers are rest of you teams you could defer payments to, you don't. They're billionaires decide to. So yeah, the Dodgers are playing great. But the Guardians and the Marlins right now, Guardians spend the least amount of money. They're in first place. Brewers are crushing. I, I just, you go back to this stuff, I mean, I. Yankees can't
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Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
hit,
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Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Padres can't hit. Baseball doesn't have a money problem. They have a batting problem. That's the problem. So this, this goes back to what I've been saying. A lot of fear mongering going out there. It's the end of time. They got a kid in Pittsburgh right now, a superstar player for the Pirates and I'm not talking Paul Skeens that they are just head over heels for. The White Sox went overseas and bought a Japanese star. He is crushing. So. And the A's, I mean they're moving into a snazzy newer stadium here pretty quick. They're all fired up. And with that, he's the head football coach at Notre Dame. He was, I think it's fair to say, the hottest coach on the market. I've said before, if I was building a college football program today, he would be my number one choice. It's Marcus Freeman who's got time for us today in the crazy world of college football and college sports. He is joining us. You always got a smile on your face. I guess right now you can be in a good mood. You got your quarterback coming back. You know, people complain about the Portal in the nil. And I was talking to a friend about this and I said the advantage to being Notre Dame is, is if you go to Notre Dame, football's great. You're not just going to Notre Dame or maybe a Stanford for the football. So in the world of complaining about the Portal, has it been perhaps because of the academic historic relevance of Notre Dame, has that made it a little easier for.
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Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
I don't know if it's easier. I'd just say that I truly believe that we have something to offer young people maybe in the midst of struggling to get their football production where they want it. Right? And so we have to remind them of the value of the education and what it does for you beyond the game of football. And I hope by the time they say, okay, I want more as an individual in our football program, they say, well, I'm not going to leave until at least I get my degree. But the other thing, Colin, I think that's important, is that they have to feel valued. Right. I know everything outside of the building talks about what you get or what you do and how many yards you have, but if you can find a way to make them feel valued in the role that they have, currently, you're able to keep a lot of your players there.
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Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
So Notre Dame fans got all mad at me. They usually like me, got mad at me because I said, listen, I know you love usc, Notre Dame, but just hear me out. I said, I grew up with a PAC 12. The conference got, you know, ended. I said, I. Three years ago, four years ago, if you paid a high school football player, it was the death penalty. Now everybody's doing it. I said, I just gave up on tradition. I love Auburn, Alabama. I love Ohio State, Michigan. I just gave up. I mean, AI may replace me in 15 days like, I gave up. And my take is Notre Dame and USC can eventually play. I think they'll play again. And by the way, it may be in the playoff. But I looked at the world and I thought, Marcus, sometimes you can fight it. I mean, Rick Pitino told me two weeks ago, he goes, I don't even recruit high schoolers anymore. I gave up. I'm just going to go. I'm going to go buy kids. So I look at Notre Dame and I think, you'll be fine. Why did you want to play that game so badly? Why did it mean so much to you, a young coach?
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Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
Yeah, well, I think the. For me, it was the rivalry, right? It was not the implications of the game, it was the. The rivalry that no matter what your record is, it means something when you win that game. And I think as I grew up watching college football, you think of the great games between Notre Dame and usc. And so when you have a rival and you take it personal and you say, hey, we want to continue this game and this rival if we can, but again, it didn't work out for them and didn't work out for us, and we're all going to be okay, as you just said. Right? But if you can choose to or have the opportunity to get that game, that rivalry on your schedule, you want to do it. And I think in the future, we will be able to do it. But, you know, are a lot of people whose fault is it? Notre Dame, usc? That didn't matter. It's just like, it didn't work. Didn't work.
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Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Yeah. Okay.
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Umar Valderrama (State Farm Ad Speaker)
Yeah.
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Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
You had the best two running Backs in the country in terms of draft status. One of them reminds me of Jeremiah Gibbs. Jeremiah Love is just a home run hitter, a Jadarian Price. I, I, one of the staff guys asked me this morning and I said, little ball security issue, I think, if I recall. But other than that, very good player. So let's start with Love. Coaches deserve credit development. When, when did he, in the process did you go, you guys, we, we got, we got a. Saquon Barkley is like, I, I'm not discrediting Marcus Freeman and the staff, but at some point, when did you go? Guys, this is, this is not just a really, really good college back.
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Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
Yeah, it didn't take long. And you know what? Great players like Jeremiah Love make coaches look really good. And listen, I'll take the credit, I'll take the credit. I don't even coach running backs and I'll take the credit. But man, Colin, he is a unicorn. He is as talented and gifted of an athlete as I've ever been around and I think he could be an elite wide receiver, he can be an elite db. He's just gifted with a unique skill set. The balance, the ability to jump over you, the ability to run through you, the ability, like some of his most impressive runs aren't the ones that you're going to see on tv. It's the ones that as you watch, oh my God, he made that play. A four yard gain. It should have been a two yard loss. I mean, he's just, he's really special and he's a unique, unique talent.
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Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
So Jadarian Price, let's say I'm an NFL gm, second, third round, I get Jadarian Price. How can he be best utilized in pro football, do you think?
- [11:53]
Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
Yeah, I think he's a complete running back. He is a running back and I've seen the way he's improved in the past game in terms of protection. He's got deceptive speed like his ability to take the ball vertically but also get it east and west and then get vertical again is really unique and rare. But he gives you return special teams value. But he is as good of a running back that I've coached at Notre Dame. But Jeremiah Love might be as good as any player I've ever been around.
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Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
So a lot of, you know, it's funny, college sports, the coaches are getting older, pro sports, they're getting younger. And I think one of my reasons I believe this is true is because college football and basketball has gotten more administrative. It's not about going, you don't need like 38 year old guy energy. You can write checks. So you know, the Patinos are like Tom Izzo, they're like, you know, it's kind of fun and you know, and listen, it's, it's, it's hard. What your job is a lot of hours. You were. Obviously there was a lot of NFL interest. A couple times in my life I've had to sit down with a yellow pad and write down pro con here, stay, go. Well, in the end was there a certain factor that you said, listen, I got a lot of people interested on Sunday football. I'm going to stay with Saturday football. Was there a deciding factor?
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Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
I think for me probably the deciding factor was love for the job I have now and the care I have for the players, the support I have for this program. Listen, the NFL, the more I'm starting to realize you're set up to go 500 now. Right. And they don't want you to be good. They don't want you to continuously win, win, win. They're going to make it as hard as possible when you do have success. And it's good to know. Right. It was just things that I was made aware of as he continued to talk to some different NFL personnel and administrative. But I have such a special, special job and one that is so well supported that we have to continuously work. But you're going to have opportunities to have success every single year. And so be careful of always wanting more, more, more when you have something really good.
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Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Yeah. So I like C.J. carr. I think, boy, there's a lot of good quarterbacks out there. I mean it's, everybody's talking, Arch Manning is, they're just so, I mean next year in the Big Ten there's about seven different guys I like. I mean it's just like they all have a strength, a weakness. Let's talk CJ Carr. Where, where is he in the process of his development? Where does he need work and where has he really refined his game?
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Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
Colin, like when I tell you he is gifted but also like the way he prepares. I don't know if I've ever been around somebody that's prepared the way he's prepared. I'm going to tell you a quick story. He's red shirting in 2024, no chance of playing. He's not the starter, he's not the backup, he's not even the third string. He's the red shirt quarterback. And I remember one evening, probably eight o', clock, nine o', clock, looking in the Indoor. And he was in there going through a practice script like quarterbacks do, and making motions and throwing it. And I remember seeing like, this guy is never going to play. He's not going to play. And this is how he's preparing. And now fast forward three years later, like he still does that. He watches his freshman year spring practice. Like he prepares. Like you would think the grandson of Lloyd Carr and the son of a quarterback at Michigan would, would prepare. I mean, it's such a gift. And he works his tail off. He's probably as competitive as a person I've ever been around. Like he's an elite and fierce competitor, which I believe is a gift. Like it's hard to become that competitive. I mean, he has a gift to be that competitive. But he is, he's special now. He's got areas improvement all around the game of football, right? Decision making, recognizing defense and putting ball placement. Like we. There's always capacity to improve. If you believe you don't have capacity to, to improve, well, guess what? You're not going to do the work to find the answers. But he has that. But I'm telling you, man, he is a unique person, a unique talent. I'm grateful we have him there.
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Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Hey, by the way, you, you know, your defense, Reuben Bain, you guys played Miami and everybody's saying, man, he's got short arms. I'm like, I don't know. I watched him play like eight times. I didn't notice it like at all. When you hear that about Ruben Bane, short arms, what's your interpretation of that?
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Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
Oh, my God. Watch the film. Stop overvaluating measurements and times. Watch the film. I remember having the same conversation. So I saw Reuben Bane in person, obviously, when they played us. And I watched him throughout the season as I was getting ready to do the national championship game. And you talk about production, you talk about a guy that doesn't get blocked one on one. He is, he's really, really good. But I remember there was a conversation about Kyle Hamilton, right, that. Yeah, he went four, six or something at the combine or something. I kept going, guys, just watch the film. Now I don't know, he might be the highest paid safety in the film, right? Like he's just, just watch the film. So don't over evaluate arm length or. Okay, is he a 4, 6 versus 4 or 5? Like when the film speaks so highly, it tells you a lot. I'm always cautious of the people that test really, really well. But the film doesn't match. Right, right. And those are the ones like if you're not a great player and productive player in college, it's hard to be in the NFL.
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Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
I got to tell you my Kyle Hamilton story. So I did a podcast with him one time. It's true story. Right before the draft, two general managers texted me and said, I saw you did a Kyle Hamilton podcast. He was at your house. I said, yeah, yeah. They're like, what's he like? And I remember saying, is. Is there, you know, there. He's real confident. Was he cocky? I said, you would think he's 32 years old. I said, all I know in the back end of my defense, I want intellect and range. I said, a plus, A plus, A plus, A plus. Like, it's just. It's exactly. I just said I thought I was talking to like, like, you know, like the slightly younger brother, like he's a grown up. And it is. I always say this about. I told my staff this before. I do very few live interviews with kids. My exception is if they play football at Notre Dame. I'll put a 21 year old on. And it's when I watch you in that tunnel, there's a picture we put on the screen of you in that tunnel. Saturday night game, you're in the tunnel. This is a dorky question, but are there times you're just sitting there in that tunnel thinking, I have the best job in the world. How I look at the picture of this and it gives me goosebumps. You still feel that way?
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Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
Absolutely. A lot of times, man, I'll turn around and look at them because I go, man, holy cow, right? And I'm grateful to be on the journey with them. It's like a father that you just want to, man, you want it for him so bad, you know, you want so badly for your players to have success. And there's moments, man, I'm standing there at the end of that tunnel and going, holy cow, how the heck did this happen, man? But I'm sure as heck grateful that it did. And I'm going to enjoy this thing and give it everything that I have because if you're not grateful for it, you'll lose it.
- [19:30]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Yeah. Marcus Freeman had offers, stayed at Notre Dame. Good for college football sport. I love. Great seeing you.
- [19:37]
Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
Good to see you, man. I appreciate you always. All right.
- [19:40]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Marcus Freeman, what a great coach he is. That picture, honestly, if college football started tomorrow, I'd be fired up. John, you gave me that picture of Freeman and the tunnel at Notre Dame. You know, Notre Dame's right around the corner. We got to go to a game this year. We, we. You got to come to Chicago. We'll have a steak on Friday. We'll take the train down to Notre Dame. That place is magic.
- [20:01]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
Send the plane.
- [20:04]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
I don't have one, but if I did, you know, I think, I think Delta flies here. I'm pretty sure you send.
- [20:09]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
If you send it, I'll hop on it.
- [20:10]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Okay. Man, that just gets me all fired up, that is. You know, and what's interesting is, look, listen. Jeremiah Love is an insane talent, but just to show you, we had that video of their, their backup running back. Look at how yoked that guy is. And I mean, for him to say, Jeremiah loves the best athlete I've ever coached, that is. But you look at the backup. I mean, look at this kid. Look at this.
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John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
He's a dynamic return guy. Kickoff returns and he can fly.
- [20:40]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
He is. Look at, I mean, look at the size of this kid's upper body and legs. That works in the NFL?
- [20:46]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
Yeah, I'd say so.
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Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
Yeah.
- [20:49]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
USC guys just bouncing off him.
- [20:51]
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Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
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We're lost and kickoff's coming up. I don't want to miss the lineup. I'm going to ask that man for directions. Hi there. We're trying to get to the stadium.
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Kat (College Athlete)
How is their signal out here?
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Kat (College Athlete)
Actually, can you pull up the way to a T Mobile store?
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- [24:44]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
three time champ, Chicago Bulls analyst they flushed out their front office. We'll talk to him here on a Friday. Here is John Middlekopf with the news.
- [24:54]
Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
No, no, no, no.
- [24:55]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Turn on the news.
- [24:56]
Fox Sports Radio Announcer
This is the Herd line news.
- [24:59]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
Well, you and I both love this time of year because we're officially two weeks, less than two weeks away from the draft. And we all know that one top 10 team that most of now analysts have no idea what they'll how they'll utilize their pick is the Chiefs, with one report indicating that there's no strong indicator on who they'll take. Well, here's the thing with that ninth overall pick you had them selecting Utah's offensive tackle yesterday. Kyle Whittingham is one of Andy Reid's best friends. His son has been on his staff forever. But what about defense? To me, if Reuben Baines there, I think they would go there. But Caleb Downs, think about this. Andy's coach, Brian Dawkins, Eric Barry and the Honey Badger, pretty unique player. I would imagine he would definitely be in the discussion there as well. They just traded Trent McDuffie not because they didn't like him, but $30 million a year, the money. What if they could get one of those star corners, the Tennessee guy, the LSU guy for $5 million a year.
- [25:59]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Yeah, I know. It's really interesting. You know, John, I. I've always believed you don't have to be great everywhere in the NFL. You can't be terrible anywhere when Mahomes has been dragged in two Super Bowls. They were atrocious at tackle. Right. Because of injuries. Yeah, they are bad at right tackle now. You may be able to get that in the second and third round. But their left tackle also had some struggles last year getting on the field. So to me it's like a Joe Alt move. You get jolt in the building. Slater got hurt for the second time. Then you move alt over to left tackle because everybody now feels like a swing tackle. By and large you can Tristan Wurfs now could go over to left right. I think they got to get the best tackle in the building and just left right because I still, I think Josh Simmons is good. If I said to you he played 12 games last year this year, would you be shocked by the one thing that has been the Mahomes killer is offensive tackle play because with Creed Humphrey in the middle, you're, you're he sustains you know, he's going to hold the anchor down there. I know Caleb Downs is good, but if I'm paying a guy $50 million a year, I need the insurance policy of elite tackle play.
- [27:11]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
The thing though, on defense, typically the top defensive players, D linemen, definitely the corners go within the top 15, sometimes offensive linemen, the right tackle position, you know, depending on the eye of the beholder a little bit they could package some stuff and go from 29 because not a lot of teams, a lot of teams want to trade back, but there aren't a lot of teams that want to move forward. What if they got aggressive and came from like 29 into the teens to maybe get the Georgia guy? So you get a Reuben Bain, one of the top corners of Caleb down and a tackle. You know, I, I, I, I think the Chiefs are one of the biggest wild cards we've seen a long time in the draft because they could do a little McVeigh trade next year's one to get, I mean, heck, they can go from nine to. They could move right into three or something if they really wanted to.
- [27:55]
Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
Right.
- [27:56]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
You don't think the Cardinals would love to move back and accumulate some picks for next year?
- [27:59]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
I was just looking at the New York Giants. I keep saying with the New York Giants, everybody loves the number five pick, but they don't have many draft picks. And you know what? Harbaugh wants to get his own guys in the building. You have a Dexter Lawrence situation, I think, I think John Harbaugh and Shane, I think they'd go down to 15 and try to get the second best defense. I mean that the kid from Clemson, you get him at 13, 14, 15. I think the Giants would move down 10 spots tomorrow if they could end up getting a third and a fourth in a second.
- [28:29]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
Well, let's stick with the draft because I know that you are really high on Makai Lemon and I really like him. And the Rams connection? Well, former NFL GM and longtime TV guy Mike Mayock believes that Sean McVeigh would have a field day if they were able to land Lemon, adding that ASU's Jordan Tyson could be a great consolation price. But here's the thing, Colin. Obviously they've had five total picks and really beside Jared Verse, they hadn't had a first round pick since 2016. So they don't pick in this round, let alone pick high in this round.
- [29:04]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Right.
- [29:05]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
Their two best wide receivers over the McVeigh era are Puka. Fifth round pick. Pretty sure Cooper cup was a third round pick. He was part of having a McVeigh, a Ben Johnson, a Kyle Shanahan. I can find guys in the second third round and turn them into stars. Why not get an offensive lineman here? When are they ever going to pick this?
- [29:25]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Well this is a great point by you Puka fifth round Kyron Williams fifth round I mean think about this. Blake Corum third round Higsby the tight end I think was a fourth rounder out of like Eastern Kentucky or something. If you go I mean devonte was a free agent. I think he was a second round
- [29:44]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
of Fresno State Ferguson last year from Oregon the second round they have if
- [29:48]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
you go look at their skill players dude it is a lot they went and got Jordan Whittingham out of the Texas in the sixth round. They got a seventh rounder out of Pitt Mumfield last year receiver he's capable so I mean it's a great point by you McVeigh has made. I mean fourth round on they have crushed it with skill players since McVeigh's been there.
- [30:10]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
I'd be thinking offensive line if the right guy was there. Just because those guys are premiums they usually go in the top 20 in the Rams there's for the foreseeable future may never sniff a pick that high again. Back to the draft. Travis Hunter was a massive draft day trade last year right when the Jags moved up but he was supposed to play both ways and maybe six months ago when I was on this show we played a John Harbaugh sound bite that said that that's impossible and it was just announced that it they the Jaguars agreed because now he's just going to play corner. I think it's fair to say yes and it's easy to play Monday morning quarterback a year or two years after the draft. They regret making that trade because Mason Graham for the Browns is excellent. They got more picks they traded way they traded a first round pick this year he's not this isn't Dion and listen I'm not trying to be critical. He's a really good player but he
- [31:04]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
was really good at both.
- [31:05]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
He was never to me going to
- [31:07]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
be a star at one or the other.
- [31:08]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
Part of his value was being Shohei Otani.
- [31:11]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Okay.
- [31:11]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
But he's not Shohei Ohtani.
- [31:13]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Yeah. You know this goes back to some degree to the Arvell Reese. If you're going in to the NFL what are you and if you tell me well he could be this or he could Micah Parsons is a great athlete. The Cowboys bring him in. They play around it like Linebacker and they're like, he doesn't have quick eyes that way. That's not what he is. I remember Hassan Redick at Arizona, Steve Kimes, like, I mean they, they thought it was a bust pick and then they're like, let's just put him on the edge, see it, get it go. And then Hasan Reddick became a really good player. So I mean think how great of an athlete Micah Parsons is. He couldn't do the linebacker thing and he still struggles against the run. He's not good against the run. So the idea that you can go because you're dominating in the Big 12 at Colorado and you're going to be an elite receiver. Think about the great quarterbacks in this league. John Brady's flying people down to Costa Rica in the off season to get the timing down. You're going to be in a defensive meeting half the time. It doesn't work. You got to pick a lane. In this league.
- [32:13]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
The Browns take a lot of crap and a lot of it is, is more than fair. But this trade, Mason Graham was a monster for them. I mean he's been a monster probably his whole life. Quinton Junkins, before he got hurt, was one of the best running backs in the NFL. Yeah, obviously they got the first round pick. That was a big time trade by the Browns. You know that.
- [32:32]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Yeah.
- [32:33]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
For a guy that doesn't exactly look like Deion Sanders, has only been one year but hasn't gone seemingly, I would say a smooth transition from Colorado.
- [32:44]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
You know, it's funny, Mason Graham I saw, I like watching high school tape and he was obviously servite in Southern California.
- [32:51]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
Oh yeah.
- [32:51]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
And I watched him against a high school player who was going to go get a scholarship and he grabbed him, offensive lineman and threw him to the ground. Kid probably weighs 300. I watched one play, Michigan played USC a couple years ago and Manheim was a fifth six round pick, offensive line, good player, smart player for USC. Mason Graham at one point grabbed him at 310 and just threw him down like a throw pillow. And like Graham is one of those guys. D lineman are always tough because like they don't always play hard every play. But that I love Mason Graham. I said it before the draft. He had his doubters, he did a good job.
- [33:30]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
I mean he almost in Ohio State, the Michigan game, when they tried to run right up the gut. Mason Graham said no. And that 6 and 6 Michigan, Michigan team won that game and he played a large role in that thing.
- [33:41]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Yeah. John Middlekop for the News.
- [33:44]
Fox Sports Radio Announcer
Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by. The Herd line news.
- [33:48]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Yeah, it's. I was always so skeptical on this play a little corner, play a little wide receiver. Dude, it's just not the pro football is so hard. That's why what Shohei Odani is doing. I'm watching a clip of Shohei Ohtani a couple weeks ago or he's literally on the mound pitching and he's going to the dugout and he's like, oh, I forgot I'm batting. It's like what he's doing doesn't. It doesn't make sense. It's Babe Ruth plus. Interesting, Interesting. What's happening today? I'll get to this in a second.
- [34:23]
Fox Sports Radio Announcer
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the iHeartrade Diehard radio app.
- [34:33]
Kat (College Athlete)
We're lost and kickoff's coming up. I don't want to miss the lineup. I'm gonna ask that man for directions. Hi there. We're trying to get to the stadium.
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Kat (College Athlete)
How is their signal out here?
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Kat (College Athlete)
Actually, can you pull up the way to a T Mobile store?
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- [37:14]
Umar Valderrama (State Farm Ad Speaker)
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- [38:03]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
State Farm is there Saturday night Baseball is on Fox. This week we've got Roman Anthony and the Red Sox first, the Cardinal Cardinals, or it's Raphael Devers and the Giants against the Orioles. Baseball Night in America Tomorrow at 7 Eastern, only on Fox.
- [38:20]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
So you know I've been on this and I've done probably 10 segments on this because I, I've become, I've really moved toward baseball and I've said this, always been a huge college football fan. But I stopped talking a lot of college football for about 10 years. I thought it got incredibly regional. It felt like it was Ohio State, Bama, Georgia, maybe Clemson. Like it was four teams. That's why I was really rooting for Indiana last year. I'm like, okay, this is great. It's great for the sport. Broaden it out. And I also, with baseball, I think Rob Manfred deserves a lot of credit. He didn't get stubborn. He's like, you know, what do they always say to correct something? You have to admit a fault. And it's like defensive shift, get rid of it. Pitch clock. Now the ABS system, they just made a lot of tweaks. And we all love baseball, especially in October, right? And we like fast baseball, succinct baseball. But you know, there's this, there's this feeling that, oh, they're going to have a big labor strife. And I'll remind you that the Dodgers had the fifth best record in baseball last year. Fifth. And had two elimination games in the World Series and really should have lost the game. I mean, Dave Roberts had on a short list of the greatest managerial experience in the history of the sport in the last several innings. I mean, Rojas putting in a defensive outfielder who made a great catch. So I do not believe in this apocalyptic Baseball is in Trouble. I detailed 30 minutes ago how outside of the Dodgers, the next nine highest payrolls all are struggling. All of them. The Mets, Yankees can't hit either can the Phillies, Jays can't. Braves are all banged up. Astros bullpens atrocious. Cubs in last place. Padres can't hit either can the Tigers. So it's just a bunch of nonsense. Think about this. Since 2020, the brewers, the Guardians and, and. And the Tampa Bay Rays have more playoffs have made the playoffs more than the Mets, the Cubs and the Red Sox. So it's. And, and here's the secret sauce to baseball that the NBA doesn't have have. Baseball's got something that the NFL does. It's the League of Hope. You can get dramatically better. Here's the key though. Fast, fast. Toronto last place. American League east the next year lead the Dodgers in the World Series three games to two. You cannot do that in the NBA. You are relegated to your payroll and stars. You, you. You're resigned to what you're going to be going in. The over under is pretty easy you go back to 2022. A couple years ago, the Rangers were atrocious. 68 wins. The next year they're in the World Series facing the Diamondbacks, who two years earlier won 52 games. So, like, you are a superstar and a couple of great young players. The Cincinnati's done the Cincinnati small market. They got a superstar and a couple of great young players. I mean, the Pittsburgh Pirates have Paul Skeens. They have this kid named Connor Griffin that just signed a massive contract. Going to be a superstar potentially. Skeens was talking about this kid yesterday. Super happy for him and his family. Glad, you know, glad you got a deal that works for him.
- [41:39]
Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame Football Coach)
And
- [41:41]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
yeah, he's, he's. He's going to be the face of the Pirates for a long time. Yeah. So I just, I just don't bite now. And I, and I've said this before, if the Dodgers lose the World Series, we don't have a looming absolute work stoppage. They had the fifth best record in baseball. I mean, the year before against the Padres, they had two other elimination games. So I just don't buy I and everybody in. I'm supposed to believe the Kyle Tucker signing. That's the one. Kyle Tucker drove Cub fans crazy. If the Dodgers don't win, we don't have this stuff. No, nobody. We're just saying like, I mean, go look at the nine of the top ten payrolls right now. They're all struggling and nobody can hit. I mean, I think Aaron judge is hitting like 222. He can't hit either. So we, we had P.J. carlissimo on yesterday and I've never been a huge awards guy. We all know who's good. We all know who. You know, people just lose their, you know what on who's going to win the mvp. So there's been a lot of talk about Rookie of the Year between Con Knippel of Duke and Cooper Flag flag's bigger. I think he has a more diverse offensive package. I think his bag. There's just more to it. He's a more forceful player. Kneppo's a fairly good shooter. He can do a lot more than shoot, but he's a really good shooter. And I think part of what makes the Con canymple story great is with Lobelo ball, it's like, oh, finally Charlotte's got a life. They got a pulse. They're kind of fun. They're both really good players. Both went to Duke and let's look at the full screen. So I, I'm a Cooper Flag. I think Cooper flag ceiling is much higher. I think Cooper flag could be all NBA eight times. I think Con canipple could make five All Star games. So Flags averaging more, better rebounder, more assists. You know, if they had a three point shooting contest. I do. I take Con canipple maybe, yeah. Overall, player, athlete, size. I take Cooper flag. Here was PJ Carlissimo talking about knipple against Flag.
- [43:47]
P.J. Carlissimo (Basketball Analyst)
The big difference between he and Khan. Khan's role with Charlotte was more conducive than what I thought, than what Cooper had to do in Dallas. And yet at the same time he's generational. Colin and even I could figure it out. If you watch one practice in Vegas, him against the Olympic team and this was before he went to Duke, but he was dominating these workouts. He was the best player on the select team. He was unbelievable.
- [44:16]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
One of the great things, it's really a cool thing about basketball and maybe it's because I'm just kind of thinking about this on the fly. In football you need so much help. Like in baseball, Paul Skeens can play for a horrible team and win the Cy Young. I mean, we'll give you the award even though you can't win games because your, your team can't hit. In baseball. I mean, I remember when I was a kid there was a pitcher for the Padres named Randy Jones. He was a sinker ball pitcher, left hander. They were horrible. But I always remember that the, the, the Cincinnati Reds and the Big Red Machine, he would just shut them down. He's the only guy. Ground ball, ground ball, ground ball. If you're great, it doesn't matter what's around you. I mean, Shohei Ohtani was playing for the Angels. Mike Trout was playing for the Angels. You're like, oh, that's the best player in baseball. Basketball is a little bit the same. I mean, Michael Jordan breaks into the NBA and he's got guys doing blow in the hotel room. They don't have the right coach, they don't have players. They got selfish ball hogs everywhere. And Jordan's like, I'm dropping 60. And you're like, wow, now you're not going to win the title. But it didn't really matter what was around him. Like in baseball and bass. In baseball and basketball, if you're great, you're great. Football's different. Patrick Mahomes gets mauled in games. I mean, last year he didn't have enough. He doesn't have tackles. You are so dependent in football. Now there are exceptions in football. Running back Barry Sanders. Sorry. I watched Walter Payton in the 70s for atrocious bear teams, and you could not bring him down with. With one defender. Walter Payton's the. I've always said, walter Payton's the best running back I've ever seen. We can argue about number two. You know, Christian McCaffrey, Barry Sanders, you know, Adrian Peterson. We can argue about Walter Payton's the best. Walter Payton played on mostly terrible teams. Barry Sanders played in terrible teams. So running backs different. And I also kind of feel like this at corner, like Sauce Gardner, first year jets, you're like, yep, that works. Guy played at Cincinnati, walks into the NFL, you're like, is he the second best corner? So there are a couple football positions. You're kind of in a silo. You're on an island. Even a great wide receiver, you're dependent on a quarterback who can get you the ball. In an offensive line. I mean, Calvin Johnson, it's remarkable. He had Matt Stafford, but Stafford was running for his life a lot. So you need. Even at wide receiver, A.J. brown's great. Well, my guy can't get it to me, right, so. But in basketball, the great part about it is Cooper flag can be surrounded. I mean, Kyrie Irving's hurt, Anthony Davis got hurt. It doesn't matter. Do leads him in points, rebounds, assists, steals, free throws, minutes. He's up there with Jordan and Bird. In terms of rookie numbers, it. You can really, I mean, for P.J. carlissimo to watch a practice, and you're like, yep, that works. It'd be very hard to do that in football outside of maybe running back. I mean, let's be honest. That's why in football. You ever notice this in football, in basketball, all the great players play for AAU teams. What's happened in football is if you go to Southern California in football, there's like four programs and all the great players play together. And that makes it easier for a college recruiter. I mean, again, Lemon Makai. Lemon played in the great high school team because he also had a Division 1 quarterback, I imagine, playing for him. So you can judge how good he is. Otherwise, you could be a great wide receiver and, you know, you got some new alarm quarterback, can't get you the ball. So I just think. I think one of the cool things about, you know, baseball, you got a scout behind the plate with a jugs gun. You're sitting there and it doesn't matter who's on the field. I want to watch this. Can you name another player with Bryce Harper on his high school team in Las Vegas. No, nobody cares. Doesn't matter who's hitting in front of him, who's hitting behind him. Bryce Harper was unbelievable. Watch the swing, watch the power. Watch the batting cage. And I think baseball and basketball uniquely give you that. It's probably the same in soccer. I mean, I don't, I don't know who Pulisic's high school and college teammates were. I just know the first time I saw Christian Pulisic, I'm like, I think that's the most skilled domestic soccer star I've ever seen. Football can do more with it than anybody I've ever seen in America. All right, John. You know, I put up my, my mock draft yesterday. I was getting feedback on does look like my mock draft. I had Arvell Reese, I'm not going to have to do another one. I had Arvell Reese going second. The story today now the odds of shift, they've shifted now David Bailey is going second. So I'm, I believe the odds to be right. I think somebody's leaking. I think somebody's looking for protection in that jets building. If you had a guess today who goes second, where would you go?
- [49:23]
John Middlekauff (NFL Draft Analyst)
I would guess Bailey because I was looking earlier that Reese is going to be. He's basically two years younger and an older player. We talk about this a lot in college football or basketball. Well, who gives Aaron Glenn a better chance to win week four? The 20 year old or the guy that's going to be 23 in August? Bailey does, right? Just a little older. Been multiple places, right? Stanford originally. So he's pretty smart. I listen, I think that Aaron Glenn is going to do everything possible to survive.
- [49:54]
Colin Cowherd (Host of The Herd)
Yeah, and it's still my number work. Hi, it's Colin Coward. If you're looking for the best blend of durability and affordability in decking, trust Summit decking from deckorators Summit features deckorators patented surestone technology so the boards won't splinter, sag, chalk or crack over time. And the colors three great options that really capture the rich textures of natural wood. Honestly, it's the best decking you didn't know you could afford. Order a sample before peak build season. Order a sample today. Visit decorators.com herd to get your free sample. That's decorators with A K again decorators.com
- [50:37]
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