← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
THE HERD - Hour 2 - Ranking the top 10 players left in the NBA playoffs, Rachel Nichols
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- [00:00]
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Colin Cowherd
EVs are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life. Drive daily with confidence everywhere you go. Most Americans drive 40 miles a day. Most EVs are equipped with 200 to 400 miles of range. They've got fewer parts, fewer repairs and fewer headaches. With hundreds of new and used EV models available today, there's an EV to fit every lifestyle and every budget. I love my electric vehicle. It's easy. No more gas stations. The way forward is electric. Learn more@electric for all.org it's smart to always have a few financial goals and a really smart one. You can set earning cash back on what you buy every day. And with Discover you can get this. Discover automatically matches all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year. Seriously, all of it. And we trust you to make smart decisions. I mean, after all, you listen to this show. See terms@discover.com credit card Niall Horan presents Dinner party live on tour, performing across North America in 2027. Get tickets now@livenation.com thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and Noon to 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. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome in hour two, Knicks stave off losing home court elimination Western Conference Finals Eastern Conference Finals Back to back nights Unbelievable. I do like, I do like the Knicks to win game two and I like Oklahoma and SGA to even up that series and I think they'll win comfortably. So I was thinking about the four teams left and when you get to conference finals and you get to the finals, you know, a lot of times that rotation cinches down a little bit. Oklahoma City's obviously got a great bench. The Knicks bench has bodies. One of the reasons the Sixers are done is they have no bench. So I think it's important. It's not. It's not going to win a title. But if I was Naming the top 10 players left in the NBA, we thought about it this morning. Who would be the top 10 players left? Actually, one of the harder spots is at the bottom. I would probably do James Harden at 10. Listen, everybody can beat up on him this morning and he's a huge defensive liability. But we have in his. His turnovers have shot through the roof. But there are times in playoff games where Cleveland needs a basket and if Donovan Mitchell's in foul trouble or Donovan Mitchell's not on the floor. He's an incredibly deft offensive player. I would put hard net ten. Number nine is Jalen Williams. Again, didn't play much this season. Very good player. I'm not as high on him as everybody else though. I think he's a very good player. He's going to give you 20 points. He's going to defend. He's going to give you, you know, five rebounds. I just always feel like the team is really centered around SGA and their bigs. People probably think I have this too low. But my number eight player I would put above him one spot is Donovan Mitchell who gets criticized because he can't defend. That's fair. But he's the seventh highest point per game player in league history. In the playoffs, he's just behind LeBron James. Donovan Mitchell leads the Cavs in virtually everything. I mean like points, steals, assists, three pointers. Donovan Mitchell. When Donovan Mitchell gets hot, he can be on a class of very elite players in the league. Now he plays in the silo sometimes you give him the ball, you never see it back. He's not going to defend you. He's not a perfect player. I put him at 8. You're going to go crazy. But I would put 20 year old Dylan Harper at 7. He's the best rookie guard I've seen since Magic Johnson. I think he's going to be all NBA either next year or the next year. I mean, he is an insane talent. Rebounds for his size, incredible first step, can use both hands. He is a significantly better player today than four months ago. I mean you. He's got. Wemby's going to get all the discussion. And Wemby certainly improved, especially on the offensive end. This kid's exploding as a player. I put him seven. I would put Carl Anthony Towns, the new Carl Anthony Towns at 6, the one that has tripled his assist numbers. The one that has become a offensive initiator and hub. Now, he's not much of a defensive player. He can be a little kooky. I mean, he'll get four fouls faster than anybody. But we gotta be fair. During this eight game streak when he has been a play initiator, the Knicks are eight. No, he's been sensational. Number five, Stefan Castle. He is a defensive bully. Just a tough heart. Now his, his jumper can be a little streaky. I love him though. I think the thing about him that I love is he can be intimidating physically. Like he'll, he'll go after your guys. Like that's why I think like he'd go after Brunson. He'll be like, okay, I'm gonna wear you out for six or seven games. I think he's a tremendous player. He's a 19, 5 and 5 guy. He's shooting 45% this postseason. So you gotta like that. He's still working on that. Everybody loves Stefan Castle. Number four. I think he's one of the most underrated players in the league. OG on an Obi, is he the best 3 and D wing in the league? I mean, last night's a great example. He's playing at about 70% last night, dominates overtime, scores nine of his 14 points, gets to the free throw line eight times. If you talk to coaches and GMs in the league, they think the Knicks stole him from Toronto. He is a classy, hard working, big body, tough three and D wing. He was money last night. He's just got that. He mean, like there are certain people you see in the elevator and you're like, oh, you must be a pro athlete. That guy fills out the uniform. He's playing at about 75% now. I generally put him above Jalen Brunson, but he's planted about 75%. So number three would be Jalen Brunson. Yes. He can get worked, but he is. I mean, if you look at his fourth quarter numbers since he has joined the Knicks, he's not only a good fourth quarter player, he's got 89 more points than anybody else in the fourth quarter. And because now he didn't have the ball in his hands as much with the new offense, with cat play initiating, he's got great energy. So yeah, I mean, he's just one of those guys. It's just remarkable. He's in Dallas, he's a good player, but he didn't necessarily always fit with Luca and it just was a springboard to let him be the quarterback. Of the Knicks. And now the Knicks have said, we love you so much, we're going to protect you and take the ball out of your hands at times. And it's been Magic 8. No. Since they started doing that. Number two would be Shea SGA. Listen, reigning MVP. Not a wildly vertical player. Not a great defensive player. He can get hunted. Not like Luka, but he can get hunted. Not like Harden. But you know what? He's. I mean, if you just look, he's got an NBA best 25 games with 30 plus points over the last three postseasons. He's your get a bucket guy. We talk about the playoffs all the time. Got. You need bucket getters. I love the Pistons. They need another bucket getter. SJ is as good as anybody in the league at that. Number one, I would have voted an MVP. Best defensive player, arguably ever. Youngest player 22 all time with 40 points and 20 rebounds in the playoff game. Is he Wilt? Well, they have totally different games. Is he a young Lu Alcinder? Different games, but closer. I love everything about him. Unapologetically aspirational. He wants to win every award. I said he's steak frites. It may be traditionally French, but it's steak and potatoes. It's American too. This kid is everything. Outspoken, smart worker, intimidating, great teammates. I even like the pose. I'm sorry, I think that's. I love this. It's a little American. It's a little us. So what? I love him. All right. Rachel Nichols covering the NBA, Fox Sports, NBA analyst. Any. Any of those people in my top 10. I. I will admit I think OG is the most underrated player in the league. Anything on that? I don't know what to do with Harden. I put him in there. I. I don't know what to do with him after last night. What do you do with him?
- [09:18]
Rachel Nichols
I was going to suggest that the James Harden like maroon colored bar should just be. Because half the time he's really good and then half the time not so much. You said you were gonna get flack for Dylan Harper. I think Dylan Harper should be higher on your list. I think he should be at least six. And honestly, I think he and Cassell, who you have fifth, could swap. You know, it's either one. Either way, Dylan Harper has been a maniac on both ends of the court.
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Colin Cowherd
Crazy.
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Rachel Nichols
Just. And so much court sense. Obviously. Son of an NBA player. I cannot say enough good things about him and how instrumental he was in that game. One win. I'd bump him up maybe two spots.
- [09:59]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, he is Just. I mean, I said, magic Johnson walked onto the scene, and immediately you were like, Tone Setter. Like, oh, my God. He. Dylan Harper similarly has the big. Around him. You know, it's interesting. It's so funny, Rachel, I was saying this yesterday. There are these moments in sports where you have to reevaluate everything. And I said, not only were the spurs the winner, the Milwaukee Bucks were the winner. Because everybody goes, well, Giannis is having injuries. And I'm like, guys, you're not beating. I mean, good God, Chad Holmgren and Isaiah Hardenstein are great players. And they're like, put Caruso on him. It makes you real. I mean, I. I think Rudy Gobert got played off the floor.
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Rachel Nichols
Yes.
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Colin Cowherd
And I look at Giannis, and I think, that's the last hope. I mean, and so to me, if I'm Milwaukee, I am rooting for Wemby to flush it. I mean, seriously, Rachel, if you're the Lakers, it makes.
- [10:54]
Rachel Nichols
It makes Giannis more valuable. I get it.
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Colin Cowherd
No, I mean, I. So my takeaway is Wemby's win one of those sports moments where it makes general managers and players in the league reevaluate their current status?
- [11:06]
Rachel Nichols
I think so. And I think they've been reevaluating it, frankly, for the entire season. Look, you know me, I was early on Wemby, before he was drafted, I said, this guy is going to be a top 10 player of all time. And at the beginning of this season, I said, look, I was wrong. He's going to be a top five player of all time. I absolutely believe that. Barring injury, he is so special. And like Steph Curry, who changed the entire fabric and geometry of the game, Wemby does that, too. I mean, he completely shifts the kind of shots you can take where on the floor you can take them from. And we saw that with the spurs, you know, against the Thunder. I don't know if you're a GM anywhere else in the league how you would counter that, because he's just different. And for a while, for a few years, nobody could counter Steph Curry. He's just a different kind of player who does different things on the court, and it's going to be fascinating to see if the Thunder can stop him this series.
- [12:03]
Colin Cowherd
You know, Nick Wright came on the show and he was saying, you know, he's like, I don't. I'm not predicting this, but if you look at Oklahoma City and Sam Presti, they have all these pick swaps and draft picks, and they got a great bench that's wonderful. You do not need a great bench to win a title. And I do think how they're playing Wemby is kind of a signal that we don't really have an answer. And it makes me think, you know, the old saying people always say about people with money is you can't take it to the grave. Right? Like at some point, go buy a boat, do something, have fun.
- [12:37]
Rachel Nichols
Right.
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Colin Cowherd
And my take is you can't take all those draft picks at some point, having another wing on the bench doesn't matter. Could you see Presti if they lose this series, saying, we're going to go after Giannis, we have the best package?
- [12:52]
Rachel Nichols
I'm not sure that Giannis is quite the right fit for them, but I do expect him to go after someone big this offseason. They've got three first round draft picks. It's just insane. And they can't use them all. They just can't. They only have one roster spot right now, so I just think that he's. You. You can't have that many young players. You can't have that many spots taken up by those kinds of players. So I would expect him to maybe package the two that are not the Clippers pick and see what they can get if they go star hunting. I'm not sure it's going to be Giannis, but I think it is going to be someone, so.
- [13:28]
Colin Cowherd
It's so interesting. Mike Brown. There were rumors, I can remember a month ago in the regular season, and these were headlines in, like, New York newspapers. Yeah, Mike Brown is in trouble and the team chemistry stinks. Those were New York reporters who'd covered the team. Did you buy those headlines? Was that James Dolan trying to inspire his team and leak stuff? I mean, what do you make of those reports?
- [13:55]
Rachel Nichols
That's an amazing idea. Sorry, I gotta get smart.
- [13:58]
Colin Cowherd
It's okay. Take your time. No problem. You're battling a cold Rachel Nichols.
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Rachel Nichols
There we go. There we go. No, that's a fascinating idea, and I wouldn't put it past James Dolan, but no, I mean, look, the Knicks have been wildly inconsistent all season. What's the number one thing we've said about them? They go up and down, up and down. I just expected more of that. And so far they've been up, up, up, and we'll have to see if they can get to the finals before they go down, down, down, because they're not beating either of these Western Conference teams.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I tend to agree with you. So I thought this was interesting. And Jason McIntyre talked about this stuff gets out because people want it out.
- [14:40]
Rachel Nichols
Yes.
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Colin Cowherd
Right. So when. When I see a story that comes out, Rachel, and it just shockingly came out yesterday, taking a League minimum for LeBron James is off the table. Well, that's funny. It comes out today, but I was watching Harden ball centric get worked. And I said, rachel, I like Luka more than Harden. But there are some similarities. They're not in great shape. They get hunted. They're offensively lopsided. They're not great athletes. They're great scorers. And if you have them as your primary, you have got to build your team a certain way. With LeBron, you can put anybody with him.
- [15:17]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah.
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Colin Cowherd
With MJ, you could put anybody with him. With Kareem in his prime, like Shaq. That's not it. With Harden or Luca or Donovan Mitchell. So when lee, when. When LeBron and his company leak, we're not taking the league minimum. Well, you need a rim protector and at least two minimum, three. And D wings. You don't have any of that stuff.
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Rachel Nichols
Yeah.
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Colin Cowherd
So how do you think that plays that. That headline in the Laker offices this morning that this is off the table. Well, what does that mean?
- [15:46]
Rachel Nichols
Well, look, the Lakers have to make the first move in these negotiations. And I think that leak, which. Absolutely, Jason's right, happens for a reason. I think that leak was about setting where the Lakers first move should be. It can't be at that 14 million. It's got to be higher. So we'll have to see what the Lakers do. Do they offer him the kind of salary he wants? And more importantly, and Colin, you know, I've been saying this for months. It's about the role as well. And that was part of that story. What kind of player do they want him to be for them? And I think those two questions are going to have to come from. The answers are going to have to come from the Lakers side before the entire league can get in position about LeBron James. Because if they come with enough, LeBron wants to stay in LA. He's made it, you know, clear in all the ways that he loves living here. His family's here. His wife and daughter, who are the ones who still live at home, love it here. So I think that if the Lakers want to keep him, they can keep him. But if they don't want to, because, as you said, not because he's a bad player or because he's past it, but just because they have other priorities building around Luca, they're going to say, look, take it or leave it and there's a good chance that after this leak, we see LeBron leave it and we'll have to see if that's to retire, if that's to go to Cleveland, if that's to go to a place like Golden State. I don't think he would go just anywhere. And I think proximity to his family is going to be part of it.
- [17:20]
Colin Cowherd
I do. You know, whenever we say team friendly deal, that immediately feels like anti player. But the truth is like when Mahomes takes a team friendly deal, one of the reasons is the Chiefs feel like we can win the super bowl with you.
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Rachel Nichols
Yes.
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Colin Cowherd
Like in a weird way it's taking some away, but it's feeding you other good players. I mean, if you're an average quarterback, you just take what you can take. When you're a great quarterback, you do. Drew Brees, you have to consider like Josh Allen, how much money do I need? I got 350 million in the bank and six homes. So Austin Reaves is not a great player.
- [17:57]
Rachel Nichols
Yeah.
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Colin Cowherd
And he's never made good money. But you can't give him a max because then you can't move him. And we have back to back playoffs. He hasn't been healthy. He hasn't shown the ability to stay healthy as the season wears. He's, he plays hard, but there are some limitations to him athletically. Is there a big market? My question, is there a big market for him outside of la?
- [18:23]
Rachel Nichols
Absolutely. The kind of player he is, the offensive spark that he is, I think the Lakers are going to be forced to pay him more than they would ideally want to because he is such an important cog of their team. Because Luka, that is his guy. And they cannot take away someone who is going to make Luka more comfortable on the court. So they're going to have to pay him what he wants to be paid, in my opinion because there are plenty of other teams that would make an offer on him for sure.
- [18:53]
Colin Cowherd
Rachel Nichols, as always, Fox Sports cover the NBA since 1993. We'll have another one with OKC in San Antonio. Great seeing you as always.
- [19:00]
Rachel Nichols
See you later, Colin.
- [19:02]
Colin Cowherd
All right, thanks. Yeah, she has Dylan Harper even higher than seven. I, I was like, I told the staff, I'm like, I can't put him like top five. And that kid is. His dad was of course Ron Harper, who was, you know, Ron Harper is an interesting player. He played was. He scored a lot of points for the Clippers Cavs. Then he went to the Bulls. By the time he went to the Bulls they needed him to be a defensive stopper, not an offensive player. So he was one of those guys like Chris Bosh in Miami. You know, they, they love Chris, but they had Ray Allen scoring and D. Wade scoring and LeBron scorn and Bosch could score, but they needed Bosh to do something else on certain nights. So Ron Harper, always a really good defender, good player and you know, a lot of people that make pro sports teams have dads or moms who are great athletes. Yeah, he was 19 a game for the Clippers. Yeah, he was a good player. I mean, Ron Harper was a, I don't know. Was he an all star? A couple of times? He was a very good two way player. He averaged 19 a game for the Clippers and the Cavs and then he went to Chicago and it's like we need experience, toughness, defense, and his kid is just now he was a five time all star. There you go. One more herd.
- [20:08]
Jason McIntyre
The herd streams 24 hours a day,
- [20:10]
Colin Cowherd
seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app search heard to listen live or
- [20:14]
Jason McIntyre
on demand whenever you'd like.
- [20:16]
Colin Cowherd
Hey, it's Ben, host of the fifth Hour with Ben Maller. Would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking, what in God's name is the fifth Hour? I'll tell you. It's a spin off of the Ben Mather Show, a cult hit overnights on fsr. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry in media, sports and more every week. Explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast brought
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- [21:32]
Colin Cowherd
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- [23:44]
Jason McIntyre
One.
- [23:45]
Colin Cowherd
We do not want to go to a 2014 playoff. One, two, three, four. The Big Ten president came out and said, yeah, we're doing a 2014 playoff. We've had zero conversations. One, two, three. So now Notre Dame, Big Ten, the ACC, the Big 12, as soon as you can, they're all doing the 24. And the SEC, which only has one big dog. Texas money. Okay, PCM's got Phil Knight, Nike money, USCLA money, Ohio State money, Michigan money. Penn State's got a lot of money. When you Are terrified of the future. You cling to the past. I keep hearing this. Oh, I mean, it's going to kill the regular season. Oh, that's adorable. That's what you told me two years ago when the playoffs started. And last year there were 12 teams in the playoff and the college football regular season ratings and attendance went up. Do you really think Ohio State, Michigan's ever not going to matter? Or Auburn, Alabama or Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida? You think it's suddenly not going to matter? College football is a great rivalry sport. It's small towns, it's provincial, it's parochial, it's tribal. All the great things sports can be, you know, pro sports. There's not that many rivalries. I mean, let's be honest, like players change, you know, it doesn't really matter where you play. The Bulls used to run the NBA. They've been irrelevant for 20 years. Doesn't matter. The Knicks until last couple years have been irrelevant. NBA players did fine. But college football is about small towns and rivalries. And Auburn and Alabama is going to matter forever. You've been to Auburn, Alabama, not a lot to do. That game matters. I mean, I'm being honest. And you go to Philadelphia. If the Phillies stink, I got the Eagles. Eagles stink. I got the Sixers. I got college sports, I got, I got everything. You go to these, you go to these college towns. Norman, Oklahoma, the football team matters. I don't even care if they're having to lose in season talking about it. Recruiting matters, the games matter. Spring football matters. I mean, everything matters. And that's awesome. That's what's great about college sports. But whenever I hear this, oh, it's going to ruin the regular season. I thought last year was my favorite college football season, period in forever. Regular season, postseason. So the reason 24 games matters is because if you're going to invite little guys to a 12 team playoff and then Notre Dame automatically gets a bit if they are ranked like top 10 or top 12. Well, now it's a 19 playoff. Well, who wants to schedule big tough out of conference games when you only got nine spots, right? So the more spots the better. Now coaches obviously love it because more of them, you know, if you get into the playoff, it's like, hey, we're getting into the playoff. But baseball figured this out. Like baseball purists don't like the wild card. They don't like all these three game series. But the longer you can extend more fan bases with a chance to make the playoffs, the more meaningful the regular season is. I Try to explain this to people. I don't get it. Well, some of you do, but it's like college football 10 years ago, five years ago, if you lost a second game by mid October, season's over, you can lose a second game. I mean go look at Miami last year. They won early, lost a couple of mid season. Just win your next four games. College. And I love college football. It is in there. There are times I think it's my favorite sport. But I mean the idea that you had to be perfect or you were only allowed one loss. Well now the Big Ten in the SEC are super conferences. You've added Texas, Oklahoma, you've added Oregon and Washington and USCs are super conferences. Big Indiana going 16 and oh, we're going to look back at that in a decade and be like how in the hell did that happen? Going, I mean think how good Indiana was last year. They almost lost four games. Ohio State lost to Michigan as a 20 point favorite. In the old system they don't even get in. They won. The natty Miami in the old system wouldn't even have gotten into the playoffs last year. So I thought the playoffs, I mean college football needs more big games. The bigger the tournament, the more big games. I mean I can live with a 16 game tournament, but I love the idea. I looked at USC schedule yesterday and I said, well, you're not going to beat Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon. Like you're going to lose at least one of those games and probably two should you be out of it. But what if you lose to the Buckeyes in Oregon but you beat Indiana, you beat Washington, you beat Penn State and you blow a couple of them out. Are you not a playoff team? I don't know. I am. For more people invited into the tent and again, we're not talking college basketball. Well, they want to take how many, how many are they letting into college basketball now? Are we in the 90s or 80s or something ridiculous. But I mean even last year with a 12 team playoff, even last year we had a big time argument on Notre Dame and in the 2014 playoff Notre Dame would get in and Miami. But that was a big argument. Miami. Notre Dame fans felt they deserved to be in over Miami. Miami was beating Indiana until some miraculous stuff happened. So I'm more people in the tent. J Mac with the news. No, no, no, turn on the news.
- [29:32]
Jason McIntyre
This is the herd line news. All right, speaking of tents, let's go to the Atlanta Falcons quarterback situation. It's a big tent and it's Michael Penix versus tua. Penix recently talked about recovering from his ACL and battling TUA for the starting quarterback job. Interesting quotes here, Colin.
- [29:54]
Colin Cowherd
I say I'm running my own race, you know, I can't, I can't look in another lane, you know, but at the same time, you know, we are working together, you know, that's what it's all about, working together and helping each other, you know, finish the race. And obviously we want to come out on top, you know, as far as this team. So like I said, man, I'm running my own race. But you know, to Trevor, they all been there, you know, for me throughout the whole rehab process that I've been going through and, you know, I'm going to be there for them throughout, you know, each and every day we're out there grinding and in the meeting rooms as well. Well, first of all, I think he gets an upgraded coach now. He's got more experience, he's got a little heat behind him. I'm going to still argue this. I've stood next to him, I've met him, I've watched him three times live. Big, strong, accurate ball cuts through weather. I think a lot of what happened in Atlanta was coaching. I don't think they were particularly well coached at a defensive coach. I think for young quarterbacks, we've said this before. If Bo Nix doesn't get Sean Payton and gets a defensive coach, is Bo Nix that good? I mean, look at Drake May's explosion when he got the right coach. Now I'd prefer offense over defense, but I think for a young quarterback, go look at Caleb with a defensive coach and Ben Johnson, he's literally a different player. I mean, so to me, I think everybody has sold their stock. This is not a J.J. mcCarthy situation. We have one injury, we have a guy. I've never had doubts on him. Big, strong, accurate. And now he gets Kevin Stefanski. I think he's going to. I don't want to say Pop, but I think you're going to watch Michael Pennicks this year and you're going to say to yourself, oh, that's a franchise quarterback. How good he is. I don't. Maybe he's 15th, but I still believe he's a starter in the NFL.
- [31:32]
Jason McIntyre
I agree with you, but there are a lot of troubling signs for him. First, let's get this out of the way. Penck vs. Tua is like two of the nicest guy quarterbacks that you can ever have in a, in a quarterback battle. Listening to Penck's Quotes like I'm rooting for him. But you also like Tua a lot. Now, you mentioned injuries, Colin, we flashed it on the screen. Michael Penck has had pretty much as many injuries as you can imagine for a quarterback in the last five years. Some significant ones, yeah. But Tua of course had the concussions. There's the penic injuries. ACL, shoulder, ACL, collarbone, ACL.
- [32:04]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, this is all fair. Go back to the two of panics comps which you had on the screen. Two is numbers. He has Mike McDonald.
- [32:12]
Jason McIntyre
Mike McDaniel.
- [32:13]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, Mike. I'm sorry. Mike McDaniel. Okay. Penix had a defensive coach who got fired for the second time.
- [32:19]
Jason McIntyre
Well, also Miami, you know, the Tyree Kill was gone last year. If we want to go back more than two seasons, Tua was putting up good numbers getting them to the playoffs. Miami's been kind of trash for the last two years. This is a fascinating. I'm kind of with you. I like Penx. But Colin, the fact remains they got a new gm, they got a new coach. And what those two guys joined forces and did was they brought in Tua. They owe. They owe Michael Penix.
- [32:43]
Colin Cowherd
Fair. That's totally fair.
- [32:44]
Jason McIntyre
He's not their guy. It'd be like if a new boss came in and it's like, hey, Colin, we like you. Not sure about J. Mac. What do we got on the market?
- [32:54]
Colin Cowherd
Well, I would just like Penck's. I'd fight for you.
- [32:56]
Jason McIntyre
Oh, my guy. There he is. Okay, Coward. All right, let's go to Aaron Rodgers. Colin. Yes. Let's go from fun to Aaron.
- [33:05]
Colin Cowherd
Michael Wilbon's gonna get. Don't. Don't spend too much time on it. I heard Wilbon was furious.
- [33:11]
Jason McIntyre
All right, Aaron Rodgers. So he's got a new OC in Pittsburgh. And listen, I. I know people are saying Aaron Rodgers is mysterious and all that, but how about this quote from the new OC Colin Aaron. Aaron Rodgers provides feedback and information. You can't beat that because Rodgers has, you know, almost two decades of NFL
- [33:30]
Colin Cowherd
quarterbacks and this is our first mention of him halfway through our show. Yes, I think Aaron's smart and I, I think what he did last year was undervalued because he didn't throw the ball downfield. And the reason is they didn't have a number two receiver. DK Metcalf, you could argue is regressing. Washington got hurt at tight end. They didn't have downfield targets. And I remember game. There were a couple of games I thought Aaron pressed to throw downfield and he got, he got burned on it. So I think, I think people forget what a completely tone deaf offense this organization had. So you look at Aaron last year and go, well, the numbers are okay. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Aaron took a team with one wide receiver. And by the way, not a guy that runs a great route tree in DK Metcalf. He's not jsn like, he's not running the route tree. He is a big, strong get downfield guy and people were covering him over the top, daring you to throw to him. And this was a team that couldn't consistently run the ball for six years. The O lines, talented but uneven. One of their tight ends gets hurt. Go to the Steelers the year before Aaron and then with Aaron and you have to. What did Aaron inherit? Defensive coach, defensive culture, money on defense, Messi o line, bad in the red zone. He cleaned up a lot of junk boy.
- [34:53]
Jason McIntyre
Passionate defense for Aaron Rodgers. Hey, we got to give him some props. At least he's showing up for whatever the Steelers are doing now. At least he's showing up. A couple other guys not doing that, that's a bare minimum. I mean, Colin, you. I mean, the audience doesn't care, but you and I know our bread is butter during the football season. They're pretty upfront. Hey, you gotta be on every show from the beginning of the season of the Super Bowl. You can't miss any shows. And I get that. Right? Can't take holiday vacation. Aaron Rodgers, can you show up just for a week?
- [35:22]
Colin Cowherd
Well, you know, in May.
- [35:23]
Jason McIntyre
That's all I'm asking. Lamar, Justin, Herbert, can you show up?
- [35:26]
Colin Cowherd
You know what? If you date a rock star, don't be shocked if sometimes he strays. And you date Aaron Rodgers, you're going to get an ayahuasca. You're going to get a darkness retreat. You're going to get a mystery marriage, you're going to get an Egypt trip. You just, you signed up for it. That's what you get.
- [35:41]
Jason McIntyre
You get in bed with J. Mac, you don't know what's coming next. I gotta keep you guessing. Cowherd final story now this is a fun one. Colin, I really like this. The Chargers. Okay, we touched on Herbert earlier. We'll get to him in a second. But David and Joku's new just came from Cleveland. Geez, imagine that going from the Browns to the Chargers. Holy cow. He's very excited. Says the offense can be destructive. With McDaniel, Lad Monkey, Quinton Johnson, Gadsden. They picked Up a tight end from Baltimore. But I got to revisit what we talked about earlier. Where's Justin Herbert this week? You know, he's our guy. I know you love him. Comes on the show. What's going on? Do. Do we need Herbert in the building? I mean, Aaron Rodgers showing up in Pittsburgh.
- [36:22]
Colin Cowherd
Well, you. You know, I would say you don't have a new head coach. You don't have a new offensive system. I mean, I guess you do.
- [36:28]
Jason McIntyre
Mike McDaniel.
- [36:30]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. I don't know. I mean, it's a good. It's a good question. I. I don't know. We didn't see that story this morning. I saw the Lamar story.
- [36:37]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah, I kind of forced it on our guys. I was like, listen, we're gonna, we're gonna try to wedge this in here, see if we can throw Coward a curveball, you know, because you like, you like Herbert and you want to defend him now. We haven't heard his side of the story. Maybe it's his grandma's birthday. I don't freaking know, you know? Yeah, but I like my guys in the building. It's a week. Then you could pop over to Cabo or go to Egypt or do a darkness retreat. I do. However, the more I look, Colin, this Chargers offense is going to be nasty. You look at what McDaniel did in Miami in his first year, it was like culture shock. I. I think. I don't want to go overboard and say super bowl, because, you know, super bowl is out here in la. But it'd be nice if they had a playoff win under their belt. But you look at those first two games with McDaniel, they've got two games to percolate before the big one on Fox. I'm telling you, against the Bills, they win that, and it's like, okay, they're super bowl contenders, so I'm going to buy early.
- [37:27]
Colin Cowherd
I know on the Chargers, yeah, they're late schedule. I mean, you got some jets and Bucks and Raiders and Dolphins and. I mean, Denver at Denver. Denver may have a playoff sewn up and they may not. You know, I don't know. I like the Chargers a lot. A lot.
- [37:41]
Jason McIntyre
Football. A lot of good football out here in Los Angeles this winter.
- [37:46]
Colin Cowherd
J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news, and thanks for stopping by. The Herd lie news, all sorts of stuff going on in Chicago. It's 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 brought to
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Colin Cowherd
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- [40:51]
Jason McIntyre
We got more United Football League action coming up this weekend. And the push for the playoffs is on. First Fox UFL Friday features the DC Defenders against the Orlando Storm at 8 Eastern. Then on Sunday, it's the Dallas Renegades and the Louisville Kings at 4, all on Fox.
- [41:10]
Colin Cowherd
By the way, Ron Harper's got five titles. He never did make an All Star team. Correction. Staff member got all fired up. Saw a big five spot there on the graphic. That's why I asked, did Ron Harper make an All Star team? He didn't actually make five titles. You know, it's interesting when we talked about this yesterday a lot, is that it's easy to say, hey, don't overreact to stuff. I can remember years ago I worked at the Other Place and there was a Monday night game that involved New England in Miami. It was in Miami, I think, and Randy Moss was targeted like once. And I went on the air Tuesday and I said, it's over. You are overreacting. I'm like, Randy Moss is unguardable. It's not that he didn't have nine catches. They didn't target him with Tom Brady. It's over. I'm not overreacting. There are times when you're underreacting and you know, again, I don't care what the critics say, so I'll throw it out there. Any opinion, but watching Wemby dismantle and humiliate Chet Holmgren, if you're Sam Presti and they you get vanquished in this series in five games or six games, and I think it's going seven, it's not too soon because Giannis is going to have a market and he's either going to be on your team or on Houston or somebody else. So this idea, if Wemby just rolls through you and you can't stop him, what's overreacting? It's like people talk about AI, you know, oh, well, I mean, I don't think we're going to have 30% unemployment. But you better learn what AI is. You better be on it. You're underreacting. It is going to change everything. I mean, there are certain careers, like writing, like that's in trouble. I think radio saved for a while, maybe two years, but it's going to fundamentally change. I mean, you're seeing what Meta's doing in a lot of these big tech companies. So the other thing to Consider is that the Thunder have two first round picks this year. It's a great draft. Next year's a terrible draft. So you say, well, I don't overreact. What if this is the best draft in eight years because Wemby's not in his prime yet? If you go back to Wemby in the first two months this year, offensively, they weren't dialing up a lot of plays for him. He was very unrefined. Now he's not. So Dylan Harper and Wemby are different offensive players today than four months ago. So you're seeing the least powerful Wemby now. He's going to be better offensively. And Dylan Harper, you're gonna have to double team him. And Stefan Castle, still getting better. So this is the spurs without putting the cape on yet. They, they just entered the phone booth. They haven't gone Clark Kent yet. They haven't put it on. They're just, they just now left work, went down the elevator shaft. They're sneaking outside to a phone booth. They're just opening the door to the phone booth. So everybody always talks about, oh, you're overreacting. No, you're underreacting. You got two great draft picks in an unbelievable draft, and I think Hartenstein can bail anyway. So you, I mean, I, to me, I, I could see using those picks to get a Dai Mara. Go get the Spaniard, the 7:3 college Spaniard, and then go get Giannis. So come in and say, listen, we love Chet, we love Hartenstein. One's leaving, we're going to trade the other, we're switching out our bigs, our two guys are ineffective. We're getting Giannis, we're getting the kid from Michigan because one guy's not going to stop him. Go ask Rudy Gobert. So I could see Sam Presti saying, we're going to take our draft picks, we're going to get the best college center easily, and then we're going to give up four other draft picks and three guys off the bench and another starter to get Giannis. Is that overreacting again? What are you playing for? I mean, all these draft picks, next year's draft is awful. So, I mean, so again, draft picks depend on the draft, right? And a lot of these, A lot of these GMs in the NBA, they're not like NFL GMs that are just willing to make deals constantly. You know, some NBA GMs don't want to do that. So it's, you know, it's. I mean, there are Times in my life when people have overreacted, you know, Y2K, I think a lot of times with the metaverse, I, I'm not. I am techie to a degree because my kids are. So I want to be on platforms where my kids are, but I do. I will say this. The media tends to hyperventilate. The end of the world constantly in the media. But I do think AI is frightening. AI is going to change the world. I think that's. I don't think that's overreacting. I think it's happening in real time right now. And I think if you watch Wemby, and again, if this thing goes seven and OKC wins, then maybe you're feeling like, okay, we're not going to get Giannis, but we are going to draft Mara. We're going to get. We're going to get Chad Holmgren, real defensive help. Maybe that's it. But I mean it. How a series ends matters. Like if, if, if. Because remember, Wemby's only getting better. Dylan Harper has exploded in the last two months. So you're, you're getting these guys without the cape. So I think you have to consider all this stuff.
- [46:30]
Jason McIntyre
Did you see the line tonight, Colin?
- [46:32]
Colin Cowherd
I think San Antonio is getting six points.
- [46:36]
Jason McIntyre
So it, it was. It opened at six and a half and instantly there were big bets on the Spurs. So it came down to six. Colin, listen, I'm not overreacting. You know, I'm team Spurs.
- [46:46]
Colin Cowherd
What if they win tonight?
- [46:48]
Jason McIntyre
I think that's definitely in play. Just two quick things. So Wemby has lost one playoff game this postseason. That game, one against Minnesota. The other two, he got suspended for the ejection, for the elbow. And he got the concussion in the first half. So he has one loss in these playoffs. They've been utterly dominant on the road. Go look at the scores. They're blowing out Minnesota, blowing out Portland. And the second, Colin, the spurs lost the three point shooting battle. Usually if you win the threes, you make more threes than the opponent. You're going to win. Well, the Cavs won it last night and the Thunder won it two nights ago, and both of those teams lost. That is a very bad sign.
- [47:25]
Colin Cowherd
Alex Caruso had his best game as a pro by a mile.
- [47:27]
Jason McIntyre
He's not hitting a three tonight. He's not.
- [47:29]
Colin Cowherd
So the other thing is, they are really the Kryptonite. Oklahoma City. Stefan Castle, I mean, Stefan Castle gives Shea problems.
- [47:40]
Jason McIntyre
Major.
- [47:41]
Colin Cowherd
They don't have anybody that gives Wemby or Dylan Harper problems because They're. Shay's not a great defender. So the truth is they have. Wemby basically eliminates Jet Holmgren and a lot of the J Dub stuff around the basket. And then Stefan Castle is absolutely a difficult matchup for sga. So they've got a matchup edge. And remember, if they win tonight, San Antonio wins tonight. You think Presti's like, run it back. You're not overreacting, you're underreacting. This stuff is real. This is the bottom of the floor.
- [48:17]
Jason McIntyre
Now the counter is. The counter is. If Wemby doesn't hit a 28 foot or 30 foot 3 point shot to tie it, what happens? And I'm like, okay, well guess what? The spurs led for like 90% of the game.
- [48:27]
Colin Cowherd
Guess what he did.
- [48:31]
Jason McIntyre
That's what he does.
- [48:31]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I mean, it's. Oh. I mean, if the sky hook was never created, it was like, I'm sorry, but great players hit great shots that are unexpected. All right, Imagine never buying gas again. EVs are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life. Drive daily with confidence everywhere you go. Most Americans drive 40 miles a day. Most EVs are equipped with 200 to 400 miles of range. They've got fewer parts, fewer repairs, and fewer headaches. With hundreds of new and used EV models available today, there's an EV to fit every lifestyle and every budget. I love my electric vehicle. It's easy. No more gas stations. The way forward is electric. Learn more at Electric for All. Wasabi is purpose built to free your business from skyrocketing storage costs and fees from the big guys. Wasabi is the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. Check out Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage. Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals. Wasabi driving innovation in data storage for up to 80% less than the other guys. Try for free at wasabi.com or wasabi hot Cloud Storage. Proud partner of the Volume Podcast Network. Hey guys, it's us, the Jonas brothers.
- [49:55]
Rachel Nichols
I'm Joe.
- [49:56]
Colin Cowherd
I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We. We just contributed to people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but you know, tired and sick.
- [50:14]
Jason McIntyre
Tired and sick.
- [50:15]
Colin Cowherd
Listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [50:20]
Jason McIntyre
Just listen.
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Colin Cowherd
We don't care where you hear it this summer.
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Colin Cowherd
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Colin Cowherd
That's vacation rentals done right.
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Colin Cowherd
Now.
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This is an iHeart podcast.
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Colin Cowherd
Guaranteed Human.