Scouting Cam Ward, an Alabama–LSU Elimination Game, and McShay’s Guys for Week 11

Summary

Episode Summary: The McShay Show Episode Title: Scouting Cam Ward, an Alabama–LSU Elimination Game, and McShay’s Guys for Week 11
Release Date: November 7, 2024
Host: Todd McShay
Occasion: A deep dive into standout NFL draft prospects, a critical college football matchup, and selected players for Week 11.

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1. Introduction

In this episode of The McShay Show, Todd McShay delves into a comprehensive analysis of NFL draft prospect Cam Ward, dissects the high-stakes Alabama vs. LSU elimination game, and highlights his top player selections for Week 11. Additionally, a special segment explores the quintessential Baton Rouge game day experience, offering listeners insider tips for an unforgettable college football weekend.

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2. Scouting Cam Ward

In-Depth Analysis: Todd McShay dedicates substantial time to evaluating Cam Ward, the standout quarterback from Alabama. Drawing parallels between Ward’s gameplay and the intensity of an electrical storm, McShay emphasizes Ward's dynamic and often unpredictable performance on the field.

Notable Strengths:

• Arm Talent: "His ability to just snap his wrist... he fits it in. That's special." [09:00]
• Football Instincts: "Cam Ward has got it when it comes to just stealing a receiver." [11:30]
• Leadership and Character: "He's a grinder. Love the way he leads because he demands from his teammates." [13:07]

Areas of Concern:

• Footwork: "Sloppy feet. Needs it drilled in." [23:07]
• Decision-Making: "He leaves too many throws on the field... It's a fixable flaw." [24:27]

Improvement Trajectory: Todd highlights Ward's significant improvement over his college career, noting his adaptability and enhanced decision-making skills. However, he remains cautious about Ward's consistent execution, particularly his footwork and tendency to take risky throws.

Quote Highlight: “When I'm watching Cam Ward on tape, that's the experience. It's like watching an electrical storm... When you're done, you're like, what the hell did I just see?” [05:30]

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3. Alabama vs. LSU Elimination Game

Game Significance: This matchup is portrayed as a pivotal moment in the college football season, with both Alabama and LSU vying for playoff positioning. Todd underscores the high stakes, noting, "Everything's on the line. It's going to be incredible." [40:54]

Team Analysis:

• Alabama:

  • Offensive Line Concerns: Inexperience at center and inconsistent performance from the left guard, potentially exploitable by LSU's aggressive defensive strategies.
  • Quarterback Play: Jalen Milroe shows promise but faces questions about his health and decision-making under pressure.

• LSU:

  • Defensive Dominance: With 17 sacks in the last two games and a robust pass rush, LSU's defense is a formidable force.
  • Offensive Strategy: Heavy reliance on passing with Garrett Nussmeyer at quarterback, though concerns about interception rates persist.

Betting Insights: The episode features a collaboration with FanDuel, discussing betting spreads and potential outcomes. Todd expresses confidence in the under for the total points, forecasting a high-scoring game but also cautioning against overbidding due to both teams' offensive capabilities.

Quote Highlight: “Cam Ward, like getting him in the postseason is what we need to see.” [36:24]

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4. McShay’s Guys for Week 11

Player Highlights: Todd and co-host Anthony Mensch spotlight several emerging talents poised for significant impact in Week 11. Key players discussed include:

• J.J. Pegis (Ole Miss Defensive Tackle):

  • Performance: "He's flashing with his hands a little bit, comes off the edge, plays inside." [65:13]
  • Prospects: Potential early-round draft pick due to his disruptive play style and consistent pressure on quarterbacks.

• Aeneas Peebles (Virginia Tech Defensive Tackle):

  • Impact: "Has been quietly dominant for the Hokies." [66:55]
  • Attributes: Quickness, strong pass rush win rate, and effective use of hands make him a potential steal in the draft.

• Ellic Iomanor (Stanford Wide Receiver):

  • Skills: Contested catches and body control, making difficult receptions look effortless.
  • Draft Potential: Expected to be a top-seven or eight wide receiver prospect due to his size and playmaking ability.

Quote Highlight: “Trey Harris... he's leading the nation in receiving yards per game.” [78:57]

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5. Special Segment: Baton Rouge Edition – Where Would Todd Be?

Experiencing Baton Rouge: Todd shares his passion for the quintessential SEC Saturday night in Baton Rouge, describing it as "a religious experience" for college football enthusiasts. He outlines an ideal weekend itinerary, highlighting key spots and activities:

• Thursday Night:

  • Dinner at Geno's: Authentic Italian cuisine with a local twist. "It’s like you're in New York City... nothing special like Baton Rouge." [87:11]

• Friday:

  • Golf at University Club: A relaxing round before intensive game day preparations.
  • Lunch at Phil's Oyster Bar: Must-try grilled oysters and Southern seafood classics.
  • Dinner at Supper Club: High-end dining with global influences, including tempura sea bass and wagyu specialties.
  • Late-Night at Fred's in Tigerland: Tailgating, cocktails, and vibrant post-game celebrations.

• Game Day:

  • Morning at Louie's Cafe: Hearty breakfast to fuel the day.
  • Pre-Game at Walk Ons: Socializing and soaking in the game day atmosphere.
  • Tailgating Tour: Experiencing the sights, sounds, and smells that epitomize SEC football.

Community and Hospitality: Todd emphasizes the warmth and hospitality of Baton Rouge residents, making it an inviting destination for fans. "Everyone will open arms, welcome you in... It's magical." [89:13]

Quote Highlight: "If you're going to do one weekend a year... there’s nothing like it." [87:11]

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Conclusion

In this episode, Todd McShay offers an insightful examination of Cam Ward’s potential NFL trajectory, anticipates the drama of the Alabama vs. LSU showdown, and showcases emerging talents ready to make their mark in Week 11. The special Baton Rouge segment provides listeners with a vivid portrayal of an SEC football weekend, blending expert analysis with personal anecdotes to enrich the overall experience. Whether you’re a die-hard football fan or new to the sport, this episode delivers a comprehensive and engaging exploration of the current college football landscape.

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Notable Quotes:

• “When I'm watching Cam Ward on tape, that's the experience. It's like watching an electrical storm... When you're done, you're like, what the hell did I just see?” — Todd McShay [05:30]
• “Cam Ward has got it when it comes to just stealing a receiver.” — Todd McShay [11:30]
• “Everything's on the line. It's going to be incredible.” — Todd McShay [40:54]
• "He's leading the nation in receiving yards per game." — Anthony Mensch [78:57]
• “If you're going to do one weekend a year... there’s nothing like it.” — Todd McShay [87:11]

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This summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and conclusions from the episode, providing a coherent and engaging overview for listeners and non-listeners alike.

Transcript

[Todd McShay]

The McShay show is presented by FanDuel. College Football Saturdays are packed with action and FanDuel is where you can score every game day. Let's face it, November is everything in college football. The playoff picture is starting to become more clear. This is the first year with the 12 team playoff and we have some critical matchups throughout this month. Why we Love fanduel There's so many markets like spreads over unders, national championship futures going to get a part of that and so much more. This app is safe, secure and easy to use. When you win, you'll get paid instantly. Visit FanDuel.com McShay to download America's number one sportsbook. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit RGH help.com this.

[Mensch]

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[Todd McShay]

We've got a jam packed Thursday show today. I'm excited. Listen, Mensch, we we've had some amazing guests, right? Like from David Pollock to Joel Klatt to Jim Nagy, Stanford Steve, Pete Thamill. There's just too much to get to today so we're going to have to ride solo. I hope you're good with that. We're going to kick things off. We've been kind of previewing this the last few weeks. We've got to get to Cam Ward. We had a great conversation with Jim Nagy about how NFL teams maybe don't see that first round grade, that it's the fastest rising player in the draft. But maybe he's not round one. Maybe it's more round two. Well, I did a deep dive into Cam Ward's tape. I know mentioned it as well. We're going to get into that then. We've got the biggest Game of the weekend. Alabama, lsu. We're going to break that game down both sides of the ball. NFL prospects in that game got a lot of help from FanDuel too. Thank goodness the FanDuel is with us here. Talk about winners there potentially also get into the spreads and different ways to play that game. Then our favorite segment of the week, that's my guy. Followed by where are scouts this week? And then we've got a special Baton Rouge edition of where would Todd be this week? I promise you, of all the segments we've done, I'm most excited about this one. We're going to lay it all out for you. It's some public service. You got to tune into that. It's week 11 in college football, week 10 in the NFL in just 170 days until the NFL draft. You good, mensch?

[Mensch]

I'm good, man.

[Todd McShay]

All right, let's roll that music match. We've been talking about Cam Ward, right? I mean, yeah, I don't want to call it breaking news, but like we had, you and I were kind of sitting here, it was a three mag naggy in the middle and he comes on and we're, we've been talking all around all, you know, all along, like, Cam Ward, what a great year. Cam Ward with Shador Sanders. Right?

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Top two quarterbacks and maybe Nussmeyer. Garrett Nussbire from lsu.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Cam Ward this, Cam Ward that. He kind of came in and said, pump the brakes. And I'm kind of looking at you up in the screen and I'm like, you're right. Okay, let's go back to work. Because I've at that point, and I told you from the start, we're going to be transparent. This show is going to be about peeling back the curtain. Okay. I'm not here to like, well, you know, if I've watched every single throw in, every single. You can't, I can't stand when I hear people say I've watched every throw from every quote. There's not enough time in the, in the week. There's not enough. So, like, it's a process. It's a 15 month process with these guys. Right. You get to certain players before you get to other players. It's not, it's not all equal. I've watched, I watched Cam Ward versus Florida. Tape was awesome.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

I hadn't studied the rest of the tape so far this year. Hadn't gone back and revisited our report from previous years. So I just felt like it was time. Right. That nine and oh, Miami Cam Ward's playing the, you know, Heisman Trophy talk. He's. He's playing great ball. Let's see where. Where he is in our opinions then. I also got on my phone, I texted a bunch of guys in the league, got calls up to this morning, got back from working out. As I'm walking in, I'm breathing heavy. One of our good friends that you and I know, I'm not going to mention names, got on the phone with him, had to apologize for breathing heavy. It was kind of awkward. But anyway, we went through a lot of sources, and most importantly, I wanted to dive in and give my opinion on what I saw. And, you know, when. When you look at Cam Ward, the best way I can present it to you. Right. Mensch. And I'll see if you can agree. You ever seen an electrical storm? I mean, I know you have, right?

[Mensch]

So funny you're saying this. Go ahead.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, I have an electrical storm in the summer, Right.

[Mensch]

We have not talked about this, by the way. Go ahead.

[Todd McShay]

Okay. When you watch an electrical storm, it's kind of different. It's exciting, you know, like, you're used to the vertical. The vertical flashes of lightning, right? And now all of a sudden, there's, like these horizontal flashes. They're up in the clouds. They're like left, right? And like. And all of a sudden, you're watching. It's like, wow, this is. This is wild. This is exciting. This is. This is something new and different than the, like, the typical, right? Yeah, it's. And then you're kind of. Your neck's getting sore because you're looking. You're looking. And this and that. Right When I'm watching Cam Ward on tape, that's the experience. It's like watching an electrical storm, because when you're done with it, you're like, wow, that was a lot to see, right? Some exciting stuff in there. But what the hell?

[Mensch]

I'm not the poet. You are. But that was. The word I wrote down, was electric. So it's funny that that's the direction you went in.

[Todd McShay]

But when you're done. When you're done watching Electrical Storm, your neck hurts a little bit, and you're like, this is exciting. This is different. This is new. But then you're done watching it, and you go back to your day to day. And I've always walked away being like, what the hell did I just see?

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

I've got a lot to unpack. To me, that's the Cam Ward experience. He's like, it's like watching an electrical storm.

[Mensch]

And it's also a little dangerous, right? It's a little dangerous. You don't want to get.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. Like, are we okay? Are we okay?

[Mensch]

Yeah. Right.

[Todd McShay]

They're not, they're not striking down. So like I think we're safe. But like.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

And, and so. And it's not about tempo. Some guys you get done watching and you're exhausted because it's like play, you know, and like they're running and there's not a lot of pre snap reads and there's. And it's more about getting off a number of plays rather than running. The most effective place, Cam Ward's tape. Like occasionally they'll throw in some tempo, but they get to the line. Like when you're watching tape, coaches copy, Right, Right. You get, you know, some teams, it's like right away, ball snapped. And so there's not much. Like, there's not that three, four or five second window in the beginning with Cam Ward's tape. Yeah, they're spread out. Like against Duke this past week, they're three, three by two. A lot of empty sets. Three receivers one side, two to the other. Sometimes diamond four, four by one, four receiver sets. I saw, you know, diamond set early in the game versus one receiver on the, on the opposite side.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

They get to the line of scrimmage and it's, it's measured. It's so you like. So as an evaluator, when you're watching tape, you get the clicker in your hand and you kind of fast forwarding that first four or five seconds, you see Cam Ward, he's calling out the mic and getting the protection set and barking out orders and signals and stuff. So it's not, that's not the, the wild ride of the experience. It from snap. It's from snap to whistle. Right, Right. And it's like, wow.

[Mensch]

Puts on a show.

[Todd McShay]

I mean, puts on a show.

[Mensch]

We've already talked about this throw, but that throw in the Louisville game where he's drifting to. Or was it the Louisville game where he's drifting to his left and he hit the guy in the back of the end zone coming across, right? Yeah, I mean, we've talked about that.

[Todd McShay]

Throw, but 40, 40 something. So. So with that is the backdrop, the electrical storm is the Cam Ward tape. Studying experience, in my opinion. I want to get into what I loved and I want to get into what. What scares me. And I think that's a. Those are words you get wowed. There's a whole column here of like the things that wowed me with Cam Ward. And then I got another column. And it's not like negatives or the weaknesses. It's what scares you. Where can you.

[Mensch]

Better.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, yeah. But. And scared, like always. You can't do it. It's not a can't do it. It's like, what do we have to work on? I got news for you. One of the biggest split columns I've ever had in scouting with things that, like, most people can't do. Exciting, love, and then the right side being like, I'm really scared about this. Patrick Mahomes.

[Mensch]

Right?

[Todd McShay]

And everyone relax. I'm not comparing them to Patrick.

[Mensch]

You got to be careful with that, man. You keep doing it.

[Todd McShay]

Well, I always have to preface it, but I'm just saying, like, even the great Josh Allen, right? Oh, yeah, Same thing. Long list of what you love. Long list coming out of Wyoming of what scared you. So Cam Ward, right? Let's start with the stuff that really stands out. Okay. Let's just drill in a little bit here. Okay. Human laser show is what I wrote down. His ability to just. Like, It's a laser show.

[Mensch]

Right?

[Todd McShay]

His ability to just snap his wrist. And so, you know, sometimes he's to get the ball back here, and he's a little dangling a little bit, but when he goes, like. And flicks that wrist. Oh, yeah, it just snaps off.

[Mensch]

His hand comes out different.

[Todd McShay]

Right, right. And then the different arm angles, the ability to adjust his arm angles and throwing off platform, throwing off balance, and just. I. I probably wrote down. Drilled it like 90. Like, 90 times, you know, because I went through all these tapes just drilling the ball wherever he wants to.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Okay. Yeah, that's. And you look for all these prospects. What's the special sauce? What's. What makes him unique? I'm not saying he has the best. Army isn't a Josh Allen's arm. I'm not saying that he has the, you know, an elite, elite arm, but he's got a damn good arm. And the way he snaps the ball off and it makes throws where you don't think he's gonna be able. He's gonna be able to fit it in, and he fits it in. That's special. Okay, Right. Second thing to me, that stands out, that's special elite football instincts. Not. He's not an elite athlete. He's mobile. No, he extended. Right. But he's not an elite. He's not as mobile as Lamar Jackson. He's not as mobile as a guy in the same class. Jalen Milroe. Potentially in terms of a runner.

[Mensch]

Right. Because I love his pocket mobility.

[Todd McShay]

That's what I'm getting. Sorry. He's not as good. Correction. He's not as dangerous as a runner as Lamar, as Milro, and potentially this upcoming class as even Josh Allen. And, you know, some. Some of the guys in the league that really scare you with their feet and what they can do, he's not. Jalen hurts. You know what I mean? Like, there, he's. He's a notch below, maybe two notches below Lamar, not below some of those other guys. Okay. But I love his football instincts.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

He doesn't. He doesn't get panicky. He knows. He kind of feels where pressure comes from. He, for the most part, not always for the most part, knows where to kind of move in the pocket to extend place he feels. And then part of his instincts is not just creating and extending. It's also like that last second sixth sense. You know, you hear, like eyes in the back of his head. Whatever you want to call it, he's got it. Cam Ward has got it when it comes to just stealing a receiver. And I wrote specifically knowing when a receiver is going to be open, not seeing him open, knowing when and where to throw the ball to help that. Right. Throwing to the five yards to get. Okay. So we saw all the same things there also. And this is where it's important, man. Like, if you don't have connections, if you haven't developed relationships and you don't have the people that you trust in the league to call and make these. Com. Have these conversations, you're not going to get who he is as a guy.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

What does he bring? Right. And thankfully, we got a couple decades plus of just developing relationships and being able to call. And. And the. The conversations I had were really impressive about his football character, football intelligence. Some of the quotes I got. He's a grinder. Love the way he leads because he demands from his teammates, not expects, not watch demands from his teammates. So. So that's. In that. The quarterback position. There's no more. There's no position where it's more important than to have those qualities. So check that box off.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

And then improvement. Okay. This is a big one. And I'll. I'll preface this. I stumbled upon this. I haven't even looked in our exos catapult. I haven't even looked in. In our exos and catapult system to. To. To see if there's incarnate word tape yet, but. Oh, yeah, but I was sitting around yesterday and, and for some reason, like, it was like a blessing from. From the football gods above. I'm scrolling through YouTube and this thing comes up like 10 touch 10 touchdown passes from Cam Ward in the FCS playoffs at Incarnate Work. I was like, yeah, I got nine minutes. The hell else am I going to do for the next nine minutes? That's more important than watching. I hadn't even thought. I was like, I'm just focusing on this year. It was fascinating to watch, man. I don't know if you've done it. Take a look at.

[Mensch]

I haven't seen it now.

[Todd McShay]

Okay, let me. I'll just give you. So it is pure air raid. Okay, Go back to Incarnate Words. Remember two years of Incarnate Word. Two years at Washington State. Makes the announcement he's going the NFL draft, doesn't get the grade he wants. Day three grade, and calls up Mario Cristobal and says, you know what? That offer you gave that I turned down because I'm going the draft, I want that offer. It comes to Miami. So it starts at a incarnate Word, Not a highly recruited player. And to be honest with you, I don't know the high school ball he played, I can kind of see why. It was like watching like Graham Harrell at Texas Tech Kings Murray, you know those. Remember those quarterbacks where it's like right here, watching shortstop, middle infielders. The snap is the toss from the other middle infielder. It's like, you know, like this side, get it out. Like, not even the laces. Doesn't matter. Get it out. A lot of RPOs, quick game, just stuff that didn't translate to the NFL. Right. And I. And as I'm watching it, I'm like, my God, this guy has come a long way. I'm not saying he was a special talent, but it wasn't translatable, right? It wasn't. So when you talk to NFL scouts, I do wonder. Some. Some stuff's hard to unsee.

[Mensch]

Oh, right, right, right.

[Todd McShay]

You know what I mean? Like, it's like, yeah, but he's that guy who was just like, catch the ball sidearm, you know, get it out. And so. So the good news is like the first tape I. Well, is Washington State, where. Which was a lot of air raid as well, but this just has some air raid principles now at Miami. But it's a lot more. A lot more translatable pro style stuff.

[Mensch]

Agree.

[Todd McShay]

And so it was just interesting watching that because the guy I was watching on. On YouTube yesterday for nine minutes is not the guy today. And so.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

So why does that factor in? I just love his improvement. I love that he's played a lot of ball. I love that his, the system he played in was remedial and then it became a little more advanced at Washington State and now it's a lot more advanced at Miami. Okay. And, and then two more things that, that are showing up if he's not there yet by any stretch and we'll get to the, the things that scare you. But he has made improvement in terms of like the interception worthy throws and the stacks, they're down right from what we saw at Washington State. Okay. So that is the backdrop.

[Mensch]

Can I give you one more pause?

[Todd McShay]

Please, please.

[Mensch]

Let's continue the, let's go with the, the storm theme. Right. So this guy, you call him an electric storm to me this year. Think about this. He's always been the eye of the storm. He's always the calmest guy. Virginia Tech game winning touchdown, less than two minutes. Cal down 35:10 midway through the third quarter. I think throws the game winning touchdown with less than 30 seconds on the road. They're playing Louisville. Probably their toughest test of that time because Florida just wasn't Florida at the beginning of the year. They played Louisville, they're up 31 17. They look like they're running away with this game. 100 yard kickoff return. Next series they fumble. Louisville goes in, it's 30, 31, 31, 31. You're on the road and he, what does he do next? Drive, he throws a touchdown. They're down 28, 17. Third quarter against Duke. No problem. We're going to come back and win this game. I mean I think his. When you're looking at the big picture and how poised he's been in with within game situations, to me that's a real positive for what he's done this year.

[Todd McShay]

Those are great points.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

And I love the eye of the storm. Way to advance it. No, but seriously, he, he has.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Because it, it's been a bleeping storm around him.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

And it really hasn't always been the offense fault. There's been some mistakes he's put himself in, in some bad situations. But let's face the defense has put them in a lot more bad situations than the, than the offense or Cam Ward himself. And you're right, the dude is unflappable.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

It kind of drives you crazy at times because you. And we'll get to all that. But, but yeah, no, that's a, those Are great points. And I like, there's something you talked about. The throw rolling to his left into the back, back corner of the end zone. The other throw that went viral this week against Duke, the 48 yard. It was play 40. No, play eight. It was play eight. Sorry. On the Duke tape. I was just looking down my notes. It was play eight on the Duke offensive tape. It was a 47 yards approximately. It was what I. He threw it from the exact 40 and it was about five, seven yards deep. He got tipp the end. Would love to see a little bit more trajectory, layer that a little bit more. Right?

[Mensch]

But like, beggars can't be the critic, right?

[Todd McShay]

Beggars can't be choosers. But if you're. But if you're just purely scouting, like, what's this guy's arm? That thing was on a freaking rope.

[Mensch]

Yeah, I love rope.

[Todd McShay]

A rope. Yeah, it's like, you know what I mean? Like, it's what. A lot of guys can get it there with velocity and energy at the end, but to get it like not flying off the ground very much, it's like watching a fighter jet.

[Mensch]

And you know, and not to keep piling on with the positives, but one of the other things about his pocket mobility is he's got one of those guys that's got that core strength to shake guys off, too. He can make plays with guys at his feet.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, he's like six, one and a half, 223, 225 pounds.

[Mensch]

He's well built, dude. He. I think he's strong. He's got that strong base. You know, again, not to pile on with all the positives, but there's a. There's a lot. The bottom line for me is there's a lot to be excited about with this player. And I. I hear you. Let's get into the.

[Todd McShay]

This is a good time to transition. Let's throw up that graphic we have of Cam more than we built. We. We do this with every player. We have. We have position specific traits. So these are the quarterback traits. We also have, you know, some other overall traits, like, you know, height, weight, speed, you know, intangibles, all the different stuff for every. Every player. Those are, we call universal traits, but this is the position specific traits. And we always color code, pocket mobility. I gave him a one, even though he's not. He's not very. He's. I don't think he's going to be that very fast if he. If he ever runs 40. I don't think he's not a threat. But if we're just judging pocket mobility because of his instincts and he is athletic and like you said, the lower body strength to kind of extend plays, I'm again, I'm not. We give him A1 which let's state this too. A1 is an elite grade or very, you know, the highest end grade number. Number two is above average to good. Three is average four and you don't see any fours or fives here. Fours is below average and 5 is marginal. If we get to a player, we're going to throw these up for players between all the time between now and the NFL draft. Okay. And if you're just listening to the podcast now, I'm trying to explain it to you. The four QB traits for Cam Ward for every quarterback are mental makeup accuracy. The third one is release slash arm strength and the fourth one is pocket mobility. For Cam Ward, the mental makeup is a three. That's a purple average accuracy, blue above average release arm strength one. We just talked about it. Green pocket mobility one green. So that's as the backdrop as you see there fifth year player, 622 23. I'm guessing you know, the combine is going to be like 6,014-which means 6, one and a half and probably in that 220, 225 range. Right. All right, so with that is is kind of the profile for Cam Ward. Let's flip over to the stuff that's concerning at this point.

[Mensch]

Okay.

[Todd McShay]

There are never get. I wrote this down. Never go broke taking a profit, you know, and I kind of. It's like an old phrase and you hear a lot in scouting and it just feels, it feels old and stuffy and I think. And it's like all of us, like some, like some of my greatest strengths are what's going to either kill me or get me into a lot of trouble and has over the years. Same for you, same for everybody. I'm a true believer in that. Like in order to be great, in order to like chant to do the special things that we can do, there comes some consequences with it. And so we're not going to see all those special plays and we're not going to see some of the greatness and the brilliance from Cam Ward if he's always looking to check down. And he. But there are times and this is when he gets in, when he gets into the NFL, I promise you there's going to be a lot of conversations between the offensive coordinator, the quarterback's coach and Cam Ward about listen five Seven yards is okay, right? And so you see, you see times where it's like, all right, he took a shot, he took a chance, that was worth the chance. Even if it didn't work out, there are other times where it's like, dude, you see double coverage down the field and you got a guy who's crossing on a drag route or an outlet throw, just dump it off. Let's get seven here and let's, let's get to second.

[Mensch]

How many games have you seen Mahomes and Brady, the two greatest, right? Mahomes and Brady win by methodically moving down the field.

[Todd McShay]

Right? And that wasn't always Mahomes thing, but Mahomes third into that. Right?

[Mensch]

Exactly. Just take what the defense gives, you get what you need and you know, don't press it when it's not there.

[Todd McShay]

So I mentioned before, really improved from earlier in his career on the turnover worthy plays, interception worthy throws and sacks. But he's. There's still too many. Yeah, there's still too many.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Other notes. You ready? I'll just rip them off. Sloppy feet. Sloppy feet. Needs it drilled in. I. What you love about him is he's so casual. He's the eye of the storm. Nothing bothers him. He's got this like this poise about him and this confidence about him. Plays loose and that, that looseness and that calm allows him to do special things. But there's a difference between having that mentality and having those football instincts and being able to handle the moment and just being sloppy with your feet. And Mahomes was the best example. His feet were disgusting at Texas Tech. I mean, how many throw if they were?

[Mensch]

And I've talked to Patrick, don't hold back, man.

[Todd McShay]

I know. I've talked to him about it and he, he readily agrees. Like it was just whatever. I'm out here playing ball and like you would see some. A lot. Some throws, like 15 yard throws where his feet were parallel with the line of scrimmage. We're working towards perpendicular. And so you see kind of some of that same thing. It's got to be drilled in. Josh Allen, same deal, man. He didn't just get accurate because he woke up one morning, he was like, I feel more accurate. It was drilled in marrying your feet with your eyes. He's got some. He's got a lot of work to do in that regard. But you saw with the accuracy, we still give him a 2 above average, right? With. With what he. With the footwork. He's working.

[Mensch]

Yeah. So that's and those other guys fixed it. It's a fix. That's a fixable flaw.

[Todd McShay]

It's a fixable flaw.

[Mensch]

Can't coach height, can't coach speed, can't coach arm strength. There are things that you can fix. That's a fixable flaw. So.

[Todd McShay]

But it's going to take, it's probably going to take a minute. Took a minute with Josh Allen, took a minute with Patrick Mahomes, although it didn't take that out. But he had a full year that. Where we didn't see.

[Mensch]

Right. You know what I mean?

[Todd McShay]

We saw Josh Allen year one. We saw him on the field and it wasn't always pretty and it's like yeah, that's, that's the guy I studied at Wyoming. But, but then with Patrick, Patrick Mahomes behind Alex Smith. He was, he was working on it in the, in the backdrop, in the background. So we saw it with Lamar, we saw it with Josh Allen, we saw it with Mahomes and we hope we see it with Cam Ward. You get into the league, you start drilling it a full time job. It's all, everything you're focusing on. I'm not saying necessarily you're going to get better coaching. I'm not, I'm not convinced of that. But, but it's, there's going to be more focus on it. So. So the sloppy feet. He's got to improve. I read here's the thing, he leaves too many throws on the field.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

See the brilliant throw after brilliant throw. You see that back at the end zone throw. You see the throw against Duke play eight. But then you, but then there's like some in between stuff where yeah you can skip over it deep out, missed it throw, throw it in into the sideline, you know, a crossing route. It's just he's higher behind the receiver so.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

And it's nothing consistent where it's like he really has got to work on his transfer of balance and right his arm. It's not that it's just drilling in the same mechanics but I read somewhere 14 missed target. His missed target rate as a passer. 14 this year actually a regression. Really In State.

[Mensch]

Wow.

[Todd McShay]

I know. But, but it, but when you study the tape, see if you, if I.

[Mensch]

Read that I see the missed throws. I'm just surprised because I, I've watched the Washington State tape and I see a better player this year in almost every regard.

[Todd McShay]

I do too.

[Mensch]

But I, but it's interesting that that's the analytics.

[Todd McShay]

I think it goes back to that electrical storm. You Kind of get blown. You kind of, you get lost in all the great plays and the, the unbelievable moments and the handling of pressure. The magic show, it's kind of like magicians always like, right, look at this and talk to me about this and tell me, yeah, but don't worry about my left hand, my right hand, look at my right hand. I've got all this stuff going on, whistles, fireworks. Don't look at my left hand because that's where I'm right, that's where I'm, that's where I'm sliding it in. So I, I think that that's, that's an interesting part. And then the defensive competition, let's just be honest, has not been great. I, I want to leave it with this. I can't wait. And I truly hope it happens because just for the evaluation process, if nothing else, I can't wait for him to play in an ACC game. Maybe it's against Clemson, it's probably going to be against smu, but then more so, get into the College Football Playoff, get into the playoff, play a play at Georgia, play a Penn State, play in Notre Dame, play in Ohio State. Like, I want to see two games against a top tier competition because he's going to have to refine some shit. He's going to have to be more efficient. He can't get away with some of these things. Can he adjust his game? That's what I want to.

[Mensch]

And if it does, finally, does he start to revert back to bad habits in that kind of an environment? Because, you know, one of the things that I get concerned about was every once in a while he drifts. That's part of the sloppy footwork, you know. But he'll drift when he doesn't have to. We can just stay in the pocket. I think his feet have been a little calmer this year. But when you get it, when you have a front like Penn State's front coming at you or Georgia's front coming at you and, you know, things don't go well early. This is the, you know, it's the biggest stage. Do you revert or do you stay the course and got, you know, and play the way you've played all year? So we don't know. We don't know yet. I can't wait to find that out.

[Todd McShay]

The conversations I had were interesting.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Okay. Nagy, not a first rounder yet, right? Second rounder. Other. I, I talked to a couple gms. Couple, an XGM who's still working, doing, doing the work and then the third. Third scout today. So that's like, what, six, seven conversations? I got any. No, one was lower than second round.

[Mensch]

No.

[Todd McShay]

The difference. When you. But there are. There are a couple guys that were like, this class isn't that good, right? Everyone's overrating Shador. He's good. He doesn't have any special elite qualities. Like, these are just things I heard. I'm. These are not things I'm saying, but the conversation, right. Not Nussmeyer just now. The negative that. Like some of the negative things. Nussmeyer needs to go back. First round talent. Would really like to see him go back. Needs more ball, needs to be ready when he comes, when he gets up to our level. Shador, where's your best? And I. I always give my opinion. We have conversations. They're not. It's not a Q A session.

[Mensch]

Right?

[Todd McShay]

Conversations. And I always say, listen, first of all, I love Shador's tape this year. And everyone agrees. Second thing I say always is he's the best pure passer in this class. Everyone, for the most part, agree. I got a couple. And Nussmeyer could be. You know, But I think he needs more ball. With Cam, it was interesting because it was all over the place. I talked to one scout who's like, I. I have Cam ahead of Shador. I talked to another scout where it's like, Cam and Shador are at the top for me with. And then another one was. Was Had Nussmeyer ahead of Cam. And some other guys were like, second round. I don't trust him. I just don't. Can he. Can he break all these habits? And so they were fascinating conversations. But I. But generally speaking, just to summarize it all, everyone agrees that, like, whether you love Shador or not, whether you love Cam or not, this is not. This is not last year's class. No, we understand that. We completely under. I mean, Caleb Williams, elite special talent. Jaden Daniels, elite special talent in his final year, was the best tape of any of the quarterbacks any year, to be honest with you. His last year, 20. 20, 23 at LSU was the best tape of all the quarterback class. Of all the quarterbacks in the class. Drake May, really great tools. 2022 tape was a lot better than 23. That made it a heart, made it a hard evaluation.

[Mensch]

Right?

[Todd McShay]

Is that regression? Is that the system? Is the lack of weapons. But. But everyone would agree those three guys are ahead. And some people would say. Would argue, maybe. Maybe it's penck who went 8 overall. Maybe it's JJ who went 10 overall to Minnesota. Maybe it was Bo nicks who went 12 overall to Denver. Some guys would say. But I think the conversation. We. We laughed about this and Bill Simmons got his little. You know, Bill Simmons got his jab in on me. How I'm making. I'm here for one. One show and I'm already making his life miserable with his friends back home in Boston.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

But. And I had to pref. I had to circle back and explain my comment. My comment was I'm not. I haven't done enough Cam Ward or Shador tape to. To like, really state whether the conversation starts at Drake May, or if it starts at Penix, jj and Bo. And Bo.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

And I will state this very clearly now that I have done the work. The conversation. Conversation starts at Pennix, JJ and Bo. It does not start Drake May. Okay.

[Mensch]

Right. I agree.

[Todd McShay]

So. So with that, again, is another backdrop. Let's. Let's pull up the graphic. I know our top six quarterbacks right now. Here's how I see it. And just for everyone's knowledge, there's kind of. From the people I talk to in the league, there's differing opinions in terms of like, how high the level, whether they have a chance to be great. Stop. I heard Shador Sanders, one of the conversations I had. I don't know that he's ever going to be better than a stopgap starter. I was like, really? I don't see that. So there's just different opinions. It's what makes this thing beautiful. It is not a science. It is more an art. I get it. But Shador Sanders, to me as the best tape so far this year, but I don't think there's a big gap between Shador and Garrett Nussmeyer and Cam Ward. Okay. I think in talking to the league, there's differing opinions and I think everyone has them. One, two, three, in whatever order. Some guys would go Nussmeyer one, some guys would go Sanders one. One guy I talked to, had, had Cam Ward one. Okay. Everyone agrees that I talked to in the league. Everyone agrees Garrett Nussmeyer has a chance to be the guy next year and would love to see him go back to school. We got a great game coming up against Alabama this week. So excited to see what he does in that game and we'll get to it in a minute. But Jalen Milro, the other thing everyone agrees on, go back to school, get another year, be ready. And then the thing that everyone can agree on at this point, the season ain't over and both teams are going to be playing in postseason ball. But Quinn Ewers, since the injury, has shown some regression. Carson Beck, the entire season has been a regression. Okay, so that's where we are. Shador Sanders, 1. Garrett Nussmeyer, 2. Cam Ward, 3. But talking to NFL teams, you can kind of jumble those up. Nobody views this as last year's class where it's three guys that belong. 1, 2, 3. By any stretch of the imagination.

[Mensch]

Right?

[Todd McShay]

Nobody also, but I, I, the more people I talk to, it's not, it's also not the 20, 2022 class where it's like they just don't belong. Kenny Pickett was overdrafted. Pittsburgh had a need and they reached for Picket. He was a local guy. Then Ritter, Willis and Matt Corell go in the third. It's not that class. I think honestly, it's a little bit more like 2023, you know, Bryce Young, C.J. stroud. Yeah, we don't have. They're, they're 1 2. But there were a lot of quite so to me, if I had to classify this class in recent drafts and Compare. It's not 2024. I think it's better than 2022 with Pickett and Malik Willis and those guys. Yeah, it's 2023 light.

[Mensch]

Right?

[Todd McShay]

This year's class is like, is the, is the light. You know, like you got Budweiser and Bud Light. You've got, you got Pepsi and Diet Pepsi or whatever, you know, like. So to me, it's the light version. The reason it's light is everyone agreed that Bryce and Stroud belonged nearer at the top of the draft. And Stroud's turned out to be phenomenal and embrace young, unfortunately terrible circumstances. But it doesn't look good right now.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

But after that, remember it was Richardson getting drafted way too high.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

You know, and maybe that becomes like the Jalen Milro spot.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

You're betting on the athleticism, the big time army. But he doesn't have game experience enough. Game experience. He's got, he's got big games and playing in the SEC and for Alabama and all the pressure and certainly more than Anthony Richardson had with 12, 13 starts coming out of Florida. But you'd like to see more game experience from him and for him to develop. And then the second, third round, we had Will Levis and Hendon Hooker in that class, and I think that this class is a little bit more representative of that. You got a couple guys at the top. You know, we'll see him Nussmeyer if he comes out and then after that they're guys that really belong in the second, third, fourth round at this point.

[Mensch]

So I mean listen it. We, I think we say this a fair amount, but this is the snapshot on November 7th. So if somehow Colorado sneaks into that Big 12 championship game and Shador gets in the playoffs and he plays his ass off and you know, it could change better. Gets in the playoffs and all of a sudden he's, you know, all those concerns we had and they knock off, you know, a Georgia or something like that.

[Todd McShay]

I think the guy that has. And we'll cap off the Cam Warden and you're saying it right now, but I just want to put a punctuation on it. The quarterback in this class that stands to gain the most by having a good eye opening postseason performance is Cam Ward.

[Mensch]

Right?

[Todd McShay]

Cam Ward. Right now the questions are the level of competition in terms of defenses played. Can he get it done? We know he will in the moment. As you talked about the eye of the storm pressure, no problem carrying that team. But against a defense that's flying around, the pressures on him more, doesn't have the ability to extend plays and kind of run around, drop his head and look up when he, when he's playing a Georgia and Ohio State and Notre Dame, a Penn State, one of those top def Texas, how does he react? Does he refine his game? Is he more efficient? Is he more decisive? You know, does he cut out some of the, the fat from his game?

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

So to me, Cam Ward, like getting him in the postseason is what we need to see. All right, man, that was a lot.

[Mensch]

But I, that's a tight, tight 35 on Cam Ward.

[Todd McShay]

It's been, you know, like certain things eat at you in the back of your mind. Oh, it's been coming ever since that naggy conversation. I'm like, yeah, we gotta revisit this. And we just did. And I feel good about it and, and the beauty is, like you said, It's November 7th. We have so much more time, so much more to say. But I think it's a good for, for this show. It's a good jumping off point with the quarterbacks. We've talked about Beck specifically at times. We've talked about Nussmeyer, talked about Quinn. You. We've talked about all. We haven't done a deep dive into Cam Warden. I'm glad we were able to just do that.

[Mensch]

This episode is brought to you by Vitamin Water, Food, Entertainment, sports teams.

[Todd McShay]

New York City is one of those.

[Mensch]

Places that oozes choice it's got something for every taste, so it's fitting that Vitamin Water was born there. It's a product of its environment.

[Todd McShay]

Colorful, flavorful, anything but boring.

[Mensch]

Vitamin Water injects a daily dose of vibrancy into a watered down life. So grab some Vitamin Water today. NYC style. Vitamin Water is a registered trademark of Glass O.

[Todd McShay]

My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for Career Day and said he was a big roas man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend. My friends still laugh at me to this day. Not everyone gets B2B but with LinkedIn you'll be able to reach people who do. Get a hundred dollar credit on your next ad campaign. Go to LinkedIn.com campaign to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn.com campaign. Terms and conditions apply.

[Mensch]

LinkedIn the Place to Be to Be.

[Todd McShay]

McShay show is presented by FanDuel. Get out your game day gear this college football season on FanDuel because right now all customers get a profit. Boost every college football Saturday. Every single Saturday. Listen, there's no better place than a Saturday night in Baton Rouge in college football. That's what we have this week. Alabama at lsu. Talk about the quarterbacks too. Garrett Nussmeyer, some ups and downs. Jalen Milroe, some ups and downs. Both guys being considered as first rounders. Which quarterback, which team is going to show up in this big spot? You know, that's a game that we're all going to be keeping our eyes on this Saturday. Boost your winnings on bets like spreads over unders, method of first touchdown, and so much more. Just visit FanDuel.com McShay that's FanDuel.com/McShay to download America's number one sports book and kick off every college football Saturday with a boost. Must be 21 and older and present in select states or 18 and older and present in DC. Opt in required bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply including any token expiration. See terms@sportsbook fanduel.com call 1-800-gambler or visit rg help.com all right, let's transition. Huge weekend.

[Mensch]

Oh, is it a big weekend?

[Todd McShay]

Huge weekend. Alabama, lsu. We'll get into some of the other big games. Later we'll talk about where the scouts are going to be. But Alabama, LSU is always a huge game. Always. Right this time it feels like an elimination game. That's exciting. We talked about the ranking show. Like you look up and you're like oh, Texas A M, they just had their second loss. They're out of the picture. Lsu, two losses, out of the picture. Ole Miss, two losses, lost to Kentucky, out of the picture. Alabama, they've got the one loss. They're hanging in there. But now you look ahead and you're like, if LSU wins this game, back in the mix. Back in the mix. Alabama.

[Mensch]

What's great about this playoff structure, man, you were coming into this game and you. And I told you Alabama's gonna have two losses and LSU is going to have two losses. Ten years ago, you'd be like, what a letdown. But this playoff structure, you're like, man, everything's on the line. It's going to be. It's incredible.

[Todd McShay]

It is. And also for. For Alabama, win here could get them. Could bump them up from 11.

[Mensch]

Right, right.

[Todd McShay]

And like, as a fan, I love that Alibaba. We're looking at the graphic now. The Week 1112 team college football playoff bracket projection. I love that Alabama, Texas matchup. But if I'm Alabama, I'm like, can we play Indiana, please? Right, right, right. Can we play Penn State? Can we. You know, so, so winning this game is. You're. You lose, you're most likely out. I don't, I don't really see a great path for Alabama if they lose this game. If you win, things get really exciting. So let's, let's pull up. I know we just had that graphic, but let's look at the. There we go. Our producers are amazing. Alabama minus two and a half at Baton Rouge. I saw a projection like one of those. You know, the statistical projection had Alabama winning by seven. Seven and a half points over under 50. Eight and a half. I thought I was going to sneak one in here, Mensch, but Vegas ain't stupid or fan. Fanduel ain't stupid either, you know, and we appreciate Fanduel for, for, for getting this ready for us. 58 and a half. Well, we'll get to. In a minute. All right. What jumps out to me and we. We know a ton of prospects in this game. Both sides of the ball, right? Alabama. Let's start with Alabama coming off. Both teams coming off a buy. I love when you have.

[Mensch]

Yeah, that's great, right?

[Todd McShay]

It's like no excuses, right? And both quarterbacks, my goodness, do they need. Do they need some time to, like, reset? Nussmeyer coming off that a. M. Second half and the three interceptions. Jalen Milroe. Everyone says there's. There's some kind of injury there, but no one wants to report it. I. All I know is he's not. He didn't. Since the, since the first half of the Georgia game. I. I haven't seen Milroe the same guy with the decisive, aggressive running approach. I saw him run a couple times in the last game and I saw. He looked good, looked better. Missouri like took off, had that big long run down the right side. He doesn't look slow, but he. There's something going on. So the week off helps. Hopefully if there is something that knocking against. Against him, you know, injury wise. Hopefully that he's. He's 100 now. You see the schedule here. The ugly loss to Vanderbilt, the loss to Tennessee, and now you got lsu, the biggest game. And after that you got Mercer at Oklahoma and Auburn. Like this is the game for Alabama, the game, right? So Milro, remember last year you got. There was the benching, there was the by week.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Came back after the bye week and he was a different dude.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

My job now, footwork looked more impressive. He just, he looked like he had drilled it in for two weeks. Like, just.

[Mensch]

And he was striking fear in other teams. They. What is he going to do this week?

[Todd McShay]

Right.

[Mensch]

You know, how are we going to handle him? How are we going to contain him?

[Todd McShay]

So I'm excited to see that as, as a runner, more decisiveness and aggressiveness and as a passer. And, and for me, like, you look at this LSU defense, so impressed. I even tweeted it out and I looked like an ass because I've treated them right. Blake Baker, first half, I was like, this is the LSU defense you kind of came to expect to see go back 20, 19 in years previous that national championship year in years. Like just a bunch of dogs flying around angry. Like, you give like, I'm a backup. I get 10 snaps in this game. I'm gonna give you my life. I'm gonna let. Like they just. Lsu a lot of these SEC teams, but LSU just like flying around, right? Feisty, no questions in their brain, just reacting, knows nowhere they have to go. And I saw that, I saw that in the first half, first half, right. Against Connor Wigman.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

And that's what they were prepared for. But then it was like a buzzsaw hit him. You got this mobile quarterback, Marcel reads, gets inserted in the game after the interception from Nussmeyer. That shouldn't, shouldn't. He should have never thrown. And the defense, it was like, oh, on their heels, right? No, no gap discipline. You know, like ends are crashing down.

[Mensch]

Linebackers slower to react because they're getting, they're getting held by different looks, blockers getting bodies on them. All of a sudden I saw the same thing, man. You know, I know you're going to tie it in right now, but it's, you know, that mobile quarterback, you know, they had to, they had so much to worry about. The guys were just no longer as aggressive. One flowing to the ball at the second level and two, getting off blocks. So. And you know that's going to have to change for them to, to be competitive.

[Todd McShay]

And I look at lsu, right? Two games against two games against mobile quarterbacks. That second half against Marcel Reed was an absolute disaster.

[Mensch]

Nightmare.

[Todd McShay]

Right? And then here you see the schedule being pulled up too. Second half versus lsu.

[Mensch]

Lucky to get a win in that game, by the way.

[Todd McShay]

South Carolina, 36, 33. They win that game. They gave up 33 points. Right. I think that was a. Most, most points they'd given up. Yeah, 30, 33 points allowed in that game. Otherwise they've been good. Like 10 points against Arkansas, 26 against a really talented Ole Miss offense. South Alabama, 10 points. UCLA, 17 points, 21. Nickel State, who cares? 20 against USC, but. So the defense has played well, but the two times that they have struggled. Mobile quarterback, second half against a and M, he came in, it was like 12 plays, three touchdowns. And then South Carolina, Lenora Sellers, quarterback, 88 rushing yards, two touchdowns. So what, so what did they have in store? What do they have in store? What does Blake Baker have in store for this defense? You've had two weeks now to prepare.

[Mensch]

You know, game plan. Right.

[Todd McShay]

What's the game plan? 204. I didn't even mention. I just looked at my notes. 245 rushing yards against A&M and then the 88 against sellers with two touchdowns. So I think they're going to be much more prepared against Milroe. But I also think Milro's going to be. If he wasn't 100%, he's going to be 100%. They're going to go back and self, self study a couple things jump out and I'll let you, let you give me, give me what you're thinking. But on Alabama, when they're on offense, they need to stay ahead of the chains. One of the worst in the country. Surprised me at third and six, third and long, third and six plus near. But they're near the top of the country. Third and short. That's third and three and fewer. Yeah, which makes sense with the mobile quarterback. Like it's easier to pick up the three Yards we can put in kind of that short yardage package, and it makes it like that's always the case. But to see that discrepancy, they're like in the hundred, like 100 plus, right? Yeah. And third and six and. And then third in the nation and third and three. So they've got to stay ahead of the chains. They can't make big mistakes on first and second down. That's going to be critical this game. And then Melrose got to be more committed to running the ball until LSU proves that they can. They can play with the discipline you. You need as an offense. Caitlin DeBoer, I'm sure of it, is preaching. Make them prove to us that they can be disciplined, that they can stay in their gaps, that they can contain on the outside, that the linebackers, as you talked about, can get off of blocks, can shed. Make them prove that. And if they do, fine, we'll adjust. But until they do, we're going to show a commitment to this.

[Mensch]

I couldn't agree more. That's. That is the top priority right there, is how well they can run the ball. But I will say this really quickly and how well Milro runs the ball and whether or not they say discipline and stop that. Agree on all of that. I will say this. That 34 nothing win over Missouri is a little misleading to me when you're looking at that Alabama offense and even watching that game yesterday. This defensive line, this offensive line for Alabama, I think is talented. I think they have a talented group up front. They have not played well. They just have not played well as a unit. And I think that, that lsu, you know, if you look at that first half, they have some guys like that defensive tackle Suggs was unblockable at times in the first half of the Texas A and M game. I think Braden Swinson's defensive end for LSU is starting to come on. And that, that Alabama offensive line, you know, you're coming off a buy. It should help them, too. They should be cleaning up everything they need to clean up. But they've just been inconsistent for a group that I think has the potential to be a lot better than they've shown so far. So we'll see what offensive line is going to show up for Alabama.

[Todd McShay]

All right. And the other side of the ball. Right, right. Can LSU run the football right? I don't know. You know, I don't know because it's like 76, 76 to 24. Whatever the. The breakdown is that they're throwing the football and I get It. I love Garrett Nussmeyer too, but. But I promise you, Brian Kelly is self scouting and saying we've got to be able to run the football.

[Mensch]

Right?

[Todd McShay]

Can't live and die by the pass. We've got to be more balanced. They're 113th and rushing offense. LSU. Think about all the great running backs from LSU, right? I think about the history of LSU lining up and running the football right.

[Mensch]

You know, that's what Alabama's defensive strength is. Stopping the ball, I think more than anything else. So it's. You know, they have those two great linebackers. It's a great question. Can they run the football? Go ahead.

[Todd McShay]

Sorry, no. And it's more of a commitment. And so they're not throwing the ball all the time because they want to. They've clearly like they're. They don't believe that they can run the ball as well. But. But you gotta create, even if it's not. Even if you're not ripping off four or five yards a carry. You gotta. The defense has got to fear that, you know, it will change the game. And I think they'll come out and run. I mean, you think about like Clyde Edwards a layer Leonard.

[Mensch]

Oh yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Like. Like this is a. You. You cannot tell me there's not talent at running back. And this offensive line is pretty good.

[Mensch]

So I got a.

[Todd McShay]

But much better pass protection.

[Mensch]

Our guy Stanford. Steve was texting me this morning about these LSU offensive tackles and he expects them to have a big game. You know, if they're as good as we all think that they are, they should have a big game. Because again, this out like flipping the script a little bit. This Alabama defense, we've talked about it. It's a good defense. It is not the dominant playmakers that we've seen up front. I think they're better against the run than they are rushing the passer. And if these offensive tackles are the guys that we think they are, they should have a strong, strong game. I will say this. The game plan for LSU cannot be to get into third and five and longer and have Nussmeyer fine can consistently find Kyron Lacey downfield like they were doing in the first half of the Texas A M game. That this can't be the game plan. There's got to be better balance.

[Todd McShay]

You mentioned the offensive line.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

What's. Here's something that's interesting. I'm surprised you haven't brought it up yet. I like when I get.

[Mensch]

I like that you got. It almost looks like you feel like you got one up on me. Let's go.

[Todd McShay]

I wouldn't say one up, but, but I was waiting to see if you're gonna beat me to the punch on this Mr. Offensive Line guy. Dellinger's out. Starting left guard. Dellinger's out. The center is inexperience. I forget we can. I don't know if you have the depth. Center Chester. Yes. Chester's inexperienced first year starter, I believe. Been a little bit up and down from what I've seen. Okay.

[Mensch]

He's a registered freshman.

[Todd McShay]

So yeah, your, your tackles are gonna, you trust your tackles. They should play, they should play at a pretty high level. Right. And, and you know, Emory Jones has been a little bit more, more up and down than, than Will Campbell. Will Campbell hasn't been perfect, but for college level, man, they're damn good starting and the talent.

[Mensch]

Listen, yes, they play up to their level. They're. They can dominate games.

[Todd McShay]

But the interior is intriguing. If I'm Alabama now with. Understand this. Alabama does not, has, has not blitzed a whole lot. Okay.

[Mensch]

Interesting. Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

But I'm looking at a left tackle. I mean a left guard starter, reliable guys out playing right next to the center who's a first year starter has been a little bit up and down. What am I doing? I'm mugging.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

A gap B gap blitzes. Right. Like.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

So keep it. If you're just watching fans just watching the game on Saturday, Saturday night, keep an eye on that. I think if Alabama is going to get more aggressive than they have on tape this year, I think it's going to be attacking the interior of that offensive line.

[Mensch]

Yeah. They could also do some simulated pressures where they show pressure. Confused. Right.

[Todd McShay]

They're going to. You're not saying this new left, that left guard isn't talented and maybe he can, he can hold up. But I am betting on. And that's what essentially you're playing the odds, playing, playing the trends and playing what you expect. I'm betting on there's going to be some communications stuff. There's. It's not an offensive line that's flowing together like a Russian ballet. You know, like there's going to be some issues there. And so let's, let's force the issue.

[Mensch]

It's like any great, any great quarterback or offense coordinator sees the number one corner go down and this guy come on the field. You're going right at the guy that just came on the field. You're going to say, all right, let's see what you got, kid. I mean we're not going to not take advantage of, of maybe a drop in level of talent or depth. So it's the same thing. You, you know it. We'll see how LSU reacts. Maybe they handle it well, but you at least have to test it.

[Todd McShay]

So I'll say this. We want him to run the ball more. I think that's going to be the plan. At least it'll provide a little bit more balance. But at the end of the day, we all know what's going to happen. It's going to come down to is Jaylen Milro taking off and exploiting this defense when they, when they get out of position, when Alabama has the football and does he hit when he throws the ball downfield with that beautiful deep ball that Jalen Miller Milroe throws? Does he connect? Is it Ryan Williams on that end? Is there another receiver that steps up and makes a big play or two on the other side of the ball? Lsu. It's going to come down to Garrett Nussmeier throwing to Lacey throwing to Anderson throwing to Mason Taylor and most importantly, Bud knowing when not to.

[Mensch]

Right? What are they gonna throw at him?

[Todd McShay]

He made a poor decision, poor decision against A M on that first interception. You got fooled on the other two. So if there's got to be alarm bells and he's, he's a son of a quarterback and he loves the game and like, you know, he's grinded this past two weeks. The, the game plans in, he feels confident about it. He's, he's, he's preaching to himself, go out and be great. Go be, go be Nussmeyer. Right. But also, let's like I can't make the two or three mistakes against A, against Alabama that I did against A M. Yeah, he's got to control the.

[Mensch]

He'S got to handle the emotion of playing at home against Alabama, the ABC game at night. Don't get too amped up coming out now. I think it helps that you just went to Texas A and M and I know that it, you know, it obviously unraveled on him in the second half, but he's, he's had some experience playing in these like loud big time games environments. I think that might help them a little bit. But how? Especially early, I want to see how he does because you know, he's, he's, he's amped to get out there and erase everything that happened in his last game. You know, we'll show people that he's, you know, what kind of quarterback he, he is when he's playing at his best. So to me. How does he control emotions? Early, don't press. Early. Don't. Don't make a mistake. Early.

[Todd McShay]

I don't have any, like, FanDuel read here or anything, but we had a great conversation with fanduel the other day and we both. We both have their app. Yeah. We're both going to get involved. I'm never going to sit here and tell you and mention. Going to mention. I sure hope he's not going to start giving out picks and plays. But. No, no but. But the AT FD sports book. Go check it out. Their game of the week for Fanduel is this game Alabama, lsu. Of course it is. Saturday night, Baton Rouge. You kidding me? What a better place in the world to be this Saturday night. And I'm not going to be there. And I'm pissed, but I like all week I'm looking at this game like shoot out, shoot out. LSU on discipline versus the run. Jalen Milro is gonna. Gonna take off that 58 and a half is high. Yeah, they're. They're just begging you to take the under. But I'm not. I. I'm right. I'm riding with Nussmeyer and Milroe in this game. I think they're gonna. I think it's gonna be a battle. Like, to me, this is not your dad's version of the rivalry. This isn't that 9, 6 game in 2011. This isn't 2016 when it was 10. Nothing grinding it out. Great. Like, this is. This is more like last year. What was it? I forget. 42. I mean, there were a 42, 28 final.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Last year. So that's what I expect to see on Saturday. They do have a great offer. I'll say this, and again, I'm not reading from something, but they have a 50% profit boost token. I learned about this this past week. You can boost that thing 50, man. Like, why the hell wouldn't you want to? You gotta play. You got to play this game. Play some. Some, you know, same game. Parlays, right?

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Boost that stuff. 50. So this is. This is. With you, though.

[Mensch]

Life's too short to bet the underman who likes to. Who likes to watch a game in hoping the teams don't score. You can't do it.

[Todd McShay]

All right, a couple quick things before we get into all the stuff that we normally do on a Thursday. One quick thing. You brought up some great hypotheticals on. On Tuesday night after the College Football Playoff reveal. And I was dying to know. And I. My new. My new best friend is this FanDuel group, like, right? It's not just like the picks and the parlays and all this stuff. Like, it's a resource, man. It's.

[Mensch]

How long is that?

[Todd McShay]

You know, like, I love, like databases or, you know, all the different outlets. Eight hours later, they get enough into this thick skull of mine and FanDuel now is all of a sudden this, like, new. It's a new toy that I'm playing with and I love it. So they, they came back to us. We, we threw it out there. We weren't live, so we. It's not like we could call them right away, but we did. And by the way, by the end of the show, they'd already gave given us the answer. So from now on. Yeah, now on Saturday. From now on Saturday nights, we're going to be live on YouTube, the McShay show, live reaction show every Saturday night and keep you up nice and late. 12:31 in the morning, but we're going to do a reaction show every Saturday night starting this Saturday. So please, like, we appreciate everyone listening, watching. I think I'm most excited about these Saturday night shows. Like if you, if you.

[Mensch]

Oh, yeah.

[Todd McShay]

When you're done watching that game, when Herbie and Fowler sign off and you're like, I need a little bit more. My juices are flowing. Come hang out with us. We'd love to have you. We're going to be on YouTube live Saturday night. But coming off of the. The reveal show, our instant reaction show on Tuesday night, you asked a couple questions and I'm gonna hear, I'm gonna give you answers, but I'm doing it through our friends at FanDuel Sportsbook.

[Mensch]

Guys smarter than us.

[Todd McShay]

Let's way smart BYU. Because we were saying like, okay, who would BYU be favorite? Because I was making the argument like, you can look at the strength of record. Look who they've beaten. Look at what they've done so far. Who would BYU be favored against? Let's look at some of the other teams that they or ranked, ranked below or ahead. And to me, the first question was BYU versus Indiana, right? Guess. Guess that spread. You have it in front of you now?

[Mensch]

I have it in front of me. But I'll be honest, going in, I would have had, you know, I would say 10. I would have said 10. So it's actually a little closer than I thought.

[Todd McShay]

Indiana minus eight.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Against byu. Not a lot of love here for byu. I'm just gonna read down the road, Tennessee minus eleven and a half. These are all on neutral sites, mind you.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

What, what the spread would be neutral site. And remember round one of the. Of the. The 12 new 12 team college football playoff, you have home games. So BYU, it could be even worse if you're playing at Indiana at.

[Mensch]

And they have that second. BYU right now has the buy.

[Todd McShay]

Oh, that's right. BYU in this. You're right. You're right.

[Mensch]

But they don't play at home. So you. Even though they have that buy.

[Todd McShay]

Neutral site. That's why we ask for neutral site. Yeah, that's why you're here. You. You make us smarter and you correct my mistakes. All right, so BYU versus Indiana. Indiana's minus 8. Tennessee against BYU. Tennessee is minus 11 and a half. Penn State minus 10. I found that interesting. I think BYU would put up a freaking fight against Penn State. And then there was one other game. This is the one that I asked for. And I said 15 and a half. Boise State, Ohio State, neutral site. What did you say?

[Mensch]

I think I said 10.

[Todd McShay]

10.

[Mensch]

Or was. Or maybe it was a little higher, but it was like in that 10 range.

[Todd McShay]

Ohio State minus 17 against Boise State. Give me the points.

[Mensch]

I think FanDuel likes Ohio State. I think, like I said, I thought I was taking Ohio State in that. In the championship game against Oregon. I think if you. Ohio State's a team that might be, you know, on the rise, but.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, that game. That game would be in Columbus, though, right? Game would be in Columbus, but 17. I don't know. I just. I think. I think Boise State just the tradition of being a. Yeah. Killer. I'm not saying they'd win by any stretch. I'm not saying.

[Mensch]

No, no.

[Todd McShay]

I think they would be a total handful and a pain in the ass.

[Mensch]

Yeah. They give him a fight.

[Todd McShay]

All right, here we go. All right. What everyone's been waiting for all week long. Mensch. Anxiously awaiting. That's my guy. It's our.

[Mensch]

Come on.

[Todd McShay]

It's our favorite set every week. That's my guy. It is. We got to focus on who. Who are our guys? Who are the guys we want to feature, who we watched on tape. That's. That have been exciting for us. And I will. I'll let you kick it off this week. Two guys each that have stood out to you on tape that you want to kind of. It feels weird. Like, I'll give you a funny story on Saturday. Saturdays is total Gong show at the NFL draft, right? You get the first night. Yeah.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Oh, yeah. Thirteen million people watching. Everything's buttoned up. You've got all these executives around, you know, like, hyper focused and all. Make sure you get what you know. Everything's got to run right on schedule. We got all these. The highlights, clips, and we've got to time everything out perfectly. And we've got all these sponsors and features. You get to Saturday and it's like rounds four through seven, all the executives flown home. You're sitting outside on a set, you have to beg, like a manager to bring over, you know, a studio. The studio got to bring over a table for all your freaking notes. And so you get kind of sloppy. You know, you're. You're kind of there, sixth round and. And Kuiper and I would always. And even Lewis Riddick would always be up there and like, oh, that's my guy. That's my guy.

[Mensch]

No, no.

[Todd McShay]

And so Reese just got so. And I get it. But he'd be like, oh, that's my guy. I like him more than you. That's my guy. And I would go like, aha. I get it, Reese, I get it. But, but, but he's. That's my guy. Right? So there's like this. I don't know, there's something about scouting where you're always. You're always attached to. You gotta understand, you put four or five hours of your life into watching a player, whether it's a guard from Weber State or. Or a quarterback from Alabama at the end of that process. And you make calls and you. And you do the backgrounds and you look at their combine workouts and their pro day workouts. You've created this, like, you've. You've gone down the road with them. You have like a. An attachment to some of these guys and a lot of these guys. You know, there's a story with everyone. And so. So, yeah, sorry, Reese, but he is my guy. I spent five hours of my life, sorry, not so away from my kids and away from my hobbies and everything. Away from eating great meals, studying this guy. So, yeah, I have an attachment to some of them. So with that as a ridiculous backdrop. What. What do you got? That's my guy.

[Mensch]

Do you remember Eric King from the University of Richmond?

[Todd McShay]

I do, yeah. University tackle, obsessive compulsive.

[Mensch]

He was a guard, but yeah.

[Todd McShay]

So listen.

[Mensch]

Yeah, yeah, that's funny that you bring that up, but that's true. So Eric King shows up at Richmond. He's a quarterback, and gets on that Richmond meal plan and that Richmond strength and conditioning plan. And Eric, a year or two later, is a tight end. And then Eric just keeps Growing, and all of a sudden, he's a guard. And the next thing you know, the Chiefs are drafting him in the seventh round in 1999. And when you look at him and how his body changed in college, he kept getting bigger, but he never lost the athletic ability. Right. Why am I telling you this story?

[Todd McShay]

We're all dying to know my guy.

[Mensch]

Ole Miss defensive tackle. JJ and this is. You know, I like him because this name. I hope I'm getting his name right, but I just have to feature him. J.J. pegis.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Mensch]

Defensive tackle, Ole Miss. He's six two, 325 pounds. He started his college career as a tight end at Auburn. He. This dude has six rushing touchdowns this year. They line him up at Wildcat. Quarterback. Who cares, man? She plays defensive tackle. Well, why do we care when a guy could jump out of the pool from a standstill? Why do we care what a guy. Why can we care what a guy could dunk? Right? Because it shows how athletic he is. And then you watch him on defense, and you're seeing a dude that big move like he does, and he flashes with his hands a little bit, comes off the edge, plays inside. I mean, I was. It's easy to lose track of him because Walter Nolan is playing defensive tackle, Ole Miss, too. And he's a guy that could go real early. And then you got Jared Ivey on the outside, you know, you might lose focus on this guy, but when you start honing in and watching him, there's a lot to be excited about.

[Todd McShay]

I love that. And by the way, for all of those people that are, you know, historians of Richmond football and studying guards. Yeah, right. Drafted in the seventh round. I did see Eric King, like, a year after college. No, he played in the. We scouted him. I scouted him at the NFL, Europe. NFL, Europe. Yeah. Look great there. But then I saw him, like, two years later when he was done with football. It's like. It's like a pin was, like, popped a balloon.

[Mensch]

Right. He's running triathlon.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, that's his body.

[Mensch]

Great, dude.

[Todd McShay]

Shows what football can do to your body. All right, I'm gonna switch it over. I don't have a great backstory on this. Aeneas Peebles, defensive tackle, inside defensive lineman from Virginia Tech. Duke transfer. Right. Comes to Virginia Tech this year. He's been quietly dominant for the Hokies.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

You know, like, this team, they lost a couple games early. No one's watching. They're still. They're a pretty good football team. And he has been A difference maker. I was watching tape the other day and, and he just kept popping up the hands. Quickness. Three technique, getting up field, his pass. I, you know, I looked up some stats. Pass rush, win rate was like up there with some of the top like, you know, password like edge guys and guys, you know, like he's, he's just, he's winning. And so you look for players that aren't going to be in your top 10. Interior defensive linemen that don't have that first second round grade that maybe can surprise. That you can get a steal on, like maybe third round that you can get a jump on a guy and, and pluck him away. I, I think Peebles is someone to watch. Only 61290 but like so like Grady Jarrett know, like we've seen a bunch of dudes.

[Mensch]

I like those, those defensive tackles that are 6:1, 6:2. They got that low center of gravity. I, I kind of like that frame. I know people were like, that's a little short. But I, you get under guys.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. So he's a guy that, that was, I was really intrigued by and I'm going to keep an eye on moving forward. Who else?

[Mensch]

Second week in a row we've done a Virginia Tech defensive lineman. We did the, the edge rusher, Powell Ryland last week.

[Todd McShay]

Oh yeah. I don't listen.

[Mensch]

Yeah, I know. You're just, you just check out.

[Todd McShay]

I get it. I remember, I remember we both had edges last week.

[Mensch]

Anyways, Indiana defensive end.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Mensch]

Kyle Camera. Kamara.

[Todd McShay]

Say his name again.

[Mensch]

Mikhail. Am I saying that right? Mikhail Kamara. It's stealthy Kamara. I think it's Mikhail.

[Todd McShay]

Okay.

[Mensch]

Jamie Transfer, one of the Signetti's guys that comes over with him. Right. Last, last year at jmu. Eighteen and a half tackles for loss, seven and a half sacks. Right. That's nice. There was a good team. Now you're in the Big Ten. What are you going to do in the Big 10? Well, in eight game. In nine games he has 14 and a half tackles for loss and nine and a half sacks. And I throw him. I throw on the tape and it is hands, hands, hands. He's one of the best hand fighters I've watched in this class. He just. It's impossible to get your hands on him and lock him out. He's a little shorter at 6 1, but he's solid at 265. He could beat you in you. When you look at edge rushers, you're like, okay, how do you win? We'll speed off the edge can you. Is there other elements to your pass rush? He wins in a number of different ways. He's got that low center of gravity. He's not the most explosive guy, but he's got that low center of gravity to dip inside. And when he gets to the top of his rush, he can win to the inside. He's got a little bit of power to him, but again, it's when you're watching it. And he's got also a really good feel of how to split blocking schemes. Like just how he steps in. His timing of it, very disruptive. Dude. But to me it's his hands. It's just if you can't get your hands on a guy, it's real tough to block him. So another guy that you know, obviously excited about.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, I'm fired up to see that defense. We'll get into that game a little bit against Georgia, but poof. That defensive line, right?

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

All right. My final. That's my guy. Stanford wide receiver Ellic Iomanor. And I nailed the dismount on that. I know, I know it's tough, man. Number 13. I love watching him play. He's one of the seven or eight best wide receivers in this class. And have you heard his name all season?

[Mensch]

Very, very little.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, okay, maybe a little preseason hype. Right. Heard a word from him. Well, that's because Stanford's 2 and 7 right now and they've lost six straight games. And to be honest, to be fair, didn't get off to a great start. Who's the quarterback throwing to him? What kind of protection is there? How's the offense working? Didn't get off to a great start production wise. But I've, I've seen the last couple weeks a couple flashes. So I throw in a little bit of tape. He's playing at a high level. Last two weeks, 15 catches for 204 yards. Wake Forest and NC State. Okay. He's, he's, he's a bigger receiver. Right?

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

I think like 6, 2. I don't have the number 6 2. 2. 10 is what I'd guess like somewhere in that range.

[Mensch]

He's definitely a big bodied guy like that. Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Canadian born. Interesting backstory. Canadian born. Okay. Yeah, I don't know, I haven't, I didn't. Got plenty of other stuff including like the best trip in your life to Baton Rouge for a big time game. I've been really focused on and calls I've been making. Forget the NFL gms. I'm like, I've been feet on the ground With Baton Rouge. But I, I did do a little skimming of this story. Canadian born, grew up playing hockey. Didn't start playing like dabbled in football a little bit like middle school, but really got into it in high school. But like towards the end of middle school, like just became obsessed with it.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

And I don't know how, like if it was a family move or whatever it was, but somehow from. From Alberta, Canada. I want to say. Yeah, hope I'm right. I'd hate to displace him. But he, he comes down to America and is playing his high school ball first two years in New Jersey and then winds up in the great state of Massachusetts.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And, and plays his final two years in Massachusetts and he winds up getting offers from like Notre Dame, a couple other. Tennessee.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Talk about how Tennessee could you use.

[Mensch]

Tennessee could use him right now. Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

But he. But family and he's obsessed with, you know, education and football and the combination. And Stanford, obviously you can't fault him for that decision. Like Stanford. What. What parents do a lot worse. Yeah. Most beautiful, maybe the most beautiful campus in America too. So winds up going to Stanford and, and we. He's. Listen, we'll find you. That's the motto of NFL scouts. We'll find you. And Stanford Salt. Like Stanford is like a Division 3 school. Like. Yeah. You can just see on tape this guy. Here's what stood out to me. They. They clocked him in coming out of high school at 4, 4, 8. It's probably going to be mid 4 4. Good size. Two things that really jump out to three, actually. One, contested catches. Using his physical body last second.

[Mensch]

I agree that's his greatest strength. Yep.

[Todd McShay]

Right. Contested catches. A sub, a subplot of that, if you will, like a subcategory is really good adjusting to the ball.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Whether. And that's not just contested catches, but it's just like some guys, when the ball's in the air, they track it really well. They can contort their body. They just know how to get their body in the right position to make a tough catch. And he does that and then. And he's. And then he's vertical like he can make plays down the field. And he's not a burner. He's not like a 43 guy. He's not a 4, 4, 1. But with that size speed combination to be the ability to get down. Down the field, to me he's a number two in the NFL. And for a guy that no one's talking about, you know I open or just like that. That's impressive. He's going to be probably one of the top seven, top eight wide receivers taken. So agree that those are my guys this week. All right. Where are the scouts going to be this week? I've got a question for you. We'll revisit it on Saturday night because we always get the tweets out. I'm sure I could talk to. Talk to anyone down at the game. Always get those tweets that come out like, there were 19 scouts here and two general managers. There were 23 scouts here. I'm gonna set the over under on that tweet that we'll inevitably see whether it's from LSU's, you know, you know, the. Sid. Michael Bonnet. My good friend Michael Bonnet is taking care. You got actually Michael Bonnet. Thank you. The first football game that my son Tate ever went to was LSU with like Justin Jefferson. All those. I think it was just maybe it was a year after. Anyway, on the field. Lsu, he hooked that up. And, and yeah, I'm always thankful for LSU for that. But when you look at this week, lsu, Alabama, how many scouts are going to be there? I'm going to set it at 26 and 3 gms. That. Which is ridiculous. You think about a scout from 26 different NFL teams and three GM. Yeah.

[Mensch]

But it's not unbelievable. It's not. I'm not.

[Todd McShay]

Oh, it's illegal.

[Mensch]

You're out of your mind, man. You know, like, that's not my reaction to that.

[Todd McShay]

So you going over or under?

[Mensch]

Oh, such a good number. I'm gonna go over because I, I'm an optimist, because I'm a positive person.

[Todd McShay]

I mean, you got Jalen Milroy, you got Nussmeyer. Two quarterbacks. You got on Alabama's defense. Deontay Lawson, you've got. You. You got both the linebackers, to be honest.

[Mensch]

Campbell.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. Jihad Campbell. You got the offensive lineman for both sides. You get, you know, Will Campbell for off. We talked about Will Campbell. Emory Jones, offensive tackles first, second round. Mason Taylor, top three tight end in this year's class. Kyron Lacy, LSU wide receiver. There's Booker. Yeah.

[Mensch]

A lot of dudes everywhere.

[Todd McShay]

So that typically is a game that's going to be loaded with. With that other games that scouts will be at. And I'm. I think the second most visited game by NFL teams will be Ole Miss, Georgia. I want to get into that for a little minute. And then you have a third one that I'm going to let you rip with that. You. You Would be intrigued. May not have the most, third most scouts and all that, but. But it's certainly an intriguing game for you. Georgia Ole Miss. I want to get into this. Tons of Georgia prospects. Not as many first rounders and second rounders maybe as we've seen in years past. But then Ole Miss, the defensive line, man, that's. That's to me like the most intriguing thing. So you look at it like Ole Miss defensive line has 17 sacks in the last two games. Yeah, nine and eight. Seventeen. That's ridiculous, bud. I mean the defense has been there. The offense looked good last week. Okay, the offense looked good. Last. Really good. But you know, the, the last two weeks, I guess Oklahoma and Arkansas. Arkansas was 61 points they put up. But the defense, the defense has been, has been here. They've been lining up all year. I mean all season long. They lead the nation in sacks with 41 and yards. Yards per rush allowed, 2.28. This is gonna be fun against Georgia. I mentioned 17 sacks in the last two games. Listen to these numbers, Mitch. The Rebels are first in tackles for loss with 94. Their fifth. And red zone defense, sixth in the nation in scoring defense, seventh in the nation in fumbles, recovery recovered and ninth in, in third down defense. And then you got a cornerback. The offense, the defensive line has been outstanding. And we'll talk about the cornerback. Trey Amos is playing some good ball. Three interceptions.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Three picks. We got a corner. We got a quarterback coming in before of his last five games or in his. Yeah, I think four of his last five games is thrown double. Multiple interceptions.

[Mensch]

Sounds like a Monte Kiffin team, not a Lane Kiffin team.

[Todd McShay]

And. And we've got a defensive line with Jared Ivey, number 15 on the edge. Opposite him is Princely.

[Mensch]

Thank you for saying that name.

[Todd McShay]

Okay. Princely Umanmiellen. Talented player number one. So 15 and one are on the edges in the interior watching two and 38. Two is Walter Nolan. He's had a great year. I was worried is he ever gonna quite get to his level Playing really good ball this year.

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

Walter Nolan, check him out in this game. Really good ball. J.J. pegis. That's my guy.

[Mensch]

Yeah, my guy.

[Todd McShay]

So like, how much fun is this going to be? Georgia's offensive line been a little bit up and down this year. Some people think it's playing better than the credit they did. You know, all of that. But like they better be able to.

[Mensch]

Run the ball too. I mean they, and they and ole.

[Todd McShay]

Miss is 2.28 yards allowed. And Carson back though. All the interceptions. This is going to be fun. Ole Miss feels like. And I don't even know if Trey Harris is going to play at wide receiver, but you know what's happened.

[Mensch]

Trey Harris, that's what I was looking up. Trey Harris doubtful right now.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, doubtful right now. But Trey Harris, who's who after missing two games, is still fourth in the nation in receiving yards. Leads the nation. Leads the nation in receiving yards per game.

[Mensch]

He's got to be in the mix for wide receiver 1. When this is all said and done, I think.

[Todd McShay]

I don't disagree. Big, physical dude rates. Yep.

[Mensch]

The way he runs after the catch, I. Yeah, he's it. He can run. He's got that big frame. He. I was hoping he was going to be back. He's so much fun to watch, so.

[Todd McShay]

It wouldn't shock me if he's back.

[Mensch]

Yeah. Finds a way.

[Todd McShay]

We'll see. I mean, we'll see. But if they're saying Del, I saw questionable earlier. I thought I was told, like, there was a chance he was going to play last week, but my. My guess. Not talking to anyone. My guess was they sat him out to get him ready for this game. But if he. If he's doubtful. But my point on this. If he's doubtful. Okay. I think their offense has been more balanced without him the last two weeks.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Last two weeks have been their best outings. You can say. Well, the defenses haven't been great yet. But, like, I think Jackson Dart, the quarterback, who's. We can talk about him another day. But I. I don't see. I. I think day three, you bring him in, try to develop him. But certainly, yeah, very talented, great competitor play. Operates that offense at a very, very high level. Love watching him. I know what. I know what Lane's looking for out of that quarterback. I know what Jackson Dart is providing him. It's kind of. It's a beautiful thing when it's revving. I think early in the season, we.

[Mensch]

Got boards in the air.

[Todd McShay]

We got one dude. We got one dude with Trey. So we got to get him the ball. It could be kind of becomes a security blanket. Anyone who's played the position, like, it always tugs at you. It's in your mind, like, got to get the ball to him, like. And I think now he's been forced the last two weeks to. To maybe go through his reads and to trust the offense and to run the system, and it looks really good. So with or without Trey Harris, this is a fascinating matchup.

[Mensch]

I agree.

[Todd McShay]

You know, George is going to Come out and, and just throat stomp them. And I don't. You shouldn't say, you know, but like, I can see Georgia coming out and be like, yeah, yeah, it's cute. Carson Beck through some interceptions. Yeah, yeah. Like, everyone said this, you know, earlier in the year, but I don't know, this is going to be a fun one.

[Mensch]

Think about the defensive line talent that's going to be on the field the next two weeks in those Georgia games. You got Georgia Ole Miss this week. We just hit on that.

[Todd McShay]

Michael. Michael Williams at edge. Jalen Walker at edge. And off. Off. Yeah.

[Mensch]

And then you got Tennessee next week. If you're a defensive line coach, those at the end of the year, like, show me some tape. You're getting the, you're getting the. You know, you want to look at those. You're going to look at those guys. It's just. Unbelievable amount of talent on the field.

[Todd McShay]

All right. That's gonna be a fun one. That's, that's at 3:30. I'm not here to promote, like, broadcast or anything. That's at 3:30 on ABC. You don't even have to change the channel. 7:30. 7:30 is, you know, Herbie and Fowler. Come on. I think it's, it's. Oh, it's, it's my, It's. Yeah, that's McElroy, right?

[Mensch]

I think so. I'm not sure.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, so.

[Mensch]

But you might want to change a channel.

[Todd McShay]

No. Yeah, that's. No, that's my, that's my guy McDonough. I traveled with him like, seven years. That's McDonough, McElroy and Molly. Who's the greatest? Molly McGrath is absolutely the greatest. Best sideline. Yeah, no, the best. The best and a great, even better human being. Anyway, 3:30 there. Don't change the channel. 7:30, Alabama, LSU and then change the channel.

[Mensch]

Get on Colorado.

[Todd McShay]

No, no, get on YouTube. Get on YouTube and watch. All right. Watch our live show right after. Yes, exactly.

[Mensch]

Okay.

[Todd McShay]

All right. So what's the third, what's the third game you think scouts should be at this week? Colorado.

[Mensch]

Texas Tech is kind of sneaky. I mean, you obviously have, you have Shador and you have Travis Hunter in Colorado. Two guys are going to go early. Two guys, you know, you're definitely going to watch. And you know, you got some other guys there. There's, you know, in Arizona State, transfer at edge, DJ Green, pretty good frame. They got some undersized receivers. These guys are like probably day three prospects. You're looking at. They have two undersized receivers and Lajante Wester and Jimmy Horn Jr. They have a Liberty transfer at corner, Preston Hodges. You want to keep an eye on him. So even though you have those two headliners up top and you really should just tune in for them, Travis Hunters must watch tv. They have some guys a little bit farther down that if you're looking for someone your team might get on, on day three of the Jack Draft, you can keep an eye on. And you know, we've talked about all these running backs. I don't think we've mentioned. Mentioned Texas Techs Taj Brooks yet.

[Todd McShay]

No, we have.

[Mensch]

I can't believe that. But it just speaks. It's not against Brooks, man. It speaks to all the talent in this class. And then you throw on Taj Brooks, a big back, good feet, good burst, competitive, tough to tackle. He's a guy that you're going to want to watch. I also like there's a. There's a tight end for Texas Tech who doesn't have great numbers. He's from. He transferred from Arizona State.

[Todd McShay]

Conyers.

[Mensch]

He was at air. Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

12, right?

[Mensch]

Yeah. After the catch, man. If you're looking a guy, a tight end that can really make plays after the catch, he's flashed. Now, I haven't seen a lot of it this year, but the talent is there, the potential is there. Be nice to see him have a breakout and have a big game and then they have a big safety. C.J. baskerville, good frame. He's a guy to keep on, too. He's got three picks this year. He's a guy, you know a little farther down the board to keep an eye on.

[Todd McShay]

I like that in Colorado. Like, come on, how good for college football would it be if coach. Come on.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Travis can sneak into the. And it wouldn't be sneaking in. It would be. It would be a train barreling down the tracks.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

You know, after a slow start, everyone wrote him off to get in that Big 12 championship, to knock off BYU, enter in as whatever, 11th seed, 12th. Don't care. Any team, anywhere, anytime.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

I mean, you know, everyone, especially television executives and all the money makers in college football, that. That would be an awesome story. And to be honest, all the sizzle, all the noise, all the commercials, all the bs, Right. Shadur and Travis alone, what they've done, their level of performance, the way they've played this year, I mean, you could argue the best quarterback in the entire country in terms of the tape he's putting out there every week. And. And it's not Even arguable. The best, like the most impactful best college football player is Travis Hunter. Can we get.

[Mensch]

Would there any way to get odds on two Colorado players being Heisman finalists?

[Todd McShay]

Of course we can.

[Mensch]

Could they both get in?

[Todd McShay]

We can. Yeah. Yeah.

[Mensch]

They're just challenging, just throwing out things.

[Todd McShay]

Shador is going to get hurt a lot, but I mean, he, they would have to make a run and all, but. And it still would be Travis. It would be Travis.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

So I don't see that happening. But I will say this, okay? He's played at a level that he's deserving event of being recognized or considered for any award, in my opinion. He's played that good. All right, Mensch, let me clear my voice for this.

[Mensch]

I almost forgot.

[Todd McShay]

So here, here's how I view this, right? Here's how I view our responsibility. We're here to enlighten people about the NFL draft. We're here to talk about college football. We're here to talk about the NFL. But if I'm being honest, there's nothing more special than, to me, than providing the people with a service. And this week, where would Todd be? This is a special edition. A special Baton Rouge edition. Let's roll the. I know we got some. I mean, nothing, nothing gets you more fired up than that. Where would Todd be? Baton Rouge. This segment is all about servicing the people. We're a public service. It's a, it's something we're, we're thrilled to provide. Okay. I asked this question all the time, Mitch. Right? All the time. I mean, for the last 20 years, you're out at college games every weekend, especially living up in the Northeast, like, where it's all NFL and people just don't truly, like, can't grasp the, the experience that going to a college football game is. I was lucky enough. My grandfather worked with Bo Schembechler. I was able to go to college games like at Michigan, some Ohio State growing up. So I had a feel for it. But I'll be honest, like, growing up, Michigan, Ohio State was the rivalry, like, that was the epicenter of college football. Okay. Marshall Brown, my grandfather, like, he, he is what? Like, he put that burning fire and love for college football in me.

[Mensch]

Such a great story. Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

So. But then I'll never forget. Like, I'm traveling my first year, first year, traveling with Mike Godfrey, Ron Franklin. I'm just like, I'm a spotter who's like writing notes to Mike. Cover 2. Check out this receiver, one on one matchups, stuff like that. But I. It's my first taste of SEC football and I'd never seen anything like it. And I've been an absolute addict ever since. There's nothing like it. Clemson's a wonderful place to go. USC's proud traditions. Touchdown Jesus. Notre Dame. Like the big house, the shoe. Love all the. But there's something magical about a Saturday night in the sec. So my answer to the question every time people ask, I swear more than any question about quarterback who's drafted this, that the most consistent question over the last 25 years is if you could one guy's trip. 1. One family weekend one like where in college football would you go if you're like a bucket list trip? And my answer is always this. Anywhere in the SEC on a Saturday night. But if you're going to hold me to one place, it's Baton Rouge on a Saturday night. There's no place like it. It never rains in Baton Rouge on a Saturday. Like all of it. And, and the reason is I. The passion, the, the excitement, the like living and dying by it. But also when you get there and listen Ole Miss fans, it's a total different experience in the Grove. And that's a wonderful place and they're beautiful people and they welcome you with open arms and you sit down at a tailgate cloth over a table and you'll be fed the coolest whiskey drinks and. And bourbons and just like. And they'll love you there. And they'll love you up in Auburn, right? They will. They'll love you up in Tennessee and Knoxville. It's a different environment, a little more rowdy. But in Baton Rouge they are wild. They're only not a 90 minute drive down. Right down was it i10 or whatever it is right down the road to New Orleans.

[Mensch]

It's like I made that ride.

[Todd McShay]

It's the perfect. It's the perfect like blend of absolute party insanity that like kind of trickles down from. From New Orleans and then what an sec Saturday night should be. Okay, so this segment every week from now on. We did it. We did Acre last week for Auburn. Great restaurant. This Saturday night is always going to be about how would you plan your Saturday night? I mean, sorry, your weekend, your perfect weekend. You're grabbing a bunch of friends. You want to go down for a weekend. You have family, whatever it is. So I reached out. This is. I told you, NFL GM scouts, all that stuff. The most important conversation I had all week was with Brandon Landry, founder of Walk Ons. He and Jack Warner for little history lesson. He and Jack Warner were Walk on basketball players for LSU Tigers years and years ago. They absolute love for lsu. All things Tigers, right? They decided, what can we do this fun. Let's not go get a corporate job. Let's not go work in accounting or be a, you know, whatever it is. Let's do something with our school that we love and have passion about. So they, they started this, this sports bar called Walk Ons. It was just a local, local joint. And it's, it's become. It's all over the south now. It's exploded. Brandon's gone on and he's now has the supper club and, and, and all. And like, he's an institution down there. And let me tell you, like, Brandon, to me, is a microcosm of what you get in the experience in the Southern, like, true Southern hospitality. And I know Ole Miss people will say that. A bunch of assholes. And at LSU and lsu, people say that they're soft. At Ole Miss, I get it. Everyone's got their rivalry. But if you're just a guy from the north, from Boston, who's going down to experience a game somewhere, a guy from anywhere who doesn't understand the fabric of an SEC Saturday night or an LSU Baton Rouge Saturday night, like, to. One of my first trips down there, I met Brandon Landry, right? And it's like, come on in, bud, you know, and, and just show. Just showed me everything, showed me where to go show, like, introduce me to the people. We're going from one place to the next. It's like a caravan of, you know, suburbans. And, and it's not like car services and all this rich stuff because you're traveling with ESPN now. It's just like, like, people who just, like, want to show you a good time, they're proud of what they have in Baton Rouge. So Brandon Landry has been a friend of mine for 20 plus years. I want you to understand this. I shot him a quick text the other day and said, hey, trying to plan the bed, doing this, doing the. You know, where would Todd be this weekend? Trying to turn it into something fun where, like, I want people to come here and be like, all right, we've got it on Thursday afternoons. We got to check this out, because one day I want to plan a trip to Auburn. I want to plan a trip to lsu, to Georgia, to Tennessee, to usc, to Michigan, to Notre Dame, to Ohio State. And we're going to provide what we think could be the coolest trip if you're going to make that one bucket list College football weekend trip. We're going to try to provide it. I didn't even give him that backdrop. I just said, trying to put together, like, a great week in bat weekend in Baton Rouge for. For people listening and watching the show. This is. I'm going to paraphrase some, but this is a lot of what he said. All right. This is in text.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

I showed you the other day. The text goes on and on and on. So he says, give me 30 minutes. I'll get back to you. 30 minutes later, I get this long text. It starts with the hotel you should stay at. Stay at the Low Bears Hotel and Casino. Okay. Brandon was working on his text that the. Off the assumption we're coming on. Coming in on Friday. But when I started reading through his text, I decided, like, there's no choice. We got to go in on Thursday. Thursday night, you get in. You get into Baton Rouge. You gotta coat your stomach. You gotta car. Blow it a little bit. So we're gonna go to Geno's on Thursday night. Brandon has no affiliation with Gino's. Gino. Gino Moreno has become a friend of mine. Gino's, to me, is a special place. And. And you don't get much great Italian in. In the south, being. I mean, we're northeast people, right? It's like. It's. It's the real stuff. I don't. Let's pull up. Let's pull up the menu here, the Geno's menu. I mean, you look at. You look at some of the things that they have on there, and what I love about it is you. You get the Italian experience, but also with some Baton Rouge in there. Like, to me, you got to get. You got to get the mama's special salad, of course. But then how about. How about the angel hair pasta with crab meat just to, like, warm things up, you know? And then I'm. I'm a veal parm lover, so I've always gotten the veal parm there, but from the grill, like the. Oh, so this is Thursday night, and we can move on from. From. From Genos. But g. Go in there, say hello to Gino. Gino Marino. I actually had a wild night there one night. Mensch. I'm with a. Like my. Like an agent and some other people. All of a sudden, Britney Spears dad is there. Big LSU fans, all that. Yeah. And listen, I don't. I'm not trying to get into a Spears controversy here and the family and all that. Yeah, you are. All I can tell you is in Two. It's now, it's now like one in the morning and I'm at some, I'm at some place, you know, after our after hours joint with Jamie Spears, the dad of Britney. It was a wild night. You just never know what you're gonna. You never know what you're gonna get into in Baton Rouge. That's kind of why I love it. So we're gonna come in on Thursday, we're gonna car bloat. Don't have to. It doesn't have to be the wildest night on Thursday because we got a big day on Friday. So this is where we pick back up with Brandon. He, he says depending on when you get into town, this is him working off the assumption. On Friday you're flying. Friday, flying in. But he says you got. If it's, if it's a trip with your buds, you gotta get around to golfing. Go to the University Club. Great track. It's LSU's home course. All right, so he says, that's where you start. So third Thursday morning, you get up, you got a full belly. You didn't party too hard on Thursday night. Friday, Friday you, you get up, you play a round of golf. Then when you're done with your round of golf, this is what he says, you got to go to lunch at Phil's Oyster Bar. Great seafood. You have to try. I've eaten there before. Trust me on this, okay? Go to lunch, Phil's Oyster Bar on Friday and get the char. Grilled oysters.

[Mensch]

Wow, I love oysters.

[Todd McShay]

I, I know you love oysters. I know you do. You've had oysters and orange juice before in a hotel room.

[Mensch]

I was wondering how long it was going to take. Go ahead.

[Todd McShay]

So, so. And he also, on a Friday afternoon, like, everyone's coming to town. That's where everyone goes. So like people are driving in from all over the south. People are flying in. There's a lot of people. You know, he said that's where the. I don't care, but that's where the who's who of Baton Rouge will be. Everyone goes there on a Friday afternoon. So then you kind of nurse it down, you know, see the sites, go around campus a little bit. Friday night, if you want a higher end meal, tell everyone to come into Supper Club is what he said. That's his new place. He opened up a few years ago. They source the food from all over the world. And like, listen, you think, well, this, this guy's a former walk on basketball player. He has a, he has a sport Sports bar. The hell does he know about food? Trust me when I tell you. Like, they had a setup mentioned the Senior Bowl a couple years ago. The food, they're walking around like, like, like shrimp wrapped in bacon. But like special stuff, like all the southern stuff. Here's the menu. So here's what I know. You got to do the tempura sea. This is not the typical south, right? This is like you're in New York City, like in Manhattan. But I'm telling you, it's like from the best places in the world. Flies this in. This place is unbelievably popular. It's tough to even get in. So this, the tempura sea bass is phenomenal. The wagyu negri sushi, phenomenal. The short rib burnt end. We're just on the, on the hot appetizers right now. Okay. Then you make your way over to the, to the. I mean, they've got caviar. I'm not a caviar guy. But the prime cuts, the butchered house, the Sagara cut. I mean from, from Louisiana, 35 day dry age. From Ethel, Louisiana. And then you've got your wagus. You get all. But, but you've got to. They call it arm candy. I love it. With your steak. Arm candy. This is where they bring in the Baton Rouge, the southern seafood king crab, Oscar sauteed lobster and seared scallops. As the, as the arm candy. How beautiful is that?

[Mensch]

Sounds great.

[Todd McShay]

Okay, so now, like, now we've eaten like kings, right? Now we're like, it's Friday night. We've had a good meal. Here's the thing. You've played around the golf at the university club, right? Then you had lunch. You go out to lunch. You have the great lunch at Phil's. Then you go into the supper club and you have a wonderful dinner class, like all class. Right, right. But, but that's sec. Sad Saturday night game Friday night before. Like this is where it gets fun. And he writes to me, all right, back to Friday night. Friday night, late night. No other place than Fred's in Tigerland. So you're gonna probably have a three hour dinner at supper club. Then you go over to Fred, Fred's in Tiger land. And he said, when you're done at Fred's entire, it's gonna be a wild scene. I mean, you're talking with the Louisiana, the beads. You know, everyone's running around, everyone's chanting stuff for lsu. Everyone's getting all lubricated up for the next day. Okay. When you're done. Listen to the detail he goes into. This is why I love Brandon. He's beautiful. On the way to late night, after late night, you got to hit up small sliders or canes for just a little snack because you got to keep it going. Then the late, late night, I love snacks. Go to the low, the low Bears Casino. All night long you can go and they spots inside there. And the best is right. Then you got a short commute up to your hotel room. Then you got, then he writes, you got to peel yourself out of bed in the morning. You got to get over to game day, assuming your game day is going to be there if that's the case. And listen, if you're going to do one weekend a year or, or you know, one wow, one time in your life and go down to experience this game day, there, you got to go do it. So you hit up game day in the morning and then you go, you head right over, you said right after game day, go with it for a little bit and then head right over to Louis Cafe. That's where you're going to get, get your breakfast. Then the pre game at the original walk Ons. So like you don't stop eating and you probably don't stop drinking the entire time that you're in Baton Rouge. So you're going from Louie's Cafe and then you're just walking over to walk ons, have a couple, you know, Bloody Mary's, whatever you do. And, and you're, you're looking on to Tiger Stadium. Huge party outside, right? You get like a bracelet. It's not just inside. They have a huge party outside. Drinks are flowing, atmosphere is everything that you'd think of for an sec game. Then you just, he said, this is critical. You got to walk through all the tailgates on the way. He, this is exactly the quote unquote. The sights, the smells, the sounds, the taste, it'll just all blow you away. He goes, it'll just all blow you away, Todd, because this is what I haven't done. I've always been working on the Saturdays, right? Because I, I promise you, you will not go hungry. Everyone will open arms, welcome you in. Everyone will want to know your story. They'll gladly tell you their story. Everyone will offer you food and drinks. The tailgate party outside the stadium is just as good as the game itself said. But then you got to get down to the hill to see the team and the band walked into the stadium. So cool. Then he says, get in the stadium early. Big game. The Hype is real. Nothing more special than being inside Tiger Stadium right before kickoff. The bands are playing like goosebumps everywhere. Then, then he says, all right, back to. After the game. Gotta hit up, hit up walk ons and then Fred's again, especially if the Tigers win. So it seems like if they lose, like, go to walk ons, you know, have a couple cocktails, talk to your friends and then go home. But, like, if they win, it's walk ons and then late night at Fred's Again, the two nights, late night at Fred's and then Sunday. This I love. I love. Catch Superior Grill before leaving town, grab a margarita to go. These people are beautiful, man. Like, it's not. It's like, not. It's not.

[Mensch]

They have, like, drive through margarita places down there. They used to, when I was down there, they did.

[Todd McShay]

It's not reality down there. So that's it, like, for everyone who's asked me over the 25 years, where would you go? One bucket list trip. I think we just outlined the best you can possibly do. And, and thanks again to Brandon. Like, walk ons, you gotta visit. It's an institution down there. And, and the supper club now has become the. The elite of the elite, if you can afford to do that. If not, you got Fred's, you got the tailgates, you got game day. I'm telling you, like, I literally, like, there's like a special place in my heart. I get like goosebumps thinking about what the weekend is. Talk to Rossello and Stanford. Steve. Steve was texting me this morning too, about, like, he's on the plane down there. It is such an experience. It's like, it's hard to explain. It's like a religious experience that you have. Like, if you love college football or even if you're just a sports fan, you gotta make a trip like this once in your life. Lifetime. Yeah, that's all I got.

[Mensch]

Starving. I hope you're happy.

[Todd McShay]

Oh, yeah. What's for lunch?

[Mensch]

Yeah, not that.

[Todd McShay]

All right. This has been fun, man. This is. This is what it's all about. This is what I love. We're back on. Back on Saturday night again. YouTube live. Please come check it out. We appreciate everyone who's. Who's checked it out. We're here for all your criticism. We're here for all your comments. Please let us know. I'm at McShay 13.

[Mensch]

Mensch is at Scout Sync Mensch.

[Todd McShay]

Scout Sync Mensch. And yeah, let us know what you think. You know, hopefully you're here to stick around and listen to the show, but we'd love for you to join Saturday night. It's going to be a lot of fun right after this game. You know, LSU and in the 330 game of Ole Miss Georgia, see what Shador Sanders and Travis Hunter do against Texas Tech. Talk about this Alabama, LSU game elimination game will be on right after the game. Like right when, when Herbie and Fowler are done. We're going to jump on here. We'll be on for an hour, plus however long it takes to unpack everything that we saw on Saturday. So that's it for today. Love it. Mm.

[Mensch]

It's great, man.

[Todd McShay]

All right. I'll talk to you soon. Must be 21 plus and present in select states. For Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18/ plus and present in D gambling problem, call 1-800- GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.orgchatinconeticate or visit mdgamblinghelp.org In Maryland, Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 1-800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text Hopeny in New York.