The Manning Passing Academy: MVPs, 2027 QB Lessons, Camp Surprises, and More

Summary

The McShay Show – “The Manning Passing Academy: MVPs, 2027 QB Lessons, Camp Surprises, and More”

Date: June 29, 2026
Host: Todd McShay (TM), with Steve Muench (SM)
Podcast: The Ringer

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Episode Overview

This special bonus episode takes listeners inside the Manning Passing Academy (MPA), the legendary quarterback camp where many of college football’s top talents gather each summer. Todd McShay and cohost Steve Muench break down their on-the-ground observations, performance takeaways, and standout stories from their time in Thibodaux, Louisiana. The conversation spotlights both the expected stars and the unexpected risers in the 2027 quarterback class, along with player development insights, coaching interactions, and under-the-radar prospects.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Setting and Structure of Manning Passing Academy

• MPA Atmosphere: 1,500+ high school QBs and 40+ top college quarterbacks serve as counselors, overseen by the Manning family (Archie, Peyton, Eli, Cooper). NFL GMs, scouts, and college coaches are present for evaluation, networking, and knowledge sharing.
  • “It’s just an opportunity to see who’s making progress... for a lot of them, I was like, oh, he looks different or, man, he’s bulked up...” – SM (16:46)
• Camp Breakdown:
  • Day: College QB counselors run drills and coaching stations for young campers.
  • Night: College QBs compete in passing drills (including “Friday Night Lights” and seven-on-sevens) – a rare live look at top prospects between seasons.
• NFL Presence: Increase from 2 to 5 GMs attending this year, notable names included Ryan Poles, Les Snead, Chris Grier, and others (7:34).

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2. Camp MVP – CJ Carr (Notre Dame)

• Clear Standout: CJ Carr named the unofficial “McShay Passing Academy MVP” by Steve.
  • “Wasn’t even close. Julian Sayin was there, Arch Manning was there... but you think about like Brady and Brees. Talk about like repeatable form mechanics – not robotic, but when it comes to footwork, timing, ball out—just standing there watching him, even warming up, hands here, bang, hands here, so…” – SM (9:37)
• What Set Carr Apart:
  • Mechanically advanced: Effortless, precise throwing motion, footwork, and timing.
  • Mental acuity: Demonstrated “what’s between his ears” by coaching 7-on-7 teams, organizing coverages, and diagnosing plays for both offense and defense.
    • “He was absolutely alpha dog, but not, not trying to be the alpha dog, just... what just was because that’s just who he is, you know.” – SM (15:18)
  • Natural leadership and football IQ on full display, impressing both the Mannings and coaching staff.
• Peer & Coach Admiration: Older football figures, like Jake Delhomme (first camp counselor 30 years prior), noted, “You see CJ today? That’s different.” (14:48)
• Manning Validation: Both Peyton and Eli frequently chose Carr for demo work: “When Eli and Peyton know who the guy is, that tells you something.” (11:05)

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3. Notable QB Impressions & Physical Trends

Julian Sayin (Ohio State)

• Physical Development:
  • “Looks thicker, stronger lower body... that’s the big difference, like all of them looked [better] this year.” – SM (22:13)
• Modern QB Training:
  • Nearly all QBs now display lower-body explosion and hip rotation mechanics; arm slot is less emphasized than a decade ago.
    • “It used to be come over the top—now? Arm angles can be here, doesn’t matter, it’s about the core and lower body.” – SM (21:40)

C.J. Bailey (NC State; Class of 2028)

• Surprise riser; legit 6’6”, 220 lbs, visibly “bulk[ed] up from a year ago.” Mechanics improved, ball “jumps off his hand.” – SM (23:03, 24:37)

Kamario Taylor (Mississippi State, 2028) & Malik Washington (Maryland, 2028)

• Both athletic “freaks”: Taylor is 6’4”/230 with a “rifle arm,” Washington is 6’5”, 231 lbs, showed best deep-ball arm talent of the camp. – SM (25:40–31:05)
  • “He [Washington] had a sensational freshman year... there’s a high anticipation he could be... a $7 million NIL quarterback a year from now.” – SM (27:31)
  • Washington’s 50+ yard “wow” throw: “My neck was like, whoa... it was my first wow moment of the week.” – SM (30:48)

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4. Arch Manning’s Camp Experience

• Crowd Reaction: Small group of campers booed Arch during his first public throw.
  • “Yes, there were a couple brief times… maybe 10–15 punk campers… maybe it was just a group of Ole Miss fans... But, yeah, there were a couple times where they just decided…” – SM (33:58)
• Arch’s Composure: Didn’t react publicly; took on a background role, focused on letting others shine:
  • “He’s trying to blend in, do his job, and get out of the way so everyone else can get the work they need... I made it a teaching moment for my own son.” – SM (37:22)

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5. Other Standouts, Risers, and Hidden Gems

• John Mateer (Oklahoma): Big, physically imposing, “cut-off shirt, shades on”; injury no longer an issue, “looked really good,” but concern with upper-body bulk vs. typical QB build (38:21–42:44).
• Marcel Reed (Texas A&M): Not previously celebrated for passing, but “looked better than expected; accurate, good trajectory.” – SM (43:22)
• Under-the-Radar:
  • Jerry Kaminski (North Dakota State): Consistent, top-5 overall at Friday Night Lights.
    • “I’d put him in the top five... so that’s notable.” – SM (45:01)
  • James Murphy (Brown): Tall, filled-out, intelligent Ivy League QB, potential transfer portal gem after this season; “threw the ball really well.” – SM (46:05)

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6. Camp Takeaways: Trends & Process

• Physical Development: Modern college QBs are now powerfully built in the lower body and core (like linebackers). Upper body less “ripped” unless outlier, e.g., Mateer.
• QB Mechanics Evolution: Universal adoption of hip-driven mechanics, arm slot flexibility—shift from prior “over-the-top” orthodoxy.
• Scouting Mindset:
  • Muench views MPA as a source of background and character “footnotes,” not determinative to tape evaluation:
    • “These are footnotes to the tape... nice accoutrements to what we’re doing.” – SM (54:35)
• Camp Energy: This year’s attendee pool noticeably stronger, more “NFL buzz,” and more tightly media-controlled. NFL Films and Pete Thamel on-site signal the class’s generational depth.
  • “As an evaluator, top to bottom, this product is a lot better than the product I watched last year... these guys are better, period,” – SM (58:25)

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7. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• CJ Carr’s Gravitational Pull:
  • “He was absolutely alpha dog, but not, not trying to be the alpha dog, just right. What just was because that’s just who he is, you know.” – SM (15:18)
• On Arch Manning’s Poise:
  • “I want you to watch Arch, the way he carries himself and how he doesn't make this about him... He’s not acting the clown or playing it up.” – SM (37:22)
• On Lower-Body Emphasis for QBs:
  • “Strong core, ripped in the lower [body]... The lower bodies look a lot more linebacker or fullback than they ever did.” – SM (21:40)
• On Camp’s Big-Picture Value:
  • “What matters, obviously, is the tape... these are footnotes.” – SM (54:35)
• Personal Touch:
  • Steve’s son, Tate, “threw more passes this weekend than [Steve] did in four years at Richmond.” (51:04)
  • Cooper Manning was the “most beloved” at camp—“could be a stand-up comedian.” (29:55)

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8. Final Reflections & Next Steps

• Personal Growth: Steve noted better logistical planning and focus his second year at MPA, “know[ing] where to be, who to talk to” for maximum insight (51:04).
• Camp’s Place in Evaluation: Both hosts reinforce that camp interactions are supplementary—not determinant. Real value comes in how camp dynamics foreshadow leaders, risers, or unique traits for upcoming seasons and the draft process.
• 2027 QB Class: Hosts tease that their in-depth “Building the Board” series will break down CJ Carr, Julian Sayin, and other names with even more context in the next episode.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• CJ Carr Named MVP & Analysis: 09:19–15:05
• Julian Sayin Physique Discussion: 18:04–22:47
• C.J. Bailey “Surprise” Segment: 22:47–24:57
• Kamario Taylor & Malik Washington (Freaks): 25:40–31:05
• Arch Manning Booing & Response: 33:36–38:21
• Discussion on John Mateer (Oklahoma): 38:21–42:44
• Off-the-Radar Standouts (Kaminski, Murphy): 43:22–49:10
• Camp Evaluator Takeaways (Macro/Micro): 49:10–54:35
• Reflections on Camp Process & Future: 54:35–62:11

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In Summary

The Manning Passing Academy continues its legacy as a unique, talent-rich incubator for elite quarterbacks. This year’s camp solidified CJ Carr’s status as a blue-chip prospect, showcased physically evolving signal callers (with an emphasis on lower-body development), and hinted at future risers like C.J. Bailey, Kamario Taylor, and Malik Washington. Beyond mechanics, the camp also revealed character, leadership, and adaptability under the glare of national attention—crucial intangibles entering the 2027 NFL draft cycle.

For deep draft lovers and college football fans, this is indispensable ear candy, full of both evaluation and behind-the-scenes color you won’t find anywhere else.

Transcript

[Steve]

If you've been following along, we're two parts into a seven part series called Building the Board. The 2027 quarterback class. Well, consider this a bonus episode. It's a review of the Manning Passing Academy. And I got news for you. Just 304 days until the NFL draft match. You good? I'm good, man. Roll that thing, Tuck. What a weekend, man.

[Todd McShay]

You have fun? Yeah.

[Steve]

Yeah.

[Commercial/Announcer]

Good.

[Steve]

Manning Passing Academy flying to New Orleans. Drive over to Thibodeau, Louisiana, through the the Sug fields, you know, Nice. Feel like all the country's sugar is made in that area. At least a good portion. Lamina mal steps into McDonald's, looks left,

[Todd McShay]

sees Pulisic, looks right, sees Jimenez, gives

[Steve]

a nod to Ronaldinho in the corner

[Todd McShay]

with a FIFA World cup meal.

[Steve]

Ronaldinho sees son in the booth.

[Todd McShay]

Son finds Beckham going for extra Big Mac sauce. He's got Davies at the table just behind him.

[Steve]

Davey's going for his collectible cup. A steal by Henry, who pulls his own collectible cup. Collect one of nine legendary cups with a FIFA World World cup meal. Participating McDonald's for a limited time while supplies last.

[Todd McShay]

All rights reserved.

[Steve]

2026, McDonald's at FIFA World Cup 2026. They say you can tell a lot about a person by the contents of their freezer. So what does a bottle of Jagermeister say? It says you have standards. You don't cut corners. And you like your Jagermeister shots the way they're meant to be enjoyed. Ice cold. As for the frozen taquitos and mystery leftovers, we'll keep that between us. Drink it cold or don't drink it at all. Jagermeister. Damn, that's cold. Drink responsibly. Jagermeister liqueur, 35% alcohol.

[Commercial/Announcer]

By Volum.

[Steve]

By Mast. Jagermeister US White Plains, New York. Love it.

[Todd McShay]

Other than the flight back, it sounds like it would have. Would have scared the hell out of me.

[Steve]

Yeah. I had to text you and Marissa, who are like the. The had to.

[Todd McShay]

You didn't have to. You wanted to.

[Steve]

If you. If you don't follow the show. Marissa, Steve and I travel everywhere. The Senior bowl of the Combine, the NFL draft, which we do out in la. And. And I. I have been traveling. My parents worked for Delta Airlines. Right. I've been traveling since, I don't know, like maybe one years old. Flying is not. It's like, you know, getting in a car for me.

[Todd McShay]

Right.

[Steve]

Steve. Steve and Marissa. It's kind of a different adventure, let's just put it that way. So they get they, they get very nervous. We going to Chicago last year for our, for our live show. We had a, an aborted landing and there's, and there's still. It's like. It was like my wheels touched.

[Todd McShay]

McShay. Wheels.

[Steve]

Wheels touched.

[Todd McShay]

Usually that doesn't happen.

[Steve]

So I, so I, I'm not, I'm not a raw dog guy. Like men, he, he's a raw dog guy, as people like to say. No phone, no, no devices, no work. Flight attendants come up and down. Would you like a drink? Would you like a snack? No, thank you. Men is like this.

[Todd McShay]

I watched the flight, the flight tracker, that's all.

[Steve]

Flight tracker, right. So I sent a screenshot to Marissa and Steve of, of the flight tracker. I noticed and I didn't even. I was, I flew with my 11 year old son Tate and he came down for the weekend. Awesome time. Once in a lifetime experience, right? I, he still to this moment doesn't know what happened in the middle of the flight. Literally halfway through the flight, not even halfway, maybe a third of the way through the flight from New Orleans to Boston, direct flight. All of a sudden like I, I feel the plane just like, like we must have descended, I don't know, like 10,000ft in, in less than, less than a lot of time. And then we take a sharp left, then we take a sharp left turn. So I, I'm just playing it cool. I. My mom was a flight attendant, my dad worked. Like, I've been around a lot. I know a lot of the stories, so I don't. But eventually when everything kind of levels off and we circle around, I, I hit the flight tracker just to see what happened. And I've never seen a flight tracker like this before. Like sometimes you get around the airport and you have to. And maybe there's like a delay in landing or maybe a lightning storm or something. And so you circle around, not midway through the flight. That's the first for me. The flight tracker literally is like a straight line from New Orleans to Boston and all of a sudden in like the Atlanta area, it's like circle and then right back up. So that was an experience. So I texted, mentioned that.

[Todd McShay]

No, thank you.

[Steve]

Yeah, he was nervous. He was nervous from the ground.

[Todd McShay]

Yes. So, yeah.

[Steve]

So it was an awesome weekend. The Manning Passing Academy is, is a special deal. We were there for, for three days, had an awesome time. But I, there's. I don't want to oversell it. And today we're going to do basically just do a review of what we saw there. There's just a lot to, to glean from it. There's a lot to discuss. Like during the day it's two sets of, it's a Camp 1500 high school, basically high school students, some eighth graders. And what happens is you've got college coaches from around the country mostly like quarterback coaches, quarterback gurus, different guys. And then also mixed in as the coaching staff are some of the 40 plus, mostly of the top quarterbacks in the country that I help Arch Archie with, Archie Manning with putting that list together every year I have for a long time. And so he, and there's a, there's a group of us that help and give suggestions and then he, he invites all these quarterbacks to come. Some couldn't come every year it's the same deal, different reasons. Like Dante Moore I believe in like Asia with the, with one of his coaches or something. Lenore Sellers I think with a new, new offensive coordinator and Kendall Briles probably need to be locked in like Mendoza was with Signetti last year. Sam Levitt was still kind of come coming back from an injury. Didn't want to go down there and do all that. The Cal freshman sensation was, was not able to come. DJ I thought he was going to be there. I didn't get any reasoning on why, but he wasn't there. So there are a handful of guys that weren't there. But the vast majority of guys in a loaded quarterback class and even some younger quarterbacks who won't be in this year's draft class were there as camp counselors during the day. So they're going through two sessions of practices different, you know, you go, you go from one drill to the next, the next and you have an opportunity with these awesome college players with, with Eli and Peyton walking around from different stations and you just get to learn and drill in all these, all these things, right? And I'm walking around with my 11 year old son who's an aspiring quarterback and he's just like, you know, taking it in and like so it was, it was just cool to do that. But then at night there's these seven on sevens and then after the seven on sevens the quarterbacks throw. The first night was the Eli and Peyton they have passing drills and they all the quarterbacks, the college quarterbacks, the prospects we're talking about get together and they throw and they go through station to station with, with Eli and Peyton. And then the next night was the, the Friday night light. So the nighttime is when you get the opportunity to really see these guys throw the ball but during the day you're watching them interact and coach and go through all that stuff and you're talking to a lot of people. There were more. I told you last year there were two GMs there. To my knowledge, there were five this year. Interesting. Yeah, Ryan, Ryan Poles was back because his son is there. He's got his quarterback. He's all right with. With Caleb. Yeah. Less Sneed was there. They obviously have their quarterback, but he's friends with the Manning family and he comes down every year. Muji was there. That surprised.

[Todd McShay]

Interesting.

[Steve]

Never met him in person. He's like six five or six four. He's. I had no idea.

[Todd McShay]

All right. Like that

[Steve]

Chris Greer was there who's now with the Detroit Lions, longtime Miami Dolphins. So he, he's not a general manager now, but he was a GM of the Dolphins for a long time. He was there. We hung up for a little while. Great guy. So yeah, there was just. There were a bunch of NFL people there. There were some, a couple scouts there kind of working the camp. A lot of coaches, some insider people like Pete Thamel was there this year for the first full time that he's been. And there's just a lot of information and a lot of sharing, you know, and so there, even this stuff I'm not seeing with my eyes, I'm hearing with my ears. So there's a lot of, A lot of input, you know, coming into the system, which is, which is always cool to gather information and kind of prep us in a different way as we, as we get ready to continue our series on Thursday with Julian saying and C.J. carr, that'll be part three of our building. Building the board, the 2027 quarterback class. And now I've got even more ammunition when it comes to. Comes to that. But today's a good day to take break, talk about the Manning Passing Academy and we'll get right back to our, our seven part series.

[Todd McShay]

All right, well, don't bury the headline like who is camp mvp? Who was walking home with the T shirt, the, the trophy that they hand out at all these camps. I know they don't actually do that, but the Todd McShay Camp Manning Passing Academy MVP 2026 is CJ Carr.

[Steve]

Notre Dame Wasn't even close. Wasn't even close. Julian saying was there and there. The Arch Manning was there and there were a lot of other guys that were exceptional. And, and I say that his performance in throwing the football was like, that's the jumping off point man. Like I know you know, he's Lloyd Carr's grandson and he's been around the game his whole life. And we, we've watched his tape and we're going to dive in even more for Thursday and get into all the. The nitty gritty, right. The improve what his strengths are. All of it, man. He like. But you think about like Brady and Breeze and you think about like the modern day, even like Mendoza last year. Talk about like repetitive, like repeatable form mechanics. It's like, I don't want to say robotic because he's not a robotic player, but like when it comes to footwork, timing ball out, just standing there watching him, even like warming up, like, hands here, bang, hand here. So. And yeah, it's not pads. There's no defense and all that. I get it. I'm not over. I'm not going to oversell it. But he. You always look for what's different, whether it's the Senior bowl combine, but more so All Star games or just on tape.

[Todd McShay]

He.

[Steve]

The. The how easy his stroke is, how mechanical. And I don't mean that in like a robotic way. I mean it like he just. What. What's supposed to be hit is hit. When the ball is supposed to be out, it's out. And then. Yeah, and then I watched him. I think we have a clip here of him. Of him coaching. And like, listen, I'll be the first to admit, like, I was blown away by, by a couple like Nuss Meyer was awesome last year at camp and, and Club Nick. Club Nick was great with the, with the young men and was so engaged. They all were really good. Like the commitment of time and what they have to do, like all these young men, the fact that they're giving their time and giving back is an awesome thing. Okay? But to watch C.J. carr coaching of like the seven on sevens, right, Specifically. And, and coaching up his quarterbacks and what the reads are and like the safety and like this, this high and then going on the defensive side and this is where I'm like, oh, yeah, he was around Gramps. You know, he. Yeah, he grew up because I went to Lloyd Carr's football camp in Michigan when I was in high school. Like, so you can just see it pass down. He's now in the back of the defense, right, Talking to the safeties and the dbs is they're getting ready for. As they're getting ready to like, for. For the next snap and seven and sevens. And he's talking about like leverage points at the corners. He's getting everyone lined up. He's kind of predicting based off of formation where it was wild. It was wild to see his. What's between his ears in terms of the game of football and then to watch him throw the football and everything he did. I mean, whether it was the one on ones, whether it was the Eli and Peyton stuff. And you can always like Peyton was going to him. All right, we're gonna. Let's run this play action thing. Cj, come here. You. You show them, you know, and so that, that's like an indicator when. When Eli and Peyton know who the guy is that tells you something. And then the next night, Friday, he's like, he's. He's hitting every single thing and he didn't wind up winning the whole thing, which doesn't really matter because there's like different way, like you can hit the four point the most points. But like in terms of just hitting targets and being on car jumped out. To me in every way, shape and form, I view him a little differently. Just seeing the way he carries himself and seeing the way he understands the game and then seeing how mechanically like refined he is. I now have a little bit of a different lens in which I'm viewing CJ Car. Oh, and then talking to people and then talking to like everyone around. It's the first name that came up was always. I'm just asking question and absorb. Questions and absorb. Yeah. Like Jake Delone is there, right? He was one of the first four people. It was Peyton and Eli and Delome and. And Brandon Stokely were the first four. 30 years ago the Manning Passing Academy, when they first started it 30 years ago, Peyton had gone. Had gone to Bobby Bowden's camp and came back and was like, dad, yeah, it was a good camp and I respect Bobby a lot. We should have a camp just for quarterbacks. And so the next year they did it and they had four college players who were counselors and it was those four. And so Delome came back at the 30, 30 year anniversary and he coaches, I think high school and he was awesome. He loves our show, by the way. He loves you. He lists he's. And he definitely will. He checked in last year's Manning Passing Academy summary and I'm sure he will hear. So, so a big thanks to Jake. But just listening to guys like that who are there and have no skin in the game and are just kind of going around and walking and talking to people and observing just. He was one of many I spoke to like, you see CJ today, like, that's different. You know, did you.

[Todd McShay]

Did you get a sense the players were gravitating towards him, that the players had a sense that this was, this was his. His time, that this was the guy at the camp?

[Steve]

Yeah. Yes, absolutely. Yes. And I paused for a second because I'm thinking back, like, Nuss Meyer was more like, like swagger and like, you know what I mean? And thing about him where like, he was like C.J. carr, it's not quiet confidence, but it's just like doesn't, you know, doesn't. Doesn't need to be overly vocal with the other stuff. It's like football confidence. Like there's nothing here that I don't know that I'm not like master class in and let's go, you know. So the answer is yes. He. He was absolutely alpha dog, but not, not trying to be the alpha dog, just right. What just was because that's just who he is, you know.

[Todd McShay]

That's. Yeah, that's great. That's the kind of stuff that you're. That's invaluable to see how that works logistically. If I'm listening to you right now, say 40 quarterbacks, they're coaching the kids during the day. You get into these night sessions, a little seven on seven, some competition stuff. How much are you really seeing one of these guys throw? And I'm wondering, and tell me if I'm wrong. And I mean no offense to some of these other quarterbacks who might be younger and they might have to wait, are this. Are some of the quarterbacks given priority in terms of reps? Or is it. You only get to see them make 10 throws, maybe in a session. How does that all work?

[Steve]

It's not a, it's not a thousand throws. It's not a Senior Bowl, I promise you. So that's why I started this whole thing with that. Like, let's not overstate. There is no priority. Right? There's no priority. So everyone gets reps. Everyone gets reps a good amount. But not Senior bowl where you. For three straight days, you're seeing him throw right on 17 on sevens team. It's. It's not the same experience, but it, but it's the first experience to see these guys, a lot of them live a B, first time seeing them. You got to remember their season ended in December, January, you know, so you got all these months, months now where getting bigger, stronger, working on mechanics like, this is. This is a. Our only sneak peek outside of like, we'll get ready for training kit. But like, really the only Sneak peek that you and I are gonna get and a lot of people are gonna get before they, they put on pads and go play for their university this fall. And so just to see who's making progress. And then for a lot of them I was like, oh, he looks different or man, he's bulked up or you know, like just, just, it's just an opportunity there. So it's.

[Todd McShay]

I wasn't gonna ask this.

[Steve]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Todd McShay]

But you make the point. Julian saying the quarterback from Ohio State, I thought, I mean there's some things I really love about his freshman tape. I thought he needed to get bigger and stronger. That was one of the things I felt about him. Did you see him make kind of that progress? He doesn't have a big frame, so I think he's got. It's, it's never, he's never going to be a big quarterback. But how, what frame wise? What did he look like?

[Steve]

You know what's interesting that's different from growing up. There's two things I've noticed about quarterbacks now that I've like I go to the M2QB, right? And that's in a lot of guys in the, in Massachusetts, New England area. That's like their spot where like down in Mobile it's like QB country. And like all throughout the country there are, there are different like places to go that help train quarterbacks. Right? They're all. The first thing is they're all teaching the same mechanics. And I was talking and I'll get, I'll get into the, the Brown quarterback. Tell talk to you more about him later on I think. But his dad, Jimmy Murphy, right, James Murphy is his son. Jimmy Murphy, we actually played against him. I don't know if you remember,

[Todd McShay]

we,

[Steve]

we were, we were freshmen and we weren't actually on the field but he, he got knocked out and the Richmond Northeastern game and I, interestingly enough he said that like the whole team flew back, he had to stay the overnight in a Richmond hospital. He woke up and Jim Reed, our coach was there and I was like, of course he was like, that's.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, of course he was.

[Steve]

That's. That's the Riddler. That's my guy. But anyway, so he and I were talking, he and I were talking and he's like, he's like, you know, I, someone said something about sidearm and he's like, yeah, like my son is, is going into fourth year starter at Brown and I feel like. I feel like a jackass because I was telling him his whole life like get your arm up over the top. They all are doing the same thing. It's all low. And it's the right thing. Right. And it doesn't matter if your arm slots a little lower or. Because it's about your hip rotation, short stride, hip rotation, keeping balance. Not. Not total. Not dissimilar at all really from like a golf swing or from like a great. A great at bat, right?

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Steve]

And so with all these years and started with like Tom House, but it's continued to develop all these quarterbacks now you go and watch. It's like. It's almost like this robotic thing. Like we're like into the future where it's like you get a 1500 quarterbacks are all warming up the same way. It's like, you know, like short stride, just rotating, ripping through, finishing with the same thing. Arm here, you know.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. And.

[Steve]

But the arm angles can be. Can be here. It doesn't matter. It used to be come over the top. And so it's. That's interesting. The second part would led me to all. This is the lower bodies of all of these quarterbacks are so different than what they used to be. And like. Like Baker Mayfield was one of. I don't want to say the first, but like they don't have to be ripped. Like Brady wasn't ripped. A lot of guys like the. The upper bodies, it's about flexibility. This. It's like the golf swing. Everyone, you know, it's. Picture it as a rope. This is like the conduit that you're like, you're. You're getting all your power from here in the core and lower. And the upper body needs to be flexible. Right?

[Todd McShay]

Right.

[Steve]

And so watching all the. The feels weird saying this but like studying the. The body types. Everyone is ripped in the lower. Strong cord ripped in the lower. And like not a lot of. Not everybody because we'll get to. We'll get to John Matier, get to a couple.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Steve]

The lower bodies look a lot more linebacker fullback than they ever did. Let's put it that way. You know.

[Todd McShay]

So nobody's skipping leg day anymore. No one's.

[Steve]

Nobody. No. They're all just like ripped. You know, it's pretty. Well.

[Todd McShay]

Is that what you saw Was saying.

[Steve]

Saying yes. Thank you for getting me back. Specifically saying specifically looks like thicker, stronger, lower body. And a lot of these guys did. That's the big difference. Like all of them looked CJ Carr, interestingly enough. Probably I would say I don't want to say like the lean is lower, but even like from afar, I was like, oh, he's not as, like, he's not as thick as Matier and, and, and saying and Trinidad and all these other guys. But you get up close to him, like, oh, he is. He's just. It's not like. But he is. It's, you know.

[Todd McShay]

All right, we know you love car. Who is the dude that you got down there and just surprise you. You, you know, made you say, huh? Didn't know. Want to watch more of this kid?

[Steve]

C.J. bailey.

[Todd McShay]

Okay, why?

[Steve]

First of all, when guys are listed at 6, 6 and you know, and you only watch him on tape, you're like, yeah, he's probably 6, 4 and 5, 8. Or like, I'll be shocked if he's not right at six, six or just like maybe a tick shy. He is physically.

[Todd McShay]

No, there's no measurements taken at the Manning passing Academy.

[Steve]

No, no, no, no, no, no. But they're the measurements combine type event standing next to him, you know, Right. And, and, and then watching them all stand in a line as, as Peyton or Eli are talking to him or what, and being like, oh, that guy's an inch plus taller than everybody else, you know. And so what does that mean? Absolutely nothing. But the first takeaway is, oh, wow, you know, like off the bus type stuff. So he's six. Just about six. Six. Like truly close to six six. 200.

[Todd McShay]

200.

[Steve]

He's about 220. He's not as, as thick as some of the other guys. And then you start watching him throw. He, to me looks thicker and is bulked up from a year ago. The mechanics still aren't perfect, but they look a lot better than what I've seen. And I'm not going to pretend like I've sat down and done a deep dive like I have with Dante or Arch or Car or saying or swords be your sellers. But I've watched enough of him to know what I was watching down in Thibodeau was different mechanically than what I had seen. And then you watch him roll out. Right. Like a lot of the stuff that Peyton was doing, Peyton State, Eli's station was more like short, like three step, five step precision, right?

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Steve]

Peyton stuff, ironically, was more play action. Moving in the pocket, rolling right, rolling left, all that stuff. And so just watching him and the way the ball jumps off his hand, I love it. And he's going to be 20, 28 class. Right?

[Todd McShay]

Right.

[Steve]

Is. Is what it's looking like. But I'm, I'm fired up and I don't Know what NC State looks like this year, and it doesn't appear that they're going to, you know, that they're making any legitimate run at the national championship. But I'd be scared to play him, I'll tell you that much. Like, I'd be scared to play Dangerous.

[Todd McShay]

I love that.

[Steve]

Yeah. Awesome dude, too. Awesome dude.

[Todd McShay]

Oh, really?

[Steve]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

We should say North Carolina State, by the way. We should just mention that any other guys there were kind of those freaks that, you know, might be on the Bruce Feldman list or the McShay list. Maybe we'll come up with a freaks list for McShay for quarterbacks. Any other players that really jumped out in that regard?

[Steve]

There were two, man. There were two that, like, they're both raw. They're both not like the polished finished version yet. But I'm excited to watch Kamario Taylor, the Mississippi State quarterback, and then. Then he's 64230, rifle arm.

[Todd McShay]

That's big, man.

[Steve]

And just like. Excuse me. Every once in a while, I just have this flashback of, like, playing high school safety, right? And I'm just looking at this guy walking towards me at one point, going, like, coming off the field, going past me, and I'm like. I can't even imagine having to, like, open field. You know, you cover up his four receivers out there.

[Commercial/Announcer]

Yeah.

[Steve]

He takes off running. And now you got this poor safety, 6 foot, 200, and he's got a full head of steam, and you got to bow your neck. And he's a truck. He's an absolute truck. And he runs well. And he's got a. He can just rip the football. The other guy, I would argue, similar build. The other guy's 65-231-SO an inch taller, basically. Same weight. Malik Washington from Maryland. He had a sensational freshman year. Right. Talking to Thammel and some other people. It's like, with all due to respect to Scott Van Pelt and all my Terp friends, Todd Klein's Marilyn Terp, there's. There's a high anticipation that he could be, as someone said to me, upwards of maybe $7 million Nil quarterback a year from now. Going somewhere else. Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Steve]

So. So Washington. So Washington alumnus. I think it's time to decide if. If we're ready to. To pony up, because if he builds off of what he did last year, just watching him physically, nobody had his arm. Nobody, huh? And he's that big and he's mobile. When he. At one point during the Friday Night Lights, the best part of the whole deal is on Friday night you've got all, like all the, the camp. The campers go through their two practices, then they have seven on sevens. And then like the, like the light. I told you last year, it's like, it was literally like Field of Dreams. Like the first time I saw it last year, I was like goosebumps. Like, almost like. I don't want to get overly. But I was like a little emotional. Like this is the purest thing. And there were no cameras there. There was nothing going on. This was. This year was a little different because it was the 30th anniversary and so NFL Films was there doing a special on it. So we had to kind of. I wasn't like standing next to Cooper. I was on the sideline. So still an awesome, you know, vantage point of everything. But there were a little bit more restrictions this year because trying to get the video to produce this, I'm sure, unbelievable special. And even Thamil was down there because it's one place where you can get all the generations of Mannings together in one place and interview them from Archie hall of Fame to Peyton and Eli Cooper Arch, you know, so, so there was a little bit more national media buzz. So it didn't feel quite as, as just like, hey, we're in a cornfield and all of a sudden you pop up some lights in a field and. And here we are. But the outside of it just being this special venue and like, oh, you look around, you're like, I'm watching like 40 of the best college quarterbacks. A bunch of these guys are going to be NFL guys and they're just out having fun throwing, hitting targets and competing, right? But Cooper Manning MC is the thing. And he's like legit funny. Not like, not like, oh, he's football funny. Like he's like, could be a stand up comedian, you know, and, and just, just watching him like get into, get into every, every single player and take shots and mispronounce names and schools and all of it on purpose to get the laugh. And, and he, and he tests the boundaries like a good comedian too. Like there are a couple things where I'm like, and you got all the parents of the campers and the people from the town on one side of the stands at Nickel, Nicholl State and all the campers on the other side. But I say all this because Cooper, when one deep ball, like they finish the first part of the Friday Night Lights, it's called air it Out. They go through like, you know, quick slant or like a curl route then an out route and then an incoming route and then they do posts and deep in nine routes. Malik Washington threw this ball. It was probably 50 something yards in the air, but he was like and a deep punt, you know, like the ball came out and it wasn't like it was too high. It was just like the trajectory was so different because he's able to with the arm, the energy and you're watching and it was the first time because I'm kind of videotaping some of the stuff that you see on here and all of a sudden my neck was like whoa. You know, it was my first wow moment of the week there was watching Malik throw a deep ball. Like he's just, he's got a different level of talent.

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[Todd McShay]

All right, kind of the elephant in the room you mentioned. You you talked about the Mannings just now. The generations. I saw a clip on X that I just kind of surprised me man. Where some campers were. It sounds like they're booing architect. What was, what was the what was going on with Arch? And I mean it's just like what this kid has to deal with, right?

[Steve]

Yeah. Yeah. For example, yes it was there were a couple brief times where there were like maybe 10 or 15 punk campers and I mean it sounded like an old man who just and these are saying they clearly like the most beloved player there was Trinidad Shambless, which was really cool to see. Like I think people just appreciate and maybe there were maybe it was just a group of Ole Miss fans. Right. And they just were right decided that they were going to dig into the fellow SEC quarterback. Maybe it was some Nepo stuff, I don't know. But yeah, there were a couple times where where they just decided to we're going to take this opportunity as a camper at the Manning Passing Academy where we have been hosted for a like a very reasonable price compared to other camps that you go to. I get to work with Eli. I get to work with Peyton. I get to work with 40 of the top college quarterbacks. I have an opportunity that most kids would die for. And there's 1400 that are allowed in and they have to turn turn away probably over a thousand other it's first come, first serve. It is not there to funnel players to Ole Miss or to Tennessee, which is where Archie and Eli and Peyton respectively went to school. It is there just to serve young men because they decided they thought that they could do a good job. Maybe not better than everyone, but a really good job of showing quarterbacks how Eli and Peyton prepared and what led to some of their success and some of the drills that they did, they're. They're giving back.

[Todd McShay]

Right.

[Steve]

And so to watch, I don't know, 15 or so kids that are there being offered this opportunity and that's their response. It's kind of like, yeah, that's on them. It was not acknowledged. It was not like Cooper's. That's his dad.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Steve]

You know, picture you with. With your son or me with my son. And like all of a sudden he's like. And we're hosting something and like giving back to the community. So I don't want to even like, give it a lot of whatever.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, yeah.

[Steve]

Arch, like, it's a different. It's a different experience for Arch there.

[Todd McShay]

Right.

[Steve]

Because he's like hosting with his family. And I think out of respect, he didn't even. The Thursday night deal. He. He didn't even. It's like he gets to work with his uncles basically whenever he wants to. So let. Let everybody else get the opportunity to go. So the only time I saw him throw and we didn't stay for Saturday night, we came back on Saturday. The only. The first time I saw him throw, Arch throw was at that Friday night lights. And it's just throwing some different drills. He like, the first real throw was kind of an outbreaker and he of air mailed it a little bit. It was literally his first throw. Right. He hadn't thrown the night before and so like he missed. I don't want to say air. He missed high and so the.

[Todd McShay]

Boo.

[Steve]

You know, just like, get out of here. You know. And he looked great the rest of the time. He also went through off season foot surgery. I don't think we've. We've covered that.

[Todd McShay]

I didn't know that.

[Steve]

Bulked up to 236 pounds. Was kind of, you know, obviously couldn't like run and work out and do all that stuff. Was trying to see if he wanted to carry that weight. Decided it was like he just didn't feel right. He's dropped back down to like 226. Somewhere in that range. Looks great. Like, looks physically great. Humble, like all the stuff I've told you about. Just like good dude. Everyone flocks to him.

[Todd McShay]

But.

[Steve]

But does a really good job of not making the camp about him to the point where I stopped down and I made it a teaching moment for my own son. You know, like, hey, this. This thing's about the Mannings. And they could make it about the Mannings, but they make it about everybody else, including Arch. I told him, I said, I want you to. I want you to watch Arch. The way he carries himself and how he doesn't make this about him. And he's not, you know, he's not acting the clown or he's not like playing it up. He's just. He's trying to blend in, do his job, and then kind of get out of the way so that everyone else that's there can get A, The. The work they need to get done, but B, shine the light on them. I. I get enough light on me, you know? Yeah. In Austin and everywhere else I go, so I thought that was a really cool thing to watch for March this week.

[Todd McShay]

Talk to me about show favorite Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer, because I really don't understand. You mentioned the freaks and you didn't bring up a tear. I saw a picture of material working out and there it is. My Lord, my Lord. How is that not one of your.

[Steve]

Even Peyton's like, what? And Cooper came on, he's like. He's like, it's. It's pitch black out and he's still got his shades on. Honestly, this dude's just a character. He's just a character I'm here for.

[Todd McShay]

And like.

[Steve]

And not in a. Not a clown show character. No, no, no, no. He is who he is. And. And it's kind of like Nagy was telling me about it. Like, he, like, it's just like Grinder, hard worker, does all the right things, but also rolls in and like ripped T shirts and like, he's just. He's not conforming to anything now. And like. Yeah, that picture's awesome. It's awesome.

[Todd McShay]

The.

[Steve]

The shades on, ripped, cut off. You know, the sleeveless shirt. I got it. So I'm gonna show it. I mean, I'm gonna. I'm not gonna lie though. Like, I've got a weird thing with like, don't get. I just told you. Like, yeah, it's your lower body. Get your upper body flexible.

[Todd McShay]

Are you worried about it?

[Steve]

A little bit. I wasn't watching him throw a little bit. Like, that dude's yoked. And so was. So was Brady Quinn, so is Tim Tebow, so is Will Levis. So it's interesting to watch. I'll say this from Mattier. The first night, the first time I got to see him throw, very first throw rolls out to his right and just. He air mailed it. Yeah, I said that about our Arch missed High. He air mailed one and I was like, oh gosh, no, you got to remember like who he, what he was at Washington State, just ripping the ball all over the field. What he was against Michigan and early in the Auburn game and I forget who they opened up with. Same stuff. Yeah, he's going to make a material mistake, have a material moment, but he's going to drill, drill the ball into spots. He is fearless, all those things. Right. And then the thumb injury happens and then he comes back against Texas and he was never the same. He looked a lot better I thought in the, the, the postseason game, the, the playoff game against Alabama, but still wasn't the same exact guy as he was pre injury. So I see that first throw and I'm like, oh man. You know, because he is a show favorite and, and he is our guy. Connor broughtto, you know, brought, brought the piece of paper across the desk like you gotta watch the midnight snack, you know, in the, in the pack back

[Todd McShay]

uses to sell stock.

[Commercial/Announcer]

That.

[Todd McShay]

That was his latest comment. I'm never selling stock. I'm a tier. Right.

[Steve]

I love that because, because he knows my thing with bulked up quarterbacks and so he's like, yeah, look at the picture. Are you worried? I'm like, yep, a little bit. But like love him. He's like, yeah, I don't sell stock. So that's kind of.

[Todd McShay]

And the thumb's a non issue at this point, right? The injury to the throwing thumb.

[Steve]

No, that was my point. It was the, the first throw. I'm like, like, oh, is it still a deal? You know, I wasn't worried about the backups. I was worried like. And then the rest of the time he looked, he looked really good. I mean he, okay, you know, he's not perfect but he, I, I didn't notice anything where I was like, he's not, he's still not back or anything like that. So I'm, I'm pumped to see him this year. He's definitely got again, not like a loud brat like that picture. Looks like he's trying to be like Jim McMahon. Sorry, showing my age. Or like he's trying to be something

[Todd McShay]

and he's like, that's so, that's so McMahon right there.

[Steve]

Right. But that's not who he is. He's kind of, kind of a quiet confidence, go about his business and all that. But, but yeah, I'm fired up to see what he does this year, but I'm but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't like a Little bit worried about, like, that's not the upper body of, you know, of name your quarterback from, from Mahomes to Allen to Lamar to. None of them look like that. So it'll be interesting to say it's true.

[Todd McShay]

Look what kind of jumps out to me. We talk about the materials, we talk about the Mannings and the Cars and the Saiyans.

[Steve]

40 quarterbacks looked good. Sayan looked good. I, I don't.

[Todd McShay]

We'll get into more later this week.

[Steve]

Okay? All right, good, good.

[Todd McShay]

In our next show, we'll get into them. I, I and I have saying too. What I think is interesting about this is that that many quarterbacks, the Mannings, and with your help, and I'll give you some credit here, you got some talents, they're gonna find you. Give me a guy that kind of was under the radar, that maybe people aren't talking about. Not one of these big names that you just kind of jumped out to you and thought, this guy can play, man.

[Steve]

I'd be remiss if I didn't quickly mention Marcel Reed looked better than I expected.

[Todd McShay]

Okay, that's good because the tape of

[Steve]

him as a passer now as a competitor, as a runner and all that stuff, awesome leader, human being like five stars, right. As a passer. Especially watching those, those receivers, you know, it was, it left a lot to be desired.

[Todd McShay]

It's a little bit of a roller coaster, to be fair.

[Steve]

It wasn't Bryce Underwood, but it wasn't that far off in terms of guys where you're like the, it has to be better than this as a passer. Right. And then he came out and all of a sudden like, like, I see like, like hitting shot, driving the ball down, accurate, good trajectory. And just one point, I was like, oh, that's Marcel. Okay. Looks a little thicker, a little more like confidence in his, confident in his stroke. I'm excited to see what that translates to for Texas. A. Great off the radar, though. I just wanted to mention that because I, I've done some, like. I mean, my whole thing in the fall was if they're going to get got, it's because Marcel in the passing game. Right, right.

[Todd McShay]

Which I think that wasn't, that wasn't.

[Steve]

It was fair. It was fair. But then it's also. If I'm going to be fair, I need to come back and mention I'm very intrigued by what I saw because he clearly is working his tail off to improve in that area. Two other guys, honestly, I didn't, I didn't know anything about Coming in, two guys really jumped out. Jerry Kaminsky from North Dakota State. 6 foot 2, 210.

[Todd McShay]

You love your North Dakota State quarterbacks, man.

[Steve]

Yeah, this is by accident though. I, I hear you, but I just thought like the Friday Night Lights throughout all the drill, he just like consistently I would put him in like if, if you were just grading the Manning passing academy, which would be a dumb exercise, but like I'd put him in the top five of, of like all the stuff that I saw. So that's notable. It's very notable. Like, I just thought he was really consistent throwing the ball. Yeah, I just, I like the way he played. I think that's a name to just kind of keep. Keep in the back of our minds. And then the other guy, and I mentioned him before, James Murphy from Brown, big, tall, Ivy League quarterback. I actually, Pete Thammel introduced me to him. Him. Pizza. A Massachusetts guy. We're both Mass. Holes. Right. He grew up in Reading, which is like a stone's throw from where you and I grew up. Basically it's our backyard.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Steve]

Andover Swamp, Scott. Like we're all north, North Shore. And so I was like, yeah, I'd love to meet him. You know, it's pretty cool, right? Because you don't hear of a lot of like guys from the North Shore going on to do really good things. And then I got talking to him. What an unbelievable story, man. He was, he was really tall, but lanky. Didn't get recruited heavily out of, out of high school, obviously. Super smart dad, as I mentioned, dad played at Northeastern, played in the NFL for a couple years, bounced around. I think it was mostly the New England Patriots. Then played, I think in NFL Europe. Met him, was on the same flight, coming back. Just really good guy. Salt of the earth, like just good human beings, right? Son, Ivy League. He's super smart, but you could tell talking to him. I talked to him for, I don't know, 20 minutes. Super smart, down to earth. Like he works with those, the M2QB guys, you know, with Mike and Alex and those guys that I've gotten to know and just like really humble, good dude. His story is cool. And he threw the, he threw the ball really well. Like consistent, you know, he's filled out. He's a four year starter now at Brown. It's this weird loophole, right? Not a loophole, but it's just there he has four years of eligibility at it in the Ivy League and it runs up after this year. So he's going to be a fourth year starter or fourth Year, I think it was a four year starter in high school. I forget what it was. This was fourth year. It's either three or four year starter at Brown and they're expected to have a really good season. He put up some big numbers last year. It's like the best situation for a quarterback in the world because after this year he can't play at Brown again. But he has this extra year of eligibility so he has an opportunity to hit the transfer portal with his whole team and his head coach and everyone promoting, like, let's go win an Ivy League championship and then let's, let's help you get to another place to go get that extra year of eligibility. You can't play here, but we want you to go on and have success. So like doing all the right things, you know, sticking with your program. Opportunity to leave. After this past year, I'm going to see it through at Brown, but then I get another chance. So I'm, I'm intrigued to see what happens to him. And just hearing he and Pete talk about like the Portal and some of the logistics and to make sure that there he's getting his name out there and just knowing he's a reading guy from our area and then watching him throw and he's out there competing with all these guys and he's really like, like he's showing well. So that's a name to keep. Again. I, I know that we're not going to cover the Ivy League a lot this year, but where does he wind up in the portal? And could it be this wedding kid who goes to Brown and now all of a sudden is in the SEC or the acc, the Big Ten, you know what I mean? So that's a name that's totally off the radar and it's not going to play a major role for the next like six months. But when we get to the 2028 draft, it's someone to keep an eye out on, an eye out for, you know?

[Todd McShay]

Gotcha. All right, man, this is your second year going down there. I know you, you like to kind of evaluate how you look at things. Give me something, maybe micro, something macro that, that last year affected the way you approach this and what you take away from it. And I'll be honest because, and you know there's going to be some scumbags out there, your scumbags out there who are going to say, oh, you love this guy last year and you love that guy last year kind of address. Maybe your second year, you've gone through this a little bit and how that maybe benefited you?

[Steve]

Well, I knew last year I went down blindfolded, like.

[Todd McShay]

Right.

[Steve]

And Archie's the best and I have access to everything. And he like, couldn't be like, talk about a host and the Manning family. But I didn't really know where I was going or anything. Like, I put much more of an emphasis this year on all right, these are long days. Like, they start at 9 in the morning and it's 104 degrees.

[Todd McShay]

I don't, I have. Have no. Dude. I looked at the weather and like, you could say whatever you want. I'm a weather guy. And if you're a weather guy, you know, it's not the humidity, you know, it's the dew point. And if the dew point's over 65, you're gonna feel it. It was like 94 with a dew point of 76 at, at 11 o' clock in the morning. I was watching it. It's insane to be out there that long in those temperatures. I mean, I have, I don't. They must have a medical staff there and a training staff that's keeping an eye on all these kids.

[Steve]

Kids. So I, I purposely didn't go on Friday to the first, the first session which, like the college quarterbacks aren't doing anything. They're just right. Working their station with high school kids. I don't need to evaluate like high school quarterbacks at a camp. And I blame Tate for that. Right. I was like, you know, I just don't want to keep 11 year old boy out in that heat all day long. Right.

[Commercial/Announcer]

Yeah.

[Steve]

I ain't going like, you know, but we were there from like from noon till 11 o' clock at night. You know, it's not like we had, we were like missing out on anything or like, you know, ducking out. Yeah. He wasn't a day off and, and literally between every drill he wanted to get in 40 throws. So I probably threw more passes this weekend with, with Tate than I did like in four years at Richmond or in high school, you know, like, so I throw with my, my lower body now, so.

[Todd McShay]

Shut up.

[Steve]

So it was, it was, it was still like it. You had to. Yeah. Like I was, I was prepping themal when he went down. I'm like the sunscreen and the hydration, like, I know it sounds stupid and we're just like standing around watching. But like, it's actually no joke. And, and logistically, yeah, it's a thing. Yeah. So I think just being prepared for like when the times, when the times were Where I could actually get an eye on these guys, who to talk to. Knowing, knowing, like being at that first meeting and not like sitting next to Chris Greer, talking, like just knowing where to be. I felt like I was scrambling and chasing the first year. This year was like, I need to be here and I'm going to sit in this spot or I'm going to go to this drill. So it just. I felt it was a lot easier from a logistics standpoint this year and knowing that I had to go to Big Mike Smokehouse Barbecue in Thibodeau rather than racing back to New Orleans to try to eat. Big Mike wasn't there this year, but Little Ron was. Little Ronald, who's not little.

[Todd McShay]

I just assumed that was Big Mike.

[Steve]

He showed me in the back where all the meat. It's one of the best burgers I've had in my life.

[Todd McShay]

Really. You go to a barbecue place and you get a burger. He.

[Steve]

Little Ron told me the nine inch handmade patties on the grill, they season it as they turn it. I'm telling you, I didn't even need condiments, man. And then. And Thamil's telling me to go back to New Orleans to Call of Port, which is like world renowned, I guess for their birthday. Literally is one competition, like one of the best burgers in the world. We never got there because I. I got stuck on Big Mike's Smokehouse and Thibodeau. So I just love the small area, you know, hole in the walls. Not that there's a hole in the wall. It's just a big barbecue factory. It was awesome. But. But yeah. Yep. So just learning, learn, learning the ins and outs.

[Todd McShay]

What about Big Picture? Anything about when, now that you're home. How do you process this information? How do you. Appropriately, which I don't. You know, I'm not going to say that you did not do that last year, but is there anything like big picture of this is what I keep an eye on. Maybe it's something of noticing the underclassmen and maybe starting a file on what you saw from those guys this year, comparing it to next year, something like that. Was there anything, anything you could maybe point to there?

[Steve]

Yeah, maybe like the first year going down there, just like, like all in on like. Oh, man. I just love the way Club Nick carried himself and Nuss Meyers and Alpha Dog and all the. In, in retrospect, like, it's just these are. These are side notes. It's all it is. And I'm interested to see does anything I Saw. What matters, obviously, is the tape, and it's always been the baseline. Right, But.

[Todd McShay]

But.

[Steve]

But these are. These are footnotes to the tape. And so we'll see. But, but, but certainly if car goes on has a season, I expect him to. It's not a result of what he did at the Manning passing academy, obviously, and I didn't think that last year, but I now have some background as to. Yeah, this is the same guy who's. Who's deciphering coverages in 0.3 seconds and relaying and communicating it to all these high school kids and getting everyone lined up. But his brain works differently than not all, but some.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Steve]

And so I've got that in my back pocket. And the things that I will continue to share throughout this, they're not anything that changes any kind of evaluation,

[Todd McShay]

but

[Steve]

they're nice little footnotes and accoutrements to what we're doing. Stop. I just say stuff to piss you off, man.

[Todd McShay]

I know you do.

[Steve]

And listen, that's great.

[Todd McShay]

And all, you know what I mean? Dying to ask you, and I really want to know is who did Tate. Like, who was. Was Tata a CJ Car guy? Was he an arch guy? Was he, you know, someone completely. Hey, man, you got to keep. Keep an eye on this quarterback.

[Steve]

His favorite human being there was. Was Cooper.

[Todd McShay]

It's. I left.

[Steve]

I left Tate on the. I had to go back to the car and. And could jot down notes with all the tapes that I was doing to me because it was like it was getting to be old. And I'm like, listen, but I'm gonna go back to the car, turn on the AC BE. We've got 30 minutes until 6 o' clock when the. I want to be on the field at 6 o'. Clock. 7 on 7, start at 6:15, come back to the car with me throwing your, you know, AirPods, whatever you want or you want to hang here. He had met a couple of the, you know, coaches, sons and stuff. He's like, right, can I stay here? I'm like, yeah. He's like, yeah, I'll be here. My girl. Let's meet here at 6 o'. Clock. Four minutes later, I get a. He text me a picture of. Of. Of Cooper. Just had him in a headlock, you know, and he hung out with him for a little while, but player matir and saying, I think because we sat. We sat in the very first coaches meeting. We're sitting in the. In the big auditorium, and it's up front. It's Archie and Eli And Peyton, and they're showing video and then going through all the logistics of everything, introducing everyone. And we sat right next to Matier and. And then some of the players were coming in because their flights landed. And so saying came up and we were sitting on the. I always sit in the. On the stairs to the side to not take up seats for. For the. The coaches and. And the. The players and saying came up and there were no seats left. And he sat, like, right behind Tate. And then Tate has Coolons, man. I didn't have him as a kid. And he does.

[Todd McShay]

He.

[Steve]

He took his phone and he must have got 15 different selfies with all the. The top players. But he really liked Mattir and he really liked Saying. But all of them were awesome with him. From. From C.J. bailey to Arch, all of them, they were just. They were really, really cool, you know, but. And I stayed out of the way. This wasn't about, like, my dad does this. It was just like, hey, can I. You know, I love. I love the way you play. I watch you. Can I. Can you take a picture or something? So it was. It was cool to watch that.

[Todd McShay]

You know, I'm glad he had a good time. I'm glad you were able to give him that experience. And. And I think that's really cool. The one last thing I want to get from you is obviously NFL Films is down there. Thamil's down there.

[Steve]

But look, everyone.

[Todd McShay]

Everyone knows this is a potentially monster quarterback class, maybe the best quarterback class of all time. Could you feel it? Could you. Was there an energy down there that was maybe a little bit different from last year of. There are a lot of players here and there. Again, no Lenore Sellers. I mean, there's guys down there that just weren't down there. No Dante Moore. I get it.

[Steve]

It.

[Todd McShay]

But these are quarterbacks. They understand what. What the. What the landscape is right now. Was there an energy attached to that or.

[Steve]

No, there was. I'd be lying to say I think part of it. It felt less boutique. It felt more, you know, four seasons, like, you know, if you will, like. Like a nice boutique hotel versus it felt a little bit more. There were camera crews there and there were a couple, but it didn't take. I don't want to say it took away. So part of it was you had, you know, you've got cameras all around and the. The big stick mics with the. So it felt a little bit different in that regard. And security, like, they're like, you know, Manning family security, and they were having to, like, hey, we. We got to make sure. Because they got camera angles, and. And it's important because they're. They're documenting. It's like, yes. Whether you buy into it or not, it's the first family in football, man. Like, this is, like, from Archie to. To Eli and Payton to. To now Arch. So it's pretty cool to document all of that. But it wasn't just that. It was just watching them work. And again, there's 40 of them, and a lot of those guys won't go play in the NFL. And a lot of them are just good college quarterbacks. Right. But. But. But there was definitely an energy to it where it's like. It was a higher level. It was a higher level. Showing it just as an evaluator, top to bottom. It was like, oh, this. This product is a lot better than the product I watched last year and last. Last year's product was really good, and it was a lot of fun. These guys are better, period. They just are.

[Todd McShay]

It's exciting, man. Ready for next year? You're gonna go again next year?

[Steve]

Yeah. I'm bringing you.

[Commercial/Announcer]

All right.

[Todd McShay]

Sounds good.

[Steve]

You didn't get. Tate had a great weekend, but. But he. He didn't get. He didn't get Wally pipped or anything, so let's go.

[Todd McShay]

I don't know, man. It's only a matter of time with Tate.

[Steve]

Yeah. I like you hosting this show.

[Todd McShay]

It was a little different, right?

[Steve]

It's better.

[Todd McShay]

I don't know about that, but yeah.

[Steve]

Yeah, I think so. You wanna. You wanna. You wanna say goodbye to everyone?

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. No, I haven't worked on my rap yet. I have no idea. I just panicked because you said that you gave me the rap.

[Steve]

My favorite of all time was Draft Night when I. When I said, I'm going to the bathroom, and you just started yelling at Tucker as if Tucker was in the room and people could see him on air. You're like, we're gonna.

[Todd McShay]

We're gonna.

[Steve]

We're gonna throw up the.

[Todd McShay]

I. I literally said I was gonna

[Steve]

go to the gm.

[Todd McShay]

Everyone understands we're gonna do that, right? I.

[Steve]

You know, all you had to do is talk player that you've done, like, seven hours tape on. You're like, I don't go to the GM series. I don't have the 20 years or

[Todd McShay]

whatever of TV experience. You're like, you call me up one day, you're like, hey, you want to do a pod?

[Steve]

And a.

[Todd McShay]

Like, a year later, I'm on Netflix trying to figure it out.

[Steve]

And my expectations were high and you have exceeded them. Like thanks man. Leaps and bounds, my brother. No, this is fun. So we got gonna dive back into it Thursday, right? We're gonna tape I think Wednesday, Thursday morning CJ Card Julian saying that's gonna be a fun one, right? We've already gotten to Arch versus Dante. We got to Sellers versus Swordsby. Lot of love for Sellers, lot of intrigue with the swords. Be arches. Arch Dante's kind of the guy everyone's chasing right now, right? Where are C.J. carr? I'm telling you

[Todd McShay]

guys, you disappoint me. When I throw in the tape, we're six in and I have not seen anything that's made me feel like no, these guys don't belong in the conversation.

[Steve]

So consider this a bonus in the the seven part series of of building the board 2027 quarterback class. But we're diving right back in part four on Thursday. We appreciate everyone who's watching on Netflix, Spotify, listening on YouTube, wherever else you get your podcast. We'll be back Thursday as I mentioned and Mensch five stars as a host today. Man. Five five stars.

[Todd McShay]

Thanks man.

[Steve]

Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-My reset chat, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdg.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. For Louisiana, call 1-877-770-7867. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses.

[Todd McShay]

Setup required.

[Steve]

Compatibility and availability various 18. You can't reason with the sun. Trust us, we've tried this summer, it's time to put that angry ball of fire on mute. Columbia's on OmniShadow technology is engineered to protect you from the sun's harsh rays that can burn and damage your skin. The sun is relentless, but so is our gear. Level up your [e-mail] to spend more time outside and less time slathering on aloe lotion. You're welcome. Columbia engineered for whatever.