Todd’s College Football Power Rankings (7-9): Expectations for LSU, Oregon, and Georgia in 2025

Summary

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The McShay Show — Episode Summary

Episode Title: Todd’s College Football Power Rankings (7-9): Expectations for LSU, Oregon, and Georgia in 2025
Date: August 22, 2025
Host: Todd McShay (with co-host “Mensch”)
Podcast: The Ringer

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Episode Overview

This episode spotlights Todd McShay’s 2025 college football power rankings for teams ranked #7–#9: LSU, Oregon, and Georgia. With Week Zero of college football looming, Todd and Mensch deliver candid analysis on roster strengths, the impact of coaching changes, draft potential, and transfer portal maneuvering. They debate whether these perennial powers can overcome question marks and mount national title runs this season.

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Power Rankings Focus

• #9: LSU Tigers
• #8: Oregon Ducks
• #7: Georgia Bulldogs

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LSU: Urgency in Baton Rouge

Segment Start: 01:29

Why LSU at #9?

• High Potential for a National Title Run
  • “I could actually…see them in the College Football Championship game at the end.” — Todd (01:40)
• Pressure on Brian Kelly
  • “29 and 11…three and 0 in bowl games…But zero SEC titles, zero College Football Playoff appearances. That doesn’t please the faithful.” — Todd (03:11)
• Portal Spending and Talent Investment
  • “Had to open some really big piggy banks and back up some Brinks trucks? Because that’s exactly what happened.” — Todd (01:57)

Talent & NFL Prospects

• 14 LSU players in the Senior Bowl Top 300, most among teams ranked 7–12 (08:03)
  • “[LSU’s portal moves]…they clearly understood what was necessary.” — Todd (06:48)
• Key Players:
  • QB Garrett Nussmeier: poised for a breakout, “I’m expecting a big jump from Nussmeier.” (04:03)
  • LB Harold Perkins: position switch to “star” (nickel/rover), “This is a guy…that’s a top 10 pick in two years” — Todd (29:50)
  • WRs: Chris Hilton, Nick Anderson, Aaron Anderson, Barry and Brown, Trey’dez Green (“one of the best receiving groups in the country” — Todd, 13:34)

Roster Turnover and Concerns

• 7 players drafted, incl. four O-linemen (05:47)
• O-line uncertainty and run game woes remain
  • “You still got two positions…you’re still trying to figure out…Can they run the ball this year?” — Mensch (15:18)
  • “107th nationally in yards per carry last year.” — Todd (17:37)
  • Offensive coordinator Joe Sloan gets mixed reviews; Alex Atkins brought in as run-game coordinator (20:24)

Depth & Breakout Candidates

• Depth issues at running back: only 3 healthy scholarship RBs after suspensions/legal trouble (18:56, 20:01)
• RB Kaden Durham named as the “clear cut, number one back” (20:24); Harlem Berry, a 5-star true freshman, “could see a little more and more…as the season progresses.” (20:44)

Defense: Reasons for Optimism?

• Blake Baker’s second year as DC — “This will be the best LSU defense we’ve seen during the Brian Kelly regime.” — Todd (24:05)
  • Major additions via portal on defensive front and secondary
  • Starters and Depth:
    • DT Bernard Gooden, “starter immediately, high motor” (26:14)
    • Edge: Jack Pyburn (from Florida), Patrick Payton (“2024 tape not as good”) and Gabe Ralford
    • Wit and West Weeks (linebackers), strong safety A.J. Halsey: “Guy hits people and picks the ball off.” — Mensch (23:18)
  • Secondary: Mansoor Delane “emerging as a standout,” competition at other CB and S spots (31:10)

Skepticism & Remaining Questions

• Run game and O-line — ongoing skepticism
• Defense “still has a long way to go” (28:29)
• Week 1 test vs Clemson’s defense a huge early barometer (21:53)
• Mensch: “Organizational trauma” — concern over previous season’s opening losses and late-year collapses (31:37)

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Oregon Ducks: Transfer Portal Reload

Segment Start: 41:11

Why Oregon at #8?

• “They were the best team in college football for a long, long time last year, man.” — Todd (41:40)
• Dan Lanning: “35 and 6” over three seasons and “only lost to two teams” in last two years — Mensch (41:48)
• “Heavy is the crown…They get 14 returning starters, lost 10 picks to the NFL.” — Todd (44:17)

Transfer Portal Strategy

• Thrived in portal despite losing 10 draft picks, six in first three rounds (44:30)
• Four key positions refilled: OT (Isaiah World), OL (Emmanuel Pregnon), DT (Bear Alexander), WR (Evan Stewart, injury), TE (Kenyon Sidi)

Key Players and Units

• QB Situation:
  • Dante Moore (ex-UCLA, former 5-star): “Expected to be starter…watch out for Novosad (Austin) as well.” — Todd (49:34)
  • Mensch believes Moore will be better than last year’s options: “They’re going to be better at quarterback. Will Stein [OC] has these two kids in the building…watch out.” (51:56)
• Offensive Line:
  • “I think that offensive line will be better this year.” — Mensch (50:54)
  • OL deep with portal additions and returning star center Ayapani Lalolu (47:54)
• Defensive Line:
  • “Watch out for that Oregon defensive line” — Mensch (51:12)
  • Names: Bear Alexander, Amari Washington, Aiden Breland
• Skill Positions:
  • WR group dinged by Evan Stewart’s injury, but five-star freshman De Corian Moore expected to make an impact (52:54)
  • TE Kenyon Sidi hyped as “the worst kept secret in college football” — Mensch (47:21)

Mensch’s Bold Take

• “You are way too low on the Ducks. This is going to be the year. Fly, Ducks, fly.” (50:32)
• “Dan Lanning ain’t one of them, man. This guy is the real deal.” (53:21)

Skepticism

• Todd: “There’s no Bo Nix or Dylan Gabriel walking in that building, bro.” (48:03)
• Mensch: “Watch out for Oregon.” (53:21)

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Georgia Bulldogs: Uncertainty on Offense, Stability on D?

Segment Start: 53:27

Why Georgia at #7?

• “…They lost 13 players to the NFL draft…But, like, they’re kind of used to it.” — Todd (54:13)
• “Georgia had an undefeated season, won the national championship the next year.” (55:00)
• Only 11 returning starters; annual high turnover but “talent always emerges” (55:08)

Quarterback Change

• Gunner Stockton inherits the starting role from Carson Beck, who transferred after injury/ineffective play — “Not the fastest or twitchiest, but…dual threat runner. He brings a run element to this offense.” — Todd (56:54)
• Debate over QB downgrade: “You’re taking a step back at quarterback.” — Mensch (61:44)

Offensive Weapons

• Deep, potentially elite WR group (Zachariah Branch, Dylan Bell, Noah Thomas, Colby Young, London Humphreys)
• Running backs: Nate Frazier (star freshman), Roderick Robinson, Josh McRae — “three big time dudes that could start at most programs.” — Todd (59:48)
• Offensive line: lost three NFL draft picks, “not great last year and they just lost three guys.” — Mensch (60:48)

Lingering Questions

• Running game: “15th out of 16 teams in rushing yards per game? Georgia. And that was with Nate Frazier.” — Mensch (61:08)
• Mensch skeptical offensive line and RB issues got fixed without major portal adds (62:33)
• Wide receiver talent influx, but uncertainty if Stockton can maximize it
  • “Is Stockton good enough, accurate enough, decisive enough to maximize the talent?” — Todd (57:36)

Defense: Slippage or Reload?

• “Wasn’t elite last year.” — Mensch (64:18)
• Dropped from top 16 to #30 in national defense, 329.9 yards/game allowed (64:41)
• “Defense is going to be elite” — Todd (64:02)
• Key names: C.J. Allen (LB), Elo Medozi (DL), Elijah Griffin (freshman DT), CJ Bolden (CB)
• Secondary retains talent; transfers Sion Branch and Jaden Harris “having really good camps.” (65:53)

Mensch’s Big Picture

• “I love Kirby Smart. He is my favorite coach in all the land…I don’t live in that world. I don’t live in could be.” (63:45, 60:41)
• Todd cautions not to count Georgia out: “Don’t count out Kirby.” (55:00)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I honestly could [see LSU in the championship]. You got to understand, you’ve been to the bayou, man. It’s different down there when they decide this is the year.” — Todd (01:40)
• “This offense is supremely, supremely better skill-wise than it was a year ago.” — Todd on LSU (11:50)
• “If this wide receiver core sniffs what the Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase…received core is, wow, what a home run.” — Mensch on LSU wideouts (15:37)
• “You still got two positions…you’re still trying to figure out. You got a couple guys come in that are transfers but not offensive tackles. There’s a center and a guard — worried about that.” — Mensch (15:18)
• “I think Bear Alexander and Amari Washington on the inside…really different. Watch out for that Oregon defensive line.“ — Mensch (51:12)
• “There’s no Bo Nix or Dylan Gabriel walking in that building, bro.” — Todd (48:03)
• “You’re taking a step back at quarterback…that offensive line…could be solved…But I haven’t seen it yet.” — Mensch on Georgia (61:44)
• “Don’t count out Kirby.” — Todd (55:00)
• “This group’s going to be a lot better [on defense].” — Todd (31:24)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:29 — LSU deep dive begins
• 11:50 — LSU offense: weapons and O-line worries
• 20:24 — LSU: Run game coordinator, RB depth issues
• 24:05 — LSU defense analysis
• 41:11 — Oregon deep dive begins
• 48:03 — Oregon’s QB transition dilemma
• 50:32 — Mensch’s pro-Oregon rant
• 53:27 — Georgia deep dive begins
• 55:00 — Georgia’s draft loss history and reload
• 56:54 — Gunner Stockton’s evaluation
• 61:08 — Georgia’s run game and offensive line skepticism
• 64:18 — Debating Georgia’s defensive staying power

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Episode Tone & Style

• Todd: measured, bullish on team upside, analytical, plugged-in with industry sources
• Mensch: skeptical, calls out “could be” optimism, insistent on proof and concrete concerns, humorous jabs at Todd’s optimism

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Bottom Line Takeaways

• LSU rides immense stakes for Brian Kelly — QB Nussmeier, upgraded weapons, and a new run focus must overcome O-line/running back depth and prove they can run the ball and defend at a championship level.
• Oregon has rebuilt on the fly via the portal. Mensch thinks they’re under-ranked; Todd awaits proof with new QBs, but lines and DL could be best in the country.
• Georgia is “used to” reloading, but new QB Gunner Stockton is a clear step down in experience. Defense should be good, but was not elite last year; offense only as good as the rebuilt O-line allows.
• All three programs have championship-level expectations but big unanswered questions heading into 2025.

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(This summary omits all ad reads and promotional content to focus fully on substantive discussion.)

Transcript

[Mensch]

Foreign.

[Todd McShay]

The excitement's in the air, Mensch. I can feel it, man. Our college football power rankings continue today with team seven through nine. Listen, there's no time to waste. It's Friday, August 22nd, and week zero of college football kicks off tomorrow. Not to mention just 244 days until the NFL draft met. You good?

[Mensch]

I'm great, man.

[Todd McShay]

Let's roll. We started our power rankings just the other day. Here we are on Friday games tomorrow.

[Mensch]

Mitch.

[Todd McShay]

Like I, I just, I can feel it. Right? Yeah, we went through and we, we already went through 12 through 10. Right. And these are my power rankings, so don't yell at Mensch. Bench is going to tell me where I'm making mistakes and I think he's going to get a sense of the teams that were in the top 12 and out. Because you'll know after we get through today going through team seven through nine, which teams are out, and maybe Mensch can make a comment or two on that. We had Oklahoma at 12, we had Miami at 11 and Florida at 10. So today is all about seven through nine. And we're going to start at nine and work our way down. And let's just dive into it at number nine, my ninth ranked team heading into the season, the LSU Tigers.

[Mensch]

This is good about it.

[Todd McShay]

I actually do. I could actually. I could see them in the college football championship game at the end.

[Mensch]

Wow.

[Todd McShay]

I honestly could. I think they have that much. You got to understand. You've been the bayou man. It's different down there when they decide this is the year. When they look back on nine and four last year with the talent that they had and it wasn't enough, they were tied for fourth in the sec. Not good enough. No, they run, they run coaches out of there in a hurry. They don't care if you want a national championship. At Orgeron's, the most recent, Brian Kelly is entering his fourth season at lsu. You're telling me he didn't have some really important meetings with some really important folks that had to open up some really big piggy banks and back up some Brinks trucks? Because that's exactly what happened. Right? You go, I want you to understand this, right? There were 10. So this past year I said nine and four. Go back to 2022. This first season there, 10 and four. Lost to Georgia in the SEC title game, 10 and three in 2023, nine and four in 2024. So he's 29 and 11 at LSU and he's been in three bowl games, three and Owen bowl games. That's wonderful. Right? So, like, it's great. 20, 29, 11 sounds great. Every year it's nine, 10 wins. It's three bowl wins. But zero SEC titles, zero College Football Playoff appearances.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

And granted, it just advanced to 12 teams this past.

[Mensch]

Granted.

[Todd McShay]

And they won the Citrus, the Reliaquest, and the Texas Bulls.

[Mensch]

Great.

[Todd McShay]

That doesn't please the faithful. So what did they do? They attacked the portal. Because, you know, what they know is the same thing that we know, same thing that every NFL scout knows. You only get one peak season. Maybe you get more, but there's always that one peak season from a quarterback who's going to be a very high draft pick. And they got that with Garrett Nussmeyer. Last year was his. Last year was his. Joe Burrow 2018 season.

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

Different circumstances. Nussmeier's been there for five years. Right. But. But Joe had spent a couple seasons at Ohio State, transferred to lsu. Orgeron just talked about the other day. I think he was. He was on with a big cat and pardon my take, like, we needed two seasons with him. Right? Right.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Well, they've had plenty of seasons with Nuss Meyer, but only one as a starter. So I'm expecting that same kind of jump. Jaden Daniels, huge jump from, what was it, 23 to 24? No, no, 22 to 23. Whatever those seasons were. So I'm expecting a big jump from Nussmeier, and we'll get to Garrett Nussmeier in a second. Let's look at the talent they lost from last year. Not overwhelming. Okay. Seven players were drafted, four offensive linemen. I'm going to let you.

[Mensch]

Yeah, okay.

[Todd McShay]

I know, I know.

[Mensch]

All right.

[Todd McShay]

Starting with Will Campbell, number four overall pick, whether you believed he should have been drafted that high or not. And if you want to go back to our draft coverage, you got. You got a great clip. Hey, Eduardo, we got to clip that at some point. Mensch meeting his boss, Bill Simmons, and telling him, fuck you. Will Campbell doesn't belong as a number four overall pick. And Bill had been saying the same thing.

[Mensch]

I put it.

[Todd McShay]

I know, but it's better for tv, right?

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

But Bill had been saying the same things to me via text and phone calls for two months leading up, but had come to terms with it. But regardless, they lost Will Campbell. They lost Mason Taylor, exceptional tight end. Went in the second round to 42nd overall pick to the Jets. Another offensive lineman, Emory Jones, in the third round, and then the fifth and seventh round, seventh rounds, respectively. Miles Frazier and. And Garrett Dellinger both guards that were drafted sandwiched between that you had a couple of defensive ends. Savion Jones went to the Broncos in the third round and Braden Swinson went way later. Players also to the Patriots in the fifth round. Right. All really good players, right?

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

So seven players drafted. Not a massive. Like we'll get to some other programs. Like we'll get to Oregon and what they lost, we'll get to Georgia and what they typically have been losing year in and year out. We know about Alabama and Clemson in their biggest years and all that. A reasonable amount to lose the NFL draft for a program like lsu. But you look at what they've got this season and they're all in on 20, 25. Okay. Pressure's mounting. As I talked about the Bayou faithful are disappointed. They want it now And LSU backed up that truck with the portal and they, they knew I'll give them credit. Not all booster clubs and you know we talked about the Matador club at Texas Tech. Had a great off season. Not all the clubs know exactly what personnel and obviously the coaches are driving it but sometimes they just go, go out and they, they, they buy players and all that they had. They clearly understood what was necessary. Okay, so in our top 75 and it's, it's a fluid list at this point. Like don't nail it down. Like these are the top 75 players. I'm not, not turning out a list but 75 or so guys that we've come up with and kind of targeted as that are at or near the top of the board. In our top 75 there are four players. Garrett Nussmeier, obviously very highly ranked. Harold Perkins, we'll get to him in a little bit. Off the ball linebacker did a lot of edge rushing his first year last year kind of looked a little lost off the ball but this year moving him to star position. The reports we're getting are.

[Mensch]

Can't wait. Through the roof, can't wait. Excited to watch.

[Todd McShay]

Then you get Patrick Payton comes in from Florida State hoping to have a bounce back year. He's fighting for a job in camp which is good. Should be, he should be but that's also a good thing. And we'll get to the defensive line depth for, for lsu and then wit weeks from lsu another off the ball linebacker. Feels like they have an off the ball linebacker every year that gets drafted early. What I found interesting mention. We just got this information from our are same and some new friends at the Senior bowl. Their top 300 just came out and we're going to get the director of the, the new director of the Senior bowl on our show in the next couple of weeks.

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

Nice. Already already talking to Molly at the Senior bowl. We're going to get it all. Molly Middleton has been wonderful to us.

[Mensch]

And smart to keep Molly around, by the way. I thought she might be.

[Todd McShay]

Absolutely 14 players in their top 300. 14 players. I haven't gone through every single team, but I'm going to give you by comparison for the teams that we have gone through and a couple more that we're going to go through today by comparison. And I'm kind of spoiler alert, but who cares at this point? Top 300. The 10th ranked team for us was Florida. 11 players on their Senior bowl top 300. Miami has five. Surprising.

[Mensch]

Wow.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Mensch]

Now, Reuben Bain wasn't on their list, by the way, I don't think.

[Todd McShay]

Was he not?

[Mensch]

I didn't see Reuben Bain there. Maybe I missed him.

[Todd McShay]

We'll circle back on that. Oregon has eight, Georgia has nine. All respectable numbers. Georgia has nine. Oklahoma has 10. Of the six teams that we're going to talk about, you know, ranked 7 through 12 at least in my opinion. LSU is 14.

[Mensch]

Yeah, they like LSU, huh?

[Todd McShay]

I mean, yes and no. I mean, if you, if you told me it was Alabama, I'd say, well, you know, they're probably going to favor maybe a couple Alabama kids tiebreakers because they want to have interest in Mobile Alabama, the site of the Senior Bowl.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Lsu, like lsu is just the same as Cal, is the same as Michigan or like it's not, it's not helping their fan base. And, and I certainly, like, I, I have too much respect for the scouts to put in all the time to work.

[Mensch]

Like I was saying, the roster, I wasn't saying they're playing. I think they, yeah, they liked what they, they like what the, what they got there.

[Todd McShay]

I'll just rip through them real quickly. Okay. Garrett Nussmire, quarterback, wide receiver. There four guys, Chris Hilton, Nick Anderson, Xavon Thomas and Barry and Brown, tight end Bower Sharp, who's probably not even.

[Mensch]

I like him.

[Todd McShay]

I like him. All right.

[Mensch]

See, watch he, watch out for him.

[Todd McShay]

I like when you light up like that one offensive lineman, Josh Thompson. Not surprising after we have four drafted. So, I mean, I'm sure there will be guys who play well this year who will get into that top 300. But right now they're, they're targeting Josh Thompson as the only offensive lineman. Their top 300. And again too, these are eligible draft prospects and Guys that could be invited to their. So they have to be on track to graduate. They're certainly. And they do underclassmen now, so it's a little bit wider. But these are not like Jeremiah. Jeremiah Smith won't be on this list for Ohio State. Okay. Okay. Right then, defensive line, Jack Pyburn and Patrick Payton, who we had as well. Harold Perkins, who we had as well, and Whit Weeks, who we had as well. All defensive linemen. Front seven guys, three defensive backs, Mansour Delaney, Jardine Gilbert and A.J. hulsey. Okay, so that's the backdrop on the talent level of lsu. The urgency of the LSU fan bas. Fan base and the, the folks that don't make the decisions, don't make the coaching calls, don't set the depth chart, aren't there day to day, but support the program in a way that is tangible. Okay, now you get the state of the team that we are kind of going to go through offense and defense. Right. I'm going to throw this out there and I want you to take it anywhere you want to go. I think this offense is supremely, supremely better skill wise than it was a year ago. The offensive line, if you, if you trust Brian Kelly, this group's an awesome group and I want you to get to that in a second. But when you look at like the weapons around Garrett Nussmeier and Nussmeier's concerning 1.5 out of 10 was Kelly in terms of his concern and the injury level when he missed a little bit of time and was kind of, you know, limited in camp with the tendonitis that we now know is. Is a lingering thing throughout his career. Brand new information just came out in the last week or so. But what he didn't have was a typical. L like, think about lsu, man. Think about lsu. Like Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson Landry. Who were the, the two. That pair.

[Mensch]

It was Brian Thomas, Malik, neighbors.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. Like, it's like this is. You could argue if, if it's not Ohio State, it's probably LSU in the last decade or so.

[Mensch]

Yes.

[Todd McShay]

Wide receiver, you.

[Mensch]

I think that's fair.

[Todd McShay]

Okay. Didn't have, didn't have that kind of group last year. Truly did. And they threw the ball like almost like at an unbelievable percentage compared to their run game. And we'll get to that as well. But better weapons on the upside, on the outside. And this is the thing that stands out to me most. Talking to a couple coaches in the sec, talking to a couple scouts over the course of the last six weeks. Okay. The wide receiver position, when you have that quarterback, they, they've got to be among the top in the country. And I truly think when the year's over, we're going to be like this is one of the best groups in the country. Okay. Chris Hilton was a, was a top, take the top off type of guy. Okay. Return from injury the last year when he very limited, but he averaged 27 yards per catch. Anderson, outstanding slot receiver. Okay.

[Mensch]

Perfect in that role. Yep.

[Todd McShay]

Right. Nuss has a comfort level with him. Very twitchy. Okay. Then also a pair of transfers who are loaded with talent. They've got Nick Anderson, Aaron Anderson was the slot who I was talking about. Nick Anderson who was injured last year also at Oklahoma. Remember we already talked about him a couple shows ago. He was injured at lsu, I mean at Oklahoma last year. But go back to 20, 23 state. He's averaging 21 yards per catch.

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

All right, so you got those four guys. Give him one of the best receiving groups in the, in the country. And then you bring in Barry and Brown from Kentucky Elite with the ball in his hands, one of those like I don't know that he's going to be breaking off routes and doing all the little things.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Find a way to put the ball in his hands. Also awesome in the return game. Speedster holds the all time record by the way in the SEC kickoff return touchdowns. So now that's five guys and an upgrade in the kicking game, kick return game plus and I mentioned Mason Taylor earlier and we talked about the, the upperclassmen at tight end that you really like and I'll let you expand on that. But Bauer, Sharp, they've got this young guy that I'm talking to people down kind of in the know. Keep an eye out for Trey Des Green, they say he's like an all world talent. Flashes as a true freshman last year, but obviously playing behind Mason Taylor and Sharp. And he's having a great camp. They expect him to have a breakout year. So now that's like six weapons. Okay.

[Mensch]

I, I, I knew he was big. I wanted to make sure I saw he's 6 foot 7, he is a big long target. But go ahead. Yep. Mismatch issue.

[Todd McShay]

So take it where you want to go.

[Mensch]

Why do you make me be the bad guy? Is where I want to start. Because now you're going to make me be the bad guy because you're all.

[Todd McShay]

You'Re the class pet and Conor Nevins loves you the most. And Bill Sim, Bill Simmons is calling me in the off Season like, you know, more men. We love men. Let me just get to this.

[Mensch]

Okay, Just stop. If this wide receiver core sniffs what the Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase or Brian Thomps Jr. Malik neighbors receiving core is. Wow, what a home run they hit. Am I saying they're not talented? No. I'm not really worried about their weapons. I think those receivers were on a different level. We'll see if these guys ever get there. They're talented, but they haven't done it on the field like those other four guys we talked about. We'll see. I'm not worried about them. And Nuss I trust not worried about Nussmeier. I am worried about that offensive line. Sorry, Brian Kelly. You still got two positions that you're still trying to figure out. You got a couple guys come in that are transfers but not offensive tackles. There's a center and a guard worried about that. They couldn't run the ball last year. Can they run the ball this year? And remember how good Nuss was last year? He had the most prolific start to a career that a quarterback could have. The first year starting at lsu, he put up the most. What was it? Passing yards, completions, attempts, touchdowns, total offense. Nuss had the best first year starting career at lsu. Think of all the other guys. Better than Jaden's first year, better than Burroughs first year. And Nuss I trust, man, I love it. I love the weapons. I like what they did there. It still wasn't good enough last year. And why wasn't it good enough? Because they couldn't run the ball with an offensive line that had all these guys that went to the NFL. Can they run the ball this year? I don't know. We'll see. I hope so. Because if they want to be as good as you're saying they could be, they're going to have to run the ball. And I'm not convinced this defense is going to be that much better. I'll be honest with you. I do like their secondary. Getting the Delaney kid for Virginia Tech was a nice hold on. Okay, I'm just. I'm starting. I'll start with the offense. Then there's pieces I like. I like their weapons. But the offensive line in the running game, I haven't seen the. The solution yet.

[Todd McShay]

You and I can agree on this. The. The run game was atrocious. And quite honestly, like going back and watching it, I think it's part scheme and I think it's. It's part commitment.

[Mensch]

And yeah, there's a lot to go wrong for it to be that bad.

[Todd McShay]

107Th nationally in yards per carry last year. LSU 4.06 yards per carry, 107th nationally. You want to know. And I talked to. I told you a couple scouts, a couple coaches in the SEC that face them and a couple scouts who are diving deep into this program and for talent and all that. It was a combination of scheme failure and lack of commitment.

[Mensch]

And, and maybe.

[Todd McShay]

A little personnel driven too. I don't think they, they didn't have the dynamic running back that you would expect from LSU. They typically do. They ranked. So you heard 107th right. For yards per carry. They ranked 126 nationally in rushing attempts per game. So they knew. Is it the chicken before the. Like which one is it?

[Mensch]

Agree.

[Todd McShay]

Is it because you didn't commit? We would. We would have been better had we committed to the run game. Or do they just know like we're just not that good running the football. Either way that's got to change. And you talk like Joe Sloan the offensive coordinator. And I'll, I'll be honest with you. There's some up and down opinions on, on his. On his scheme.

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

In the run. In the run game scheme and. But like he. Everything coming out of LSU sounds good. Like there's a new commitment to the run game this year. Brian Kelly is glowing reviews of the talented offensive line. I do believe they have more talent running back but it has like there's some stuff going on, man. I don't know how, how much people are keeping up and I had to like do some digging in some like in the last couple days. T.J. lindsay suspended. All right. And I don't want to get into details here but like apparently he allegedly housed some suspects and allegedly, allegedly were involved in a murder. He had no involvement. Alleged a bunch of allegedly's. Whatever it is. He's suspended. So like they're not like he's, he's not a part of this deal. So LSU was. Is down to three scholarship running backs according to people I was talking to. Okay. Lost another back earlier in the summer. Trey Holly, who enrolled at Southern after having some legal issues of his own. So that's two guys right there.

[Mensch]

You're not making me feel any better about you putting this team where you put them.

[Todd McShay]

Listen to me. So depth is an issue. But I'm told by people I trust like more experienced running backs and like the addition of this is the big thing. And I'm going through my notes now. Right. If you look see now like I've talked To a lot of people in recent days. And I've got stuff everywhere.

[Mensch]

I came out swinging.

[Todd McShay]

They did while. While Joe Sloan's the offensive coordinator and is the one coming out and talking about what we're going to do and he's obviously that, you know, he's the captain of that ship. They added a run game coordinator in Alex Atkins and I knew this was somewhere in my notes and that's critical. So we're gonna so expect to see things a little bit differently. Schematically blocking schemes, some of the different things that they're trying to do. So there's a commitment there from, from coaching down to personnel. I also. They're like Kaden Durham, if you go watch him on tape. Good, good back, clear cut, number one back. He's a good back. Surpassed a thousand total yards as a true freshman while while dealing with some injury. He can be explosive and a threat out of the backfield. There's also two other names that I keep in conversations. Harlem Berry, Caleb Jackson. Jackson's got some talent, but behind Durham, I think there's gonna. I think the guy to watch for is Harlem Berry. And it may not be in that opener against Clemson. Maybe it'll be in a limited role, but I'm told like as the season progresses, if Barry's where he needs to be in past protection, protecting the football, those sorts of things. We could see a little more and more of this Harlem Berry guy. Five star true freshman. Keep an eye out. I wrote down increase role season progressives. Okay. But we're gonna find out a lot week one of this offense.

[Mensch]

Yeah, we are.

[Todd McShay]

Because Stevie boy, like we did a whole episode on Clemson's defense and it started with the two guys up front and it's not just the two, but they get two potentially top 10 draft picks. TJ Parker at the edge, who's a power player. Great. Versus the run. Right. And, and Peter woods, defensive tackle.

[Mensch]

You want to play offensive tackle at this level and TJ Parker is going to run right through your mouth. Good, good. Good luck, man.

[Todd McShay]

So that's where we are. That's kind of the state of the program offensively. It sounds like Mench has got some, some beef on the defensive side. So I'm going to let you take it from there. Unless you want to.

[Mensch]

Look, it wasn't. Nuss wasn't the problem last year. The passing attack wasn't a problem last year. So it's great that they. That he could be better and he can make this jump in year two and they've got Better weapons there. And they got that again. Can they run the ball? And then defensively, can they. Can they stop people from scoring? Can they tackle better? Are they going to be better on defense? And like I was, I was saying earlier, I do like what they've done on the secondary and they added Delaney and the other kid they added was the whole.

[Todd McShay]

It's Delane, by the way.

[Mensch]

It's Delane.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. Dan likes to get his pronunciations after we already say them.

[Mensch]

I think that's. I, I said. I sent him a little.

[Todd McShay]

I give Dan. I give Dan two minutes ago. No, so it's Mansoor, Delane, but yes. Go ahead. Halsey.

[Mensch]

A.J. halsey out of. Of Houston. I don't know if people are familiar with this guy. Last year was second on the team and tackles with 74 and tied the Big 12 lead with five picks. Guy hits people and he. And he picks the ball off. The year before, by the way, he had 98 tackles. That is those two guys and their secondary are big, big ads. And then, you know, Harold Perkins making the switch to the star, which I consider a secondary position. We could do whatever you want with that. Could be a linebacker. I'm excited. I'm excited to see that secondary, that defensive front, and they got some, they got a big boy from Texas. They got some beef up front. They've gotten a little bit better there. We'll see how they stop the run. How they.

[Todd McShay]

Okay, I've got notes on top of notes here. I had conversations and I like, you.

[Mensch]

Think you're going to be lights out.

[Todd McShay]

Here's the thing. You've got Garrett Nussmeier. I just told you, you've got the best weapons of his career. And it's probably going to be closer to the LSU standard, which is the elite of the elite. You got to remember, like, this is going to. This is what I'll say. This will be the best LSU defense we've seen during the Brian Kelly regime. And the first year was a nightmare, like historically bad for. For LSU defensively. Then last year they brought in Blake Baker. We saw significant improvement, but still kind of middle of the road ups and downs and had some problem areas. Right. But. But even that group was so much better than the first year. So now you're in the second year with, with Blake Baker, who by everyone's account that I talked to, and you just watch the way his defenses play. Yes, there, there were some flaws last year, but this is a, this is a coordinator that knows what he's doing. Okay. The biggest in, in kind of combining what we do, personnel and watching tape and the guys that I know from, with conversations when I'm having to trust people that I trust that know some of these players and know the inner workings and what they see, they're seeing during summer camp. Okay. The biggest defense, the biggest differences that I see are going to be for lsu, the defensive line and the secondary you just talked about. Okay. Much more depth on defense, on the defensive front and in the secondary than they had a year ago. They were picking up the pieces from that terrible 23 year. So new coordinator comes in, he's got some pieces, but it's not what LSU's typically used to have. Now they've gone and they've hit this portal hard, especially on defensive front and in the secondary. They didn't need it at linebacker, really. Defensive tackle, they got an experience transfer in Bernard Gooden. Sadir Mitchell, I think is another guy who could give a little bit of a boost.

[Mensch]

That's the big kid from Texas. Yep, yep.

[Todd McShay]

But. But it's more Gooden is what I'm hearing in my conversations. Okay. This guy.

[Mensch]

Good, I heard that too. Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Starter immediately. He's won the job. High motor, really quick first step. Okay. Then you got Dominic McKinley, who's a Red shirt sophomore, is projected to be that other starter next to Gooden. Heavy rotation with Adam. Bro, bro, bro, bro.

[Mensch]

Talent for days. That kid.

[Todd McShay]

B R E A U X.

[Mensch]

And.

[Todd McShay]

And also Jacoby and Gilroy Guillory. Okay. That's defensive tackle then. Baker wants to be more aggressive and he's got some edge guys that will help him to do that without having to blitz as much as he probably did last year. He's got edge guys. They lose Swinson and Jones, who I talked about to the NFL. Big losses. Both guys could get after the quarterback in different ways. Swinson was up, Jones was a right.

[Mensch]

Yes.

[Todd McShay]

But this group I think is going to be even more effective because it's deeper. Okay. They've got like they, they added Jack Pyram who by the way is having an awesome camp is what I'm told coming out of Florida.

[Mensch]

Florida was bummed to lose him.

[Todd McShay]

I knew that.

[Mensch]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

They got Patrick Payton from Florida State, Jamari Butler from Nebraska. I'm hearing a lot about this Gabe Ralford. Okay. Who's a rising sophomore, big time recruit last year. He's ready to step in. I'm told it's actually going to be Pyram as one starting job and that Ralphord is going to be the Starter opposite that he and Patrick Payton have had a real battle in camp right now. According to what I'm hearing my sources, that Ralford's kind of got the edge. That means Patrick Payton is one of your guys rotating in.

[Mensch]

Listen, I, I'll say this about Peyton and I'm just going to be upfront about it. 2023 Peyton is someone I'm excited about coming into the building. 2024 Peyton, not so much. The tape on that kid from the last two years is wildly, wildly different. He did not play well last year. The year before, he was awesome. He's got skills. We'll see what happens. We'll see if it comes together again. I'll believe when I see it. I'm just going to tell you this. Just a little bit of a pushback on here, my guy. You know, as good as they were last year and all the improvements they made, they ranked 14th out of 16 teams in scoring defense last year. They got a. They still got a long way to go.

[Todd McShay]

And I, again, again, I'm not saying they're going to be a top 15 defense, but if they're top 30 defense and put up the numbers they put up bravely last year, they get a chance to make a run at this thing.

[Mensch]

Oh, I 100 agree with you.

[Todd McShay]

You're a pain in the ass. I just.

[Mensch]

Listen, I'm, I'm not, you know, I'm not all lollipops and unicorns right now like you.

[Todd McShay]

Harold Perkins moves from off the ball linebacker to star. And we, we covered it a lot recently in an episode. But I just want people to understand this is a guy who I legitimately was, was watching as a true freshman and, like, had to discipline myself to stop watching him because he wasn't in the draft class. He was that good. And I was like, that's a top 10 pick in two years. That right there last year put him at off the ball linebacker. Wasn't a great fit. You told the story about. He went into coach, he went into Blake Baker's office. Blake Baker. He's like, where are you going to play? You know, how can I help you succeed? I'll do anything. Coach, he's like, great, but what, what do you do best? Like, where are you most comfortable? Put him at the star position. You told a much better story than I did. I'm just trying to race through it.

[Mensch]

That's pretty good. That's about it.

[Todd McShay]

Up clock. And he has, like, thrived. And you think about it now, a guy who can cover his athletic Enough can, can work on the edge and be play a little bit more free where it's not reading keys, locate ball, gap discipline, all that stuff. He can be free to roam and then they can rush him off the edge. I think it's going to be a huge bounce back year for Harold Perkins according to everything I'm hearing and, and the 23 tape. Oh and by the way, I think it's a UCLA game. He got injured last year and missed the rest of the season. So it was a, it was a slow start, didn't looked out of place and then got injured and so now he's back. Then you got the, the Weeks brothers here. Wit Weeks and West weeks at linebacker. Off the ball linebacker. West has actually looked better in camp. He's been healthy, he's playing the mic position. Wit is, is going to be great. But he's coming off that ankle injury he had in the Texas bowl last year. He's going to be ready. Week one so now you got, have.

[Mensch]

You watched, have you watched any given Saturday? The sec, the behind the Scenes brothers, the Weeks brothers Must watch tv. I've only watched I think the first couple episodes. Those guys are great. They are like Hunter. I just listed those backwoods LSU guys that you like you right out of central casting. It's awesome.

[Todd McShay]

I love it. Yeah, but I just listed all that talent along the defensive front. Now you get the Weeks brothers who are kind of badasses at off the ball linebacker. You kick one of your other badasses, who's probably the most talented individual on the entire defense out to Star and let him go do what he does. And then you got the secondary with Mansour, Delaine and Ashton Stamps starting cornerbacks. Delane's emerging as a standout is what everyone is telling me. Jakeem Jackson and PJ Wooler to pushing Stamps for the starting job opposite Delane. Okay. Halsey and to Marcus Cooley are starting safeties. Halsey's emerging as a guy back there too. Instincts is what I kept. I kept hearing playmaker instincts. One of those types of guys. A lot of depth there too. This group's going to be a lot better.

[Mensch]

Are you worried, are you worried about the fact that Brian Kelly hasn't won a season or season opener at lsu and you are you worried about how that team reacted after had that tough loss to A M and the way it lost with A and M coming back from behind and then losing three great games in a row last year? Those are things that stick out to me when I'm Looking at the record and I'm looking at kind of the history here. What's the, what's the organizational trauma maybe for lsu. And I think, I think this is.

[Todd McShay]

Fresh, that this is a fresh start. New faces, same coaches, addition of a run game coordinator. Offensive line is inexperienced but talented and having a good camp. Defense is a lot better with the, the, the Jimmy's and the Joes and the X's and O's are good enough. I think are good with Blake Baker. I just, I don't know. I. Even if they lose at Clemson, you got Louisiana Tech, then Florida. That's going to be, that'll be an awesome game to watch at home against Florida. Poor Florida. Southeast. Not, I mean, poor Florida. It feels like every good team we talk about, they're, they're on the schedule. That's what I meant by that. I, I obviously rate them higher than just about everyone out there. I've got them.

[Mensch]

You don't want to play? Yeah, right.

[Todd McShay]

At Ole miss on the 27th, South Carolina at home at Vanderbilt. Then you got this tough stretch with this little run a M and then at Bama. So it's like one hard game. But like that Ole Miss, South Carolina, tough back to back stretch stretch. But at least after Clemson they got Louisiana Tech, after Florida they got Southeast Louisiana. But then it's two games and then you're at Vanderbilt, then it's two games A and M and at Alabama. Then you get Arkansas, good team, but this is, that's a winnable game at home. And then Western Kentucky before you're at Oklahoma. Which Oklahoma?

[Mensch]

That Oklahoma game. That Oklahoma game could be a monster, by the way.

[Todd McShay]

All right, we've got to move on.

[Mensch]

Because also really quickly, I'll say this. If they do lose the Clemson, losing to this Clemson team feels a lot different than losing to that, that USC team last year. That felt like a game that LC was like a hundred percent supposed to win. They're supposed to be competitive in this one. That USC loss I think hurt more than a lot of other losses might have because they were so favored, but go ahead.

[Todd McShay]

All right, couple, couple housekeeping things. We just, I wanted to dive in today. I'm so excited about college football. Mitch, tell, first of all, tell people how they can continue to support us. If you wouldn't mind, go to YouTube.

[Mensch]

Hit the subscribe page. We get in there, you can give us a thumbs up or thumbs down. Please leave a comment. The comments are helpful. You go to Spotify, hit the follow button. He's at McShade 13 on socials at you good mensch. And please consider subscribing to the McShay report. This is one of the most spectacular venues with all kinds of character and hospitality scenery.

[Todd McShay]

These people, people in this Gitas valley, they love when you come to see.

[Mensch]

What they have to offer. I'm J.J. harris, an Ellensburg rodeo clown and I want to invite you to the rodeo. Come hang out with us in Ellensburg. Great rodeo. Great time. Two performances on Saturday. One is the extreme Bulls of the year event. Do not miss the Ellensburg Rodeo August 29th through September 1st. We'll see you there.

[Todd McShay]

Martha listens to her favorite band all the time.

[Mensch]

In the car, gym, even sleeping. So when they finally went on tour.

[Todd McShay]

Martha bundled her flight and hotel on.

[Mensch]

Expedia to see them live. She saved so much, she got her.

[Todd McShay]

Seat close enough to actually see and hear them sort of. You were made to scream from the front row. We were made to quietly save you more.

[Mensch]

Expedia made to travel savings vary and subject to availability.

[Todd McShay]

Flight inclusive packages are atoll protected. All right. Yeah. The McShay Report. We're with every show this week and early next week we're going to have a follow up with the, with the a deep dive into the power rankings for college football. So you're going to want to get that. But as I told you, like, as we get into the season, it's going to be reacting to big news. If I'm coming to your inbox, it's because, like, you truly, you need it or there's something there that you're not getting anywhere else. And I'm going to give you something different. So go subscribe. We got a special going on right now. Dan's gonna yell at me. He'll probably throw it up after I'm done talking about it. But. But Google the McShay report, okay? And subscribe there. You can subscribe for free, but we have an offer coming up until September 11th. I'll get you the details in a second. I'm sure Dan's typing it in for me right now. I try not to show. I try not to be like, you know, here's the money and this and that. 50 off. Okay, September 1st, September 1st. 50 off. September 1st we get. So you get like in eight, you get nine days. Okay? So 50 off. Get it? Now we're gonna suck you in around those mock drafts and the big boards and the intel that nobody else has. We proved it last year, so you might as well get 50 off this year and just do it. Now rip off the band aid. All right, I'm done with that live show in Chicago. It's coming up September 10th. Go the ringer.com.com events be a part of it. We got a special guest I just booked. I don't even know if you know yet, Mitch.

[Mensch]

No, we'll.

[Todd McShay]

We'll announce. Let's announce it on Monday.

[Mensch]

Okay.

[Todd McShay]

Or maybe I'll do a press release. Okay. But it's at the. The Lincoln. Lincoln center. Right. In Chicago. September 10th. Get online. Lincoln Hall. Thank God for this live chat, but Dan just keeps. Daniel, you made up for your. Your pronunciation, but yeah. So here we are. So that's kind of the housekeeping stuff. We're back on Monday. We're gonna go through teams four through six. Then on Wednesday, we're gonna go. We're gonna go one through three, and then we're off. Then it's week one. But we do have games this week. It's week zero. Not a massive slate like week one.

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

But I'm a Mick. I'm an Irish.

[Mensch]

The Irish game.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. You think I'm not going to be watching out in Ireland? What is it, Aviva Stadium?

[Mensch]

Who you got?

[Todd McShay]

Kansas State versus Iowa State. Both ranked in the top 25. Kansas State is ranked 17. I think Iowa State was 22 last I looked.

[Mensch]

This is not a throwaway game. This is.

[Todd McShay]

I just pulled up on my FanDuel app. You can see it right here. Hopefully you don't have my account number there. I'm about to go get some college tuition. No, I just looked up the numbers, Mitch. Iowa State plus three and a half. Kansas State minus three and a half. Over unders 50 and a half. Okay, money lines. Minus 166 for Kansas State, but plus 138. Okay, we'll get to parlays. We'll do all that other fun stuff. I just want to pick a winner right out of the gate. I want to be like, okay, it's in the books. We got a winner. We're off. I like Avery Johnson a lot from Kansas State.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Time down to the Manning passing academy. Saw him. I just think he's. He brings an energy, dual threat ability. I think Kansas State has got a lot of good things going for him. They lost a bunch of starters, though. They also had an interesting nugget that I came across recently. They missed just about half of their spring practices due to injuries. And obviously the spin is we got in the weight room and so maybe a little bit rusty. I think Iowa State's underrated 11 and three last year. You ready for this?

[Mensch]

Go ahead.

[Todd McShay]

First double digigit win season in 133 years of Iowa State football. Now, they obviously lost two awesome wide receivers. Jaden Noel, Jaden Higgins.

[Mensch]

Okay, the talented corner go to.

[Todd McShay]

Yep, Jaden Higgins, Jaylen Noel. Yeah. And talented corner, all that stuff. But this team has seven starters return on offense, six on defense. I think there's a little momentum coming into the year. They beat Miami in that bowl game. Rocco Beck, my favorite Bison. I love the Beck family. I'm taking Iowa State straight up. Give me the money line. 138.

[Mensch]

I love it.

[Todd McShay]

I think they're a live dog in this early one.

[Mensch]

Am I crazy too for some of.

[Todd McShay]

The reasons you just said.

[Mensch]

Are you. Are you sipping around that over the under? I like the under a little bit. I feel like first game of the year overseas, some turnover on offense. A little banged up.

[Todd McShay]

Maybe let's, you know, number might be pumped up a little bit. A little bit. Big name quarterbacks. I'm with you, Mensch.

[Mensch]

I'm kind of sniffing that under a little bit. Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

All right, so men should get the under 50 and a half. I've got Iowa State moneyline or to take the three and take the three in the hook. Let's just get a win. Take the three and. Yeah, let's start strong and do it at FanDuel. Go download the app FD Sportsbook. You can find them on on X, but you know where to get it. Go to your app store and just get the fanduel. Like I. I live like I. I use this thing. I don't live on it, but I use this app a lot. Very resourceful for information, but also make a little, you know. All right, so number eight, number nine. We had.

[Mensch]

We're gonna move. Yep. Let's go.

[Todd McShay]

I know. Number number 10 was Florida. Number 11 was Miami. Number 12 was Oklahoma. Number 8 in my power rankings, the Oregon Ducks. Dan Lanning's squad was 131 last year. Obviously a disappointing ending after the. The run that they made. They were the best team. Oh, my gosh. What are the best team in college football for a long, long time last year, man, you know, landing's entering his fourth season now.

[Mensch]

Do you know what these numbers are? Incredible.

[Todd McShay]

I just gave you Brian Kelly's same amount of time. It was like 29, 11. He's.

[Mensch]

I have it here. Yep, tell it. Tell him 35 and 6. He's lost three games over the last two years, but remember, he's only lost to two teams because he lost to Washington last year twice and both of those games I think were three point games. That Michael Peninks Roma Dunes A. You know that's just that hit squad at receiver. That Washington team that was stacked and that Oregon team had two great battles. Oregon lost both by a field goal. Those are the only two losses they had last year. And then they beat Ohio State and lost to Ohio State this year.

[Todd McShay]

And they're doing it with an unbelievable blend of program support. Phil Knight, Nike I love that.

[Mensch]

I love that comment in your in the newsletter.

[Todd McShay]

Thanks Nike Recruiting. See the NFL talent I'm about to rip off below.

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

Culture which landing like culture drives me crazy when it's thrown around too much. Not here. I love the Are you not entertained? Like he finds a creator. Like he's got these guys invested and that's why I think did you see.

[Mensch]

How they prep for the Wisconsin game last year? How they did the jump around during practice this yes. And so when this moment hits, I want you to enjoy it. I want there to be joy in your face, not fear. I want you to be jump dude. I love that moment of their season.

[Todd McShay]

Every week there's something and he connects, right?

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

And then scheme because Lanning, while a great recruiter and motivator is the the foundation is a great defensive coach.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

And I think one of the most underrated. I don't know why his name isn't batted around more in NFL and I think it will soon. I think Will Stein is one of the most underrated offensive coordinators in college football.

[Mensch]

Can I say this? I think he gets a lot of love in the NFL because think about this. He's had two quarterbacks at Oregon. Bo Nix, he who was there the year before he got there but he had him for Bo Nick's last year and his numbers skyrocketed under Stein and he had Dylan Gabriel. Both of those guys. When they got to Will Stein, no one was thinking about them as early round draft picks. And Nicks goes in the first and Dylan Gabriel, like we didn't even think going into the weekend he was going to be a third round pick. I think people from the league are looking at Will Stein and being like we want one of those. We want the kind of the quarterback that he is starting to build for the league. I really think the league looks at him a little bit differently. Maybe everyone else does.

[Todd McShay]

Heavy is the crown though, right?

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

They get 14 returning starters, eight on offense, six on defense. But a lot of those guys, not a lot a Handful of those guys are portal guys who started somewhere else. They lost 10 picks to the NFL draft. We talked about seven.

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

Just a moment ago with LSU. But they lost 10, including six in the first three rounds. And we're talking about Derek Harmon, defensive tackle. We're talking like foundation trench guys. Josh Connerly, left tackle, Terrence Ferguson, tight end Jordan Birch, edge. Jamari Caldwell, defensive tackle, and by the way, their quarterback, Dylan Gabriel. Okay, so we're. And then Jeffrey Bass Basa, the linebacker. Another offensive tackle, Cornelius. They lost a lot of dudes that are at key positions. So like. But they thrived in the portal. And that's the fascinating part to me. They're accustomed to reloading, not rebuilding. They only had one draft pick in 2022 before landing came in one. This is Oregon, Nike, Phil Knight. They had one draft pick since then. It was six after Lanning's first year, eight. The next year, 10. So you see the. The incremental.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Okay. The past three years. So that's growth as a program this year. Mateo Lee, our number one prospect. Menches guy got on him earlier than me and I love him. Isaiah World, offensive tackle Dylan thieman, safety. Those three guys are in our kind of top 75 at this point. They've got eight guys that were in that top 300 for the senior bowl, including their running back, Makai Hughes, wide receiver Evan Stewart. Yeah, it's so tough with the injury.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

So it's really only seven that they can count on this year. Emmanuel Pregnon, Isaiah World and Alex Harkey at the offensive line spot. So just like lsu, like, they knew the spots. They had to repair. Renovate Home Depot, they did the renovation. Defensive line, Bryce Botcher, linebacker. And then Thien A minute safety. So Those are the eight guys in the top 300, seven of which will be on the field for the Ducks. The QB situation, like, let's get to the quarterback in a second. Wide receiver and tight end, there's talent, but they're going to death. They're going to miss Tez. They're going to miss Evan Stewart from a year ago. It's a talented group, but it's going to be interesting to see if they can put around this new quarterback. And we'll get to quarterback in a second. The wide receivers they need. I do love their tight end, Kenyon Sidi. Big.

[Mensch]

He's the worst kept. He's the worst kept secret in college football. Everyone knows this kid's coming.

[Todd McShay]

29 career catches, but unbelievably talented. Stein recently said One of the best players in the country. 63250 and fast.

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

And the O line is reloaded from the portal. I talked to you about Isaiah World from Nevada, Emmanuel pregnant from usc, who's having an awesome camp, I'm told. Harky from Texas State. All the draft prospects, plus you got the center, Ayapani Lalolu.

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

Those are the returning starters, but Lelolu is the, is a Remington trophy candidate at center. Okay.

[Mensch]

Stud.

[Todd McShay]

Absolute stud. So that's what you got. But the big question now, quarterback Dante Moore's really talented young man, former five star, started five games at UCLA. A true freshman in 2023. But I liked what I saw from this Nova Novasad kid. Austin Novasad at the Manning Passing Academy. Talk to some people about him. Like his makeup, like the way he threw the ball. More Novad, though, have only combined for or only last year combined for 10 pass attempts with Dylan Gabriel there. There's no Bo Nicks or Dylan Gabriel walking in that building, bro. Okay, so this is going to be Stein. We're going to find out. This is Stein's biggest challenge to date. He got Bo Nix to take it to a level Bo Nicks had never seen before. He saw. He got Gabriel to go to a level he's never seen before. So we have to believe as evaluators and, and fans that he's going to get the most out of the, out of, out of Moore or Nova Saad or both. But until you see it, it's hard to like, it's hard to believe. And I'll say this, I, I, I talked to somebody. The competition is, is starting to kind of hit the end and I'm run up against it. No, I know. But like a decision may come out by the time this show is released.

[Mensch]

I kept hitting refresh. I was like, we're gonna get this or not.

[Todd McShay]

That's, that's where we are in all this. It's expected to be more Dante, more the former UCLA five star. Okay. I'm told he's going to start the Montana staking. I'm told watch out. But Nova said, like, it's all like, he's going to be anointed. But Nova Saad's gonna get some chances.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Depending on how Moore's playing, depending on the score of games. They got Montana State early in the year with a week one. Then they get Oklahoma State and Northwestern and Oregon State before things get serious. Not that they're not serious, but before things reach a pinnacle in terms of who they're going up against one of the best, if not the best, most talented teams in the country. Penn state on September, September 27 and then Indiana on October 11, respectively. That's where we are.

[Mensch]

Okay, you want to do this offense. I'm just going to big picture you here.

[Todd McShay]

You big picture me. I don't think. I don't want to go for two more hours.

[Mensch]

So like you are way too low on the Ducks. This is going to be the year. Fly, Ducks, fly. I am so excited for this team. Here's a couple of things I'm going to throw at you that you, you may think I'm crazy. Okay. That offensive line was pretty good last year, right? Yeah, it'll be, it'll be better this year. Let me one up you. I think that defensive line is going.

[Todd McShay]

To be better this year.

[Mensch]

I think Bear Alexander and Amari Washington on the inside. I think the edges after another couple years. Amari Washington, by the way, number four on the Bruce Feldman freak list. Dude, really different. He is different. Watch out for that Oregon defensive line.

[Todd McShay]

So I think the office Aiden Breland's another name I heard too with, with Washington.

[Mensch]

They're deep. They are deep. They are going to be better on the defensive line. They're going to be better on the offensive line. And watch out. I'm just going to tell you this right now. You're going to think I'm crazy. They're going to be better at quarterback. Will Stein has these two kids in the building for the last two years. He had Dylan Gil Gabriel for one year and I know that Gabriel was experienced and I got that. And yeah, Dante Moore only had five starts but Dante Moore was in the same quarterback as. Listen, Dante Moore was in the same. What did we think about Bo Nicks when Will Stein got him? Yeah, what do we think about Dylan, Dylan Gabriel when he got him, man. What do you think about Dante Moore when he came out of high school? Five star dude.

[Todd McShay]

Five.

[Mensch]

Now he's got a five star dude that he's had in the building for two years. And by the way, I get the receivers. I understand, I understand. It's not as good as a room as well as last year. The Evan Stewart injury sucks. There's no other way of saying it. It sucks. But it's a receiver friendly offense. They put these guys in a position to produce. And De Coran Moore, the freshman who was the fourth overall freshman in the ESPN 300 two years ago or no, this year, sorry, this year that dude's going to come in and he's going to do things where people like, oh, my God, I was watching. I was like, we don't know anything about these freshmen, right? I'm watching his clips. Dear Lord. Dude, it's like the high school tape. It's again, these kids shouldn't be on the same field as these poor high schoolers are just trying to know, go to the prom and hang out with their friends afterwards. He's like tearing kids apart. But that being said to Cory Moore, the wide receiver is going to make an immediate impact. Kenyon Siddiq is a dude at. At. At tight end. He. You think. You don't think about tight ends that they want to run screens with? Oregon runs screens with his kid because he's so good after the fly Ducks fly. And Dan Lanning is the real deal, dude. There's some other coaches on here that I've had some questions about. Dan Lanning ain't one of them, man. This guy is the real deal. I think you're way too low on the Ducks when there's a lot of questions at a lot of places. Right now, watch out for Oregon.

[Todd McShay]

Damn.

[Mensch]

I. I feel. I feel pretty good about it, man.

[Todd McShay]

I'm not even gonna counter. Let's move on to Georgia 7.

[Mensch]

Let's go.

[Todd McShay]

Clearly not. Not as good as Oregon, apparently.

[Mensch]

No, they are not.

[Todd McShay]

Really.

[Mensch]

No, they are not. The fact that you have Georgia ahead of them, I really am surprised. Now, I'm not talking about talent. I'm talking about the power ranking for this program right now. There are some things that concern me about Georgia, and it's not just Gunners. Stockton.

[Todd McShay]

All right, 11 and three last season and disappointing college football playoff lost in Notre Dame. It just, it had an icky feel at Georgia. And I think a lot of it was the quarterback situation. It was the injury to Carson Beckman. Just didn't seem like that it was their guy. And we saw after the season was over that a decision was made. Okay, Kirby Smarts, 105 and 19 overall.

[Mensch]

Kirby Smart's not the problem, man.

[Todd McShay]

I look at Kirby Smart, only 11 returning starters this year. But this program is used to that. Okay, 13 players lost in the NFL draft. Thirteen. But, like, they're kind of used to it. Six in the first three rounds, three in round one. Think about it. In 2022, this is. This is a note I want you to remember. If you remember nothing from what I saved Georgia. They lost 13 players in the NFL Draft. 2022. They lost 15. Most by the school, by Georgia in the common draft. Error. As far as I could.

[Mensch]

The class was crazy.

[Todd McShay]

Georgia had an undefeated season, won the national championship the next year.

[Mensch]

It's absolutely crazy. That was the back to back here. That was the second of the back to back, right? That was 22 you're talking about.

[Todd McShay]

Yes.

[Mensch]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Last two years, they've lost 10 and 23 and eight in 2024. And then this past year, they lost 11 or they lost 13. They lost 15 in 2022 and won the national championship. So don't count out Kirby, okay? And I don't want to go through the list. It's Mikel Williams and Jalen Walker and Malachi Starks and Tate Rutledge and Fair, Fairchild and Wilson were the next three draft picks, all in the first three rounds. Three offensive linemen. Bang, bang, bang, right? They lost a lot. We know that right now. C.J. allen for Georgia is our only guy in like, our top 70, 75. But I. I also am not ignorant enough to believe, like, I. I know the talents there just haven't gotten to see it a lot. And every year with Georgia, it starts the small group and it turns into this massive class. Somewhere between 8 and 15 has been the range. Okay? I expect it to be the same nine guys on the Senior Bowl. Top 300. Zachariah Branch, Dylan Bell and Noah Thomas. And Colby Young. Four wide receivers, tight end, Lawson Lucky. We both know Chris. Kristen Miller, a defensive line dude. C.J. allen, linebacker dude, Dalon Everett, safety dude. Where are you, men? And then the. The punter, Brett Thorson. I think Gunner Stockton is surrounded by weapons. I think this Georgia receiving core has a chance to be maybe one of the. One of, if not the best that Georgia's had.

[Mensch]

Okay.

[Todd McShay]

Under Kirby.

[Mensch]

And that's not your optimist. Your optimism about receiver cores, this. This spring, I mean, this summer is great.

[Todd McShay]

I told you, there's been. There's an influx of talent in the big programs, especially the SEC at wide receiver. Gunner Stockton, though, here's my thing with him. I watched him at the Manning passing Academy. After watching him lead that comeback or the win against Texas and then losing against Notre Dame, I don't think it's. I don't think I'm some super scout to tell you he's not the fastest or the twitchiest, but my goodness, he's a dual threat runner. He's tough, he's competitive, and he can run. He's got some wheels. Okay, but we're not talking about Lamar. We're not, but he. But he. He brings a run element to this offense. It clearly Wasn't there with, with Carson Beckton really hasn't been there. If you go back over, over the last several years. Okay.

[Mensch]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

So that's going to be interesting to watch. Okay. What's, what is fascinating to me is now you've got this receiver crew. Crew that would thrive with a nuss meer or a cade club Nick or you know one of these, these quarterbacks that we're talking about early in the draft is, is Stockton good enough, accurate enough, decisive enough to maximize the talent of this group? Because this group is like big time man. I'm telling you. Colby Young was suspended last year. Part of if not all, he was supposed to be their breakout star.

[Mensch]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

They, they missed his production last year. Now he's full go and like all accounts are, he's gonna have a huge year. Dylan Bell, he's been up and down. He's a lot of these, these Georgia receivers is that he's, they're working too hard because Carson Beck or they just can't catch the ball at the level that they should be. Dylan Bell was one of them. But Bell, remember like he had to move to running back at one point. He's just a great athlete and I think another year at wide receiver, he's going to be more consistent. Noah Thomas led Texas A and M in catches last year. Huge target, 6 foot 5.

[Mensch]

Excited to see what he can do. So excited, excited to see what he can do.

[Todd McShay]

Zachariah Branch from USC doesn't have to be everything, doesn't have to be a go to guy. Just explosive with the ball in his hands at wide receiver and return man. I guess he's put on some shows during camp in the return game. Also a lot of promise being shown by London Humphreys. Okay then you got a five, five star wide receivers and I'm told to expect huge contributions from this guy. Taron Taylor and even four star guy C.J. wiley. Five wide receivers in total in that class. So two transfer portals, a couple of guys who are coming back off of injury or up and down years and five true freshmen running backs loaded as well. Nate Frazier, set to be a star loaded.

[Mensch]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

Protect, protect the ball better. Roderick Robinson's back from injury last year. Supposed to be another super talented back. Josh McRae, also solid contributor last year. Missed some time in camp dealing with an illness, but I'm told he's going to be ready at the start of the year.

[Mensch]

Yeah, he's an Illinois transfer. I think he's a big boy. Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah that's three big time dudes that could start at most programs. Okay. And then this offensive line, I know that I just listed off the three guys that got drafted in the first three rounds and they lost some. Some dudes. Not necessarily as much talent to the NFL draft as. As lsu, but Stacy S. Has been doing this a long time and he's gotten this group better and better Here I see you. I don't know, but I'm not going to bet against them. They're talented enough to overcome the losses of the NFL last year. I know that Drew Bobo is a stud in at center. I'm told that Micah Morris it guards another stud if this group plays to standard. Despite some of the inexperience. We know the talents there. This Georgia offense could be dynamic and different and explosive this year.

[Mensch]

You love the could be. I don't live in that world. I don't live in.

[Todd McShay]

Georgia's a safe. Could be.

[Mensch]

There's talent everywhere. Don't disagree with you. I don't know. The tight ends love the tight ends too. I mean there's talent everywhere. That offensive line was not great last year and they just lost three guys. Remember that LSU running game you were talking about earlier? You know who was 15th out of 16 teams in rushing yards per game? Georgia. And that was with Nate Frazier.

[Todd McShay]

I mean.

[Mensch]

I mean.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, but. I mean.

[Mensch]

Yes, dude. I don't know, man. And that was with Carson back playing quarterback. And I don't care. I don't. I don't know. I don't know if I live in a world where I can come to the grisp. Like you can say whatever you want about Carson back as a pro prospect. I don't think if you will throw on the tape and we have limited tape of Stockton. I don't understand where there's a world that. That Carson Beck's a worse quarterback than Gunner Stockton. And that's really interesting to me. That's why it's so interesting that Carson Beck's not there anymore. I mean that's why it's such a.

[Todd McShay]

A freaking story. Yeah.

[Mensch]

Because Gunner Sock is not Carson back.

[Todd McShay]

He's not.

[Mensch]

And now you.

[Todd McShay]

So you are talent wise? Talent wise?

[Mensch]

No. You're not. Tape wise. Talent wise?

[Todd McShay]

None.

[Mensch]

Of experience wise. None of it. So you're taking a step back at quarterback that offensive line.

[Todd McShay]

But is it addition by subtraction? Could be Gunner's mobility and in competitiveness and like. And his. His mental makeup. Does it fit this organization?

[Mensch]

Quite possibly. And that's where we get into the hoods. But I'm in the. Where are we now? And this is what I know. This is what I know. This is the concrete for me as you're taking a step down at quarterback, that you have issues on the offensive line that could be solved. You might have the talent to take care of, but I haven't seen yet. And you didn't run the ball well last year.

[Todd McShay]

But you're so willing to give Oregon all these passes with all the transfer portal guys coming in and young five star stars and, and you're watching like YouTube videos of freshman. Like why, why can't you.

[Mensch]

Who did Georgia bring in for the offensive line to fix their problems?

[Todd McShay]

Maybe Kirby Smart doesn't need to bring him in because maybe he does damn well and he doesn't have dudes that were sitting behind stars. And remember last year there were kind of question marks. And so, so that's what I'm telling you.

[Mensch]

There's question marks. I'm gonna tell you right now, those guys have played right. But you talk about Michael Morris, left guard, four starts. I don't have a lot of, I don't have a lot of film to tell you whether or not he's good. Two starts, Bobo, two starts. Don't have a lot of, a lot of. Don't have a lot of tape. Monroe feeling the offensive tackle, five starts and he missed spring with the shoulder injury. Then you got Daniel Cole Calhoun, redshirt freshman, I don't know, Ernest Green. The second, the one, the one guy we do know or the third, whichever it is, didn't play that well last year and is now moving over to right tackle and we'll see if he can stay healthy because he was banged up too. So I, I, there's some things I don't know in Oregon, that's true. But I do know some things at Georgia too. Like I know what Isaiah World looks like. I know what the other guys that they brought in, they have some dudes. I know what the center looks like at Oregon. That's a dude. So like I, I understand what that offensive line looks a little bit more than this, this offensive line.

[Todd McShay]

So, yeah, maybe I find myself now. Now I'm, now I'm like a Georgia Bulldog fan. I wanted him to shove it right away.

[Mensch]

I love, I love Kirby Spark. He is my favorite coach in the whole and in all the land. I love Kirby Smart, man. And if Kirby Smart were to walk in right now, pop up behind your head and be like, hey, man, we're good, I'd feel a whole lot better about the situation here's.

[Todd McShay]

What I know.

[Mensch]

Here's what I do know.

[Todd McShay]

Here's what I do know. You got a punter in the top 300 list. So we're going to be able to, we're going to be able to switch the field on you. And this defense is going to be elite. Is.

[Mensch]

Wasn't elite last year, Todd.

[Todd McShay]

It was really good last year.

[Mensch]

So here's something, here's a little something that happens when I'm, I'm looking at these teams. I want to read what's going on in with some of the beat writers. Okay, so this guy's name is, is David Pascal. He's from the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The Bulldogs had 16. They had top 16 national defenses every season.

[Todd McShay]

Smart, under smart.

[Mensch]

Until last year when they ranked 30th in the country and allowed 329.9 yards per game. I think there was seventh in the SEC in scoring defense last year. Seventh. You know what they were the year before, Juan? It goes back, it's like one, one, one national championship game. That first national championship team, they gave up 10.4 points a game. Those defenses were lights out. Last year's defense wasn't as lights out. And they just lost all the guys that they lost. Mikel Williams, Malachi Starks, you know, Jalen Walker. All those guys are gone. And, and there's things that do make me feel comfortable. I'll say this on the flip side. This is something else that I thought was a really interesting number about Georgia. They haven't had a guy with more than eight and a half sacks or six. They haven't had a guy since more than six and a half sacks. Outside of Ojalari when he was drafted. They don't have guys that get big sack numbers. They do get after the quarterback. Yeah. Because of the scheme and because of the effort. So when they're losing some of these guys, I'm not as worried about it because they know how to scheme it up. They know how to get the effort out of these guys, and they have the talent to get around it. That defense last year showed some cracks, Todd. There were some cracks. There were some cracks. Tell me the cracks have been plugged. Tell me we're all right.

[Todd McShay]

C.J. c.J. Allen's going to be a step better at linebacker Elo Medozi and star freshman Elijah Griffin, who I like. My phone's blowing up a bit about this cat. Okay. Defensive line is gonna be strong again, and Medozer is a transfer. Okay? And then you get the secondaries, the top 10 group in the country. CJ Bolden. We both know he's a good player, so shut up with that. Transfers Scion Branch and Jay and Jaden Harris having really good camps as well. Two, two defensive backs who are transfers. All right, I'm done with you.

[Mensch]

Defense in the Enjoy, enjoy.

[Todd McShay]

Week zero men is going to go fly. Rocco again.

[Mensch]

Let's get us a win to start the year.

[Todd McShay]

Let's go. Let's go. Rocco back and not a lot of points. Put you in a juxt position. Juxtaposition. We're back on Monday.

[Mensch]

Can't wait.

[Todd McShay]

Go get the newsletter.

[Mensch]

I know you're gonna miss me.

[Todd McShay]

Come to the live show September 10th. We're back on Monday. Five stars 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 visit rg-help.com, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgambling help.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma.org or call 1-800-327-5050. For 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE NY in New.