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Ryan Rosillo
Hey barstool listeners. You can find every episode of the Ryan Roso show on Apple podcast, Spotify or YouTube Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. The Ryan Rosillo show presented by DraftKings today we're going to get into it a lot of football with Albert Brer including Drake May and why he's the mvp Dan Campbell taking over play calling duties. What are the Rams up do? There's just a ton of NFL stuff to get to a really interesting week looking at the seatings and where everyone is at and we'll do a little college football with them as well. Talking Ohio State and I have my College football top 12. I've got more thoughts on the NFL on my own and then a really long life advice to make up for last week. The Ryan Rosillo show presented by DraftKings. Every week in the NBA, stars rise, legends are made and one player rules them all. DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA, is bringing back King of the Core. And now it's every Tuesday of the season. Here's how it works. DraftKings is putting up $1 million in bonus bets each week. Opt in, apply your token and place a $5 pregame bet on the NBA star you think will dominate each Tuesday. If your pick finishes the night leading the league in points, rebounds and assists, they're crowned the King of the Court and you win your share of 1 million in bonus bets. And and this season there's a new way to track the action. The King of the Court Leadership Board Inside the app before tip off, See the top 10 stars in PRA While games are live, watch your pick, climb the ranks and when it's over, find out exactly where your star stacked up and if you've been crowned a winner, download the DraftKings sportsbook app and use Code Ryan. That's Code Ryan R Y E N to win a share of 1 million in bonus bets. If your player is King of the Core in partnership with DraftKings, the Crown is yours. Gambling problem.
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Kyle
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Albert Breer
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Ryan Rosillo
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Ryan Rosillo
Non withd restrictions apply terms@sportsbook.draftkings.com promos week 10 recap although a big one tonight. Let's do this. Drake Maze, your MVP now. I understand the Stafford position. I understand the Darnold position. I understand, hey, it's only week 10 position. All valid positions. But he's plus 250 right now on DraftKings. I've seen some places where he's tied for the odds on favorite, but he's leading in a lot of different markets. If you're going to tell me that he shouldn't be ahead of Stafford, why Darnold? It's an awesome story, but why shouldn't May at least be tied with Darnold as far as the favorite? Because Darnold's like 8th and I don't know if that's a Seattle thing or know that May's a little bit younger and he has basically been flawless now since the very start of the season after they lost the first two games. How they lost to the Raiders seems strange. We know how they lost the Steelers because they couldn't hang on to the football. But I'm going to run through it for you here. New England's win at Tampa is the best win, only because I think even with the Buffalo win, you're like, hey, there's something spicy going on here in New England. But is it a division game? As we saw division games can be weird, including Buffalo losing to Miami yesterday. So going down to Tampa. And of course there's like another Tampa conversation about who they've been offensively since the start of the season and how things have fallen off. But they've been without Evans, they've been without Godwin. The old lines a mess. Bucky Irving's been out now for a while. So sometimes, like you look at teams surviving a couple of weeks without injuries, then it just starts to take its toll and go on, hey, we're playing backups. Far too many snaps now for three straight weeks. But I still thought it was a significant game for New England because they screwed around with Atlanta, who Atlanta somehow just kind of messes with everybody. And then we'll have other games where they look like they could never beat any team in the league. And that Colts game was was an incredible comeback by Indianapolis and Berlin to start the Sunday. But I really felt like and maybe you think I'm overstating this with some of Tampa's decline recently, but New England going down there with May. And that is not collectively great, that that would be a really impressive win. And it wasn't just they won the game. It's that this offense continues to show that it's got big playability despite most people probably not being able to name their top three starters. Let's run through the resume of this team and why I think May is the MVP of the 25 seasons so far. So he's number one in completion percentage above expected completion percentage. Right. He's tied with Darnold. So there's a Darnold case there. It's just a really, really important number. It shows you the quarterbacks that are like who are the guys doing it at the highest level in spots where you weren't expecting them. By the way, don't look at who's last in that stat, please. He's fifth in qbr. But this Pats team, if we look at some of their stats here, they're 23rd and yard per carry. It's not a great rushing team. His number one wide receiver, Stefan Diggs is 22nd yards. He has seven games this season with under 60 yards receiving. Their turnover margin. This isn't some Jacksonville thing where you're looking there after 10 weeks going, how does Jacksonville have a good record? Well, because they're not good. Trevor Lawrence isn't good. That game they blew to Houston yesterday is embarrassing. And Jacksonville survives because their turnover margin, this, this thing that I've said is unstainable is still absurd. I still think it's like best in the league or maybe it's them or the Bears. But there's a lot of teams where you're just. You're trying to figure out why they have a good record and you may not like them all that much. And then you can just look at the turnover margin. New England's 17th in turnover margin. They're minus one in the entire. Their pass rush numbers are not great. They're 19th in sacks. Their 22nd pass rush win rate. Their pass block grades aren't terrific. They don't have a tackle that's in the top 20 of some of that win rate stuff. Even with Will Campbell looking like a franchise anchor. The team defensively, even though it's gotten better here, there's like a couple numbers like they get off the field on third downs, but they're last in the NFL. Usually there's a death sentence, but if you look at touchdown percentage allowed in the red zone, the Patriots last in the NFL, those numbers may not have been updated over the Weekend here. The point is that May is basically doing all of this on his own. That may seem unfair to some guys that show up, you know, randomly with New England. It's like, hey, Mac, Holland's had a bunch of catches, but you have to dig into what he's doing on some of these throws. The Mac Hollins long play for 50 plus yards, he gets clobbered on that one, hangs in the pocket, delivers the ball. The Kyle Williams touchdown for 72 yards. If you watch the end zone angle of that throw, he has pressure to his right side. The throw he has to lead. Williams, who's basically full speed going from left to right and getting ready to kind of turn up the field. He's going full speed. May has to lead him by probably 5 to 7 yards on that throw while he knows he's about to get hit from the right side. And again as a right handed thrower, all that pressure is right on top of him as the right tackles being pushed right, right back into his torso. Those are two throws where I'm like, man, I don't even know if I care about some of the other stats that he already has. That kind of toughness, that competitiveness, and to be able to deliver a ball that perfectly and lead the receiver, it's not like he just hit somebody who was open. That's an unbelievable throw. It'd be one of the best throws of the entire season. So sure New England's 32nd and strength is scheduled that they've played so far. It's not a tough slate, folks. It's not a tough slate. Depending on what you want to look at a remaining strength of schedule. I've seen it. 27th toughest, 28th toughest. 32nd toughest. It's not going to get that much harder is the point. You know, when you look at Denver in this win streak and I'm kind of off the Bo Knicks thing, you're like, all right, you know, this is sort of a weird winning streak, but I mean, it's the NFL. Any given Sunday, I mean, winning this many games in a row, it's a huge credit to you and the Broncos being able to pull out some of these games. But their schedule is about to become the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL. New England isn't. So if you look at the standings, New England is a three seed in the AFC behind the Colts, behind the Broncos. That's because conference record, Colts are 6 and 1, Broncos are 5 and 2. New England's 4 and 2, Damian Woody, who we love Said this morning that he felt like the super bowl runs through Foxborough. I'm not ready to go there yet. But that 24 drive class may have its first MVP. And I think it's Rick May worst loss. It's Buffalo at Miami. Miami looked hopeless 10 days ago against Baltimore. Like that looked like, hey, you think just the GMs losing his job. All y' all are losing your jobs. I don't know if anybody saved their job. It was nice to see Happy Mike McDaniel. Just probably just kind of, kind of nice for him to feel good for a day. And it wasn't because of two. It's because they ran against this Bill's defense. It just isn't that good. They're like 20th and opposing yards per play. No, excuse me. They're 24th now after looking at what happened yesterday. They gave up 200 yards on the ground. It wasn't some crazy like Bills minus four and turnovers. And Miami capitalized on that. And the thing is, it's like looking at Allen, that Chiefs game, he's literally perfect. He's playing the game perfectly. And it wasn't like he threw for 450 yards. He just dissected everything that was in front of him and felt like he was just complete control of a football game for 60 minutes. But they've had some weird games. You know, they're four and oh, they're two and three in their last five. The Atlanta game was gross. The New Orleans game, even though they won, it was weird. We've got the New England loss in there, but they weren't even in this game. Like, not even in this game. You know, sometimes Miami has some, some awful season and then they get somebody really good in the division game. You've seen it happen in New England even when Brady was there. So maybe you could chalk it up to that. But if the last five weeks weren't this alarming for Buffalo. So again, you know, are we writing Buffalo off now week to week? Obviously not. We know what they're capable of, of beating Kansas City in there, but I don't know what else would be worse. I mean, I guess you could talk about Jacksonville blowing that lead, but Houston. Harris. Davis. Davis. Millis. Davis. Mills. Get it done. All right. Funds with standings Today, the number one seed in the NFC, your Seattle Seahawks up 35 zip against Arizona, the first team since 1980 to have 30 plus points in the first half three times in a season, thanks to Mike Sando. Your super bowl betting favorite is Kansas City still. And they're not in the playoffs this morning. I don't know how to even begin to look up that number. But when's the latest? The super bowl favorite wasn't in the actual playoffs. Based on standings. How like do we have a week 12 example of this? Because we're week 10. It's almost done. And that means going into week 11, Kansas City, who's eighth in the AFC, is still still the super bowl favorite. That I can't imagine that happens very often. Maybe There's a week 11, week 12 in there. I don't know. All right, fun with some numbers here. Thirteen personnel. You start hearing about it all over the place. It's going to be guy takes you through his fantasy draft, tells you he's like, you know, I've had Devonte Adams. That was really nice. Like our guys felt good about it in the room. Our guys? Isn't it just your team? We get a staff over there for the fucking Nighthawks. 93. The Rams love 13 personnel, right? One running back, one wide receiver, three tight ends. That's where the three is in. So people's this is a bit. I don't know if NBA guys would do this. NBA Media. But like, you want to talk about 13 personnel, I'm going to talk about Draymond Green at center. How about that? I'm going to talk about weird personnel stuff. So the Rams under McVeigh. Eric Edholm had this note with next gen. 84 plays and 13 personnel in the first 137 games of Sean McVeigh's career as head coach of the Rams. In the past four games, they've actually run 13 personnel plays more than those 84. So something that he just wasn't doing the last month. It's all they want to do. Four touchdowns yesterday, four touchdowns last week out of 13 personnel. So get ready for it folks, because the smart people are going to start telling you about it. Drake May has 52 completions between 10 and 19 air yards traveled. That's the most in the NFL. The Colts come back in Berlin. We touched on it against Atlanta. Daniel Jones, seven turnovers though, in his last two games after only three turnovers in his first eight games. Bailed out by Jonathan Taylor's 244 yards, his fourth 1,000 yard season. One off the franchise record for the Colts of Edger and James, who had five. All right, final thought here. Play calling from the couch, not tails from the couch. Play calling from the couch. Giants up 17 Nothing in Chicago taking on my Bears. They've got first and goal at the Chicago seven yard line to start the fourth quarter. How'd they get down there? Because Russell Wilson came in because Jackson blue tent dart was gone. Again, concussion knocked out of the game. So Russell Wilson, who I notice at times stands next to Dable during the game on the sideline. I would pay a lot of money to have that mic'd up. I don't know that it happens a ton. I just want to know what's being said and no one will ever tell me. So back to the play. Greg Olson on the call here. First and goal to Chicago 7. They got down there again, the screen pass, some runs, six yard run. So six yard run on first down, they're at the one. Then there's a negative one yard run. So it's third and goal at the two. Russell Wilson runs. And when I tell you he got stopped once he was running, it was horrifying. Like when somebody's just older and still playing in the NFL. Like, Ricky Williams is a great example of this. Ricky Williams is physical, can't tackle him. Two guys can't tackle him. And then once it was over for Ricky Williams, you could breathe on him and he would fall down. In this case, Russell Wilson's trying to escape this red zone play where he's running, and it's like, it looked a lot like some of those Mercedes Benz commercials where you see them test the cars and it was like, oh, that's like a violent stop. Even though I think it was good for a yard. So now it's fourth and goal at the one again. And they kicked the field goal to go up 2010. And Greg Olson, who we think is the best, I think we. I don't know if we're supposed to have him on Wednesday or whatever, we'll bring it up with him. He was saying like, hey, look, you know, it's fourth and goal at the one, you've held them to 10 points, conditions, the whole thing. Go up the two scores and put this game away. I, however, would suggest. Have you watched Russell Wilson in the red zone last year with Pittsburgh where it looked like they didn't even want to let him throw the football? I think his completion percentage in the red zone last year with Pittsburgh was under 30%. I mean, physically, you can't run him. He had a run in this game where he went to slide and he was so slow, he couldn't beat somebody on the edge. He was so slow that he slid. And it's not even where he started the slide. The slide stopped 2 yards short of the line of scrimmage. That was him sliding to get down, trying to get out of a play and still lost two yards on this. So I think from an analytic standpoint, the 4th and 1. Feeling good about your defense? Because again, I still like this Giants defense a lot. Asking Russell Wilson to survive that fourth and goal at the one when you don't want him to throw and he can't run. I understood why they wanted to go up two scores. And then of course they end up losing. And I would tell you if there was anything I've been more certain of this NFL season than that last drive for the Giants was going to be a comical disaster, a fucking horror show. I've never been more certain of anything all season long watching these games. And that's exactly what happened. And now the Giants are 04 on the road when they're up 10 or more points. 0 and 4 on the road, leading these games by 10 or more points. The rest of the NFL is 57 and 1. It's official. The Big Shack is out now. I tried one a few days ago and it lives up to the name. It's a serious burger. Two Angus beef patties, three buns and a new secret sauce. It's stacked, balanced and built in the right way. You get everything you expect from Shake Shack. Fresh ingredients, that toasted potato bun and sauce that pulls the whole thing together for 9.99. It's kind of wild how much burger you're getting, especially one that doesn't taste like typical fast food. It's big, it's fresh, it's legit. One of their best burgers yet. It is bulking season, so you know what that means. We're forgoing all the protein bars. We're driving straight from Equinox right to the Shake Shack and we're going to film this for you post workout. The protein bar of 2025 is the shack Burger. And that's what I'm going with. The Big Shack Burger. If you've been waiting to see what all the hype's about, today's the day. Go to Shake Shack and order the Big Shack. Sounds familiar. Made different he's going to join us throughout the football season. It's Brer Mondays, our breer from the MMQB pod. You can read them on si.com this morning. I do every Monday morning to get my day started. So let's just start in Foxborough. I don't know how good this team actually is and it's been a lot of fun. Kind of looking at all the first rounders from 24, which I probably talked about too much. But this Drake May run is incredible. I think he is the league's mvp. And you know, I don't even know if the team was built. I know they spent a lot of cash in the off season, but it almost now feels like ahead of schedule considering like the rest of the roster. You're close with this team, you've cut them for a long time. So give us some more insight into what they're feeling in the building, around the facility to what looks like, you know, having a guy for the next 10 years, which is what every team's trying to do.
Albert Breer
Yeah, I mean, I would say like a lot of it is sort of what the Commanders did last year, you know, where they brought in a bunch of veterans to spackle holes, you know, and there were holes all over, all over the roster. But the idea was can we get ourselves up to level ground where we don't have like these gaping holes where, you know, that are like legitimate weaknesses on our team. And the way the Commanders did it a year ago was by going and getting guys that the coaching staff had background with. And it was the same thing here. You know, all these guys they brought in, with the exception of Milton Williams, you know, Robert Spillane was with Josh in, in, in Vegas and with Mike in Tennessee, they bring in Vrabel or they bring in Landry, who was with Mike in Tennessee, Steph Diggs was with, was with Todd Downing in New York. Same thing with Morgan Moses with Todd Downing in New York. So all these guys they brought in to just take care of the holes in the, in the here and the now or most of them anyway, were guys they had background with where they knew what they were getting. And you know, like then, you know, you go from, from, from that baseline, which is where Washington was working for, from a year ago. And then you get this young quarterback who comes in and plays at a historic level and it puts you over the top. You're taking advantage of an easy schedule the same way that the Commanders did a year ago. There are a lot of, there are a lot of parallels between the two. I, I, I also think that this team has a, this, this, the, the group that's running the team, you know, your Mike Vrabels, Elliott Wolf's, Ryan Cowden's, John Strikers, like they're doing a good job of not getting over their skis on this. And I think they realize that they've patched this thing together in a lot of different ways, but they want to build it methodically, which is why they were pretty inactive leading up to the trade deadline. And they've hung on to their 10 or 11 picks for 2026, so they can continue building it out. But you can certainly see the playstyle that Mike Watson playing with and Drake, I mean, he's making some plays and we all see the highlight stuff, but he's making some plays every week where, you know it's in the middle of the game and you like, they're not going to. It's not going to be on SportsCenter, you know what I mean? But like, it's like, holy crap, did he just do that? Like, the way he kind of moves in the pocket escapes the throw he made to Kyle Williams, which that's going to be remembered as like a Kyle Williams touchdown. But I mean, he had a guy in his face when he made that throw. And the arm angle he threw it from and the window he threw it into. He's. He's playing at an incredibly high level and he's right there with the staffers of the world for mvp.
Ryan Rosillo
If you look at this team, towards the end of Bill's run, I mean, everybody realized like Bill, the GM would have been fired years prior to ever getting that much rope. I remember, I think it was like two years ago. Whether I did it with McShay, it's also just watching on Sundays where you go, okay, how many players on this 53 man roster do you actually, like, get excited about? About. It was probably, I don't know if it was the least talented roster in the NFL, Brer, but it was up there. There was like, it was like, hey, who's the guy who's actually like a guy who's somebody that stands out, that you're like, he's, he's really good. And so again, you're right about the schedule part of this and the may things, not just about 25 as it is now, like, as I said, going like just this feeling, going like, hey, we have our guy and now we can figure out the rest of this stuff. But can you give us more depth on the transition of what this roster was? And I also think it was like a thin staff because the, the note on Belichick was always that like, he didn't really want to bring in outside people, right? Because he didn't want to have to like train him, train that person. Whether it was a coach in his style, that's what he was always going back to. People that he had relationships with. But, you know, they had lost so many people, so many staffers over the years, that you just wondered, like, who was actually doing the job. It felt. Felt like a front office that was understaffed because they were just doing so poorly in the draft the entire time. So speak to that transition of, like, yeah, coming in and looking around, going, all right, how do we fix this thing? Before we're even talking about May.
Albert Breer
Sure. And I think, like, that's. That's a huge part of it. So, like, Bill and I. I think. I still think Bill's the greatest coach in NFL history. But I agree, like, at the end, like, look like one of the things that Bill did really well was develop coaches. I'm glad you got to that, because, like, he always had a Josh McDaniels behind Charlie Weiss or a Bill O' Brien behind Josh McDaniels or a Matt Patricia behind, you know, behind Romeo Cornell and Dean Pease or a Brian Flores behind Matt Patricia. And eventually that, well, started to run dry. So he had these incredibly smart assistant coaches coming up through the ranks and incredibly smart personnel people coming up through the ranks. And Scott Pioli was part of building that, too. And then eventually it just got to the point where they weren't developing people. And that went for players on the roster and people in the personnel department and people on the coaching staff the same way they had in the past, and it affected every piece of that operation. And then because they'd been doing things one way for such a long period of time, they became small relative to the rest of the league. So they didn't have a lot of the different departments that the rest of the league had. When guys would come in from other teams to New England at the end with Bill, they'd be like, all right, where's all this stuff? Like, where's this department? Where's that department? And because it was so. Everything was so specific to the way Bill wanted it, it became really old school, almost unintentionally. And so then you have Gerard Mayo there, who hasn't seen it anywhere else. He was only in New England as a player or as a coach, and he doesn't know any better. And so, like, now you take Bill out of the equation, and you have the sort of year you had last year, and, you know, it was time to really take a hard look at the entire operation. And so, you know, last year, they put Elliott Wolf in charge of building some of those things out and building out their personnel department beyond just scouting, you know, and Mike comes in And I think he leans into doing a lot more of that to the stuff, the resources you need for the players and stuff that's not. Nobody on a podcast wants to hear about. Right. Like, the sports science stuff, all of that different stuff. So I, you know, I. I really think because they've been so successful under Bill and Tom for all of those years, they almost unintentionally became archaic. And, you know, I think all of that came to a head last year, and now you're seeing them come out of the dark ages. And what's accelerated the course for all of that, of course, is. Is having the young quarterback you have and. And having a head coach who really.
Ryan Rosillo
Knows what he's doing is Maeve and better than Variable thought he would be. Yeah.
Albert Breer
Yeah, I would say that's fair. I mean, I know when they came in there, like, they felt like he was one of the reasons why the job was really attractive. I'd say, like, right at the top of the list, one of the reasons why the job was attractive to a lot of coaches, Mike included. And so, you know, I think they felt like coming in all right. Like, this is a kid who's still really raw, and we've got to figure out a way to get the most out of him as an athlete, as a. As a. As a playmaker. While developing the quarterback stuff, I think what they didn't maybe recognize, and they learned this pretty quickly over the first month of the season, is just how good his instincts are. Right. And that might be the stuff that through all the stuff at North Carolina, you didn't see as much where, you know, so he was great as a redshirt freshman. I think that was the teams that really liked Drake coming out basically said, like, he was in an awful situation his third year as a redshirt sophomore. But if you go back and look at him as a redshirt freshman, he was off the charts, I believe. What was the coach's name that went to Wisconsin from North Carolina, the O.C. and it's. I'm drawing a blank now. Chip Lindsay took over for him, but they had a really good feel long ago. So they had a really good situation in Drake's second year, then his third year, not as good. And so I think, like, who he could be as a player got kind of clouded by the circumstances around him his last year at North Carolina, his first year in the pros. So what they didn't see coming, you know, I think was the instincts that he had to do the right thing on a Consistent basis. And so because of that, they've been able to sort of strike this balance. Now, is he getting hit a lot? Sure. But they've been able to kind of strike this balance between, we're going to do some things to help you and Josh's offense, but we also want you to go out there and be who you are.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. It's funny that you bring up, you know, the second year as opposed to the last year, because some people that I really trust, like, his second year, like, are you watching him? Because he can get lost to Carolina and they're like, this guy's incredible. And then I'd tell you that, like, UNC people, like, look at what he had his last year there. How many receivers are down and everything. So the reason, I think there's the Tez Walker controversy.
Albert Breer
Am I right about that?
Ryan Rosillo
Right.
Ceruti
Yeah.
Ryan Rosillo
Eligibility and all that kind of stuff. And. And wait, it got to the point with. With him where I was like, well, is this, you know, Randy Moss? Like, right, Everybody's waiting on this dude as if everything's going to change. But it's. It's a bit like, I remember Mangini. I used to love having Mangini in studio, which was just another lesson in, like, learning people, as opposed to, like, not that we'd expect to say, you know, somebody that you've never, ever met. But, man, Genie was so incredibly, like, unlikable during that jets run because it felt like he was doing, like, a Belichick impersonation. And then some people were like, no, no, he's actually, like, great. He's just kind of young and he's trying to do the job this way. Then you get Mangini in studio and you just start talking football with him, and you're like, I love this guy. And something that Mangini said that I'll never forget is that. And he was talking more at the NFL level was like, whenever you're scrambling for a quarterback, you're just figuring out, like, who's on the market. The fact that you can see somebody like a Matt Castle, like, is there a year or two in there where at least we've seen. Or that we know that he's done it as a. As opposed to, like, a complete unknown with some of the other draft picks. And at least with Drake, that second year there was like, that's an incredible year. It's also why I had so much faith in Caleb Williams, because even though there was a downturn from year one to year two at SC sc, I felt like the Last year that he was there, he was just left to try to figure it out and save every single drop back as opposed to like, the first year he was there, I just, right, was completely in love with the guy. So I, which.
Albert Breer
Which I think, like, with Caleb, like, created bad habits that he. He then had to break as a pro. You know what I mean? Like, but it was there in him from the year before.
Kyle
Yeah.
Ryan Rosillo
And I. I tell you too, like, as a Caleb fan watching, and I watched the whole game again yesterday because I'm just. I'm into it with him. I figured it out with him where he is not dropping back and ripping it to whatever it's supposed to be. And I don't know if Ben Johnson always looks miserable, but Ben Johnson looks miserable throughout these games. And you can see what the. You can see it happening. It's like, okay, here's snap the ball, here's the drop. You see, he doesn't want to rip it. And now because of his capability, he's. He's unbelievable. But it's like, okay, cool asset, but I'd rather you just rip it on whatever the read was or check down at what the next thing is. And so he extends these plays and then it feels like every other dropout for Caleb Williams looks like a Hail Mary at the end of a game because you're just like, this is a free for all. Like, the Fran Tarkinen videos on NFL Films are fun. I can't imagine being on the offensive coaching staff watching that, going like, what the fuck are we doing back there? Look, it worked out for Fran. I don't know if that's going to happen with Caleb, but you talked to Rome, his receiver. What a nice day yesterday about, like, kind of where this team is, because it's. It's been dramatic. I don't know if the Cincinnati win means anything, but they come back from 10 down, what, 20 to 10 against the Giants at home. So they're saying the right things. But what else did he tell you about what they're doing?
Albert Breer
Well, he just said, like, it kind of like, what goes from, you know, hoping to believing and then knowing. And like, that's what the coaching staff have said to them over and over and over again. And I think, like, Ben. Ben's interesting because I think, like, it's almost like, parcelsy in the way that he has, like, he's building that team now where. And that makes sense because the lineage would be Dan Campbell, and Dan Campbell's a parcels guy. Right. It's just interesting that way because, like, he was very hard on them in the summer and it looked really bad. And Ben didn't care. Right. Like, Ben was feeding those guys through a fire hose. And we're going to figure out what you can handle and what you can't handle. And I don't care if the Chicago Tribune is writing three, three days a week, how awful Caleb Williams looks. Like we're going to figure out how good we can be and what we can do. And like, I think, you know, what it did was it created, like, these stressful situations for them where, like, they had to go and figure it out. Those individual players all had to go figure it out, then they had to figure it out as a group. And like, I. There's just, like, a hard edge, this team to the Bears team now, where, like, they're not. It's not just believing. It's like, they know it's going to. They know it's going to turn. And I think, you know, in a situation like the one, you know, against Cincinnati a couple weeks ago where Caleb makes that throw down the seam to Loveland, and Loveland breaks two tackles and scores, and then Caleb has two massive runs at the end of that game and they're down 10 points or what was it, six minutes to go in like a snowstorm against the. Against the Giants. You know, I just think you see, like, an edge to this team. And the coolest thing about it to me, Ryan, is like, I feel like they've developed different punches now where Caleb was struggling early in the year, and there were a couple of games where they got through that by rushing for a million yards. Right. This is a team that's winning different ways now. And if you start to. If you're able to start to, like, leverage what Caleb can be, I. I really think you're, you know, like, you have a chance to be a pretty dangerous team come December and January. And I. I'm glad you brought up the point about, like, you know what, the way that they're coaching and. And bringing these guys along. So I think it applies to both Drake and Caleb where the way to develop these quarterbacks now, you saw it with Josh Allen and Buffalo, you saw it with Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City is you give them that escape hatch, right? Like you said, Ben is, like, looking pissed off and miserable. Like, hey, you need to get to, like, your. Your third guy in the progression there. Well, it's better to have a guy who is willing to take the escape hatch and is playing fast than a guy who's just sitting back in. The. Back there in the pocket with the wheels turning in his head, you know, And I even think, if you, like, you go back and you look at Caleb and Drake at the very beginning of this year, you saw some of that from them where they were sitting in the pocket and they're trying to run the offense their coaches have given them, and they're not ready to run the whole thing yet. It's like, no, like, run the offense as you're able to, but then if you feel like your instincts telling you, I need to escape and make something happen now, do that. And as you do that, these guys are so incredibly gifted that you buy yourself time to develop the other stuff. Like, that's what Pat and Josh did, is they bought themselves time to develop the other stuff by pulling the ripcord and being superman in those spots. So I think it's just become the new way of developing a young quarterback. And it does seem like Caleb and Ben, those two in particular, are getting closer to striking that balance between being the quarterback as it's scripted and doing all the stuff we know he's capable of.
Ryan Rosillo
Who do you believe in more being able to win their conference of the number one seeds today, the Colts or the Seahawks?
Albert Breer
Seahawks. I do. Are people paying attention to what they're doing?
Ryan Rosillo
I feel like I'm not. You know, and I. And my moment yesterday of watching Ryan.
Albert Breer
They're murdering people, murdering teams.
Ryan Rosillo
Like, it's hard in this league to keep doing what they're doing on the point differential front. Donald's been even better here, which seemed like an impossible scenario. Cause I was, like, thinking about it yesterday because, I mean, again, we're kind of bringing up the 24 class here. Again, I have no idea if JJ McCarthy's going to be any good. He's had a couple nice little stretches. I think a lot of it's pretty ugly. And then I started thinking, like, what if Darnold and the Vikings finished in a better way last year? I mean, it got so negative so quickly with the way it bounced to the end regular season in the Rams game.
Albert Breer
That was really it, right?
Ryan Rosillo
He was quite. And that's it. I mean, he's. He's like on the MVP track in 24. Darnold now, granted, like, look, they. They took JJ McCarthy, so it means they're evaluators. It means. It means Koc. It means all of these people are totally on the same page. I mean, there's nothing funnier than reading a headline about a team that likes the player they just drafted and you're like, ok, specifically for quarterback. Like you spent multiple years watching film, you've done the interviews, you've done all the background work and you decided to take them and it's like, oh hey, we really like them. Well, no, you put all this time into him and then you took them. There's a good. So maybe they were going to do it no matter what. But I did think about that watching Minnesota yesterday and that offense be all over the place and then what the Seahawks have done every week. But the Seahawks feel like, yeah, are they the more complete team in comparison to the Colts?
Albert Breer
Well, just, just on that too. Like I think the important thing to. Interesting thing about the Sam Darnold situation and Daniel Jones too with the Vikings, right, Because they tried to bring both those guys back. They wanted both those. They wanted first Arnold, then Jones back for, for 20, 25. So it wasn't like they were completely out on the idea of it. Like Kevin did not want to throw this season overboard in the name of quarterback development. So like he was going to bring those guys back. The reason both those guys left, you know, I can tell you point blank is because they saw multi year opportunity somewhere else where they both looked at Minnesota and said like this is keeping the seat warm for J.J. right. And if he develops then they're going to go with him. Versus like, no, if I go to Seattle and I kill it, I can be the guy for the next five years. Same thing with Jones in Indianapolis. Would you ask specifically on Seattle? Sorry, I wanted to get that in there.
Ryan Rosillo
No, I'm glad that you did. Yeah, I've kind of asked it like two different ways just because like the Colts turnover thing, I, you know, it could just be a couple games or they're turning the ball over a little bit. But again for Jones, like part of the thing that we get really excited about is he was clean and they were scoring more points than anyone else per game. But I think that win against Atlanta is an incredible comeback win and they did it in a different way. So it's fine. But the more I watch Seattle and the more you kind of dig through the numbers and I just think that like overhauling this roster where it feels just complete. It feels. And maybe the Colts are just as complete and they were always just in desperate need of just at least average quarterback play. So it's, it's kind of a, a tough question because I don't know that there's a definitive answer on it of like who you like More between the two teams, but they're both sitting there as the one seat today.
Albert Breer
Yeah. And I, so I think so with Seattle, it's like they've got, I think both teams have like a, a good core of young players they've drafted and developed over the last few years with the quarterback sort of being the finishing piece. You know, Seattle, I just, I mean JSN could wind up breaking the yardage record. Their offensive line still not perfect, but they've got three really good young players and cross Lucas and Zabel. The defensive front has been really, really good. And with Murphy and Leonard Williams in the middle and, and DeMarcus Lawrence coming over from Dallas, Witherspoon, Walker, Charbonnet, it's just, you look at like, it's a blend of like rising young players. You should continue to ascend as a. The season goes on and the veteran players they brought in to help put them over the top. And I'm, I mean that game next week's going to be fascinating, but against the Rams, but just like looking at it like, do you know they've scored in the 30s in the first half three times this year. I don't know if that's ever been done before, you know, so like it's just, it's well coached team, it's a well conceived team. And, and this is not out of nowhere. They won 10 games in Mike McDonald's first year last year and missed the playoffs. Indy, you know what I'm worried about with Indy, Their offensive line was such a huge strength and the last two weeks it's just sort of cratered a little bit. And the loss of Pittsburgh and then yesterday against Atlanta and it just kind of got me thinking, if a team can jump up on them 10 nothing, 14, nothing, does that take them out of their element altogether? You know what I mean? Like, maybe this is the Jonathan Taylor MVP argument where where like now Taylor winds up winning that game for them anyway yesterday. But it just sort of what you notice is like, is that offensive line as good as it looked over the first two months of the season or have they been able to play a lot of these games on their own terms? And when the game has played a different way, does that offensive line not look as, as great? And that of course affects the way that Jones is playing. That would be my big question. And because I do feel like the rest of it is. Is there. And you know, one of the best things I picked up on my camp tour over the summer was the Colts guys telling me, yeah, last year we were 29th in the league in total defense and 30th in giveaways, and we still won eight games. So we feel like if we can get a defensive coordinator who can kind of upgrade this group, which Luana Romo has, and bringing in guys like Charvarius Ward and Cam Bynum has done, and we can get a quarterback to just put his hands at 10 and 2, which Daniel Jones has done, then we could really take off. And that's what has happened. I just, again, like, I. I think I have, like, that one area of concern with the Colts, where I don't know that I can find that type of concern with the Seahawks, if that makes sense. It does.
Ryan Rosillo
And I also do your point on, like, being down 10, nothing, 14, nothing in a playoff. I would just hope if it's early enough, that you're still handing the ball off to Jonathan Taylor. I just think it's crazy, like, even during broadcast where they hand it off to somebody down 14, 3 and they're like, oh, you know, they're like, it's eight minutes left in the second quarter.
Albert Breer
By the way, how stupid does his contract dispute of a couple of years ago look? They're paying him $14 million a year. Well, people got a little weird on.
Ryan Rosillo
The running back stuff, and I don't know if they have any more of those running back zoom things scheduled.
Albert Breer
I will say this, though. You know what it turned for me though, was the odd. Was two off seasons ago when it turned for me, the whole running back value thing was Saquon changed teams, Josh Jacobs changed teams, and Derrick Henry changed teams. Right. All three of those guys in the same off season. And the teams that signed them were the Eagles, the Packers and the Ravens. And I remember looking at that and saying, those aren't dumb teams. Like, there's something here. And, you know, basically what it was was it was running back had become devalued to the point where now it. Now it's a huge value to have a great one, you know, because you're paying the guy half of what you'd be paying. Like a top receiver.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. I don't know how long the list is, but like, even, even Gibbs with Detroit, and I want to get to Dan Campbell taking over play calling here in a second. But, like, Gibbs is different with the ball in his hands in space, you know, And I think the league, because it's smaller defensively, which means it's faster defensively. And it does seem like with everybody, you know, a couple years ago just dropping back and it's like, how is the NFL ever going to correct this? And. And the NFL always does. Like, it always becomes cyclical. And now we're seeing the counter to that with the Rams going, okay, well, if you're going to play light and shut down and play all over the place, right? Then we're going to, you know, we're starting to see that happen more and more with this 13 personnel thing that I want to get to, but it just felt like there wasn't enough room for the running backs that we grew up with to make an impact. Because even if you were special, there was just going to be too many defenders over there. Even if it was light personnel, it just wasn't like the breakaway stuff that I feel like there's a. There's a short list of players that can do that. So I do think that there's value if you have one of those guys. I just wouldn't want to be like, hey, you had 800 yards last year, so now I have to pay you $10 million, because clearly the league's just not doing that anymore.
Albert Breer
I think there are two categories, right? Like, the first category is like the 230 pound guy who can play on all three downs, which is like the Zeke Elliott, Saquon Barkley, Todd Gurley, right? Like those guys that came into the league, like, you know, over the last ten years or so. So that's one category. And then there's the other category, which is the guy who is so versatile, like almost the Marshall Falk type of guy, where you can line them up wherever and like when you break the huddle, like, the defense has to figure out where that guy's going. Which, you know, I think Alvin Camara, like, kind of became a model for that when he came into the league in 17. So, like, I think if it's gotta be one of those two though, right? Like, I think the rest of them are sort of interchangeable. But if you have one of those two, those guys generally are worth paying. You know, Gibbs obviously falls into the category of like the Camara types, by the way.
Ryan Rosillo
Seahawks, first team since 1980 to have three 30 point plus first half.
Albert Breer
There you go. You got a better than I do.
Ryan Rosillo
No, no, I had it because Sando had it in the pixels. Yes, there you go. This morning. So he was all over the Seahawks off the Drake May thing kind of into, like, because I was thinking about it yesterday as I was watching that game. I was thinking about this morning. It's kind of perfect for the show. It's like, okay, as much as, like, Drake May is now the guy, you know, we've, we've cycled through. I mean, Jaden was clearly the guy. And so if you think now, like, okay, May has this insurmountable lead in the division among the. It's like, well, that's totally unfair to Jaden because the guy was playing an NFC championship game last year and now he's hurt. And maybe there's a second year correction there, but maybe the race is between those two guys as far as, like, who's going to end up being the best from this class. But look, he's out. Washington's a mess. That's fine. Campbell decides to take over play calling duty. They put up a huge number. I don't know if it's because, like, I don't think Campbell is like, there's some coaches. I'd be like, oh, no kidding. You took over play calling duty going up against this Washington defense. I don't, I don't think Campbell is that kind of guy, but at least for a Sunday, it seems like the right call.
Albert Breer
Yeah. And I, I have my sneaking suspicion that this isn't the first time it's happened this year. I, I wrote, I'm sure you saw it like, where that Monday night game against the Ravens in Week three, Someone had pointed out to me that, like, just like I had somebody else in the league text me during the game saying, like, hey, pay attention to Dan Campbell on the broadcast. Look at him and tell me what you think. And I remember looking at him and he had a play sheet in his hand and he was talking into the headset. You know what I mean? So I'm not saying that he was the play caller for that game, but it looked like, looked like he was involved. And to me, it kind of reminded me of a conversation I'd had two weeks earlier with Jameer Gibbs or the week earlier, which Amir Gibbs, after they beat the Bears and scored 50 points. And I asked him, like, what was the problem in week one against the Packers? And he said it was communication. So we were just having issues. Like, it's our first game with new coordinator. We had to figure that out and we've streamlined it. So this is something that they've been working on, you know, I think all year. And I, I think like, as brilliant as the coaching has been there over the last five years, I think sometimes we don't, we don't like, assign enough of what they've accomplished, the talent and the roster. Like, that's a really good roster all the way around. And, you know, I, I think for Dan, like, and, And I remember having this conversation with Jared Goff where I, I, I said to Jared, I was, I was like, hey, you know, like, it seems like Dan's got, like. Like his emotional IQ is really high, whatever you would call that. Eq, I guess, right, is really high. And he. Jared cut me off and he goes, it's the best I've ever been around. And this is a guy who was with McVeigh, you know, who. Who's really good in that department, too. I just think Dan has an ability to know what his team needs at any given point, and I think if he thought the players were at all out on Johnny Morton, that's why he would step in. You know, he knows he's got a talented team, he knows what they're capable of, and, you know, I think he has a good sense for when it's time to pull the plug. Remember, he did this his first year where he fired Anthony Lynn, who was a close friend of his, in the middle of the season and took over play calling, but was sort of starting to hand it off to Ben Johnson and give Ben Johnson that responsibility, because he knew what his team needed in the moment, and he knew where his team was going. And so I think, like, that's what this is. Like, what Dan's really, really good at is at all times knowing exactly what his players need, knowing exactly what his team needs. And I would be stunned if that's not the reason why he's doing this, because he knows he's got a really good group of players who maybe had lost a little bit of belief in the direction of the play calling, and he needed to. And he's needed to step in and take a bigger role in that. And I think, like, in a lot of ways, it's what makes the best head coaches. It's like whatever's going on with their team, whatever. Whatever's going on, whatever issues the team has, like, the coach knows exactly what he needs to go in and be a part of fixing. And I think that's really what this is.
Ryan Rosillo
McVay feels like he's on the short list of best, like, in season fixers. You know, there's times where you've watched their old line and you go, okay, they don't have a chance or they don't have enough receivers. They've rebuilt this defense in a way that's just a lot of fun. Like, they've done a really good job in nailing a bunch of picks with these younger guys that just seem to wreak havoc every single weekend. But you know, The Rams, the 13 personnel thing, like that's, that's, that's kind of the film guys favorite observation of what the Rams have been doing now. Lining up three tight ends, kind of talking about some of the stuff we were talking about like with, with running and going, hey, if you're giving us this kind of defensive look, then maybe we'll go to this. What is it with how they're doing this with these three tight ends and they're, it's like it clearly is McVeigh and Stafford's favorite thing because they've been on a bender with this for the last month.
Albert Breer
Yeah, well, it's, it's. Part of, it is like just the natural evolution of things. And this goes back for them to getting the crap kicked out of them by the Niners for all those years. Right. And the Niners were always more physical. And you know, Sean and Kyle have like that rivalry and they had run their programs early on very differently. Like Kyle's program was two and a half hour practices. We're going to knock the crap out of each other. We're going to callous our team. And McVeigh's program was very much like this sports science approach. We're going to be careful with how we handle our players. We're going to be very intentional about, you know, all of those things. And I think after they got their teeth kicked in by the, by the Niners enough times, Sean really looked at that and said, you know, I got to make my team tougher. You know, I like, I got to find a way to, to, to build more rugged teams. And I got to do that in practice. I got to do that in the way that the team's put together. And so yes, there's some element of we're going against more 220 pound linebackers, so it's a smart thing to do regardless. But there's also an element of like, this is where they saw the weaknesses in their, in their program and this is where the Niners had exposed them as good as they were. This is where the Niners exposed them a bunch of times over the years. And so they bring in Michael Fluor when Liam Cohen left a few years ago. They bring in Michael Fleur who was with Kyle in San Francisco to be their offensive coordinator. They bring in a couple of the Patriots guys and Ryan Wendell and Nick Kaley. And they wanted to build something that's more physical. What you're going to do is you're going to play in heavier personnel when you do that. And then, you know, I think that sort of unlocks some of the possibilities that you have. And that's why, like, their. Their second round pick, who I think is going to be a really good player in time. Terence Ferguson was such an interesting one for me when they took him in April, and Sean was all over him, loved him going into day two in the draft, that was the guy he had circled, like, that's the guy we want. And, you know, I think it's such a huge part of it is, you know, again, when you break the huddle and you've got three tight ends out there, the defense is going to have their base out. Okay? Like, we're going to have three linebackers on the field, four defensive linemen, and, you know, we have to be heavy enough to deal with this. And they break the huddle and now all of a sudden, like, two of those guys are split out, you know, to the right and, you know, or three of the guys are split out to the right in a bunch formation. And now you've got to cover with some of those linebackers. It's just part of the chess match. So I think a lot of big pieces happen naturally with their experience against the Niners, and then that unlocked the possibilities of all the things they can do. And I think you can even see, you can see like, kind of like with the grinning that Stafford and McVeigh have, like, the shots you see of them on the. On, on, on the sideline, on the field, like how often they feel like they've got the opponent. Now it feels like they've got other teams on a string. And I think that's even part of why it was so satisfying for them to end the game on a hard count yesterday, you know, because it was like, you know, we're the ones that are sort of controlling the chessboard now.
Ryan Rosillo
That had to feel great. After that Niners lost early in the year, we were like, how. How is this happening? And by the way, Ferguson was a stud at Oregon. Yeah, he was a stud, so. Yeah, but he's like the kind of.
Albert Breer
Guy, though, you know, he's a big, strong guy, but he's also super athletic. Oh, yeah. When you watch him play, I mean, I'm sure you, you know, you remember watching him play at Oregon, Ryan, like, there was like, God, this kid's guy's good. And there's so much more he could be, too, you know, with the athlete that he is.
Ryan Rosillo
Sell Me on the Ravens, because I'm with you, man.
Albert Breer
Well, so I went back and I looked and I remember, I remember. I don't know if I did I write it this way. Maybe I wrote it this way. Turning on the TV like in October and seeing someone doing a segment on what's wrong with the Ravens and wanting to throw my remote at the screen, it's like, look at the inactive list. Okay, So I went back to their week five inactive list, and this is incredible. They had over $100 million in CAP money on their inactive list that week and 20 Pro bowl selections right between the seven, eight guys. Seven guys that were on the, on that inactive list. So what was wrong with them? Like their best players weren't playing. And, you know, I think, you know, I know coming into the year, like they felt like this was maybe the best roster they'd had in a decade. And doesn't mean things are always going to work out the way you hope they do. But they felt really good about what they, where they were and did they have every evaluation right now. Like Jair Alexander is a good example. Like they were wrong on that one.
Ryan Rosillo
But honestly, with his, with his resume, though, when they did it and for the price, I was like, you know, hey, we'll get him in here. Baltimore, I mean, I know it can feel arrogant at times, but they're a franchise that doesn't usually make that mistake. So even though they move. Moved on from this quickly and it looked pretty bad from the times that I was paying attention to it, I, I feel like Jair is worth a flyer, you know, worth the, worth the dice roll. Right?
Albert Breer
Yeah. So, you know, and like I, I just, I look at their schedule. Like they got injured at a point where they had a four game stretch with the Lions, Chiefs, Texans and Rams. Right. So that didn't go well, but I think like that allowed them to develop depth. And now you look at where they're at and they're four and five. They've got the, they've got the Browns and Jets next. So that puts them at 6 and 5. I mean, it almost be a surprise if they didn't win the AFC north now, right?
Ryan Rosillo
I look, they get Pittsburgh two more times, like everybody that's really dug into this Pittsburgh thing and Pittsburgh looks gassed. Their defense wasn't that good. They beat the Colts. So it's kind of like this incredible, like headliney win. They were plus 5 in the turnover margin. Like sometimes it's just going to happen. You're going to have a Weird game. And I think the biggest secret of all of this is, like, when you looked at what Rogers was doing on some of these throws, especially like air yards or the sticks, like, I don't, I don't blame them for trying to figure it out. But if there's one thing that we've noticed with the older QBs, like these big name hall of Fame resume QBs, although Brady, like, feels like immune to this. But you could even make the Brady argument, at least in that very last season, is that the offense becomes designed around the quarterback trying to survive the season. Yeah. And unfortunately, like, it doesn't. An offense is not going to threaten anyone that way. I mean, last night was disgusting and the Chargers have completely had to remake this offensive line and you would think that there's some advantage there with Pittsburgh and all this stuff. So I don't know why anyone be writing Baltimore off, getting everybody back, looking at the schedule the rest of the way, looking at that division. Like, I think Baltimore is going to be in the playoffs and if they're healthy, it's going to be scary.
Albert Breer
And if they get in the playoff, right, if they get in the playoffs, like, would it stun anybody if they were in the Super Bowl? Like, I would, I would say maybe only Buffalo and Kansas City would have better odds of getting in to the super bowl. If, if the Ravens are in and rolling, you know, like, they, Again, like, all the reasons why we thought they were a Super bowl contender at the beginning of the year are, Are still there. Roquan. Kyle Hamilton. Namdi. Namdi. Matabuque. Matabuque. You know, an offensive line that, that was young last year. That should get better, you know, a deeper receiver group. They still have Derek Henry there, like, and then of course, Lamar. Like, I, like, I don't know, like, there's, to me, like, there's every reason to believe that the Ravens are going to continue to ascend over the, over the rest of the year. And the. And the schedule sets up where. I mean, that game against New England in Week 16 looks big. They get the packers in Week 17. Like, you know, like, it looks to me like there's a good chance we're going to get there and they're going to be playing not just, not even to get in. They're going to be playing for seating.
Ryan Rosillo
Did Namdi Asimo almost get a shot out there?
Albert Breer
That was very close because I. Because, you know, we just, we just changed the name with Matabuque. So Namdi. Yeah, yeah. So Namdi. Awesome.
Ryan Rosillo
Wa.
Albert Breer
Almost came out of my mouth. I stuttered a little bit there. Maybe a part of that's just the general fatigue of Monday morning during the season, but, no, it's not awesome. While was in my head there.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, look, I was a baller.
Albert Breer
Yep, he sure was. He was great for, like, two, three years. And then, if you remember his free agent chase, which was the most entertaining thing ever. We were coming out of the lockout. It was this big sugar high. There was like, this is what I'll remember about that one was all the cow. All the Cowboys reporters are at camp, and Rob Ryan walks over to Jason Garrett after talking with the Joneses and whispers something in his ear. And they get really excited. And, I mean, you would have thought the reporters were covering Watergate. Like, all of a sudden, everything's up on Twitter. Like, Jason Garrett just gave a fist bump. Namdi's coming. So, yeah, Namdi, Awesome. Was a memorable player for a few years there. I think he's an actor now, too, right out there.
Ryan Rosillo
I don't know. I haven't kept in touch with him. I would say when he came into.
Albert Breer
You might want to cast him.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Who knows?
Albert Breer
He was.
Ryan Rosillo
He was awesome in studio. Like, he was really, really good.
Albert Breer
He's a really sharp.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. And then we had. I asked him a question off the air about Jamarcus. There was, like, this rumor about Jamarcus Russell, and I was like, hey, is this. And he looked at me with such just, like. I can't even call it. Raging disgust. It was, like, polite disgust where he just was like, that is so not true, man. Now, however, like, the greater point was.
Albert Breer
That try to make you feel bad about yourself for.
Ryan Rosillo
No, no.
Ceruti
He.
Ryan Rosillo
He understood what I was doing. I was like, hey, there's, like, this rumbling, like, this is going on with Jamarcus. And he was just like, that is so nice. But it. It kind of ignored the bigger point that whatever Jamarcus was doing as far as, like, getting himself ready to play football, like, he just wasn't going about it the right way. I mean, Jamarcus ended up being one of the ultimate busts. So there was still, like, a window. And then the other anomaly part of it is, like, what can happen with the corner being in a completely different system? Because, remember, he goes to Philadelphia, and then all of a sudden, everybody's like, what? I think I thought we got a complete shutdown corner, like, this guy that. And then that wasn't really necessarily the case. But, yeah, I'm psyched that we got a few minutes in on him because he was a terrific player.
Albert Breer
That was the year. That was the year they made the offensive line coach, the defensive coordinator, Juan Castillo, which wound up being the downfall of if Andy Reid in Philly.
Ryan Rosillo
Right. Was that, was that the wide nine?
Ceruti
Yep.
Albert Breer
Yeah. They brought in Jim Washburn to be the D line coach, and he was like, probably the most powerful because they wanted him so bad that they, like that they actually, they hired him before the coordinator and then they made Juan Castillo the coordinator. And I believe Todd Bowles wound up becoming the coordinator, like halfway through that year when they fired Castillo. I think that's right.
Ryan Rosillo
I read about the wide nine more times. Just, I was like, I can't wait. You know, again, football, I think sometimes likes to try to make easier things sound way more complicated.
Albert Breer
Right? It was just Kyle, Kyle Van Den Bosch, like winding up way outside.
Ryan Rosillo
That's all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I, I got into this with Cannell at one point and Cannell was like, what is Rocket Jet 387 yz dog then? And I was like, look, I go, I'm, I'm. I don't know what it is. Okay? I go, but I've met enough of you dopes that you know why you're doing this. I'm pretty sure that if I grew up with it, I'd be able to figure it out. Okay? So I know some of you guys are really, really smart, but there's also some of you guys that aren't the smartest dude I've ever met. And you were able to get a call on your helmet and then break the huddle and then call the play. So if I grew up with that language, and that was my job, I'm sure I would be able to figure out the language. And so he, he, for some reason, he just disagreed with the premise that I would be able to figure out how to do it if I were an actual quarterback. Not like in my spare time, I was going to learn a playbook at 38 to be a better host.
Albert Breer
I mean, it's funny because, like, we have that like, so I coached my kids team the last three years and it's sort of like, you know, I, I played a little bit growing up and it sort of like reminds you of how these things happen, which is like those big long play calls. It's like, so with the third graders, like, the play calls were like this. You know what I mean?
Ryan Rosillo
And then they, sure, I would hope so.
Albert Breer
Like this.
Ryan Rosillo
And then you're just adding, give us an example. You're just Take us through the third to fifth grade, seventh grade progression as an oc.
Albert Breer
It would be like. It would be like, so you're. Okay, so you're saying something like H jet motion, pull counter. Right? Like, so all that is. Is like we're running the H back across on a jet. So we're telling the H back to run across on the jet sweep. And now we've put a pull counter across it. All the pull counter means is that there's a counter off the. What would be the jet. Right. And then we've got the. And then we've got the guard pulling out to lead the counter. That's all it is. And it's just like whatever the number of words I just gave you, like, we're teaching 10 year olds that. You know what I mean? And it's really specifically to tell three kids what to do.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I remember just like 34 Cross Block.
Albert Breer
Yeah, well, I played in a wing T when I was in high school, so we had like, everything was numbers. So it was like 34 belly. And then there was like 34 belly count. There was 33 and 34 belly. And then the. The pass plays off of it. 34 belly streak. We like. It's sad that I still remember this stuff. 447.
Ryan Rosillo
It's great that you still remember this stuff. What, are you kidding?
Albert Breer
I still remember all the footwork.
Ryan Rosillo
All of it. So. Yeah, I just.
Albert Breer
I always was very effective back in the day. I bet it still would be, too. Yeah.
Ryan Rosillo
No, there's an eye formation this Saturday and I was like, oh, here we go. Yeah, it. It would be like somebody who speaks Japanese speaking to you, being like, you wouldn't be able to understand Japanese. You're like, yeah, no, yeah. But if I grew up and was born in Tokyo and stayed there, guess who's speaking Japanese? Like, I don't. Right. Anyway, moving on. I have a couple more things before we finish up here. Shout out. Paul D. Podesta. Huh?
Albert Breer
Something else. Right, Ken here.
Ryan Rosillo
I thought when I loaded your page this morning, I was like, what is this? Is this 2018? Was there a weird link here? Because it can be amazed at times reading online features, but he was still with the Browns and he's a chief strategy officer.
Albert Breer
Yeah. Yeah. So it's interesting. I had his record. What was it, 56, 99 and 1. Like, I know some of the Cleveland people, some of the Cleveland reporters, like, called yesterday the 100th loss of the deep Odessa era. Yeah, it's, you know, like, he, like, it's Interesting because he never. He never moved from San Diego Right. To Cleveland. So he was doing the job remotely the entire time. And I know for a lot of the people that were working there before this current regime, they almost had no idea what he did, because in a lot of cases, he was reporting to Jimmy. So he would. He would, you know, consult Jimmy on stuff and then, like, Jimmy might bring it to whoever the GM is at the time, whoever the head coaches at the time. And those guys would know. This is probably coming from Paul. And, you know, I just, like, I think, like, the interesting thing about people who are in those positions is when they're losing, they're just a resource. Right. Like, that's all I am. I'm just a resource. But if they're winning, it's why they're winning. Right?
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I don't. First of all, we totally agree. Sometimes, again, this is the fascination with making things seem more complicated. So then you provide value. He was such a huge part of the Billy Bean Moneyball part of it, even though I guess he wouldn't be in the movie.
Albert Breer
Yeah.
Ryan Rosillo
So that's. The Jonah Hill character ends up being kind of this hybrid thing of it all. And at the time you're just wondering, like, can this. Can this work? And look, there are even times you'll have access to, like, some of the Browns front office people that are just. They seem very programmed in that way of like, oh, we assess value and try to market correct value and then make sure that we maximize value on a value asset acquisition. You're just like, jesus Christ, dude. Like, you know, I got it right. So I don't know if it's talking that way, but.
Albert Breer
But we. We talk. But talking that way is. Makes it more accessible to an owner than talking in the football terms that we just went through, which I think is why it's attractive to them, you know?
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I think you nail it. You nailed it with that. Because that's a language that the owners and the people with this amount of money are like, okay, yeah, now I understand market manipulation, all this stuff, and like, cross blocks. What do you. All right, I. I'm going to do it this way. Two things. Are you worried about Indiana as one of the more annoying Ohio State fans online, which is saying, thank you.
Albert Breer
First of all, I appreciate that title. I don't know that that's a little bit. But I come out when I.
Ryan Rosillo
You have died more.
Albert Breer
I have spots more than I used to. Yeah, I am. I mean, I. That game last year was closed for a Half. And I, I worry that if there's, like, we have one injury that, like, creates.
Ryan Rosillo
I just.
Albert Breer
If there's. If there's like an injury on the offensive line or Carnell Tate were more injured, like, I would be a little bit more concerned. I just don't know where the weakness of the Ohio State team is. Maybe, maybe, maybe they don't run the ball quite as well as they did a year ago, But. But I can't believe I'm saying that they're better than they were a year ago, but they're better than they were a year ago. Like, I. It's almost, like, indisputable at this point. Doesn't mean they're going to play as well in January as they did last year, because obviously that was off the charts. But, like, I'm so impressed with what Kurt. Kurt Signetti has done. I mean, I think it's one of the most incredible turnarounds and the fact that he sustained it, like, and this isn't just like, you know, one year thing with all his guys coming over from James Madison and. And lightning on a bottle. And here we go. Like, the fact that they've sustained it for a second year is. Is freaking bonkers. And I'm shocked we're having this conversation again. I just don't know how it holds up when the. When there's the talent disparity that I think there would be against Ohio State. I think just from a roster standpoint, this is a pretty special group, and there are a lot of players on Ohio State's roster. They're going to be stars in the NFL in three or four years. What do you think?
Ryan Rosillo
Worried is probably the wrong word, because if I'm on Ohio State fan, I'm just not worried about anything. Although they do at least the ones online worry about everything. I said something really nice about Mendel. Yeah. And you're right. You're not. I don't recognize you as part of that, so I shouldn't have teed you up that way. There was a couple years where I was like, like, I love this guy, but this Buckeye Brer version, a little bit too much. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Albert Breer
But not for everybody.
Ryan Rosillo
The vocal. The vocal Ohio State fan on social media, I think is the worst fan of any fan base in American sports.
Albert Breer
Wow.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. I don't think you could go pro. You go college, whatever. You go international. I've had my issues with Raptors fans, but the Buckeyes fan that, like, you can't just let somebody else say something nice. About Mendoza's last drive against Penn State. And it.
Albert Breer
See, I don't notice that, but I hate that fan too. Like when it's like, it's funny, it must have a blind spot for it because I hate that fan. Fan with, in, in, in. In other sports too. Like, I think they exist here actually where we grew up. Right. Like where I had. I did a, I did an exact, I did the exact poll last week. Last week. Right. Like, and I, and they, the whatever 42 executives picked Matthew Stafford as the MVP. And so I write it and everyone's calling me a hater. Like I had nothing to do with that. Like, you know what I mean? Like. But if you somehow give credit to Matthew Stafford for the year he's having, then you hate Drake May. That's what you're talking about, that dynamic, right?
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, a little bit. I mean that's even dumber because you're not, it's not even your opinion, but it was like I would say so how State fans, everybody thinks you're the best man. You get 55 first place votes. The AP 50 plus coaches votes, you know, like for A and M is getting first place votes. I don't think Indiana is. I don't think Ohio State should be afraid of anybody. I was just super impressed. Like, Mendoza has the mistake against Oregon, responds on the road, has a mistake against Penn State, responds on that last drive. Even if Cooper makes the catch. I mean, there's just, there's something about Mendoza as an NFL prospect that I like in that there's, there's moments where it's not just arm strength or deep throw or, hey, he made this thing. There are things where he's, he's. Yeah. His composure.
Albert Breer
Yeah.
Ryan Rosillo
And his, his ability to like, get.
Albert Breer
Off when things go wrong against a team like Ohio State, which they're going to go wrong at some point. Like, he's not going to be shaken by it.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I don't think he, I don't think he would be. So the talent part, but you're right, I think this Ohio State team is even better because saying raises your ceiling on what you needed to do. Like if you had to get into a shootout. Now, granted, I mean, Will was really good for you guys last year and the fact I was throwing up to Smith and Tate, I even brought it up in my college football. Well, I'm going to do this later. I just taped it. But the saying Mendoza thing may strictly be about Ohio State fans being sensitive to thinking. Mendoza got all of this public push because of A Cooper catch for the Heisman voting where when I was looking at it this weekend, like, I don't know if, like, the Heisman is supposed to be the best player in college football, then I actually, in the void of, like, feeling like, am I just picking a quarterback from one of the top teams, like Simpson to me means more to Bama than saying or even Mendoza does. Indiana. So was it. Why isn't Jeremiah Smith winning the high school?
Albert Breer
Yeah, I think that's the problem with these. Like, that's the problem when you, like, these become about value. You know what I mean? Like, because then it becomes about what's around you. And like, and so then the argument becomes like, if I put an average quarterback on Ohio State vs. An average quarterback on Indiana vs. An average quarterback on Alabama, who would look closest to what they are now? And I think the answer is Ohio State, which hurts. Was hurt sans case, right?
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, it does, it does. But, like, I'll share for people listening now, like, Bill Conley, espn, does a really good job on college football. Like, I'm going to quote this thing that he has from his piece of, like, the San Mendoza argument that actually makes you feel kind of dumb if you were coming out of Saturday's games being like, all right, it's Mendoza's thing. But, you know, as I'll say in the top 12 that I'm going to drop, you have to remember the Heisman is the most uneducated voting base of any major sports.
Albert Breer
Everyone has a vote.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, right. So you, you'll have this momentum push where out of nowhere, like, Mendoza throwing that touchdown. Now all of a sudden people like some news director in Albuquerque is going, oh, you know, like, I have a vote. And like, that Mendoza guy had that huge play and he had this moment, you know, I mean, remember like, when Michigan was trying to manufacture Jabril Pepper's, like, Heisman moment?
Albert Breer
Yeah.
Ryan Rosillo
They, like, they were actually smart in the propaganda part of it. Like, hey, how can we get, like, him on the radar doing something a little different? They were, like, lining him up all these different ways and stuff. And it felt as much to do with him trying to get the Heisman in Ann Arbor. So you just always have to remember that. And that's why maybe look at me full circle on this, maybe understanding sensitive Ohio State social media poster realizing that, like, saying, has a great game and yet Mendoza is below average for a good chunk of the day. But that last drive was, was incredible.
Albert Breer
I will say, like, too, like, you're right in that, like, our Fan base, our alumni. Like, if. If there are 62 AP votes and like, 59 of them have Ohio State number one, Ohio State fans are going to go hunt down the three guys who didn't vote them number one. You know what I mean? Like, and that's.
Ryan Rosillo
That.
Albert Breer
That's the lunatic fringe. I think that that's what people have referred to.
Ryan Rosillo
But I don't remember it being this bad when I first started covering college football. Like, I went out to Columbus in 08. That was my first time there. You know, it's. It's. It's a special place. Like, so many different places are special, but, you know, it's. They're. They're on that short list of five programs. I don't remember it being this bad. Where Ryan, Day after the loss to Michigan, hires an armed guard.
Albert Breer
Well, see, I was. When I was. When I was there, when I was there in school, like, I was there for the end of the Cooper years, and it was pretty bad. Like, Cooper at first couldn't beat Michigan. Then, like, the wheels came off a little bit, like, and it. Like, if you look at the. But you look at the end of Cooper, right? So they blow it in two in 98, my freshman year, when they were number one in the country and Big Cat was on the COVID of SI because he took basket weaving or whatever and. And lost to Saban on a block punt when Saban was at Michigan State. And so they don't want it that year. Then they go 6 and 6 the next year. And Cooper survived that, right? Going 6 and 6 in 1999. And, like, and having a really bad record against Michigan. He survived that and got another year before he got fired. I think you're right. Like, that wouldn't happen now. And I think. I think Urban. I think Urban, like the, The. The. The level Urban, like, I love Trestle, but Urban ramped up the expectation level where every year it's like, we have to be in the national title chase, we have to beat Michigan, we have to win the Big Ten, or else someone has to pay. I think that was sort of a product of. Of Urban coming in and, And. And the standard that Urban set. Because I think that's. Because, quite frankly, you know, Ryan, that's the way Urban talked. Like, that was the way, like, Jim Trestle never talked that way. That was the way Urban talked, you know. And so because Urban, you know, I think because Urban carried himself that way, the fan base adopted it.
Ryan Rosillo
I always liked John Cooper.
Albert Breer
He was a great guy. Great guy.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. The Thing about this year, though, going into the playoffs is this Ohio State team might be better, but that Michigan loss did something to that team. It galvanized them. It made them pissed off at the world and kind of even pissed off a little bit of its own fan base.
Albert Breer
Yep.
Ryan Rosillo
And they went into that. I mean, the teams that they ended up taking down to win a national championship, granted the first 12 team playoffs. So we don't have anything else to compare it to. But to go through those teams like they did, I mean, just humiliate Oregon in the first half. Right. That was a really good Oregon team. And it was same thing with Tennessee.
Albert Breer
To just be the piss out of Tennessee.
Ryan Rosillo
Well, that one I don't even. Because, like, Tennessee was different because Tennessee tapped out. Those guys didn't want to be there.
Albert Breer
That was one of my. One of my favorite college football moments the last 20 years was those guys coming out with their shirts off and then two minutes later going back in and putting them back on.
Ryan Rosillo
So, you know, they may. They may have won. You know, if they beat Michigan last year, maybe they still won a national championship because we saw what they were capable of. But I think that anger directed at them and to that staff, that. That allowed the program in a weird way to be feeling like they're fighting everyone else in the country, while also fighting what I think is a very unreasonable fan base in their own backyard.
Albert Breer
It was like. It was. It was just about like closing ranks and. Yeah, what was in that building? Right? Like that. That, like, it was like a cauldron inside that building. And I mean, like, the Texas game wound up being close, but that was on the way to being a blowout, too, if Travion Henderson doesn't have the personal foul there in the first half. And yeah, I mean, like, that's. That's the question, right? Like, does this group have that gear where they're going to be able to punch the gas the way that group did? And I, you know, that remains to be seen. But there are enough guys that were there for that. Like, you know, guys like Caleb Downs who were like legitimate leaders in that team. Jeremiah, of course, you know, obviously, obviously Cardinal Tate was on that team. There are enough guys that were there. I mean, maybe they find a way to summon it. I think it's hard, maybe hard to do that when it's not organic, because what happened in November and December of last year there was pretty unique.
Ryan Rosillo
All right, real quick, tonight, the packers hosting the Eagles. What do you expect on Monday Night Football?
Albert Breer
This is kind of A to me, like the packers have sort of been become like a Jekyll and Hyde team and you know, like just have had these weird moments, you know, like the loss to Cleveland where it was like what the hell was that? You know? And so, so I'm interested to see what they, they, they play like on this stage. And I think this has got to be when they start to figure it out. I honestly can't remember who I picked because that was Wednesday, which might have been, might as well have been three months ago. During the season, I think the packers find a way to pull this one out. But it's a fascinating matchup because I think, you know, both teams, I think both teams have, have some, some big picture questions that didn't exist at the beginning of the year. And you know, I like, is the mix on the Eagles in the right place? Where does Jalen Phillips add for them? You know, like I, I just like I, I. But one of the things Nick Sirianni is really good at and has been really good at is balancing egos and managing personalities because there are a lot of them in there, which I think has enabled Howie to cast a really wide net from a talent perspective and go on acquire guys like AJ Brown and Jalen Carter where there were questions, you know, like this to me is like, I think sort of a we're going to figure some things out about both teams tonight. And so I'm going to take the packers to win. But I think like for the Eagles is sort of an important juncture of their season where you're going to kind of figure out a little bit of what they're made of.
Ryan Rosillo
That's Albert Breer. He's going to join us throughout the season Mondays with Breer, not every Monday. That would be a lot. We wouldn't expect him to be able to do that. Make sure you check out the MMQB pod and of course his piece every Monday morning for every NFL fan out there on SI.com thanks, man.
Albert Breer
All right, thanks, Ryan.
Ryan Rosillo
Let's take a look at my College Football top 12, which again, once we get into actual like playoffs eating, the end of the year, we'll figure out what the hell's the ACC going to do, who the group of five team will be and all that. So right now this is just a straightforward top 12. Ohio State down three nothing to Purdue. Kind of reminded me of last year, Ohio State, like, yeah, we'll get to it. And they did outscored them 34. Nothing. Ended up winning 34, 10. So they've got Rutgers, they're at Michigan. I couldn't find a really good line that I could trust on what that Michigan game would be because Michigan's put together a nice record. The defense is terrific. I think they're pretty limited. The passing game and saying all year. I don't know how anyone could argue otherwise. But we know that game doesn't necessarily matter because last year Ohio State was favored by 21 points. 20 and a half. And then of course they lost 13 to 10. But I'll get to the Heisman thing because there's some Heisman theme stuff that I want to do throughout these rankings. Number two, Indiana, for three plus hours on Saturday at Penn State. That was a tough game. If you disagree because of Penn State's record, they fired their coach. You're like, hey, that team sucks, I get it. But let's all try to not be so simple all the time. You know, I mean sometimes watching games can get in the way of the evaluation. I think spending three plus hours with that game makes you realize that that was really tough. So look at this guy, SEC Ryan over here telling you that even a bad record, Big Ten team, a team that I haven't always loved in the past, Penn State, I mean you could sit there and say, hey, some people couldn't win the national championship. How bad could it be? Al or out? Sure, fine. Like I understand all the arguments to be completely dismissive of Indiana struggling with them and also talking them up. I'm going to be positive about this one because I just thought it was really, really hard. Penn State pushed around Indiana physically, especially in the second half in a way I've not seen Indiana pushed around all season long. Problem is the Penn State's down, which they were after Mendoza hit Cooper, which we'll get to here in a second. It's like, okay, well they're not really the thing that they're good at and what they've been able to to do here in the second half is not necessarily the best way to come back and score a game winning touchdown. Gruckenmeyer, I don't love him but you know, he's, he. I think he got better as the game went along. It was a little ugly, a little shaky at times there making plays. But again it's a two headed beast of this running back combo which I think should have been kind of the foundation of what they were trying to do offensively. So Mendoza throws a pick much like he threw the pick six in Eugene. We were like, how is this game 2020 Indiana's been the better football team. Indiana ended up winning that game, as we all know. They exchange punts, Penn State's trying to run offense, run at the clock. You knew they were going to be in a tough distance for them. That's exactly what happened. They end up punting and then Mendoza just goes off on that last drive. The Cooper throw was interesting because you could see what Penn State was trying to do. Like, there was a few things with Penn State there late with an interim head coach in the spot where it was like, okay, there was a timeout they used that I didn't really like. They were trying to figure out what to do on defense. And then I think ultimately they were like, let's just keep sending the house because they were balancing, like, let's not send the house every single time against Mendoza, who's probably around enough to like, all right, if you get me once, but if you do this again and I've got three one on ones to pick from against an eight man rush, like I can get the ball out here. And that's exactly what happened on that play. It's Penn State's like, hey, we feel better about just sending everybody and trying to speed this whole process up. So that means all of a sudden now your safety's playing kind of flat footed, just waiting for a throw up in the air. Cooper runs right past him. The throw is at the back of the end zone. Watching it live, I'm like, there's no way. Cooper stayed in bounds. He's able to get one foot up. That looked like it was going to go out of bounds and then the second foot down. So just an incredible play. Now here's where the Heisman thing becomes annoying because you're like, so Cooper makes the catch, but now Mendoza is the Heisman favorite and he's like, that's his moment. Even though the Cooper catch part of it was far more impressive. Unless you want to get it, like Mendoza having to face all that pressure again. But again he was seeing it multiple times. So I think Penn State, I don't know if they fell into the trap or they're like, look, we like this better than dropping everybody here. All right? So to stay on this Heisman thing, I want to quote Bill Conley on ESPN.com who I really enjoy his work and he does kind of like an F1 point assignment for who won the week as far as Heisman stuff. So like this week he has Pavia, not number one overall, but number one this past week, right? So he gets into this on the sand for Daniel Mendoza stuff where he goes, I understand, quote, I understand it's my own damn fault for bringing stats to the vibes based Heisman race, but I'm never going to fully understand Heisman odds saying Entered the week as the Heisman betting favorite. Went 27 to 33 for 303 yards, a touchdown and interception. His total QBR for the week was 89. He kept his season completion rate above 80%, a ridiculously high number. And his interception happened when the Buckeyes were up 21. Fernando Mendoza meanwhile, went just 19 of 30 for 218 yards against a Penn State defense that sand just torched. Granted I wasn't on the road home, but all right, you know, to his point, he averaged 6 yards per drop back with a 75 total QBR boast his both of his worst numbers since week one. He threw a devastating fourth quarter pick that could have cost the Hoosiers the game. But then he rallied, made a couple lovely throws on the game winning drive and receiver Omar Cooper made maybe the greatest touchdown catch of the season or the 2000 and twenties, the 21st century ever to save his team. Then Mendoza becomes the Heisman betting favorite. So some pretty good points and a pretty tough argument to tear apart after the fact. So if we stay in the Heisman thing, why is Jeremiah Smith not in the conversation if the award, which I usually would like to default to, was like who is the best player? Usually you can't be in a team that's going like four and eight, right? But who's the best player? Smith's third in touchdowns, he's number one in the power four in touchdowns in college football. He's 16 yards third and power four, he's third in receptions in power four. And everybody that watches on Saturday is like, he's the best player in all of college football. So maybe I'm trying to figure out a way not just to reward a quarterback that's on one of the top teams. I also think you could argue Ty Simpson means more of Bama than any of the quarterbacks do in the Big Ten. But I, I think I'm right now I don't have a vote, but Jeremiah Smith's my pick for it.
Kyle
All right?
Ryan Rosillo
Because I, I like the idea of us going back to, let's give it to the best player in college football. All right? Number three A&M up 21. Nothing against Mizzou, who had Matt Zollers in there as the backup. He went 7 to 21. I actually like his Talent. He's a big time recruit. Wasn't great for him. So just a good handling of a good Mizzou team, even though Bo Prabula not with the team with that injury. Number four, I'm going to move Bama over Oregon here. LSU stinks. Bama cannot run the football, though. 2.2 yards per carry against LSU. Top two running backs, 15 carries, 34 yards. The yards per carry stuff for Bama I've seen. I don't know. I got to update the number, but they're in the 1/ hundreds. They can't run the football, which is back to the Ty Simpson point. The defense, the pressure, those guys feel a little bit better about them as opposed to the very beginning of the season, so. All right, keep it moving, Big Ten. Ryan. Oregon drops in the AP after the 1816 win at Iowa. Iowa's 20th in the College Football Playoff. They're 26 in the AP, which again means first team receiving votes, so not technically ranked. You get the point. Iowa football is like a shortcut that everyone's like, I think this is taking longer. You just kind of like double guessing, like second guessing everything. And you just like, is this. Is this actually working? Like, whose idea was this? And then it almost works. You know, eight runs in a row. Play action. Huge play. Let's hit our tight end for a touchdown. Granowski getting free. I know the linebacker for Oregon ran into his own guy, but it's like, what do you think they're going to do at the goal line at this point? They can't do anything else and then it all kind of works. But here's the thing that's lost in this Oregon game. One is the injury thing, which I think most people realize. They're out the right tackle, they're out Sadiq, a first round tight end, they're out more their best wide receiver. They lose Bryant, their other good wide receiver. So it was rough, okay. But they manhandled an Iowa football team that does not get manhandled. They came into this game eighth in college football. 2.7 yards per carried allowed. Oregon ran it 36 times for 251 yards. So Dante Moore wasn't, you know, the Heisman thing's gone for him here in the beginning of the year. You know, there's a bit of like, hey, look what happens when Oregon plays good teams of what happens to their offense, which I think are totally fair, reasonable, but in this case, without all of these weapons in the receiving game, they just. They just lined up and pushed Iowa all over the place 7.3 yards per carry, which is the massive number to go into Kinnick and do that kind of stuff. And then the more to Benson catch. That's one of the best throws. You know, look, I know we've talked about Omar, Cooper and Mendoza because of what that throw meant and it was ultimately the touchdown. But that more to Benson throw on the right side was. I don't know if it's just as important, but it was, it was really special. Number six, uga. Hey, they finally started the game. When the game started. Number seven. I'm going with Texas Tech 297 against BYU. This game was an ass kicking. 297 doesn't do it justice. Tech kicked five field goals from an average distance to the BYU 15. All right, so we're talking five field goals 25 yards or shorter, I think, because I went through like the, the yards, the yardage of where they were lined up when they were kicking all these field goals. Morton limping around out there all over again. But I think you can understand, like how much more they just trust Morton at this point to get the ball out. And our guy, Jacob Rodriguez hit the Heisman post. One interception, one fumble recovery when it looked like he was the only player in the field that realized that it was actually a foot, a fumble. We could have a rematch here. And if BYU were to get Texas Tech, does that mean two Big 12 teams? As we try, you know, figuring out who's going to take up all these slots here. BYU still does have Cincinnati, which Utah took care of. But watching this game, I mean, it just looked like it was too much for Bear. And I don't know that Bear is getting a lot of help at quarterback there for byu. Tech clearly looks like the better football team. So tech seven, ole miss eight, 49, nothing against the Citadel, who did beat Valdosta pretty, pretty impressively earlier in the year, the Citadel could not get it going in the air. Three of eight for 23 yards on the day. Zero picks, though. Number nine, Notre Dame. The AP and coaches poll looks like you guys woke up a little bit, finally moved them up. I've got Texas 10, Oklahoma 11. All right, so we said this last week, like, hey, I'm putting Texas, I'm putting Oklahoma, I'm putting Notre Dame ahead of uva. You know, I wasn't. I've started to kind of, you know, I'm not going to have BYU here. I don't think. We'll see. We'll see. We'll learn in moments here. I know you're Excited about it. The reason why this matters now of the Texas, Oklahoma thing is like is there another SEC team that's going to get in here depending on, you know, the ACC being one bid, the Big 12 being one bid, Notre Dame clearly being in the mix here. Although there should be a lot of people rooting against Notre Dame the rest of the season here. But with Georgia tech losing to NC State, Louisville losing as well, like the ACC. How about this? They have six losses to the non power four teams. The SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 have eight combined losses to programs outside of the power four. Duke is at four and one in the ACC. They just lost a UConn by the way. Not enough people paying attention to what's happening in stores here. But Duke has four losses overall in the season and they're still alive in the ACC race. And there's also like a thing that I need to keep reminding myself of this new format is that the automatic bids are to the five highest ranked conference champs. So I don't, I still don't think it would happen to the acc. But this is the scenario if we'd had this for 20 years where it doesn't automatically mean all the power for conference championships. Championship teams are going to be given this automatic bid here. So look, I don't think the ACC is in danger of that necessarily. It's just that one of these ACC teams are going to get in there. I do not have any of these ACT teams in my top 12. It's really kind of down for me to Vandy or BYU. Vandy's got the two ranked wins. Their losses are Bama and Texas. BYU's got one rank win. Their losses to Texas Tech as we just covered their win against Utah. It looks like the committee really likes Utah. They had them 13th. They had Vandy 16th last week. But I'm going to go with Vandy. Even though it was an overtime win against a new look like a new quarterback, new lease on life group down there on the plains out of Auburn. You want details?
Kyle
Fine.
Ryan Rosillo
I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.
Albert Breer
What's up?
Ceruti
I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.
Ryan Rosillo
I have every toy you can possibly.
Albert Breer
Imagine and best of all, kids, I am liquid.
Kyle
So now you know what's possible.
Ryan Rosillo
Let me tell you what's required. Required life advice. Rrmail.com is the email address to get your life in order. We've got Kyle, We've got Ceruti. Kyle's not involved with our 10 good minutes, but I know he likes to monitor the emails. So we will send out that email address as well. So we're not just putting it out on YouTube but our YouTube only content. 10 good minutes every single week. Tuesdays, Wednesdays release. We're gonna start doing some mailbag stuff with that. So. NBA mailbagrmail.com part of the RR network. I guess.
Kyle
I can't wait till I see him on Tuesday in our Zoom record after he just told everyone I'm not involved. This is going to be awkward.
Ryan Rosillo
Well, from a content standpoint, you're not involved. That's true.
Kyle
So I guess, yeah, it's all the same.
Ryan Rosillo
Then what am I.
Kyle
What am I even doing? All right, what do we got?
Ryan Rosillo
I feel like you feel like I just. You there and I get it. Yeah.
Kyle
I needed a little context just to make sure it wasn't my fault.
Ryan Rosillo
My fault.
Ceruti
He's involved in videos from it.
Kyle
It's a Monday for me too, man.
Ryan Rosillo
I'll be on it. I'll be on it. Yeah, I know. I understand what you're saying. I just think of you as like from a producing. Your producing role is. Is somewhat limited in that. Yes, that's correct. That's all.
Ceruti
Kyle's less excited for NBA season typically.
Ryan Rosillo
Once football's over, you know.
Kyle
What do you mean? We got the alliance. What do you guys think?
Ceruti
Glimmer out. That's what I'm just saying. The glimmer kind of leaves his eyes, you know.
Kyle
I don't know, buddy. I think I'm gonna. There's like a new fire under the whole Knicks part of my brain. I don't know. You know.
Ceruti
That's right. You are closer than.
Kyle
Let's not.
Ryan Rosillo
Count me out.
Ceruti
You feel it?
Ryan Rosillo
Tough one for the Johnny's this weekend. Yeah, that was tough.
Kyle
That was really tough.
Ryan Rosillo
Actually.
Kyle
I got the whole bar that I was on Main Street. I got a whole bar, like into the Johnny's. They're like, who. Who's coaching. Coaching the Johnny's now. And we were all, you know, we were all in for a heartbreak there. But it was nice to be able to drum up some excitement.
Ryan Rosillo
You know, this is.
Ceruti
I don't care about that. What I do care about is do you have a new spot? Like what? So I saw the goodbye at the Frolic Room. We haven't really talked about this. Right. You said goodbye to the Frolic Room. Are you in the market for a new spot? Is there a new spot that you know of and.
Kyle
But I'm telling you, I'm putting a lot of energy into Making sure I don't end up drive drunk, you know what I mean? So there's a lot of. That's not the type of guy I mean, you know, so I'm putting a lot of energy into, like, where am I? Uber. Can I get a ride? And that's true. It's true. It could. It could add up pretty quickly, though. So I'm trying to, like, find a ride there.
Ceruti
Is this.
Kyle
Is this a place I can leave the car for, you know, for the night? Do I want to leave the car? You know, so I'm putting a lot of energy into, like, mapping it out where it used to be.
Ryan Rosillo
Like, oh, I'm going to.
Kyle
I'll walk down there and then maybe I'll take a. Take an Uber back for like 12 bucks. It could really, really, really adds up. I also don't really have a sort of situation with a bartender where our beers are falling off the truck. You know, I look at. I'm looking at the bill at the end, like, holy crap. Whoa. You know?
Albert Breer
Yeah.
Ryan Rosillo
So.
Ceruti
But I. That's.
Kyle
I just have to figure out what. What to do, so the distance is involved, you know? No, I have not found a place yet. I'm. We're holding tryouts.
Ryan Rosillo
I. I would say if you start thinking about, can I leave my car here?
Kyle
Well, can I get a ride from someone?
Ryan Rosillo
You know, I don't know. It's just right. But, like, if you're already pre. Like, it's one thing to leave the car all the time, but I'm just. I'm asking about my buddy here. Like, Monday mornings.
Kyle
We have a routine on Monday mornings.
Albert Breer
I don't know.
Kyle
Maybe find a guy who's doing airport rides. And I'd be like, hey, can you just drop me off on your way down out of Poughkeepsie, down by Main Street? I don't know. You're right. I don't think that should be the thing. But it's important to me that I get this down. And I just, you know, it's been two different spots, two different Sundays. I don't know. We are running out of time, though.
Ryan Rosillo
All right. Yeah. Look, I think your head's in the right place, sort of, because you just want to. But I think there's probably, like some. If you refer him through Uber, do you get like a 50 credit?
Kyle
No, dude, I look at the Ubers. I look at the Ubers. My mom, it's. It's kind of bad depending on where you go. My mom is out in the sticks. I've been staying out there for a while. I'm currently at my dad's day. The WI fi is better. You know, everything's in flux right now. And so if I'm headed back to the sticks, I mean, we could be looking at, you know, a 45, $50 thing. And I'm just like, I don't know. Is that really the move? So that's all my problem.
Ryan Rosillo
But I'll figure it out, all right?
Ceruti
Stay in. Stay at home, you know.
Ryan Rosillo
Oh, watch your mouth on the couch.
Ceruti
No, I'm just saying, not like Kyle.
Ryan Rosillo
Likes the nightlife and talk to me like, that's fair.
Ceruti
Who are you going with? Are you.
Ryan Rosillo
Do you have, like, buddies?
Kyle
I got buddies who really aren't super into football. I'm getting my brother out of the house who's like, I brought a Pats jersey for him yesterday. He was like, that was awesome. He's kind of fell out of love with football. And then I have two other buddies who just don't care about football. But I'm making them. I need a group of on Sunday. So Meta. Patrick.
Ceruti
Did the Frolic guys care about sports a year, though? I remember they made live shows and.
Ryan Rosillo
I felt like very much so.
Ceruti
They couldn't care less about the show or any of the stuff that was going on in it.
Ryan Rosillo
Those guys didn't like sports?
Kyle
Yeah.
Ryan Rosillo
Whoa.
Kyle
I can't wait till they hear.
Ryan Rosillo
This is going to be great. The guys that showed up to the live shows did not seem super into sports.
Kyle
All right, maybe they're not into opens. You know, radio. Monday morning radio style opens. But yeah, I could fire back.
Ryan Rosillo
That's fine, Mr. Monologue.
Ceruti
Not as good as you think you are, huh?
Ryan Rosillo
There you go. Hey, Kyle, what's this guy's deal? He just starts the show and he talks. What does this show really likes?
Kyle
Utah, I guess.
Ryan Rosillo
Interesting.
Kyle
Yeah.
Ryan Rosillo
We had some questions about Merch. Was hoping that the move to Barstool would mean Rosillo Merch. As a longtime listener, three different U.S. presidents. Yeah, it's a pretty good run. It's always been a bummer that I can't showcase how much of a Rosillo zealot that I am. Don't worry about it. We're dropping Merch. We're. They're already been made in partnership with Legends. We've got some hoodies coming out.
Ceruti
It just.
Ryan Rosillo
It's kind of the old RSLO one. I don't know what that Kyle automatically, like, kind of looks disappointed. So I don't know. We like what's going on with us today.
Kyle
I just didn't know there were already talks. But you, you did this one on your own. This was.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, necessarily, but it's with Barstool. No, we just wanted to use the Legend stuff. I don't know what that means moving forward. But the first thing, because I. My thing with Legends, like we had been planning on doing this new release for this new design of hoodie and then this waffle thing. And then it was really more on me because I didn't want to do another model shoot at my house, which I did kind of ironically in front of the cement walls. And now everybody's using it as a meme. And I was like, if you guys don't think I was doing that on purpose. But now I don't. I don't necessarily want to do like another one. We actually filmed like a five minute video video of me in the gear of what my day was like. And then I think it just was too much like the director's cut was arguing with the studio. And then it was like, how about we just take a picture of you in the hoodie and then we put that on the Legends website. So those sold out. So we're going to do the same thing again, but maybe with the waffle thing as well. There's also something else I've been working on with Legends that is going back months and months and months of this new idea that I had, which maybe is bringing back an old idea, but I don't know what's going to happen with those. But we will have merch and I imagine like Black Friday like everybody else. When Barstool gets all that stuff rolling, we'll all be out there tweeting the stuff that we have for the show. So. Well, we should, I mean we should.
Ceruti
Do some stuff beyond that because I've been thinking a brain looking forward to.
Kyle
Be a part of it one day.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah.
Albert Breer
Yeah.
Ceruti
Well, no, Kyle, you and I, you.
Albert Breer
And I are the same boat.
Ceruti
So we could talk afterwards. I have not been, I'm not privy to any of this information.
Albert Breer
No.
Ceruti
But I've been thinking about like, hey, how do you make, you know, obviously there's you know, T shirts that with sayings on the show and like, is there a way we can make a virgin T shirt? And is it just non virgin? You know, you know how like in like what is it is Equinox when they have like the shirts that say just cleaner on them? We just do. Instead of that just says non virgin. And just like maybe we'll sell the.
Ryan Rosillo
Logo on the back. You're pitching a non virgin branded shirt.
Ceruti
Yeah, well, you can't have a. You can't just say virgin. I mean, unless maybe that's the way we want to go.
Kyle
Maybe it's a finger pointing. It's a finger pointing and it's his version.
Ryan Rosillo
Or you just hand them out. You have like three of them in your backpack. I'm with you. Yell at you. You just hand them one that says, oh, okay.
Kyle
Like a joke. True prop shirt.
Ceruti
Yeah.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Well, the sense that I'm getting here right now is that it's creatively, it feels like even what our fourth show in this partnership, that creatively, you guys are feeling a little left out.
Kyle
Yeah, I can say that. I don't think Steve wants to say it, but I could say it.
Ryan Rosillo
That's what I'm sensing.
Ceruti
Yeah, I didn't know about that. I didn't know. I mean, I knew there was some stuff cooking. I didn't know about the ledger thing.
Ryan Rosillo
I think we should do more than.
Ceruti
That, but didn't know he had a.
Kyle
Skew already ready to go and.
Ryan Rosillo
Okay. Yeah, yeah. Look forward to seeing it.
Kyle
Yeah, maybe.
Ceruti
Maybe we'll get one. You never know.
Ryan Rosillo
All right, why don't we do this? Why don't we? On a show. It doesn't have to be Wednesday or Thursday. You guys don't want homework, but why don't you come pitch me. Pitch me five. Five T shirts each.
Ceruti
I could do that a lot, but.
Ryan Rosillo
Okay. Yeah, I could do that. Yeah. Five is a lot, but if we have two winners out of the 10, that's fair. That's all you need.
Ceruti
You know, we're doing this Wednesday.
Ryan Rosillo
Easy.
Ceruti
Done and done.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. T shirt pitch show. That'll be. Put that in the header.
Kyle
Yeah, Work on that while I'm not doing the Tuesday YouTube.
Ryan Rosillo
That'll be great.
Kyle
A ton of time Tuesday. I'm sorry. It's a bit.
Albert Breer
Guys.
Kyle
I really like that, guys. It's totally, a bit. Totally, 100% a bit.
Ryan Rosillo
Fourth show in, guys. Everybody's got a little attitude now.
Kyle
Everybody's got that New York edge back.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I love it. I love to see it. It'll keep me sharp. Sports are the best athletes. This is one of the ones that's never going to end. Congrats on the new show and to Kyle for getting back to the crown jewel. Trying to settle a debate with my friend. He played catcher and single a ball for the Dodgers until he Caught Kevin Brown 1 Spring training and realized the big leagues Weren't going to be in his future. Loved Kevin Brown. He says the best athletes play the hardest sport and baseball is the hardest sport. I disagree because when I see Trent Williams and LeBron moving, I realize humans shouldn't be able to physically move like that. I think football and basketball players are the best athletes. But he says baseball. What are your thoughts? Loved Wargon, but asking him for running advice is like asking Ceruti for lifting advice. Another stray. God damn.
Ceruti
That's fair. I mean, I don't claim to be that guy.
Ryan Rosillo
You don't lift. Wargon runs, travels to run.
Kyle
He gets on a plane to run.
Ryan Rosillo
That's espresso martini. And then travel two, maybe two.
Ceruti
This is an easy one. If I've just always thought this. And baseball guys not going to like this, but if Bartolo Colon plays your sport, like, you can't be in the contest for best athlete. Like, I'm sorry. Like, you just. So it's probably defensive linemen. Like, defensive. Those. They're not real people. Like, they're six, five. Just like, they run the 40, they jump high. Because you could even say, like NBA guys. Now some of the bigger guys are like a little. Maybe a little stiffer. Like, I just think defensive ends. And this is not because we just had Chris Long on last week. I just think that is the best athlete there is.
Kyle
What about, like, the. The endurance factor of like, soccer players? Like, maybe like the most moving around guy on. On the field there? No.
Ceruti
And you know me, I'm. I'm Mr. Soccer because I mean, kids.
Kyle
Are kind of like, cheat a little bit in basketball. Like, I mean, Ryan calls some of those dudes that. It's like they're just not running. Like, you're just going like, key to key or something. Like in soccer there's a little bit, especially if you're like one of the midfielder guys. Or maybe that's not the right terminology, but some of those guys have to like, put the. Put the gas for a ton of the game.
Ceruti
But their stature, like Messi. Messi's five, seven, you know, Damn. I mean, you could say Ronaldo, but athlete.
Ryan Rosillo
Athlete.
Kyle
Athletic is sort of like one of those terms where you can like, have it mean what you want it to mean or like. No, it's like there's a rigid definition.
Ryan Rosillo
Of what I think.
Ceruti
What is the peak version? If you're looking at like, this person, what is the peak version? Like, it can't be a five, seven.
Ryan Rosillo
Okay.
Kyle
All right, all right.
Ryan Rosillo
You got it. They don't use their hands I think that should penalize you.
Ceruti
Well, some of them do. Keepers, honestly, keepers are great athletes. So that's. Keepers might be the best athletes in soccer.
Ryan Rosillo
I think what you have to do is you have to look at the full collection of everyone that's doing it. It's really hard to hit a baseball. I've also been, the year that I worked in the minor leagues, watched pitchers cover first base and infield drills, and I thought half of the staff was going to blow out a hamstring just running from the mound and then trying to catch the ball from the infielder and then cover first base before the runner got there. And that's not a great group of athletes. Some pitchers are athletes. There's a ton that aren't. So we're talking best athletes in the world. It's hard to go against basketball just because you're talking about guys that are physically this. Like, they're. They're anomalies physically, and they move like this. So to Cerruti's defensive end thing, like, that's. That's kind of the point there, too. I would always offer up MMA because the stress that you have where you're thinking, okay, can I throw this combination while also defending myself? And, like, just think about defending yourself against the kick. You're like, all right, if it's a low kick, do I lift my leg up but then expose my back leg? If he's faking, do I check it? Do I catch it? But if I catch it, does that mean this is going to happen? Is he throwing an outside kick, but actually bringing it inside? So then. And this is all while you're worried about punches, elbow, knees, and then on top everything else, if you're in there with a wrestler, you're like, oh, and I also have to block all this shit while also striking, not exposing myself and protect myself against a guy that just wants to tackle me and tap me out on the ground. So, like, sure, if you gave Conor McGregor, like, the thing I used to go to was, like, if I throw you a ball and I can tell within two seconds, you don't know what you're doing, that kind of exposes you. And then kind of, to Kyle's point, like, the thing that always drove me crazy about this is that people made it more complicated to just try to include a ton of shit. Whenever I bring up that golf isn't really in this group, then golfers get really, really fucking mad just by saying that. I'm gonna get 20 emails tomorrow about this whole thing. It's like, golfers want golfers to be athletes because you're a golfer. But then I remember Dan Patrick being like, so what about darts? And that's when I was like, you know what? I'm tapped out on this. I think those of us that are reasonable about it, again, I use that word a lot. Like, what are the sports where we think these are the best athletes, not some of these other things that you're trying to, like, throw in there to complicate it. Cloudy. The whole thing. Here's what I do know is that it's not baseball. Yeah, it's not baseball. Sorry, guy. And of course, why does he want it to be baseball? Because he played baseball.
Kyle
I was stoking the fire at Frolic Room one day about one guy who really wanted the golfers to be better athletes than F1 drivers, and the other guy was firmly in the other camp. And I think we just had to stop it after 30 minutes because, like, both of them, you could be like. Under these circumstances, you'd be like, I think I don't want to talk about that. But they wanted one to win, so that was like, a good way to spend 25 minutes.
Ceruti
I will say the basketball player thing, the one, I guess, argument against my thing is why do so many. And so many is a lot.
Ryan Rosillo
It's a few.
Ceruti
But like, the Division 1 basketball player that doesn't make it as a basketball player can be like a Hall of Fame tight end in Antonio Gates or, you know, Jimmy Graham. That is a good. I feel like that is a good feather in the cap of a basketball guy. But it's such a specific, limited thing. It's not like those guys are going out playing quarterback.
Ryan Rosillo
No, the question was, like, really simple because everybody got up in arms about it. But again, it's like everything else in life. It's like, I'm gonna argue the thing I'm associated with so I feel better about myself. So it's like, hey, some guy said it's. What was it? Austin river started the whole thing. Now, he probably went overboard by saying, like, 50 or how whatever the number was of any players that could play in the NFL right then. And then guess who got mad? All the NFL guys. It's like, okay, but let's get down to it, because I talked to some NFL guys about this. Like, are there a ton of examples of the NFL sport putting guys into the NBA? No. And we have multiple examples of it's going the other way around. Yeah. So one has to be easier to transition to the other One. How about the one that has examples? We go with that one. And not the one where there's no examples. Instead of having some wide receiver on TV, be like, I'd get 12 a game in the NBA. It's like, you didn't get 12 a game senior year in fucking high school, buddy. All right.
Ceruti
Yep.
Ryan Rosillo
Little tuned up on that one. Wanted to get this one in here. Follow up on the baby kisser. This is an urgent care physician checking in. Totally agree on not spreading germs. Front adults can pass dangerous viruses, including rsv. And to a young infant who can't handle these infections like an adult can.
Kyle
I think he wants to say it.
Ryan Rosillo
I didn't want to say it. And I didn't want to think about a baby. How do you deal with that? If the sister can't respect the no kissing rule, then there's a problem. Could you get a doctor's note?
Kyle
How about that?
Ryan Rosillo
It's like, just have a doctor. Did you go to your sister and be like, Hey, 33, still single, could have STDs. Don't want you kissing her baby. I'm sure she'd handle that okay. Yeah, that'd be good.
Ceruti
It's all fair.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. I mean, all right, let's do another one here. Disclosing infidelities in a new relationship. Six foot. Six foot solid across the board. 190. Pickup comp. Raymond Felton, AKA slept with your mom. I'm 26 year old guy trying to navigate the dating scene in a busy southern city. Over the past few weeks, I've been talking to a girl who, and this is important, grew up here as well and knows a lot of the same people that I do. This culminated in a late night Halloween rendezvous. I'll spare you the details. Thank you. And since then, things between us have definitely picked up. A few days later, we had the chance to hang out again. As we were laying. Lying together. Yeah, lying together. Talking about relationships, she casually asked, have you ever cheated? It's always a fun one. Right out of the gates. The question caught me off guard. I said no, which I mostly believe to be true.
Kyle
Practicing your lie detector thing? Apparently it could be done, man.
Ryan Rosillo
I don't see a problem with that. I know that sounds like a questionable thing to say, but here's the context. Fresh out of high school, I had my first serious relationship with a girl who isn't particularly close with the woman I'm currently seeing. But they do know each other. That's relevant because during the relationship, I did something I'M ashamed of. Out of boredom, I downloaded a dating app and started talking to other women. My intention was to take things. This email we got real wide. We got a wide 9 on this email. I got the guy formatting over here in the margins. Yeah. My intention was never to take things beyond that. I've got a screen issue here, like you read about. Do you read about that? Probably not. Nothing physical. No plans to meet up, but it was still completely wrong. It was a clear violation of someone I cared about. After about a month, I came to my senses and stopped. My girlfriend eventually found out going through my phone and seeing a confirmation text that understandably led to the end of our relationship. Looking back, I feel incredibly stupid for doing it. I haven't come close to repeating anything like it since. Now I'm not asking for a ruling on whether what I did counts as cheating. Look, man, I've seen some arguments now in 25. Like, emotional cheating is. It's a wide, wide net.
Ceruti
Like, hey, what's your discoverer page on Instagram look like? There's a people.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Like, I got one buddy going through something right now, and I was like, you never cheated, right? He's like, not even close. And I was like, what's. What are the accusations? And it was like an abs. A cheating of, like, absence. And I was like, what the fuck does that mean?
Kyle
It sounds like a legal term.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, it was something about him, like, not being available, and so then essentially, he was, like, cheating on their future life or whatever. I mean, clearly the wife had listened to some podcasts with 12 downloads about relationships, and she was like, that's good enough for me. I'm coming in the kitchen hot tonight. Letting him know that he is actually a cheater. Yeah, tough. Tough one out there, boys. A lot of. Lot of.
Kyle
Schools of thought now, that's true.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Yeah. It's all on the table. So not asking for a ruling. I already know it was dead wrong and at the very least, a serious breach of trust. What I'm wrestling with is whether and how to tell this new girl about it. I feel like I probably should for a few reasons. A, I want to build a relationship on solid foundation, which means being honest, even about the uncomfortable stuff, so we could better understand each other. B, I don't feel like my no answer was completely truthful, which directly contradicts point A. C, since she and my ex know each other, there's always a chance it could come up, and I'd rather she hear it from me than through gossip. Any feedback Would be appreciated, even if it's just clowning on me for messing around on the daters. That's a dating app, I assume. I love the show and thank you for your time. How about some Panthers Love. Ooh, Tough. Tough week, dude.
Ceruti
Can I just say, that fucking song has been stuck in my head for days. You know I'm talking about.
Ryan Rosillo
I do.
Ceruti
If you had 150. That guy is awesome. And that's. That is. That is the catchiest song I've heard in years. It's incredible. Oh, 150,000. Yeah, it's. It's incredible. Okay. Incredible. And my wife doing, like, a new.
Kyle
Version, but, like, the Colts guys doing. Or is that just. That's one version for.
Albert Breer
I don't.
Ceruti
Well, I saw he was, like, linking up with Jonathan Stewart. Go Ducks.
Kyle
Saw the guy.
Ceruti
He was like, hey. And he was.
Kyle
Yeah, well, that was. Issue an apology.
Ceruti
That was aggressive. I don't think he needed to apologize.
Kyle
But it was probably not.
Ceruti
But no, he was. Jonathan Stewart's like, hey, hey, I'll get you in my. In the next. In my remix or whatever. But I think there's only one version, to my knowledge, and he just sings.
Ryan Rosillo
It all over the place. Nice. Great aside. Tough. He sent this before Tyler shucked down. An absolute show. We didn't get Tyler shucking in the monologue or with beer today, so little love, Spencer Rattler. Bummed out anyway. I don't even know. Okay, what do you got, guys? What do you think?
Kyle
This is early on? It sounds like. Sounds like he actually did.
Ryan Rosillo
Six foot, remember? Sounds like he didn't cheat. Right.
Kyle
It's like he was like, I was never, never physical. There was no meetups or anything like that. It sounds like he got one of those verify your phone number texts to his phone, and his girlfriend found it. And so what's confirmed is that he had a Tinder account. He swears he never cheated. She asked if he's ever cheated. He said no. I think we're early enough to not really be like, hey, you know, I was actually thinking when you told me this last week. Remember we had a great weekend last week and you asked if I ever cheated. I actually have to amend that and tell you. Like, I just. I think it's not like, bold face enough, is it? Bald face, bold face, whatever that saying is. Like, it's not like. It's not that.
Ryan Rosillo
That you have to bald face lie, Right? I don't know.
Kyle
Maybe no one knows they're there.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah.
Kyle
I don't know, but I think it's not, like, explicit enough for you to be like, you know what? Timeout. I actually screwed that up. And I feel this is, this isn't that you're like, you know, you were messing around when you shouldn't have been fresh out of high school. I mean, come on, are we telling all the mistakes we made around the high school age? Like, I'm gonna have, I'm gonna have a sealing that up.
Ceruti
So that would be my thought. I did. I did something similar in high school. Not like on Tinder, but, you know, dating somebody and then, like, kind of was like, talking to somebody else, but never anything physical. I mean, am I proud of it?
Albert Breer
No.
Ceruti
Would I consider that as me cheating in life? Not really. And again, I was like, 17 years old, and if this person I'm dating now is an adult. Yeah. Hey, listen, if you want to think I'm an asshole, it's fine. Plenty of people do. But I.
Kyle
I, I don't.
Ceruti
What's the, what's the end game here? Like, so you, you amend this thing. You tell her the ice. She did, like, does, does that make your relationship better? Does she, Is she gonna be, like, proud of you for that?
Kyle
Trust you forever?
Ceruti
It's probably making things worse, right? So I don't know. And the other thing, too, is, like, what? So this random acquaintance that you're. That the girl has with somebody who you may have known back then, she's just gonna be like, you know, they're gonna meet each other at a coffee shop one day randomly. She's like, hey, by the way, when this guy was 17, like, this just. This stuff doesn't come up, you know, So I, I would say. I would personally not say anything. I think you're fine. I think I would feel like I had a good conscience in that, but I guess I kind of understand why.
Ryan Rosillo
It'S eating you up a little bit.
Ceruti
But I just think this is going to create more problems than it is good.
Kyle
It's like Oregon dropping in the rankings after beating their team this week.
Ceruti
That's, like, nice.
Kyle
That's a fallacy to bring it back around to the college football rankings.
Ryan Rosillo
This is. Know your opponent. You gotta know your opponent. You gotta know the ex girlfriend's deal. Like, is she one of those people that goes, I hate to bring this up? And it's like, no, you don't hate to bring it up. You love to bring it up. You've been waiting years to do this.
Ceruti
Yeah.
Ryan Rosillo
Here's an icebreaker.
Kyle
Do you talk about things that happened when you were 19 a lot.
Ceruti
Here's a fun fact.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. So what's her deal? She's somebody that like, is still fine and you know, it's obviously something stupid that you did because in the 90s. This isn't cheating. I don't know when the timeline changed. 20, 25. This is kind of cheating me, right? He's 26 years old. This is cheating. It's funny enough. Like, I got a Tinder verification code spam texting me the other day and I was like, just think if this phone.
Kyle
Think about how jammed up you could be.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, right. Say I'm engaged, you know, ready to get on with my life. Yeah, yeah, Kids, you know, trust funds. Because I'd want really shitty self absorbed trust fund kids that are like, I don't have to worry about anything, dude. I might just go to Jackson Hole next year. I might drop out. 25.5mil kicks in on the books. I have to do. I want like two of those guys.
Ceruti
A lot of those kids at uvm. Yes. Okay.
Kyle
I was like, where is this coming from?
Ryan Rosillo
Because when I learned about trust funds, I was like, I was jealous before. Yeah, I'm kidding. Like, what?
Kyle
I'm like, you're gonna have the sickest 25, 25th birthday ever. What?
Ryan Rosillo
What happens you just. When you turn 25? What? Like, what do you have to do for it?
Ceruti
So what are you doing here?
Kyle
What happens? Wait, is it like some choice?
Albert Breer
You have to kill your dad?
Ryan Rosillo
Why would he do that? Like, doesn't it mean you're not going to be motivated to ever do anything? It's like, no, it's just the right thing to do. Like, is it the right thing to do? And then from that moment on, I was like, I want an absolute shithead lacrosse player trust fund son. But I'm way behind. I'm way behind. And who knows? I could be even further behind the timeline. Had I been planning to have a family engage when that text came up and I was like, I'm actually not on Tinder. Although we thought about it for show content. But then what if I just start crushing it and then it's like, oh, we're still can't tape tomorrow. He's too busy hooking up again.
Kyle
Yeah, we could try it with Raya.
Ryan Rosillo
Did you watch the games last night? Nope. Nope. I don't know. Somebody hit some threes. I'll put something together. So know your opponent because there's some women that would be more than happy to be like, I can't wait to tell his new girlfriend. About this, especially if there's some connection that predates the timeline of you with this new person. You also have to know who the person is that you're dating. I don't feel like you did anything, like, egregious to something where you have to actually admit it to everybody, like disclosure here, like filling out an application that you're a convicted felon. Okay. I don't think you should have to feel that kind of guilt. You were younger. You clearly feel bad about it the way you described in the email. I believe you. I'm on your side. But, you know, there's a chance here it's some real foundation pouring, and there's a chance to put some cracks in this baby. Right?
Ceruti
Yeah, that's what I was asking. Is this a fair question? Like, I also, judging by his response, I assume her answer to. I assume he asked, and her answer was no.
Kyle
She's operating from the moral high ground here. She got cheated between that.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, she'd been cheated on a couple different times. So she's like, all right, we just had sex, started getting to know each other. And you're in the post. You're in that honesty zone right now. Clarity, like, yeah, let me hit you with a zinger real quick. Have you ever cheated? So now it's like, she could have you on the hook. Like, look, some people are completely irrational about this stuff and want the fight. And then some people are very mature about this stuff and both genders are guilty. And I would say fully capable of being the mature people of, like, so, you know, I don't think about this. Like, you could go to her and say, hey, I want to circle back on something. You know, email style, like early 26. Just go, I want to circle back on something we talked about. Technically, I did not ever cheat, but when you asked me that, because I care about you so much, I want a clean slate with the whole thing. But this is something that did happen. I felt like, shit, it happened. Whatever. Maybe she looks at that as like, he didn't even have to do that. What a great move. This guy's awesome. And he still actually isn't a cheater. It's not on his resume, so we're in a good space. My experience, that's not how it's going to go.
Kyle
He's gonna be like, did he find out I know her? Or something like that.
Albert Breer
You know what I mean?
Kyle
There might be like, why is this happening?
Ryan Rosillo
It's going to be one. You dipped your toe into the world and that you already lied about it to me. So my. My advice would be don't say anything. But you have to know the other person. You have to know the scattering report of both of these people. All right? The person from your past that may want to tell everybody some version of you that in this case is true and maybe it means other stuff isn't true. And then also knowing how the girl that you care about now and that you're with and how this reacting because, like, I don't care who's listening to this or whatever. Or like, even her, she's not telling you fucking everything she's ever done. Okay? She's not telling you at all. Nobody starts their relationship just going, I really enjoyed this week. Hope you got a pen. You know, like, it doesn't it this fantasy world that people expect. Like, hey, I just want full transparency. I don't know if there is anything that is full transparency.
Ceruti
I also kind of don't want to know sometimes, you know?
Ryan Rosillo
How about that? Ceruti? Yeah. I was in a massive orgy phase before I met you.
Ceruti
I just don't. Yeah, I didn't know you then. I. You know, I don't know. I've never really gone down that road with the wife, but I don't. I don't know, man. Like, we're different.
Ryan Rosillo
I don't know.
Ceruti
Now it's. It's kind of.
Ryan Rosillo
And like, if it was my brother, I'd want to know. That might be a. You know, like, you dated my brother.
Ceruti
Yep. That's fair. But this just gets. This just gets back to the. The T shirt situation too. We need a, you know, I'd rather be alone than annoyed T shirt. Right? That's got to be the first one made.
Kyle
Check the copyright on that.
Ryan Rosillo
Right?
Kyle
It's been a while.
Ryan Rosillo
I don't. I don't know. I mean, I don't. I don't have a trademark or anything like that. Somebody tried to sell me Ryan Rossello dot com. They sent that life advice thing asking me for money.
Ceruti
Gotta hit him with the J. Cutler.
Ryan Rosillo
Don't care. Pick the wrong guy on that one, buddy. Yeah. History made. Today on the pod, Seruti sang.
Ceruti
I did a few bars before, but that song is just like it is. I haven't had a song stuck in my head like that in a long time.
Ryan Rosillo
Kyle, is this all because you just want to make some cash and a charge it to the game T shirt.
Kyle
I'm gonna get off this and I'm gonna see if there's any sort of trademarks that we get caught up in before Wednesday.
Ryan Rosillo
Yes. Hey, if you. If you want to trademark. Because by the time this comes out, you'll have a couple hours. Yeah. If you want to trademark. I'd rather be alone than annoyed. Go for it. Well, I trust you. Salt of the earth, crown jewel.
Kyle
Yeah, I'll do a rev share thing with you.
Ryan Rosillo
That's the kind of guy. Figure it out. Figure it out. Whatever. Whatever money the show would make on merch. Obviously I would take care of you. You guys. I think you guys both know that.
Kyle
Oh, man. I thought you're about to say charity.
Ryan Rosillo
I was like, damn, do that too.
Kyle
I'm just kidding.
Albert Breer
Not really, though.
Ryan Rosillo
First year, we're going to get off our feet. We'll get to the charities year.
Ceruti
Thanks.
Kyle
My Uber costs are soaring through the roof.
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Or parking tickets.
Albert Breer
All right.
Ryan Rosillo
Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Ceruti. You can subscribe to the Ryan Rossillo podcast on Apple or Spotify. I think we've worked out to. Yeah, we're up on Amazon, up on YouTube pods. Yep. Okay. And check out the Ryan Rossillo YouTube page, the new one with barstool, and subscribe to that one. So that'll do it for us today. We'll be back with either Tuesday, Wednesday, NBA take minutes and then we have Greg Olson Wednesday. Is that locked in.
Ceruti
So got to confirm that today, but I think so.
Ryan Rosillo
We'll get over that point too. We'll go over that play calling thing with him. Maybe he won't want to ever come on again. Thanks for everybody listening to the show. Ryan Roso show, part of the Barstools network.
Episode: MVP Drake Maye, Scary Seahawks & Ravens Back with Albert Breer. Plus a Heisman Rant
Date: November 10, 2025
Host: Ryen Russillo
Guest: Albert Breer (Sports Illustrated, MMQB)
Producers: Ceruti, Kyle
This episode, Russillo dives into a packed week of football with recurring guest Albert Breer, focusing on the meteoric rise of Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (whom Russillo now frames as the MVP frontrunner), a “scary” and dominant Seattle Seahawks team, and the resurgent Baltimore Ravens. There's also a pointed conversation on the constantly controversial Heisman Trophy race, spirited life advice, and some inside-baseball on the new Barstool partnership, merch, and show mechanics.
The show stays true to the Russillo tone: part stats nerd, part locker room chat, with quick-witted rants and plenty of football-lifer sensibility.
(Timestamp: 02:24 — 34:25)
Maye’s MVP Case:
Russillo spends the first extended segment making a robust statistical and narrative case for Drake Maye as the NFL’s 2025 MVP, highlighting:
Inside the Patriots Building:
Breer contrasts this “spackle holes” approach to what the Commanders did a year ago:
Belichick Era Comparison/Transition:
Discussion on how the Patriots' staff and operations shrank, became insular and archaic; the new regime is modernizing quickly, helped immensely by the “franchise QB” presence (22:33).
Maye exceeding expectations:
"He's better than they thought. His instincts—it's what surprised them. Not just tools, but consistent, smart, instinctive play." — Breer (25:18)
“May is basically doing all of this on his own...That kind of toughness, that competitiveness, and to be able to deliver a ball that perfectly and lead the receiver, it's not like he just hit somebody who was open. That's an unbelievable throw.” — Ryen Russillo (08:30)
(Timestamp: 27:13 — 34:25)
“You have a chance to be a pretty dangerous team come December and January if you can leverage what Caleb can be...this is a team that's winning different ways now.” — Breer (32:00)
(Timestamp: 34:25 — 41:51)
Seahawks’ Surge:
Colts’ Offensive Line Concerns:
Running Back Value Returns:
“Now it’s a huge value to have a great one, because you’re paying the guy half of what you’d be paying a top receiver.” — Breer (41:51)
(Timestamp: 43:04 — 52:35)
Dan Campbell Takes Over Play-calling:
Rams’ Evolution to 13 Personnel:
“It’s like, you know, we’re the ones sort of controlling the chessboard now.” – Breer on Rams ending game on a hard count (51:50)
(Timestamp: 52:59 — 57:56)
Injury Misconceptions:
Ravens Playoff/Super Bowl Outlook:
(Timestamp: 62:52 — 77:09)
Heisman Hysteria:
Ohio State, Indiana, and the Culture of Fan Anxiety:
Playoff Seeding and Team Rundowns:
“The Heisman is the most uneducated voting base of any major sports.” — Russillo (72:52)
“Maybe I’m just trying to figure out a way not just to reward a quarterback on a top team.” (72:52)
(Timestamp: 111:24 — 125:17)
(Timestamp: 103:32 — 110:34)
(Timestamp: 99:38 — 103:16)
This episode showcases why Russillo’s voice stands out in sports media: sharp analysis, deep context, blunt honesty, irreverent asides, and layered opinions, especially about QBs and team-building DNA. If you want a strong blend of advanced football talk, behind-the-curtain league nuance, passionate college football takes, and “real guy” discussions of honesty in relationships, this is top-tier sports podcasting.