0:00

And now move the Sticks with

0:02

Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky

0:05

Brooks. Hey,

0:07

hello everybody, we'll welcome to move the Sticks.

0:09

Presented by A A R. P In

0:11

for DJ today. I am Rett Louis

0:13

here with Bucky Brooks International

0:16

Bucky Brooks. He is still in

0:18

London and glad to have you with us here, Buck.

0:20

I guess DJ is uh is finally

0:22

just taking matters into his own hands. Uh,

0:25

he is. Finally he's doing what he

0:27

can to engineer a winning season for the

0:29

Padres. He's down at the MLB winner

0:31

meetings today, I guess apparently on the lookout for a catcher.

0:34

Oh my god. It's that funny because he is,

0:36

like I know, he is in his own personal

0:38

heven, He's such a big Padres fan. Yeah.

0:41

I'm actually excited to get any hear

0:43

what he brings back from those baseball meetings

0:46

because we love the teams on the process,

0:48

and I do believe that some of

0:50

the things that you use to build other

0:52

teams and other sports are applicable

0:55

to Sure so to be great to get his insight

0:58

on how to build a great team, how to be able to grate

1:00

organization from some of the best ball

1:02

Yeah, no question. Excited about that to

1:05

see what DJ brings back.

1:07

Uh, he'll be back later this week. So uh,

1:11

look, Bucky, I'm interested man, because on

1:13

this on this episode today, we're gonna have quite

1:15

a bit of college football talk here. We're gonna get into the Heisman

1:18

finalists who were just announced yesterday, Joe Burrow,

1:20

Justin Fields, Chase Young, Jalen Hurts, but

1:22

sure does feel like it's Joe Burrow running

1:24

away. We'll also react to the conference championship

1:27

games kind of kind of do a little bit of a

1:29

mini takeaway pod um which

1:31

we do every Monday. Here I moved the sticks. We'll give

1:33

our our top three kind of takeaways

1:35

from championship weekend um,

1:37

and then we'll take a look ahead at the final four

1:40

the College Football Playoff this year,

1:42

which of course features l S, U Ohio State,

1:44

Clemson, and now Oklahoma in

1:46

there at the fourth spot. So we'll get into all that. But

1:49

I want to first, Bucky, give me

1:51

a sense of because I know you're

1:53

in London. I know you're working doing some work with Sky Sports,

1:55

and um, I I know

1:57

that the fans in London are into NFL foot

2:00

ball. We see that every year you're inning, you're out, and they packed

2:02

the stadium, pack Wimbley or or

2:04

the Tottenham Hotspur stadium to

2:06

watch the NFL games. But how do they feel

2:09

about Monday night football? I mean, you know, it's funny,

2:11

like they're excited about all football. And and let

2:13

me tell you, if you are UH

2:16

football fan over here in the UK

2:18

and you're staying up from a

2:20

stand up to watch the Monday night football game that

2:23

starts at one twenty local

2:25

time local

2:29

times, So if you're really

2:31

committed to being like the biggest football

2:33

fan in the UK, you have a level of dedication

2:36

sees anything that I've experienced,

2:38

because I'm gonna be honest with you, like having

2:41

worked all day Sunday and trying

2:43

to stay up to watch the Sunday night game. Man,

2:46

it wipes you out on that. And

2:48

so then to think, oh, I'm gonna sleep all day Monday,

2:50

and then I'm gonna do it again and stay up

2:52

from one to four five

2:55

in the morning to watch the Monday night game, it is

2:57

just I mean, it's a bear because it kind of sets

2:59

you back for a day or so to kind of get your bearing

3:01

straight. No no doubt. I mean, if I was, you

3:03

know, back twenty years old again. Um,

3:06

it might it might actually be really fun. You know, it

3:08

might be a great way to come home from a great

3:10

night and just sit down and take in some football.

3:12

Yeah. I guess it's kind of the same thing for

3:15

how we take in a lot of big time soccer

3:18

matches here in the US. You know, it's

3:20

like I drive to work on Sunday past one of

3:22

the one of the bars here in Culver City that's

3:24

a that is a a soccer bar,

3:26

and it's packed at seven in the morning, people

3:29

outside having a great time. They're watching they're

3:31

watching soccer. So I guess it's just it's

3:33

kind of the flip side of it. But man, one

3:35

am, that's that's that's a tough kickoff

3:38

for Monday night football. So I

3:40

don't know how much you saw then of Eli

3:42

Manning's return to the starting

3:44

lineup. Okay, so

3:47

I was able to get on and check

3:49

it out. Well, look, man, it was it was. It

3:51

was good for me to see. I mean, you guys know that

3:53

I'm I'm close with you, I I um,

3:56

you know, close with the Manning family, and um,

3:59

I really was excited for

4:02

him to get another opportunity and to see him

4:04

out there again. I had the family up in

4:06

the stands watching and Philly and

4:08

look. For the first half, man, I was like, this

4:10

could this could be writing a pretty good story here.

4:13

Uh. You know, there's a couple of touchdown passes to Darius

4:15

Slayton, a couple of really nice balls. He gets

4:17

him in the right play, does that all the time. Uh.

4:19

And then the second half, things, you know, just

4:22

start falling apart, not necessarily all

4:25

on him. I know he'll tell you he wishes he

4:27

could have made a couple of a couple of more passes, a couple of

4:29

more completions and keep some drives going. They

4:31

uh, they weren't able to extend many drives in the

4:34

second half, end up going overtime and then losing.

4:36

Didn't even getting a shot at it with the Giants defense

4:38

giving up giving up the touchdown right

4:40

off the bat to the Eagles. But I guess you

4:42

got a credit the Eagles too, Buck for coming out in the second

4:44

half of figuring things out a little bit. Yeah. You know, it's such

4:46

a weird game, man, because the Giants appeared

4:48

to have control of the game most of the first half

4:51

and even into the third quarter. Uh, Eli

4:53

did get out into a nice rhythm. The

4:55

ball came out quick. Uh, they were they

4:57

were a little balanced and you could sail his experience.

5:00

It's really helped the Giants offense kind of get

5:02

jump started. Um. The defense

5:04

played well to a point. And you're talking

5:06

about the Philodephia Eagles team

5:08

that didn't have many weapons, Like even when they were

5:10

healthy, they didn't have any explosive

5:12

players. The most explosive offensive players

5:14

that they have as mile standings, and when

5:17

they're not able to get him the ball in

5:19

open field, they have a tough time generating explosive

5:22

plays. And so the Giants had locked him up

5:24

and then all shan Jeffrey goes out.

5:26

Um, I mean they're playing I

5:29

mean what j j are saying. The whiteside goes

5:31

out there playing with Greg Wood and three tight

5:33

ends. Yeah, it was basically one one white

5:35

out in the second wide receiver on

5:38

the field. And then they kind of found

5:40

a rhythm and Carson Wentz got

5:42

into it. And so Carson Wentz

5:44

kind of blotted out a performance

5:46

that would have been a solid one from Eli, one

5:48

that would have been I wouldn't say storybook.

5:51

He didn't necessarily play, but it would have been

5:54

a feel good story for the Giants

5:57

in the season that has really been absolutely miserable

5:59

to see the franchise leader to the

6:02

quarterback, get us anonymous with two

6:04

Super Bowl win kind of go out in a blaze

6:06

of glory. I kind of robbed them

6:09

of having that moment and a rock Delf

6:11

having his moment because the defense couldn't hold up. I remember

6:13

listening to Lisa psalters H at

6:16

the end of halftime coming back

6:18

for the start of the second half, and she

6:20

was relaying the conversation she had

6:23

with Pat Shermer uh coming back

6:25

onto the field, and she was and she said

6:27

that, you know, he kept saying, you got we we gotta run

6:29

the Look, things are going well, Helies playing well. Uh,

6:32

you know, we've got some points on the board. We gotta keep

6:34

this going on in the second we gotta run the ball more.

6:36

I was like, okay, yeah, I mean that makes a

6:38

lot of sense. I mean, you've spent you know, the number two

6:40

overall pick on se Kwon Barkley and seventeen

6:43

carries for sixty six yards just doesn't do it

6:45

for me. Um and the seventeen

6:47

carries is a healthy

6:50

number at this day and age for a for

6:52

a running back. But I still think there's

6:54

got to be a better way to get se Kwon Barkley

6:56

involved in the offense. For for the

6:58

Giants, I mean he's their best player. Yeah, you know,

7:00

like, and here's the thing and read and go

7:02

all the way back to the year he was coming

7:05

out and the way that he played at Penn State,

7:07

and what we talked about on pass to the draft was

7:10

say, Kwan Barkley is not necessarily

7:12

a guy that's gonna give you a steady diet of four

7:14

and five runs. If you go back

7:17

and look at the way that he played at Penn State,

7:19

he was a one to minus

7:22

three fifty five

7:24

six minus three, minus seven.

7:28

Yeah. Yeah. So he is a bit

7:30

of a scattershop player. And I'm

7:32

not saying he's Barry Sanders, but he

7:34

is Barry Sanders, like in terms of

7:37

the way that he would produce his production.

7:40

Barry Sanders was one of those guys that you're gonna

7:42

have some negative runs, you don't have some stretches where

7:44

it doesn't pop, but you have to give him enough

7:46

opportunities. I think the bigger thing for

7:48

the Giant is looking

7:51

at that offensive line and the investment

7:53

that they've made in that offensive line. That

7:55

offensive line doesn't generate the kind

7:57

of push in the run game nor the

7:59

protect in the past game that you would expect

8:02

Nate Soldier. Nate Solder has been

8:04

a big flop on a major stage in New York.

8:06

Like, he cannot play at a

8:08

high enough level to kind of justify

8:10

what they pay to get him, and

8:12

it really affects them because they can't

8:15

win the line of scrimmage, and without being able to win

8:17

the line of scrimmage, they can't run the ball, and

8:19

they can't keep a quarterback protected enough

8:21

to really be able to attack down the field. Yeah, I think

8:23

that started to become even more apparent last night.

8:26

In fact, I was on Twitter and watching Brian

8:28

Baldinger was just livid of

8:30

the fact that they were actually trying

8:33

to give Soldier help to

8:36

deal with Vinny Curry. You know, you're

8:38

bringing a tight end end to chip with Soldier,

8:40

who you're paying fifteen million year. You know, at that

8:42

point you had made him the highest paid offensive linement in

8:44

the year. He's like, you got he's got to be able

8:47

to block Vinny Curry. One on one like

8:49

that's just got to happen, right, he has to

8:51

be able to do it, like he has

8:53

to be able to win his one on one

8:55

then. So that's the thing that is disturbing,

8:58

Like people when we talked about three age,

9:00

so much of it is about the cost and and all

9:02

that, But really what you're paying

9:04

for is premier performance

9:07

in big games. And I mean, look when

9:09

you're twoing whatever they are. Um,

9:12

I don't know if you have big games. But what you're doing

9:14

is I'm saying, may Solder, by paying you this

9:16

money and by saying you are franchise tackle,

9:18

we can then send all the help to

9:21

the causer side. We shouldn't have to pay

9:23

you big money and help you

9:25

do that. We're wrong in our evaluation on what

9:27

you can do, what you're gonna add to this team. Correct.

9:29

So the look and again this game will

9:32

come down to in the second half, the Giants could

9:34

not can They could

9:36

not sustain drives. There were two for twelve on third

9:38

down. The Eagles had twenty

9:41

seven first downs in this

9:43

game compared to eleven for the

9:45

Giants, and the majority of those first

9:47

downs for the Eagles coming in the second

9:49

half. A bunch of them coming on that overtime

9:51

drive as well. That was really impressive with

9:53

the limited um the

9:56

limited UH skill position group

9:58

that the Eagles ended up throwing out there. So

10:00

look, the Eagles stay alive, uh the Cowboys.

10:03

The Cowboys and the Eagles keep keeping each other

10:05

alive. In the NFC East, somebody

10:07

is going to win this division. I can guarantee

10:10

you that it will not be the Redskins of the

10:12

Giants. So one of these two teams has

10:14

to step up and take control. Excited

10:17

to watch them actually play in weeks sixteen and

10:19

see which one can outlast and

10:21

win the NFC East. Okay, let's

10:23

get into some of the college football talk here, Bucky,

10:25

and we just found out yesterday the Heisman

10:27

finalists were announced in not really

10:29

any surprise. Joe Burrow of l s

10:32

U Justin Fields, the first year starting

10:34

quarterback at Ohio State, and then

10:36

his teammate Chase Young on the other side,

10:38

who did miss some games but still gets

10:40

the invite to New York based on just

10:43

how dominant he was in the games he was available

10:45

for Ohio State and a guy we thought, you know,

10:47

maybe in the first four or five weeks of the season

10:50

was the odds on, you know, the odds on favorite

10:52

in Jalen Hurts from Oklahoma

10:54

UM and then kind of fell up the math a little bit

10:57

when oh, you lost to Kansas State, had

10:59

the game with Baylor, and then I actually

11:01

took Baylor over time in the Big Twelve championship

11:04

games. So what is it? Is it Burrow or bust

11:06

here Bucky. That's how I feel, yeah

11:08

to be I mean, when you think about what he has been

11:11

able to do, UM, like, it's

11:13

unbelievable with the change in Joe Burrow

11:15

from one year to the next. UM.

11:18

Last year like he was just viewed as, I mean, let's

11:20

be honest, like just a guy. It's that like

11:23

you're being very time to think

11:25

about him being a potential NFL

11:27

quarterback. Last year he was fifty

11:29

seven pastors. He was a guy

11:31

who had sixteen touchdowns and five interceptions.

11:34

This year seven

11:40

eight touchdowns, six interceptions

11:43

in a year. And so he

11:46

has clearly been the most dominant college

11:48

player on the theme this

11:50

year. The trick will

11:52

be when we're doing the evaluation and

11:55

we're beginning to think about the NFL draft

11:57

and we're thinking about the ascension that

11:59

he has made. We have to then

12:02

try and figure out how much of it do

12:04

we put on him in his personal development,

12:06

how much do we put on Joe Brady and what Joe

12:08

Brady has done to revample this scheme, and

12:11

how much of all of this is

12:13

sustainable at the next level.

12:16

Can he replicate this kind of performance

12:18

anywhere? Or is he a guy

12:21

that is going to be tied to assistem

12:23

that whoever takes him, they have to

12:25

take the same system that surround them

12:27

with the same kind of dominant player that L s U

12:30

has on the edge. Yeah,

12:33

that's a tough one. Um. And look,

12:35

obviously with Cincinnati in line for the number

12:37

one overall pick and Joe Burrow,

12:39

you know, an Ohio guy, it's it's

12:41

certainly pointing that way. And um,

12:44

you know if that's something

12:46

to think about, right because you know they got a j Green

12:49

there, But for how long you know, is he are they going

12:51

to be able to figure something out and keep him in the fold?

12:53

They've got you know, Tyler Boyd in there

12:55

as well, and uh, Autumn Tate

12:57

has has shown that he can play. I mean there there's some good

13:00

receivers there. Thinking keep them all and think keep

13:02

them all healthy and keep them all going. So

13:04

Um, but that's that's the issue that you're going

13:06

to have going number one overall.

13:08

You know, even if it isn't the Bengals, you know, they if

13:10

they managed to win a couple of here

13:13

here, gonna end up on a team that's not very good. And

13:15

so then how you know, how quickly can you

13:17

you know, showcase the potential that we're seeing right

13:19

now? Um, is again the question that

13:22

we have with all these quarters? Yes, yeah, with all

13:24

of it. And then also like so throw

13:26

this into the mix. So when

13:28

we talk about the number one overall pick, and we

13:30

talked about the talent, the number

13:33

one overall pick is supposed to be a transcendent

13:35

talent when we just stack us his

13:37

talent and let's let's compare

13:39

him to Chase Young and

13:42

Chase young talent. Is Joe Burrow

13:44

more talented than Chase Young?

13:47

And you know, we can talk about the bump that quarterbacks

13:49

get because of the value of the

13:51

position, but when we're drafting

13:54

and we're talking about you want to acquire the

13:56

best players, Um,

13:58

I just think this Joe Burbero evaluation

14:01

is going to be one that right now we can't see

14:04

it. But I think we will get into April

14:06

there could be some hard conversation that teams are gonna

14:08

have to make when they evaluate him and what

14:10

he actually brings to the table at the franchise quarterback.

14:14

Yeah. Look, and I think if Chase Young had

14:16

been on the field every single game for

14:18

Ohio State, we might be having a more serious

14:21

conversation about him winning the

14:23

trophy. It's just it's not gonna happen this year,

14:26

not with the way things kind of ended

14:28

up going for him this year, even though in every game

14:30

he played he was dominant. I mean that

14:34

dominant player. I mean, I think that

14:36

is one of the things that, um, you

14:39

definitely look for and for a defensive

14:41

player who win at one. It's gonna be hard because we're

14:44

still conditioned for the war to eas to go to quarterbacks

14:47

and then maybe running back and then

14:49

after that who knows. But uh,

14:52

it's an award. It's the

14:54

best quarterback on the best team in the country

14:56

is typically the one that's kind of won the award.

14:59

Um, So it's gonna be hard to overcome that. And tool,

15:01

Uh, there's a different level of criteria or in tool

15:04

the voters see it in a different

15:06

way. Yeah, Chase, Chase Young

15:08

is really fighting an uphill climb

15:10

to be a defender, the first defender

15:12

to Windy Award since Charles Wilson. And then

15:14

you know next year, Justin Fields will be

15:16

the favorite to win it next year coming

15:19

into the season, just put the way

15:22

I wonder, I wondered about that because remember that

15:25

the Trevor Lawrence thing has been funny,

15:27

right, It's been a funny conversation that

15:29

we'll have and eventually will preview

15:33

the champion semifinals

15:35

or whatever. But here's what. Remember

15:38

we entered the year talking about Trevor Lawrence

15:40

being a transcendent talent, Trevor Lawrence

15:42

being a guided if he didn't play this year, could go into

15:45

the draft, he would be number one overall. And

15:47

like that talk has kind of gone away

15:50

as Cleston has kind of run rough shot

15:52

over the A C C. But what we'll

15:54

get in the national semi friendal

15:56

will get a chance to see it would be the

15:59

first guess appletize

16:01

to the quarterback class,

16:03

potentially Justine Fiodle's Trevor

16:06

Lawrence squaring golf guys that were number

16:08

one and number two and all of the recruiting

16:10

rankings, guys that will take

16:12

the field obviously one another to

16:14

kind of step at the table for what will be a great

16:17

debate. Yeah,

16:19

I know you're right, and and uh look

16:21

I am actually trying to curious here

16:23

because you know, there was a point this season

16:26

right where everyone was wondering what

16:29

and what's wrong with Trevor Lawrence? Is he injured?

16:31

He had you know, Debo Sweeney gotten all fired

16:33

up about that, and um, but there

16:35

was a point then let's see after

16:38

the Louisville game or they won

16:41

twenty nine twenty or where he was twenty

16:43

two or three through two picks

16:45

in that game, they still won. Then

16:47

he went on wins over Boston

16:49

College, Wafford, North Carolina State, wait

16:52

for South Carolina in Virginia

16:55

and did not throw a pick and

16:57

was completing over seventy

16:59

percent of his passes and each one of those games

17:01

ended up with nine thirteen,

17:04

sixteen, twenty touchdowns, zero

17:07

interceptions over his last seven games. That

17:10

that's more what we thought we were going to see. And

17:12

uh, look that leads us into our our mini

17:16

ten takeaway podcast. If you will, we're gonna

17:18

do our three our three favorite takeaways from

17:20

conference championship weekends and Buckey.

17:22

Since we're talking about Trevor, let's let

17:24

me dive right in there, because that was one of

17:26

my takeaways this weekend was in the game that

17:28

nobody, uh, you know what most

17:31

people weren't watching was the a c C Championship

17:33

game, Clemson destroyed Virginia and they did it with Trevor

17:36

Lawrence and T Higgins. Those are two of my takeaways

17:38

right there. That connection was insane. I mean, Trevor

17:40

goes for four touchdowns, t catches three of

17:43

them, and uh,

17:45

that looked like what we expected

17:47

to see from Clemson weekend and week out. We didn't

17:49

get that all year, but to see that on

17:51

a big stage in the a CEC Championship game,

17:54

Look, I thought that was I thought

17:56

that was kind of neat. And now you

17:58

know Clemson's kind of lying in the grass,

18:01

right, are they the team that could jump out in surprise

18:03

some people here in the college football playoffs? I

18:05

think that's something we have to legitimately discuss there.

18:07

I mean, think about this, right, you're talking about a team

18:09

that has won twenty straight games, a

18:11

team that I mean they

18:13

haven't lost in quarterback,

18:17

that has been celebrated as one of the best

18:20

that we've seen. You have a slewent

18:22

wide receivers that can make plays, and

18:24

yet man, they're not even really

18:27

talked about as a heavyweight favorite

18:30

in this playoff field, and they're

18:32

the team that is uh

18:36

an opportunity to go back to back.

18:39

And so I think, if you're Dad both swiney,

18:41

this is everything that every coach wants.

18:43

Every coach wants a

18:46

title contender that has won the title,

18:48

but it's viewed as an underdog. So

18:50

the motivation is already there because

18:53

he can stand in front of everybody and say,

18:55

like, guys, look, we started off

18:57

as the preseason number one. We

19:00

didn't lose the game, but they view

19:02

you at the third best team in the country, right,

19:04

So we then have an opportunity to show everybody

19:07

that the defending champions are still

19:09

a championship slid. It doesn't get better

19:11

than that, No, no, it doesn't. So look,

19:13

the connection from Trevor Lawrence to Tee

19:16

Higgins was was one of the things that one

19:18

of my takeaways from Championship weekend, the fact

19:20

that Clemson, you know, might just

19:22

be might surprise some folks here in the college football

19:24

playoff was was one was another takeaway.

19:26

I'll give you my last one here in a second, but I want

19:28

to get I want to get some of yours here before

19:31

I give you my final takeaway from Championship

19:33

weekend. So what what stuck out to you? And

19:36

Joe Burrow and Joe and Joe Brady are

19:38

the real Joe's the

19:40

Joe's like that combination inspect

19:44

Like if I'm a team

19:46

at the top and I'm thinking about

19:48

bringing Joe Burrow in, man, i

19:51

might as well throw a bunch of money

19:53

at Joe Brady and see if I could get

19:55

both of them, because together they

19:58

are great. Point the way this

20:00

this is looking like, the way this offense

20:03

works at l s U and the connection

20:05

that they have from play caller

20:08

to quarterback, I don't know if

20:10

you can beat that. I mean, they are slicing

20:13

up. I mean good teams, teams

20:15

with NFL talent, with ease

20:18

um. Yeah. Look, Joe Burry

20:20

has been great as the director, but I mean

20:22

I think you could you could just throw

20:24

as many verbal boucats to Joe Brady

20:27

in terms of his ability to dial this up

20:29

to create this offense that

20:32

has some NFL stuff from the Saints

20:34

Uh, some of this uh

20:37

Joe moorehead RPO stuff that

20:39

you learned from like Penn State. And to throw

20:41

it all together, what you're seeing

20:44

on offense from L s U is

20:46

really the future of football maybe at the

20:48

NFL level, a little of everything

20:50

kind of mixed together because you you spend

20:53

so much time down in New Orleans, in that Louisiana

20:55

it's like a big old pot of gumball that

20:58

that um man everyone

21:01

is one of is going to one a sample. But yeah, that

21:03

the Joe Burrow Joe Brady combination is something that

21:05

is fascinated to me. Yeah, that's a good point.

21:07

And you know it's not like Joe doesn't have the Brady

21:10

doesn't have the NFL experience. You know, he came over

21:12

from the sts L s U, so you know he's got a

21:14

little bit of that background in it. That's an interesting thing.

21:16

I think we saw that right with when the Colt

21:18

Strap and Andrew Luck they brought Pep Hamilton's

21:20

over right from Stanford eventually came over.

21:22

Yeah, over anything. It was a couple

21:24

of years after that he had right. Look

21:26

there, there are mixed results in terms of Indianapolis

21:29

fans will tell you that, But I do believe

21:31

this there's some comfort Um

21:34

and taking the quarterback and having a

21:36

play called who already knows all of his wars,

21:39

you know the strengths, he knows his waitnesses,

21:41

he knows what he had to do to mask

21:43

his flaws. But it is

21:46

something to consider Joe Brady

21:49

Um having that opportunity.

21:51

And I'm not saying, like I know some people with FASTI well,

21:53

I mean all the way you get if you have to make him a head coach,

21:56

I mean, but I

21:58

do believe that you can elevate

22:00

him to the point where you give him a chance

22:02

to do that and then just kind

22:04

of see where it goes. All

22:07

right, what other takeaways did you have from the

22:09

championship game weekend? Oh?

22:11

Look, justin Herbert finally

22:14

had his moment, and and and look the

22:16

numbers are not impressive. He didn't have over to went of

22:18

yards. It was just kind of a solid performance. But this

22:21

was a game where Oregon was an underdog against

22:23

Utah. Oregon wasn't really expected

22:25

to knock off Utube. I don't know how seriously

22:28

we thought that would be a specially with them

22:30

losing to Arizona State. UM

22:32

prior to this big game. But Justin

22:35

Herbert manage the game the right

22:37

way, play like a pro, made a couple

22:39

of throws that kind of made you raise your eyebrows.

22:43

He can do it now. I will say this.

22:45

I don't know if I

22:48

believe that he is a franchise

22:50

favor, meaning that he can turn

22:53

around the franchise with his talent, But

22:55

I do believe he could be a

22:58

solid the high end starter for a

23:00

team that has pieces in place.

23:02

So if he has drafted maybe at

23:04

that mid that mid level. Okay,

23:07

so let's let's get this because this is an exercise

23:09

that people have to do. So your Tampa

23:11

Bay and you're sitting at fourteen

23:14

or fifteen draft positions, and you

23:16

have to do the debate Jameis Winston

23:19

Justin Herbert like after

23:22

debate, where Okay, we've seen what James can

23:24

do, and we've seen that roller coaster ride. Could

23:26

we take Justin Herbert and maybe

23:28

not get the negative plays, but

23:30

maybe gets some of the same positive plays

23:32

in that vein with Mike Evans

23:35

and Goodwin and O. J. Howard

23:37

and what they have around him. I think

23:39

he is a better player if he gets drafted

23:42

mid too late. More so than

23:44

early, because I don't think he can live up to

23:46

top ten expectation. But I do believe

23:48

in the right situation he could go lower

23:51

and play better because he had better suffer

23:53

around here. That's a great point. You're not gonna

23:55

find many better situations for a quarterback,

23:57

at least on the perimeter. With Mike

24:00

Evans and Chris Godwin now off

24:02

offensive line wise, that might be a different

24:04

story, uh in Tampa. But there's

24:06

a opportunity to improve there as

24:08

well. Uh. Look, that's man, that's

24:11

a tough call, right. Um. We talked

24:13

about Jamis a lot on the ten Takeaway

24:15

podcast. I told DJ this

24:17

weekend on Monday rather that

24:19

after this weekend, I just I want to I just want

24:21

Jamis to like be my shadow. I just want him to

24:23

hang around with me because

24:25

like anything that goes wrong, he'll be like, hey, man,

24:27

I don't worry about it. Just forget it. Forget

24:30

it. Forget it. Well we'll throw we'll throw a touchdown

24:32

on the next series. Okay.

24:34

Uh So like that, I just I feel like I want

24:36

him hanging around with me. Um. So,

24:39

I don't know, I look, I don't know if I could say that about justin Herbert

24:41

just yet, because I

24:43

haven't seen enough of the of

24:46

the big plays, right, Um,

24:48

you're right, we don't see as many of the negative

24:50

as many of the negatives. So maybe that is

24:54

or or even or even let's

24:56

pass forward because but

24:59

just imagine Jeff and Herbert playing for the large

25:02

right. So the lh Art is another one.

25:04

I'm gonna be outside Kennan Allen and Mike

25:06

Williams. They have a tight end and Hunter

25:08

Henry Um depending on what you do

25:10

at running back off the neck with whatever they have enough they

25:12

gotta fix the officive line. But uh,

25:15

let's think about moving forward with him

25:17

and Philip Rivers in the debate that you would have.

25:20

So I do believe he is

25:22

a guy that can be a starting quarterback, I

25:24

mean a solid to high end starter um

25:27

in the league. But he has to have the right stuff. I

25:29

just don't know, man, if you take

25:32

them two, three, four, if

25:35

you're going to be satisfied immediately

25:38

and what he brings unless it's one of those teams

25:40

that just kind of they just kind of fell off

25:42

about that. When when I'm looking at the teams that are

25:45

picking up there, I don't know if there's any

25:47

of those special situations where a team just had a

25:49

bad year and they're gonna bounce back next

25:51

year, right O. That

25:54

that'll be a fun one, and I'm sure we can have that

25:56

debate as we could started on path to the draft

25:59

coming up this bring once

26:01

free agency finishes up. So that'll be a that'll be

26:03

a fun one because the free agency

26:05

quarterback situation could be really intriguing

26:07

as well, with guys like Philip

26:10

and Jameis Winston and Ryan Tannehill

26:12

and that whole crew and maybe even Eli Manning.

26:15

Um. So that's uh there, there's some interesting

26:18

variables in the quarterback discussion

26:20

there. You know, you have one final takeaway for us uh

26:23

from the champ weekend. Oh Man Ohio

26:25

stated tough, Yeah, and and and

26:27

a lot of times, Like we talked

26:29

about toughness. Everyone thinks about the physical,

26:32

but really the mental toughness that

26:34

was on display. You talked about a team that is loaded

26:36

with NFL talent. We can talk about

26:38

Jase Jones and Akuda and even a

26:41

young justin fields. They got

26:43

h the space early by the

26:45

badges, and look they stumbled

26:47

back to the corner. They may have taken a standing

26:49

eight count but the way that they reeled

26:52

off those points to come back and

26:54

win in the Big Ten title game, Man,

26:56

it speaks volumes about the grit,

26:59

the RESILIOU see the person. There's all those words

27:01

that you want to throw up there, But then the bounce

27:04

back man says

27:06

a lot. And I think that experience

27:08

it is gonna serve them will in the semifinals

27:10

because for them to knock off Clemson,

27:13

it is going to take a champion

27:15

effort to knock out the champion. And

27:18

so I feel better about Ohio

27:20

State than I felt about them before because

27:22

the way that they were able to take Wisconsin's

27:25

heymaker and bounce back, I

27:27

think it says a lot about Ryan Day and its

27:29

staff and his team. So I

27:31

think that's a good point. I think the

27:33

early deficit from Ohio State showcases

27:37

something that could be more valuable to them

27:39

rather than showcasing vulnerability.

27:41

I think it ends up, as you said, being more valuable

27:43

to them in their arsenal now in their back

27:46

pocket is they get set for the College Football Playoff

27:48

and look, uh no, Bill obviously

27:51

works closely with us as a producer. Here, I

27:53

moved the sticks and uh you

27:55

know, uh, big

27:57

Wisconsin fan, big Wisconsin fan,

27:59

big Hackers fan. And so we had

28:01

the group text going during the Big

28:04

Ten championship game and I love you to

28:06

beel It was one seven. He was feeling

28:08

it and his text goes, Wisconsin

28:11

is winning this? Well

28:15

they didn't score another point, it's

28:17

score another point? Oh man,

28:20

Bill. I felt for you on that one. I was like, oh boy,

28:22

there's the kiss of death. There it is, and

28:25

Ohio State rattles off, what was it? Twenty

28:28

seven? Unanswered at that point

28:31

to go and we

28:33

love you, We wish the best for your for your

28:35

Badgers next season, my friend. Or

28:37

in the uh where they gonna end up in uh?

28:41

Are they in the Rose Rose? Yeah?

28:43

There the badge of the take on Oregon.

28:45

And I think the last time we saw that matchup was

28:47

a classic with Russell Wilson. Yes, they

28:51

came up a little short, but it was a great game. The Athony

28:53

Thompson, a lot of fireworks or whatever.

28:56

So I mean, you know, that's kind of local

28:58

Pasadena. We made need to take a little take

29:00

a little ride,

29:01

take it. We might

29:03

have to go do it after the draft to read to get get

29:05

a look scope not only at justin

29:08

Herbert, but it looks at Jonathan jo some

29:10

of the other guys. Yeah, scope it out

29:12

before we we go watch the NFL p A

29:14

Collegiate Bowl later in January from

29:16

Pasadena as well, which you'll see right

29:19

here in NFL Network, which is fun, um

29:21

as we get to see some of the best players in college football

29:23

take the field. All right. So that and then my final

29:25

takeaway, um after your three there

29:28

on championship weekend was Lane

29:30

Kiffin. Lane Kiffin got

29:32

it done at Florida Atlantic.

29:35

He wins now to conference

29:37

championships in three years at

29:39

f A U and then bolts for Ole Miss

29:41

And look, I think this was always

29:43

going to be a stepping stone for him to get

29:45

back into a head coaching job at a Power five school.

29:48

I'm sure f A you understood that as

29:50

well. That was clearly you know, part

29:52

of the deal. But he made it work at f

29:54

A U UM and beat a good

29:57

U A B team in the conference championship game

29:59

at Conference USA. UM. So

30:01

there's a couple of things wrapped up in that. I

30:04

think it's a really intriguing higher for Old

30:06

Miss UM. Obviously, anytime

30:08

anywhere Lane Kiffin goes, it's gonna draw

30:10

some attention. So like,

30:12

I think it did what it was supposed to do.

30:15

For Line, Kiffin got him another another opportunity

30:17

to Power five school, but also for f

30:19

a U. I mean this, you

30:21

can win at Florida Atlantic. I

30:24

think that's that's an attractive job. There's

30:26

some good players there now too, and he's

30:28

recruited some good players there. I

30:31

think that that only strengthens um

30:33

the East Division of Conference USA as well,

30:36

which we see a lot of here on NFL network now.

30:38

Um So, I I think both

30:40

parties win in that scenario. Uh,

30:42

you know, Kiffen taking f a U to uh,

30:45

you know, the top of Conference USA, and

30:47

then you know, Lane then go ahead

30:49

and getting getting his more desirable

30:52

job at Old Miss in the SEC.

30:54

I think that's kind of interesting. What do you think of

30:56

of Lane going to Old Miss? Do you think he can he

30:59

can make it work there? Stutely thinking Cannon, And

31:01

I'm gonna say this because I maybe I'm

31:03

sure I am in the minority. I think Lane Kivin

31:05

is a really good coach. Now, I won't

31:07

say that he had handled all situations

31:10

in the right way, but I will mark some of

31:12

that up to immaturity. Because he's very young when

31:14

he got these opportunities. Having met with him

31:16

and sat with him when he was with the Oakland Raiders,

31:18

UM, I thought he had a bright mind. I thought what

31:21

he wanted to do. Uh as a pro coach,

31:23

I felt like he had command. Look he bounced around

31:25

when the Tennessee quickly Inherits

31:28

a situation at USC that I think anyone

31:30

would have struggled with. And I think

31:33

st fans never could appreciate

31:35

um what he was trying to do when it came to

31:37

the way that he wanted to play on offense

31:40

and the style of play at Old Miss.

31:42

I think it will work for him because

31:45

one, he knows the beasts in that in

31:47

that division. He understands Alabama like

31:49

no other. He understands how to attack Nick Saban,

31:51

he knows how to make him uncomfortable and

31:53

all those things. He also will understand how

31:56

to deal with l s U And the thing the only

31:58

part of the job it is touching man.

32:01

It is such a head knocker

32:03

in the SEC. But he probably

32:05

has the confidence of knowing. Hey

32:07

man, Hugh Freeze won games at Old

32:10

Miss Ole Miss recently has

32:12

been relevant in the SEC. Look throw

32:14

away those allegations and all that we

32:16

have seen Old Miss be one of the premier

32:18

teams in the SEC. So

32:21

there's some confidence knowing and if I do this the

32:23

right way, I certainly can get it done and he'll

32:25

make it exciting. So look, I am

32:27

optimistic about what can be at

32:30

Old Miss with him in charge. Yeah,

32:32

and he's got an interesting quarterback situation you

32:34

know there Um obviously with

32:37

coral Um kind of started the season

32:39

and then Plumbly who came in and was the Freshman

32:41

of the Week in the SEC a couple of different

32:43

times. So um, look

32:46

that that's gonna be interesting. And we

32:48

know that you can recruit the Old Miss. I

32:50

mean, you know, Hugh Freeze is bringing

32:52

in top recruiting classes in the country and

32:55

uh and now you know we've seen the likes of DK metcalf

32:57

A, J Brown and Um, you

33:00

know, there's definitely ways to get

33:02

really good talent into Ole Miss and matter

33:04

can you put it all together and be a consistent

33:06

contender in the West Division. So

33:09

that's gonna be fun to watch. I'm excited to see that. So that's a

33:11

look their championship weekend. Obviously,

33:13

as a result of championship weekend. We now know who's

33:16

in the college football Playoff and we'll

33:18

start uh in the Peach Bawl in December

33:20

with Oklahoma and L s U

33:23

out of Oklahoma. Clinton. Do you feel like,

33:26

oh, you will

33:29

give L s U trouble Bucky

33:31

or do you I think they will give

33:34

them some trouble Um Like,

33:36

Oh, US offense is gonna be problematic. That's

33:38

what I was thinking. Yeah, um Linco

33:40

and Rowley can kind of make the game challenge

33:42

him just because the way he'll push stress

33:45

on their defense. But player for

33:47

player, I think L s U is more talented.

33:50

I think the only thing that still

33:52

worries me, and maybe I don't know, maybe I'm

33:54

I've had my heartbroken a little bit, uh

33:57

and picking games for L s U for so long.

34:00

Can can they still

34:03

be who they've been after a four

34:05

week layoff? How much

34:08

will rush steep

34:10

into their game doing this

34:12

this period that they're off, because

34:14

they're rolling, they're playing the best football right now.

34:17

How do you kind of set your schedule

34:19

to keep that going? And also

34:22

when you're Oklahoma and you're the fourth

34:24

seed in this and everyone is gonna tell you have

34:26

no shot, man, I think the

34:28

scariest thing is dealing with the Lincoln Riley

34:30

with nothing to lose, doesn't

34:33

have a charing to win. He can do the trick plays

34:35

and come at you. I think that's a lot,

34:37

So we'll see. I wouldn't just completely

34:40

discount Oklahoma, but I

34:42

think they have a tough They have a tougher

34:44

road than Clemson has in terms of pulling

34:46

off an upset. Yeah, And I think the two

34:49

three game with Clemson and Ohio State is gonna

34:51

be really interesting. You know. I think we've seen

34:53

that. You know, there's there's there's

34:56

ways where you can compete with Ohio State.

34:58

We saw that with Wisconsin in the first half.

35:00

I think Clemson could certainly do that. And

35:03

I think we've seen we're seeing the best of Trevor Lawrence

35:05

right now. So man,

35:08

that that's gonna be the That's gonna be a fun I'm I

35:10

might I'm probably looking forward a little bit more

35:12

to the Clemson Ohio State game just because

35:14

I think that could be end up being a really really

35:16

good one. I mean, I think that's the table center in

35:18

so many different ways. I look, the winner

35:20

ever goes to the championship game. We talked

35:22

about the Trevor Lawrence justin fields.

35:25

Uh conversation and debate that we'll see in

35:28

one Uh. Clemson,

35:30

this could be the end of a dynasty

35:32

in terms of like they're beginning to lose

35:34

coaches. Jeff Scott, their co opensive

35:37

coordinator, is taking the job in South Florida,

35:39

so he'll be there for the run. But this

35:41

would be the last version of

35:44

the last time we see this version of Clemson.

35:46

UM. And so look, you know when

35:48

assistant started leaving death kind of when things

35:51

begin to change, and this would

35:53

be the first major despection uh

35:55

from the Tiger. So, yeah, this is an exciting

35:58

game. It's a fascinating game. I can't wait to can you

36:00

to break it down and watch it? Yeah, no question. And

36:02

and then after that, obviously we we would get into the

36:04

national championship game. And look, I selfishly,

36:07

I want to see L s U in Ohio State. You

36:09

know, they've been the top two teams really all season

36:11

long. I want to see them. But I'm not you

36:13

know, I'm not just sending them into

36:15

the title game just yet. I think we're gonna have really

36:17

two really good semifinals. Uh. And

36:19

then obviously we'll get into the national championship

36:21

game once it is set. But uh,

36:24

it's gonna be a fun college football playoff. I think,

36:26

uh, I think to me, I do

36:28

feel like these were the four best teams. Um,

36:30

look, I think I'd probably love to see eight in

36:33

a college football playoff. But that's a whole another argument.

36:35

I think we've got four really good ones here. It's gonna

36:37

make for some fun starting December

36:40

with the Peach Bowl Cloman L s U and then

36:42

Clemson Ohio State in the Fiesta on as

36:46

well, all getting set for UH, Indiana

36:48

and UNC to meet in the College Football Playoff

36:50

in twenty one. Sound

36:52

good? All

36:56

right? Well, that that is gonna do it for

36:58

us here on this edition of The of the

37:00

Sticks Podcast presented by A. R. P. Bucky.

37:02

When you heading back over here, man, well, man, I come back

37:05

the six key, and I think we jump in. We

37:07

got the single Bowl review, yes, yeah,

37:12

yeah, so we get a chance to do

37:14

all of that, and then you mentioned

37:16

the collegiate bowl game that we get a chance to NFLP

37:19

a collegiate bowl and we get a chance to be a part of ye

37:21

and to do so. Yeah, there's a lot of exciting stuff. Uh.

37:24

Look, when the colendar flips Man. That's when we get a chance

37:26

to really do our things. So I'm excited about it all, no,

37:28

no question. Gonna be fun. Looking forward to getting you

37:31

back over here. But again. You

37:33

can download Move the Six podcast at Apple Podcasts,

37:35

are on your favorite podcast app. Check out all

37:37

the videos at NFL dot com Slash MTS

37:39

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37:41

dot com Slash NFL podcast. Remember

37:44

when you're downloading, give us a rating

37:46

and leave us a comment. Leave us a question

37:48

in the comments, and we just might answer them for you.

37:51

On Thursday's edition of the Movie the Sticks

37:53

podcast, Thanks so much for listening. We'll see

37:55

you next time. DJ should be back

37:57

in the saddle for Bucky Imrhett

37:59

taking easy