0:00

Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast.

0:02

Be sure to catch us live every weekday on

0:04

Fox Sports Radio in noon to three

0:06

Eastern nine am to noon Pacific.

0:09

Find your local station for The Herd at Fox

0:11

Sports Radio dot com, or

0:13

stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio

0:15

app by searching Fox Sports Radio or

0:18

FSR.

0:21

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

0:26

All right, it is a Wednesday live

0:29

been Los Angeles. It's

0:31

The Herd. Wherever you may be and

0:33

however you may be listening or watching.

0:36

Thanks for making us part of your

0:38

day. Jmac. There

0:40

are a handful of NBA games

0:42

during the regular season that matter

0:46

Bucks Lakers. Last night, at least for the Lakers,

0:50

that was a showing. That

0:52

was something.

0:54

Anthony Davis Austin reeves total

0:56

pack what uh.

0:58

But I want to start with this. We

1:01

all have bosses, even

1:04

rich people who own companies like this

1:06

one. They have shareholders, they

1:08

have boards, got to

1:10

answer to somebody. I always

1:12

laugh when people complain about the NFL

1:15

putting games on Christmas or

1:17

Thursday night games. You do get

1:19

that. Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL,

1:21

has thirty two bosses the

1:24

NFL owners. He is an employee

1:26

of the NFL. So the

1:28

NFL yesterday announced they're going to play two

1:30

games on Christmas and it's on a Wednesday,

1:35

and all the complainers come out, Oh, two

1:38

games on Christmas Day Wednesday. In twenty

1:40

twenty four, there's the headline, what

1:43

would you do if you were Roger

1:45

Goodell? Would you go tell your

1:47

bosses? Yeah, it's gonna get huge

1:49

ratings, But you know, I just think it's too much.

1:53

There's a reason Roger Goodell keeps getting raises

1:55

because he keeps thumping the NBA in baseball

1:58

and pulling away from all the other sports. Ask

2:00

yourself the question, will you watch those games?

2:03

Don't? Don't? No, no, no? Will

2:05

you watch the games? Yes you

2:07

will. The NFL

2:10

put a playoff game on a streaming service,

2:13

Peacock, not even one of the more popular

2:15

ones. It got twenty eight

2:17

million views. Twenty

2:20

eight million viewers came in to watch a boring

2:22

playoff game, almost three

2:25

times the NBA Finals. It

2:27

wasn't on Netflix, it wasn't on

2:30

like Hulu, it wasn't on Amazon

2:33

Prime is on Peacock

2:35

got twenty eight million viewers,

2:37

the most streamed live event in US history.

2:41

You keep watching and They're gonna

2:43

keep putting stuff on streaming services on

2:45

Wednesdays, Thursdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving

2:48

because you keep watching. Tech companies follow

2:50

the demand of the audience. Doesn't

2:53

matter if it's Apple, if it's Google,

2:55

they're gonna try stuff. Nobody liked the

2:57

Google glasses, so they stopped making

2:59

them, right. That's

3:01

what tech companies do. They keep rolling stuff

3:03

out and they follow your demand. And

3:06

for the record, I will watch an

3:08

average NFL game over

3:11

it's a wonderful life any day of the week.

3:14

There is no proof, we've looked at

3:16

all the numbers. Athletes

3:18

don't get hurt more on short

3:21

weeks like Thursday. They do not.

3:23

There is no elevation of injuries.

3:25

Wednesday games are going to be very

3:28

infrequent. They're only doing it because

3:30

of Christmas, and these games get huge

3:32

ratings. There's two times in America everybody's

3:34

sitting down in front of the TV not working. Thanksgiving

3:37

NFL owns it, and now Christmas,

3:39

NFL saying we're going to own it. And for

3:41

the record, I like that. The NFL, unlike

3:44

baseball, has always been willing

3:46

to move, change and adapt. Overtime

3:49

rules have changed multiple times. The kickoff

3:51

now this year is going to change, some

3:54

for safety measures, some just to

3:56

make the sport more interesting. Kickoffs were a dead

3:58

play around with punts

4:00

now too often their spare catches. I'm

4:03

okay with it. Pat roughing the passer

4:05

is now going to be you can go to

4:08

replay and review roughing the passer because

4:10

people complaining. The NFL has always been willing

4:12

to do that. So my takeaway

4:14

in this there are certain people out there. Maybe it's

4:16

a brain function by certain people. They just

4:18

want to complain about stuff. But will

4:20

you watch the game? Yes,

4:23

twenty eight million people went to Peacock

4:26

to watch a bad playoff game,

4:29

the most streamed live event in

4:31

US history. You know, there's

4:34

your answer. And the NFL,

4:37

more than every sport, is always understood

4:39

it's a TV show and it's a business, and that's

4:41

where the income comes from. That's

4:43

where the revenue comes from. So if we

4:45

keep buying their new tech, they're

4:47

going to keep selling their new tech. So

4:50

I would ideally love if it was just

4:52

a Sunday Monday league. But I gotta be honest,

4:54

even though those games are bad on Thursday, I'm

4:56

sitting down there on a Thursday night and I end up watching

4:58

most of them as long as Carol, I know, is not in

5:00

it. And these Wednesday Christmas games.

5:03

Last year they did Christmas games, they got massive

5:05

numbers. They bludgeoned the NBA.

5:09

And I think the NFL also sees

5:11

an opportunity where the NBA's made

5:13

some marketing mistakes. Lebron,

5:15

STEPH KD getting older, they

5:18

are seizing a business opportunity

5:21

and putting games right on a day that used

5:23

to be owned by basketball.

5:26

So there's not that many regular season NBA

5:29

games that you know you have

5:31

to you feel like you get a real impact

5:33

and that make a real statement. I like watching

5:35

NBA regular season games, but I

5:37

don't think there's that many that truly matter.

5:40

But you'll get down to the stretch after the

5:42

All Star break, you get down into these games, you

5:45

watch them and you're like, that feels like it.

5:47

It sort of resonates. Last

5:49

night, the Lakers beat Milwaukee at Milwaukee

5:51

without Lebron won twenty eight one twenty

5:54

four, and I thought it said a

5:56

lot about the Lakers. Milwaukee

5:58

is a team that's got signed, doesn't know as utilize

6:01

it. They've been playing really good borderline

6:03

playoff teams. Ten of their last eleven games.

6:05

They look tired down the stretch, but

6:08

it said a lot about the Lakers. First of all,

6:10

Anthony Davis, we said this yesterday

6:13

is having an amazing year and a half stretch.

6:15

Last night he played fifty two minutes. He's

6:18

already top five in the league in minutes. That's the most

6:21

he's ever played. He was absolutely dominating

6:24

challenged by Jannis. He

6:26

was twenty eight thirty four points,

6:29

twenty three rebounds, four blocks.

6:31

Ad was the best player on the floor

6:34

and Lebron didn't play, so Ad

6:36

and Austin Reeves saw that

6:38

as a green light to take over offensively.

6:41

And for the record, this once again illustrates

6:44

unlike the Warriors without Staph, the

6:47

Lakers are actually six

6:49

and four without Lebron and they score

6:51

more points. Now, my theory

6:53

on that is d Lo, D'Angelo

6:56

Russell, and Lebron. I don't think Lebron

6:58

loves his game. Last night

7:00

in the second half was money. He got

7:02

shots that he wouldn't normally get

7:05

or take with Lebron on the floor. So

7:07

when Lebron doesn't play, Austin

7:09

Reeves knows, I got to be more aggressive

7:12

d LO, who I don't think O was fits with Lebron,

7:14

they almost traded him. He steps

7:16

up and ad realizes I'm

7:18

the leader of the team. A couple years ago,

7:20

when U ask AD, here's the baton,

7:23

be the guy, he shrank, He disappeared.

7:25

He was never healthy. Something has

7:28

happened with Anthony Davis over the last

7:30

year and a half. When Lebron's

7:32

out, he grabs that baton and

7:35

he takes over and he is dominating.

7:37

They were down nineteen late in

7:40

the fourth quarter and came roaring back

7:43

no Lebron. So they play a different style

7:45

without Lebron. And if you look right

7:47

now at the Western Conference standings, the way

7:49

they do this in the NBA with a play in game,

7:52

seven through ten will

7:55

play in playoff and only two

7:57

will survive. And right now I would take the Lakers

8:00

over Sacramento Phoenix, or the Warriors

8:02

or an improving Houston. Again,

8:05

Milwaukee looked tired. Giannis was

8:07

two for seven in clutch, missed two key

8:09

free throws. They've had a really tough

8:11

stretch. I've got my issues with Milwaukee,

8:14

but they're gonna win a playoff series. They'll be fine. They're

8:16

not Boston, but they're fine. This game,

8:18

said a lot about the Lakers. They can play

8:20

without Lebron. DeAngelo

8:24

Russell continues in the

8:26

last since December to be

8:28

a really consistent offensive

8:30

player in some clutch spots. This

8:33

is also a team that utilizes

8:35

their size. The Lakers are not going

8:37

to run up and down the floor. You can run,

8:39

you know. That's why they're probably not a great matchup

8:42

if the Celtics were at full strength. You know,

8:44

Oklahoma City runs well young teams. Lakers

8:46

don't really do that. They utilize their size.

8:49

Milwaukee takes a lot of jumpers for their size.

8:51

The Lakers free throw differential the last

8:54

two years is plus nine hundred and

8:56

eleven, so they pound

8:58

the ball low. They score in the paint.

9:01

They don't take or make a ton of threes.

9:04

What they do well is experience. OKAC

9:06

doesn't have any size, Golden

9:09

State doesn't have any. So the Lakers

9:11

roared back without Lebron

9:14

on the road down big.

9:17

Their size, their experience,

9:19

and the new and improved ad

9:21

over the last year and a half were

9:24

on display. This game felt

9:26

like it was the biggest Lakers win of the season

9:29

and as a testament what they can

9:31

do not at full strength.

9:33

They've got enough tools not

9:35

at full strength, they can go up

9:38

against what the number two seed in

9:40

the East, come back from nineteen

9:42

down late and win. Here's Austin and Ad

9:44

after.

9:46

It was one of those moments that you can either

9:49

you know, flip the page to tomorrow, get

9:54

ready for that game where you can, you know, go

9:56

out and compete one hundred and ten percent and give yourself

9:59

an opportunity.

10:00

This is the stuff you dream about as.

10:01

A kid, being on the road

10:04

with your guys, you know, battling

10:06

out of an amazing team and having

10:08

opportunities to make big shots.

10:12

That twenty point lead in

10:14

his league now is just

10:17

nothing because it's

10:19

a way to offense is right

10:21

now in the league so high power that

10:24

you can wipe the league away pretty fast. So

10:26

if I say it was fine,

10:30

yeah, you line up and do it all again tomorrow.

10:32

My takeaway after this game is somebody

10:35

get Anthony Davis and IV because

10:37

they played Memphis tonight. It

10:39

is another must win game for the Lakers.

10:42

That was impressive. And again

10:44

a year and a half ago, two years ago,

10:46

Lebron was begging for Ad

10:49

to take over the team and

10:52

he just wouldn't do it. And something has

10:54

happened I don't know what it is. Is he taking

10:56

care of his body? Did Lebron have multiple

10:59

sit downs? But Ad last night

11:01

is on nights like last night, best

11:04

defensive player in the league, doesn't

11:06

get hurt much anymore, playing a

11:08

ton of minutes and absolutely

11:11

is relishing and embracing the

11:14

leadership role. Get me the ball on

11:16

bullfans. Totally dominating performance

11:19

against Jannis so j Mack.

11:21

That was something that was an impressive w in

11:24

a wildly entertaining game.

11:25

Yeah, Ad was tremendous.

11:26

Austin Reeves triple double, game winning

11:28

three this game maybe of his career.

11:30

I mean, listen you.

11:32

I know people are like, hey, r, can we get Donovan Mitchell

11:34

in the offseason?

11:35

Can we get this guy? I'm telling you, I'm

11:37

not ready to move off Austin Reeves. Man, he is

11:39

really fun to watch Colin that kid.

11:42

Lakers fans love this guy.

11:44

And they create contact.

11:47

You know, everybody's always like, why do the Lakers

11:49

shoot so many free throws? Because they don't shoot

11:51

a lot of threes. So Austin Reeves

11:53

ad Lebron initiate a ton

11:55

of contact. So teams that settled

11:58

for threes. Milwaukee's big but shoots a lot of threes.

12:00

Lakers are huge, they don't so

12:02

their free throw advance in the end. Last night,

12:05

I think they were like fifteen for fifteen

12:08

late in the game in free throw. So the Lakers get

12:10

to the line. Not all Laker teams get to the line.

12:12

You know, when the Warriors were dominating this

12:14

league and doing small ball, they weren't getting

12:16

to the line as much because

12:18

it was very perimeter dominated. This Laker

12:21

team can't win that way. They have to pound

12:23

the ball. And it's not like they they

12:25

always shoot well from the free

12:27

throw line. They don't necessarily rebound

12:29

as well for their size, but offensively, they

12:32

create contact, they hit their free

12:34

throws, they get to the line, and it's it's

12:36

a pretty clear advantage.

12:38

By the way.

12:38

Lakers will probably be playing on Christmas Day again

12:40

this year, like every year.

12:42

I'm just curious. Do you have two televisions

12:44

in your house?

12:44

Yes?

12:45

You do. Do you have remote controls for the TVs?

12:47

Yes?

12:47

Do they work?

12:48

Yeah?

12:48

Okay, so it's not an issue Christmas Day. You

12:50

can watch it all NFL and NBA.

12:53

Right.

12:53

Also, I have Fubo, So

12:56

it's this idy. People like to grumble,

12:59

but you don't have an eye iPad. I mean,

13:01

do you have an iPhone? Fubo's

13:03

twenty bucks a month. I'm watching.

13:05

I'm on a plane watching March Madness

13:08

games, flying home on site.

13:09

But it's not like there aren't a million commercials during

13:11

all sporting events.

13:12

I mean, NCAA tournament's kind of brutal.

13:14

It feels like there's a tournament every two minutes, a commercial

13:16

every two minutes. Yeah, I gotta watch another game on

13:18

my phone.

13:18

Like I have a remote like some you know.

13:21

Listen, will you watch Christmas Day NFL

13:23

games. They're gonna

13:25

put Josh Allen on one of those games. They

13:28

may not put the chief, but they'll put like Lamar, Josh

13:30

Allen, Joe Burrow, Matt Stafford.

13:33

You will watch them.

13:33

Wasn't it Aaron Rodgers versus the Dolphins

13:36

Last Last or no, sorry, Jordan Love versus

13:38

the Dolphins? Somebody versu Miami was a great game.

13:41

And two A vomited all over himself and I want some money,

13:43

and you know that's all.

13:45

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays

13:47

and Noone Eastern not Am Pacific

13:50

on Fox Sports Radio FS one

13:52

and the iHeartRadio.

13:53

App So when is a take not

13:55

a hot take, even though it sort of sounds

13:58

like it's lukewarm and boiling here,

14:00

it is. I would move off Dak

14:02

Prescott after this

14:04

next season. The Packers

14:06

moved off Aaron Rodgers, you can

14:09

move off Dak Prescott. They'll take a cap

14:11

hit in twenty twenty five. Teams

14:13

have cap hits all the time. You hit on four

14:16

or five draft picks, you get around

14:18

it pretty quickly. I mean, look what Denver just did

14:20

with Russell Wilson. You figure it out. You

14:22

draft a quarterback second,

14:24

third round, pops boom, You're fine.

14:27

Dak Prescott himself was a fourth round pick.

14:30

There is one thing that guarantees you

14:32

will never win a super Bowl in modern day

14:34

football, that you have a good quarterback

14:37

and he's paid like a great one.

14:40

Dallas is not a viable super Bowl team

14:42

either was Tennessee with Ryan Tannehill,

14:45

who was a good quarterback paid like a great

14:47

one. Minnesota just made

14:50

this decision to move off Kirk Cousins,

14:52

who is absolutely Dak

14:55

statistically. And so

14:58

Jerry Jones, to his credit, is

15:00

not gonna sign him early. Is

15:02

gonna let it play out. And my

15:04

takeaway is. I would draft a quarterback

15:07

somewhere this year, second third,

15:09

fourth round. If Michael Penix falls, I'd

15:11

grab him. This is not a shot

15:14

at Dak Prescott. The Rams

15:17

moved off Jared Goff because he was

15:19

a pretty good quarterback, being paid

15:21

a ton of money, and

15:23

he'd been to a Super Bowl. He

15:25

throws a much nicer ball than Dak.

15:28

He was a number one pick. Look

15:30

around the league. You can't win a Super

15:33

Bowl if you're pretty good at quarterback

15:35

and really expensive. Breeze

15:39

in Denver, Manning Brady

15:42

Maholmes now either taking pay Cutch

15:45

or constantly reworking

15:47

their deal to be team friendly. Dak

15:51

was a steal his first couple of years in the

15:53

league. He's been a little

15:55

bit, a little bit of

15:58

a lead weight in the last couple They

16:00

couldn't make any moves during this free

16:02

agency period and they had needs.

16:05

Jerry Jones at the league meetings

16:07

acknowledging they're not going

16:10

to sign Dak right now. They're going to

16:12

let it play out.

16:14

We are where we are, we have our contract,

16:17

we're locked and loaded for this year,

16:19

and we can see

16:21

as we move along how

16:24

we are thinking. We inclusive

16:26

of everybody hear us, Dad, and

16:29

we'll see what we do. I don't have anything to

16:31

report today.

16:33

Yeah, I mean Dak is a two to five

16:35

playoff quarterback, and in seven playoff

16:38

games he's had one great one against

16:41

the eight and nine Tampa Bay

16:43

Buccaneers. He has

16:45

made a living off awful teams,

16:47

of which Washington of the Giants, for most

16:50

of his career, have both

16:52

been awful. He is forty

16:54

eight and twelve against teams under five

16:56

hundred, and again he's had two bad ones in his

16:58

division. He is way five

17:00

hundred against winning teams. So

17:03

that's the difference between a Mahomes and Allen,

17:05

a Lamar, a Brady, a Manning of

17:08

Breeze, the great ones? Can you

17:10

beat the good teams? Good

17:13

quarterbacks beat bad ones.

17:15

If you look at Dak's career numbers regular

17:17

season in playoffs, it is very

17:20

clear when he faces top

17:22

competition, he is me

17:24

d Okre. You may

17:27

take a cap hit in twenty twenty five moving

17:29

off him. This is an anti Dak. I think

17:31

he fits like Kirk Cousins

17:33

fits in Atlanta. I think Dak in New

17:35

England an adult in the room

17:38

is a really good move. I think there's

17:40

an argument to be made New England trades

17:42

there pick down solves

17:44

a lot of their offensive speed limitations

17:47

and then goes and gets Dak next year

17:49

is they'll have another top pick in

17:51

the top five. But the idea

17:53

that Dallas owes him or Dallas

17:56

no, Dak's been overpaid. If you're

17:58

paying quarterbacks based on January

18:00

and February, Dak

18:02

was a steel early he is

18:05

now. I mean, if you paid for

18:07

a pretty good house but you paid a great price,

18:09

you'd feel ripped off. If you paid for

18:12

a pretty good car but you paid

18:15

a more expensive price, you wouldn't

18:17

feel like you're getting value. You

18:19

start looking at Dak's playoff performances

18:22

and records against good teams, You're

18:25

not getting great value anymore. J

18:27

Mack with the.

18:28

News, This

18:32

is the herd line news.

18:33

That sounds like such a crazy take, but essentially

18:36

Minnesota just did the same thing. Hey,

18:39

we like Kirk not if

18:41

the number starts with four, well, Dallas,

18:44

Dak's number could start with six, then

18:47

it's beyond not a good deal for the

18:49

team. It's a bad deal for the team.

18:51

That dovetails nicely into our first story, which

18:53

is Brock Purdy, who has been great

18:56

on his rookie deal, seventh round

18:58

pick. He's making peanuts, but

19:00

he's extension eligible next

19:03

offseason. Forty nine Ers owner Jed York

19:05

recognizes Perty will more

19:08

than likely ask for a monster contract.

19:10

And here's what the owner had to say.

19:13

It's a good problem when your quarterback is one

19:15

of your highest paid guys on your team and.

19:17

In the league.

19:17

It's what the market is, right Like, it's

19:20

not like Brock is going to ask for something

19:22

that no one has ever asked for before. You

19:24

have I don't know how many players making

19:27

over forty million dollars a quarterback right

19:29

now. I'm glad that we have Frog JL

19:31

Kyle Like they're the ones that we'll figure

19:33

out the details of it. And

19:36

I just have to sign a check so

19:39

my part, and that's pretty easy.

19:41

What do you think his market would be today?

19:44

And this is what irks me a little bit? Why are we doing

19:46

this? It's a year away, a

19:48

whole year Collin.

19:49

Now we're putting this undue pressure

19:51

Niners Rock Purty, they got to pay him, Like,

19:55

can we relax? That's coming off another great season. And

19:57

by the way, you brought up Dax's playoff stats. I've got

19:59

rock Perty's here, you would you like him? Well,

20:01

Broxbordy has a he's four

20:03

and one. I'm not giving him the loss to

20:05

the Eagles where he got hurt. He got hurt on like

20:07

the first or second series, but the

20:09

record because he started against him, a.

20:11

Loss, six touchdowns, one

20:13

pick.

20:13

He's been great in the playoffs, three game

20:16

winning drives, okay,

20:18

unlike Dak Perty.

20:19

Has been great in the playoffs. I don't

20:22

know what you do with him.

20:23

What's

20:25

his market? It's better than

20:27

it's better than Justin Fields. I would think it's

20:30

better than the same round.

20:31

Yeah, obviously it's

20:34

just too or So here's this. I

20:36

see what they're doing with Cowhard. I see it well.

20:38

I mean, I think companies want

20:40

to know in order for me to pay you.

20:43

I'm not going to negotiate against myself.

20:46

What's the market?

20:47

Okay, So here's the answer, Justin

20:50

Fields.

20:51

In about December, when I made the robust

20:53

market comment, there weren't a lot of quarterbacks

20:56

that were going to be out there. We didn't think Cousins

20:58

was going to let go from Minnesota. We didn't know

21:00

Russell Wilson was going to be dusted. It

21:02

looked good at the time, it got very

21:04

bad.

21:05

Come free agency.

21:07

Right now, I would say the market doesn't

21:09

look great next year for

21:11

Brockburton.

21:12

What a four of these quarterback sick hit?

21:15

Well, that's the thing that we don't know.

21:17

I mean, what if three guys retire. Russell

21:19

Wilson, I'm done, Aaron Rodgers, I'm done.

21:21

Like a lot of things can happen. It's

21:23

tough to say, but I know where you're going with this.

21:26

He's not a fifty million dollar guy.

21:27

No, he's not. You have to look at the market.

21:30

I think in everything you have to contextualize.

21:34

He literally has five Hall

21:36

of Fame level players around. I mean Trent

21:38

Williams and Christian McCaffrey and Kittle are all

21:40

automatic dee ball plays. Five more

21:42

years will get votes. And I think Ayuk is outrageously

21:45

to Allinson.

21:46

But George Kittle's an automatic Hall of Famer.

21:48

I mean, we know he's great, but really, already.

21:52

I think George Kittle is a Hall of Famer. You don't

21:54

think so.

21:54

I mean I need to drill down on the numbers.

21:56

But like automatic Hall of Fame, like Travis

21:58

Kelcey, he's in gronk lock.

22:01

But like Kittles really.

22:02

Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey.

22:04

Yes, Christian McCaffrey.

22:07

He may be the best running back in

22:09

the last twenty five years,

22:12

Ladanian, Tomlinson's up there. I mean

22:14

there's some great ones, Edgar and James. I

22:16

mean, there's been some really guys that can

22:19

do multiple things.

22:20

Well, he's on the Hall of Fame track, Like, he's not thirty?

22:22

Can we can we not put him in the Hall of Fame yet? I

22:25

don't know what's gonna happen with perty. I just don't like

22:27

how the media is. They're trying to make an issue

22:29

when there really isn't one. I'm gonna win a

22:31

Super Bowl your We'll

22:33

see what your market is then, right?

22:35

Is that fair?

22:37

Look at this suspicion that he's looking.

22:38

He's just like, I can't wait to McIntyre's

22:41

upset about this. I'm gonna needle him for

22:43

twelve months about it. Next

22:45

up, Nick Sirianni and the Eagles,

22:48

he was on the off hot seat this offseason,

22:50

ended up keeping his job.

22:51

They replaced boke coordinators. Eagles

22:54

had that brutal, brutal wild card

22:56

loss in Tampa during the league

22:59

meetings. Owner je Free Luriy explained

23:01

his decision to stick with Syrianni.

23:04

Nick's conscious

23:07

desire to have top notch defensive,

23:10

top notch coordinators under him

23:13

really drove a lot of the strategy,

23:15

and he was hell bent on making

23:18

sure we had the best and you

23:20

know, highly encouraged by his both

23:23

analysis of where we're at, no

23:25

excuses, basically,

23:29

you know, a fundamental understanding of what needs

23:31

to be better than the last five or six weeks

23:33

of the season.

23:35

Yeah, well we'll.

23:37

See top notch coordinator.

23:39

So he had the guy decide who

23:41

he changed.

23:42

Steichen was a home run, and then the next

23:44

guy wasn't. So he's batten, you

23:46

know.

23:47

Who picked the next guy he did, And

23:49

then the defensive coordinator he had to SiGe and

23:51

then he hadn't moved off him for the

23:53

rocket scientist to call plays.

23:55

And that's a disaster.

23:56

Even Nick Saban Atbama missed and a couple

23:58

of coordinators. It's Pete Carroll missed

24:01

in a couple you know, I mean, it's hard,

24:03

you can't good coaches. Mike

24:05

Tomlin missed on an offensive coordinator.

24:07

It's hard. You're not gonna go You're not

24:09

gonna hit bat a thousand on coordinators.

24:12

Colon stuck it out and by the way.

24:14

It's I heard Ken Dorsey was great. He went

24:16

to Buffalo and it didn't work and he got

24:18

dismissed. They put Brady in then they were better. And

24:20

I heard Dorsey I had heard for

24:23

years he was on the hot track. Everybody

24:25

loved him. It's I think hiring number

24:27

two's is very difficult. It's

24:29

I've worked at big companies before and

24:32

seen a lot of mistakes when the CEO

24:34

hires a number two and the number two doesn't

24:36

fit. I I'm not a huge Nick

24:38

Cianni fan, but I mean,

24:41

I think the biggest question in Philadelphia

24:43

is there is a direct

24:46

correlation between Shane Stike

24:48

and calling plays for Jalen Hurts and

24:50

Jalen Hurts crushing and

24:53

Shane Stike in not doing that, and Jalen

24:55

Hurts being slightly better than average.

24:58

So that Mike, my question is, it's

25:00

not even a Syrianni thing, because I don't think we consider

25:02

him an elite top ten coach or

25:04

top five coach. To me, it's a Jalen

25:07

Hurts issue. How good is Jalen Hurts

25:09

without one of the smartest

25:11

guys in the league. Calling play Shane Steikin

25:14

because Stikeen has separated himself. There's

25:16

a lot of smart offensive guys in this league.

25:18

He's the next great one.

25:20

All right, let me ask you. So I'm looking at Nick

25:22

Sirianni's history here. He was the offensive coordinator

25:24

for the Colts for a few years. Yeah, he was a quarterbacks

25:27

coach with the Chargers of wide receivers coach.

25:29

I don't know, can you pinpoint anything anything?

25:32

Nick Sirianni's done amazing in the last time when he

25:34

when he got that job, I said it

25:37

on the air. I called my people and they

25:39

were like, not quite sure. He's a

25:41

head coach. Now again he

25:43

hits on Stikeen and it all

25:45

looks glorious. But remember when he

25:47

took that job in Philly and he started

25:50

calling plays early, they were a mess.

25:52

It's when he relinquished that to stike In

25:54

that Philadelphia took off. Then stike And leaves

25:57

and they're okay for about six weeks,

25:59

seven weeks, and then the further Shane

26:01

Styken got away, the more

26:03

poorly coach. They appeared. So

26:06

there and I'm not you know, I mean it. Demiko

26:08

Ryans hit a home run with his coordinator, Dan

26:11

Campbell hit a home run with his It's gonna

26:13

be hard in Detroit when Ben Johnson leaves to

26:15

hit another home run with Ben Johnson Atlanta.

26:17

Dan Quinn hit Kyle Shanahan before

26:19

and after him. Wasn't the same level so

26:22

Kingsbury in Washington. Dan

26:24

Quinn's like, we gotta pay big money for a

26:26

coordinator because my career has

26:28

been really good when I had a great one. So I

26:31

just want to see Jalen Hurts without Shane

26:33

Stiken. If this coordinator is better, fine,

26:36

he should be, But I'm really curious

26:38

to see what do I have with Jalen Hurts. Now I'm

26:40

not quite sure.

26:44

All right, Listen, I don't want

26:46

to sit here and defend Hurts, but I feel like Sirianni

26:48

deserves way more blame than Hurts.

26:50

I think that's fair.

26:51

Okay, final story the Dallas Cowboys,

26:54

Colin, Listen, They're not a huge talking point.

26:56

And then all of a sudden two names

26:58

pop up that the Cowboys

27:01

are being linked to in free agency.

27:02

Are you ready for this? Ezekiel

27:05

Elliott and Dalvin Cook.

27:06

That's all they have money for. They don't have any

27:08

money.

27:09

So I just looked up Dalvin cook stats last ye Remember

27:11

the Jets got in people like, ooh nice three

27:13

years ago.

27:14

He was amazing.

27:14

Aaron wanted to do. They're like two hundred yard

27:17

rushing all last season. Yeah, I thought he was

27:19

going to give them more pop. He didn't. Breese

27:21

Hall's just better.

27:22

Oh it's not even close.

27:23

But I mean Dallas kind

27:26

of scrap in the bottom of the barrel.

27:27

I mean they don't have any money. What

27:29

happens when you pay a quarterback in the in

27:32

the in the fifty million roll.

27:33

We know, no, running backs don't matter like they

27:35

used to, and you they're interchangeable. I mean, Nick Chubb

27:37

goes down Brown's plug in dudes

27:40

and they deliver. I

27:42

know that that that backfield

27:45

not looking great in Dallas.

27:46

It's gonna ban. They got to win with Dak.

27:48

It's a bad running back draft.

27:51

I think the kid at Oregon's about the best running

27:53

back I've seen.

27:53

The two guys from Michigan, they're not bad.

27:56

Lake Koram had an injury when he came back.

27:58

He was never quite the same player.

28:03

With Dak this year, and he was the runner up for MVP

28:05

last season. Shouldn't be a problem.

28:07

All right, ceedee lamb,

28:09

twist and ankle. Week three, Michael Gallup's

28:11

gone now.

28:12

Barely hold back laughter prokay.

28:16

J Mack with the news.

28:18

Well, that's the news, and thanks for stopping

28:20

by the herd line.

28:22

Now, No, I was thinking about this. So

28:24

we had Mark Few on the show yesterday,

28:26

and he's been to nine

28:29

straight Sweet sixteens,

28:33

and there's this real pushback

28:36

up. There's a he plays Purdue this week. Gone

28:38

Zaga plays Purdue. I think produce the better team. And

28:40

they played earlier in Maui Purdue one

28:42

and purduece got Zach Edie, the seven and four kid,

28:44

and he's just for a college player. He's

28:47

a dominant college player. But there's

28:49

been a lot of pushback because

28:52

the people that cover the NBA and

28:55

the draft people have said Zach Eady

28:58

just does not work in the end. That

29:01

doesn't mean like Tim Tebow, you can't

29:03

be a remarkable college player.

29:06

And here is Mark Few on Zach edy

29:08

in the matchup yesterday.

29:10

You know, twenty five years I've been ahead coach

29:13

here. I've never dealt with a

29:16

player or an entity like him.

29:18

He is a really, really, really good basketball

29:21

players and he

29:23

does everything well. I mean, he posts

29:25

the right way, you can score as

29:28

ball goes in now very

29:31

efficient, and he

29:33

shoots free throws really well. And then

29:35

at the other end, he's just you know, for a

29:37

team that likes to shoot, we're very effective in the

29:39

paint and shoot a lot of twos. I mean, it's it's

29:42

tough to get shots off.

29:44

In the paint.

29:44

And so he's just

29:47

again an entity that quite frankly,

29:49

I mean, you just I haven't seen in twenty

29:52

five years.

29:53

Here's the way I would explain it. In the seventies,

29:56

eighties, nineties, and even

29:58

to some degree in the early tooth, college

30:01

football offenses did

30:03

not look like the NFL. I mean, you go

30:05

back to Nebraska in the seventies and eighties and

30:07

Tom Osborne. They were doing single receiver

30:10

sets, like one receiver out left.

30:13

And that's why Tommy Fraser a quarterback

30:16

for maybe the best college

30:18

quarterback I've ever seen in terms of production, Tommy

30:20

Fraser. I watched them live in the National Championship

30:22

game against Florida. You couldn't stop him.

30:25

He didn't get drafted. I don't believe he got drafted.

30:28

There were quarterbacks in college that would be great, didn't

30:30

even get drafted today.

30:32

College football offenses look a

30:34

lot like NFL offenses, so if

30:36

you put up big numbers, you're going to get drafted. But

30:39

college basketball in the NBA don't

30:41

look anything like each other.

30:43

First of all, if you're any good, you either don't

30:45

go to college or you stay there for a few weeks,

30:48

a few months, a semester, and then you're gone.

30:50

But the NBA is about speed and

30:53

athleticism and spacing and

30:55

threes. It is managed by

30:57

coaches. College basketball

30:59

is dominated by coaches. It's

31:02

plotting, it's half court sets.

31:05

It's very much a coach's

31:07

game. Zach Edy

31:10

is great in that environment. It's

31:12

like Tim Tebow. He's great in an

31:14

environment where he plays with superior

31:16

talent. He can do lollipop throws

31:19

over you know college DB's

31:21

and hit on his great receiving crew

31:23

at Florida. But the windows closed

31:26

in the NFL and he didn't have the mechanics

31:28

or the arm strength to get those

31:31

balls squeeze those balls in there.

31:33

Zach Edie, to me, probably gets drafted

31:36

late second round, but he's more of a college

31:38

player. He is a back to

31:41

the basket center, and

31:43

the NBA has bailed on that for

31:46

about eight to ten years. It

31:48

is a players league, spacing

31:51

speed, athleticism up and

31:53

down the floor. I'm not sure

31:55

latterly who Zach Edy could defend.

31:59

I just people are getting worked up like

32:01

they're deeply discouraged. But my entire

32:03

life, I've watched great college

32:06

football players just not work.

32:08

They're part of a system for years and years. You

32:11

know BYU Ty Dettner would

32:13

put up profound numbers and

32:15

feel a little overwhelmed in the NFL.

32:17

Now Steve Young work, Jim McMahon had worked

32:19

out of BYU. But a lot of times you'll

32:21

get these very collegiate looking offenses

32:24

in college basketball or football. They

32:26

just don't work at the pro level. It's

32:28

not a knock on the kid. You know, he looks

32:30

like a backup in the NBA. To me, he

32:33

can swat a few shots. I mean, the NBA

32:35

is getting bigger. There is no question

32:38

the small ball era was overrated. It was

32:40

basically the Warriors and everybody else. Now

32:42

the NBA over the last four or five years has really

32:44

pivoted to size. So there may be a spot

32:46

for him, but this is explainable. NBA

32:49

and college basketball looked more similar

32:52

twenty years ago, when Patrick Ewing

32:54

would stay in college basketball for three

32:56

or four years. Well, Patrick Ewing

32:58

is a college player, was better than half the NBA

33:01

centers his junior year at college.

33:03

Same with Tim Duncan, Christian

33:05

Latner, Shack. You'd stay in college

33:08

so you would watch a college basketball

33:10

game in nineteen eighty five and

33:12

they couldn't beat an NBA team, but they'd

33:14

have four NBA guys on the floor that would

33:16

all go into the association and within

33:19

a year or two were productive. That's

33:21

just not the way it is. Even the best college

33:23

players now they go into the NBA

33:25

and they make almost no

33:27

impact, almost none right

33:30

out of the gate.

33:31

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays

33:33

and noon Easter not a Empacific.

33:36

Hey gang, this is Jay Glazer, host of Unbreakable,

33:40

a mental wealth podcast, and

33:42

every week we will have on leaders from

33:45

sports entertainment like Sean

33:47

McVay, Lindsay Vaughn, Michael

33:49

Phelp, David Spade, Got Fiemi, and

33:52

also those who can help us in between the years,

33:54

anyone from a therapist to someone like Ed

33:56

Milett for John Gordon. We've all been through

33:58

some sort of adversity to get to the

34:00

top, We've all used different tools. Listen

34:02

to Unbreakable with Jay Glazer and

34:04

Mental Wealth podcast on the iHeartRadio

34:07

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

34:10

you get podcasts.

34:14

This weekend, Pro football is back

34:16

on Fox as the UFL kicks

34:18

off on Saturday with the usf

34:21

bel champion Birmingham Stallions taking

34:23

on the XFL champion Arlington

34:25

Renegades and kickoff we can

34:27

continue Sunday on ESPN.

34:30

So the Chargers Jim Harbaugh

34:33

his willingness to embrace his

34:35

personality and put it out there. When he's

34:37

drinking a big glass of milk with a steak, it's

34:40

always something I'm fond of. He really

34:42

leans into Jim Harbaugh and he turns

34:45

teams around immediately. It's very Bill

34:47

Parcells. It's not that the team gets better.

34:49

They get better in camp, better in

34:51

preseason, and better immediately.

34:54

And Harbaugh's at the league meetings. He's

34:56

been living out of an RV as

35:00

the Chargers build a new facility,

35:02

and he talked about it.

35:05

It's been great, you know, man, being

35:07

myself, you know, like I always wanted

35:09

to do that. It worked out great.

35:12

I'm one hundred feet from Greg Roman.

35:15

Well he's got a better art.

35:17

Hero's got a really really

35:19

good RV.

35:22

In the RV world. Well, I'm not as fancy.

35:24

I'm not as fancy.

35:25

You know my my thod motor coach.

35:28

You know, it hits me just right.

35:30

So Harbaugh says, he goes into

35:32

his motor coach, he goes to the back and

35:34

he sits, and it gives him time to

35:37

think. Uh. And that's why I, you

35:39

know, I that's why I think he has

35:41

come up. I can see Harbaugh laying

35:43

down, arms crossed, thinking about how

35:45

do I get more picks? Right

35:47

now? The Chargers have nine. They'd love to

35:49

get about eleven or twelve because they've

35:51

got some real needs like center,

35:54

another corner, two receivers,

35:56

a tight endy. They want as many picks

35:58

as they can get. And that's why

36:00

he keeps saying, oh JJ McCarthy

36:03

is unbelievable. He wants all

36:05

these teams moving up and taking quarterbacks,

36:08

and the Chargers have the number five pick. So

36:10

he is the modern day Parcels

36:13

where it he

36:16

just makes teams better very quickly. It's

36:18

not play calling, which has always been overrated.

36:20

It's culture. It's not scheme.

36:22

It's toughness. People forget

36:24

how bad the forty nine ers were. It was one of

36:26

their longest streaks of ineptitude.

36:29

They had not made the playoffs in eight

36:31

years. They'd not had a winning

36:33

season in eight years. Harbaugh got

36:36

there immediately thirteen and three

36:38

and in the NFC Championship. That

36:41

is one of the great turnarounds in the history

36:43

of the league. When he went to Michigan,

36:45

Michigan was a mess. They

36:48

were five and seven and inept

36:50

offensively. They lost the previous

36:52

year thirty one nothing

36:55

to Notre Dame. They couldn't score a

36:57

point against

37:00

Notre Dame. And at that time I don't

37:02

believe Notre Dame was great. Good,

37:05

not great. The next year they were ten

37:07

and three at Michigan. I went to his first game that

37:09

was against Utah. But a lot of

37:11

teams in the NFL, this is Dallas right

37:13

now, and it's Minnesota. That's why they moved off Kirk

37:15

Cousins. A lot of teams in the NFL get stuck,

37:18

and he never does. Harbaugh

37:21

doesn't really have gears. He's in perpetual

37:23

motion. He starts hot and

37:25

keeps going. People do have no idea

37:28

how bad Stanford was when he got

37:30

there, they were the worst college football team Division

37:32

One. They were awful, awful

37:34

San Francisco, awful Michigan in

37:37

net. For Michigan to go five and seven and

37:39

get blown out repeatedly, and at that

37:41

time a very average Big ten, Michigan

37:44

was bad ten and three the next year.

37:46

So it's a little Steve Jobs. It's

37:48

not that Steve Jobs doesn't immediately

37:51

innovate, but there are no gears with Steve Jobs.

37:53

It's just ascension. It's just keep moving

37:55

up. And I think it's pretty remarkable what

37:57

he's done. I think Harva's got a plan.

38:00

It's never been about play calling in scheme.

38:02

It's about culture and toughness and

38:04

resilient and he's got it going in motion. The

38:08

other thing about Harbaugh is that

38:10

he is such a unique personality

38:14

that when people are different or unique. Remember

38:16

with that hard backslap to Jim Schwartz.

38:19

I don't think Jim's quite that anymore. But I

38:21

can remember talking to people at Ohio State when

38:23

Harbaugh got there, and he couldn't beat Michigan State

38:25

or Ohio State, just like Brian Kelly

38:27

initially at Notre Dame could win. But he couldn't

38:29

beat the Bamas or Georgie's or even

38:32

be competitive. I think it takes a

38:34

long time in northern climates in

38:36

college football to rebuild a program. It's easier

38:38

in warm weather. There's more Division one athletes,

38:40

you can train outside year round. I mean

38:43

Florida, Georgia, Texas, California.

38:45

It's just a conveyor belt of speed and great

38:47

athletes. You don't have as many in northern

38:50

climates. So it took Harbaugh a while

38:52

to get it done. But I think the Chargers

38:54

are If they can trade down and

38:56

get up to eleven or twelve picks, I

38:58

think they'll be great next year. They got to get

39:00

a center, a receiver, a tight

39:03

end, an interior defensive lineman,

39:06

and nobody knows these college kids for the next

39:08

couple of years. Quite like Harbossel, I don't think.

39:10

I don't consider it to rebuild. If you

39:12

have your quarterback, a left

39:14

tackle, and two pass rushers,

39:17

it is not a rebuild because those are

39:19

four of the top five things you need. They got the

39:21

quarterback, the left tackle, and two edge rushers.

39:24

They could use another corner. They

39:26

need a center, but a lot of the

39:28

stuff they have they now got

39:30

a great coach, a great quarterback, great left

39:32

tackle, excellent pass rushers. You

39:34

can find receivers and tight ends in this

39:36

league. You can find them. Patriots

39:38

had a twenty year dynasty, had one world class

39:41

receiver one the Chiefs

39:43

moved off Tyreek Hill. You can find

39:46

receivers in this league. You get about fifteen

39:48

a year out of college that make immediate impacts.

39:51

Go look at the Houston Texans last year getting

39:53

mid round wide receivers come in ready

39:55

to play. Those kids are now playing at seven on

39:58

seven camps when they're fourteen to fifteen. Six six

40:00

college receivers come in much

40:02

more polished and ready to play than twenty

40:04

years ago. Chargers ten

40:07

win team up or down on.

40:08

That um,

40:12

I think that's that's about ten and seven.

40:14

Half to ten is where.

40:15

I would bet the over on nine and a half. I

40:17

think they're a ten and seven team. I think

40:19

the Raiders and the Broncos are just

40:21

not ready to compete at that level yet. I just don't

40:23

think they have the personnel or the quarterback.

40:25

And nine and a half ten seams about right, it

40:27

does.

40:28

Eric Mangini stopping by Chris Bruce

40:30

sarg See. The Warriors got that big double

40:33

last.

40:33

Night last night.

40:34

Yes, not as impressive as the MAVs destroying

40:37

the Kings.

40:37

My guy, Luka dontechu man.

40:39

What happened to light the beam?

40:41

We steam did

40:44

not light the ower?

40:45

Two Next Live in Lance The Herd