Caleb Williams & Bears on Hard Knocks, Aaron Rodgers’ injury, Tom Brady at FOX | Colin Cowherd NFL

Colin Cowherd and ‘3 & Out’ host John Middlekauff discuss the latest news and stories around the NFL. They start off reacting to the Chicago Bears being selected for Hard Knocks on HBO and what that means for Caleb Williams & Matt Eberflus. Next, they talk about how Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets will fare this upcoming season and how concerned they feel for the aging QB coming off an Achilles injury. Will Tua Tagovailoa get paid by the Miami Dolphins and how will the Buffalo Bills do without Stefon Diggs? How long until Justin Fields replaces Russell Wilson as the Steelers QB1? Colin and John react to the college football TV schedule and forecast how Tom Brady will do as a broadcaster with the NFL on FOX.

TIMELINE
0:00:00 INTRO
0:01:36 Bears & Caleb Williams on Hard Knocks
0:09:47 Worried about Aaron Rodgers & Jets?
0:20:07 Importance of NFL WR’s
0:25:14 Russell Wilson vs Justin Fields
0:34:38 How will USC fare in Big Ten?
0:54:51 Tom Brady the Fox Analyst

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welcome to the official YouTube channel for the Colin coward podcast go on hit the Subscribe button there you go right down there if you want to be among the first to hear my weekly takes NFL college football more right there all right time to bring back the very popular John middle cough uh podcast 3 and out former NFL scout before he joins us download the game time app you know the drill takes about 90 seconds uh lowest prices guaranteed on last minute tickets you download the game time app you put in the code colins c o l i n you get up to $20 off your first purchase uh makes playoff tickets NBA baseball concerts you get them even faster even closer to the yak they’ve got Zone deals you pick the section game time picks the seats for Big Time Savings you just take the guest work sometimes when you go to games it’s last minute it’s three hours before and it’s a concert it’s a show it’s a comedy event uh playoff basketball we got an NBA Finals you’re going to want to go to some of these games download the game time app put in the code Colin that’s the redeem code get 20 bucks off your first purchase terms apply download load game time today last minute tickets lowest prices always guaranteed all right former NFL scout John middleof uh buddy of mine called me today asked how I was doing I said I had a podcast with John middlecoff he said that guy works man he’s that guy is constantly working and I said well I haven’t talked to him in a month so now’s a good time you know I was I had Denny Parkins on a real talented kid from Chicago and I said I think the Bears are going to be really good I think the division offensively is a really good division with really good coaching and really good o lines I said the only thing that’ll screw it up is a distraction and then they get hard knocks I thought oh God all these all these couples that have cameras in their houses they all get divorced you know just it’s the end of times I how I mean I guess in the league nobody wants it how are people now used to it your your sources are they used to it kind of now I said this on the podcast last week I forever right you know especially when the series started it was pretty intrusive humans weren’t used to being followed around by cameras in 2002 right now everywhere you go someone has a camera phone out talking to themselves I actually think these guys are pretty numb to it think how long Caleb William has been used to cameras pointed at him press conferences the way his life is podcast you name it I think it’s never it’s it’s less intrusive now than ever because of how numb these guys are to cameras now I I think some of the hoopla around it is not ideal but let’s face it Colin the authenticity of the mid 2000s you remember when you would have the inside of the coaches and GMS talking about cutting players and this guy sucks and this we don’t get that anymore so that that got thrown out really I’ve said hardock isn’t for me anymore it just really isn’t right I think it’s a pretty watered down version but I get it it’s popular but I don’t think it phases the players specifically maybe the coaches it can be a little unnerving having a camera look at you knowing that but you get to control what comes out right the the teams have Final Cut it’s like state run media so I I don’t think it’s a big deal at all anymore I think there’s two stories in the NFL um that are real obvious ones one of them being you know Matt Eber flu and you know the downside to a even if you have a good defensive coach um they generally don’t have as good a connections to offensive coordinators as a McVey you know as a Shanahan an Andy Reid uh Shawn pyton those guys are pretty dialed in so that’s the first thing the second thing is if you do hit on a really good offensive coordinator and he’s good Ben Johnson’s an outlier they take gigs and leave in two years and then you have to hit another one Shawn mcdermit hit on Brian dble he didn’t have success with the next tires and that’s very common among defensive coaches I mean Mike tomlins hit on some missed on some badly uh Pete Carroll same thing so I I when I look at Eber flu is I I don’t think he’s a bad coach I I always say if you can if you can show me that you know your side of the ball well the bearish defense in the last seven eight weeks was really good they they have a good Corner Mont sweat but they don’t have great Personnel up front so I I I’m interested I think Eber flu’s changed his look like I sty colored his hair he yeah he’s got he understands it’s a big city a lot of people watching I don’t want to look like a frumpy old defensive coach if you had to wager he he gets through the year kind of where do you land on E yeah I’m not as confident as some that they’re going to make the playoffs I I think they could be good and win eight nine games and Miss I mean their division’s a mother I mean Detroit’s bringing everyone back including the coaches I think everyone you’d be crazy to not be high on Green Bay if that quarterback continues to play like this their new defense coordinator Jeff affley so to me if they miss the playoffs you you could argue it’s unfair eflu should get two years to kind of show what he can do with this young but that’s not the way it’s going to work right if they go eight and if they go what would it be eight- nine or nine and eight and Miss I could just see because the pressure and the hype on this team but I’m not as confident they’re going to be a playoff team and a big reason is because they division H if Minnesota is the worst team in your Division I mean that’s not an easy team to play right so you they got an excellent coach they got a lot of Firepower uh and I understand the push back would be well the Bears could have easily beat the Detroit Lions multiple times last year I’m not saying they’re bad it’s just I think the hype on the quarterback big picture totally behind it he can be a high-end player most guys don’t come into the league and look like CJ strad right I mean it’s usually there are some growing pains especially because the transition that he’s going to have to have the way he played last year in college is not translate they’re they’re not they’re not going to have him do that in theory so and if he gets some back some of those kind of herob ball habits you’re you’re playing NFL players you’re not playing Arizona anymore and they were struggling to beat Arizona last year now the Bears defense is better offensively they have fire power but like you said I think the pressure on this coach you don’t make the playoffs you could have a really successful year right and you still get fired yeah I I think yeah I think one even the good quarterbacks pay Manning Andrew Luck threw a lot of picks early that’s just that’s the reality of it um I think the second thing the one thing that I think Caleb Gets a break there’s not really a great pass rush in that division in fact the Bears at times didn’t have a great one but montz sweat is great Packers have been looking for a great pass rush for a decade Minnesota upgraded on some b guys not a guys uh Detroit Hutcherson’s excellent about 11 sacks last year but their corners are weak there’s not a dominating defense in this division it’s offensive coaches so I do think he’s going to come in I mean if you if you head to the AFC North and you’re getting miles Garrett and the in the Ravens culture that’s a whole different ball game um yeah I I’ve said this Justin Fields won seven my guess is Chicago wins eight but looks significantly and there’s a chance he could have a really good rookie season and be the third best quarterback in his own Division if Jared replicates what he’s been doing the last couple years he’s going to be a pro bowl level guy Jordan love there’s some there’s a question mark there we have an eight game sample size of high level but if he carries that over there’s a decent chance Caleb Williams could throw 24 touchdowns and 12 picks we all view him like a Transcendent or a the trajectories pointing high and go he was the third best quarterback in his Division and they’re the third place team in the division they missed the playoffs because there’s not unlimited amount of spots right the ners the Rams the Lions the Packers you start doing the math Atlanta should be better the saints were nine and eight last year and they had a terrible offense now they bring kubak kid uh the Eagles are going to be good I mean the Cowboys even if they take a step back from 12 they’ll be in that eight n range so it’s it’s just difficult yeah well sports fans don’t like to be wrong and there’s a lot of people who are proven wrong on Justin Fields so just get ready for it you have to watch things you can’t just it your life can’t be just about the result you know you have to contextualize everything I don’t think there’s any question Caleb Williams is several notches better than Justin Fields like several notches better I mean if you if you read the writing on the wall and and we both have enough sources I mean c Caleb’s not gonna have problems finding open receivers that was a real issue for Justin there was like Zack Wilson there were guys all over the field open he just couldn’t find them so people are going to want to be right the Justin Fields fans but I think the league spoke when he went for a six round pick and I think very quickly you’re going to see that Caleb’s just different for sure and to me the offensive Weaponry that they have for them we’ve talked about this before it’s a pretty easy Landing zone for a Young quarterback with that many wide receivers here’s a second thing and I’m always try to be somewhat delicate with Aaron Rogers because I’m viewed as anti- Aaron but last year 60 quarterbacks played in the league and if I just said to you said forget the teams and the names 40-year-old quarterback off an Achilles surgery with a makeshift old and really young offensive line in a better conference does that scream the quarterback plays 17 games I think lost in this this Jets Improvement and people love their roster is hey there a Bree Hall injury from being a have to pass offense have to pass and now the good news they shouldn’t be in shootout out Aaron shouldn’t be forced to throw 44 times a game but they got one back and I tend to believe that championship teams are built when you have your seven to eight best players all in their Prime like Detroit right now Jared’s in his prime Hutchinson moved into it that running back may be into it now amaran St brown pan Su you’re a lot of now they’re all like moving into their Prime and you start looking at Green Bay and it’s like I guess Bree probably is Garrett Wilson’s still raw a lot of their defensive Talent um s Gardner’s probably moving into it but they got a lot of guys that aren’t there or were never there I I PFF last week had the Kansas City roster number two and I was like they’re bad at tackling don’t have a number one receiver I don’t it’s not the second best roster of the league I look at the Jets and I just keep saying if you gave me over under 15 games on Aaron I’d bet the did you see the clip last week of him scrambling to his right and kind of limping yeah and whether you tell me it’s blister prevention or whatever that has to be pretty concerning because I will say this last year at this time and remember he dealt with a calf a little in OTAs but when you saw him move around and he was healthy he looked somewhat spry he’s 40 years old and we have I would say pretty recent data of some legendary guys falling off a cliff for all different Matt Ry Ryan and I would put him on the lower end of these players pton Manning Drew Brees Ben rosberger most of my life when I was a kid in the 90s guys got to like 35 in All Pro Sports and we’re done and then Brady kind of changed it LeBron kind of changed it most people fall off a cliff and that’s what I kind of Russ Wilson and he’s that’s crazy but he’s not quite as quick anymore he’s not quite the athlete why he’s 34 he’s not 26 Aaron’s 40 40 be and part part of the reason he’s older right because played several years in college red shirted gray shirted in the pros didn’t play for a while so he’s actually older even though he hasn’t been playing technically as long as some of those guys like Peyton Manning when he was 40 but I think there’s a very good chance if you just base it off the history of sports it usually ends poorly you usually don’t do John Elway this one’s for John especially with the Jets right I mean their offensive coordinator is not any good he he’s just not I mean most teams in the league laugh at that situation and he’s there for one reason and one reason only which I’m for the coach and the quarterback having a good relationship that’s how you and your producers have good Rel like there’s it should be healthy if the guy is good at his job Josh McDaniels pay and Tom Brady made a lot of sense KY Shannon and his quarterbacks RHA McVey and Matt Stafford this one this guy’s just not viewed as good enough and last year when Aaron left it was an Abomination and these stories because of the organization what if they start SL slow now I actually think they have an opportunity I don’t think their schedule is that hard early after the Niner game but it’s a weird schedule it’s a lot of night games and short weeks they’re just going to be covered like the Lakers or the Yankees and we know things get weird with that franchise and even if it’s all about football none of the other extracurricular stuff if it’s weird on offense they’re just going to point at the quarterback and the offensive coordinator and then the head coach is going to be up there like saying who knows what it could snowball into weirdness really quick and like Aaron said if I don’t perform we’re all getting fired that’s what’s on the line here yeah I think the schedule I think it’s it’s viewed as easy and we have to be honest seven teams that made the playoffs won’t seven new ones will you got to be careful about looking at you know looking at last year yeah like I mean to me the Colts and Washington could be I me the Colts won nine games with Gardner mshu I mean Anthony Richardson when he was playing was J they were from winning that division last year yep and Washington I I contend they’re going to be a probably the most improved NFC team so you you start looking at these teams I I did something the other day where since the league expanded to 14 playoff teams 6.8 or seven new teams make it every year and I and I went through a list of teams some are obvious VI Atlanta big quarterback upgrade Chargers big coaching upgrade Cincinnati Burl plays uh I think Colts are really interesting I I I they’re my surprise team potentially in the league if I if I said to you and I and I think the Jets have to if Aaron’s healthy have to be considered I thought last week was really interesting so Miami signs jayen Wadd to a massive deal with Tyreek Hill already signing stupendous contract okay what are we saying here so if Tua just signs the 10th biggest contract that’s Josh Allen now who’ll get an extension of raise they’re 105 million guy 105 million bucks I think something close to that on three dudes all on offense not a pass rusher not a corner not an interior defensive lineman not an offensive tackle two receivers and a quarterback so I almost wonder small guys too was Miami was Miami saying listen we’re making our bet we’re just not going to have this is our way of telling you you’re not getting $55 million we’re just not going to give you that because I don’t know I know Dak has a market I I’ve talked to two gmers would sign told me yesterday and I think very quickly you know if the Drake May thing looks awful they’d sniff at it I mean New Orleans with Derek Carr I don’t think they’re left Giants Daniel Jones what is tua’s market I don’t think it wouldd be that good but he’s not my type player but we also know when you hit free agency at that position people overspend but who is giving to $150 million on the open market who is I I I can’t see did you see the picture of him at the charity event he looked like he was on OIC he looks tiny he looks really really skinny I’m not into small guys who aren’t great athletes with average arms just not really my style I mean I like my quarterbacks to be a little bigger a little more mobile with howitzers uh but because when you look at Tua in theory he should be this kind of mobile little guy but he is much closer to Jared Goff the way he plays I’ve said it over and over what here’s what Dak does has proven now he’s given me three straight years of 12 wins do I want to give him 50 plus million dollar I do not is there an opportunity that if he gets hot one postseason they could win a couple games like an Eli Manning situation 100% I don’t believe Tua has that capability one I yeah what we witnessed last year I mean if if this was like the indd 500 they were up like several laps the bills were leaking oil they were six and six then the season ends they win the division and they’re hosting playoff games and Miami has to go on the road and even when I saw V at the combine he’s like I’ve been in the NFL a long time that was the coldest game I’ve ever stood on the field for when he played the che Chief and we felt pretty good about our chances cuz we knew that offense couldn’t function in the freezing cold and but they wouldn’t have had a chance in a cold weather game against Baltimore against any of these teams so part of it is the AFC if you spend to if you spend all this money on twoa because at the end of the day could Dak it hasn’t gone well these last three years but beat a py beat uh you know a Jared G if he plays right how is Tua ever going to outplay Patrick Mahomes Lamar Jackson Herbert now with Harbaugh Josh Allen it’s not Happ it doesn’t mean he’s not a solid NFL starter but once you start talking about the money this is not baseball you don’t have an unlimited amount of cap space Tyreek Hill he’s one of the greatest players I’ve ever seen no problem investing Jaylen Wadd you draft him high he’s a productive player I I get it to uh like I why can’t we just play this out why does every quarterback have to get an Jared G proved last year he went toe-to-toe with Matt Stafford in the playoff game he won the second playoff game against Baker Mayfield he was great against the 49ers like they have tangible evidence now in the playoff let alone the regular season now for a year and a half where’s that evidence against Tua like yeah he plays well in October well you’re in the AFC where most of these teams come November and December I looked at their schedule whenever the schedules came out they had three or four games post you know o uh Halloween they get a little cold Colin get a little cold what if you can’t do it this year if you can’t win the division and host a playoff game which they would have to do to have success in a playoffs because of their climate what’s the point of extending them just to say you have a quarterback well and last year you know I’ve said this last year in the AFC it was the year Aaron gets hurt Bill starts slowly burrow gets hurt Deshawn and Cleveland are ahead scratching mess Anthony Richardson hurt CJ Strouds only with the Char Trevor and and Trevor Lawrence injured every part of his lower torso like in the last eight weeks it was the year and and they didn’t do it so Aaron’s back Jets have another draft Buffalo’s not starting six and six you know let me let me speaking a buffo I’m going to throw a theory at you that um and this is especially true with younger quarterbacks four years in then is that I I’ve said this um something can be really important in your life but overrated a big house a house is nice a bigger house is not necessarily bigger mortgage more cleaning bigger yard like you my wife and I talk about this like like location so much more important than size of house like we just just give us the good location we’ll we’ll add a bedroom we’ll we’ll we’ll figure out make you know create another use the same three rooms every day you know there’s a lot of rooms you don’t even that’s right so I used to call wide receivers icing on the cake never the cake the cake was the left tackle the pass rusher the quarterback the head coach and then I had to about six seven years years ago acknowledged the rules have changed they’re part of the cake but I don’t necessarily love dominant number one receivers Patriots with Randy Moss uh was a great example where you almost felt like you had to throw to him and I I don’t I don’t think losing Stefan Diggs if the kid out of Florida State can play they have two excellent tight ends they finally found a running back Josh is in his athletic Prime I think I think we’re in a little bit of a wide receiver bubble 30 million for a receiver if you don’t have the quarterback we’ve always said quarterbacks make the rece even Larry Fitzgerald had off years without great quarterbacks Carson Palmer Big Year CTT Warner big year so I I look at Buffalo and I think there’s this feeling that you know watch out it’s a free fall I don’t feel like it I really don’t I think they’re gonna be really good I mean it’s part of my Tua s you know where I land on that situation is like I don’t think you’re any closer to catching them and and it starts with Josh Allen when’s the last time he had a wide receiver like the guy they just drafted from Florida State a big body Highpoint guy he’s a basketball player so Stefon Diggs one like a lot of wide receivers their personality can change on a daily basis and it was clearly driving him nuts and then the play was started to like a lot of older players he’s played at a high level was no longer at the same level so it was probably a pretty easy move for them to make and then they get get the wide receiver one that is just going to translate to cold weather right he’s not predicated on speed so I’m with you I mean they’ve won this division four straight years they’re the new Patriots in the division in terms of the dominance obviously not the same playoff success the other thing is when you have an all-time great quarterback I mean that’s what I think Josh Allen is going to go down as one of the great quarterbacks of my life same uh they make wide receivers ideally you would love to have Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne like pyton benefited he was a great player and they also did a great job because Bill poy is an all-time great exec Tom Brady won a lot of games with Julian Edelman and Danny amandas so if you can find a Sweet Spot somewhere in the middle you don’t need to have look at the Packers I love Devonte Adams I I’d want them on my team every day of the week but they get rid of him he goes to the Raiders they haven’t won at all he’s still a great player but now he’s kind of useless because their quarterback situation sucks and the Packers boom last year kick the out of the Packer or the Cowboys in the playoff game and it looks like all we talk about is they have one of the best young wide receiver rooms in the league so I think when I saw the story about would they trade Justin Jefferson right the Minnesota Vikings well if I get two ones and two twos and allocate my resources differently it’d be a no-brainer than paying him and we all acknowledge one of the great non- quarterbacks in the NFL but this is It’s a pretty easy math equation especially I already got Jordan Addison I got an offensive coach like yeah I wouldn’t just trade him for a second round pick but if you’re going to give me three ones here take them you give them the contract but I think there’s a reason a lot of smart teams now go that’s not worth it to us giving up all these ones and then having to allocate the resources so it’s we’ve kind of seen less and less of those massive trades since the Devonte and the Tyreek because why don’t I just draft a guy in the 20s like the Baltimore Ravens last year I get Z flowers and he’s on a cost controlled contract that may pays him three or4 million a year right and I get to keep my my asset yeah I mean listen if you if you look at the greatest example is Kansas City that took a touchdown machine and Tyreek Hill and they’ve won back-to-back Super Bowls without him and Miami’s going no further with him and you know the other thing you have to acknowledge is football is different in December and January you just don’t throw the ball as deep as often you just don’t you don’t throw the ball deep that often in general like there aren’t go routes to every other series that’s not the way football even though it kind of feels that way a lot of explosive plays nowadays right happen around the line of scrimmage because you have so many guys with so much speed break Debo Samuels had a ton of explosive plays over the years I would imagine the majority of them come 10 yards and in from where the ball is snapped yeah the um you know I was the Pittsburgh Steelers are at a really interesting Crossroads so Mike tomin Mike Tomlin can get a little prickly when his future is discussed but he has not beaten an elite quarterback in a playoff game in a playoff game in almost yeah so and it’s interesting they’re not paying anything for Russell Russell uh you know any chance he gets to say boy I’d love to see packages for Justin fields at wide receivers I mean that’s so transparent you know they they’re all talking about and Justin doesn’t want to any part of that and he shouldn’t want any part of it but I I did have uh somebody that I trust uh kind of that reports on the Steelers say Russell the Pittsburgh is going to be it’s very that culture there is very grinder oriented even your stars Big Ben was kind of a small town guy TJ watt Midwestern guy you know the le’vian bells come in and very quickly they kind of feel disconnected from it it’s it’s a grinder operation and I’m not saying Russell doesn’t grind and work hard but his he’s got a brand he’s just different I mean it’s just I mean call it what you want nobody gets called out in this league as much as Russell and somebody that has good connective tissue to the Steelers said there’s already been a couple situations where you know he’s he’s Russ and these are the Steelers it’s a and I say this um Green Bay and Pittsburgh have a very lunch paale quality now the Steelers usually have Elite defensive Personnel hack are better on the offensive side in terms of efficiency Packers have also had offensive coaches but if I if you had to do crystal ball on Russell Wilson what it looks like end of the year schedule’s awful but if if you had to have a crystal ball on Russell Wilson another quarterback who almost inexplicably got worse fast without an injury just got worse fast nearing 35 what is your Crystal over under on Justin Field’s first start with the Steelers it’d probably be around five and a half I I think he’s in and I think he’s in early the other thing is you know Russell has to ingratiate himself when you think of Mike tomin and the Steelers I I think TJ watt cam Hayward Minka Fitzpatrick I mean those guys and Mike are kind of on the same page right I mean they’re they feel like part of the operation do they feel like Russell Wilson guys I mean when you think you think TJ Watt and Minka Fitzpatrick you never say the word brand you think ass kickers and football players and I just can’t imagine I just don’t think he’s good enough and the margin for error in this conference dinking and dunking You could argue if it starts slow like what if they’re 0 and2 and it’s just like what are we doing on it might not even get to five and a half because what where’s his Equity with the operation Denver was pretty heav they’re not paying paying them anything they’re paying them less than a million dollars honestly if it got really you could cut them and you wouldn’t even think twice and that happens to a lot of NFL players once you start getting to team three and four your Equity with the operation disappears and it’s a performance-based business so no one’s going to want to hear about anything except touchdown passes and I I don’t know I mean the guy we’ve seen the last couple years I don’t know if his confidence is gone I don’t know if but he’s been a pretty marginal player now for three straight years because that last year in Seattle and then everything that happened the last two years in Denver I also think if you’re the fan base is in the NFL sneaky have a lot of juice because that’s kind of where the owners you know they listen to radio they read so you think Pittsburgh if all sudden listen I I don’t know I would bet Justin Fields he’s probably closer to what we’ve seen his whole career but we’ve also seen guys improve with that skill set when they get with the right coordinator Arthur Smith resurrected Ryan Tan Hill if I’m a fan and we’re 0 and2 like I’m not watching Russell Wilson well I’ve seen this from afar putting the young kid and let’s just see if we can figure something out with this guy that has a lot of physical tools now quarterback’s a lot about a lot more than running fast and throwing hard his pocket presence has been a major question mark but what did Arthur Smith do with ryanel they ran the ball he gave him a lot of easy looks kept it pretty simple now I don’t think they really have Derk Henry you know Naji Harris okay back Jaylen Warden pretty explosive but if their defense is good honestly if I was a Steeler fan I just want to see Justin Fields right out I wouldn’t even want to see Russell Wilson I just like can we resurrect this guy the NBA playoffs are heating up man they have been so good I know it’s over but Lakers Nuggets may have been a five game series it was great Knicks Sixers amazing why don’t you sign up for the DraftKings sports book app takes 90 seconds the official sports betting partner of the NBA if you’re in DraftKings once you sign up you got to check this out new customers bet five bucks to get 150 bucks in bonus bets instantly great proposition right five bucks get 150 bucks download the draftking Sportsbook app the code Collins CO n it’s me c o l i n really quick really easy if you’ve never bet Sports before check it out really makes the game’s fun the code is Colin new customers get 150 bucks in bonus bets by betting five only on DraftKings the crown is yours well it’s interesting because Arthur Smith his history is a lot of throws over the middle of the field and that’s not what R throws deep go to throw deep yeah because you know his eyes he can struggle Kyler Murray admits this Tua acknowledges this sometimes I struggle to see over the line so of all I’ve been doing this now 30 years of talking Sports and you know I do a segment every Monday Callin right calling wrong I big opinions miss all the time Russell I don’t ever remember a player in my life at that position that I was sure he was great and then after a year I’m pretty sure he’s just B minus and there’s no injury he’s not to 36 he works really hard like it’s it’s a really hard ask you start trying to figure out you say well he didn’t get aong Seattle he wasn’t beloved so no injury um he’s still elusive it’s like he put weight on in the wrong spot he got a little thick I find Russell to be a complet historic outlier like Matt Ryan never moved well didn’t have a big arm kind of thin and it felt like the game quickly passed him by it got very mobile and athletic and he wasn’t um you know there there there there players at the end Philip Rivers was never athletic he got like the most unathletic quarterback in the league Eli Manning just felt like he was out of gas Russell you’re like last year in Seattle he’s a wizard and then he’s bad and then pton makes him okay and I’m like I don’t think he sees the field I don’t think he sees guys and I I from people close and around Shan like that’s what the film said he just didn’t see open guys the other guy that falls into that category now he had a bunch of off the field stuff but DeShaun Watson was much more of kind of a scramble to throw ad lib guy and when it was on it looked spectacular but over the course of years you have to play from within the pocket now he missed time because the massage therapist he’s been injured but he has looked like a shell himself in Cleveland and it’s not like he’s throwing to me and you I mean they have a lot of Talent on the team and he looks like a guy and he’s way younger than Russell you’re like what the hell is this and that that is that is a bona and we love his coach for sure I mean we love his team Joe flacko gets in there they boom they start rattling off WIS I mean they’re they’re loaded and that’s one I know a lot of people in the NFL are like you know if you really watch him in Houston it’s a lot of kind of running outside the tackles and making stuff happen which is awesome watch when sitting on your couch no one in my life watching football did that better than Russell in his prime but like over and over and over pton Tom Aaron it’s winning think about some of the solid cousins why is he had success Dak Goff win in the pocket is how you do it on a weekly basis especially nowadays you watch the combine how many of these D linemen are running four sevens and 4 eights so you start scrambling around you don’t get as much space anymore because these guys can run you down the guy the Eagles drafted last year Jaylen Carter is like 320 pounds and can run faster than some like running backs so the the athleticism and let’s face it the other thing is the offensive linemen that have come into the league over the last four or five years the supply and demand relative to the high defensive lineman it’s kind of it hasn’t been there so the offensive lineman a lot of these guys get aren’t as good as they used to be and we know because of college football is not quite the same the way that they coach with the spread offenses and these defensive lineman are coming for you and they can catch you unless you’re Kyler Murray you most obviously you know Russell definitely no longer is as fast and even Deshawn Watson you watch him he doesn’t play Fast anymore yeah um one of the things I want to shift to um because the schedules came out last week some college football schedules and I had a bone to pick with you I wrote it down so maybe we’ll get into it right now okay let’s do it so um I said is somebody that grew up with the Sonic when the Sonics left Seattle people said Colin you were’t outraged and I’m like listen I went to KeyArena there was no parking it was dark it sucked it didn’t drive Revenue what do you want me to say like you got it’s a banner downtown Seattle’s always been kind of dark and gloomy it’s not a vibrant downtown I’m like I’m sorry and when the Pack 12 imploded I said I’ve been telling my friends this for years there’s too much to do in the fall and and like August 28th till October 18th I’m sorry the packed outside of Oregon and Washington it’s just empty stadiums there’s too much to do we got Pro Sports in Seattle San the Bay Area nobody talks Stanford and Cal and I’m like it’s just it just doesn’t work I mean you’re giving the pack 12’s TV contracts giving USC 30 million the Big 10 will give him 90 it’s not hard and the executives at Fox are guesstimating that the Big 10 ratings this year will go up 18% that that’s big in in a and a lot of those games are on cable 18% and I and I said this you start looking at some of these schedules John Jesus I have spent Sundays are work days for you and I they’re work days we do a podcast on Sunday night I’m it’s I’m around my TV I go get a big workout in sometimes go for a hike by 10:05 Pacific I’m ordering door Dash I’m there doing situps occasionally for exerc I’m watching TV it’s not Di and ditches but it’s a long day yeah Saturdays now you start looking at the time zone so where is the SEC there’s only two time zones represented you can have an Oregon game then you can do an Iowa game then you can do uh an East Coast game I I I told my bosses like I need we’ve got to figure out a way to give somebody on our staff vacation time in the fall like these are this is 7-Day work week now I cannot wait for college football so I’m going to move into my controversial take of the week which is I always thought rivalries were big in college football but what’s going to happen now is the 12 team playoff is going to usurp everything it’s just going to become bigger than everything and those storyed rivalries just won’t matter Michigan Ohio State will Iron Bowl will but most of them were the ratings for the college football playoff are going to be gigantic and you’re going to have to move off rivalries because what you don’t want if your USC you’re six and one you stun Oregon and Eugene instead of a buy before Ohio State you’re going to South Bend November 9th and I’m like you get knocked in the ass twice on those and you’re going to be like yeah I’m over the Notre Dame game now Notre Dame needs it but my take is you guys may want to reconsider this in this conference before we get into the elephant in the room on Lincoln Riley the I don’t disagree let’s use the Northwest the apple cup and the Civil War Oregon and Washington have always been a rivalry game but those two games Oregon State Oregon Washington state Washington were a bigger rivalry that is those are gone no they’re Mountain West team it doesn’t matter anymore and it won’t with every passing year and Oregon and Washington will probably grow in power and popularity that game certainly inrev I I would say 2x every year it’ll get bigger and bigger but the Notre Dame thing separate because eventually are you in agreement that both these conferences or I guess where football is going to end as like two conferences like the AFC and the NFC Big 10 SEC so Notre Dame the regional is going to end up in the Big 10 with USC and they’ll eventually so to me that is separate from lck and Riley who is going into his third year and I I I heard you talk about Notre Dame I haven’t heard you address this it are you in agreement it’s embarrassing for this story to come out because Brian Kelly lot like Lincoln riy both going into year three both losing their quarterback both new defensive coordinators I looked at LSU schedule they also play UCLA this year and they add Oklahoma they play Alabama every year old Miss is a top 10 program for Lincoln to beg to get out of that game couple weeks ago I I played golf and I didn’t know this but on whole four one guy had a USC uh towel on his bag and I I started talking to one of the guys he’s like you know he played he was in Reggie Bush’s recruiting classes was on that USC team for 5 years so we obviously we start talking over the course of the round and this guy was like a role player played on these teams and he he brought up a point if we would have in the in’ 05 would have practiced against that team we would have hurt guys and I said USC getting out of this game one of the reasons we all were so excited for Lincoln to come here $120 million bringing like USC back right to be a power and then two years later he’s begging to get out out of he’s not playing in Baton Rouge they’re playing in Vegas but I think we all know it’s G to be a tough spot for him but he can’t say our schedule’s harder well so’s theirs and L this is where I respect Brian Kelly like no we’re playing that game I played Florida State the last two years I got my ass kicked last year remember opening weekend but like I I watched the clip with you and Feldman you could lose several games now you could probably nine and three they’re goingon to be a couple nine and three teams probably left out and some teams USC it’s a bad look for Riley to want out of that game the Notre D thing separate um what’s his beat why doesn’t he he’s in year three Colin this isn’t year one he’s had three years to build this thing so let me let me defend this is something I’ve talked about behind the scenes with coaches so when you leave what I would call sort of middle of the night leaving for a new job like Sabin uh at Michigan State whoever wants to come get on the plane right like this happens in college football Lane kein Tennessee to USC so what you usually do is you go to your staff and you say you call them late you got a plane lined up guys I’m going in 90 minutes meet at the airport and you take whoever comes on the staff I think deep down Lincoln didn’t think Alex Grinch was great and was disappointed with him and Alex knew he was in trouble if there was a new coach so Alex got on the plane but when the guys get on the plane you got to give them two years you can’t just say after eight games you’re not it so Lincoln felt this incredible loyalty to somebody I think he would have moved off of and so Grinch probably thought I don’t have Lincoln to support me I’m getting canned I’m getting on that plane and so I think this is the first year where Lincoln really really thinks he has an elite staff so that’s first of all he they’ve been overcoming some of this staff stuff loyalty to positions they don’t really want to be loyal to the second thing is Pete was in a different time there was no NFL much more tribal USC following uh the market was different you didn’t have a conference Championship Game semi-final games if you won the Pack 12 and looked good you’re playing for an natti it’s hard and I don’t think Denver West you have the defensive front seven Personnel of the South and Texas and Georgia so I think between Alex Grinch and the reality is we got a lot of quarterbacks receivers Corners out here maybe an edge rusher we don’t have a lot of bigs we just don’t I think it’s been a tougher lift than Lincoln Riley on the defensive side than he realized it was G I think he thought he would just outsmart and outscore everybody he did that his first year he did if they beat two lane in a go they were leading late if they beat two lane we look at year one and go they won 12 games with two NFL players that’s impressive so then the second year I don’t think You’ look at it the same but that two-lane loss just was horrific and so my takeaway is he doesn’t want to say it publicly but they feel like they’re playing catch up defensively in this program and I’m not expecting Lincoln especially at this point to look like the 05 Trojans like it’s we got a I think they’ll win eight games this year but they also six is on the table right if things get weird would you agree but I I think yeah if Miller Moss is as bad as he was in the spring game sixes on the table Brian Kelly has a new defensive coordinator too he fired his guy because they were historically poor and I I’m with you on Pete but I remember and the internet and the world was not the same obviously in 04056 Pete was going all over the country to recruit and I I just wonder and I’ve said this for a while I like Lincoln I’ve met him a couple times came on this podcast a couple years ago but I I do think I said this to you last year and I just think big picture is something to watch like smalltown Texas guy this us thing kind of a different animal would Lincoln have more success you know at the University of Texas or back at Oklahoma obviously he’s more suited that this story comes out every all the people behind UFC viewed him as like G to get back to the Pete days and be like we’re not scared of anybody kind of the way Kirby Smart Acts or Jim Harbaugh acts and obviously I’m not saying all these programs play people but once it’s on the schedule Brian Kelly’s a good example like he wasn’t scared and his schedule’s not easy but he knows he he can go out west and recruit so I I just think that I don’t know it’s a pretty big red flag for me and and I understand that they’re an underdog right they’re Sixpoint Underdog like most people think they’re going to get their ass kicked but this is if this was this is year three so it’s now the the game different nil the portal but I’d say shouldn’t USC you know better than me have the money to just be going toe-to-toe with Texas and Ohio State or do they not nil wise no no or Georgia Texas and Ohio State and Oregon’s fourth have sort of separated mostly from the country on nil I think USC’s Collective is better now UCLA is terrible it’s a joke like they can’t they’ll do fine in basketball where you need I’ve been told four million dollar you can win a National Championship football you may need 12 I think USC’s close to seven and a half UCLA is in major trouble going to the big 10 would you agree football wise here’s what’s funny yes now the good news is they’re going to fill the Rose Bowl a few times with the your Wisconsin’s Nebraska Iowa it’ll be it will make they’ll yep they they’re they’re the big winner in this because Oregon Washington don’t need Road fans USC does a little UCLA is desperate for him so UCLA it’s a windfall economically from 30 million in an empty Rose bow annually to like 70 million and a full Rose bow four times UCLA is going to pay some bills but they are they’re going to have to just live off high school players or grabbing these sort of like the best player on Yale or Toledo and those guys by the way Wyoming they’re okay they’re not NFL guys but they’re okay you can you can have four or five in your roster I think the big winner in this of all these schools I think the big winner will be or oron because next to oh except Ohio State they can go toe totoe nil with anybody and I think Oregon will look big Jed fish will win at Washington I don’t think he’s kayin dor who I think is the best new coach I’ve seen in probably a decade just in terms of top to bottom I think he’s look at his career record he’s like 120 and 10 coaching everywhere I think Oregon’s the big winner I mean they is it fair to say I mean they have a legitimate chance to win the national championship this year right Ian they’re going to Ohio State’s going to be tough I mean I think Ohio State they spent like $15 million in Eugene get him in Eugene it’s you know Harbaugh leaving is a huge win for obviously the Pack 12 teams coming in but also Ryan day because that that was not going well and Chiron Moore impressive guy but it’s you don’t lose Harbaugh and sustain the same thing well God they lost 25 NFL players too and they were all like leaders and they were a lot of them were like fourth and fifth year linemen I mean they just leaned on the Buckeyes the last three years in the second half like Michigan’s not going to look the same they’re not even gonna they’re not going to look the same and that’s not a knock on Michigan but you can’t lose like eight Elite linemen who were sort of leaders in the club one thing that’s going to change in college football I know a bunch of my scouting buddies bitching Mo about all this is like the covid that that year that didn’t count so you had all these guys that were like fifth six year guys that usually would be in the NFL it’s been a little out of whack right Washington I mean Michael penck and I like the player I’m rooting for him but he played in college football for about 17 years I mean those days are kind of and we’re just gonna have get back to the feel of Alabama Ohio State having these second and third year guys being the core of their team and then those guys will go over of the end I think and this is the thing with the USC that Story coming out it feels like Dan Lanning would not have done that now Dan Lanning inherited with Mario recruiting a much better program I’m not disputing that much better players but it just does feel like the ethos of USC play you wherever parking lot NFL team who cares it feels far far removed which was understandable when they were going through the the turmoil of Klay hton but once you got loln it felt like we were kind of G to get our swag back and it feels like there’s still some insecurity there listen two Oregon State players will be two of their top four defensive players a a linebacker and a safety they’ll be two of their four to five best defensive players Oregon State they’ve been good the last couple years In fairness but I hear I hear it yeah J yeah yeah that that’s not the way it works usually it’s it’s you’re not gonna take a Kentucky football player two of them transfer to Georgia and they’re two of their best defensive players and and the other kid who may be their best defensive player is a UCLA defensive back so it’s yeah they’re they’re they’re playing catch up I I will say that though I’ve Loved college football forever I gave I gave it about I gave it a rest for about seven years I really peeled back my college football talk because I thought it got incredibly Regional with Bama and Georgia and I just thought I’m not doing a show for the South so I would say I used to be about a 25% college football show some years at ESPN I was 30% during the football season I peeled back to about 7even six% I think I’ll be closer to 15 18% I just think there’s a ton of good stories um my guess on where what USC becomes and and and again their 2025 recruiting class is actually their best there’s like big bodies my guess is if Lincoln stays uh they will not be Ohio State they won’t but they’ll be in the running with Penn State Michigan Oregon and USC in that 10 win uh could make it to a conference Championship but it will be Ohio State when Harbaugh leaves it will be Ohio State’s conference going forward that’s my guess I mean they’re roster I mean they they spent like $13 million on four guys in the transfer portal all of them reviewed as top 20 picks you know I mean they got a guy from Al I mean they they they could be they could be really really good now I’m not the biggest Chip Kelly guy uh we’ll see on that one I I don’t know I think the offense but defensively they’ve been a lot better and Ryan day is an offensive guy and they have so much talent on offense but the Harbaugh move really might have saved Ryan day because he’s his record is remarkable but you know the way that operation you can’t lose to Michigan four years they they got their butt kicked again people would start asking questions because there’s not a program in the country and this would include Georgia that is spending more money right on the coaching staff and on the players in Ohio State like they are spending the money they’re like the George Steinberger Yankees right I I’ve argued their biggest dilemma was that they recruit at now such a high level at receiver that they lost their identity offensively as they were so good at receiver that at practice they passed more you had to get the ball out in the flat you got five star guys and I think Michigan last year had one receiver I like but they weren’t a great perimeter team offensively they were great and what they did the last three years is they became Ohio State they just pounded you and Ohio State had so much perimeter Talent it’s it’s impossible as a coach Ryan Day offense is at practice looking at Harrison looking at these guys and thinking I got NFL corners and they can’t cover these guys I know Purdue can’t and so they kind of became to me a little bit of a finesse version of Ohio State which played into Harbaugh’s hands where he loves physicality that’s why Stanford started pushing around USC at the end they became almost old USC where they just ran the ball even luck was a Andrew luck was a physical component at quarterback so I think my take with Ohio State their image their their their issue has simply been they’re so gifted that it’s it’s it’s like anything else like you know if you had a great singing voice you probably wouldn’t be an NFL scout you know what I mean like if if your giving you know if I was 68 I would have played basketball longer I would have probably tried to really make a career out of it because I love the sport there are certain limitations like Ohio state has no limitations at on the perimeter they’re probably the most gifted college football team in terms of Talent on the perimeter and I think it kind of w it kind of deluded their power you know one thing you brought up earlier I I would say last year is a good example probably of the 12 weeks in college football they’re probably four or five throughout the year where there’s a lot of games that just don’t matter and as long as you watch the one big game I know you start looking at the schedule like LSU Oklahoma Georgia Texas Ohio State Oregon sprinkled throughout the you get two or three Marquee matchups probably 80% of the weeks so like you said Saturday kind of becomes a little Sunday light and we’ve talked about this before that Sunday morning slate kind of stinks now it’s not as good because they’re all in on Amazon they’re all in on the Prime Time games and obviously CBS and fox the afternoon games you’re getting a lot of Carolina Atlanta’s you know in the Minnesota Tennessee Titans in the morning you’re like do I I’m not even gonna talk about this game do I need to just have it on the background yeah I mean I I looked at our Fox schedule last week there’s a lot of saints in that one o00 window and I can only do so much Derek card underneath so it’s and you’re hoping for for us at Fox and CBS we’re hoping that Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels pop because there’s a lot of Chicago Washington matchups first window but I mean you know if you’re Fox you want to put Green Bay and San Francisco and Dallas and Philadelphia and the Rams you want to put them late so I think Fox will be fine because I think Chicago and Washington will be fascinating teams with these really highlevel athletic quarterbacks but it was the first time i’ looked at an NFL schedule and I felt the NFL didn’t protect Sunday I thought they gave it was the best Thursday schedule star quarterbacks on Monday the Sunday night game like that early window they not that they punted it but they just don’t care do you remember when uh Peter shreer was Mahomes rookie year you know V gave him a little tape and he put it out there little little inside like this is what’s coming do you have any of that on Tom Brady’s uh calls for Fox here in the spring that you’ve got your hands on that you can uh shed some light on well first of all Greg Olsson was so good I think it actually plays into Brady’s favor like he’s really replacing somebody that was excellent and so I think yeah I mean in my career when I’ve replaced somebody that’s really good Tony corn Heiser you just work harder you’re like Jesus I’m replacing sort of an iconic Northeast guy I think it’ll I mean Brady would work hard regardless one thing yeah but the one thing Fox does really well like every Network I’ve worked at you know um when I first got to ESPN George Bodenheimer came from sales ESPN’s ability to monetize every part of that network was really a thing to behold then John Skipper comes in he has a literary background he creates ESPN the magazine gets bigger espn.com I thought some of our journalism the writing Bill Simmons that flourished you know Eric Shanks the sports president at Fox he grew up in a truck so the quality of production and announcing teams is really high at Fox much better than ESPN in my opinion on average they had to take buck and aan to elevate theirs so I mean the one thing about Fox is they do they don’t miss a lot on they don’t miss on play-by-play guys and analyst guys they just they just don’t I think it’s what the network does better than every because our president you know he started overseas in a truck and you can it matters like where you come from George Bodenheimer sales Skipper didn’t I’ll contend that Skipper didn’t really like TV he loved books I thought the quality of writing and grantlin exploded Fox is tremendous in terms of production I mean they took over Golf and golf is really hard because golf fans are purist people that watch it love it and they remember Joe Buck did it it was it was in the first year yeah in the first year it wasn’t clunky it just you could feel it wasn’t theirs it wasn’t like CBS doing the Masters by the second year I was like this is pretty good they had everything miked I was like I was watching I think it was in the Pacific Northwest Joel clatt was doing it Shane bacon they had a good crew I enjoyed it too I was like they’re giving me audio I’ve never heard this is this is you can’t you have to be fair as a gets pretty good World Cup I think our world cup coverage is Sensational now I also think there’s so many good soccer voices in Europe so it the bar is really high but I I tend to think is Brady will be really good because it’s what fox does we’re our our big game production college football NFL World Cup Nascar it’s really good that’s a good point because Joe Buckle’s like who do you got in the bullpen Uh Kevin Burkhart and Joe Davis Mar Rivera come out of the bullpen I yeah I I’m excited to see Tom because I you know I don’t know if you saw Drew Brees got inducted in the Hall of Fame and he was complaining that he got a raw deal and it’s like do I watch you obviously no one disputes your knowledge of football and your playing career but not everyone like I I always thought Philip Rivers would have been remarkable on TV he was made yeah to me Drew is much more made to be like John Lynch running a team like I I don’t think it suits him very well where Tom has he can play the corporate guy like pton Manning but you see him on the roast like there’s the reason he’s the number one teammate in the history of the league so I I would imagine that first game Cleveland Dallas uh what do you think that’s getting a 20% bump for the Tom Brady just people interested and seeing what this is going to sound like it’s gonna be a lot of eyeballs on that game yeah and I think Tom will be diligent and thorough and that’s what he is I mean I know this um CBS had a talk with Romo about playing golf like that’s not happening with Tom like Brady’s putting in a lot of hours like I they don’t I don’t keep track of it but sometimes I will see somebody in the building I’ll say what’s that and they’re like oh Tom’s in the building today and I’m like it’s like the seventh time so like and our our you know it’s again every Network I’ve been at like every manager I’ve had or GM or president they all do something well so he’s getting world class coaching and he’s you know the thing about Tomas Tom has been I mean everything is Big with Tom like commercials he can’t do everything’s like when he’s on with me I had him on I think a week ago I asked my first question he went like four minutes and it was fascinating like I had uh Chris Ballard the Colts GM called me two days later he said you know I was just listening to that and he said boy hey he’s really good you know he’s like Tom’s really gave thoughtful answers on this stuff so it’s you it was I had two other people that didn’t call me but reached out in the league and they were like he’s going to be fine so I don’t I don’t worry about it I mean I also think and this is not a knock at critics because you do have to write a column after his first broadcast right you if you’re an Andrew marshan you have to write a column right like or or Brian Curtis at the ringer you’re not gonna not 25 pieces on that on Monday yeah but I do think the people that I look at in that space who I respect and I just named two of them I think everything I mean I’ve been doing this for 33 years I’ve worked with all sorts of different people on the air I always felt even doing three hours a day it took me about six weeks to figure out your timing so that I can talk you can come in I can feed it takes six week well six weeks to me is 30 what is that 30 shows that think about that like Tom has got to be good for show like here we go so it to me I thought uh again I thought Olen was so good with Burke har they they I always think buck and Aman’s strength was they sound like on the flight home they’re taking the same private jet home having a bourbon and and telling jokes like they like sumerall and Madden you’re like oh these guys they like each other I thought burkart and Olen had that and I think that’ll be that chemistry thing it’s hard to develop and it it if you can like somebody I remember remember when bman Jones and Pablo Tori got a show called high noon at ESPN and they were friends and I remember calling somebody because I I had watched clips of it and I called somebody who knew both and I said do they like each other and they’re like oh great friends and I’m like it doesn’t feel like it so you can and and again it doesn’t it’s not a shot at either guy chemistry is hard in life relationship I mean you name it business every Walk of Life and now put a camera on and go talk to 24 million people with a producer in your ear a director you’re throwing to Aron a ronaldi piece pressure I mean that I’ve said this before the hardest thing to do in broadcasting is an analyst for college football because they play 80 guys dual numbers second is NFL guys You’ never heard of but think about this Tom will have to be he’ll have to talk 200 times between 8 and 14 seconds if he boots it once that’s all anybody’s gonna talk about I think it’s cool that he just and I know he got paid a lot of money but because Peyton had the same opportunity and he basically said like I don’t really want to travel I just want to do it we got one out of the two of them and I think they both yeah they’re just special personalities like I don’t remember this but when Montana did it and was terrible I mean we’ve seen a lot of guys do it I Hayton Manning and Tom Brady I would say they’ve been pretty successful at everything they put their mind to and Peyton’s a good example like I used to watch that when the ESPN broadcast was terrible and then they get Troy and it’s like I just want to watch the normal broadcast I don’t watch it as much but now they bring in Bill uh but yeah there’s Tom’s Tom’s have a lot of people talking about him that much I’m excited yeah John middleof three and out former NFL scout [Music]