In this episode, John reacts to the news that Kyler Murray has been named the starting QB over J.J. McCarthy in Vikings training camp. Next, John talks about what's next for McCarthy, with potential trade destinations on the horizon. Later, John reacts to news and injury updates around the NFL. John wraps up with a Middlekauff Mailbag where he answers all of your questions. 

#Volume 

In this episode, John reacts to the news that Kyler Murray has been named the starting QB over J.J. McCarthy in Vikings training camp. Next, John talks about what's next for McCarthy, with potential trade destinations on the horizon. Later, John reacts to news and injury updates around the NFL. John wraps up with a Middlekauff Mailbag where he answers all of your questions.&nbsp;
#Volume&nbsp;

Former NFL scout John Middlekauff gives his one-of-a-kind perspective on the latest stories in college and pro football.

Former NFL scout John Middlekauff gives his one-of-a-kind perspective on the latest stories in college and pro football.

3 and Out with John Middlekauff

Founded by Colin Cowherd - The Volume is your home for sports podcasts that make you think, make you laugh, and hopefully make you some money.

The Volume

Kyler Murray WINS Vikings QB1 job over J.J. McCarthy + What’s Next for Tony Romo? 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/ea37f53a-3f3e-4ef0-b981-b4a4002ee260/transcript

In this episode, John reacts to the 2nd episode of HBO Hard Knocks with the Seattle Seahawks and reacts to the viral vlip of head coach Mike McDonald. Next, John dives into Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell's thinking into his QB decision. Later, John dives into the Middlekauff Mailbag to answer your football questions. 

#Volume 

In this episode, John reacts to the 2nd episode of HBO Hard Knocks with the Seattle Seahawks and reacts to the viral vlip of head coach Mike McDonald. Next, John dives into Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell's thinking into his QB decision. Later, John dives into the Middlekauff Mailbag to answer your football questions.&nbsp;
#Volume&nbsp;

Seahawks are CRUSHING Hard Knocks + Kevin O'Connell on Vikings  QB Battle 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/e8b328be-8165-4484-a77d-b4a500551944/transcript

Marker 01

Marker 05

On this episode of 3 & Out, John is back from the road, coming to you live from a Marriott couch  and he starts by giving Jerry Jones credit, which he acknowledges is not a sentence people are used to hearing. With the Cowboys extending Quinnen Williams (00:56), John walks through the full accounting of the Micah Parsons trade: Dallas wasn't one player away, they were three or four guys away, and once Dak and CeeDee were paid, signing Parsons would have made them a four-man team on a 53-man roster. Add up Williams' guarantees plus the two rookies they drafted with the return — Caleb Downs and Malachai Lawrence — and it lands within a rounding error of Parsons' own deal. Then he gets to Jeff Hafley and the Miami Dolphins tackling to the ground in camp (07:45), which in 2026 is about as jarring as seeing a guy light a cigarette. Miami can't manufacture a December trip to Buffalo in 84-degree sunshine, so the only lever a staff has is mandated physicality — and John connects it to his own father drawing a line in the sand and putting him on a Sacramento-area ranch every summer from ninth grade on. He also finds the one sliver of optimism in losing a top-ten left tackle (16:07): at least it happened in August, when you still have a month to canvass the league. Then the Bills' new stadium backlash (19:00) and why internet comment sections are a separate reality from the real world, and Dad Diaries (22:19) — a Friday night of tequila in Newport Beach that coincided, unfortunately, with the worst night of sleep his wife has ever had.

Then it's a full mailbag (27:34). Was the Cousins–Crosby fallout actually coordinated between the players and Klint Kubiak (27:34)? Could Anthony Richardson be a reclamation project in Baltimore — and how did the Colts let his trade value hit zero (30:22)? Should recovery peptides be legal in the NFL, and where's the line between recovery and steroids (33:32)? Bill Barnwell's all-decade team and why John thinks it's Mahomes over Josh Allen, plus why building an all-decade team halfway through the decade is a fool's errand (35:47). A high school sports administrator asks about transfer and eligibility rules, which sends John into holding eighth graders back for athletics and the Danny Almonte energy creeping into youth sports (40:47). Whether Odell Beckham Jr. can stick on a roster without playing special teams (46:11), a defense of Saquon Barkley's hands (47:59), the Chiefs' wide receiver room and whether a training camp trade is coming (49:10), his actual gambling philosophy and the two parlays that keep him coming back (52:10), and finally Ja'Lynn Polk retiring two years after going 37th overall — and why the Patriots' draft record at receiver is a reminder that you're evaluating humans, not widgets (56:44).

Follow John on Twitter, and Instagram for the latest. 

#Volume

On this episode of 3 &amp; Out, John is back from the road, coming to you live from a Marriott couch&nbsp; and he starts by giving Jerry Jones credit, which he acknowledges is not a sentence people are used to hearing. With the Cowboys extending Quinnen Williams (00:56), John walks through the full accounting of the Micah Parsons trade: Dallas wasn't one player away, they were three or four guys away, and once Dak and CeeDee were paid, signing Parsons would have made them a four-man team on a 53-man roster. Add up Williams' guarantees plus the two rookies they drafted with the return &mdash; Caleb Downs and Malachai Lawrence &mdash; and it lands within a rounding error of Parsons' own deal. Then he gets to Jeff Hafley and the Miami Dolphins tackling to the ground in camp (07:45), which in 2026 is about as jarring as seeing a guy light a cigarette. Miami can't manufacture a December trip to Buffalo in 84-degree sunshine, so the only lever a staff has is mandated physicality &mdash; and John connects it to his own father drawing a line in the sand and putting him on a Sacramento-area ranch every summer from ninth grade on. He also finds the one sliver of optimism in losing a top-ten left tackle (16:07): at least it happened in August, when you still have a month to canvass the league. Then the Bills' new stadium backlash (19:00) and why internet comment sections are a separate reality from the real world, and Dad Diaries (22:19) &mdash; a Friday night of tequila in Newport Beach that coincided, unfortunately, with the worst night of sleep his wife has ever had.
Then it's a full mailbag (27:34). Was the Cousins&ndash;Crosby fallout actually coordinated between the players and Klint Kubiak (27:34)? Could Anthony Richardson be a reclamation project in Baltimore &mdash; and how did the Colts let his trade value hit zero (30:22)? Should recovery peptides be legal in the NFL, and where's the line between recovery and steroids (33:32)? Bill Barnwell's all-decade team and why John thinks it's Mahomes over Josh Allen, plus why building an all-decade team halfway through the decade is a fool's errand (35:47). A high school sports administrator asks about transfer and eligibility rules, which sends John into holding eighth graders back for athletics and the Danny Almonte energy creeping into youth sports (40:47). Whether Odell Beckham Jr. can stick on a roster without playing special teams (46:11), a defense of Saquon Barkley's hands (47:59), the Chiefs' wide receiver room and whether a training camp trade is coming (49:10), his actual gambling philosophy and the two parlays that keep him coming back (52:10), and finally Ja'Lynn Polk retiring two years after going 37th overall &mdash; and why the Patriots' draft record at receiver is a reminder that you're evaluating humans, not widgets (56:44).
Follow John on<a href="https://twitter.com/TheVolumeSports"> Twitter</a>, and Instagram for the latest.&nbsp;
#Volume

Cowboys Pay Quinnen Williams, Cousins/Crosby Fallout, Bills Stadium Backlash

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/c633008f-4c1d-488e-8d5f-b4a3004daffc/transcript

On this episode of 3 & Out, John is pumped with football officially back. He opens on Carson Beck's Hall of Fame Game debut (01:46) and why a third-round quarterback's path is fundamentally different from a first-rounder's: you're not a five-star on scholarship, you're a backup until proven otherwise, and your preseason tape is your résumé.He likes the landing spot for Beck and explains why guys like Chase Daniel built 14-year careers almost entirely on August film. From there, he breaks down the 2026 Hall of Fame class (11:09) — Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri which John argues may be the highest-character group Canton has ever enshrined at once, plus a sober note on Roger Craig's dementia diagnosis and the taped acceptance.

Teddy Bridgewater's retirement (16:34) becomes John's case against the Lions, the one thing he thinks Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell have done poorly while otherwise resurrecting the franchise. Investing everything in Jared Goff without ever churning cheap arms behind him is a portfolio with no diversification — and he contrasts it with the Packers' Ron Wolf philosophy and the Eagles taking a Day 3 quarterback nearly every single year. He gets into the Colts hyping Daniel Jones and Riley Leonard apparently beating out Anthony Richardson (24:53), why training camp praise from famous teammates should be discounted (27:54) with a detour into why Saban and Belichick were at their best after losses and the Cowboys (31:04), where he's bullish on the roster but not on Brian Schottenheimer's Super Bowl talk. Predictions on the Saints, Cowboys and Texans (34:31), Kyle Shanahan's concussion protocol and a rant about cross-country preseason travel (35:14), and the injury board (36:19). He closes with the Kirk Cousins–Maxx Crosby scuffle and why Klint Kubiak handled it perfectly (41:16), the compounding advantage of growing up in a football family (42:35), and a Newport Beach staycation that turned into a $60 million ocean-view real estate rant (44:11).

Follow John on Twitter, and Instagram for the latest. 

All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet

#Volume

On this episode of 3 &amp; Out, John is pumped with football officially back. He opens on Carson Beck's Hall of Fame Game debut (01:46) and why a third-round quarterback's path is fundamentally different from a first-rounder's: you're not a five-star on scholarship, you're a backup until proven otherwise, and your preseason tape is your r&eacute;sum&eacute;.He likes the landing spot for Beck and explains why guys like Chase Daniel built 14-year careers almost entirely on August film. From there, he breaks down the 2026 Hall of Fame class (11:09) &mdash; Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri which John argues may be the highest-character group Canton has ever enshrined at once, plus a sober note on Roger Craig's dementia diagnosis and the taped acceptance.
Teddy Bridgewater's retirement (16:34) becomes John's case against the Lions, the one thing he thinks Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell have done poorly while otherwise resurrecting the franchise. Investing everything in Jared Goff without ever churning cheap arms behind him is a portfolio with no diversification &mdash; and he contrasts it with the Packers' Ron Wolf philosophy and the Eagles taking a Day 3 quarterback nearly every single year. He gets into the Colts hyping Daniel Jones and Riley Leonard apparently beating out Anthony Richardson (24:53), why training camp praise from famous teammates should be discounted (27:54) with a detour into why Saban and Belichick were at their best after losses and the Cowboys (31:04), where he's bullish on the roster but not on Brian Schottenheimer's Super Bowl talk. Predictions on the Saints, Cowboys and Texans (34:31), Kyle Shanahan's concussion protocol and a rant about cross-country preseason travel (35:14), and the injury board (36:19). He closes with the Kirk Cousins&ndash;Maxx Crosby scuffle and why Klint Kubiak handled it perfectly (41:16), the compounding advantage of growing up in a football family (42:35), and a Newport Beach staycation that turned into a $60 million ocean-view real estate rant (44:11).
Follow John on<a href="https://twitter.com/TheVolumeSports"> Twitter</a>, and Instagram for the latest.&nbsp;
All lines provided by <a href="http://hardrock.bet/">Hard Rock Bet</a>
#Volume

Carson Beck’s Debut, 2026 Hall Of Fame Class, Bridgewater Retires, Cowboys Super Bowl Talk

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/258a4cc9-7d42-4bb1-929b-b4a200102d75/transcript

Kyler Murray WINS Vikings QB1 job over J.J. McCarthy + What’s Next for Tony Romo?

In 2 playlist(s)

3 and Out with John Middlekauff

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips