Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Are you sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one. Find your local station for the Herd at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowhern on Fox Sports Radio. Here we go, breaking news live in LA. It's the Herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. iHeart the Radio of Fox Sports Radio FS one. One hour from now, I make an amendment to my NFL predictions. I get two three major changes as we get ready. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bill quarterback, also schedule to join us later in the show. Jmack is joining me today. Well, we've been following this thing since June thirtieth, so the last close to the last day of June Kevin Durant story leak Taiwan out and now we get closure. Very exciting, Colin, extremely exciting. Can I say the player empowerment eras did? Is it over? Well, it's all cyclical, so the team won here big time. Yeah. So here's the story. Apparently, Monday yesterday, Steve Nash, Kevin Durant, the Brooklyn Nets owner, the Brooklyn Nets GM all met and this morning they released this. This comes from the Brooklyn Nets. Sean Marks. He's the GM of the team. He said, Steve Nash and I together with the owner and met with Kevin Durant and his agent in LA yesterday. We've agreed to move forward with our partnership. We're focusing on basketball with one collective goal in mind, build a lasting franchise in a championship to Brooklyn. So Kevin staying and they're all staying together. Brooklyn had the leverage, that's my takeaway, because Kevin Durant had four years left, said he wasn't going to retire. He said, Dad, and this was of his may Kevin Durant couldn't claim I got traded here, I'm miserable here. This was Kevin Durant's making. He chose Kyrie over Steph Kurrtt and Brooklyn probably also said all right, yes, the good teams. Kevin were interested interested, Milwaukee was interested, Golden State was interested, Boston was interested in, Miami was interested in. Phoenix was interested. But those are well run teams, and well run teams aren't gonna get their franchise for a guy that wasn't even happy in Golden State. So they're not gonna get their roster, they're not gonna get their future with six number one picks. So K D. Brooklyn probably said, here are the choices. You can stay with us, We've got talent, we like our roster a lot of shooters, or go to a desperate, poorly run franchise and you can be a twenty million dollars chandelier in a lousy house. Those are your choices. And given those choices, I think I would stay in Brooklyn. Kevin Durant is trapped, but again it's his making. Listen, in the NBA, when you cover the NBA, there's four or five really crucial agents, and there's ten or twelve really crucial players, and you want access to them because it's a drama league in a story league. And so when Kevin Durant decided to leave a great owner and a great coach and a great GM and a great roster and great momentum and great culture, Kevin Durant didn't really get clawbered. NBA media latted his independence. He's a wanderer. No, it was a terrible decision. I said it would be like Patrick Mahomes leaving the Hunt family, Andy Reid, great GM Travis Kelsey to go play with the Jets because I got buddy that plays for him. We would roll our eyes and tell Mahomes to get therapy. But in the NFL, we actually watched the games and so ages have very little power players. We move on to another one. NBA's got five six players you want access to and about the same number of agents. Everybody wants access to him, so it's constant coddling. This was a horrible, horrible career move, and Kevin Durant, now at thirty four, is left with this. Say it out loud. Steve Nash is a head coach, Kyrie Irving k D and Ben Simmons. You thought last year was dysfunctional. Maybe the moral to the story is mobility is great, but be careful trying to get happier than happy. Kevin Durant was happy in Golden State. Oh, he'd sometimes fight with some of the play calling of Steve Kerrn. Yeah, he'd rustle around once in a while with Draymond Green and get his feelings hurt. I am all for big moves, I am all for taking chances. I am all for professional mobility, be careful, trying to get happier than happy. And Kevin Durant and Golden State. The owner was giving him Silicon Valley business deals, the coach was walking on eggshells. Steph Curry was giving him shots. Draymond would guard the best guy. Clay Thompson doesn't say anything. He was happy. You want to get happy er, And this is what you're left with, trapped for a franchise that is not with Ben Simmons, Kyrie and KD getting to the conference finals, absolutely not. Chemistry matters. So far, Ben Simmons hasn't been able to get along with anybody. AU teammates, LSU teammates, sixers nets and we're get anywhere. You think it's gonna be a home run this morning. So there's a big difference between deciding that this is the best place for you and being overjoyed that you're in Brooklyn. And I think Kevin Durant knows this is the best of some really really shaky options. All right. So I worked in Tampa for a couple of years. A lot of Fun covered the Bucks and they weren't the great Bucks. Then they became great. Tony Dune got the job after I left, and they got really good. So one of the media guys there that I always trusted and respected was Rick Stroud. He's not a clickbait guy. He's respected, he's well researched, and so if he said something on the Bucks, you know, he's got much better contact feet on the ground of that organization than I do. So Tom Brady took eleven days off in camp, and my takeaway on it was he'd retired, probably promised his family a couple of week vacation in Costa Rica or one of their homes or something, and he was going to make good on that. You know, he's got a supermodel, successful wife, and he's got kids and they have you know, they get an opinion too in life. And it was an eleven day vacation. But Rick Stroud yesterday was on the Dan Patrick Show and it sounds way more ominous then my conjecture. It sounds different, it sounds mysterious. And Rick Stroud said, up wasn't really a vacation. It's not a vacation. Let's put it that way. Um, was it necessary for him to be with his family? I think so. Did they have it planned before training camp? Yeah, they would have. I think we'll find out a reason here, whether Brady announces it or it just gets out that that is personal and he'll talk about him when he's ready to. But there is there is some there there. Listen. Wow, eleven days not a vacation. It was necessary though, to be with his family. Um, I'm not going to even guess. There have been reports that he's been miserable at practice. Some of it could be the heat in August and Tampa having lived there and covered the bucks. It can make you miserable. But um, listen, it ends differently for superstars. I mean at FARV Michael Jordan of mysteries and controversies and uh, you know, superstars sort of get their way and then, as they aid, sometimes they don't and it can be off putting for them. You know, all families of superstars sacrifice a lot more than you know the average family to be a superstar. It's time. It's this relentless pursuit of excellence. And I'm sure Tom's family, although he's a great dad and husband, you make certain sacrifices, but I do I do think Tom's had a very choppy last few months. Tom tends to be a control guy, a prep guy, manages things well. And we've got all sorts of stories coming out there about he was looking at the Dolphins when he was in New England, and now there's the story, you know about the Raiders and he's out there, you know, kind of mocking Derek Carr. You know, it's been choppy, and Tom's career mostly hasn't been that choppy. He's had the occasional deflate Gate spygate stuff with Belichick, but you know, it's when you're a superstar and you're in the public space for twenty twenty five years, it's your public and it's not smooth sailing. And it's been kind of choppy here for about six months. There was a report that Tom was back at practice today and apparently at his best practice as a Tampa Bay buccaneer. According to Rick Stroud, he was quote on fire, is how a member of the Bucks organization to described it. You know, part of this is he did retire and then he unretired, which is you know that that's a big pivot. The other thing is, did he retire out of guilt for missing family time? Did he retire because he was tired of arians in Tampa and then he comes back and they reassigned him and he feels guilty. Did he retire because he wants to own a team and he's playing but he doesn't really want to be here. I mean, it's it's one of these moral dilemmas a lot of Americans, men and women get caught in all the time what we should do and what we want to do. And there's a book to be written about Tom Brady's last six months. Does he really want to retire or is it out of guilt? He's still great, he's still dominant, he could still be MVP of the league. He's one of a super Bowl in two years, a couple of playoff runs in two years. So I don't have answers for it. But when Rick Stroud comes out and says it was eleven days and not a vacation, it sounds fairly ominous. So we wish him well. He's been a great statesman for the game, and I think we'll have to be really patient because I'm not going to guess too much at this point. With Tom Brady. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Well, the number one story of preseason to me is not Tom Brady's eleven day absence. The number one story has been the Pittsburgh Steelers and their quarterback situation with Kenny pick at the rookie. So the Steelers have a history. I said this yesterday. When the Pitts or Steelers get the quarterback right, they win super Bowls. When USC gets the coach right, John McKay, John Robinson, Pete Carroll, They've always won national championships, always go back to the seventies, and you can make the argument for Alabama. So when Pittsburgh gets it right, this defensive leaning franchise that drafts well, develops well a lot of stability. I mean it's it's they just don't go through coaches Chuck Noll, Bill Cower, Mike Tomlin. That's it right, that's the Steelers. So it really does matter. Did they find a gem in Kenny Pickett who played at the University of Pittsburgh and played his home games for your starter. Here's the thing I would start Kenny Pickett. And really it comes down to this. If Kenny Pickett starts in stumbles, he's a rookie quarterback, they all do. It won't be a disaster because the organization has too many good foundational pieces, great front office, great pass rush, excellent coach, young star running back, young star receiver's, young star tight end. There's too much going for it. That's not what I worry about. Kenny's not going to be a disaster, He'll struggle. My question with Kenny Pickett is can this defensive leaning coach, can this defensive leaning franchise get the most out of him? Because Mike Tomlins running the show, how many years have they been rebuilding this offensive line? Sean McVay rebuilt his in an off season. How many offensive coordinators can you go through? And Mark Cabala yesterday came on the show, covered the Stealer's twenty years and we talked about this. They do defense great, but increasingly I don't know if I trust their offense. Matt Cannad has had success once before, I mean in a University of Pittsburgh right behind me, but other than that, he has no professional experience of success at all. So his motion offense, the stuff he likes to do, has not been really proven in the NFL whatsoever. However, for some reason, Tomlin really really loves him. You talk about the offensive line, I think it's been three straight years they've had almost complete turnover. They've had three offensive line coaches. I mean, it's a mess right now. So that's my thing. I don't think Pikett would be a disaster. Maybe he's not great, but there's too many good foundational pieces here for it to be a complete mess. They have draft. They have crushed it in tight end, running back, wide receiver, rush end. Drafting good GM's total stability. But if you look at the quarterbacks, the young quarterbacks that got good fast Cincinnati offensive coach, goff Rams offensive coach, Arizona offensive coach, Kansas City offensive coach Baltimore, and Buffalo may not have an offensive coach, but they have really strong offensive coordinators. Look at Tuah constant disarray in Miami, finally gets an offensive coach, understands the sensibility of a quarterback too, has had his best camp. Look at Mac Jones. Mac Jones had a super strong offensive coordinator, really good Josh McDaniels. That's why he was so good, so fast. Josh McDaniels gets the raider's job. What's happened this camp? It's a mess. He's regressed. So I don't doubt that Kenny Pickett CoA go in and account for himself fairly well. I don't think it would be man overboard. But this organization is not spending a lot of money right now on the offense or like thirty first and offensive spending. And I don't think they have a feel for it, like Kansas City, like the Rams, like the Niners, like Cincinnati, I like Arizona. I don't think they have a feel for it. I mean, how many years do you get to reboot your offensive line? They can't get it right. They've run through offensive coordinators. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd Weekdays and noon Easter Nini Empacific. The Ringer came out. It's pretty interesting. They call it the all in Index. So what they do? They the two elements are you all in? Is your NFL franchise all in? And they looked at two elements to judge that by first of all, draft capital, are you stockpiling picks for the future or are you all in giving up picks to get good players now? The second thing they looked at was real cash spending on players. Again, are you giving out big contracts the big players to win now? So the ringer call it the all in index and the all in teams rams one, Broncos, two Brown's, three Dolphins, four, nine Ers, five Saints, six Charger, seven Raiders, eight Bucks, nine Bills ten based on the draft capital and spending on real players. So you know, first of all, there's like three teams that we all kind of feel like, if they don't win this year, it's okay, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston. They could have kind of look at that draft class next year. Quarterbacks, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston. There's a couple of teams that they're trying to figure out. Listen, can our quarterback play? Chicago Jets, Giants the two teams missing from this all in index. You know when you first look at its Green Bay in Kansas City. Well, Green Bay traded Davante Adams, so that doesn't feel all in and they got draft picks for the future. What has been my criticism through the years of Green Bay. You know, they they're like you know they run it like the post office. You feel like they're a little outdated. Everything to them drafting Jordan Love, that's not about all in now, that's about protecting the future. Green Bay's always felt like the future being irrelevant as the only game in town. You know, they run it a little bit like an IBM, a business. Don't pay the employees too much. It's all about the company. It's all about the future. So they're not in at all in nor should they be. And because Aaron Rodgers contract, they don't have a lot of free agent you know, dexterity. The other team is Kansas City. Kansas City's the interesting one to me because they made a decision We're gonna take a bunch of draft picks for Tyreek Hill. And that's a fascinating decision because none of us dispute they could have kept him. They could have kept him, and none of us dispute he's a field tilter, he's great. But Kansas City said we're gonna take some draft picks. We're gonna cobble this thing together. And I do think it's important. So people are gonna monitor the chiefs all year. And we know with Andy Reid, we know what, Travis Kelcey. They're very, very well run. They're gonna win a bunch of games. It is a tougher division. But one of the things Kansas City has made a living on, and Tyreek Hill is a huge part of this, the ability to score quickly, and that matters. Okay, you can score points. New England will score points this year, so we'll Tennessee. They don't have the ability with Mac Jones Ryan Tannehill to score quickly. They're down, they're in trouble. When the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, in their three playoff games, they trailed by ten or more in each of those games and won each game by ten or more points. A lot of that's Tyreek Hill. He's the lightning strike. So I don't think they have the lightning strike. I think there's a handful of teams that do. Cincinnati, Buffalo, the LA Rams, those have been in Kansas City last year with Tyreek Hill, those are the lightning strike teams. They can be behind, they're down thirteen, there's four units left. They can get two touchdowns. Absolutely, wait, make one defensive stop over the top, big player receivers, big arm quarterbacks. Tennessee in New England. They can score a bunch of points too, but they're down thirteen with four and a half left, the game's over. Tennessee's not vibrant enough at wide receiver and mac Jones again, they're not dynamic enough on the perimeter. They're not going to score quick. So what I think it's fast sinating with Kansas City this year is they have lost that lightning strike. Now obviously a big point. A big part of that's Mahomes, but a huge part of that is Tyreek Hill. And again they'll be productive. They draft well, they developed well, read makes the plays. Mahomes distributor, it's not about that. But in twenty twenty two, Cincinnati all through those playoffs, they were out of games and suddenly won games. And Kansas City got to the Super Bowl and they were out of games and suddenly it's not just a lot of cars can get you to a B. Sports car gets you there quickly. Sometimes you gotta get somewhere quickly. A lot of cars can go A to B. And so Kansas City is not an all in team because they accumulated a ton of draft picks. Instead of saying we got Mahomes, we got Kelsey we got the lightning strike in the league. We're just gonna go with that. We're gonna have some cap issues. So they they have surrendered. In my opinion, that ability doesn't mean they couldn't have great success this year. But I do think it'll feel different. You know, it's like a It's like a boxer when you when you have a big punch, you can be outboxed for nine rounds and then the tenth knock him out. Like that's that's the puncher's chance. You can be out schemed, out maneuvered, out trained, and Tyson lands a punch in the fights over. Yeah. I mean it looked at Kansas City and Buffalo, it's thirteen seconds left, game's over. Nobody in the league could get your forty yards on a drag route faster than Tyreek kill you're at the twenty. Nope, now we're in their territory. That took six seconds. That part's gone and it'll be interesting to watch. There's not a lot of that he Tyreek was. He was a field tilter. I mean, he was the lightning strike in the NFL, and now he's Miamis And that's why I think Tuah Is gonna have a lot of success. Bubble screen at sixty yards Tyreek gives you an opportunity, like great quarterbacks, to be out schemed out, played out out everything and win quickly from behind. Hey, it's me Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for twenty two minutes of piping hot baseball talk featuring the biggest names of newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the eye test, We've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the iHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. I make my NFL predictions, my standing predictions, then I allow myself two amendments, one on the show on the data season starts. That's a Thursday, couple of thursdays away, and then I'm gonna do one today. So here's my predictions in the AFC. Let's start with the AFC. I'm only gonna make one change in the AFC. In the East, I think it's pretty easy. Bills are the best team, Jets are the worst. I'll take Dolphins over the Patriots based on their offensive weaponry AFC West. I still think Kansas City losing lightning strike touchdown maker Tyreek Hill. It hurts. And I think Russ and Denver's gonna pop. No changes there. I don't love the South and I don't love the Colts. I think they need two more receivers in another corner. But they're the best of a wonky division. Here's my change, my one change what I've seen so far. That's the AFC North. I'm gonna move the Ravens from three to two and the Steelers from two to three. Why because I've watched the Steelers offensive line and they still can't figure it out. This is the third year they're making changes and they can't get it right, and they don't know who their quarterback is Baltimore. Meanwhile, they lost a lot of really high end players last year, like Ronnie Stanley, Jimmy Smith, Marcus Peters to injury. They're much healthier. They've got better offensive line play to protect an MVP level quarterback. So I've got Bengals, Ravens, Steelers, Browns Ravens or passed the Steelers. Let's go to the NFCAT couple changes here, So for anybody listening on radio. I had the Eagles, Cowboys, Commanders, Giants in the East, Vikings, Yes, the Vikings, Packers, Lions, Bears in the North, Rams, Cardinals, Niners, Seahawks in the West, and the Bucks winning. Everybody else's rebuildings, Saints, Panthers, Falcons, Saints don't think they're rebuilding, but with Jamis Winston at quarterback, you're kind of rebuilding, right. So I got two changes in the NFC. I'm gonna move the New York Giants from fourth to third and the Commanders from third to fourth. First of all, Carson Wentz has not had a great camp. All we've heard is negativity. Chase Young won't play for a month. He's on the pop list. That's not great. Also, let's be honest about the Giants and Brian Daboll. Daniel Jones has had a very good preseason. He's completing seventy seven percent of his passes. And it's never been a size thing. It's ever been an athletic thing. He's just not been an accurate thrower of the football. Well, Brian day Boll fixed Josh Allen, Has he fixed Daniel Jones? They also have I believe they actually have really nice targets offensively, Kadarius Tony, Sterling Shepherd. They drafted a wide receiver sa Quon Barkley. I don't think it's a lack of weapons. They paid a lot for their receiving corps. They don't have a distributor to the weapons and so in a very average division. Maybe jamac has convinced me I'm gonna move the Giants up. They've got an offensive coach, Daniel Jones, has had a nice camp outside of Cavon Thibadeau. They're pretty healthy. And I also think now they've got their tackles fixed because Andrew Thomas at the end of last year looked like a gamer at left tackle Evan Neil right tackles. So they got their tackles. So there's my change. Giants surpassed the Commanders who've had a bad camp. The other one is I'm gonna move the Niners from third to second and the Cardinals from second the third. Very noisy camp for Arizona. Don't love that, but I think it's more with the Niners. I think their rookie class looks really good. Drake Jackson at linebacker, the running back out of LSU, Danny Gray the receiver. I think they looked like once again they've hit on a couple of big time picks. Deebo Samuel's happy with a long term contract, and it's a Super Bowl roster. I said this, Did I say this yesterday? Maybe an off the air on the air of every team I've watched in the preseason, the best roster looks like San Francisco the most depth of really high end talent. It's Buffalo or San Francisco. And so I think Trey Lance is gonna be good enough to get him into the playoffs. One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like. Trey Lance through three picks at practice yesterday, and there is concern that he's got some accuracy issues, he's raw, he hasn't played a lot in the last two and a half years, and it's I think Trey Lance. I don't think the Niners season's complicated. I think it'll be fascinating, but it's not complicated. The defense is great, the coach is great, the roster is great. Can Tray Lance to a Jimmy G. Manage it and about three times a game make a wow play. I think he can, so I think San Francisco ends up being a playoff team. The division is not as good as it's been in previous years because Russell Wilson's out of it and Arizona's gotten increasingly noisy. But it's Trey Lance reminds me a little bit of a really, really talented pitcher who can struggle with control, but as a good enough batting order, defense and manager that even on those nights they can win games. So if you look at the Niners schedule, they're six or seven games. He can just manage it. Chicago, Seattle, Carolina, Atlanta, New Orleans, Seattle, Washington. He didn't have to light it up, get out of the way, eighteen pass attempts, a couple of while plays, and that's you know. I like Jimmy G. But if you look at Jimmy G. Last year they got to the conference championship and they had some injuries, Jimmy G had twenty touchdowns and twelve picks. Now, Jimmy G is more accurate than Trey and he always will be. He throw it he didn't have a big arm, but he's accurate. But you know, his passer rating was high nineties, twenty touchdown twelve picks nine and six got to a conference championship, and that's with injuries. They have added several new players in the draft that look like they can contribute. Reportedly, Brandon Auk, the number two receiver, has crushed it in camp. He's ready to star. Danny Gray, the rookie, came in. He looks like a viable deep threat at number three. So I don't think it's a complex story for the Niners. Coach is great, roster's great, defense is great, and the weapons are great. The only question is can he make two to three consistent wild plays athletically or through the air to get them to the next level. And my takeaway is yeah, I think he will. How huge is it that they opened Colin against Chicago and Seattle too, like bottom ten defenses in the league. Imagine if you opened against Aaron Donald or something that would be a different story. So he gets almost like two extra games to ease in because you don't have to worry about justin fields beating you or Gino Smith slash Drew Locke like, I think the Niners would be okay here that schedule, really, the way it breaks early for him is huge. They're gonna be two and oh yeah, and he's gonna be more confident. And again, this is a quarterback friendly offense. It's not a quarterback centric offense. They're not asking him to do what Josh Allen's doing without much of a running game. They're not asking him to do what Patrick Mahomes is doing or Justin Herbert. It's not what this offense is. Jimmy G got him to a conference championship with twenty touchdowns and twelve picks, and Brandon Iyuk is reportedly ready to be a big star. So I think I think the Niners are very much in play for the super Bowl. And again, the brilliance of shanahan system is he's not going to be as accurate as Jimmy G, but he is much more athletic with a better deep arm. So you're gonna get some splash plays Jimmy G couldn't give you. You're probably not gonna be as consistent moving the chains, but you'll have an over the top feature you didn't rapport before. And so I think San Francisco's gonna be really good. I don't I don't think it's that complicated. He's the guy, but I think it'll work. And I also think it'll be fascinating to watch because of his inconsistency. You know, he's gonna he's gonna be the great pitcher who can't get past the third inning. Sometimes he's gonna have a couple of those. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays and noon Easter not a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeart Radio app. Josh Allen is he's really a perfect fit in Buffalo small town high school. I mean, you know, they're sending his tapes out, and then he goes to you know, Laramie, Wyoming, and then he goes to one of the perfect loving small towns in the NFL where the football team is everything, but you can get some privacy. And here's Josh Allen, now entering his fifth season, a pro bowlder and just an all time talent. It's a great I hate the story, and Josh Ellen's nice enough today to join us live. First of all, Josh, I feel lucky to have you. We don't get superstars much. I was just I came from a small town and I went to a small college and Eastern Washington University, which is the home of Cooper Cup So it was a good football program, but I loved it. As a small town kid, that college was all I could handle. Do you ever look at your path and think Buffalo is literally perfect for me? Absolutely? And I think I knew that the day I visited, you know, pre combine and pre or pre draft. I should say, it just felt right, and everything in my career kind of let up just to them, I guess succession of each city that I was going to, whether it was fire about to Readley, Readley, to lay me, lay me to hear. I love this place. It's it's my home now. I love playing for Bill's Mafia, and I do think it is the greatest football city in America. People just love football here and they love their Bills. So I'm very honored and proud to be a Buffalo Booll. You know, listen, mel Kiper said you were one of the ten best prospects ever. But as you found out in year one, this league is hard. It's really hard for young quarterbacks. Was there ever a moment for you in that first year when you're sitting to yourself thinking, man, these dbs are fast. I'm getting hit a lot. Did you ever have a moment of self doubt? Not at all, Not at all. I think going back to Pop Warner football, I was getting hit a lot too. So I've taken my medicine over my football career and I know you know how to get back up. So anything in my mind I think that I'm able to do when I'm on the football field. And you know, there's some people that get figured out or some people that figure it out, and I was going to be the one that figures it out. So but I'm gonna say this, it took a lot of people to help me along the way. Whether there was my coaching staff here, Jordan Palmer back home, my support system, my family, my girlfriend. Everybody has has had a part, you know, in me in this spot right now. And you know we still had a lot of room to grow and a lot of work to do. Um Listen, Sean mcdermot's a tough guy. I think he was a big high school wrestler. He's a tough guy, and you grew up a community with tough guys, Farmers and people who put the days a real true day's work in And I think, um, I like when my young quarterbacks have offensive coaches, but there's some real value in the Mike Tomlins and the Sean McDermott's. And as a defensive coach, what's your relationship like was Sean? Is it kind of hands off and let you do your thing? And what is it like? Yeah? I think over the years it's progressed some more of the hands off and just make it right. You know, early on in my career he definitely had a hand on my shoulder and just trying to teach me the nuances of what defenses are trying to do. And you know, he'll still step into our quarterback meetings and just trying to explain, you know, what we're expecting, what we're expecting to see, whether teams are now starting to really drop eight play there, you know, cover two and you know, have a spy, or if they're trying to blitz us. I think over the years, especially you know, from from the first year to now, the difference of how defenses are playing me has changed drastically, and sure's been a great tool and trying to assess that and how to attack those defenses. Listen, that loss to Kansas City was about as jarring. I mean, that's that's a tough loss. That's not an easy one. That's not a hey, I'm gonna go home and go to bed. How long I mean, how long did you sit there and have you know think about, Oh, I made this, I did that because you played great, But wasn't the toughest loss of your life? Absolutely, absolutely, and any emotions of that game again, the highs and the lows, but you know, ultimately we didn't do enough to get the job done. And um, you know, the taste that we have as a team, it's still there. So we don't want to fill that again. And again we nothing we did last years. You're gonna carry over him this year. We're starting zero and zero. But we can still take a lot of valuable lessons and us from that game and try to apply it to our upcoming season here. You know, it's interesting Manning and Brady, Uh, you know, there were different personalities and I always felt they were rivals. And but it's funny with you and Mahomes. You're you're kind of small town kids, you know, you were you got your lumps in college. You know, you weren't You weren't winning the highsman, you didn't go to high profile programs. And I look at you and Mahomes and I'm like, I wouldn't be shocked if you guys golf all the time, Like it feels like a friendly rivalry. Do you ever text him after games? I mean, what is that relationship? Like, Yeah, we text every once in a while. Um, you know, obviously we did the match together, yea, and that was that was so fun. And I've got so much respect for Pat, not just as a football player, but as a person, how he's carried himself throughout his you know, early career so far. And again the statistics don't Lie has played. N't Lie is one of the greatest young talents to ever play this game. And you know, he's gonna go down as one of the greatest uh to play this game. And I truly believe that. For the respect and admiration that I have for him, Um is through the roof and being able to go, you know, play golf and just hang out. We did the Tahoe American Century in July as well, and just to deep dive and get to know him better. You know, he's a great husband, he's a great father. Um, he's a great person. So and I love what he does in the community of Kansas City and in his foundation there. So again, I can go on and on, but I'll let you guys do that. So Vaughan Miller now is in town, and Vaughan has been in big games, the kind of games you want to get into. Can you feel like a little bit, Josh, do you kind of sense there's that like elder statesman thing. I mean, he's he's a Super Bowl MVP. He was huge last year for the Rams in the playoffs. What's he kind of bring to Buffalo in your opinion? Yeah, I think a lot of knowledge and opportunities for our our young guys in the V line to get some attention there on the edge and allow you know, one on once Fred Oliver and Greg Russeau um and you know, bringing in guys like Tim Settle and Dequon. You know, we've got real, real young talent that are hungry to go out there and prove themselves and again to have you know, the knowledge bank of what you know Von Miller has and to lean on him and learn from him, you know, and then as myself as a leader, just you know, hearing what he has to say to those guys. You know, he texts me every once in a while some whether it's a quote or a video of just trying to keep pressing on and everything that he does in this building is to help us win a Super Bowl. So um, I love the intensity that he's been bringing, the focus and then again his play on the field's gonna speak for itself. And he's really unbelievable to watch in practice. He's so bendy, he's so athletic, he's so quick, and he's sneaky strong too for his frame. So again, to have that for young guys to learn from, well, I think it's gonna pay a lot of dividends come to season time. You know, he through the years. The reason Jim Kelly had success in Buffalo or Big Ben in Pittsburgh is when you get to these northern tier teams, you've got to have a quarterback to can throw in cold weather. So it's it's funny. I look at you and I think, you know, California kid, you played in Wyoming and Laraman gets cold and Buffalo is you're gonna play We're gonna probably play in snow games in December in January. A lot of your career as a California kid, we look at you as a big guy and we think, oh, guy, he probably loves he probably loves the snow. And I think he's a California kid. He didn't play snow games. Tell me kind of take me to Buffalo weather December January. For a California kid, what do you make of the weather, the snow, the intensity. I love it personally. I think I'm I have a belief that I'm more equipped to deal with it than most guys. But again, you know, you say California boy, but Central Valley. I think it's a little different than what you're thinking of. It's it's tough, it's it's gritty, um, and you know, it doesn't matter if it's a hundred degrees outside or zero degrees outside. I love the game of football and we're gonna try to go figure it out and put our best foot forward. Yeah, so you have Ken Dorsey. I was told us about two years ago that Dorsey was the smart next guy in the NFL that was gonna be the next great chord Nator and eventually a head coach. We I you know old enough. I watched him at Miami. He's got a great reputation. So he comes in and he takes over. Josh Allen, you don't need a lot of work obviously, all right, You're like, you're the dream for a coordinator. Have there been things though, Josh that he's tweaked, that he's given you advice? He said, hey, just do this. I mean, you tell me what's the relationship, like, what's he bringing to the table? I mean, the relationship that we have is by far and away, I think the best that you can have between a first year sitting a caller and a quarterback. He's been in the quarterback room with me for the last three years. He knows my life and my dislikes. He knows what concepts the call and not to call. We connect on a personal level level. And again he's a fiery competitor and I love that about him. He is juice uff in practice, you know, And I love that. You know, the Bills trusted my word and trying to get him to come back here and be our offensive coordinator. But again, it's fixed dividends to what Dorse's been able to do is his prepperration, his work ethic for this organization to trust him enough to step into that offensive coordinator role. You know, I'm excited for him, and he's up for the challenge and he's ready to go improve it. By the way, I love Stefon Diggs. I like his personality. I like his confidence. I like the fact that he went to Maryland and got overlooked by a lot of people. You guys have something really special is you know, you want your wide receiver to want the ball, but you don't want him to every time in the huddle say I'm wide open? What is it like that I can't see? What is it like big moments with Stefan in the huddle? What's his personality like? He's unbelievable and you know, the rep that he had in Minnesota couldn't be further from the truth. He is a team guy through and through. You know, if I'm frustrated for myself, he always finds a way to get the best out of me. Hey, next plays your best play. Forget about it, let's go. So I think if you talk to anybody on the offensive side of the ball, even the defensive side of the ball, he's a talker. And he'll get in your ear, but it's all out of love and he's just trying to get the best out of you. And I can't thank him enough for what he's done from my career, you know, not just his his play on the field, but off the field, how how he carries himself, how he treats people, you know, within the building. He's just he's a true professional. And for him to come here and want to be here, and you know, we got him extended, and so I'm gonna have that safety blanket, you know, for the foreseeable future. I'm super excited for that. And you know, I love the guy. I love the guy to death, I really do. He's like a brother to me. By the way, I went to Wyoming for the first time a year ago. That place is unbelievable. I gotta be honest with you. Did you go Jackson Yeah, you know, I went to you know, some la guy went to Jackson Hall. But let me tell you something to a true story, not to bore you, but the hotel I stayed at had an astronomer, so we were by the Teton. So we went up at night drinking cold beers, looking at the stars and It's one of the great moments I've ever had with my kids. You can see stars in Wyoming because there's not a lot of light, so the skies are unbelievable and you must have had a I mean, I gotta tell you something. We don't talk Wyoming football, but what a great part of America, right it really is. It is actually my first time Jackson this offseason. I got out there and spent about six days there. But I mean, I absolutely fell in love the place. It's about five and a half six hour drive from Laramie, which I also love. It's a little bit of different feel, right, but it is one of the coolest spots. And it seemed like everybody that you know was working in the restaurants or in the you know, T shirt shops and all that stuff. They were doing it because they just love the outdoors. Yeah, Like I get to live here, I get to go explore the Titans and Yellowstone National Park and the winner. I get to go snowboard and throughout the day and come here and work. So it is definitely a hidden gym, and I think people are starting to see it. But that airport in Jackson is the coolest airport of Oh my god, it's incredible. They give you cookies, by the way, you have free cookies from the Chamber of Commerce. It's yeah, it's great, Josh. It's been absolute pleasure. I remember interviewing Steph Curry in like his third year in the league. And now you know, Steph won't even return my calls. So we hope we get you again. You've got a bunch of Super Bowls coming your way, we hope. And great story, so easy to root for. And thank you so much for taking time. Of course, thank you for having me on Colin you bet Josh Allen, great kid.

Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Are you sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one. Find your local station for the Herd at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowhern on Fox Sports Radio. Here we go, breaking news live in LA. It's the Herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. iHeart the Radio of Fox Sports Radio FS one. One hour from now, I make an amendment to my NFL predictions. I get two three major changes as we get ready. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bill quarterback, also schedule to join us later in the show. Jmack is joining me today. Well, we've been following this thing since June thirtieth, so the last close to the last day of June Kevin Durant story leak Taiwan out and now we get closure. Very exciting, Colin, extremely exciting. Can I say the player empowerment eras did? Is it over? Well, it's all cyclical, so the team won here big time. Yeah. So here's the story. Apparently, Monday yesterday, Steve Nash, Kevin Durant, the Brooklyn Nets owner, the Brooklyn Nets GM all met and this morning they released this. This comes from the Brooklyn Nets. Sean Marks. He's the GM of the team. He said, Steve Nash and I together with the owner and met with Kevin Durant and his agent in LA yesterday. We've agreed to move forward with our partnership. We're focusing on basketball with one collective goal in mind, build a lasting franchise in a championship to Brooklyn. So Kevin staying and they're all staying together. Brooklyn had the leverage, that's my takeaway, because Kevin Durant had four years left, said he wasn't going to retire. He said, Dad, and this was of his may Kevin Durant couldn't claim I got traded here, I'm miserable here. This was Kevin Durant's making. He chose Kyrie over Steph Kurrtt and Brooklyn probably also said all right, yes, the good teams. Kevin were interested interested, Milwaukee was interested, Golden State was interested, Boston was interested in, Miami was interested in. Phoenix was interested. But those are well run teams, and well run teams aren't gonna get their franchise for a guy that wasn't even happy in Golden State. So they're not gonna get their roster, they're not gonna get their future with six number one picks. So K D. Brooklyn probably said, here are the choices. You can stay with us, We've got talent, we like our roster a lot of shooters, or go to a desperate, poorly run franchise and you can be a twenty million dollars chandelier in a lousy house. Those are your choices. And given those choices, I think I would stay in Brooklyn. Kevin Durant is trapped, but again it's his making. Listen, in the NBA, when you cover the NBA, there's four or five really crucial agents, and there's ten or twelve really crucial players, and you want access to them because it's a drama league in a story league. And so when Kevin Durant decided to leave a great owner and a great coach and a great GM and a great roster and great momentum and great culture, Kevin Durant didn't really get clawbered. NBA media latted his independence. He's a wanderer. No, it was a terrible decision. I said it would be like Patrick Mahomes leaving the Hunt family, Andy Reid, great GM Travis Kelsey to go play with the Jets because I got buddy that plays for him. We would roll our eyes and tell Mahomes to get therapy. But in the NFL, we actually watched the games and so ages have very little power players. We move on to another one. NBA's got five six players you want access to and about the same number of agents. Everybody wants access to him, so it's constant coddling. This was a horrible, horrible career move, and Kevin Durant, now at thirty four, is left with this. Say it out loud. Steve Nash is a head coach, Kyrie Irving k D and Ben Simmons. You thought last year was dysfunctional. Maybe the moral to the story is mobility is great, but be careful trying to get happier than happy. Kevin Durant was happy in Golden State. Oh, he'd sometimes fight with some of the play calling of Steve Kerrn. Yeah, he'd rustle around once in a while with Draymond Green and get his feelings hurt. I am all for big moves, I am all for taking chances. I am all for professional mobility, be careful, trying to get happier than happy. And Kevin Durant and Golden State. The owner was giving him Silicon Valley business deals, the coach was walking on eggshells. Steph Curry was giving him shots. Draymond would guard the best guy. Clay Thompson doesn't say anything. He was happy. You want to get happy er, And this is what you're left with, trapped for a franchise that is not with Ben Simmons, Kyrie and KD getting to the conference finals, absolutely not. Chemistry matters. So far, Ben Simmons hasn't been able to get along with anybody. AU teammates, LSU teammates, sixers nets and we're get anywhere. You think it's gonna be a home run this morning. So there's a big difference between deciding that this is the best place for you and being overjoyed that you're in Brooklyn. And I think Kevin Durant knows this is the best of some really really shaky options. All right. So I worked in Tampa for a couple of years. A lot of Fun covered the Bucks and they weren't the great Bucks. Then they became great. Tony Dune got the job after I left, and they got really good. So one of the media guys there that I always trusted and respected was Rick Stroud. He's not a clickbait guy. He's respected, he's well researched, and so if he said something on the Bucks, you know, he's got much better contact feet on the ground of that organization than I do. So Tom Brady took eleven days off in camp, and my takeaway on it was he'd retired, probably promised his family a couple of week vacation in Costa Rica or one of their homes or something, and he was going to make good on that. You know, he's got a supermodel, successful wife, and he's got kids and they have you know, they get an opinion too in life. And it was an eleven day vacation. But Rick Stroud yesterday was on the Dan Patrick Show and it sounds way more ominous then my conjecture. It sounds different, it sounds mysterious. And Rick Stroud said, up wasn't really a vacation. It's not a vacation. Let's put it that way. Um, was it necessary for him to be with his family? I think so. Did they have it planned before training camp? Yeah, they would have. I think we'll find out a reason here, whether Brady announces it or it just gets out that that is personal and he'll talk about him when he's ready to. But there is there is some there there. Listen. Wow, eleven days not a vacation. It was necessary though, to be with his family. Um, I'm not going to even guess. There have been reports that he's been miserable at practice. Some of it could be the heat in August and Tampa having lived there and covered the bucks. It can make you miserable. But um, listen, it ends differently for superstars. I mean at FARV Michael Jordan of mysteries and controversies and uh, you know, superstars sort of get their way and then, as they aid, sometimes they don't and it can be off putting for them. You know, all families of superstars sacrifice a lot more than you know the average family to be a superstar. It's time. It's this relentless pursuit of excellence. And I'm sure Tom's family, although he's a great dad and husband, you make certain sacrifices, but I do I do think Tom's had a very choppy last few months. Tom tends to be a control guy, a prep guy, manages things well. And we've got all sorts of stories coming out there about he was looking at the Dolphins when he was in New England, and now there's the story, you know about the Raiders and he's out there, you know, kind of mocking Derek Carr. You know, it's been choppy, and Tom's career mostly hasn't been that choppy. He's had the occasional deflate Gate spygate stuff with Belichick, but you know, it's when you're a superstar and you're in the public space for twenty twenty five years, it's your public and it's not smooth sailing. And it's been kind of choppy here for about six months. There was a report that Tom was back at practice today and apparently at his best practice as a Tampa Bay buccaneer. According to Rick Stroud, he was quote on fire, is how a member of the Bucks organization to described it. You know, part of this is he did retire and then he unretired, which is you know that that's a big pivot. The other thing is, did he retire out of guilt for missing family time? Did he retire because he was tired of arians in Tampa and then he comes back and they reassigned him and he feels guilty. Did he retire because he wants to own a team and he's playing but he doesn't really want to be here. I mean, it's it's one of these moral dilemmas a lot of Americans, men and women get caught in all the time what we should do and what we want to do. And there's a book to be written about Tom Brady's last six months. Does he really want to retire or is it out of guilt? He's still great, he's still dominant, he could still be MVP of the league. He's one of a super Bowl in two years, a couple of playoff runs in two years. So I don't have answers for it. But when Rick Stroud comes out and says it was eleven days and not a vacation, it sounds fairly ominous. So we wish him well. He's been a great statesman for the game, and I think we'll have to be really patient because I'm not going to guess too much at this point. With Tom Brady. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Well, the number one story of preseason to me is not Tom Brady's eleven day absence. The number one story has been the Pittsburgh Steelers and their quarterback situation with Kenny pick at the rookie. So the Steelers have a history. I said this yesterday. When the Pitts or Steelers get the quarterback right, they win super Bowls. When USC gets the coach right, John McKay, John Robinson, Pete Carroll, They've always won national championships, always go back to the seventies, and you can make the argument for Alabama. So when Pittsburgh gets it right, this defensive leaning franchise that drafts well, develops well a lot of stability. I mean it's it's they just don't go through coaches Chuck Noll, Bill Cower, Mike Tomlin. That's it right, that's the Steelers. So it really does matter. Did they find a gem in Kenny Pickett who played at the University of Pittsburgh and played his home games for your starter. Here's the thing I would start Kenny Pickett. And really it comes down to this. If Kenny Pickett starts in stumbles, he's a rookie quarterback, they all do. It won't be a disaster because the organization has too many good foundational pieces, great front office, great pass rush, excellent coach, young star running back, young star receiver's, young star tight end. There's too much going for it. That's not what I worry about. Kenny's not going to be a disaster, He'll struggle. My question with Kenny Pickett is can this defensive leaning coach, can this defensive leaning franchise get the most out of him? Because Mike Tomlins running the show, how many years have they been rebuilding this offensive line? Sean McVay rebuilt his in an off season. How many offensive coordinators can you go through? And Mark Cabala yesterday came on the show, covered the Stealer's twenty years and we talked about this. They do defense great, but increasingly I don't know if I trust their offense. Matt Cannad has had success once before, I mean in a University of Pittsburgh right behind me, but other than that, he has no professional experience of success at all. So his motion offense, the stuff he likes to do, has not been really proven in the NFL whatsoever. However, for some reason, Tomlin really really loves him. You talk about the offensive line, I think it's been three straight years they've had almost complete turnover. They've had three offensive line coaches. I mean, it's a mess right now. So that's my thing. I don't think Pikett would be a disaster. Maybe he's not great, but there's too many good foundational pieces here for it to be a complete mess. They have draft. They have crushed it in tight end, running back, wide receiver, rush end. Drafting good GM's total stability. But if you look at the quarterbacks, the young quarterbacks that got good fast Cincinnati offensive coach, goff Rams offensive coach, Arizona offensive coach, Kansas City offensive coach Baltimore, and Buffalo may not have an offensive coach, but they have really strong offensive coordinators. Look at Tuah constant disarray in Miami, finally gets an offensive coach, understands the sensibility of a quarterback too, has had his best camp. Look at Mac Jones. Mac Jones had a super strong offensive coordinator, really good Josh McDaniels. That's why he was so good, so fast. Josh McDaniels gets the raider's job. What's happened this camp? It's a mess. He's regressed. So I don't doubt that Kenny Pickett CoA go in and account for himself fairly well. I don't think it would be man overboard. But this organization is not spending a lot of money right now on the offense or like thirty first and offensive spending. And I don't think they have a feel for it, like Kansas City, like the Rams, like the Niners, like Cincinnati, I like Arizona. I don't think they have a feel for it. I mean, how many years do you get to reboot your offensive line? They can't get it right. They've run through offensive coordinators. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd Weekdays and noon Easter Nini Empacific. The Ringer came out. It's pretty interesting. They call it the all in Index. So what they do? They the two elements are you all in? Is your NFL franchise all in? And they looked at two elements to judge that by first of all, draft capital, are you stockpiling picks for the future or are you all in giving up picks to get good players now? The second thing they looked at was real cash spending on players. Again, are you giving out big contracts the big players to win now? So the ringer call it the all in index and the all in teams rams one, Broncos, two Brown's, three Dolphins, four, nine Ers, five Saints, six Charger, seven Raiders, eight Bucks, nine Bills ten based on the draft capital and spending on real players. So you know, first of all, there's like three teams that we all kind of feel like, if they don't win this year, it's okay, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston. They could have kind of look at that draft class next year. Quarterbacks, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston. There's a couple of teams that they're trying to figure out. Listen, can our quarterback play? Chicago Jets, Giants the two teams missing from this all in index. You know when you first look at its Green Bay in Kansas City. Well, Green Bay traded Davante Adams, so that doesn't feel all in and they got draft picks for the future. What has been my criticism through the years of Green Bay. You know, they they're like you know they run it like the post office. You feel like they're a little outdated. Everything to them drafting Jordan Love, that's not about all in now, that's about protecting the future. Green Bay's always felt like the future being irrelevant as the only game in town. You know, they run it a little bit like an IBM, a business. Don't pay the employees too much. It's all about the company. It's all about the future. So they're not in at all in nor should they be. And because Aaron Rodgers contract, they don't have a lot of free agent you know, dexterity. The other team is Kansas City. Kansas City's the interesting one to me because they made a decision We're gonna take a bunch of draft picks for Tyreek Hill. And that's a fascinating decision because none of us dispute they could have kept him. They could have kept him, and none of us dispute he's a field tilter, he's great. But Kansas City said we're gonna take some draft picks. We're gonna cobble this thing together. And I do think it's important. So people are gonna monitor the chiefs all year. And we know with Andy Reid, we know what, Travis Kelcey. They're very, very well run. They're gonna win a bunch of games. It is a tougher division. But one of the things Kansas City has made a living on, and Tyreek Hill is a huge part of this, the ability to score quickly, and that matters. Okay, you can score points. New England will score points this year, so we'll Tennessee. They don't have the ability with Mac Jones Ryan Tannehill to score quickly. They're down, they're in trouble. When the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, in their three playoff games, they trailed by ten or more in each of those games and won each game by ten or more points. A lot of that's Tyreek Hill. He's the lightning strike. So I don't think they have the lightning strike. I think there's a handful of teams that do. Cincinnati, Buffalo, the LA Rams, those have been in Kansas City last year with Tyreek Hill, those are the lightning strike teams. They can be behind, they're down thirteen, there's four units left. They can get two touchdowns. Absolutely, wait, make one defensive stop over the top, big player receivers, big arm quarterbacks. Tennessee in New England. They can score a bunch of points too, but they're down thirteen with four and a half left, the game's over. Tennessee's not vibrant enough at wide receiver and mac Jones again, they're not dynamic enough on the perimeter. They're not going to score quick. So what I think it's fast sinating with Kansas City this year is they have lost that lightning strike. Now obviously a big point. A big part of that's Mahomes, but a huge part of that is Tyreek Hill. And again they'll be productive. They draft well, they developed well, read makes the plays. Mahomes distributor, it's not about that. But in twenty twenty two, Cincinnati all through those playoffs, they were out of games and suddenly won games. And Kansas City got to the Super Bowl and they were out of games and suddenly it's not just a lot of cars can get you to a B. Sports car gets you there quickly. Sometimes you gotta get somewhere quickly. A lot of cars can go A to B. And so Kansas City is not an all in team because they accumulated a ton of draft picks. Instead of saying we got Mahomes, we got Kelsey we got the lightning strike in the league. We're just gonna go with that. We're gonna have some cap issues. So they they have surrendered. In my opinion, that ability doesn't mean they couldn't have great success this year. But I do think it'll feel different. You know, it's like a It's like a boxer when you when you have a big punch, you can be outboxed for nine rounds and then the tenth knock him out. Like that's that's the puncher's chance. You can be out schemed, out maneuvered, out trained, and Tyson lands a punch in the fights over. Yeah. I mean it looked at Kansas City and Buffalo, it's thirteen seconds left, game's over. Nobody in the league could get your forty yards on a drag route faster than Tyreek kill you're at the twenty. Nope, now we're in their territory. That took six seconds. That part's gone and it'll be interesting to watch. There's not a lot of that he Tyreek was. He was a field tilter. I mean, he was the lightning strike in the NFL, and now he's Miamis And that's why I think Tuah Is gonna have a lot of success. Bubble screen at sixty yards Tyreek gives you an opportunity, like great quarterbacks, to be out schemed out, played out out everything and win quickly from behind. Hey, it's me Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for twenty two minutes of piping hot baseball talk featuring the biggest names of newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the eye test, We've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the iHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. I make my NFL predictions, my standing predictions, then I allow myself two amendments, one on the show on the data season starts. That's a Thursday, couple of thursdays away, and then I'm gonna do one today. So here's my predictions in the AFC. Let's start with the AFC. I'm only gonna make one change in the AFC. In the East, I think it's pretty easy. Bills are the best team, Jets are the worst. I'll take Dolphins over the Patriots based on their offensive weaponry AFC West. I still think Kansas City losing lightning strike touchdown maker Tyreek Hill. It hurts. And I think Russ and Denver's gonna pop. No changes there. I don't love the South and I don't love the Colts. I think they need two more receivers in another corner. But they're the best of a wonky division. Here's my change, my one change what I've seen so far. That's the AFC North. I'm gonna move the Ravens from three to two and the Steelers from two to three. Why because I've watched the Steelers offensive line and they still can't figure it out. This is the third year they're making changes and they can't get it right, and they don't know who their quarterback is Baltimore. Meanwhile, they lost a lot of really high end players last year, like Ronnie Stanley, Jimmy Smith, Marcus Peters to injury. They're much healthier. They've got better offensive line play to protect an MVP level quarterback. So I've got Bengals, Ravens, Steelers, Browns Ravens or passed the Steelers. Let's go to the NFCAT couple changes here, So for anybody listening on radio. I had the Eagles, Cowboys, Commanders, Giants in the East, Vikings, Yes, the Vikings, Packers, Lions, Bears in the North, Rams, Cardinals, Niners, Seahawks in the West, and the Bucks winning. Everybody else's rebuildings, Saints, Panthers, Falcons, Saints don't think they're rebuilding, but with Jamis Winston at quarterback, you're kind of rebuilding, right. So I got two changes in the NFC. I'm gonna move the New York Giants from fourth to third and the Commanders from third to fourth. First of all, Carson Wentz has not had a great camp. All we've heard is negativity. Chase Young won't play for a month. He's on the pop list. That's not great. Also, let's be honest about the Giants and Brian Daboll. Daniel Jones has had a very good preseason. He's completing seventy seven percent of his passes. And it's never been a size thing. It's ever been an athletic thing. He's just not been an accurate thrower of the football. Well, Brian day Boll fixed Josh Allen, Has he fixed Daniel Jones? They also have I believe they actually have really nice targets offensively, Kadarius Tony, Sterling Shepherd. They drafted a wide receiver sa Quon Barkley. I don't think it's a lack of weapons. They paid a lot for their receiving corps. They don't have a distributor to the weapons and so in a very average division. Maybe jamac has convinced me I'm gonna move the Giants up. They've got an offensive coach, Daniel Jones, has had a nice camp outside of Cavon Thibadeau. They're pretty healthy. And I also think now they've got their tackles fixed because Andrew Thomas at the end of last year looked like a gamer at left tackle Evan Neil right tackles. So they got their tackles. So there's my change. Giants surpassed the Commanders who've had a bad camp. The other one is I'm gonna move the Niners from third to second and the Cardinals from second the third. Very noisy camp for Arizona. Don't love that, but I think it's more with the Niners. I think their rookie class looks really good. Drake Jackson at linebacker, the running back out of LSU, Danny Gray the receiver. I think they looked like once again they've hit on a couple of big time picks. Deebo Samuel's happy with a long term contract, and it's a Super Bowl roster. I said this, Did I say this yesterday? Maybe an off the air on the air of every team I've watched in the preseason, the best roster looks like San Francisco the most depth of really high end talent. It's Buffalo or San Francisco. And so I think Trey Lance is gonna be good enough to get him into the playoffs. One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like. Trey Lance through three picks at practice yesterday, and there is concern that he's got some accuracy issues, he's raw, he hasn't played a lot in the last two and a half years, and it's I think Trey Lance. I don't think the Niners season's complicated. I think it'll be fascinating, but it's not complicated. The defense is great, the coach is great, the roster is great. Can Tray Lance to a Jimmy G. Manage it and about three times a game make a wow play. I think he can, so I think San Francisco ends up being a playoff team. The division is not as good as it's been in previous years because Russell Wilson's out of it and Arizona's gotten increasingly noisy. But it's Trey Lance reminds me a little bit of a really, really talented pitcher who can struggle with control, but as a good enough batting order, defense and manager that even on those nights they can win games. So if you look at the Niners schedule, they're six or seven games. He can just manage it. Chicago, Seattle, Carolina, Atlanta, New Orleans, Seattle, Washington. He didn't have to light it up, get out of the way, eighteen pass attempts, a couple of while plays, and that's you know. I like Jimmy G. But if you look at Jimmy G. Last year they got to the conference championship and they had some injuries, Jimmy G had twenty touchdowns and twelve picks. Now, Jimmy G is more accurate than Trey and he always will be. He throw it he didn't have a big arm, but he's accurate. But you know, his passer rating was high nineties, twenty touchdown twelve picks nine and six got to a conference championship, and that's with injuries. They have added several new players in the draft that look like they can contribute. Reportedly, Brandon Auk, the number two receiver, has crushed it in camp. He's ready to star. Danny Gray, the rookie, came in. He looks like a viable deep threat at number three. So I don't think it's a complex story for the Niners. Coach is great, roster's great, defense is great, and the weapons are great. The only question is can he make two to three consistent wild plays athletically or through the air to get them to the next level. And my takeaway is yeah, I think he will. How huge is it that they opened Colin against Chicago and Seattle too, like bottom ten defenses in the league. Imagine if you opened against Aaron Donald or something that would be a different story. So he gets almost like two extra games to ease in because you don't have to worry about justin fields beating you or Gino Smith slash Drew Locke like, I think the Niners would be okay here that schedule, really, the way it breaks early for him is huge. They're gonna be two and oh yeah, and he's gonna be more confident. And again, this is a quarterback friendly offense. It's not a quarterback centric offense. They're not asking him to do what Josh Allen's doing without much of a running game. They're not asking him to do what Patrick Mahomes is doing or Justin Herbert. It's not what this offense is. Jimmy G got him to a conference championship with twenty touchdowns and twelve picks, and Brandon Iyuk is reportedly ready to be a big star. So I think I think the Niners are very much in play for the super Bowl. And again, the brilliance of shanahan system is he's not going to be as accurate as Jimmy G, but he is much more athletic with a better deep arm. So you're gonna get some splash plays Jimmy G couldn't give you. You're probably not gonna be as consistent moving the chains, but you'll have an over the top feature you didn't rapport before. And so I think San Francisco's gonna be really good. I don't I don't think it's that complicated. He's the guy, but I think it'll work. And I also think it'll be fascinating to watch because of his inconsistency. You know, he's gonna he's gonna be the great pitcher who can't get past the third inning. Sometimes he's gonna have a couple of those. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays and noon Easter not a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeart Radio app. Josh Allen is he's really a perfect fit in Buffalo small town high school. I mean, you know, they're sending his tapes out, and then he goes to you know, Laramie, Wyoming, and then he goes to one of the perfect loving small towns in the NFL where the football team is everything, but you can get some privacy. And here's Josh Allen, now entering his fifth season, a pro bowlder and just an all time talent. It's a great I hate the story, and Josh Ellen's nice enough today to join us live. First of all, Josh, I feel lucky to have you. We don't get superstars much. I was just I came from a small town and I went to a small college and Eastern Washington University, which is the home of Cooper Cup So it was a good football program, but I loved it. As a small town kid, that college was all I could handle. Do you ever look at your path and think Buffalo is literally perfect for me? Absolutely? And I think I knew that the day I visited, you know, pre combine and pre or pre draft. I should say, it just felt right, and everything in my career kind of let up just to them, I guess succession of each city that I was going to, whether it was fire about to Readley, Readley, to lay me, lay me to hear. I love this place. It's it's my home now. I love playing for Bill's Mafia, and I do think it is the greatest football city in America. People just love football here and they love their Bills. So I'm very honored and proud to be a Buffalo Booll. You know, listen, mel Kiper said you were one of the ten best prospects ever. But as you found out in year one, this league is hard. It's really hard for young quarterbacks. Was there ever a moment for you in that first year when you're sitting to yourself thinking, man, these dbs are fast. I'm getting hit a lot. Did you ever have a moment of self doubt? Not at all, Not at all. I think going back to Pop Warner football, I was getting hit a lot too. So I've taken my medicine over my football career and I know you know how to get back up. So anything in my mind I think that I'm able to do when I'm on the football field. And you know, there's some people that get figured out or some people that figure it out, and I was going to be the one that figures it out. So but I'm gonna say this, it took a lot of people to help me along the way. Whether there was my coaching staff here, Jordan Palmer back home, my support system, my family, my girlfriend. Everybody has has had a part, you know, in me in this spot right now. And you know we still had a lot of room to grow and a lot of work to do. Um Listen, Sean mcdermot's a tough guy. I think he was a big high school wrestler. He's a tough guy, and you grew up a community with tough guys, Farmers and people who put the days a real true day's work in And I think, um, I like when my young quarterbacks have offensive coaches, but there's some real value in the Mike Tomlins and the Sean McDermott's. And as a defensive coach, what's your relationship like was Sean? Is it kind of hands off and let you do your thing? And what is it like? Yeah? I think over the years it's progressed some more of the hands off and just make it right. You know, early on in my career he definitely had a hand on my shoulder and just trying to teach me the nuances of what defenses are trying to do. And you know, he'll still step into our quarterback meetings and just trying to explain, you know, what we're expecting, what we're expecting to see, whether teams are now starting to really drop eight play there, you know, cover two and you know, have a spy, or if they're trying to blitz us. I think over the years, especially you know, from from the first year to now, the difference of how defenses are playing me has changed drastically, and sure's been a great tool and trying to assess that and how to attack those defenses. Listen, that loss to Kansas City was about as jarring. I mean, that's that's a tough loss. That's not an easy one. That's not a hey, I'm gonna go home and go to bed. How long I mean, how long did you sit there and have you know think about, Oh, I made this, I did that because you played great, But wasn't the toughest loss of your life? Absolutely, absolutely, and any emotions of that game again, the highs and the lows, but you know, ultimately we didn't do enough to get the job done. And um, you know, the taste that we have as a team, it's still there. So we don't want to fill that again. And again we nothing we did last years. You're gonna carry over him this year. We're starting zero and zero. But we can still take a lot of valuable lessons and us from that game and try to apply it to our upcoming season here. You know, it's interesting Manning and Brady, Uh, you know, there were different personalities and I always felt they were rivals. And but it's funny with you and Mahomes. You're you're kind of small town kids, you know, you were you got your lumps in college. You know, you weren't You weren't winning the highsman, you didn't go to high profile programs. And I look at you and Mahomes and I'm like, I wouldn't be shocked if you guys golf all the time, Like it feels like a friendly rivalry. Do you ever text him after games? I mean, what is that relationship? Like, Yeah, we text every once in a while. Um, you know, obviously we did the match together, yea, and that was that was so fun. And I've got so much respect for Pat, not just as a football player, but as a person, how he's carried himself throughout his you know, early career so far. And again the statistics don't Lie has played. N't Lie is one of the greatest young talents to ever play this game. And you know, he's gonna go down as one of the greatest uh to play this game. And I truly believe that. For the respect and admiration that I have for him, Um is through the roof and being able to go, you know, play golf and just hang out. We did the Tahoe American Century in July as well, and just to deep dive and get to know him better. You know, he's a great husband, he's a great father. Um, he's a great person. So and I love what he does in the community of Kansas City and in his foundation there. So again, I can go on and on, but I'll let you guys do that. So Vaughan Miller now is in town, and Vaughan has been in big games, the kind of games you want to get into. Can you feel like a little bit, Josh, do you kind of sense there's that like elder statesman thing. I mean, he's he's a Super Bowl MVP. He was huge last year for the Rams in the playoffs. What's he kind of bring to Buffalo in your opinion? Yeah, I think a lot of knowledge and opportunities for our our young guys in the V line to get some attention there on the edge and allow you know, one on once Fred Oliver and Greg Russeau um and you know, bringing in guys like Tim Settle and Dequon. You know, we've got real, real young talent that are hungry to go out there and prove themselves and again to have you know, the knowledge bank of what you know Von Miller has and to lean on him and learn from him, you know, and then as myself as a leader, just you know, hearing what he has to say to those guys. You know, he texts me every once in a while some whether it's a quote or a video of just trying to keep pressing on and everything that he does in this building is to help us win a Super Bowl. So um, I love the intensity that he's been bringing, the focus and then again his play on the field's gonna speak for itself. And he's really unbelievable to watch in practice. He's so bendy, he's so athletic, he's so quick, and he's sneaky strong too for his frame. So again, to have that for young guys to learn from, well, I think it's gonna pay a lot of dividends come to season time. You know, he through the years. The reason Jim Kelly had success in Buffalo or Big Ben in Pittsburgh is when you get to these northern tier teams, you've got to have a quarterback to can throw in cold weather. So it's it's funny. I look at you and I think, you know, California kid, you played in Wyoming and Laraman gets cold and Buffalo is you're gonna play We're gonna probably play in snow games in December in January. A lot of your career as a California kid, we look at you as a big guy and we think, oh, guy, he probably loves he probably loves the snow. And I think he's a California kid. He didn't play snow games. Tell me kind of take me to Buffalo weather December January. For a California kid, what do you make of the weather, the snow, the intensity. I love it personally. I think I'm I have a belief that I'm more equipped to deal with it than most guys. But again, you know, you say California boy, but Central Valley. I think it's a little different than what you're thinking of. It's it's tough, it's it's gritty, um, and you know, it doesn't matter if it's a hundred degrees outside or zero degrees outside. I love the game of football and we're gonna try to go figure it out and put our best foot forward. Yeah, so you have Ken Dorsey. I was told us about two years ago that Dorsey was the smart next guy in the NFL that was gonna be the next great chord Nator and eventually a head coach. We I you know old enough. I watched him at Miami. He's got a great reputation. So he comes in and he takes over. Josh Allen, you don't need a lot of work obviously, all right, You're like, you're the dream for a coordinator. Have there been things though, Josh that he's tweaked, that he's given you advice? He said, hey, just do this. I mean, you tell me what's the relationship, like, what's he bringing to the table? I mean, the relationship that we have is by far and away, I think the best that you can have between a first year sitting a caller and a quarterback. He's been in the quarterback room with me for the last three years. He knows my life and my dislikes. He knows what concepts the call and not to call. We connect on a personal level level. And again he's a fiery competitor and I love that about him. He is juice uff in practice, you know, And I love that. You know, the Bills trusted my word and trying to get him to come back here and be our offensive coordinator. But again, it's fixed dividends to what Dorse's been able to do is his prepperration, his work ethic for this organization to trust him enough to step into that offensive coordinator role. You know, I'm excited for him, and he's up for the challenge and he's ready to go improve it. By the way, I love Stefon Diggs. I like his personality. I like his confidence. I like the fact that he went to Maryland and got overlooked by a lot of people. You guys have something really special is you know, you want your wide receiver to want the ball, but you don't want him to every time in the huddle say I'm wide open? What is it like that I can't see? What is it like big moments with Stefan in the huddle? What's his personality like? He's unbelievable and you know, the rep that he had in Minnesota couldn't be further from the truth. He is a team guy through and through. You know, if I'm frustrated for myself, he always finds a way to get the best out of me. Hey, next plays your best play. Forget about it, let's go. So I think if you talk to anybody on the offensive side of the ball, even the defensive side of the ball, he's a talker. And he'll get in your ear, but it's all out of love and he's just trying to get the best out of you. And I can't thank him enough for what he's done from my career, you know, not just his his play on the field, but off the field, how how he carries himself, how he treats people, you know, within the building. He's just he's a true professional. And for him to come here and want to be here, and you know, we got him extended, and so I'm gonna have that safety blanket, you know, for the foreseeable future. I'm super excited for that. And you know, I love the guy. I love the guy to death, I really do. He's like a brother to me. By the way, I went to Wyoming for the first time a year ago. That place is unbelievable. I gotta be honest with you. Did you go Jackson Yeah, you know, I went to you know, some la guy went to Jackson Hall. But let me tell you something to a true story, not to bore you, but the hotel I stayed at had an astronomer, so we were by the Teton. So we went up at night drinking cold beers, looking at the stars and It's one of the great moments I've ever had with my kids. You can see stars in Wyoming because there's not a lot of light, so the skies are unbelievable and you must have had a I mean, I gotta tell you something. We don't talk Wyoming football, but what a great part of America, right it really is. It is actually my first time Jackson this offseason. I got out there and spent about six days there. But I mean, I absolutely fell in love the place. It's about five and a half six hour drive from Laramie, which I also love. It's a little bit of different feel, right, but it is one of the coolest spots. And it seemed like everybody that you know was working in the restaurants or in the you know, T shirt shops and all that stuff. They were doing it because they just love the outdoors. Yeah, Like I get to live here, I get to go explore the Titans and Yellowstone National Park and the winner. I get to go snowboard and throughout the day and come here and work. So it is definitely a hidden gym, and I think people are starting to see it. But that airport in Jackson is the coolest airport of Oh my god, it's incredible. They give you cookies, by the way, you have free cookies from the Chamber of Commerce. It's yeah, it's great, Josh. It's been absolute pleasure. I remember interviewing Steph Curry in like his third year in the league. And now you know, Steph won't even return my calls. So we hope we get you again. You've got a bunch of Super Bowls coming your way, we hope. And great story, so easy to root for. And thank you so much for taking time. Of course, thank you for having me on Colin you bet Josh Allen, great kid.