Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Be 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 is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is a Monday, late July, live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Joy matches the sets at how at there, or wherever you may be, and however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio FS one. So Colin right, Colin wrong, in one hour from now. There's a lot going on today. It's a fun. Joy's Brotherhoos Horse, is a legendary Hall of Fame football player and one of the nicest guys that sports ever had. Wonderful guy and the family. Nobody in the family has ever had a pimple who so the perfect looking. But it's the start of football season like today. Yes, all the camps are open and so it puts me in a good mood, not only because our job gets easier in the football season because it's like rapid consumerism, like people love it, but there's just so many more stories going in. And this July has always been a weird month for us because June is NBA, right, it's the finals, it's intense, and then it's the Draft, and then it's Summer League and who's the New Stars and it's so much fun for about seven weeks and all of a sudden, NBA trades kind of you know, they kind of dissipate, and here comes the NFL. So today feels like to me the start of six and a half months of more football talk, well increasingly more. There is no real dead time. I mean, look at the news and the stories we got last week. Now you wake up this morning there's a new kd rumor like this. It doesn't really feel like in sports it used to be like this, abyss, there's not really it's football's back, and I can't believe it's here already. So I thought this was interesting. It's been nineteen years as all the camps are open in the NFL, nineteen years since we've had a repeat champion. That was back in oh three oh four of the New England Patriots. And I believe There's a reason why the Patriots repeated and why they were good year after year after year. Belichick, Brady and Brains without much ego. I do think the Rams have a strong chance to repeat. The NFC is not as good as the AFC. I think they are the best run operation and the most talented team in the NFC. Not sure they stack up with some of the AFC teams, but again, I think it's McVay, Stafford and Brains without a lot of ego. Join. I live in Los Angeles. Aaron Donald is the best defensive player in twenty years. You don't see ego. McVeigh less, Snead, Aaron Donald. You don't get a lot of ego. And that matters because the NFL is so much more popular than every other sport in America that when you win a Super Bowl, everybody becomes a rock star. Everybody gets a book deal, a card deal. You know the name of their linebackers, the interior lineman. We've seen this time and time again. The Philadelphia Eagles. Ego got in the way they won. Everybody got a book. They started lecturing the Patriots on how to win. Remember that that was always good for a laugh. The Seahawks won. Remember they blew out Denver and Peyton Manning. Guys like me or like that's the best team I've seen in twenty years. Team's unbelaitable, going five straight Super Bowls. Weren't humble. Ego got in the way. The Buccaneers won a super Bowl with Brady. Everybody got paid. Even Brady acknowledged last year the team wasn't as focused. So the key in this is can you win the Super Bowl and be humbled at the same time or criticized? If you go back to those Brady teams when they won early that back to back. Brady's a system quarterback. They weren't blowing people out. These were close games. They were an underdog in big games. It's more culture and system. Brady's not nearly as good as Manning. He's not his talented, his big Ben. There was this constant doubt, There was this content in the Seahawks one. It looked like the best team we'd ever seen Philadelphia one with all the Nick Foles trick plays. Everybody got paid bucks. When everybody gets paid, how do the Rams get humbled? I saw this this morning. This is perfect pro football focus. Everybody reads that right everybody reads it had their top fifty players in the NFL right now today their quarterback Matt Stafford did not make the list. Didn't make the list. Three Rams in the top fourteam didn't make the list. On the same day today, Mike Sando of The Athletic very respected guy did his NFL Tiers quarterback tier list. I talk about this every day every year at this time of the year. It's very respected. Matt staff he didn't make Tier one. Now think about that. So he beat Joe Burrow in the Super Bowl, outplayed him. Burrow is twenty seven in the Pro Football Focus list and Tier one. Stafford outplayed Brady, who he outplayed. He's eighth. Stafford beat him both. In fact, justin Herbert, who plays in the same stadium as Stafford and could not make the playoffs, he made the list Tier one and Pro Football Focus. Stafford's nowhere to be found, despite the fact that he led come from behind victories in the Divisional round, the nfs C Championship against Brady on the road and in the Super Bowl against Burrow. And he's not in the Pro Football Focus Top fifty players in the league. And he's a Tier two who quarterback in Mike Sandos of the Athletics highly respected quarterback tier list, and that tier list is based on executives and coaches and people around the league. So Stafford's reading that, and he'll of course read that, and he's like, I'm a tier two quarterback. I'm low, Justin Herbert, I'm the second best quarterback in the stadium. I play my home games in. You didn't make the playoffs. Just the kind of doubt, eye rolling, You're not there yet, settled down. That stuff matters. So this Rams team their star quarterback. And by the way, Stafford, who's well liked in the building, his coach is reading that. His teammates are reading that, Aaron Donald reading that, Cooper CoP's reading that, and they're thinking, he's the second best quarterback in SOFI stadium. And you know, I love me some, Justin Herbert, but that is some disrespect Matt Stafford, Tier two, top fifty player in the NFL. Alrighty, then, so one NBA story today, it's a big one k D. So there is a report from Wosh they called a wosh bomb that k D and the Celtics is pretty viable discussion right now. So what was apparently offered. According to wosh Jalen Brown, we just watched him in the playoffs. Very good player. Derek is that Derek White, the guy off the bench average about eleven twelve game, nice bench player and a first round pick. Now, the Brooklyn Nets want a lot more than that. They want Marcus Smart, Defensive Player of the Year, another draft pick, and another rotational player. And I've said this about k D. I'm not blown up my chemistry for KD. Brooklyn did. I'm not blown up my bench for k D Brooklyn did. I'm not blowing up my future for Kadie Brooklyn did. And I'm not blown out my coach for Kadie Brooklyn did. The Celtics added Malcolm Brogden, very good player, and they didn't have to give up any of their top pieces to get Malcolm Brogden. So they're a top three team in the league. Brooklyn is looking for a desperate team. That's why Danny Ainge just trying to get a deal done with the Knicks. They're desperate. Knicks right now are like fourth most interesting story after the Yankees and the Mets in the NFL season, starting in the Brooklyn Nets. That's why Danny Angel years ago when he made that big deal with the Brooklyn Nets, they had a desperate owner. Danny Angel is smart. He gets on the phone with desperate. That's how you get a better deal. Buy the house, selling a house, find desperate. Boston is not desperate. Excellent young coach, excellent culture, excellent chemistry. Brad Stevens appears to be very strong as a GM. They've added Malcolm Brogden. I mean, we all acknowledge the best roster coach culture combo in the NBA as Golden State. Many believe Boston is two. So to me in twenty twenty two today, for Kevin Durant, who's thirty four, you're not gonna get eighty two regular season games. He's had some injuries. I would give you what Brad Stevens apparently offered. I'd give you a very strong star player. Jalen Brown's an excellent player, expensive but excellent. I would give you a very good bench player, and I would give you, if pushed, two picks. I don't care what Minnesota did for Rudy Gobert. I don't care what Danny Aine's gonna how he's gonna work the Knicks that's a different situation. Minnesota Timberwolves have never won anything. They're kind of desperate. They've got Anthony Edwards and Carl Anthony Towns and they're in a let's win games now mode. I get it, totally get what the t Wolves are doing. They've never had a roster this good. So the t Wolves have never won anything. Not that they're desperate, but it's go time. The Knicks are desperate. When KG got traded to Brooklyn, Brooklyn was desperate. That's not what the Celtics are. So I think the deal is is doable. But I am not throwing in Marcus Smart. I'm not throwing in another rotational player. I would give you a second first round pick, Jalen Brown and a bench player. That's a completely reasonable move. Do I think this happens? No, Brooklyn's looking for desperate and start asking yourself in the NBA right now, of all the top teams where Katie would want to play, is Miami desperate? They went seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. They're not desperate. Is Milwaukee desperate? Is Golden State desperate? Or the Clippers desperate? Or the Celtics desperate? Are the Sons desperate. Seems to me, those arenas are full. Seems to me those teams win a lot of games. They got the right coaches. So I think that's as good a deal as Kad could get. I think that's as good a deal, honestly, as Brooklyn could get. That's the deal. A top end starter, excellent bench guy, a couple of first round picks. If you're trying to get more good luck, I don't think it's out there. 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. Every NFL camp opens by tomorrow. Many are already open. That means today July twenty fifth until February fourteenth, I looked it up. That's two days after the Super Bowl. Seventy percent of this show will be National Football League talk, and I'm completely comfortable with it. If I was a talk show host in Canada, seventy percent of the NHL season would be hockey talk. If I was in the UK during the English Premier League season, seventy percent of my talk would be EPL talk. In the United States, ratings, what we bet on, what we play, fantasy what we watch. I could probably go to ninety percent, but then I'd feel like I was on the NFL network six and a half months of rabid consumerism. I have always said, you drive the show, you watch it, you bet it, you love it, I talk it. And it's only grown in my sportscasting career. It's pulled away from other leagues. Why well, unlike baseball, the NFL is constantly evolving and adapting. Unlike the NBA, it's simply more relatable load management, Give me a break. Other sports, like hockey or MLS don't have many recognizable stars. They feel niche. But you know why football really crushes in this country because it's us. It's windy and rainy. Get over it. Go to work. I make good money. You're cut. Could happen to me tomorrow. I'm hurt, I don't feel good, I'm sick, Get to work, suck it up. That's the NFL. They play, hurt, they and lousy weather their employees with some limited power, even though they're well compensated and they can be cut at any time. There are no ten year contracts, even for Tom Brady. Play hurt, play sick, play lousy weather. This country's one hundred degrees almost everywhere, and there's construction sites booming. Men and women on top of those roofs in those buildings, and a lot of them are sick. Get back to work. It relates to us because it is us. I love the NBA, I love the baseball playoffs. I love a lot of sports. But my favorite part of the NFL is how much it matters to the players watch the games. I mean, these guys cry every Sunday one o'clock window it's nuts. Bad teams Week fourteen. Joey knows her brother played. I once asked Jason Taylor, a great player, I said, at the end of your career, you know you had to play hurt and very humble guy. He once told me he could not feel his foot in the second half of a game because he had to shoot it up because his team had a very very small chance to get into the playoffs. You're out for three weeks in baseball, you'll take the month off in the NBA. Look at how many people show up to practice. It's not like spring training where there's actual games and two teams practice. It's us. It speak to us. It speaks to us excuse me. They play hurt, they play in bad weather, they can be cut, they have limited power, even though they're well compensated. It is relatable load management. Come on, NBA, you're making thirty five large a year. It's Tuesday night. Just play, Just play baseball. I know you're a little sore in your thumb. Just get in the batter's box and hit. Can't wait six and a half months. Seventy percent, I'm good. I'll talk about other stuff, but it will dominate our show, and that's a good thing. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd week dayson noon Easter ninety Empacific. Here we go our two on a Monday, live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may be, how whoever you may be listening. I heart Radio Fox Sports Radio FS one. Watch some baseball this weekend. Dodgers are on fire, swept the Giants. Yankees lost somebody in their bullpen. Watch out Mats are trying to get more power and score more runs. Or watch that flying home last night. So we've got really good team, and I'm not sure anybody's as good as the Astro. So it's top heavy in baseball but we're gonna have a wild postseason that we got four or five really really really good teams at the top. Joey Taylor's joining me now, Joy, you know, I'm into this. You're never gonna ever find anybody who cares more about Mike Sandos quarterback Tier list. I don't care who you work with for the next thirty years. I'm so into this. I'll take this home tonight and do four topics on it. But Mike delivers that he's going to join us in about five or six minutes. TWOA is in Tier four. That's I, you know whatever. But it's tier season, it's list season. We're going into the start that NFL camp start this this week, so we're gonna start putting out all of our rankings, our preseason rankings, our ratings. It's the perfect time for it. And then you know, sort of how you do your amendments. When the season starts, everyone makes their official predictions. So Mike in a couple of minutes, I'm so into it. It's embarrassing, all right. It's called Colin right, Colin wrong. On a Monday, I'm both often and here we go. Where Colin was right? I said the Cardinals had to sign Kyler Murray, and they had to do it quickly. There were a lot of doubters on him. Listen, the kids gotten better every year. The franchise was awful when he took it over. I don't have to love him wiping his social media off. I got I got kids in my life. They're young, they're emotional, young guy, and he's a baseball guy. So baseball tends to be very much about the solo artist, right the pitcher, the hitter. But in the end, he's a playmaker. And I think the best way to put it with Kyler Murray. If Kyler Murray is my quarterback, I can win any game I play, period. If Kyler Murray wasn't their quarterback, they could lose every single game badly they play. Sorry, I'm signing him where Colin was wrong. I'll give you a sneak peek on Mike Sandos quarterback tiers. He has Stafford, Matt Stafford, and Russell Wilson in Tier two. Now, I think they're two of the top six quarterbacks in the NFL. I like the other guys. I got no problem with the other guys in Tier one. But this means that executives and coaches voted Stafford and Russell Wilson tier two. So we'll get to that in five minutes. Where Colin was right. Colin was very very happy. Derek Carr called a Hall of Famer by Davante Adams. How many more stats do we need? He leads the NFL and fourth quarter comeback since he entered the league more than Brady or Aaron or Russell. Yeah, he's a three time pro bowler. He's had seven eight years of battle lines and terrible defenses in chaos, and he made the playoffs last year in a good division. So this made me very very happy that Davante Adams acknowledged he's going from one Hall of Famer eron to another. And Derek, where Colin was right. I am so over Russell Westbrook as a topic. Please trade him to somebody that has a team. I'm interested in Russell's become the gifts that keeps on giving. The Athletic reported last week Westbrook was difficult in film sessions all year, he did not like being singled out, and that he does not understand his trade value. Dave mcmeniman, somebody I trust, reported that Lebron is sort of over him. Listen, I stand it. You gotta have two hundred million dollars. You're a rock star, you're world famous. It is hard to self analyze and be self critical, but I do think Russell has to start looking in that proverbial athlete mirror and saying, this is what I am at this current time. I've had a great career, and I think at this point Westbrook is a rotational player on a good team. He may be a starter on a bad team, but on a very good team, a warrior a Milwaukee, he feels like a rotational player to me, where Colin was raw, I wouldn't have signed James Harden, but I gotta tell you he took a fifteen million dollar paint cut. So I've been critical of Carmelo and Westbrook and Kyrie for not looking in the mirror. For Harden to not only take a paint cut, but to do it immediately, to do it literally had a bad playoff. He's like, yeah, I'm gonna take less. I want to win more. Believe me, that's hard. This is a sport that elevates stars, and NFL does it. NFL makes your practice. You're gonna take pay cuts it's different in the NBA. From the time you're fifteen on it shoe deals, it is you're the man. And for Harden to literally pivot off a disappointing postseason and say, I'm gonna take a fifteen million dollar pay cut, I want to play with dudes. Good for him. I did not know and did not think he was capable of it, because he's always been a little bit of a solo act where Colin was right. Another source confirmed it to me last week, as I said on the air, that they like Trey Lance, but they are having accuracy concerns that on a day to day basis, they just don't know what they're gonna get with trade. Now they're going to give him the job. They gave up three number one picks, first round picks. They're gonna play him, but there are concerns in the building about his consistency of accuracy, and that's born out based on what we saw last year. The Niners like him, but there are concerned In Kyle Shanahan's offense. That is why Garoppolo is so respected. Jimmy's got a lower ceiling, whatever that means. But Jimmy delivers the ball Brandon Ayu de Both, Samuel George Kittle, he puts it spot on yards after the CATCHO was very good. So there are concerns that I have another source on that where Colin was right. Mario crystal Ball has been an absolute home run hire for the Miami Hurricanes. Not only has he been a great recruiter, not only has he assembled a shockingly good staff, but last week he had the courage to come out and get rid of that ridiculous turnover chain. You can't fake cool or swagger. When Miami was great. Hey, everybody was kind of afraid of Miami. You can't fake it. You don't have enough good players to have that now. I think in a couple of years if you want to bring it back. But come on, there is there anything worse than a program that was once great no longer great, and they want you to believe they're great that turnover chain. Let let let small colleges worry about that. I believe I said last week Miami was like one hundred and eighteenth in college football in takeaways. Central Michigan force more turnovers, Rutgers Yukon force more turnovers. You can't fake cool, and you can't fake swagger, and Miami was for years and finally Mario crystal Ball stepped in and said, enough, We're gonna force turnovers and not have to pat ourselves on the back when we do it. Okay, Colin right, Colin wrong. So I could do three hours today on this quarterback tier thing. So Mike Sando is a senior writer for the Athletic Selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He's covered every Super Bowl since the late nineties. So I love this thing. And what I really love about it is you talk to fifty Well, I'll let you lay it out. Who are the fifty people you talk to? Mike, GM's head coaches, coordinators, evaluators, some position coaches, just people who are in and around the game twenty four seven. So let's the big broad headline is that there was one of your very tight end, experienced people that made Patrick Mahomes a Tier two quarterback. And what was his reasoning, Mike, Yeah, it's a good thing we talked to fifty Colin. If it was just this guy, he would be in Tier two. And people be don Sando, You're out of the freaking league. What are you doing? Basically, this defensive coach picked knits about his ability to read defenses in his pocket presence that when he took away his first read, things got a little bit difficult for him to me. Fine, good criticism. He's still a one, right, and he is. He's a one point z two thanks to our one friend. Right. Yeah. I mean I think sometimes mechanically he gets loose, but he I will say this, when he does, he's coachable enough. He's not stubborn or rigid. And when he's loose and he barks in a little bit and he gets less loose and everything's good, which I think is an underrated aspect to be in a quarterback coachability. Okay, here's another one. Lamar Jackson. A couple of your voters did not like Lamar Jackson. What was the knock on Lamar? Well, there's no one who doesn't like him. It's just a question of do you put him in tier one? And one of the requisites for tier one is the ability to handle pier passed, meaning when we know it's you have to pass, can you do it effectively? And I think correctly that is a stipulation for tier one because the game gets reduced to that in the playoffs and critical moments. When you have a great defensive scheme that's tailored up to take away what Lamar Jackson does, you still have to be able to win from the pocket. And he's respected. He's just going to have a hard time getting into that Tier one group until he either overcomes that element by winning the super Bowl anyway, right, or having more success, or he develops or they develop in that way. It's a deal breaker for Tier one. Yeah. No, We've said this about Baker Mayfield. When he has to throw fourth quarter, his numbers erode. When he had play action with Nick Chubb, he's very effective. And that really is to me, the difference between the greats and the goods and the very goods. So let's go to your tier one and tier two. Listen, I'm a Russell, I'm a Russell Wilson, guys, so I can see my own bias because I like him, I know him, but I do think he's a playmaker. You and you, by the way, you have Stafford and Russell the first two guys in tier two, meaning they got some Tier one votes from your people. The Stafford one is interesting, Mike, because in the divisional round, in the NFC Championship in the Super Bowl, those were come from behind wins. He also had a ton of come from behind wins in Detroit. It's been my knock on Aaron Rodgers for years. He plays very well, comfortable, and very well with a lead. The greats trail late and overcome it. So what you know, Matt's got a good arm, Mike, So what is the knock on Stafford? Again? It's not a huge knock, but there were some critics here. It's funny you say that. I think Matt is more willing to throw those lady interceptions than Aaron Rodgers. That may help you get you get in there. Aaron has that passer rating calculator that's constantly going for his whole career. I think in his whole career. Might it might stop him in some of those situations. I kid, but I think for Stafford, certainly, if he did it another year, he's trending towards that. But you know, when they went to more of a full Ferrari drop back pass offense, I think we saw some bumps in the road. They had to rain it in a little bit, and then two the defense really did carry them through the Super Bowl. As well. It is a team game, so maybe maybe we proved that Detroit really was what was holding him back. But he also got quite a nice boost from the situation, maybe more than a normal boost, So you know, it's maybe picking mits. I think he's probably on that line. I'm fine with him being at the top of two. I think it's a great spot for him, and if he does it again, we're probably having another conversation next year. So Mike Sando the Athletic covered every Super Bowl since the late nineties, so I have said I'm a Garoppolo fan, and I do think there are what Trent Dilfer used to call him dude qualities, is that coaches like him, guys like him. You kind of feel like he walks in the huddle with four minutes left, everybody looks around that good looking guy and goes yeah. And I watched them out play in the fourth quarter. Aaron at Lambeau. He's limited, but it's interesting. He's tier three, but if you look at it, he's not far from tier two. So Jimmy is I mean, you're talking about a couple of votes and he's in the Kyler Murray, Derek Carr, Prescott so that's where I put Jimmy. I like Jimmy a lot. Give me a compliment you heard from your group of fifty because I think we know the criticisms, but what are the guys that like Garoppolo say? It's funny? Tier three is really the play action tier, isn't it? You need that more? That's your guy? What people? One of the great comments in this thing was like, Jimmy Garoppolo is just the guy we try to chase off in this league. Right, he's successful. You can win with them, but there's we want a little bit more. So you know, I think that people love the track record with him that you're able to win with them. It's a big dilemma, Like they can win, they can be in the championship game two three times. You're replacing this guy. I think historically he never would would have been replaced, but now you know, we're holding them to the highest caliber tier. I mean, I don't know, I don't know if there's anyone gushing over Jimmy. I mean, he is what he is. People like him, but don't love him. So Aaron Rodgers' career has gone in stages. He was the talented backup and then for a few years he was the Golden Child's It was like Marino, it just looks prettier. And now there are some of us that have moved into the Okay, he's great, but not always the best. Teammate Kin and Aaron a little prickly, a little passive, aggressive. It's still beautiful, it's still gorgeous. But I don't trust him in big spots late, like I trust the brain. I don't. But yet he is your number one quarterback. Are are there any critics of Aaron or is he still in that golden child that aura around him? You know when the production wasn't as good A couple of years ago, he did get a few Tier two votes, But I think there's just almost a reverence for his mastery of the position in the game. You get the feeling that, like some teams, the coach helps the quarterback manage the game and do all. Aaron Rodgers is winking at the mic linebacker. He's talking to the referees, who are basically as caddie. When Matt Lafleur's head is in the playsheet, Aaron's the one who knows the play clock's down and we're going to call time out. This guy's just in complete command of everything, and like he's almost having We talked to him the piece about his smirk and all this. It's like it's like he knows things that the opposing coaches know that like not even that all the players know. Like he's at such an advanced mastery level that there's really nothing about how he plays the game that people would want to change. He's admired even he he's a standard for somebody like Ethan Mahomes, who's maybe more physically talented right now, but he can learn from how this guy manages a game. It's like he doesn't even need a coach to manage the game because he's in charge of everything. So I did a top ten quarterback list a couple weeks ago. I had Derek Carr at ten, and it was met by outrage, and I'm like, folks, he's got the most comebacks in the league in the fourth quarter since he entered. His defense has allowed the most points in the league since he entered, so he has to win by shootout. He's often playing from behind, which is you know, it's harder to quarterback. You get to the second half and you're trailing, so nobody can textualizes a lot of the things that he deals with. He's on his sixth coach, going into his ninth year, but you this year this could be the highest I've ever seen. You had him at twelve. Is that the highest you've had him. I think he got seventh after maybe his first year as a starter, and everyone was really excited about him, and then what happened over the next few years. I think you make a great point about the defensive component dragging him down, but I think the concern on him coming out was what he stand in there. Is he a tough guy? Is he a real guy? Right? And I think after that initial flash of playing well, those questions percolated, and you heard it from people that played against him. They just questioned he'd throw the ball out of bound sometimes in a critical situation, or throw it away on fourth down. But I think he answered some of that. I think it's been trending this way. And last year you lose John Gruden. The Henry Ruggs thing was terrible, and who was getting into the playoffs? Right? The defense wasn't great. I mean they went to the playoffs and the team with Justin Herbert didn't, so I think he gets some credit for that, and that's why he's where he is, and it's where he should be in my opinion. Fifty different executives, coaches. Let's see it again. Let's see here, Joey, let's look at this. So we're gonna go Tier one, Tier two. Put the big full screen up, so it's Rogers for our radio listeners. Very small Tier one, Rogers, Mahomes, Brady, Alan, Borrow, Herbert. I have no disagreement. I would just put Stafford Wilson in there as well. Tier two is Stafford first, Wilson, Watson, Jackson, Prescott, car Murray, Ryan Again, I think I like Kyler Murray more than people. Tier three feels very right on Cousins, Garoppolo, Tannehill, Mac Jones, Mayfield, Jalen Hurts, Winz Goff, Trevor Lawrence, Jamis Winston. I would put as a Tier four. I'd probably move maybe I wouldn't move anybody right on the line. I mean, he's right on the line. So you want to know my quarterback dilemma this year. So here's what I think is gonna happen. I'll throw this at you, Mike. I think two up, but they've pivoted as a franchised offense, tremendous, tremendous speed at receiver between Tyreek and Jalen. Those guys are also very good at getting the ball too early yards after the catch guy. So I think it's gonna happen in Miami as you have two as a four, he's gonna have very good numbers this year. He's gonna have a quarterback friendly coach, tremendous weapons, and there's gonna be the quarterback dilemma where we're still not sure he's anything more than a Tier four, but he's going to have tier two numbers by December. That's my quarterback dilemma. Your thoughts, I'm with you one hundred percent. I mean, he's set up to almost can't fail, But what is success? I mean, do you really want to be in a situation where at the press conference paying him? I mean, I think there are ways away from that happening, but you could really think of the dynamics in the building with the owner, Steven Ross, who really probably doesn't know football that well, and then you've got the hierarchy that's trying to stay there, so they have to do they sell the owner. After this year the Wow two, it took the next step. We're there. Here we go. Guys when they know in their hearts he's limited. Yeah, all right, So I'm going to order door Dash tonight and read your tier all night long and think of arguments. It is great. It's great seeing you. I love this. It's the athletic, which is terrific. Senior writer Mike Sando. Fifty coaches and evaluators rated thirty four quarterbacks Tier one to Tier four. You know, I love it. I appreciate you taking time for us. You're a busy guy, obviously, and thank you. Hey, thanks go. I appreciate it. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and neon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, what's up everybody? It's me three time pro bowler Levarrington and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game? What is up on Game? You asked, along with my fellow pro bowler t J. Hushman's otta and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right, Plexico birds. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game, We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with me LeVar Arrington, t J. Hushman's Otta and Plexico Birds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast from. One of the things that's fun to project is what will be the storylines early in the year. Now, as you get to Thanksgiving, you know we're gonna be talking about seven or eight teams with great quarterbacks, But will there be stories that emerge in September and early October. Here's four that are fairly predictable. Number One, Mike McCarthy, coach of the Cowboys, is going to be in trouble early. They open with Brady and Burrow. If they go oh and two, based off how it ended last year, McCarthy's going to be facing heat. They don't get It's not brutal because they do get the Giants at home. Excuse me, They get Washington at home, and then they get Detroit and the Bears at home by week seven and eight. But it's to start the season. It's Tom Brady, Joe Burrow, a couple of weeks whence then Matt Stafford. Then you're at Jalen Hurtz, who carried his team into the playoffs, and we suspect he's better. And Philadelphia schedule in the same division, has an easier start. You know it's goff. It's the ugly Jags. They get a buy early. Then they get Pittsburgh and Houston. You can see Philadelphia late October, mid October two game lead. Jerry's getting snippy at the postgame pre conferences. McCarthy's getting dragged by the local media. So expect Mike McCarthy if they start the year oh and two Burrow and Brady and they get them both at home and lose both. Based on last year's ending, it's gonna be bumpy. You're gonna hear Mike McCarthy get a new coach stuff very early. Potentially. The second thing is Green Bay did not get a scheduling break early. They have a very tough schedule. And watch now. Remember David bochtr left tackle for the Packers, may not be available in September. This team does not have a number one or a number two receiver, so they open up at Minnesota at Kirk Cousins then they in two weeks later have to go two Tom Brady and Tampa, and then a few weeks later they're at Wentz and then at Buffalo and at a very capable Detroit team. Green Bay gets a lot of their toughest games all on the road. They get the Dogs that they should win anyway at home. They own Chicago, they get him at home. New England doesn't have the firepower. They get him at home. Giants are a mess, They get them at home. Jets are a mess. They get them at home. So the goal, the games they would win anywhere, they get them all at home. They feel like wasted home games, the games they could really use home field advantage early against Minnesota as they've got a new quarterback, coach and all new receivers. Right like, so, I think the Packers very early, you're gonna start hearing this, Well, they can beat the bad teams, but they can't beat the elite teams. Aaron starts hearing that, Lafleur starts hearing that, and it gets a little edgy in Green Bay. Early they did not get a scheduling break. All the tough games to me are on the road. The third thing that's gonna happen is the Kansas City got the worst scheduling break. Look at Kansas City's first seven weeks brutal. At Arizona, they faced Kiner Murray, Justin Herbert, Matt Ryan, Tom Brady, Derek Carr, Josh Allen, and the best young offensive coach at San Francisco. They get a buy then they get playoff Tennessee, who was a number one seed last year. So what you're gonna hear if they go four and four or five and three, And I almost wonder if you take five and three at this point with that schedule that is brutal, that is the toughest schedule you're gonna start hearing this should have never traded Tyreek Hill. I told you should it never. And it's not gonna mean they're bad. It's gonna mean if you Kansas City fans think you're all gonna go seven and one, if you gave me five and three with that gauntlet, I'm not sure if I just wouldn't take it and be on my way. So I think that story is going to emerge that you shouldn't have traded Tyreek Hill. And I don't think anybody if he was even there, you're going six and two with that schedule. And the fourth story that I think will emerge is New England's gonna fool people early. So I want you to look for our radio audience. New England's got the most brutal final eight games, final seven games in the league. It's not close. Their final seven games are at Minnesota with that weapons, the Bills, at Arizona, at Derek Carr, Joey Burrow, Miami, they've always struggled with Miami late at Buffalo, they don't have weapons. Those are great offensive teams. They will have significantly fewer weapons against the last seven teams they play, and most are on the road at Minnesota, at Arizona, at Derek Carr, at Buffalo brutal. So but if you look early, you've got a new coach in the opener, a new coach weapons Miami. Who's Pittsburgh's quarterback Week three, Lamar Jackson without his star receiver, Aaron's tough. But then you get Detroit at home, Deshaun Watson may not play at Cleveland. Then it's the Bears and justin Field, Zach Wilson, who Belichick owns. So you could see New England obviously at Green Bay as a load, but you could see New England putting up a six and one start. You're facing Jacoby Brissette, justin Fields, Zach Wilson two over a new coach, Mitch Bisky, Kenny Pickett, Lamar without his top weapon. So I think a story that will emerge early as look at Mac Jones. New England is unbelievable, coward drum. Their last seven games are barrutal, brutal, and they just don't have the weapons in twenty twenty two to go up against those teams with Mac Jones to me and win three of those games. Maybe, So McCarthy in Trouble Packers rough start considering they may not have a left tackle and they got all new receivers. Kansas City schedule brutal early, the Tyreek Hill trade was a mistake. And oh, look at Mac Jones in New England. That's why I know we people believe that we often overaccentuate schedules. Schedules don't matter in baseball. They don't matter as much the season so long you know, best teams eventually at one hundred and sixty two games, you can't fool people. In fact, there's a stat years ago. I read that by June first, you know ninety percent of the playoff teams. You can't fool people, but you can fool people in the NFL. You can if you get a September October schedule where you bring back your quarterback and your coordinator and you face new coordinators. And I mean Green Bay is a fascinating team. We know their defense is really good. But Aaron has a history of struggling to trust new guys in the building at wide receiver, even his Jordi Nelson relationship, even his DeVante relationship took years to develop. Well, Aaron's got a three one year contracts. There is no years to develop like you got to win now because Bok tri they have a lot of guys in that offensive front coming off, including their tight end coming off torn Acls. So it's going to be if some of those guys recover slowly with that early schedule, gets very bumpy, very early for the Packers. One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeart Radio app. Search her to listen live or on demand whenever you like

Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Be 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 is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is a Monday, late July, live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Joy matches the sets at how at there, or wherever you may be, and however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio FS one. So Colin right, Colin wrong, in one hour from now. There's a lot going on today. It's a fun. Joy's Brotherhoos Horse, is a legendary Hall of Fame football player and one of the nicest guys that sports ever had. Wonderful guy and the family. Nobody in the family has ever had a pimple who so the perfect looking. But it's the start of football season like today. Yes, all the camps are open and so it puts me in a good mood, not only because our job gets easier in the football season because it's like rapid consumerism, like people love it, but there's just so many more stories going in. And this July has always been a weird month for us because June is NBA, right, it's the finals, it's intense, and then it's the Draft, and then it's Summer League and who's the New Stars and it's so much fun for about seven weeks and all of a sudden, NBA trades kind of you know, they kind of dissipate, and here comes the NFL. So today feels like to me the start of six and a half months of more football talk, well increasingly more. There is no real dead time. I mean, look at the news and the stories we got last week. Now you wake up this morning there's a new kd rumor like this. It doesn't really feel like in sports it used to be like this, abyss, there's not really it's football's back, and I can't believe it's here already. So I thought this was interesting. It's been nineteen years as all the camps are open in the NFL, nineteen years since we've had a repeat champion. That was back in oh three oh four of the New England Patriots. And I believe There's a reason why the Patriots repeated and why they were good year after year after year. Belichick, Brady and Brains without much ego. I do think the Rams have a strong chance to repeat. The NFC is not as good as the AFC. I think they are the best run operation and the most talented team in the NFC. Not sure they stack up with some of the AFC teams, but again, I think it's McVay, Stafford and Brains without a lot of ego. Join. I live in Los Angeles. Aaron Donald is the best defensive player in twenty years. You don't see ego. McVeigh less, Snead, Aaron Donald. You don't get a lot of ego. And that matters because the NFL is so much more popular than every other sport in America that when you win a Super Bowl, everybody becomes a rock star. Everybody gets a book deal, a card deal. You know the name of their linebackers, the interior lineman. We've seen this time and time again. The Philadelphia Eagles. Ego got in the way they won. Everybody got a book. They started lecturing the Patriots on how to win. Remember that that was always good for a laugh. The Seahawks won. Remember they blew out Denver and Peyton Manning. Guys like me or like that's the best team I've seen in twenty years. Team's unbelaitable, going five straight Super Bowls. Weren't humble. Ego got in the way. The Buccaneers won a super Bowl with Brady. Everybody got paid. Even Brady acknowledged last year the team wasn't as focused. So the key in this is can you win the Super Bowl and be humbled at the same time or criticized? If you go back to those Brady teams when they won early that back to back. Brady's a system quarterback. They weren't blowing people out. These were close games. They were an underdog in big games. It's more culture and system. Brady's not nearly as good as Manning. He's not his talented, his big Ben. There was this constant doubt, There was this content in the Seahawks one. It looked like the best team we'd ever seen Philadelphia one with all the Nick Foles trick plays. Everybody got paid bucks. When everybody gets paid, how do the Rams get humbled? I saw this this morning. This is perfect pro football focus. Everybody reads that right everybody reads it had their top fifty players in the NFL right now today their quarterback Matt Stafford did not make the list. Didn't make the list. Three Rams in the top fourteam didn't make the list. On the same day today, Mike Sando of The Athletic very respected guy did his NFL Tiers quarterback tier list. I talk about this every day every year at this time of the year. It's very respected. Matt staff he didn't make Tier one. Now think about that. So he beat Joe Burrow in the Super Bowl, outplayed him. Burrow is twenty seven in the Pro Football Focus list and Tier one. Stafford outplayed Brady, who he outplayed. He's eighth. Stafford beat him both. In fact, justin Herbert, who plays in the same stadium as Stafford and could not make the playoffs, he made the list Tier one and Pro Football Focus. Stafford's nowhere to be found, despite the fact that he led come from behind victories in the Divisional round, the nfs C Championship against Brady on the road and in the Super Bowl against Burrow. And he's not in the Pro Football Focus Top fifty players in the league. And he's a Tier two who quarterback in Mike Sandos of the Athletics highly respected quarterback tier list, and that tier list is based on executives and coaches and people around the league. So Stafford's reading that, and he'll of course read that, and he's like, I'm a tier two quarterback. I'm low, Justin Herbert, I'm the second best quarterback in the stadium. I play my home games in. You didn't make the playoffs. Just the kind of doubt, eye rolling, You're not there yet, settled down. That stuff matters. So this Rams team their star quarterback. And by the way, Stafford, who's well liked in the building, his coach is reading that. His teammates are reading that, Aaron Donald reading that, Cooper CoP's reading that, and they're thinking, he's the second best quarterback in SOFI stadium. And you know, I love me some, Justin Herbert, but that is some disrespect Matt Stafford, Tier two, top fifty player in the NFL. Alrighty, then, so one NBA story today, it's a big one k D. So there is a report from Wosh they called a wosh bomb that k D and the Celtics is pretty viable discussion right now. So what was apparently offered. According to wosh Jalen Brown, we just watched him in the playoffs. Very good player. Derek is that Derek White, the guy off the bench average about eleven twelve game, nice bench player and a first round pick. Now, the Brooklyn Nets want a lot more than that. They want Marcus Smart, Defensive Player of the Year, another draft pick, and another rotational player. And I've said this about k D. I'm not blown up my chemistry for KD. Brooklyn did. I'm not blown up my bench for k D Brooklyn did. I'm not blowing up my future for Kadie Brooklyn did. And I'm not blown out my coach for Kadie Brooklyn did. The Celtics added Malcolm Brogden, very good player, and they didn't have to give up any of their top pieces to get Malcolm Brogden. So they're a top three team in the league. Brooklyn is looking for a desperate team. That's why Danny Ainge just trying to get a deal done with the Knicks. They're desperate. Knicks right now are like fourth most interesting story after the Yankees and the Mets in the NFL season, starting in the Brooklyn Nets. That's why Danny Angel years ago when he made that big deal with the Brooklyn Nets, they had a desperate owner. Danny Angel is smart. He gets on the phone with desperate. That's how you get a better deal. Buy the house, selling a house, find desperate. Boston is not desperate. Excellent young coach, excellent culture, excellent chemistry. Brad Stevens appears to be very strong as a GM. They've added Malcolm Brogden. I mean, we all acknowledge the best roster coach culture combo in the NBA as Golden State. Many believe Boston is two. So to me in twenty twenty two today, for Kevin Durant, who's thirty four, you're not gonna get eighty two regular season games. He's had some injuries. I would give you what Brad Stevens apparently offered. I'd give you a very strong star player. Jalen Brown's an excellent player, expensive but excellent. I would give you a very good bench player, and I would give you, if pushed, two picks. I don't care what Minnesota did for Rudy Gobert. I don't care what Danny Aine's gonna how he's gonna work the Knicks that's a different situation. Minnesota Timberwolves have never won anything. They're kind of desperate. They've got Anthony Edwards and Carl Anthony Towns and they're in a let's win games now mode. I get it, totally get what the t Wolves are doing. They've never had a roster this good. So the t Wolves have never won anything. Not that they're desperate, but it's go time. The Knicks are desperate. When KG got traded to Brooklyn, Brooklyn was desperate. That's not what the Celtics are. So I think the deal is is doable. But I am not throwing in Marcus Smart. I'm not throwing in another rotational player. I would give you a second first round pick, Jalen Brown and a bench player. That's a completely reasonable move. Do I think this happens? No, Brooklyn's looking for desperate and start asking yourself in the NBA right now, of all the top teams where Katie would want to play, is Miami desperate? They went seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. They're not desperate. Is Milwaukee desperate? Is Golden State desperate? Or the Clippers desperate? Or the Celtics desperate? Are the Sons desperate. Seems to me, those arenas are full. Seems to me those teams win a lot of games. They got the right coaches. So I think that's as good a deal as Kad could get. I think that's as good a deal, honestly, as Brooklyn could get. That's the deal. A top end starter, excellent bench guy, a couple of first round picks. If you're trying to get more good luck, I don't think it's out there. 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. Every NFL camp opens by tomorrow. Many are already open. That means today July twenty fifth until February fourteenth, I looked it up. That's two days after the Super Bowl. Seventy percent of this show will be National Football League talk, and I'm completely comfortable with it. If I was a talk show host in Canada, seventy percent of the NHL season would be hockey talk. If I was in the UK during the English Premier League season, seventy percent of my talk would be EPL talk. In the United States, ratings, what we bet on, what we play, fantasy what we watch. I could probably go to ninety percent, but then I'd feel like I was on the NFL network six and a half months of rabid consumerism. I have always said, you drive the show, you watch it, you bet it, you love it, I talk it. And it's only grown in my sportscasting career. It's pulled away from other leagues. Why well, unlike baseball, the NFL is constantly evolving and adapting. Unlike the NBA, it's simply more relatable load management, Give me a break. Other sports, like hockey or MLS don't have many recognizable stars. They feel niche. But you know why football really crushes in this country because it's us. It's windy and rainy. Get over it. Go to work. I make good money. You're cut. Could happen to me tomorrow. I'm hurt, I don't feel good, I'm sick, Get to work, suck it up. That's the NFL. They play, hurt, they and lousy weather their employees with some limited power, even though they're well compensated and they can be cut at any time. There are no ten year contracts, even for Tom Brady. Play hurt, play sick, play lousy weather. This country's one hundred degrees almost everywhere, and there's construction sites booming. Men and women on top of those roofs in those buildings, and a lot of them are sick. Get back to work. It relates to us because it is us. I love the NBA, I love the baseball playoffs. I love a lot of sports. But my favorite part of the NFL is how much it matters to the players watch the games. I mean, these guys cry every Sunday one o'clock window it's nuts. Bad teams Week fourteen. Joey knows her brother played. I once asked Jason Taylor, a great player, I said, at the end of your career, you know you had to play hurt and very humble guy. He once told me he could not feel his foot in the second half of a game because he had to shoot it up because his team had a very very small chance to get into the playoffs. You're out for three weeks in baseball, you'll take the month off in the NBA. Look at how many people show up to practice. It's not like spring training where there's actual games and two teams practice. It's us. It speak to us. It speaks to us excuse me. They play hurt, they play in bad weather, they can be cut, they have limited power, even though they're well compensated. It is relatable load management. Come on, NBA, you're making thirty five large a year. It's Tuesday night. Just play, Just play baseball. I know you're a little sore in your thumb. Just get in the batter's box and hit. Can't wait six and a half months. Seventy percent, I'm good. I'll talk about other stuff, but it will dominate our show, and that's a good thing. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd week dayson noon Easter ninety Empacific. Here we go our two on a Monday, live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may be, how whoever you may be listening. I heart Radio Fox Sports Radio FS one. Watch some baseball this weekend. Dodgers are on fire, swept the Giants. Yankees lost somebody in their bullpen. Watch out Mats are trying to get more power and score more runs. Or watch that flying home last night. So we've got really good team, and I'm not sure anybody's as good as the Astro. So it's top heavy in baseball but we're gonna have a wild postseason that we got four or five really really really good teams at the top. Joey Taylor's joining me now, Joy, you know, I'm into this. You're never gonna ever find anybody who cares more about Mike Sandos quarterback Tier list. I don't care who you work with for the next thirty years. I'm so into this. I'll take this home tonight and do four topics on it. But Mike delivers that he's going to join us in about five or six minutes. TWOA is in Tier four. That's I, you know whatever. But it's tier season, it's list season. We're going into the start that NFL camp start this this week, so we're gonna start putting out all of our rankings, our preseason rankings, our ratings. It's the perfect time for it. And then you know, sort of how you do your amendments. When the season starts, everyone makes their official predictions. So Mike in a couple of minutes, I'm so into it. It's embarrassing, all right. It's called Colin right, Colin wrong. On a Monday, I'm both often and here we go. Where Colin was right? I said the Cardinals had to sign Kyler Murray, and they had to do it quickly. There were a lot of doubters on him. Listen, the kids gotten better every year. The franchise was awful when he took it over. I don't have to love him wiping his social media off. I got I got kids in my life. They're young, they're emotional, young guy, and he's a baseball guy. So baseball tends to be very much about the solo artist, right the pitcher, the hitter. But in the end, he's a playmaker. And I think the best way to put it with Kyler Murray. If Kyler Murray is my quarterback, I can win any game I play, period. If Kyler Murray wasn't their quarterback, they could lose every single game badly they play. Sorry, I'm signing him where Colin was wrong. I'll give you a sneak peek on Mike Sandos quarterback tiers. He has Stafford, Matt Stafford, and Russell Wilson in Tier two. Now, I think they're two of the top six quarterbacks in the NFL. I like the other guys. I got no problem with the other guys in Tier one. But this means that executives and coaches voted Stafford and Russell Wilson tier two. So we'll get to that in five minutes. Where Colin was right. Colin was very very happy. Derek Carr called a Hall of Famer by Davante Adams. How many more stats do we need? He leads the NFL and fourth quarter comeback since he entered the league more than Brady or Aaron or Russell. Yeah, he's a three time pro bowler. He's had seven eight years of battle lines and terrible defenses in chaos, and he made the playoffs last year in a good division. So this made me very very happy that Davante Adams acknowledged he's going from one Hall of Famer eron to another. And Derek, where Colin was right. I am so over Russell Westbrook as a topic. Please trade him to somebody that has a team. I'm interested in Russell's become the gifts that keeps on giving. The Athletic reported last week Westbrook was difficult in film sessions all year, he did not like being singled out, and that he does not understand his trade value. Dave mcmeniman, somebody I trust, reported that Lebron is sort of over him. Listen, I stand it. You gotta have two hundred million dollars. You're a rock star, you're world famous. It is hard to self analyze and be self critical, but I do think Russell has to start looking in that proverbial athlete mirror and saying, this is what I am at this current time. I've had a great career, and I think at this point Westbrook is a rotational player on a good team. He may be a starter on a bad team, but on a very good team, a warrior a Milwaukee, he feels like a rotational player to me, where Colin was raw, I wouldn't have signed James Harden, but I gotta tell you he took a fifteen million dollar paint cut. So I've been critical of Carmelo and Westbrook and Kyrie for not looking in the mirror. For Harden to not only take a paint cut, but to do it immediately, to do it literally had a bad playoff. He's like, yeah, I'm gonna take less. I want to win more. Believe me, that's hard. This is a sport that elevates stars, and NFL does it. NFL makes your practice. You're gonna take pay cuts it's different in the NBA. From the time you're fifteen on it shoe deals, it is you're the man. And for Harden to literally pivot off a disappointing postseason and say, I'm gonna take a fifteen million dollar pay cut, I want to play with dudes. Good for him. I did not know and did not think he was capable of it, because he's always been a little bit of a solo act where Colin was right. Another source confirmed it to me last week, as I said on the air, that they like Trey Lance, but they are having accuracy concerns that on a day to day basis, they just don't know what they're gonna get with trade. Now they're going to give him the job. They gave up three number one picks, first round picks. They're gonna play him, but there are concerns in the building about his consistency of accuracy, and that's born out based on what we saw last year. The Niners like him, but there are concerned In Kyle Shanahan's offense. That is why Garoppolo is so respected. Jimmy's got a lower ceiling, whatever that means. But Jimmy delivers the ball Brandon Ayu de Both, Samuel George Kittle, he puts it spot on yards after the CATCHO was very good. So there are concerns that I have another source on that where Colin was right. Mario crystal Ball has been an absolute home run hire for the Miami Hurricanes. Not only has he been a great recruiter, not only has he assembled a shockingly good staff, but last week he had the courage to come out and get rid of that ridiculous turnover chain. You can't fake cool or swagger. When Miami was great. Hey, everybody was kind of afraid of Miami. You can't fake it. You don't have enough good players to have that now. I think in a couple of years if you want to bring it back. But come on, there is there anything worse than a program that was once great no longer great, and they want you to believe they're great that turnover chain. Let let let small colleges worry about that. I believe I said last week Miami was like one hundred and eighteenth in college football in takeaways. Central Michigan force more turnovers, Rutgers Yukon force more turnovers. You can't fake cool, and you can't fake swagger, and Miami was for years and finally Mario crystal Ball stepped in and said, enough, We're gonna force turnovers and not have to pat ourselves on the back when we do it. Okay, Colin right, Colin wrong. So I could do three hours today on this quarterback tier thing. So Mike Sando is a senior writer for the Athletic Selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He's covered every Super Bowl since the late nineties. So I love this thing. And what I really love about it is you talk to fifty Well, I'll let you lay it out. Who are the fifty people you talk to? Mike, GM's head coaches, coordinators, evaluators, some position coaches, just people who are in and around the game twenty four seven. So let's the big broad headline is that there was one of your very tight end, experienced people that made Patrick Mahomes a Tier two quarterback. And what was his reasoning, Mike, Yeah, it's a good thing we talked to fifty Colin. If it was just this guy, he would be in Tier two. And people be don Sando, You're out of the freaking league. What are you doing? Basically, this defensive coach picked knits about his ability to read defenses in his pocket presence that when he took away his first read, things got a little bit difficult for him to me. Fine, good criticism. He's still a one, right, and he is. He's a one point z two thanks to our one friend. Right. Yeah. I mean I think sometimes mechanically he gets loose, but he I will say this, when he does, he's coachable enough. He's not stubborn or rigid. And when he's loose and he barks in a little bit and he gets less loose and everything's good, which I think is an underrated aspect to be in a quarterback coachability. Okay, here's another one. Lamar Jackson. A couple of your voters did not like Lamar Jackson. What was the knock on Lamar? Well, there's no one who doesn't like him. It's just a question of do you put him in tier one? And one of the requisites for tier one is the ability to handle pier passed, meaning when we know it's you have to pass, can you do it effectively? And I think correctly that is a stipulation for tier one because the game gets reduced to that in the playoffs and critical moments. When you have a great defensive scheme that's tailored up to take away what Lamar Jackson does, you still have to be able to win from the pocket. And he's respected. He's just going to have a hard time getting into that Tier one group until he either overcomes that element by winning the super Bowl anyway, right, or having more success, or he develops or they develop in that way. It's a deal breaker for Tier one. Yeah. No, We've said this about Baker Mayfield. When he has to throw fourth quarter, his numbers erode. When he had play action with Nick Chubb, he's very effective. And that really is to me, the difference between the greats and the goods and the very goods. So let's go to your tier one and tier two. Listen, I'm a Russell, I'm a Russell Wilson, guys, so I can see my own bias because I like him, I know him, but I do think he's a playmaker. You and you, by the way, you have Stafford and Russell the first two guys in tier two, meaning they got some Tier one votes from your people. The Stafford one is interesting, Mike, because in the divisional round, in the NFC Championship in the Super Bowl, those were come from behind wins. He also had a ton of come from behind wins in Detroit. It's been my knock on Aaron Rodgers for years. He plays very well, comfortable, and very well with a lead. The greats trail late and overcome it. So what you know, Matt's got a good arm, Mike, So what is the knock on Stafford? Again? It's not a huge knock, but there were some critics here. It's funny you say that. I think Matt is more willing to throw those lady interceptions than Aaron Rodgers. That may help you get you get in there. Aaron has that passer rating calculator that's constantly going for his whole career. I think in his whole career. Might it might stop him in some of those situations. I kid, but I think for Stafford, certainly, if he did it another year, he's trending towards that. But you know, when they went to more of a full Ferrari drop back pass offense, I think we saw some bumps in the road. They had to rain it in a little bit, and then two the defense really did carry them through the Super Bowl. As well. It is a team game, so maybe maybe we proved that Detroit really was what was holding him back. But he also got quite a nice boost from the situation, maybe more than a normal boost, So you know, it's maybe picking mits. I think he's probably on that line. I'm fine with him being at the top of two. I think it's a great spot for him, and if he does it again, we're probably having another conversation next year. So Mike Sando the Athletic covered every Super Bowl since the late nineties, so I have said I'm a Garoppolo fan, and I do think there are what Trent Dilfer used to call him dude qualities, is that coaches like him, guys like him. You kind of feel like he walks in the huddle with four minutes left, everybody looks around that good looking guy and goes yeah. And I watched them out play in the fourth quarter. Aaron at Lambeau. He's limited, but it's interesting. He's tier three, but if you look at it, he's not far from tier two. So Jimmy is I mean, you're talking about a couple of votes and he's in the Kyler Murray, Derek Carr, Prescott so that's where I put Jimmy. I like Jimmy a lot. Give me a compliment you heard from your group of fifty because I think we know the criticisms, but what are the guys that like Garoppolo say? It's funny? Tier three is really the play action tier, isn't it? You need that more? That's your guy? What people? One of the great comments in this thing was like, Jimmy Garoppolo is just the guy we try to chase off in this league. Right, he's successful. You can win with them, but there's we want a little bit more. So you know, I think that people love the track record with him that you're able to win with them. It's a big dilemma, Like they can win, they can be in the championship game two three times. You're replacing this guy. I think historically he never would would have been replaced, but now you know, we're holding them to the highest caliber tier. I mean, I don't know, I don't know if there's anyone gushing over Jimmy. I mean, he is what he is. People like him, but don't love him. So Aaron Rodgers' career has gone in stages. He was the talented backup and then for a few years he was the Golden Child's It was like Marino, it just looks prettier. And now there are some of us that have moved into the Okay, he's great, but not always the best. Teammate Kin and Aaron a little prickly, a little passive, aggressive. It's still beautiful, it's still gorgeous. But I don't trust him in big spots late, like I trust the brain. I don't. But yet he is your number one quarterback. Are are there any critics of Aaron or is he still in that golden child that aura around him? You know when the production wasn't as good A couple of years ago, he did get a few Tier two votes, But I think there's just almost a reverence for his mastery of the position in the game. You get the feeling that, like some teams, the coach helps the quarterback manage the game and do all. Aaron Rodgers is winking at the mic linebacker. He's talking to the referees, who are basically as caddie. When Matt Lafleur's head is in the playsheet, Aaron's the one who knows the play clock's down and we're going to call time out. This guy's just in complete command of everything, and like he's almost having We talked to him the piece about his smirk and all this. It's like it's like he knows things that the opposing coaches know that like not even that all the players know. Like he's at such an advanced mastery level that there's really nothing about how he plays the game that people would want to change. He's admired even he he's a standard for somebody like Ethan Mahomes, who's maybe more physically talented right now, but he can learn from how this guy manages a game. It's like he doesn't even need a coach to manage the game because he's in charge of everything. So I did a top ten quarterback list a couple weeks ago. I had Derek Carr at ten, and it was met by outrage, and I'm like, folks, he's got the most comebacks in the league in the fourth quarter since he entered. His defense has allowed the most points in the league since he entered, so he has to win by shootout. He's often playing from behind, which is you know, it's harder to quarterback. You get to the second half and you're trailing, so nobody can textualizes a lot of the things that he deals with. He's on his sixth coach, going into his ninth year, but you this year this could be the highest I've ever seen. You had him at twelve. Is that the highest you've had him. I think he got seventh after maybe his first year as a starter, and everyone was really excited about him, and then what happened over the next few years. I think you make a great point about the defensive component dragging him down, but I think the concern on him coming out was what he stand in there. Is he a tough guy? Is he a real guy? Right? And I think after that initial flash of playing well, those questions percolated, and you heard it from people that played against him. They just questioned he'd throw the ball out of bound sometimes in a critical situation, or throw it away on fourth down. But I think he answered some of that. I think it's been trending this way. And last year you lose John Gruden. The Henry Ruggs thing was terrible, and who was getting into the playoffs? Right? The defense wasn't great. I mean they went to the playoffs and the team with Justin Herbert didn't, so I think he gets some credit for that, and that's why he's where he is, and it's where he should be in my opinion. Fifty different executives, coaches. Let's see it again. Let's see here, Joey, let's look at this. So we're gonna go Tier one, Tier two. Put the big full screen up, so it's Rogers for our radio listeners. Very small Tier one, Rogers, Mahomes, Brady, Alan, Borrow, Herbert. I have no disagreement. I would just put Stafford Wilson in there as well. Tier two is Stafford first, Wilson, Watson, Jackson, Prescott, car Murray, Ryan Again, I think I like Kyler Murray more than people. Tier three feels very right on Cousins, Garoppolo, Tannehill, Mac Jones, Mayfield, Jalen Hurts, Winz Goff, Trevor Lawrence, Jamis Winston. I would put as a Tier four. I'd probably move maybe I wouldn't move anybody right on the line. I mean, he's right on the line. So you want to know my quarterback dilemma this year. So here's what I think is gonna happen. I'll throw this at you, Mike. I think two up, but they've pivoted as a franchised offense, tremendous, tremendous speed at receiver between Tyreek and Jalen. Those guys are also very good at getting the ball too early yards after the catch guy. So I think it's gonna happen in Miami as you have two as a four, he's gonna have very good numbers this year. He's gonna have a quarterback friendly coach, tremendous weapons, and there's gonna be the quarterback dilemma where we're still not sure he's anything more than a Tier four, but he's going to have tier two numbers by December. That's my quarterback dilemma. Your thoughts, I'm with you one hundred percent. I mean, he's set up to almost can't fail, But what is success? I mean, do you really want to be in a situation where at the press conference paying him? I mean, I think there are ways away from that happening, but you could really think of the dynamics in the building with the owner, Steven Ross, who really probably doesn't know football that well, and then you've got the hierarchy that's trying to stay there, so they have to do they sell the owner. After this year the Wow two, it took the next step. We're there. Here we go. Guys when they know in their hearts he's limited. Yeah, all right, So I'm going to order door Dash tonight and read your tier all night long and think of arguments. It is great. It's great seeing you. I love this. It's the athletic, which is terrific. Senior writer Mike Sando. Fifty coaches and evaluators rated thirty four quarterbacks Tier one to Tier four. You know, I love it. I appreciate you taking time for us. You're a busy guy, obviously, and thank you. Hey, thanks go. I appreciate it. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and neon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, what's up everybody? It's me three time pro bowler Levarrington and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game? What is up on Game? You asked, along with my fellow pro bowler t J. Hushman's otta and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right, Plexico birds. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game, We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with me LeVar Arrington, t J. Hushman's Otta and Plexico Birds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast from. One of the things that's fun to project is what will be the storylines early in the year. Now, as you get to Thanksgiving, you know we're gonna be talking about seven or eight teams with great quarterbacks, But will there be stories that emerge in September and early October. Here's four that are fairly predictable. Number One, Mike McCarthy, coach of the Cowboys, is going to be in trouble early. They open with Brady and Burrow. If they go oh and two, based off how it ended last year, McCarthy's going to be facing heat. They don't get It's not brutal because they do get the Giants at home. Excuse me, They get Washington at home, and then they get Detroit and the Bears at home by week seven and eight. But it's to start the season. It's Tom Brady, Joe Burrow, a couple of weeks whence then Matt Stafford. Then you're at Jalen Hurtz, who carried his team into the playoffs, and we suspect he's better. And Philadelphia schedule in the same division, has an easier start. You know it's goff. It's the ugly Jags. They get a buy early. Then they get Pittsburgh and Houston. You can see Philadelphia late October, mid October two game lead. Jerry's getting snippy at the postgame pre conferences. McCarthy's getting dragged by the local media. So expect Mike McCarthy if they start the year oh and two Burrow and Brady and they get them both at home and lose both. Based on last year's ending, it's gonna be bumpy. You're gonna hear Mike McCarthy get a new coach stuff very early. Potentially. The second thing is Green Bay did not get a scheduling break early. They have a very tough schedule. And watch now. Remember David bochtr left tackle for the Packers, may not be available in September. This team does not have a number one or a number two receiver, so they open up at Minnesota at Kirk Cousins then they in two weeks later have to go two Tom Brady and Tampa, and then a few weeks later they're at Wentz and then at Buffalo and at a very capable Detroit team. Green Bay gets a lot of their toughest games all on the road. They get the Dogs that they should win anyway at home. They own Chicago, they get him at home. New England doesn't have the firepower. They get him at home. Giants are a mess, They get them at home. Jets are a mess. They get them at home. So the goal, the games they would win anywhere, they get them all at home. They feel like wasted home games, the games they could really use home field advantage early against Minnesota as they've got a new quarterback, coach and all new receivers. Right like, so, I think the Packers very early, you're gonna start hearing this, Well, they can beat the bad teams, but they can't beat the elite teams. Aaron starts hearing that, Lafleur starts hearing that, and it gets a little edgy in Green Bay. Early they did not get a scheduling break. All the tough games to me are on the road. The third thing that's gonna happen is the Kansas City got the worst scheduling break. Look at Kansas City's first seven weeks brutal. At Arizona, they faced Kiner Murray, Justin Herbert, Matt Ryan, Tom Brady, Derek Carr, Josh Allen, and the best young offensive coach at San Francisco. They get a buy then they get playoff Tennessee, who was a number one seed last year. So what you're gonna hear if they go four and four or five and three, And I almost wonder if you take five and three at this point with that schedule that is brutal, that is the toughest schedule you're gonna start hearing this should have never traded Tyreek Hill. I told you should it never. And it's not gonna mean they're bad. It's gonna mean if you Kansas City fans think you're all gonna go seven and one, if you gave me five and three with that gauntlet, I'm not sure if I just wouldn't take it and be on my way. So I think that story is going to emerge that you shouldn't have traded Tyreek Hill. And I don't think anybody if he was even there, you're going six and two with that schedule. And the fourth story that I think will emerge is New England's gonna fool people early. So I want you to look for our radio audience. New England's got the most brutal final eight games, final seven games in the league. It's not close. Their final seven games are at Minnesota with that weapons, the Bills, at Arizona, at Derek Carr, Joey Burrow, Miami, they've always struggled with Miami late at Buffalo, they don't have weapons. Those are great offensive teams. They will have significantly fewer weapons against the last seven teams they play, and most are on the road at Minnesota, at Arizona, at Derek Carr, at Buffalo brutal. So but if you look early, you've got a new coach in the opener, a new coach weapons Miami. Who's Pittsburgh's quarterback Week three, Lamar Jackson without his star receiver, Aaron's tough. But then you get Detroit at home, Deshaun Watson may not play at Cleveland. Then it's the Bears and justin Field, Zach Wilson, who Belichick owns. So you could see New England obviously at Green Bay as a load, but you could see New England putting up a six and one start. You're facing Jacoby Brissette, justin Fields, Zach Wilson two over a new coach, Mitch Bisky, Kenny Pickett, Lamar without his top weapon. So I think a story that will emerge early as look at Mac Jones. New England is unbelievable, coward drum. Their last seven games are barrutal, brutal, and they just don't have the weapons in twenty twenty two to go up against those teams with Mac Jones to me and win three of those games. Maybe, So McCarthy in Trouble Packers rough start considering they may not have a left tackle and they got all new receivers. Kansas City schedule brutal early, the Tyreek Hill trade was a mistake. And oh, look at Mac Jones in New England. That's why I know we people believe that we often overaccentuate schedules. Schedules don't matter in baseball. They don't matter as much the season so long you know, best teams eventually at one hundred and sixty two games, you can't fool people. In fact, there's a stat years ago. I read that by June first, you know ninety percent of the playoff teams. You can't fool people, but you can fool people in the NFL. You can if you get a September October schedule where you bring back your quarterback and your coordinator and you face new coordinators. And I mean Green Bay is a fascinating team. We know their defense is really good. But Aaron has a history of struggling to trust new guys in the building at wide receiver, even his Jordi Nelson relationship, even his DeVante relationship took years to develop. Well, Aaron's got a three one year contracts. There is no years to develop like you got to win now because Bok tri they have a lot of guys in that offensive front coming off, including their tight end coming off torn Acls. So it's going to be if some of those guys recover slowly with that early schedule, gets very bumpy, very early for the Packers. One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeart Radio app. Search her to listen live or on demand whenever you like