The Herd with Colin CowherdBrock Purdy isn't a great quarterback but is a great story and the Niners shouldn't break the bank to keep him
Colin talks to Albert Breer about the news coming from the NFL Combine
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Here we go. It's hour two? Is it Thursday? Today? Jmac's Thursday? You don't have so much fun on the show. Is just there all the same day? I can't tell.
Anthony Edwards at the Lakers tonight?
You going?
You know Finch could get me tickets.
Work on you guys?
Are you going? Then?
We have a men's league regulacy.
Okay, okay, all right, watch out. I think this is very Steve Starkeisan Longhorn football coach coming up in a couple of minutes. So I think the story on John Lynch. The Niners are negotiating with Rock Perdy. So I've said this before, do not confuse great story with great player. So Rock Purdy being the last guy taken in a draft and getting to a Super Bowl that's a Disney movie. Don't hand him a great contract. Because he's a great story. And last year Christian McCaffrey gets ding da Brandon Iyuk is out. You know, Trent Williams has heard little ice on the road and his car was spinning out of control. Suddenly he had twelve picks, fourth in the league. So last year against playoff teams, one in six, one and six, nine touchdowns, ten picks, eighteen point nine points a game. So again, Dak Prescott was a great story. He got a great contract, and Dallas has been irrelevant since. I like brock Purty. But again, the minute there was a little ice on the road, can you drive in bad weather? Can you drive on icy roads? Because that's what November, December, January football is in the NFL. I would give him a contract. I think he's a good kid. I think his superpower. Jmack talked about this yesterday. I think above the shoulders, the kid is really quick. I think cognitively, he's a really bright kid and he gets it really quick. But listen, Andy Reid and Mahomes. Once they paid Patrick Mahomes. Andy Reid and Mahomes have struggled the last two years to score points. Okay, that's what happens when you pay the quarterback, you're gonna have to make big time decisions. And I'll just throw this out there, the NFC West. So who's your biggest rival? If you're the Niners, Jmack, it's the Rams.
Okay.
The Rams defense is good bordering on excellent, young and getting better. Seattle and Arizona with defensive coaches, both their defenses moved up dramatically. Last year, Arizona was bottom of the league. Now they're middle of the pack. So look, my take is the NFC West has become a very good defensive division. And if the Rams are your rival, and we know brock perty is not Stafford the talent, good luck against that Rams defense because it is it is gonna be the next Eagles defense. It is that good they get. If they land a good corner in the first or third round, they don't have a second round pick. Watch out. They're about a corner away from being even better. So I'll just say last year was a real year for brock Purty. Like he didn't have all his weapons, he had some of them. Kittle was great, Kittle was outstanding, Deebo Samuel was there. Shanahan's a brilliant play designer play color. I'm not you have Yeah, you had some weapons, but they were one and six against playoff teams. They eight against bad teams. They scored twenty eight a game against non playoff teams. They scored, you know, nineteen a game against playoff teams. And not only did he have twelve picks, some of them rugly, like more than a few were What are we doing here? Here's John Lynch on the discussion on the contract. They're already talking.
We have started negotiations. We're talking. I won't go into negotiations, like always is our stance. Want brought to be our quarterback as long as we're here and beyond, and we'll leave it at that. I think the final thing, there's no guarantees that we get something done, but my experience has been when both sides are motivated, there's ample opportunity to do so.
I mean, there's three quarterbacks in this league that win regardless of what's around them. Lamar, Josh, and Pat. It just doesn't matter. Herbert's good, but he needs the right coach. Right, Herbert's good needs the right coach. Joe Burrow's great needs a better offensive line and a better defense there's three guys in this league that you can pay a ton of money to and they're still gonna win seventy five percenter their games. Lamar, Josh and Patrick. That's it. So I'm just throwing it out there. I know old j Matt give the bag to Everybody over here is just throwing them around like their jolly ranchers, just throwing those bills around, those c notes around. You gotta be careful you even you would acknowledge once you pay the quarterback, you're gonna have to you can't keep all the players.
Yeah, I mean, listen, you did some cherry picking with the stats against playoff teams. Oh no, no, Christian McCaffrey, no, Brandan Ayuki's missing half his team.
Like, yeah, he had a couple of bad games, but.
You're dislike for party really, So it's not just when it comes back to audience. This is real talk that he was the dead last pick in the draft. If rock Berty was like the last pick in the first round, Coward would be given him chances, everybody would. People are out on him because he was not an early pick. He has proven more to you as a starter, has he not?
I am not or that he's an elite lie.
He's not an elite quarterback. I am not out on him. I've never been out on Dak. I am out on paying Dak sixty million a year. I'm not out on Brock party. I don't think you should pay him early. I'd let the contract run fifty.
How's fifty? Nope, forty five.
We can talk about that, Rember your alternative.
But remember he says, no thanks, I'm gonna test the market.
Okay, good luck, good luck for that, all right, good luck, go ahead. I'm just saying this is not Saquon Barkley going from the Giants to the Eagles. If he went to Seattle with a defensive coach, He's not the same player.
Okay, who would you rather take if you were the Colts, Brock Purty or Sam Darnold.
If I'm the Colts, Yeah, well you're gonna have to pay, according to the agent here, more for Purty and Donald A much better athlete with a better arm.
What you think dartled is a better quarterback than right now than Rock person.
He's a much better athlete with a much better arm. That's all I'm saying. I'm just talking about traits as a quarterback. Steve Sarkeshan, we got him a couple of times a year having them on the show. Fifth year at Texas Football coach, and you know, we were talking about this. The NFLPA yesterday came out with grades on food facilities, how you treat the players, and what I saw was twenty coaches got a's. So in the relationship that matters. Coaches and players like each other. In college football, though, sark it's a little different. Facilities matter because the players choose you. But I've always had this theory when USC. When you were at USC, those facilities were not good. And my take was that there was an edge, a chip to the Trojans that some of it was We're not like Oregon. We don't have pretty facilities. Do you ever worry about Listen, Texas Football has got a lot of money. We want nice facilities. We don't want it to be a country club. Do you think about that?
Oh, you have to think about that.
I think there's got to be an edge to what you do, the way you operate, the way the way you develop your culture, the way you practice, the way you work out. Uh, and so you have to make sure that there's levels of hard we like to say, and that you can overcome hard uh. And that's whether that's on the football field, that has said in the weight room, things of that nature. Because if it is too nice, I hate to use the word you you you can find a way to soft if it's too nice and so uh And clearly, you know, I.
Think our program has shown that over time.
You know, we've developed a hardness and edge about us and the way we the way we operate.
You know, it is funny because I said that for years. I remember when Oregon had Autson Stadium and then they got a new stadium and Phil Knight gave them all that money. In the following year, they couldn't tackle, And I said, all of us at the crowd got quieter because it was so expensive for tickets. I do believe you have an edge when you say you and I do believe that. I think you lost Ohios Dowlehouse. State was the best team in football last year and they did whatever they just were. They blew Tennessee out in Oregon out. I look at you, and you developed an edge. And I always said I think USC and Texas are glamour programs, notre Dames in bad weather in a small town. Do you develop that edge? Is it a coach? Is it a mindset? I mean, you have five star players everywhere? How do you do it?
I think it's everywhere, you know, You know, Colin, I was fortunate, you know, I was at SC obviously with with Coach Carroll and the Heyday and we were recruiting a bunch of great players at that time. And then the level of consistency of which we operated, and I think it started at the top with him, and then it permeated through the staff, the organization, the players, the training room, the equipment room, it was everybody. And then to have an opportunity to get with Coach Saban, you know, in years I think sixteen and seventeen years whatever how many years that he had been there that I was there for a couple of them. He clearly had instituted it in his own way too in recruiting the five star players, four and five star players. But yet there was a there was a toughness, a mindset, a culture that had been developed throughout that organization, and I just felt like, man, we can create that here. But it had to start for me, and it had to permeate, like I said, through the staff and the players we recruited. But it had to be the training room, the weight room, academics, all parties involved had to been rowing the boat kind of in the same direction. And now with our players, the standard is a standard, and our older players who have been here understand that. But they also understand they need these young players to be as successful as we want to be, so they have to teach them the way as quickly as possible.
I really like that you canceled the spring game, and it took a little courage because people are going to push back, and you and about four other programs did it. In my takeaway, I had a discussion with Jen Cohen, who's the athletic director at USC, and I said, you're pro football. I mean, I said, you just got to come to terms with it. You need a general manager. You're paying the players, your schedule. Now it's like the NFL. You have to be three to four good teams in a row. It's really about attrition. Do you have the depth? If you get banged up like Kansas City and lose a left tackle, you're probably not gonna win a Super Bowl. So for you when you're in a traditional program and you say I'm going to cancel the spring game. My takeaway was it was a little bit of a delicate conversation, or did everybody at Texas go, guys, we can cling on to this old stuff or come to terms with we're about seventy percent pro football now.
Well, I think you're right, you know, And I don't know if we're ever going to get everybody right because for some people that might have been one of the highlights of their years coming to the spring game and have an opportunity to see some of the new faces, new players. But things have changed so much, you know. I think about we just played a sixteen game schedule Cray, and we started August thirty first. We finished January tenth, playing fourteen games the year before being in the CFP semi Finals two years in a row. So thirty games in a two year span. When you go back to when spring games started, that's really three seasons. Remember, everyone used to play ten games, and now things have evolved, things have changed. I've got twenty one high school mid years that are already in school that should be high school seniors that are now with us trying to develop their craft, and so the timing has changed, the amount of games we're playing has changed, the development of your young players have changed. But to your point, the depth has changed, and I'm gonna need all these guys to be at their to hopefully be at their best in December and January of next season, which is definitely an NFL type model. And when you lose a player to you sure hope that that backup or the backups backup can go in and give you quality reps to to beat a Georgia or Ohio State or a Notre Dame whoever that is that you're gonna have to play late in those playoffs.
So I've said before, I think this about every three or four years, we get a draft where we have about four elite quarterbacks. There was the Burral Herbert drafts. That's a little bit of an outlier. But we're getting more and more good quarterbacks because the high school coaching is better, the camps are better. You're just seeing more high quality drafts. It used to be we said the Lway Marino draft was like an outlier. You get that about every third year. Now I think this is the year of B to B plus quarterback prospects. I think Shadouer, I think quin Youwers, Riley Leonard, Kyle mccourr. I think in a weird way because they're not cam Ward's ready to play today. He's just the arm, the movement. He's different. But in an interesting way, it may benefit Riley Leonard and Quinn Ewers. You may drop, you may go to a better team. You don't have to play immediately. So if I draft Quinn Eewers, give me the thing he needs to work on, and give me the thing that is pro ready right now.
Yeah, I'm gonna go the other way.
I'm gonna start with the why it makes some pro rid I think one plane in our market, you know, Austin. I think we've got one point five million people in the city of Austin. No pro sports, right with no NFL, no NBA, no Major League Baseball. And so the microscope you're under, the scrutiny, the media coverage, the national media coverage, the brand, the having to have to be at your best under that, I think sets you up and gets you ready for the NFL, where you're not so consumed to what other people think, but rather I need to focus, I need to prepare and need to take care of my body. I need to be in the game plan. I think those things are really helpful to go along with all the physical attributes. There's not a throw that that guy can make that he can't make. Excuse me, I think naturally all young players when they go from college to the NFL, and I like it myself.
I think about I think about.
The Tom Brady's of the world, Aaron Rodgers, these guys that play for so long in the NFL. Why do they play so long? They don't get hurt, right, and they know where their issues are. They take care of their body off the field, but they take care of their body on the field. And I know the game of football in the NFL is evolving, and I credit a lot of those coaches, and I think that's why they're quarterbacks getting drafted higher and higher now, because I think the NFL is adapting to some degree of what's going on in college football. But to that point, I think his ability to maintain his body, because it's not going to be about him knowing what to do or having the physical physical ability to do it, I think ultimately is going to be putting himself in the best physical condition to perform week in and week out.
So I think the NIL is rough, and I don't like my coaches having to be gms, and gms are now getting hired everywhere. In pro football, money isn't a real thing because everybody is a pro. Everybody's getting paid. In college football, you could have a quarterback making two point seventy five million and a kicker, you know, getting lunch money. Is how do you balance that? It's I think it's much tougher than people to balance that. Hey, there's two guys that are going to make big money. Do you talk about it, do you discuss it? Do you pay?
I don't.
I don't think I love paying high school players, but if you want to get a five star left tackle, you may have to pay a high school player and not play a junior on your team who's an all conference guy doesn't get that much. Is it hard and murky for you coaches to dance around that payment thing?
Well, I'm sure it's difficult for everybody.
I think we're I don't want to say we're in a different position, but the reality of it is, you know, I'm very upfront and honest with our guys and I understand not everybody gets paid the same on our roster, but what you get paid does not dictate how much you play in an organization. You know, the players that earn it on the field, the players that do the things the right way on and off the field, that put the team in the best position to be successful, are the ones that play for us. And so it's not about how much you get paid through NIL. It's ultimately about, you know, who gives us the best opportunity to be successful as a team. And I make that very clear with our players, and so I think they understand that because when when we hit the grass, when we go in the weight room and we're in the classroom learning and studying, you know, I think that's what determines who plays. And now that may reshuffle the debt going into the next season, but the reality of it is NIL in our program does not dictate who plays.
Yeah, finally, you guys are opening your seat. I have always said there's a handful of programs. USC would do this, Texas does this, Michigan has done this, and and I like the idea. Have you just opening up with a big old dog, Ohio State, here we go.
I mean I'm glad you like it.
So but here's the good news the playoffs. Steve allowed Ohio State, as a twenty point favorite, to deliver their worst performance in a decade. They were awful against Michigan, and they still made the playoffs. So my take is, I'll argue this is actually great for your program. You'll be able to measure where you're at now. Again, it'd be nice maybe to play Miami of Ohio and have it. You could, you know, you could work your way into the season. When you look at that game, how do you view it? How much important? How I mean, does it change the way you practice going into it because it's the Buckeyes.
Yeah, I think you know, we've had some pretty good experience with this, and I know they weren't all in week one, you know obviously. You know we played Alabama at a conference two years in a row when we were here in year two and in year three. Uh, and then last year we went to Michigan. You know, they were defending national champs in week two, and then this year we're going to Ohio State, the defending national champions in week one. And so what I'm I love this opportunity and I know I was I was joking with you earlier, but I love the opportunity. Think it's great for our players in summer workouts and in training camp to know who were getting ready to go play and the task at hand. I think now to your point with the expanded playoffs, as long as we don't punish those teams, uh for going to play those games, uh that it's it's great for college football. Man, it's opening weekend and it's Texas out Ohio State. It's a rematch of the semi final game in last year's playoffs, and uh, you know, it's great for the programs, great for our program because that's what.
The players we recruit. Those are the.
Games they want to play in. They want to be in those big time games. Now, granted, we have other games in our schedule that that hopefully we can play a lot of players to develop our players along the way, But this is a great opportunity for both programs. Somebody's gonna win, somebody's gonna lose. But hopefully the team that doesn't win that game doesn't get punished from the committee for playing in that game early in the season, because I think that's the hardest part with the committee when they're trying to decide who's worthy of being one of those twelve teams, and it's always right. It's teams eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve. And looking at strength to schedule, looking at who you play rather than just staring at the record. You know, who did you play? How did you play in those games? I think is as important as anything.
Finally, arch Manning, Texas Football, massive brand, back to back semifinals. You'll be favored again. How do you avoid title or bust? Because I'm telling you all the eyes are on you, guys. With arch Manning two and oh last year scoring forty Steve, there are a lot of people there. They're going to come in hard and hot early. How do you simmer that down? Well?
I think that's why we're here, right. I mean, you know, Colin, you know me well enough. Over the years, I didn't I had plenty of opportunities to be a.
Head coach again, and when this job was presented to me, I didn't take this job just to say I was a head coach again. I came here because I believed we could be champions, conference champions, national champions. And that's that's the standard here. And that's what we're competing for. It was no different than the last two seasons, whether it was in the Big Twelve, the SEC, and obviously the College Football Playoff. And I believe through all that we've recruited really good players, we've developed those players. We have fourteen players at the NFL Combine this week. We had eleven last year, which was a school record. Eleven draft picks last season, and you know, like I said, fourteen more and this year's NFL Combine. So the reality of it is, this is why we're here, and we embraced this opportunity. We're gonna look forward to it. We're gonna go for it. We understand we're gonna get everybody's best shot. But again, that's okay, that's why our that's why our players chose to come to Texas, That's why the coaches that are coaching here chose to be at Texas. Is to is to be on the stage and to go compete for national titles.
Yea a manning Texas Football meets Ohio State. Uh, that's gonna be one for the ages. A lot to look forward as somebody who watches and loves college football, Sarcuzoa's hook. I'm good seeing you again.
Thanks man hook them right there you.
Go, Steve Starksen. You know, one of the things I like about Arch Manning is that Arch Manning moves a little bit better than Quiniers, a lot better. And he's a Manning. It's American football royalty, not a pete. He's just one of the quarterbacks. That was the most impressive thing is that it speaks really well of the Manning family. They could have come in here, hot, we want to play. You get a lot of that with quarterbacks in college football. Dad played college football. Dad wants his son to play. Dad's gonna transfer. He doesn't play. Arch Manning came in, is the number one player in college football, not a peep, head down, grinding, sitting behind Quinn Ewers who. I think he's a better athlete than Quinn yours. I don't know if he has the arm, but I think he's a better athlete, not a peep. Very impressive to me. Live in Los Angeles, it's the.
Herd One more Heard. 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 t Wolves Lakers tonight. You know you may have just talked me into that. J Mack. You know you you you are a little bit of a ticket broker. You've got your finger on the pulse of what's happening in Los Angeles.
He's locking down Anthony.
Edwards kind of interested to watch that worth the price of admission. I'll have to sit behind the t Wolves bench though.
Oh because of your Boyfench.
Yeah yeah, yeah, it's I could ask JJ Reddick for tickets.
Are you guys close?
I mean, I he knows who I am. Doesn't mean he's gonna you know who I am? Dammit, No, I mean JJ Reddick's got. I'm not gonna ask jj Reddick. He's got, He's got a little bit on his hands right now. But Lucas situation and that story cracks me up. Hookah dantag that that whole idea that the MAVs are now leaking it that you know he likes hookah. Everybody likes hukah. I mean unless you're like a social conservative, which most people in La aren't. But who doesn't like hukah? If you've never been to a hookah bar in New York go. It's a good time. Jmcklanews.
Turn on the news. This is the herd Line News.
Well, let's start with the Matt Stafford situation. With the Rams still up in the air. His reps did give him a chance to speak to other teams about a trade, and that's why we're hearing a lot of scuttle. But however, Sean McVay wants to make it clear he wants Stafford.
With the Rams.
There's no dispute, and let's not get it twisted in regards to anybody wanting him to be our quarterback. Now, there's layers to it, and as you try to put together put together the puzzle for your football team, you have to be able to say, how do we continuously build, how do we support him, how do we make sure that he's getting you know, what is his worth relative to those things?
Yeah, they want him. I don't think there's any question. You know. The hard part is is that I'll go back to this, go back to that Philadelphia Rams game. They played him as well as anybody. They played him. I'll come on now, that final drive they.
Were Are we paying people for what happened in the past.
No, Well, no. But I mean, here's the thing. I think the Rams are really close and you're not going to be really super Bowl absolutely, Okay, I didn't see that. I mean I have him in the NFC West Championship, barely got into the playoffs. Oh boy. They If you remember, in the first six weeks, their offensive line was in shamba.
They had injuries. It took some time.
I mean not leus the injury. They had the dreaded cluster injuries, which basically knocks you out of the playoffs. I mean they had like cluster injuries at wide receiver and in the offensive for six weeks and we're a play from the NFC Championship.
Here, here's my big issue. Stafford is due to make twenty seven million this season. Look at the numbers on the screen without him. You remove Stafford, I think there's a big mistake. Now I'm not mister let's say everybody sixty mili. But let's not act like the billionaires can't afford a little luxury tax bill.
And you know the Rams can afford him. And the reason they can is they're not paying anybody on defense. They're not paying well.
Why aren't they paying him well?
Again, that's like saying, well, why doesn't Blank company pay the sportscast or anything he wants. They made seven hundred million in the Super Bowl. There are layers to everything. You don't want to get into a situation where you don't get a good enough right tackle because you can pay them a little bit more. I mean, these they're called negotiations. It's it's it's in. The Rams have leverage here. They're well run in MLI. Oh, of course they do.
The Rams.
The team you just said it was a contender with Stafford on the doorstep, they have leverage.
Okay, if Stafford walks out the door, calm, they're done. They're not going to the playoffs.
If Aaron Rodgers walks in that door, they're a playoff team. In fact, I will say Aaron Rodgers or Stafford, they win the division. Both those quarterbacks. Rams win the division.
You're so bullish on Rodgers.
I mean, with ten games with the Jets, irrelevant games against bad teams.
Well, guess what, half the league's bad, so you're gonna play plenty of those in LA.
There's a report here added that the Rams are comfortable with Jimmy Garoppolo if they move off.
Of Jimmy Garoppolo gets you close to the playoffs, I don't know if he gets you in. Their defense is so talented and so good and so young. Go look at the Rams defense from week eight to week seventeen. It literally was arguably the best defense in the league. The left. Look at what they did that Jalen Hurts in the playoffs. He threw for sixty five yards. They had no passing offense.
Let's do they bottled up your guy, Darnold?
Oh?
They that was easy money. By the way, the Rams are lock city. All right, let's move on to the next story.
Call on.
The NFLPA recently released their annual team report card, serving seventeen hundred players.
And bad news for my Jets.
Woody Johnson was the only owner in the league.
To receive an f only one regarding great.
The NFLPA said the player's site perceived top leadership issues, some describing issues as top down problems and a culture of fear.
Gotta love that one. Adding rather than.
Addressing concerns, players believe that management responded to feedback by making conditions worse. Oh dear, last year, Woody and the Jets got to be minus and now they fell to an f. The NFLPA said the Jets cut their food budget after receiving low grades in twenty twenty three and didn't retain their longtime dietitian Colin.
What did Woody Johnson's kids get? What did Brick get for a grade?
This is a team I.
Root for it.
Yeah, it's not that hard to treat people good. I'm not saying you have to treat everybody great. It's not that hard to treat people well. Arizona, what did their owner get another allows he grade? Like, It's just it's not that hard to get a B as an owner. I don't need you to be an a owner. Again, I don't need the world's best facilities. I think that stuff's overrated. I want my teams to have an edge. I don't need the glossy Miami. Miami apparently has great facilities.
Well wait, you know, I didn't want to jump all over your Tyson thing.
But Tyson, when he was training in these dingy gyms was on the come up. He wasn't a heavyweight champion in the world, right, he was on the rise. These are pro athletes making millions. Your quarterbacks making fifty million dollars. You can't be given.
Him prison food. That's just that's stupid. This is your investment, you're paying the playoff.
No, no, no, Diete. I would give my guys good food. They don't need Filet mignon. I'll give you good food.
Do you want to give him top sirlod?
Well done?
Who are you? I'm not a big believer. Players get pampered as it is with their contracts to the agents. Nobody wants to offend them. They get it. It's like, we don't need another layer of you get anything you want. If I have good facilities, if I have a good owner, we treat them well. I'm okay with it.
Let's remember this isn't forty six weeks a year like some or forty eight or whatever a real job is.
This is seriously, July through December January. That's it. You can't pony up.
For six months to hook your guys up with a great sauna and a hot tub.
Food. And you're making it sound like the Jets don't have a sauna and hot tub.
The Jets, well, we've heard stories about the Bengals, but the Jets players should be going to work acting. Oh my gosh, I'm just walking into the Rich or the Hilton or whatever awesome hotel it is. That's where you want your guys in the right mindset, getting pampered instead of ready to go out and kill a name on Sunday.
Yeah, I want I think good is fine. You think it has to be excellent. My takeaway is if you treat them well and it's good quality, that's good enough.
Yeah, you should go sit in a twenty three E and Economy on your next do good seat.
It's a good seat.
I wish I sat in a seat that nice.
Final story is Kevin Stefanski's on the hunt for a new quarterback.
Now listen to this. This is a little strange.
Yesterday at the combine, Stefanski said the Browns will use every avenue to find their franchise QB, but added he's impressed with the class of quarterbacks, saying this is a really good class from top all the way through.
That's not what we're hearing from literally everyone else.
We're hearing there's two good quarterbacks, Colin what What's is Stefanski doing some misdirection here? Do they not want a quarterback up top? They are hyping Travis Hunter. By the way, I'm starting to have second thoughts on Cleveland nailing this pig.
Well, it should be a layup. Take cam wordor should do her.
Sanders mel Kiper once told me, uh, don't believe he at the combine or the week before the draft. You just have to be careful about If you look at all the prospects, I would say this, I think it's a very good class in terms of depth. I think there are eight guys that can play in the NFL, like Will Howard is probably I'll give you an example. Cam Ward's a first round talent. A Chadur Sanders, in my opinion, is a late first round talent. I say Jalen Milroe and Kyle McCord to me again, not where they'll get drafted. I think they're I think their top to mid second round talents. I think Riley Leonard, Jackson Dart are third round, Quinn you Rs fourth, Will Howard fifth. Now again, I think Jalen Milroe will get drafted first round by somebody. But what do I think he is the talent? I think he and Kyle McCord feel like mid second talents, so.
Will Howard before that playoff run, maybe seventh round pick.
Maybe. No, I think he's a He has a good couple of.
Playoff games and they annihilate everyone. And yeah, I like we watched him all seasons. I didn't think he was amazing.
Well he he he. He's a big kid. He's a big kid who moves well. Uh, he's an NFL athlete. He looks like he's a big, strong kid, so we should be an NFL athlete. I don't think he's an NFL starter, but I think he's draftable in the fifth round. I think Riley Leonard could develop into a starting quarterback. I think Kyle McCord will develop into a starting quarterback.
Is this the same Riley Leonard they're doing for like sixty seven yards again in a playoff game against I don't want to whoever.
I have.
I have Riley Leonard as my fourth to fifth best quarterback. I like his size, I like his athletic ability, like I love his toughness. I think he's a tough kid on that one drive. No, he's a tough, tough kid.
What happened to the rest of the year.
Well, again, this was a run first, defensive led team. This was not a aerial circus that's not what they were. You get you get caught up into that hole throwing around the yard. I don't think that's uh, you know Notre Dame's formula for winning ball control uh turnover uh differential. Indn't turn it over much and they took the ball away. Very good Situationally, I just think he's a big, tough kid. He's a little wonky throwing it. He's in but but he in games I watched Notre Dame play when he had to make big throws, he usually made him.
Yeah, no, I like him.
I know it sounds like I don't like him, but he's a good player. I'm just starting to smell like fifth six, round four.
J mckle the news.
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by.
The HERD Live record Will Blackman, who like Travis Hunter, played receiver and dB in college. Last hour, so it's I don't know he's gonna play some of both. I I think if I was him, i'd rather play receiver. I think it's more fun uh than corner and having a tackle. You know, here comes Dereck Henry around the corner. I'm not I don't think i'd love that, uh, Blackman Next Hour Live in La It's to Heart.
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Okay, this story just came down. There's been a lot of talk about, you know, uh, Tom Brady, Matt Stafford, Montana skiing, h tampering. Uh, it just got reported. There is no issue. The Rams gave Matt Stafford and his agent permission to speak to the Raiders. That's what the NFL is saying. So the Rams said, go go talk to Tom, deal with Tom. Uh and it's fine. I will tell you is that I think the Raiders are absolutely in play. I'm serious. The p I Trust are telling me Raiders may be leading the Rams right now. Remember they're willing to give him three years. Rams may be stuck at two. Raiders had give him fifty million. Rams may be stuck closer to forty five and do not downplay this thirteen and a half percent tax in Kelly, no state tax in Nevada, playing indoors, Chip Kelly, Pete Carroll, brock Bowers. I think they've got their left tackling center all wrapped up. They drafted a right tackle. I think third round last year Maryland. He's better. I think he's better than they thought. Got pressed into duty early because of an injury and played well. So I think the Raiders are absolutely in play here, absolutely in play. And there's a dozen reasons. But Pete Carolyn, Chip Kelly big. And the other thing is if you can get again, it would be one thing. I wouldn't move for an extra nine million. But if the Raiders are willing to go to three and give him fifty in all three years, one hundred and fifty million, and the Rams are like, we'll give you two and forty five a year, you got to take it. I mean to me that is that is a different ballgame. Again. I'd stay there. If it's eight million, nine eleven, that's not going to make a difference. But what if the difference over the course of three years is forty two million dollars? Don't you have to take it? I mean again, you're not going You're going to Pete Carroll, Chip, Kelly brock Bauers and a good left tackle Colton Miller. They've got the pieces. They need a running back and it's a very, very rich running back draft. So to get Matt Stafford, they could give picks up, you could give you could give a first or a second pick up, and I think the Rams would be very I mean, let's just say this, the Raiders go, you get our first pick. Let's just play the scenario out, because I think the Raiders, the Raiders would have to give their first pick. Matt Stafford's worth the first pick. I think I think the Rams would the sixth pick trade down because I know the Rams. I have been told Rams want to trade down in the draft. They want to get some offensive depth. They're getting, you know, a little old at tight end. They want another running back, they want maybe two tackles, two receivers. So they want to start hitting on their offensive pieces like they have their defensive pieces last couple of years in the draft. So they would love to trade down. They'd love to trade that first round pick into the second and have no first round pick and get an extra third and maybe a fifth. So they're willing to listen to anybody, and they like Stafford. But I'm here to tell you the Rams have the twenty sixth pick in the first round. That's no man's land. They'd rather trade out of that and go to the second round. But if you gave them a first in the top six or seven, then they can trade that down. They can get multiple picks that way, because they what they need I don't think is available in this draft. I don't think there's a dominant left tackle. I think Kelvin Banks for Texas, Will Campbell LSU were good. I don't think either as good as Joe Old, and I think they would rather trade down to middle of the first round if they could get another, if they could get a second or a third round pick, they do it. So they don't have a ton of needs. They need an offensive tackle and they need a corner. That's all. They really absolutely need, probably another inside linebacker, and absolutely another receiver, a boundary receiver. So I'm just saying, Raiders, if you're asking me today, it is a coin flip, Raiders, Rams coin flip because Raiders will give an extra year, and if that extra year is forty five million dollars. How do you not take it? By the way, here is Shanur Sanders yesterday walking around Indy with three different teams, Saints, Brown's, Vikings hats. You know, he doesn't know where he's going right now, grown men chasing him to get selfies. So there is shaduor Sanders yesterday. Here was Albert Breer on Chadure's challenge going into this draft.
I think the issue is Chadoor and this is gonna be a difficult thing for him to address over the next six or seven months or six or seven weeks. Is are you special in any one area? Do you have a superpower trade or are you an average athlete with an average arm in an NFL context? And I think that that's the way a lot of teams look at him. He's not a great athlete, he doesn't have a big arm, So like, where is the superpower that's going to make you want to take him in the top five?
Yeah, I don't think he has that. But I think he's really accurate, and he can initiate offense, and I think he'll create stability. I've said this before. I think J McK and I both believe Cam Wored is gonna go number one, and there's just too many teams that need quarterbacks, so I think Shador could possibly go two or three. I don't think he's that good of a player. I think he's more of a mid late first round guy. But you know, quarterbacks get overdrafted. Who cares. I mean, it's and this idea that he's not He's not a bad athlete. He's just not cam Ward. But he moves well enough. He moves better than GoF he moves better than Stafford, he moves better now than Aaron Rodgers. He moves, he moves fine. He's just you know, it's like c J. Stroud.
C J.
Stroud moves good enough, but c J. Stroud was rather sit in the pocket and throw darts. I like the fact. I like the fact that Shador sanders. I mean the knock on him beyond traits as he holds the ball too long. But I don't know, man, if you are accurate at throwing the ball and you've played behind a bad old line in a bad run game and had to kind of like carry a team, those are some I think there's a little edge to him. It's very easy if your dad's a superstar, enriched not have an edge. I think Shador getting beat up at Colorado for two years behind the bad old line and no run game, I think he developed a little bit of an edge, So I like him.
Can I go back to Stafford for So what does that do to the AFC West if he went to the Raiders.
Okay, we're already calling it like the coaching division. Right, you got Harball, you got Reed, you got Sean Payton.
Now you're going quarterbacks Herbert Mahomes, Stafford, and Bo Nick's.
Who's on the come up. That's got to be the best division in football.
I know it was the NFC North last year, but if Stafford goes Raiders go, that's a ridiculously tough division.
Well three team We've seen more than watch three teams can make it to the playoffs.
So another star quarterback going to the AFC.
Remember Joe Burrow missed the playoffs in the AFC this year, and now you're adding Stafford to the AFC.
Oh my god, what a brutal stretch.
Now, if you're Jayden Daniels, you probably love that. If you're the Eagles, you're like, oh, thank goodness, Stafford's going.
If you're the Raiders, would you give up your first round pick for him? That's tough, I'm telling you. If what's fascinating about this.
So they could be looking at Mason Graham at six they got you love from Michigan.
Love him.
He's gonna be there ten years in the middle clog and run defenses, or Stafford for two years.
Raiders may lead in the clubhouse right now,
