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. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowhern on Fox Sports Radio. Oh what's going on? Welcome in, Brian Note Jeff Schwartz, Rich Hornberger with you this morning in for the Herd. Very excited to be here. I'm imagining Jeff that Rich is still smiling ear to ear after his alma mater, Penn State, with the come from behind when in the final minute and the call from Gus Johnson. Yes, yes, the full touchdown Bad State. Rich. You gotta be just giddy this morning, buddy, do my lion? How about it? How aboutman? Now? I loved it, I dude. When when college football shines, it's like no other sport because the urgency in the regular season, it cannot be compared. It's just every single game matters. If you want to win a national title, you can't have any blemishes. You certainly can't go to westlof yet and drop one game one that is going to hurt you and haunt you all season long. So our four point victory, I don't care how ugly it looked. I mean there was vomit on the field by the end of the game. It a wins will win, guys. Yes, I loved what Joe Klatt was saying. As far as the vomit goes where, It's like, man, you can can tell he really ran hard on that return over there. By the way, Jeff Shorts, what do you think the chances are that ye're smiling from ear to ear with your Oregon Ducks winning tomorrow and me smiling ear to year. I didn't go to Notre Dame, but but I'm from South Bend. What do you think our chances are to be as giddy as rich? I think we're gonna be in the same belt tomorrow, Buddy, We're gonna be We're gonna be happy. Our teams played tough and played well for long stretches of the game, but in the end, the other team was too much. I'm in Atlanta right now, I'm going to the game. I live in Charlotte, so the Ducks are never on the East Coast. I cannot wait to go to this game tomorrow. But my hope and this is like a it's weird to say as a former player because obviously I know that any can happen on Saturday and Sunday or Thursday night. We saw last night. But Rich and brought I just hope it's close for like three quarters, like like like give me, like give me that, like I got my kids coming into the game. You know, it's it's a whole to do, like just give me three quarters of like competitive football for the Ducks, which looks defensively guys, I know Georgia has you know, Kaylee Ringo, Nolan Smith and Joan Carter organized multiple guys who go in the first round on their defense, Noah's Soul, Christian Gonzalez, possibly Brandon Dorles, and there's other defensive end. DJ Johnson is probably second round pick like Organ Skuy dudes. And so I think it'll be close for a while, and it would be unlikely in my opinion, that we win this game. When you said I think will be in the same boat, I thought you meant we'd be in the same boat as Rich and You're like no, just the same boat is hopefully keeping it closer. Not everyone can open up with with with the mighty Boilermakers. Okay, I mean not everyone can have whoa whoa whoa on the road as a warm up. Gad. Some of us have to play Ohio State and Georgia to get going. But you know, congratulations, Rich, I'm glad for your your you beat the Boilermakers, But some of us have some big dog work to do this weekend. Yeah, you guys, you got yeoman's work ahead of you. There's no question for ND and Oregon both. But you know, I look at that game and it's the best of the worst, kind of right. So you play awful, right? You really played down to competition. You play on the road, it's in front of a national audience, but you get the win. Jeff, I don't know about you, but over the course of my career, I hated to win games like that, but I learned the most about the teams I was playing for in games like that. And you didn't mind. You didn't mind it because you got the win, You survived the day, and then you get to work on some stuff and you get better for it. Look, I never take for greted to win, right. I mean, we know that it's hard to win football games, and so going on the road in week one when Produce obviously had so much time to prepare for what you're going to be. But I think you saw improvements, especially if you're a Penn State that you're happy your offensive line was better. Look better than last year, right Like, things looked like Clifford's an up and down guy. But in the end he made those big plays. So yeah, you look. You you wouldn't win every game. You take away a lot from from these close laws, close wins and losses, but w's man, I mean you need those early on. I don't really care how you get it done. Sometimes those style points, you know, they add up throughout the season that they don't have to happen in week one. By the way, we're very excited to announce two brand new football pregame shows on Fox Sports Radio. It begins tomorrow. Make sure you tune in. It's the debut of Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM. It'll take you right up to Kickoff. Catch me Brian No also Penn State All American Rich Orn Burger. That sounds very professional, right there. It really does. And I am not a professional, gotta be honest. Video. Didn't you need a burrito before? Buddy? You need burritosional ways from the middle. Yeah, trust, that's right. We'll also have picks Wise lead betting analyst Jared Smith. So that's tomorrow nine am until noon Eastern Time. That's six to nine am Pacific. The best football tailgate party and preview in the nation will also have Starting Sunday the eleventh, for Week one of the NFL, we launch our Pro Football Countdown to Kickoff Show, presented by bet MGM. SO tune in every Sunday three hours right before kickoff. So we're talking ten am to one pm on the East Coast, seven to ten am Pacific. It's with yours truly eight year NFL veteran Jeff Schwartz again very professional, fancy wow, and our man crack professional sports better Bill Krakenburger. So listen right here to Fox Sports Radio Saturdays and Sundays, leading your right up to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM. SO giving you a little taste this more Brian Noe alongside Jeff Schwartz and Rich Ornberger. How about we dive into the Russell Wilson contract extension here fellas so five years, two hundred forty five million dollars, but you read the fine print, one hundred sixty five million guaranteed. And my first thought is it's not so much about Russ and the Broncos, it's more so about the quarterback market. Do you think this makes things any easier for the Ravens who are up next trying to hammer out a deal with Lamar Jackson. Yeah, because of the caliber the player that the Broncos just were able to get under contract for less than the value of the prior to contracts signed at the position this offseason. You know, if you look at the Dashaun deal, which nobody is trying to replicate from a team standpoint, and everybody's pissed at the Browns four, and you look at the Kyler deal, the guaranteed or cash money that is going to be given to Ross is something something inferior to those, right, And I think I theorize the reason they did this, and I'm talking about Russell's camp, is because they kind of did him a solid. They saved him from Seattle. It's kind of a sinking ship out there. They got Geno Smith starting now. I think he didn't want to survive the rebuild there and he was looking for an opportunity. So as part of the trade talks, there was probably a conversation like, Hey, if we get you in here, you're gonna have to give us a break on this extension. We want you long term, but you're gonna have to work with us here, and I think Danger Russ said, yeah, I'll play ball. Russell Wilson has always kind of played ball, right, I mean that's been one of his things that I think teams like about him, and something that we saw yesterday some reaction from an agent and was like, yeah, this is what he did in Seattle. Right, he kind of undercut a little bit of the opportunity for other players because he could have easily said I want a fully guarantee contract, right. He could have easily done that, and I think Broncos would have had to do it. They have a brand new owner and they want to spend money. Obviously when a new owner comes in, they want to solidify their quarterback spot. And this helps the Ravens, right, because if you're Lamar Jackson, you say I want two hundred and third one million dollars guaranteed. Deshaun Watson got two thirty. He's not one an MVP. There were thirty allegations against him, hasn't played in a year that Browns gave him two thirty. Lamar MVP, seems like a great guy on the ups, continuing to go up in his career and leader all those things right, like the things you'd want at any quarterback in the NFL. And he's gonna say, hey, Ravens, I want that. But now we've seen two straight deals, whether it's Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson, where that was not the case. And so Russell Wilson's deal is great for him, good for the Broncos, like it's all good there, but from the bigger picture of doesn't help other NFL players in his position answers no. And this is why the stalemate is happening with the Ravens and Lamar Jackson, because they there's he's asking for one thing and he's saying I deserve this, the Ravens saying, oh, well, no one else is paying that. And that's where we're at right now. And Rich I think an agent would be helpful for him just because there is this awkward kind of negotiation right now where the Ravensers saying, hey two his face, Hey Lamar, you're not worth what I think you would you think you're worth. The agent's a little bit of a buffer there. I'm not saying he needs one to get this done, but that's kind of why you have one in this spot. I wonder if he had one, if a deal would be done or not by now, Buddy, I one thousand percent agree with you. One thousand percent agree with you. Like when my car breaks down, I'm not pop popping the hood in the driveway or putting the car on ramps and trying to fix him myself. I'm bringing it to a mechanic. When my teeth hurt. Guess who I'm going to a dentist when I'm contract negotiations come up. I'm bringing my stuff to an agent during my NFL career who can help me sort this out and be that professional buffer you're talking about. So I wasn't lacking confident because they were comparing me to like, I don't know, the sixtieth best guard in the league. That would suck. It would something to hear that. So, Brian, I mean, do you do when your teeth hirt, do you go to the dentist or do you drill your own? I mean, what is your take on Lamar doing his own thing here with the contract? Noah, I'm with you, guys. And it's a good point because these conversations are being had between Lamar and the Ravens, and they can both make good points. But it's uncomfortable to have these conversations with one another and not with an agent who just relays it to Lamar Jackson. Where think about it, Baltimore can say, hey, Russell Wilson just got one hundred and sixty five guaranteed. We can't give you two hundred million guaranteed Lamar. And Lamar can come back and say, oh, you mean the guy who's never gotten one single MVP vote while I want it unanimously. And they can come back and say, oh, yeah, you mean the guy who's won a super Bowl while you're one in three in the playoffs. They're having those conversations with one another. That's as uncomfortable as it gets. You're exactly right, and that's why the agent can be the buffer, and agents can take far less than three percent. We know that. So look, I think that nothing's gonna be done during the season. There's just they're not gonna It's not gonna happen in my opinion, during the season, and then the offseason becomes situation where the Ravens are gonna say, hey, franchise Tag or sign this deal. And I think he'll end up being franchise Tag, and I do wonder if teams call the Ravens for him, and I think there will be teams that call. And I don't know if the Ravens are gonna do it because you have to start over again, but it is the draft to do it. There's a bunch of quarterbacks in twenty twenty three, but rich I feel like teams will call, hey, hey, you know, Miami, you know if two doesn't work out, Hey, you know what we'll tell you'll take two first round picks. Obviously, if you franchised two first round picks in a two or thirty guaranteed, Dolphins might be in for that. Yeah, yeah, oh yeah. Look, there's gonna be interest, there's no question about it. And that may be the designs of the Ravens, like, hey, look, if we can get this guy for a song and we can hold him down for at least two more years of all this electricity. Great, but he's kind of a bean pole, Let's be honest. He hasn't put on much weight since he's entered the NFL. And you're nervous about the injury situation because it's it's bit them, and it bit them last year hard. Now, the running backs room didn't help. I mean they were devis stated to the point where they were calling up Leveon Bell and ask him if he could put a pause on his rap career to jump in the in the fold and and so there's that too. But but Lamar Jackson, he can carry water if there's injuries elsewhere. Yes, you know. And this is a loaded up draft class coming up for quarterbacks coming out of college football. So if the Ravens want to get some draft capital, which by the way, will come in handy, and look forward to the twenty twenty three season, at some point this year, I can see it. Look, am, I sold that that's gonna happen. No, but if this contract negotiation goes sideways, Brian, I can squint and see an outcome where he is playing for a different team at some point. Yeah. Possibly, I just think the reaction between Russ and Lamar what they did last season, it's so different. It stands out to me because Russ headed down year, he was banged up and his numbers took a bit of a hit. Lamar was banged up and his numbers took a big hit. Yet what you mostly hear about Russ is like, I don't know, lost his step, I don't know if he's special anymore. And Lamar it's the opposite. It's like you gotta give him two hundred million guaranteed. It's just weird how that's played out between Russ and Lamar, the general reaction to both of those guys. I will say this though, because and this is the truth in my opinion, and Jeff, you could correct with me if I'm wrong. I feel like the reason why there's that that albatross hanging over Russell Wilson's neck is because dual threat qbs they start their decline at thirty pocket quarterbacks. They hit their prime at thirty and so there is that worry. There's an expiration date, and you can extend it if you're a Tom Brady or if you're a big bend who transitions from being a dual threat into a pocket passer at some point in his career. But I think that's the reason why, you know, people are a little worried about Russell Wilson's future. And it's sort of like, you know, this is the funniest This came from somebody on Twitter who replied to my tweet about Russell Wilson Jeff, They go, I feel like this is buying a boat. The happiest day is the first day. You know, I think with you know, more ways to evaluate quarterbacks publicly, right, I mean for a long time obviously he was just you know, guys watching the film, right, But now that we have more people that are doing it, and we have pro football focus and football outsiders and all these different people that are able to watch a film and analyze it in different ways, we realize that, you know what, maybe the struggles that he had in Seattle, we're not all the fault of Pete Carroll, right, We're not all the fault of the offensive coordinator. And I think we're looking at a Russell Wilson saying, hey, you know, immensely talented. I think he throws the best deep ball at all of the NFL. Um He's gonna be a Hall of Fame or right, super Bowl champion, Like we know all this stuff, but you know, pocket presence not great, right, you know, you know a couple of years, it was it last year, a couple was he threw he was on pace, there was two years ago, was on pace for you know, like bazillion yards past six thousand yards passing, and then you know he got conservative. Is he threw some too many receptions? Like, I think there's a little bit of we haven't seen him be this top five to seven guy in a couple of years. I think that's fair to say. If you look around the NFL, whether it's even his own division, whether it's Mahomes at Herbert, whether it's even Tom Brady at forty five and Aaron Rodgers and Josh Allen, Right, I mean he's not so Wilson's not in the top five anymore of quarterbacks you know, never got MVP vote now things like this. So I think these things start adding up where people are saying, hey, maybe it wasn't all of Pete Carroll's fault. I think I do think a large part of it is Pete Carroll's fault for not you know, using him in ways that I think suit him better. I think in Denver, in that offense especially, he'll be used well. But that's I think the question mark where Lamar is so young still, He's so young and he won an MVP so early in his career that I think a lot of people root for him to continue his upward climb through the NFL. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeart Radio app. We've got some college football playoff over here. The Board of Managers, they are holding a virtual meeting today could accelerate playoff expansion as early as twenty twenty four. Can you hear the joy in my voice? So? Are you guys excited for playoff expansion? Where do you stand on? Yeah? Jeff right, I mean, it's got to happen. I am excited for it because it basically saves my conference, the Pac twelve conference distinction, because now with the automatic qualifier, which would essentially happen, there's more incentive to stay right, like if you're ordered to Washington, and I'm not sure that Big ten even wants those those teams. You know, it's it's like, okay, well, now we can stay in the playoff. You know, we make a playoff every other year in the Pac twelve Conference or Pac ten wherever they're gonna do, and it gives us more incentive to stay right, We'll make more money that way instead of going to the Big ten, where it becomes probably more difficult to make the playoff. However, However, I've made this argument for a while now, and I feel like I'm I'm right on this the Pac twelve because obviously I'm a Pack twelve guy. Really, this for any team that's not Alabama or Georgia or Ohio State, it is going to be much more difficult for any one of those schools that doesn't have, you know, eighty five percent blue chip talent to win four playoff games to win a championship. Like, if you're Organ right now, a four team playoff benefits your opportunity to win a championship more than twelve teen playoff does. It's two games in a fourteen playoff. We've seen it happen before. You beat Florida State. They look terrible and we lost a house. It obviously, now, a team like Organ or anyone else Baylor or Oklahoma or Michigan, anyone else. Penn State rich like, you're gonna have to win three to four games now against one against Alabama, one against Georgia, want against Ohio State. That just feels too much for me. And so it's good for the sport. It open things up for the sport. We'll have more playoff teams, more excitement, more joy when it comes to the postseason. But it really doesn't change who wins the championship in the end. Well, I'll argue, and I'll put up this argument. It's not at the NBA, and it's not baseball. These aren't series. These are single games. And we know that mistakes are so amplified in the urgency of a football playoff. We see it all the time in the NFL where the Bengals the best team or the second best team in the NFL this year, No they weren't, but they survived the playoff bracket. And that's what you have to do, advance, survive and advance. So I agree with you. Are there going to be just slaughterfests on certain football weekends as we make our way through the bowl circuit in the playoffs and get to the national title. Sure, but it just gives a team like a Cincinnati a chance that you know, got a chance. They got smoked. It's my point, Like they we have seen rarely, we have seen a close semifinal game, and the upsets in the semifinal round have been like Ohio State being Alabama. Okay, Okay, is that right? Like that's what it's like. Yeah, since Ani, we'll get in. Now, we'll get more often. But they're gonna get their butts kick still. But I'll scratch your itch and I'll say this, like, how about like you know some of the recent on the outsides looking in from the Pac twelve, like you know, a Washing ten or just just out of that, you know that those coveted spots of Utah, like you know, you could you could sneak some teams in who Yeah, maybe they're not a group of five team like a Cincinnati or a San Diego State, who's you know, coming off a twelve wins season, you know, and they were being discussed a little bit, right. It's just it just gives opportunity for some of those major FBS programs who are just getting snuffed out of the playoff conversation. Who can get in and they can they can get a solid win in the first round and and sort of come out of nowhere and maybe with that confidence and the urgency of the postseason win an unexpected championship. It's happened before, it's happened before. I'm with you with it. It opens things up for more teams to be in and there is a chance for an upset one upset, right, But again, if you're trying to make multiple wins, that feels unlikely. But again those pausitives for this. It will help recruiting, I would imagine, and it'll keep conferences together again like this, we're seeing this conference with alignment stuff, and it not makes me nauseous because I can't I talk about it every day. I'm I packed off the show, and I just it's so exhausting to talk about all every single day. But it really does help because again, if you're looking at like if you're the four corner schools in the Pac twelve, you're the big twelve, Like there's in a set of now to keep your conferences together and keep them smaller because you're guaranteed the playoffs bow again, you see in usc usc is gonna have less an opportunity in the Big Ten to make a playoff that they stayed out West, no doubt about it, even with the twelve team playoff. And now this allows you the opportunity out and say, hey, Utah, Oregon, Washington, who everyone's gonna win out West? Maybe the Aztecs join the Pack twelve conference. It allows one of those schools to make it where USC is probably left out because they're in the Big Ten. Now, well, I don't know if this is gonna appeal to Jeff Rich, but you might buy this. Yeah, we'll see that. This is what I'm thinking, because if you look at parody, it's the great strength of the NFL. Like you're pointing out Rich, the Bengals end up in the super Bowl and it's like, whoa where did this come from? If you look at college football, we complain about the lack of parody all the time. It's all right, it's Bama, it's Georges. Wake us up when the playoff is a rent, right, Like we do that all the time. I look at it like this, if the format in college football just four teams in the playoff, if we had that in the NFL, I think we would complain about a lack of parody a lot more than we do. To your point, like we wouldn't have had the Rams or the Bengals even in the playoffs if it was just the top four teams and those were the two teams in the Super Bowl. We wouldn't have had the Niners in the NFC Title Game. They were a sixth seed. So I'm not expecting if it expands to twelve teams in college football, for like you tep to win a national championship or all of a sudden, we've got parody galore. But I think it would help with the perception. And of course there would be some upsets from time to time. You're not going to get some of these teams to come out of nowhere like the Bengals of college football winning a championship. But I think it would help with parody to some degree. There would be upsets and you wouldn't have the same thing over and over again. There would be some head to head upsets, and I think with more teams making the playoff, maybe making a little bit noise falling short out winning at all, it would help with that a great deal, I really believe, And Brian, you're making a fantastic point. I'll add to it, you know, and Jeff, and it's not your fault or my fault. I do it too, like I get handcuffed to the moment and I just think like this year or the next two years, or but longitudinally, this will help conferences like the PAC twelve programs that are on the outside looking in year after year after year and are trying to get into a top four where they camp. But with twelve they will And what happens after three years is you are consistent playoff contender. And I just need you recruit that I'm talking to in the living room with mom and dad. You're going to be the player that takes us over the edge, and we're gonna get you some name, image and likeness deals. If you come out and you play for the Utes or the Ducks or the Huskies, it's you. You're the reason. You're the turning point. This is where our stretch of losses in the postseason stop and our program reaches the destiny that it's granted. It's it's like that's to me. It's the pitch. It's the couch pitch that all these coaches are looking for and they need college football playoffs to expand in order to do it. But the gatekeepers like Sabing and Dabbo and and day Like, they're saying, no, we we want to be at the top of the mountain every single year. We don't want to share the recruits. We get to bound our chests and say it's ours. Uh. Then the next question the recruits are gonna asking how much you're gonna pay me? So like, I don't know, like a great, great pitch, So, so what am I getting from the collective them? How much? What's that checked in the b so? I mean it sounds great and everything, but that's the top three hundred players are not being recruited based on a nation championship pitch. I'll being recruited on how much money can I make in names you like this, be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays and newon Easter. Not a Empacific man, So Mike tom and Steeler's head coach playing it close to the vest, not letting us know who the starting quarterback is gonna become week one. Is it gonna be Mitch Drubisky, Is it gonna be Kenny Pickett? I look at it this way, guys, if it's a photo finish, I say start with the kid. He's shown that he's got a grasp of the playbook, he's got enough of the field look good in the preseason. If it's that close, why he's him in? Just toss him in there. I think Trevor Lawrence is further along this year with the Jags because he learned on the job last year. I think Trey Lance is further behind because he didn't get those in game reps. Even Davis Mills of the Houston Texans looked way better in the preseason game against the Niners. That shouldn't be happening. So I go with I say the kid. What do you guys say in Steeler Bills? So here's here's the reason why you start Rubisky right now. So also one thing too that this part of the discussion is expectation. Right are you are you trying to be a playoff team? Are you kind of looking at this is like getting ready for next season? Right? So if you start Trubisky, you can always go to Picket and say, hey, you know, oh, Trubisky's played bad for a month, here's our savior and pick it. We'll ride the ups and downs with Picket this year, and that's it, right, Like he'll play twelve thirteen games, We're good to go. If you start pickt week one and he struggles and you're in kind of this like win now mode, then you you're attempted to go to Trubisky and that's where things go heywire, right, because then you tell everyone, I've lost confidence in my young player. No matter how you square it, you've lost confidence in him, right. And an older team and they're not technically an older team on offense, but they're older team on defense. You know they're gonna want the veteran I think early on to play, especially because they believe obviously that they're gonna be a good team this season. Everyone does this time of year. So to me, Rich, you play the young guy early on, and you go to pick it anytime you want, and he becomes your guy at some point this season. Yeah, yea. And the way I'll put it is, my dad had an old expression, too much birthday cake, and it was always when yeah, everybody loves birthday cake. Right, But if you like, like, think about do you want to be the guy at the bar when the lights come on? You know, do you want to be the lampshade guy or do you want to, you know, be the one who's fresh, ready for work the next day. Like there's there's a point when the party has to stop. And I think it's been nothing but ovation for Kenny Pickett since he's walked through the doors literally the next door neighbors of Pit. Their facilities share a wall, so he walked out one door into the next, into the Steelers locker room, and everybody's just been throwing flowers at his feet. I think if he goes out and has some early struggles and that confidence starts to wane, all of a sudden, it's too much birthday cake, Like you know, it's just it's just too much too soon. You brought him to Trubisky for a reason, you're paying him for a reason. So let him. Let him hammer out your first four games, your first six games. If it's going really bad, you got Kenny Pickett to turn to and has more time to see how it all works. It's not his fault. He's a rookie, he's never done it before. But Trubisky has been through some mores, So I agree, get Mitch out there, let him get this thing started, and then let's see if pick it can spin it later on. I just think it's interesting if you compare the Steelers situation to the Niners situation. Right Like, you've got Trey Lance, he's gonna be the Week one starter. He's not better than Jimmy Garoppolo. Right now, they're in win now mode. They were just in the NFC Championship game and they're playing the Kid. And if you look at the Steelers, they're not in win now mode with any whatever anybody tells you it's a loaded AFC. They're not gonna even challenge for a playoff spot. I can't imagine with either guy behind center. So I think it makes even more sense to go with the kid. If that's the case. Hey, it's Ben, host of the Fifth Hour with Ben maller with mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking one in God's name is the Fifth Hour? I'll tell you it's a spinoff of it. Ben Mallershaw, Colt hit overnights on FSR. Why shooting you listen picture if you will a world will We chat with captains of industry in media, sports and more every week Explorer, some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the Fifth Hour with Ben Mallow on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, Jeff, you wanted to dive into this, this Jimmy G situation. I see it the same way. It's all Rose, It's it's all it's win. When Kyle Shanahan's like, this is awesome, this is great, Jimmy Jakin rehabilitate his value somehow from the bench. I think this is a bad sign of what's to come because, no matter what anybody tells you, the only reason San Francisco does this deal is because they don't trust Trey Lance. This is the Patrick Mahomes model. Mahomes started one game his rookie season. The next year when he took over as the starter, Alex Smith was traded to Washington, it was gone, and with Jimmy G still being there, it shows a lack of faith in Trey Lance. It absolutely does. And you have to let Trey Lance and everyone else know on that team that the quarterback of your team is Trey Lance, right, and with Jimmy Garoppolo on that roster, I remember Jimmy Garoppolo. Guys, the last years he has been healthy, he has taken him to Super Bowl and the Anti Championship Game, right like, he has won them a lot of football games. And you have to let everyone on the roster that this team is Trey Lances. You have trade up for this draft picks, you decide to play Trey Lance. You know what everyone know everywhere the roster, the front office, of coaching staff, the Trey Lances is your guy. With Jimmy Garoppolo still there. That does not tell Trey Lance and everyone else he's your guy. It says, ah, if it doesn't play well, we go back to Jimmy Garoppolo. If you're a veteran on this team, if you're if you're Trent Williams right, you are a on the path through the Hall of Fame career, You've had an outstanding season last year, and you want to win a Super Bowl? Right, who would you rather have play the guy that took you an Anti Chansi game last year? Our young kid with fifteen starts in his college NFL career. You want Jimmy Garoppolo to play right. So the second that he starts playing bad, the locker room starts kind of getting like, ah, can we have this? Can we set the young guy to play Jimmy garoppolo? And the second that you bench Trey Lance, you have admitted, which is fine if you want admit that you messed it up, but you've admitted that you chose the wrong player and he's no longer going to be the franchise quarterback or the future Francis quarterback of your team. Trey Lance, he's living with his wife's sex boyfriend. I mean, that's exactly what this is. I mean, this is I mean, in this metaphor, the forty nine ers are his wife Mac's boyfriends Jimmy G. And he's he's there going, hey, you know what gives? Yeah? I mean, how do you move this relationship forward with Jimmy G waiting in the wings? Now, he's gonna play it right, Jimmy G will and he's going to do everything he can to help the kid because that's the best thing he can do for himself right now. But we all know what happened here. Obviously, if there were trade value, they would have moved on from Jimmy G. Or if that was all fabrication political cover to suggest that well, Trey Lance isn't good, So we're gonna drive a higher bargain on these phone lines with all these gms who are calling on Jimmy G. And we're just gonna pretend like Trey Lance is our guy, but all along. No, we're gonna try to get something done with Jimmy G. Because we need him. We need him just in case, and we need that insurance policy because if things go really sideways with this, we got an answer to ownership. Who's put belief in us, extended our contracts talking about Shanahan and Lynch, and if we don't get it right with this team, I mean, Jimmy G's right in a maserati. He just handed over the keys to the kid, and he's taken out for a test ride this season. If he gets into a fender bender, you're gonna say, okay, look, we're gonna bring this back to the shop and we're gonna give it back to Jimmy because we can't be held accountable for the damage that you can put on this. It's too new, it's too shiny, it's too good right now to hand it over to you. And that's a big problem. Look, the only person this doesn't benefit or the only faction this doesn't benefit is Trey Lance. It benefits the forty nine ers, it benefits Jimmy Garoppolo. You know, whether it's career rehabilitation because there's all the source reports about him being difficult and weird in the offseason. Whatever, it's terrible for Trey Lanz. Yeah, how would you feel, I like what you're going with, rich How would you feel? Honestly, you're the new boyfriend and your girl says, I believe in you. You're my guy, but our X, my X is gonna live with us just in case, just in case, but I really do believe in you. You'd be like, I don't think you're telling me and showing me that you really believe in me. It's just an awkward, weird scenario. And if you look at the other side of the coin, because all I hear from the Niners and the immediate reaction was it's win win, it's great Roses, it's a party for everybody. Look at the other side of the coin. What if Trey Lance struggles early on quarterback controversy. What if Trey Lance gets hurt for a few games and Jimmy g plays well quarterback controversy, Jimmy g might be the most popular player on the team. Jeff, I look at it this way. If Trey Lance has a couple of tough weeks to start the season, even if they win and they eke out a one in one record, but it's very clear he's not ready for the moment. Like every conversation one of these coaches have with Jimmy Garoppolo off to the side, eyes are going to be on that conversation. Guys in locker rooms, they start talking. You know, everybody knows the score, everybody knows when you can smell a fake if somebody's not hacking it, and you know that there's a better option somewhere else on the roster. The questions start getting asked amongst each other while you're stirring your morning coffee, like, what the hell are we doing? The kids not ready? And this is why I've been this spot once in my career at a much different Matt Moore and Jimmy Clawson, but where you know, Matt Moore was the older player that we liked as an offensive line even though we knew, you know, we knew we were winning a super Bowl with them. We trusted him, and when we put Jimmy and we're like what what what are we what are we doing? Like, let's play the guy. Like as veterans, we wanted the guy that's gonna help us win games. We're not we're not thinking about the future. Right, Jimmy Causon might have been the best quarterback of all time, but in that moment, we didn't feel he was ready to play and we wanted to win now because we're all thinking about this current season, right, No one on that offensive line that in depos Sam's they thinking about next season in the year after that, thinking about now, And if Traylance does not play well, there's not gonna be a mutiny on this team, but there's gonna be a bunch of disgruntled guys on the offense who want the coaching staff to make the change because they want the guy that they trust that can win them games to play now. And again, they're not concerned about the future. The front office is. Of course, if Trayleance plays well, he'll stay in the game. There's always going to be this kind of like, well, we can always go to Jimmy Garoppolo. But again, if you do that you've admitted the Trayleance is not your guy. Yeah, it's kind of like the shell Game to me, it's bunch of misdirection from the Niners because it's all positive, it's all win win, it's don't look at this, look at this over here, look at this brighty bright, shiny thing. We're not showing a lack of faith in Trey Lance. It's hey, we might be able to trade Jimmy g and get something for the guy. And it's like, one, he's got a no trade clause so he'd have to sign off on it, and two what are you gonna get? The value might go up. Let's say there's Here's the thing, though, is that when you drafted Trey Lance, the value Jimmy Groppel is unimportant anymore exactly matter, but the whole point, it doesn't matter who cares for trading for a ham sandwich, a dishwasher, right, washing machine? Who cares? You have you're done with him? Yeah, you're done with him? What it costs. Let's just say there's a team they lose their starter and the value goes up in terms of what they would once every five years. I'm with you, right, but you traded three first rounders for Trey Lance. You traded a third rounder for Trey Lance. You traded all of that. So why put up with all the awkwardness for the off chance that maybe you get a third round pick for Jimmy g It just it doesn't make any sense. The only reason they're doing it is because they don't believe in Trey Lance exactly correct, And nobody will tell Trey Lance that to his face, nor should they, And Trey Lance may know it quietly to himself, and if he's being really honest and looking in the mirror and having a moment, he realizes how much he has to prove, especially early this season. But that is a fact. That is a fact. A backup quarterback only has value if he has to be foisted into the starting lineup. That's it. That's it. They're replaceable. Look around the National Football League, I mean, is there a single backup quarterback where you're going, geez boy, if only we could get some value. No, no, it's there's one. And the only reason why that conversation's happening is because, like we know, he's led this team to two championship games, has won one, and it was a quarterway from winning them Super Bowl, not on his own merits necessarily. Did he help, Yes, But he's surrounded by pieces, and he's great, great game manager, and he's good leader in the locker room, and he's a strong voice for the organization. And they paid him a lot of money on YadA yadda. We know all the things. But if if he didn't have value to this program, he would be gone. He's not because he's an insurance policy and one that they're paying dearly to hang onto. Because if they're wrong about Lance, they're gonna look like fools. If Jimmy g gets hurt or underperforms when he comes in, they're going to look worse. And I I never thought there was a value in Jimmy Garoppol as a trade piece. So that the Niners admitting that now obviously it's like, well, yeah, doll, like what you think was gonna be the value if you look around the NFL at teams that would want him. Okay, let's just say, like you know, everyone keeps saying Seattle, Well, if I was Seattle, I would just stink this season. Right, There's six quarterbacks next year in twenty twenty three, there are gonna be first round at least now, right. I mean, we know they go up and down, there's always someone comes out of nowhere. But as of right now, there's like six guys going the first round. Jimmy g gets you eight wins. You can aw that sweepstakes, right, Like these teams that the favorite for Where he for Jimmy to go to me never made sense. I see, Jimmy is a high price backup on like Tampa Bay or the Buffalo or Kansas City or you know, Green Bay, somewhere where quarterback gets hurt, you bring him in to me. It's not worth the Niners waiting for that to happen. So I would have released him. You know, Tampa Bay would have paid him eight million dollars come to be the backup there. Yep, he hasn't even because he hasn't practiced till this week. Yeah, but he's not even ready to play in the Week one relief right if you even need him to play, he is. He is Ryan Fitzpatrick for the rest of his career. Once he finishes his time with the forty nine ers, unless something miraculous happens, He's going to be a great Bridge quarterback. He's gonna be the veteran voice in the room. He's gonna help groom players. He's gonna Tyrod Taylor his way through the NFL for another eight to ten years, and that'll be Jimmy g. But right now his value is an absolute peak because Trey Lance is not ready and that's the only reason why you keep Jimmy g. Yeah, listen to Jimmy Gee. He had some thoughts about finding himself on the Niners roster. After all, I think things worked out for the bust. You know, it was a lot of ups and downs, rocky roads here and there, but I think throughout the whole thing, me, I'm happy with where I'm at, happy to be with Niners. I think the Nins are happy to have me back, and I think things are working out pretty well. Why didn't you at any point just say, hey, I've done some good stuff here, release me, let me go find place. Well, that just wasn't the way I wanted to go. I think that that there was a thought of that at one point, Trust me, there was, but that came and went, and I don't know, things just kind of kept falling into place. And I'm one of those people that you know, I don't want to really ruffle the feathers too much here and there and kind of want to just go with the flow. And that's kind of the way the training camp was going, and I was happy with it, and like I said, things worked out and I'm happy now. My goodness, I don't want him as my quarterback here. I have a question, is he like ready to retire, because I've gone the sense that like he's just like, yeah, whatever like that, just getting paid to be the back up. I feel like there's he's kind of like, all right, well that one I wanted to do and I'm ready to go right rich. It doesn't feel like there's from his side a sense of urgency to be starting somewhere, unless he's been told he'll start in a month in San Francisco. When you're that handsome, yeah, like, retirement sounds pretty good. I can still I still could have played. I was like, you know what, like this guy. I mean, honestly, he is one spring ankle away from starting his modeling and acting career. So I don't blame him for being aloof. I just look at Matt Ryan with Atlanta when Atlanta was trying to get DeShawn Watson. He was professional about it, but he was like, Yo, it's time for us to part ways. And he moved on. He would And that was for an established quarterback. We're just talking on the field, Deshaun Watson the football player compared to Trey Lance, the NFL quarterback, night and day. And Matt Ryan's like, give me out of here. And Jimmy Garoppolo's just cool riding a wave. Let's see where it takes us. Bro I, it's just running its course. Whatever. One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app, Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like. Hey, we're really excited. We're announcing two brand new football pregame shows on Fox Sports Radio. The College one begins tomorrow, Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM. It's with myself, rich Orn Burger, Jared Smith, betting Guru. It starts at nine am until noon West Coast time, six to nine am right up until kickoff. Great tailgate party. We'll get y'all set for the games. And then also starting next week Sunday the eleventh, for Week one, we launch our Pro Football count Down to Kickoff show. It's presented by bet MGM. It'll be with myself along with Jeff Schwartz and our next guest, Professional Sports Better, Bill Krackenberger. Crack will join us every Sunday, so listen on Fox Sports Radio Saturdays and Sunday mornings leading up to Kickoff. Presented by bet MGM. Bill Krackenberger with us right now, Professional Sports Better here on the herd Uh, Bill, let's just dive right into it. I'm sorry I used your government name over there, you know, Crack Crack. Let's dive into this, man. What um, what are you hottest on leading into the season? Could be week one game line, could be a season win total? Anything. What are you hottest on right now heading into the season. Hey guys, thanks for thanks for having me on. You know, just to be to be clear now and get this out of the way. To start, I'm a huge metal guy. Yea literally, I grew up with Judas Priest, Concerts, Iron Maiden, Sabbath, Metallic. I was a metal head. I mean I'm a classic rockham and metal but now but I mean I still like that stuff. We're gonna convert Jeff Schwartz. That's our goal this year on Sundays, We're converting Jeff great. Uh. You know, looking at this is a business to me, guys, So it's gonna be unorthodox probably for a lot of people at first, but hey, I'm gonna get them used to me to not having no emotion in the game, screaming and yelling during the whole game, and then chasing when they lose a game or two. It's really is. It's a business to me, and I am looking at some early line stuff. You gotta remember these games have been up week one NFL. You literally could have bet these games back in like March April May. I mean this was months at a time here these games came up. So right away I looked at the game Tampa Bay Dallas. I've seen that total was a little bit high, but I thought about it, it's the trying time Sunday night game. Kind of thought that maybe you wait until the day of the game. Maybe a lot of these guys are chasing their early losses. And of course the natural tendency of the public is the best favorite and over a lot of overaction, a lot of points, it's funder for points. So I understand I was thinking about betting more towards the game, but I jumped on it a little bit on the under early and I did get some underaction in. But I think again, I think this game may come back though, and may start boosting back up to that fifty one, which is one of the key numbers. And there is key numbers, believe it or not. Fifty one is a game that you know, twenty seven, twenty four, thirty seven, fourteen. There's a lot of different numbers that can be involved there. We'll talk about them throughout the season. I'm ensure I get you know, all the fans are the key numbers which you want to avoid to make sure you get the right ones this season. But that's one I'm looking at right now. Has anything changed your mind about a team through the preseason, for example, maybe the Cowboys offensive line or injury here and there Harold Landry, which I don't think it would matter very much for the Tians. But anything you've seen the preseason that's got you either on a team or off a team, well, it's funny if you're picking on the team that I actually right away when they when they when there's injuries, especially to an offensive line, which a lot of people don't realize at home how important an offensive lineman is to that quarterback and that offense. Huge, huge things. Yeah, you have to pay attention to so like not from a playing perspective because someone did something good in preseason or not good. I'm not gonna go by that for the regular season because really they they're really only playing their second and third string. They want to get the first string out of it. They don't want to get anyone hurt, of course for the regular season. But that particular one you're talking about, I actually did bet a little bit right when that injury went right, when a couple of these injuries came out, I did bet a little bit on the Eagles to win their division. Now it's hard, you have I do a lot of searching for lines. I do a lot of searching, so I seen I've seen some places had the Eagles to win a division at plus one twenty and I found some low hanging fruit at plus one ninety. So that since you hit on that one, absolutely, Uh, there is some certain things with key injuries to key players pre season, all right, I feel like we're getting a lot of steak. I want to hear a little sizzle, right, I want to hear where you put you put your neck out a little bit so you can feel alive, or I crack, give me something. Well, I mean as far as as how much I bet on something, or or what I bet on something early, any exotics, any games that you felt like might be a layoff, but you win anyways, so we're a layoff. Well, I mean that particular Dallas game I bet early in the season or earlier. But I still think there's some I still think there's some gems out there. Listen, I'm a little bit down on the Bears this year. I think it's kind of a rebuilding year for them. I'm you know, coach problems there. I think I think that like I didn't bet it yet. I'm seriously looking at san France. You gotta remember this particularly, there's so many this is a very unusual, unusual year. Um, you know, you have sixteen games, you have eleven eleven road favorite that is this So it's so it's gonna be so tough for my survivor pools when you have something like that. But I am looking at that road favorite san fran didn't bet it yet and of course, I'm hoping I can get the six and a half. There are two key numbers in the NFL, three and seven, so I like to lay six and a half instead of the seven. And there's something that maybe I haven't really bet yet, and I hate usually betting road favorites, but that's something I'm looking at pretty deeply right now. He's Bill Krakenburger. Follow him on Twitter at Bill Krackman Professional Sports Better. Joining us here on the Herd. I'm curious what you think about the Bills crack. Where you look at them, it just seems to be everybody in agreement. Oh, they're they're fantastic. You look at all the talent, and they certainly do have talent. But the best odds to win the Super Bowl, Josh Allen has the best odds to win MVP, they have the highest win total along with Tampa, and they're favored on the road in Week one, that Thursday night kickoff by two and a half points against the defending champion Rams. I look at all of that and I just think, is the public a little too high on the Bills in your opinion? Well, in that particular game, and that's another game. If I was betting that dog there. I am not taking two and a half points. I'm buying at the three somewhere because you know, three is fifteen percent of the games that are line free land free, so it's the key number in the NFL. But you know that particular game, literally the defending Super Bowl champions on Week one, right out of the gate. Now from two thousand and four onward, sixteen games, let's look at the defending champion literally has won fourteen of sixteen. They'll see them come out of the gate here as a home dog. Definitely surprises even me the game. The game actually did open at one. It's now three. I just don't see too much more movement. The Rams were, like I said, this game's come out literally four months ago, and right away they put the Rams to the favorite. It moves three and a half points. Rams were minus one. Now Buffalo is a solid two and a half point favorite. I would not be looking at Buffalo, you understand. I bet. I love betting against the public. So I'm a guy that likes to go, likes to go against what the public thinks. I want to be on the bookmaker's side by the time the ball is in the air and the kickoff happens. I want to be on the bookmaker side. I have a funny feeling the bookmakers might be on the dog in this game. There's a lot of people that are to listen to us, that are going to do teasers and parlays. I'm sure I know you answer to this, but what would your suggestion be if someone is having to teasers or parlays for the NFL season? Great question, Great question, teasers, I actually do, believe it or not, I surprise you guys. I will bet a teaser. I will bet teasers, but I have to get the right price. I have to get the right structure. In other words, in this particular game, let's look at this opening game, so two and a half, this is a perfect spot for a teaser. I'll actually I would actually bet the Rams because I'm taking them from two and a half. Are going across the number of three, over and across the number of seven. I would look at a six point teaser and not seven six point. You should actually lay a dollar twenty or less on a six point teaser the Rams plus eight and a half, and I'll look to put them in with another home team. I'll tell you I hate betting road teasers. What that means is I hate betting a team that's on the road. You know, minus nine, you bring it down to or minus eight and a half or eight, and you bring it down to under the three. I just don't like betting a road I looked at bet something more of a home team, but I will bet teasers. Parlays. Not big on parlays. This and it's the number one the number one bet. If you ask any bookmaker that would tell you the truth and say, hey, what do you make the money on, it's people that are lined up to bet parlays and money line That's what I want to say. Money line parlays. They say all these teams are eight points favorites eleague. They might not cover the eight, but I could put them in a money line and they'll parlay three, four or five of these big NFL teams in a money line. And I can't tell you how much money these sports books make off them. Crack. I'll read you a stat and then I want your thoughts on a question I have to ask as a follow up. Since John Harboa took over in two thousand and eight, the Ravens are nine six and one against the spreaders road favorites of a touchdown or more. How much stock do you put into when there's consistency at head coach in records against the spread, Like you're talking about a coach that just loves to win. Preseason, that's for sure. The man, they came right out of the box again this year. That that was that was actually a big bet for me preseason. But I bet that, you know, literally a month, month and a half before, when only one or two sports books had that line up. I'm not real big on a team that's publicly known about like that perfect example, Jets are home. Is there's a lot of circles around that game, but the Jets are home that first opening game for them. It's an early game. Of course, the Baltimore, you know, is it a whole game open fourhand? It's not seven. It's even I even see a seven and a half on my screen now, So people are going to be all over Baltimore. Don't be surprised if this game doesn't close seven and a half. I will not be part of that. I'm not betting that that you know that that road team. I'm not betting the Baltimore there. Now, I'm not saying I'm betting the Jets either, Um, but you know you have some questions share around quarterbacks and this should be an interesting game that you said this though, But I will not be looking forward to betting any road favorites at all. I'm just a home guy. If I have to bet something, and I don't really bet a lot of sizes, guys, you'd be surprised. I'm more of a totals guy. I love betting totals. I love bet the first half totals. I will bet some now I will bet some correlated parlays in the first half also, And what that means is I'll be betting a first half and over on a certain game. If says a double digit favorite, I like to bet first half on over, first half and over on some certain games, and we'll get we'll get talking about them to know throughout the season. Crack, are there any totals that you like in Week one? But Week one total to Tampa Bay Dallas game? Like I said, I did bet that under I'm sure. I'm sure I'll have something else here. I did not see that many sports but a lot of sports books they don't like to put out Well now I'm seeing more and more, but like literally, they don't like to go the first half yet, they'd like to put their the games up. I'm probably looking at Philadelphia Detroit over. Did not bet that yet first half over twenty four. Only one two three sports books that have that up on my screen here, probably looking at over there. And you know what, guys, that's something that a lot of people don't realize now. Years ago. You know, all the wise guys in the Sharps they all bet dog and under. You could bet overs. Now in the NFL, we have seen that, especially the last couple of seasons. You can definitely bet overs. And I do that even. I'll tell you what. I've been a college game tomorrow over a giant number. So I've bet Mariland Buffalo over. It's sixty four, sixty four and a half sixty five. I just see. I could just see these teams Marylands, they score a ton. Anyway. You know, Mac is not on Buffalo anymore. He's out. He's in the NFL. So I see Mariland scoring a lot of points here in this game, all right. He's Bill Krakenburger. You can follow him on Twitter Bill Krackman Professional Sports Better. He'll be with us next Sunday on our Accountdown to kickoff show presented by bet MGM. Enjoyed it, Krack, and we'll look forward to the medal starting next Sunday. Right, all right, guys, I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks for having me on