Thanks for listening to The 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. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is a Friday, and there is a lot to talk about live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may be, and however and wherever you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio FS one. One hour from now our blazing five weird week. A lot of big favorites, popular team's bills, a big favorite Cowboys, a favorite on the road. J MCA is joining us. So here's things we do know. The NFC is weaker than the AFC, and it does look like physically through our television set. Philadelphia and the Niners are easily the two best rosters in the NFC coun We agree on that collision course in the question Colin, I hope the audience yesterday we talked we love the Niners. All the perceived sharps, We're all over Seattle. You gotta bet Seattle at home, not us. Yeah, well not at all. So we know the Niners are good, all right, So the whole brock Purty experiment. And you look at his numbers last night, and you you know I watched the game, and you watch the game, and you know he was seventeen to twenty six two hundred and seventeen yards a couple of TV's no interceptions. But it's interesting. Now, let's let's be critical thinkers. Now, how long will brock Purties run last? We know they're really good. We know they in Philadelphia looked like the two teams in the NFC. Dallas is back. Now, they say, once a defensive coordinator gets four games of film on you, they see the wholes, they see the weaknesses. So that's coming up. Here's what I see, and this is sort of what they are. Their three best offensive players are Kittle, Debo, and McCaffrey, and they all get banged up. Debo is currently banged up. So here's the whole I see for the Niners. Now, because they have Brock Purdy, who's gonna They're gonna dive in on two or three things. He trusts they're becoming very Christian McCaffrey reliant. He had twenty six carries last night. At this point in his career, he shouldn't be carrying the ball twenty six times. And George Kittle was the number one ride receiver. So now because Debo's out, they're going heavy on McCaffrey and heavy on Kittle, who I love and you love in the world loves. But these guys can't be heavy usage guys in the regular season. And because Debo is out and Purdy is a young kid, So Gino last night had five different guys with four more catches. Thirteen of the seventeen completions for brock Purty went the three guys one of the McCaffrey. So they're becoming incredibly reliant on Christian and Kittle because of Debo's injuries. Also, the Commanders are coming up a very physical football team. They're gonna, know, take Kittle out. You know Ron Rivera in that defense, really smart Cats. People are gonna start taking things away from brock Purty. So it is interesting. What we love about them is their physicality. But now with Debo out, they're going heavy McCaffrey and heavy Kittle. It's not a criticism. It's their reality. And Brock Purtty is a young quarterback, right Geno has been in this league long enough. He sees the overall field probably a little better. He mixes it up, he becomes a little less reliant on one or two players. But that said, it's a small criticism. It feels like because this looks like the ray Lewis Ravens defense. I mean, they're playing nineteen eighties football. Seattle looked like they were getting pushed around for most three and a half hours. Seattle's offensive line is pretty good. Could not block Bosa, could not block the Niners bowling ball coming down an alley, get out of the way. It feels a little bit like that Tony Dungee Tampa team. It feels like the Ravens. But the difference is with this Niner team is whereas the Chicago Bears of nineteen eighty five offense was pretty simplistic and the Dilfer Super Bowl Ray Lewis champion offense didn't have dynamic players. They're gonna get Debo back. Between Debo and Jennings and Kittle and McCaffrey, it's the perfect balance of this tough intimidating, physical, unblockable defense and this super smart and clever and Fanessey offense. I mean that double fake screen to George Kittle. I guarantee their coaches all over college and pro football steel them at Bank got their notepad out watch in that game. So it's a really interesting combination. Usually the physical teams that are Ravens with ray Lewis that Bears in eighty five kind of a simplistic offense. They play not to lose. These guys got a lot of skill. I do worry that they're becoming very McCaffrey Kittle reliant with a young quarterback end debo out. Kittle talked about it after the game. Whenever Chris McCaffrey touches a football like I think it's gonna be a touchdown. You know, he ran his tail off to night. He was violent, he was physical, he got downhill, made guys miss, and then for him to get a touchdown too, it's awesome, but definitely, you know we're in a groove. When Jimmy got hurt, we said our best players need to step up make bigger plays. Deebo gets hair, best players need to step up even more and make bigger plays, and that's what that's what we're doing, and that's what we're going to continue to try to do. So cross your fingers on the health of McCaffrey and George Kittle, two players I absolutely love. I love Deebo Samuel, but this style of football, they literally punish you on offense like most defenses do. They're is physical on the offensive side as the defensive side. The games for the Niners just look different. Outside of that second half against Kansas City, teams feel like they're waiving the flag by the end of the game. Let's just get into hot tub, Let's get into the ice tub, Let's get into some tub. We're worn out. So I saw this story. I live in Los Angeles. I like when my local teams win because even though I try to be objective, everybody's happier. It's fun to go to a sports bar and it's all Dodger fans or USC fans. It's fun. According to Jovon Buha of the Athletic the Lakers have been considering different trade options. One of the most attractive is moving Westbrook in that forty seven million dollars salary. We've talked about this ad nauseum. But according to Sam Amock, a guy who HI on the show and trust too, it is unlikely now the Lakers are pulling back on trading Westbrook because his recent level of play. Do the Lakers not have an analytics department? He's shooting, by the way, his elevated level of play, He's shooting forty one percent from the floor. That's not good for a guard, and thirty one percent from three. That's terrible for a guard. Because he's not toxic, they don't want to make the move. Listen, man, your game is your game. It's why I predicted Westbrook and Cam Newton would age quickly, in age poorly. Hyper Athleticism in an era of analytics and efficiency and accuracy changes everything. In the seventies, eighties, nineties, thirty two thousand, or quarterback with a big arm who got a complete sixty two sixty three percent minimum, the game has changed the NBA. I grew up in an I love the NBA. I'm like rain Man on seventies NBA. I collected basketball cards, not baseball cards. I had some baseball cards, but I collected basketball NBA cards, and I had so many guys like World B Free and all these crazy wild players. I loved them. Analytically they were awful, but in that era they were great. But analytics are the enemy of Westbrook. Just go to your analytics department, Lakers. The Lakers have been outscored by seventy one points when Westbrook is on the floor. They've outscored their opponents by twenty eight when he's on the bench. It's like like, analytics are the home inspector of real estate. You ever walked into a house. Oh honey, look at the furnishings. Man at kitchen, they put some money into that. I love the back yard. How do you come upstairs? You gotta see that. You gotta see the kid's room. And then the home and spector comes and he takes a flashlight and he goes underneath the house and he goes up on the roof and he goes and looks at the electrical and the plumbing. That's what analytics are to basketball. And he comes back and he said, oh, yeah, you got you need new air conditioning unit. We needed one of those. You got some rot you got If you took a home inspector to Russell Westbrooks game, you'd find a lot of leaks and faulty wiring, and you'd have foundational problems if the Lakers are pulling back on moving him because his recent play. They're still awful when he's on the floor and better when he's not. That's why the Warriors. I see this all the time in sports. That's why the Dodgers keep winning their division. It's why the Warriors keep winning titles. Some of these teams in these sports just are not paying attention. I had a conversation about ten days ago with a recently retired NBA scout who I leaned on for years, really smart guy, and I asked him about the Lakers, and he said, there's just too many family members running the show. He's like, it's an eye roll with some of their moves, Like some of their guys just can't play at all. And everybody in the league knows that except the Lakers. But I mean, folks just go to analytics. They're the home inspector of real estate. They're the truth serum. All jumping and leaping in hustle and what do the numbers say? Are you good when you're on the floor, are you good when you're off the floor. When's the team better? Westbrook's a nice guy, can't shoot, doesn't defend, and just isn't necessarily great with Lebron James. Remember Alex Caruso for the Lakers. Still can't figure out why they let him go. I mean most people, I mean, I know what they were trying to do. But in the end, Alex Caruso always felt like when he was on the floor with Lebron, Lebron liked him. Now there's a report they want to bring Kyle Kuzma back. Why'd you let him go? I mean, this story is like you want to you want to know how far the Lakers are behind the Warriors. Just forget the just forget the players, but just analytics, brainpower. I mean, this is I just don't get it, all right, People going crazy last night? Fans just eight these roughing the passer penalties, Oh my god, plus blazing five forty five minutes from al. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. So we talked about this yesterday. The NFL is a television show. The league just like the NBA and baseball, but especially the NBA and the NFL make far more money off the television dollars than they do, butts in seats didn't used to be that way in the sixties and seventies. It is today. The home viewer is worth more than the in stadium viewer because TV networks can take that home viewer, and when you accumulate all those home viewers, higher incomes sell them to advertisers at the economy is good. I mean the NFL is making billions at five different networks or four different networks. Now they're making it with Amazon. Only thirteen quarterbacks have started every game, a third of the league. The quality of football, we also know, deteriorates rapidly when you go to backups Kyler Murray to Colt McCoy. I think we've all seen enough of Drew Locke for one lifetime. It's a TV show. I know the Nick Bosa roughing the passer penalty drives you crazy, But think about insurance. All of you have paid insurance. I've been paying insurance. I'm in my mid fifties, late fifties now, I've been paying it for forty years. I've used it twice, but it protects me. That's why I pay for it and I almost never use it, But I get why we have it. It's the same reason sometimes I overparent. My kids want to do this. My kids want to do that. Dad, You're so strict. It's to protect you when you're twenty five years old, twenty three years old, out of the house. You do what you want. But I'm not let you jumping out of a helicopter yet. This is all about protecting the quality of football. They're gonna overparent. Yeah, this is what you do. We know in this league. But Holmes and Josh Allen play. You literally think about it on Tuesday for a Sunday game. Oh my god, I can't wait if Josh Johnson would have played against Geno Smith last night. I do this for a living and it would have been work to get me to a TV. Even Brock pretty a backup made it watchable. So the league is doing this for a reason. And Nick Bosa talked about it after high landed on him. Is I just kind of I don't know. I thought he's still had the ball, so I was kind of thinking thinking about, well, I was going to the ground whether you had the ball or not, And I forgot to roll off. I'm usually better at doing that, so is good call. I guess for the record, I like Micah Parsons, that is your MVP. That guy is unblockable. And his brother's pretty good too, and the dad was pretty good. But Nick Bosa and that defense. Listen, quarterbacks are getting smaller, quarterbacks are running more. This is a television show. You gotta protect him, you got overparent. I get it, and it drives me nuts too. J Mack with the News. No, no, this is the herd Line News protecting Gino Smith. I like that. You want to you want to protect that franchise quarterback you got Yet he kind of protections Gino. Big strong, complete passes, keeps the game moving. I mean say, I mean, I'm not a huge Geno Smith ban, but I mean, if you go look at his numbers last night, he's an adult. I had a dropped interception that should have been a pick six. Awful flag. Anyways, all right, Colin, The big NFL story here breaking in the last hour. As I was driving to work here and my phone just starts blowing up. Mike White will not be able to play Heartbreak this weekend for the New York Jets. The immortal Mike White, who has been a tremendous story the last few weeks, not cleared for contact by doctors, unable to go to to a rib injury. Now they're not saying much more. Colin, he was at practice all week, but he's not cleared for contact. I don't know what happened inside Mike White's body. Clearly the Jets aren't gonna say. And that's fine, but you know what that means if they started QB QB one for the Jets on Sunday against the Lions in a must win if they want to get in the playoffs. Is Zach Wilson. So let me be glass half full. Co Yes, you did draft him too. You gotta figure out if he's the guy. It's the game of the season. There's real pressure, and he has been humbled. This is a great moment for you. Your chances of winning maybe better with Mike White, but this is the biggest Jets game in about four years. You gotta beat Detroit at home, and you know what, it's real pressure and the papers and the media and the talk shows in New York are all over it. Okay, kid, okay, cool, good looking kid, Your ball win the game because we know the defense is good enough, we know the corners good enough, we know the young receivers are good enough. The only question with that team is Zach, are you good enough? So let's not give him any layouts. He is now rushed into starting duty. Young Mahomes would have won it. Young Borrow would have won it. This is why this is the moment. I don't want him to get a layout. I want him to be told on Thursday or Friday morning, dude, you gotta play what Yeah, you win Sunday go Weather's bad, gotta win huge pressure in New York. This is why you drafted him second and by this point in year two, if he can't take that football and beat the Lions defense at home, you got the wrong guy and draft another quarterback. So there's a lot to say on this. You know, I'm surprised you didn't want to dedicate the open of the show to it, um, But Colin, think about this, if if the Jets psychologically have to be wondering, my gosh, we benched this guy. But we didn't bench him. We made him inactive for three weeks. He's been on the head on the bench with a hoodie on during this during games, I know bouncing back from that immediately, Well, you know what that Baker Mayfield got a phone call, fly to La play what. I don't know the play, but I play. That's why you get paid the big Bob. Zach Wilson wishes he could face the Raiders defense this week. They're okay, They're not great, Aidan Hutchinson's gonna be. It's a lot of nonsense on the back end. If I'm talking to Zach Wilson, if he's watching right now, Zach, forget about being drafted number two, forget about big picture redemption, forget that crap Detroit Lions. That's it focused on this week. I don't care what happens win this game. I don't care if you're nine for twenty. I've never worked with anybody in my life who cares more deeply about a team. I find it so charming. You love this team, it drives you crazy when they I love my family. Yeah, I love my podcast. The Jets are up there like they're my team. I root for them. This is a winnable game for Zach Wilson. I don't focus on the other stuff. And by the way, no floaters in the middle of the field, tuck and run, you know, seriously, by the way, Joe Flacco, they just announced his number two. So Mike White not even active this week? All right? We got through that. Next up justin fields. He could join some elite company Sunday. He's only nine five rushing yards away from being hitting the one thousand yard mark this season. We've become the third quarterback to him a thousand in NFL history. The other two, Vic and Lamar off of bye week, Bears are healthy. Are we gonna see this in the Blazing five? Yes, we are, all right. I think the Bears are. When you get these young teams and you give them some extra time, there's a lot of interesting bets I have this week. Many of them teams coming off of a bye late in the year, teams get made up. They're all a little healthier. I haven't seen the data on that to back it up, but I am curious. Next week Eagles Cowboys. I just saw the show before us talking about next week's gave Eagles got like a full segment and Cowboy fans have the audacity to think ahead to anybody after Houston, Well, Cowboy fans looking at Philadelphia. Have you watched the Jags in the last month. That offense is tearing it up. I was gonna put that in the Blazing five and I started looking at all the stuff. There's some wonky stuff happening. I got talked out of it. Yeah, by smart people said no, no, no, no, stay away from it. If you're a Cowboy fan, stay away from that game. So justin Field, I can't wait to watch that game. You think he can beat the Eagles or you could just have some success backdoor cover. I don't think they're gonna beat the Eagles. The lines nine that is, it's a big number on them, especially when the Cowboys are next week and you're off a blowout win. So even if you're up thirty four twenty fourth quarter fields against the preventee goes down, the field gets a touchdown, and you get the backdoor covers a lot of points in there. A lot. Final story, Dolphins headic to Buffalo to take on the Bills. This is a monster game. Saturday Night Colin last Sunday. Obviously they got some flak for bringing heaters to Los Angeles like the soft Floridians they are. But Tomorrow night in Buffalo. It's expected to be in the maybe twenties. They're saying this could be the coldest football game of the year. I saw that Stuffy could not wait. Yeah, I cannot wait to watch chance of snow in Buffalo. Mike McDaniel obviously having fun at practice. He was seen wearing a shirt that said, I wish it were colder. He's dancing around. Look at him, he's stru We don't have video, but he's strutting around. M daniel's really trying to instill confidence in this team. You know they have to be wrecked. Have you ever not bet a game because you just want to enjoy it? No? I enjoy money winning, So I this one. I am so interested in the storylines because Buffalo now is starting to run the football, starting to get a little healthier. Are we going to get back to like early season in September Buffalo because they had a stretch so did San Francisco in October November where the Niners and the Bills were falling apart. And now they're getting a little healthier in key spots. You go to the injury report, you Buffalo could be back to September Buffalo. Buffalo just saw a great defense last week. Couldn't they play? Oh the Jets, that's right, And now they stepped down to face the Miami Dolphins, who really got shredded by Justin Herbert. Listen, I know there's concern about Josh Allen's elbow. He had struggled. I just want to bring up two quick games at night in Buffalo. The Tennessee Monday Night bloodbath earlier this season, I think it was forty five seven or something like that, and the Patriot It's playoff game in Buffalo at night last year. This place is going to be crazy Saturday night in Buffalo. You know the fans are gonna be lubricated all Saturday drinking, partying in the parking lot. This could be a beat down for the Ages. And I know I'm going overboard. I love Buffalo in this spot column love them. This is like a car payment on the Buffalo bills here. Now you don't go do that at home, I will obviously, Okay. J Mac with a news. Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the Herdline News. So a lot of people. I was reading an article this morning, and you know, I like Derek Carr. I think he's a top twelve quarterback in the league. Some don't. I do. He may be closer to twelve than one, But I like him. He's an adult, he's durable, he's accurate. So people are saying Derek Carr's future with the Raiders could hinge on the final four games. So I've always believe, you know, the media critics like who they like, and everybody's got an agenda. If you want to know how talented you are, or talented anybody is, who wants to hire you on an open market. If Ryan Day of Ohio State was on the open market, he would not get an NFL head coaching offer. He would get some college offers, but he's now getting pushed around by Michigan. If Jim Harball was on the open market, he'd get offered seven NFL jobs and virtually any college job that was open. If Saban retired tomorrow, Hardball called Alabama, he'd get the job. Ryan Day would not. So you want to go back and forth on who's the better coach? How good you are is not defined by what fans say or the critics say. It's defined by you're on the open market. Who's interested? Okay, Derek Carr is going to have a market for all of the critics of Derek Carr. The Giants are going to kick those tires on that car. The Cults are going to kick the tires. Washington's going to Saints are going to Jets, are going to Tampa Will if Brady retires, Carolina Will that's seven teams. Brady had two offers when he left New England, Chargers, Bucks, and the other thing that helps Derek Carr is Jimmy Garoppolo's injury. He has no market. Carson Wentz no longer has a market. Baker Mayfield is viewed as a bridge quarterback. So are the Raiders going to move off Derek Carr. My hunch would be no, It's a total guess. I have no insight, But if you do look at their final four games of the season, it's very interesting. They play New England this week, that's a go either way game. Then they go to the Steelers at home. I love it, but Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh. Never know. Then it's Niners and Chiefs. So right now they have the eighth pick in the NFL Draft. But after that schedule, let's say they lose to New England Steelers, and they sit there at Carr. So let's look at the teams above them. This is where they are right now, and I think they're gonna lose at least two of their final four games. Texans take a quarterback, Seahawks take a quarterback, Bears won't. I do not think the Lions should take a quarterback. They have major issues through the interior of that defense, and I think the defensive tackle for George is going to fall to the Lions lap and they should draft him. Eagles won't take a quarterback. I don't think Arizona will, the Colts will, so, Panthers will, Falcons will, so those teams may have to move up, but the Raiders may not have to move up to get it because Niners is a loss. Chiefs would be a loss at Pittsburgh's go either way. Now. I tend to think they'll beat New England this weekend, but if they don't, you could find the Raiders at that number five spot. And then then the decision on Derek Carr gets very, very interesting because there's no big dead cap hit if he leaves, and you could trade him. He's got an absolutely robust market and get at least get a first in a second. I think I would give up a first in a second for Derek Carr in a heartbeat. This whole league's quarterbacks now. So the Raiders are in an interesting position where they've got really key pieces. They have their left tackle for the future, star running back, star receiver, tight end, slot receiver, pass rusher. They've got some real pieces here, some really nice pieces. So it's an interesting time for the Raiders. I would stay with Derek Carr and fix the defense. But if they lose three of the next four, you know, and knowing the Raiders, they'll be close losses because it feels like every game they're in his close Suddenly at the fifth pick, and I don't I think the Lions would be out of their mind to draft a quarterback that If you're watching the Lions and you think quarterbacks that are issue, you're not watching the games. So culin if you look at Josh McDaniel's history, he has coached two quarterbacks who are going to be on the market, Tom Brady Jimmy Garoppolo both will be eligible. Do you think Josh McDaniels wants a quarterback at five or one of those two veterans to go to a team that, by the way, made the playoffs last year. And I'll just quickly add Patrick Mahomes sat out for a year before becoming awesome. Josh Allen was nothing special for like two years. You think he's gonna draft a quarterback or take someone in free agency, Well, the free agent market Wentz is no longer viable Garoppolo's injury. Josh McDaniels is not tying his career. This is his second chance. He didn't work in Denver, So Josh McDaniels career. Now, if you and I had had a job, a great job in our careers and we get fired the first time, you get one more shot, Josh has to make this work. Derek Carr can win you a lot of games. So if I'm not going Derek Carr, Tom Brady, Sorry, Well a lot of people think that's the case. So here's the thing. So you trade Derek Carr and you get another first and a second, So you have two first two seconds. You already got your skill. People, do you have to worry about that? Well, Josh Jacobs, they did not pick up his fifth year or so he will be a free agent. They're gonna have to pay a lot for him if they want to keep it. Boy, I know running backs are entertainable. Boy, I like him a lot. Now, Now, if you have a second pick, you can take be Jean Robinson. They're running back from Texas. You go okay, So that's a possibility. He's a potential first round very talented. He's super talented, so there's there's options. The offensive line has been a little bit of musical chairs there. Remember they whipped on Leatherwood and a couple of other guys have really struggled. It's all I know is it's an interesting spot for the Raider. Yeah, Brady's not going there if he doesn't have a left tackle. I think the culture a well run organization, but they're not good where they have to be good. The Raiders actually in the key spots. Max Crosby's a dog. Davante Adams is my favorite receiver in the league. I like Derek carr um Um. I think Colton Miller's a very nice left tackle. I don't know what PFF says, but they may trade Waller. There's a lot of speculations. Hunter Renfrod's a top three slot in the league. By the way he's expected to play this week. I don't know if you noticed that color knowledgeable off I arm maybe him and Waller could play, and I think we've seen some line movement only like two points, but still I was a little surprised. Hunter Renfro's good like third and Renfro one of the best nicknames in the league. No, he's really good. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdayson newn Easter nine a Empacific. Hey, what's up, everybody. It's me three time pro bowler LeVar Arrington and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game. What is Up on Game? You asked, along with my fellow pro bowler t J. Hudshman Zatta and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right, Plexico Burrs. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with Me, LeVar Arrington, t J. Hushman Zatta, and Plexico Birds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast from Sunday on Fox all eyes across the globe turned to an epic World Cup Final. Leonel Messi leads juggernaut Argentina into a star studded matchup with reigning champs France and the sensational Killian Bope. It all comes down to this. The World Cup Final coverage begins Sunday at nine am Eastern on Fox and the Fox Sports. Oh, I think I like France. Here's the thing. Everybody likes franc everyone not your boy. I'm on Argentina and this one Messi for the coup. Argentina loves they love their football, they love it. I feel like they're gonna have a home field advantage. Did you see the semifinal of his? Felt like all Argentina so jacked up to talk to Eric Manginie, Fox Sports analysts joining us now live on the show. So, Patriots Raiders, you faced Belichick a few times? You so Josh McDaniels gets to face you know his mentor you think he's nervous? Did you like to do it? I love those games. I thought those were the best games that prepared for because you have intimate knowledge of what they're doing, and then they understand what you're going to do. So we would do things like use code words that guys would have robotic reactions to and instantly think that we were adjusting to something and make it something totally different. And it was like that every single time where you're you're adding layers to the game plan because you you know what hurts and you also understand that they know what hurts you. I thought it was some of the best and most interesting coaching I got to do. So I finally spotted a little hole with brock Purty, and I don't think it's solvable. So the Niners three best offensive players, McCaffrey, Deebo, and Kittle, are all wildly physical and a bit injury prone because of the way they play their offense hits like most teams defenses do. They're very physical. So because Debo's out, I mean, McCaffrey had twenty six carries last night, six And because Purdy's young, they're going to give him a more restrained here. We're gonna give it two or three things to just do. So I thought to myself, this is a little bit of trouble. There's no way at this point in his career. I want McCaffrey with thirty touches in a football game. I mean, I love him, but I did see Eric. I saw that, and I thought that's a little hole. Right now, they're becoming very reliant on a guy that gets banged up pretty easily. Your thoughts, it's it's dangerous because you know you have to support the young quarterback, but you know you're just waiting for the other shooter drop in terms of injury. And how do you balance that out now that they've got a nice situation where they've won the division and and don't have to worry about uh, necessarily moving up spots as much, so they could they could take some of that that pressure off, but they've they've got to continue to protect the young quarterback. I think there's there's some other things that are gonna be really interesting to see Colin as how well he responds to consistent Yeah, and look, he tried to throw an interception last night, and when you look back at his college career, his touchdown interception ratio wasn't that staggering. I mean there were nine, eight, nine ten interceptions per year, So he's got that in him. But he's Look, he's done an amazing job, better than anybody could have ever expected. But pressuring him and playing really tight coverage if you can, is going to be interesting to see how he responds. So I think the most fascinating game. It may not be the best. It could get ugly, but it's twa against Josh Allen. So I've never been here. I've said this, and I got pushed back a month ago, and I said, I know Tua can win at home in seventy eight degree weather. Put him in the cold, put him in Cincinnati, put him in Cleveland, put him in Baltimore, put him in Buffalo, and it's raining or windy with that lack of arm strength. And that's what I want my franchise quarterback to be. I can go on the road with Aaron Rodger's arm and he can win anywhere or Burrow or you know all the guys, Herbert and So I've always wondered about bad weather Tuah and heavy pressure Tah. Well, I've seen him with heavy pressure the last two weeks. It's been tebow bad and now comes pressure not just bad eric, but like three for seventeen stuff. And I said it this week, and I'll get pushback. But if he is unraveled, in this that feels like to me that GM flies back and that coach and they start texting and and it's a Brian Flores situation. While like, guys, this isn't it? Am I hyperbolic on this? What do you think? No? I don't think so at all. The San Francisco game, you can understand because West Coast tough defense. Okay, that that's a one off. When you go to the Chargers game, they're banged up, they're playing a ton of young guys, and he performs the way he does. But when read the comments, did you read the comments after the game, because the Charges linebacker talking about the fact that they were just going to flood the middle of the field because that's where the highest percentage of his throws going. When you look at his heat map, it's it's absolutely true that that's where he's going with the ball, and that's what they were going to take away. They were going to see if he could beat them throwing to the outside. So Tua talks about it and said, we knew exactly what they were doing, and the fact that he couldn't overcome it knowing what they were doing, the fact that people are going to jam up the middle of the field and force them to throw outside. Now, factor in the arm strength and the weather. If he's forced to throw outside, those are the toughest throws to make. There's there's a lot of things as he continues to play where where the league identifies your weaknesses and you have to prove that you can overcome them. And he hasn't he you know in this string. Yeah, so j Mac lives and dies with the Jets. And we talked about this tw I know that we've talked about it a million So I said, this is perfect. I used to give quarterbacks three years. Now it's Thanksgiving. By the second year. You had a lot more snaps. In high school, you had seven on seven camps, college throws like the NFL. Now I'm not giving you three years. Thanksgiving year two. I gotta see something. So here we are post Thanksgiving year two, and it's perfect. He didn't know he was going to start. It's a home game against an average defense. This is perfect. If he goes out, I don't want to hear about pressure late starts. I got to know if this kid has it in him, and this is perfect. He got benched, he got humbled, he hasn't gotten first team reps, and I've said that if he comes out and it's a dog, I've made my decision. Again, do I sound too harsh, No, not at all. It's now this is interesting too, because Detroit can put up a ton of points. Yes, that's one problem. And their defense as long, even though it's an average defense, it's gotten a lot better over the last quarter plus of the season. They've made a ton of strides defensively. And if he goes out, and it's a function of he's okay, he just didn't lose the game for us, that's not going to be good enough. He's got to show that he can help win games. And now you've got the Purty effect. Party comes in and plays the way he does and you're sitting on Zach Wilson and the equation changes to some degree. It changes for Trey Lance too, changes for all these guys because you can't you can't make the excuse that he hasn't been given every single advantage you can be given to the quarterback. Yeah, Detroit is as much fun as you can have for kind of an average team. I love you know what. And I was a doubter on Dan Campbell. But the one thing is Bill Parcels, who I love is one of the smartest guys in football, loves him. So it's like, well, Parcels knows more than I do, and he loves him. I'll tell you, when I watched Detroit play, they don't look poorly coach to me. They play so hard and to your point, they get better. This defense was a disaster in September. If they got a pass rush now. And and Dan Campbell is authentic that he is who he is and he's not trying to to hide from that, and and that resonates. And when he played, he was like you see as a coach, he was he was that tough, he was that demanding on himself. I'm sure he was that demanding on his teammates. And and that resonates as well. I'm I'm happy for him because of what he's done and because he stayed true to to who he is. I think that I think that's a the right approach. Eric Manginie, Fox Sports Saturday Games, Sunday Games, Monday Games. This is so good, so good right now? Coat storyline, oh everywhere? Um go, Let's go back to the Derek car thing. It's interesting when we put the draft thing up with all the teams in their schedule. So if you're the GM of the Raiders, let me ask you, what would you do well? I would listen to what Josh McDaniel says, because we know he's running the show. But yes, I would say, can we get Tom Brady in here? Tom Brady's gonna do more for you next year in Vegas than any guy you draft at five or eight will do. So a one year deal is are we sure just one? It's gonna be forty six? I mean, does Tom Brady look wash to you? Or is it the Tampa Bay offensive line injuries? Remember he's also working with Byron Leftwich. He hates the game plan so much he's like, you know, changing things that day. I know he's eating avocado ice cream. But he'll be forty six. And the guys that I like, the Borough, the Mahomes, the Alan, the Herbert, they're closer to twenty six. That's twenty years. This is not being an accountant. You don't get better with age. That's fair. So are you saying I want to go Bryce Young or roll the dice? Will Levis? I'm keeping Derek Carr and I'm drafting a quarterback. Well, what if Josh McDaniels tells you, I came here to win. I tried to win with car. Look at his numbers. This is one of the worst seasons he's had in five or six years. I don't think it's gonna be fixed in year two. Get me another guy, Get me Tom Brady. What if what if Josh McDaniel says that, Well, then you have to get Tom Brady because he's running the show to make it more than the GM. I'm almost certain of that. All right, driveway dot Com, Where's your Happy Place? By Peru's search for a car Newer, old doesn't matter driveway dot Com

Thanks for listening to The 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. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is a Friday, and there is a lot to talk about live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may be, and however and wherever you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio FS one. One hour from now our blazing five weird week. A lot of big favorites, popular team's bills, a big favorite Cowboys, a favorite on the road. J MCA is joining us. So here's things we do know. The NFC is weaker than the AFC, and it does look like physically through our television set. Philadelphia and the Niners are easily the two best rosters in the NFC coun We agree on that collision course in the question Colin, I hope the audience yesterday we talked we love the Niners. All the perceived sharps, We're all over Seattle. You gotta bet Seattle at home, not us. Yeah, well not at all. So we know the Niners are good, all right, So the whole brock Purty experiment. And you look at his numbers last night, and you you know I watched the game, and you watch the game, and you know he was seventeen to twenty six two hundred and seventeen yards a couple of TV's no interceptions. But it's interesting. Now, let's let's be critical thinkers. Now, how long will brock Purties run last? We know they're really good. We know they in Philadelphia looked like the two teams in the NFC. Dallas is back. Now, they say, once a defensive coordinator gets four games of film on you, they see the wholes, they see the weaknesses. So that's coming up. Here's what I see, and this is sort of what they are. Their three best offensive players are Kittle, Debo, and McCaffrey, and they all get banged up. Debo is currently banged up. So here's the whole I see for the Niners. Now, because they have Brock Purdy, who's gonna They're gonna dive in on two or three things. He trusts they're becoming very Christian McCaffrey reliant. He had twenty six carries last night. At this point in his career, he shouldn't be carrying the ball twenty six times. And George Kittle was the number one ride receiver. So now because Debo's out, they're going heavy on McCaffrey and heavy on Kittle, who I love and you love in the world loves. But these guys can't be heavy usage guys in the regular season. And because Debo is out and Purdy is a young kid, So Gino last night had five different guys with four more catches. Thirteen of the seventeen completions for brock Purty went the three guys one of the McCaffrey. So they're becoming incredibly reliant on Christian and Kittle because of Debo's injuries. Also, the Commanders are coming up a very physical football team. They're gonna, know, take Kittle out. You know Ron Rivera in that defense, really smart Cats. People are gonna start taking things away from brock Purty. So it is interesting. What we love about them is their physicality. But now with Debo out, they're going heavy McCaffrey and heavy Kittle. It's not a criticism. It's their reality. And Brock Purtty is a young quarterback, right Geno has been in this league long enough. He sees the overall field probably a little better. He mixes it up, he becomes a little less reliant on one or two players. But that said, it's a small criticism. It feels like because this looks like the ray Lewis Ravens defense. I mean, they're playing nineteen eighties football. Seattle looked like they were getting pushed around for most three and a half hours. Seattle's offensive line is pretty good. Could not block Bosa, could not block the Niners bowling ball coming down an alley, get out of the way. It feels a little bit like that Tony Dungee Tampa team. It feels like the Ravens. But the difference is with this Niner team is whereas the Chicago Bears of nineteen eighty five offense was pretty simplistic and the Dilfer Super Bowl Ray Lewis champion offense didn't have dynamic players. They're gonna get Debo back. Between Debo and Jennings and Kittle and McCaffrey, it's the perfect balance of this tough intimidating, physical, unblockable defense and this super smart and clever and Fanessey offense. I mean that double fake screen to George Kittle. I guarantee their coaches all over college and pro football steel them at Bank got their notepad out watch in that game. So it's a really interesting combination. Usually the physical teams that are Ravens with ray Lewis that Bears in eighty five kind of a simplistic offense. They play not to lose. These guys got a lot of skill. I do worry that they're becoming very McCaffrey Kittle reliant with a young quarterback end debo out. Kittle talked about it after the game. Whenever Chris McCaffrey touches a football like I think it's gonna be a touchdown. You know, he ran his tail off to night. He was violent, he was physical, he got downhill, made guys miss, and then for him to get a touchdown too, it's awesome, but definitely, you know we're in a groove. When Jimmy got hurt, we said our best players need to step up make bigger plays. Deebo gets hair, best players need to step up even more and make bigger plays, and that's what that's what we're doing, and that's what we're going to continue to try to do. So cross your fingers on the health of McCaffrey and George Kittle, two players I absolutely love. I love Deebo Samuel, but this style of football, they literally punish you on offense like most defenses do. They're is physical on the offensive side as the defensive side. The games for the Niners just look different. Outside of that second half against Kansas City, teams feel like they're waiving the flag by the end of the game. Let's just get into hot tub, Let's get into the ice tub, Let's get into some tub. We're worn out. So I saw this story. I live in Los Angeles. I like when my local teams win because even though I try to be objective, everybody's happier. It's fun to go to a sports bar and it's all Dodger fans or USC fans. It's fun. According to Jovon Buha of the Athletic the Lakers have been considering different trade options. One of the most attractive is moving Westbrook in that forty seven million dollars salary. We've talked about this ad nauseum. But according to Sam Amock, a guy who HI on the show and trust too, it is unlikely now the Lakers are pulling back on trading Westbrook because his recent level of play. Do the Lakers not have an analytics department? He's shooting, by the way, his elevated level of play, He's shooting forty one percent from the floor. That's not good for a guard, and thirty one percent from three. That's terrible for a guard. Because he's not toxic, they don't want to make the move. Listen, man, your game is your game. It's why I predicted Westbrook and Cam Newton would age quickly, in age poorly. Hyper Athleticism in an era of analytics and efficiency and accuracy changes everything. In the seventies, eighties, nineties, thirty two thousand, or quarterback with a big arm who got a complete sixty two sixty three percent minimum, the game has changed the NBA. I grew up in an I love the NBA. I'm like rain Man on seventies NBA. I collected basketball cards, not baseball cards. I had some baseball cards, but I collected basketball NBA cards, and I had so many guys like World B Free and all these crazy wild players. I loved them. Analytically they were awful, but in that era they were great. But analytics are the enemy of Westbrook. Just go to your analytics department, Lakers. The Lakers have been outscored by seventy one points when Westbrook is on the floor. They've outscored their opponents by twenty eight when he's on the bench. It's like like, analytics are the home inspector of real estate. You ever walked into a house. Oh honey, look at the furnishings. Man at kitchen, they put some money into that. I love the back yard. How do you come upstairs? You gotta see that. You gotta see the kid's room. And then the home and spector comes and he takes a flashlight and he goes underneath the house and he goes up on the roof and he goes and looks at the electrical and the plumbing. That's what analytics are to basketball. And he comes back and he said, oh, yeah, you got you need new air conditioning unit. We needed one of those. You got some rot you got If you took a home inspector to Russell Westbrooks game, you'd find a lot of leaks and faulty wiring, and you'd have foundational problems if the Lakers are pulling back on moving him because his recent play. They're still awful when he's on the floor and better when he's not. That's why the Warriors. I see this all the time in sports. That's why the Dodgers keep winning their division. It's why the Warriors keep winning titles. Some of these teams in these sports just are not paying attention. I had a conversation about ten days ago with a recently retired NBA scout who I leaned on for years, really smart guy, and I asked him about the Lakers, and he said, there's just too many family members running the show. He's like, it's an eye roll with some of their moves, Like some of their guys just can't play at all. And everybody in the league knows that except the Lakers. But I mean, folks just go to analytics. They're the home inspector of real estate. They're the truth serum. All jumping and leaping in hustle and what do the numbers say? Are you good when you're on the floor, are you good when you're off the floor. When's the team better? Westbrook's a nice guy, can't shoot, doesn't defend, and just isn't necessarily great with Lebron James. Remember Alex Caruso for the Lakers. Still can't figure out why they let him go. I mean most people, I mean, I know what they were trying to do. But in the end, Alex Caruso always felt like when he was on the floor with Lebron, Lebron liked him. Now there's a report they want to bring Kyle Kuzma back. Why'd you let him go? I mean, this story is like you want to you want to know how far the Lakers are behind the Warriors. Just forget the just forget the players, but just analytics, brainpower. I mean, this is I just don't get it, all right, People going crazy last night? Fans just eight these roughing the passer penalties, Oh my god, plus blazing five forty five minutes from al. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. So we talked about this yesterday. The NFL is a television show. The league just like the NBA and baseball, but especially the NBA and the NFL make far more money off the television dollars than they do, butts in seats didn't used to be that way in the sixties and seventies. It is today. The home viewer is worth more than the in stadium viewer because TV networks can take that home viewer, and when you accumulate all those home viewers, higher incomes sell them to advertisers at the economy is good. I mean the NFL is making billions at five different networks or four different networks. Now they're making it with Amazon. Only thirteen quarterbacks have started every game, a third of the league. The quality of football, we also know, deteriorates rapidly when you go to backups Kyler Murray to Colt McCoy. I think we've all seen enough of Drew Locke for one lifetime. It's a TV show. I know the Nick Bosa roughing the passer penalty drives you crazy, But think about insurance. All of you have paid insurance. I've been paying insurance. I'm in my mid fifties, late fifties now, I've been paying it for forty years. I've used it twice, but it protects me. That's why I pay for it and I almost never use it, But I get why we have it. It's the same reason sometimes I overparent. My kids want to do this. My kids want to do that. Dad, You're so strict. It's to protect you when you're twenty five years old, twenty three years old, out of the house. You do what you want. But I'm not let you jumping out of a helicopter yet. This is all about protecting the quality of football. They're gonna overparent. Yeah, this is what you do. We know in this league. But Holmes and Josh Allen play. You literally think about it on Tuesday for a Sunday game. Oh my god, I can't wait if Josh Johnson would have played against Geno Smith last night. I do this for a living and it would have been work to get me to a TV. Even Brock pretty a backup made it watchable. So the league is doing this for a reason. And Nick Bosa talked about it after high landed on him. Is I just kind of I don't know. I thought he's still had the ball, so I was kind of thinking thinking about, well, I was going to the ground whether you had the ball or not, And I forgot to roll off. I'm usually better at doing that, so is good call. I guess for the record, I like Micah Parsons, that is your MVP. That guy is unblockable. And his brother's pretty good too, and the dad was pretty good. But Nick Bosa and that defense. Listen, quarterbacks are getting smaller, quarterbacks are running more. This is a television show. You gotta protect him, you got overparent. I get it, and it drives me nuts too. J Mack with the News. No, no, this is the herd Line News protecting Gino Smith. I like that. You want to you want to protect that franchise quarterback you got Yet he kind of protections Gino. Big strong, complete passes, keeps the game moving. I mean say, I mean, I'm not a huge Geno Smith ban, but I mean, if you go look at his numbers last night, he's an adult. I had a dropped interception that should have been a pick six. Awful flag. Anyways, all right, Colin, The big NFL story here breaking in the last hour. As I was driving to work here and my phone just starts blowing up. Mike White will not be able to play Heartbreak this weekend for the New York Jets. The immortal Mike White, who has been a tremendous story the last few weeks, not cleared for contact by doctors, unable to go to to a rib injury. Now they're not saying much more. Colin, he was at practice all week, but he's not cleared for contact. I don't know what happened inside Mike White's body. Clearly the Jets aren't gonna say. And that's fine, but you know what that means if they started QB QB one for the Jets on Sunday against the Lions in a must win if they want to get in the playoffs. Is Zach Wilson. So let me be glass half full. Co Yes, you did draft him too. You gotta figure out if he's the guy. It's the game of the season. There's real pressure, and he has been humbled. This is a great moment for you. Your chances of winning maybe better with Mike White, but this is the biggest Jets game in about four years. You gotta beat Detroit at home, and you know what, it's real pressure and the papers and the media and the talk shows in New York are all over it. Okay, kid, okay, cool, good looking kid, Your ball win the game because we know the defense is good enough, we know the corners good enough, we know the young receivers are good enough. The only question with that team is Zach, are you good enough? So let's not give him any layouts. He is now rushed into starting duty. Young Mahomes would have won it. Young Borrow would have won it. This is why this is the moment. I don't want him to get a layout. I want him to be told on Thursday or Friday morning, dude, you gotta play what Yeah, you win Sunday go Weather's bad, gotta win huge pressure in New York. This is why you drafted him second and by this point in year two, if he can't take that football and beat the Lions defense at home, you got the wrong guy and draft another quarterback. So there's a lot to say on this. You know, I'm surprised you didn't want to dedicate the open of the show to it, um, But Colin, think about this, if if the Jets psychologically have to be wondering, my gosh, we benched this guy. But we didn't bench him. We made him inactive for three weeks. He's been on the head on the bench with a hoodie on during this during games, I know bouncing back from that immediately, Well, you know what that Baker Mayfield got a phone call, fly to La play what. I don't know the play, but I play. That's why you get paid the big Bob. Zach Wilson wishes he could face the Raiders defense this week. They're okay, They're not great, Aidan Hutchinson's gonna be. It's a lot of nonsense on the back end. If I'm talking to Zach Wilson, if he's watching right now, Zach, forget about being drafted number two, forget about big picture redemption, forget that crap Detroit Lions. That's it focused on this week. I don't care what happens win this game. I don't care if you're nine for twenty. I've never worked with anybody in my life who cares more deeply about a team. I find it so charming. You love this team, it drives you crazy when they I love my family. Yeah, I love my podcast. The Jets are up there like they're my team. I root for them. This is a winnable game for Zach Wilson. I don't focus on the other stuff. And by the way, no floaters in the middle of the field, tuck and run, you know, seriously, by the way, Joe Flacco, they just announced his number two. So Mike White not even active this week? All right? We got through that. Next up justin fields. He could join some elite company Sunday. He's only nine five rushing yards away from being hitting the one thousand yard mark this season. We've become the third quarterback to him a thousand in NFL history. The other two, Vic and Lamar off of bye week, Bears are healthy. Are we gonna see this in the Blazing five? Yes, we are, all right. I think the Bears are. When you get these young teams and you give them some extra time, there's a lot of interesting bets I have this week. Many of them teams coming off of a bye late in the year, teams get made up. They're all a little healthier. I haven't seen the data on that to back it up, but I am curious. Next week Eagles Cowboys. I just saw the show before us talking about next week's gave Eagles got like a full segment and Cowboy fans have the audacity to think ahead to anybody after Houston, Well, Cowboy fans looking at Philadelphia. Have you watched the Jags in the last month. That offense is tearing it up. I was gonna put that in the Blazing five and I started looking at all the stuff. There's some wonky stuff happening. I got talked out of it. Yeah, by smart people said no, no, no, no, stay away from it. If you're a Cowboy fan, stay away from that game. So justin Field, I can't wait to watch that game. You think he can beat the Eagles or you could just have some success backdoor cover. I don't think they're gonna beat the Eagles. The lines nine that is, it's a big number on them, especially when the Cowboys are next week and you're off a blowout win. So even if you're up thirty four twenty fourth quarter fields against the preventee goes down, the field gets a touchdown, and you get the backdoor covers a lot of points in there. A lot. Final story, Dolphins headic to Buffalo to take on the Bills. This is a monster game. Saturday Night Colin last Sunday. Obviously they got some flak for bringing heaters to Los Angeles like the soft Floridians they are. But Tomorrow night in Buffalo. It's expected to be in the maybe twenties. They're saying this could be the coldest football game of the year. I saw that Stuffy could not wait. Yeah, I cannot wait to watch chance of snow in Buffalo. Mike McDaniel obviously having fun at practice. He was seen wearing a shirt that said, I wish it were colder. He's dancing around. Look at him, he's stru We don't have video, but he's strutting around. M daniel's really trying to instill confidence in this team. You know they have to be wrecked. Have you ever not bet a game because you just want to enjoy it? No? I enjoy money winning, So I this one. I am so interested in the storylines because Buffalo now is starting to run the football, starting to get a little healthier. Are we going to get back to like early season in September Buffalo because they had a stretch so did San Francisco in October November where the Niners and the Bills were falling apart. And now they're getting a little healthier in key spots. You go to the injury report, you Buffalo could be back to September Buffalo. Buffalo just saw a great defense last week. Couldn't they play? Oh the Jets, that's right, And now they stepped down to face the Miami Dolphins, who really got shredded by Justin Herbert. Listen, I know there's concern about Josh Allen's elbow. He had struggled. I just want to bring up two quick games at night in Buffalo. The Tennessee Monday Night bloodbath earlier this season, I think it was forty five seven or something like that, and the Patriot It's playoff game in Buffalo at night last year. This place is going to be crazy Saturday night in Buffalo. You know the fans are gonna be lubricated all Saturday drinking, partying in the parking lot. This could be a beat down for the Ages. And I know I'm going overboard. I love Buffalo in this spot column love them. This is like a car payment on the Buffalo bills here. Now you don't go do that at home, I will obviously, Okay. J Mac with a news. Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the Herdline News. So a lot of people. I was reading an article this morning, and you know, I like Derek Carr. I think he's a top twelve quarterback in the league. Some don't. I do. He may be closer to twelve than one, But I like him. He's an adult, he's durable, he's accurate. So people are saying Derek Carr's future with the Raiders could hinge on the final four games. So I've always believe, you know, the media critics like who they like, and everybody's got an agenda. If you want to know how talented you are, or talented anybody is, who wants to hire you on an open market. If Ryan Day of Ohio State was on the open market, he would not get an NFL head coaching offer. He would get some college offers, but he's now getting pushed around by Michigan. If Jim Harball was on the open market, he'd get offered seven NFL jobs and virtually any college job that was open. If Saban retired tomorrow, Hardball called Alabama, he'd get the job. Ryan Day would not. So you want to go back and forth on who's the better coach? How good you are is not defined by what fans say or the critics say. It's defined by you're on the open market. Who's interested? Okay, Derek Carr is going to have a market for all of the critics of Derek Carr. The Giants are going to kick those tires on that car. The Cults are going to kick the tires. Washington's going to Saints are going to Jets, are going to Tampa Will if Brady retires, Carolina Will that's seven teams. Brady had two offers when he left New England, Chargers, Bucks, and the other thing that helps Derek Carr is Jimmy Garoppolo's injury. He has no market. Carson Wentz no longer has a market. Baker Mayfield is viewed as a bridge quarterback. So are the Raiders going to move off Derek Carr. My hunch would be no, It's a total guess. I have no insight, But if you do look at their final four games of the season, it's very interesting. They play New England this week, that's a go either way game. Then they go to the Steelers at home. I love it, but Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh. Never know. Then it's Niners and Chiefs. So right now they have the eighth pick in the NFL Draft. But after that schedule, let's say they lose to New England Steelers, and they sit there at Carr. So let's look at the teams above them. This is where they are right now, and I think they're gonna lose at least two of their final four games. Texans take a quarterback, Seahawks take a quarterback, Bears won't. I do not think the Lions should take a quarterback. They have major issues through the interior of that defense, and I think the defensive tackle for George is going to fall to the Lions lap and they should draft him. Eagles won't take a quarterback. I don't think Arizona will, the Colts will, so, Panthers will, Falcons will, so those teams may have to move up, but the Raiders may not have to move up to get it because Niners is a loss. Chiefs would be a loss at Pittsburgh's go either way. Now. I tend to think they'll beat New England this weekend, but if they don't, you could find the Raiders at that number five spot. And then then the decision on Derek Carr gets very, very interesting because there's no big dead cap hit if he leaves, and you could trade him. He's got an absolutely robust market and get at least get a first in a second. I think I would give up a first in a second for Derek Carr in a heartbeat. This whole league's quarterbacks now. So the Raiders are in an interesting position where they've got really key pieces. They have their left tackle for the future, star running back, star receiver, tight end, slot receiver, pass rusher. They've got some real pieces here, some really nice pieces. So it's an interesting time for the Raiders. I would stay with Derek Carr and fix the defense. But if they lose three of the next four, you know, and knowing the Raiders, they'll be close losses because it feels like every game they're in his close Suddenly at the fifth pick, and I don't I think the Lions would be out of their mind to draft a quarterback that If you're watching the Lions and you think quarterbacks that are issue, you're not watching the games. So culin if you look at Josh McDaniel's history, he has coached two quarterbacks who are going to be on the market, Tom Brady Jimmy Garoppolo both will be eligible. Do you think Josh McDaniels wants a quarterback at five or one of those two veterans to go to a team that, by the way, made the playoffs last year. And I'll just quickly add Patrick Mahomes sat out for a year before becoming awesome. Josh Allen was nothing special for like two years. You think he's gonna draft a quarterback or take someone in free agency, Well, the free agent market Wentz is no longer viable Garoppolo's injury. Josh McDaniels is not tying his career. This is his second chance. He didn't work in Denver, So Josh McDaniels career. Now, if you and I had had a job, a great job in our careers and we get fired the first time, you get one more shot, Josh has to make this work. Derek Carr can win you a lot of games. So if I'm not going Derek Carr, Tom Brady, Sorry, Well a lot of people think that's the case. So here's the thing. So you trade Derek Carr and you get another first and a second, So you have two first two seconds. You already got your skill. People, do you have to worry about that? Well, Josh Jacobs, they did not pick up his fifth year or so he will be a free agent. They're gonna have to pay a lot for him if they want to keep it. Boy, I know running backs are entertainable. Boy, I like him a lot. Now, Now, if you have a second pick, you can take be Jean Robinson. They're running back from Texas. You go okay, So that's a possibility. He's a potential first round very talented. He's super talented, so there's there's options. The offensive line has been a little bit of musical chairs there. Remember they whipped on Leatherwood and a couple of other guys have really struggled. It's all I know is it's an interesting spot for the Raider. Yeah, Brady's not going there if he doesn't have a left tackle. I think the culture a well run organization, but they're not good where they have to be good. The Raiders actually in the key spots. Max Crosby's a dog. Davante Adams is my favorite receiver in the league. I like Derek carr um Um. I think Colton Miller's a very nice left tackle. I don't know what PFF says, but they may trade Waller. There's a lot of speculations. Hunter Renfrod's a top three slot in the league. By the way he's expected to play this week. I don't know if you noticed that color knowledgeable off I arm maybe him and Waller could play, and I think we've seen some line movement only like two points, but still I was a little surprised. Hunter Renfro's good like third and Renfro one of the best nicknames in the league. No, he's really good. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdayson newn Easter nine a Empacific. Hey, what's up, everybody. It's me three time pro bowler LeVar Arrington and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game. What is Up on Game? You asked, along with my fellow pro bowler t J. Hudshman Zatta and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right, Plexico Burrs. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with Me, LeVar Arrington, t J. Hushman Zatta, and Plexico Birds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast from Sunday on Fox all eyes across the globe turned to an epic World Cup Final. Leonel Messi leads juggernaut Argentina into a star studded matchup with reigning champs France and the sensational Killian Bope. It all comes down to this. The World Cup Final coverage begins Sunday at nine am Eastern on Fox and the Fox Sports. Oh, I think I like France. Here's the thing. Everybody likes franc everyone not your boy. I'm on Argentina and this one Messi for the coup. Argentina loves they love their football, they love it. I feel like they're gonna have a home field advantage. Did you see the semifinal of his? Felt like all Argentina so jacked up to talk to Eric Manginie, Fox Sports analysts joining us now live on the show. So, Patriots Raiders, you faced Belichick a few times? You so Josh McDaniels gets to face you know his mentor you think he's nervous? Did you like to do it? I love those games. I thought those were the best games that prepared for because you have intimate knowledge of what they're doing, and then they understand what you're going to do. So we would do things like use code words that guys would have robotic reactions to and instantly think that we were adjusting to something and make it something totally different. And it was like that every single time where you're you're adding layers to the game plan because you you know what hurts and you also understand that they know what hurts you. I thought it was some of the best and most interesting coaching I got to do. So I finally spotted a little hole with brock Purty, and I don't think it's solvable. So the Niners three best offensive players, McCaffrey, Deebo, and Kittle, are all wildly physical and a bit injury prone because of the way they play their offense hits like most teams defenses do. They're very physical. So because Debo's out, I mean, McCaffrey had twenty six carries last night, six And because Purdy's young, they're going to give him a more restrained here. We're gonna give it two or three things to just do. So I thought to myself, this is a little bit of trouble. There's no way at this point in his career. I want McCaffrey with thirty touches in a football game. I mean, I love him, but I did see Eric. I saw that, and I thought that's a little hole. Right now, they're becoming very reliant on a guy that gets banged up pretty easily. Your thoughts, it's it's dangerous because you know you have to support the young quarterback, but you know you're just waiting for the other shooter drop in terms of injury. And how do you balance that out now that they've got a nice situation where they've won the division and and don't have to worry about uh, necessarily moving up spots as much, so they could they could take some of that that pressure off, but they've they've got to continue to protect the young quarterback. I think there's there's some other things that are gonna be really interesting to see Colin as how well he responds to consistent Yeah, and look, he tried to throw an interception last night, and when you look back at his college career, his touchdown interception ratio wasn't that staggering. I mean there were nine, eight, nine ten interceptions per year, So he's got that in him. But he's Look, he's done an amazing job, better than anybody could have ever expected. But pressuring him and playing really tight coverage if you can, is going to be interesting to see how he responds. So I think the most fascinating game. It may not be the best. It could get ugly, but it's twa against Josh Allen. So I've never been here. I've said this, and I got pushed back a month ago, and I said, I know Tua can win at home in seventy eight degree weather. Put him in the cold, put him in Cincinnati, put him in Cleveland, put him in Baltimore, put him in Buffalo, and it's raining or windy with that lack of arm strength. And that's what I want my franchise quarterback to be. I can go on the road with Aaron Rodger's arm and he can win anywhere or Burrow or you know all the guys, Herbert and So I've always wondered about bad weather Tuah and heavy pressure Tah. Well, I've seen him with heavy pressure the last two weeks. It's been tebow bad and now comes pressure not just bad eric, but like three for seventeen stuff. And I said it this week, and I'll get pushback. But if he is unraveled, in this that feels like to me that GM flies back and that coach and they start texting and and it's a Brian Flores situation. While like, guys, this isn't it? Am I hyperbolic on this? What do you think? No? I don't think so at all. The San Francisco game, you can understand because West Coast tough defense. Okay, that that's a one off. When you go to the Chargers game, they're banged up, they're playing a ton of young guys, and he performs the way he does. But when read the comments, did you read the comments after the game, because the Charges linebacker talking about the fact that they were just going to flood the middle of the field because that's where the highest percentage of his throws going. When you look at his heat map, it's it's absolutely true that that's where he's going with the ball, and that's what they were going to take away. They were going to see if he could beat them throwing to the outside. So Tua talks about it and said, we knew exactly what they were doing, and the fact that he couldn't overcome it knowing what they were doing, the fact that people are going to jam up the middle of the field and force them to throw outside. Now, factor in the arm strength and the weather. If he's forced to throw outside, those are the toughest throws to make. There's there's a lot of things as he continues to play where where the league identifies your weaknesses and you have to prove that you can overcome them. And he hasn't he you know in this string. Yeah, so j Mac lives and dies with the Jets. And we talked about this tw I know that we've talked about it a million So I said, this is perfect. I used to give quarterbacks three years. Now it's Thanksgiving. By the second year. You had a lot more snaps. In high school, you had seven on seven camps, college throws like the NFL. Now I'm not giving you three years. Thanksgiving year two. I gotta see something. So here we are post Thanksgiving year two, and it's perfect. He didn't know he was going to start. It's a home game against an average defense. This is perfect. If he goes out, I don't want to hear about pressure late starts. I got to know if this kid has it in him, and this is perfect. He got benched, he got humbled, he hasn't gotten first team reps, and I've said that if he comes out and it's a dog, I've made my decision. Again, do I sound too harsh, No, not at all. It's now this is interesting too, because Detroit can put up a ton of points. Yes, that's one problem. And their defense as long, even though it's an average defense, it's gotten a lot better over the last quarter plus of the season. They've made a ton of strides defensively. And if he goes out, and it's a function of he's okay, he just didn't lose the game for us, that's not going to be good enough. He's got to show that he can help win games. And now you've got the Purty effect. Party comes in and plays the way he does and you're sitting on Zach Wilson and the equation changes to some degree. It changes for Trey Lance too, changes for all these guys because you can't you can't make the excuse that he hasn't been given every single advantage you can be given to the quarterback. Yeah, Detroit is as much fun as you can have for kind of an average team. I love you know what. And I was a doubter on Dan Campbell. But the one thing is Bill Parcels, who I love is one of the smartest guys in football, loves him. So it's like, well, Parcels knows more than I do, and he loves him. I'll tell you, when I watched Detroit play, they don't look poorly coach to me. They play so hard and to your point, they get better. This defense was a disaster in September. If they got a pass rush now. And and Dan Campbell is authentic that he is who he is and he's not trying to to hide from that, and and that resonates. And when he played, he was like you see as a coach, he was he was that tough, he was that demanding on himself. I'm sure he was that demanding on his teammates. And and that resonates as well. I'm I'm happy for him because of what he's done and because he stayed true to to who he is. I think that I think that's a the right approach. Eric Manginie, Fox Sports Saturday Games, Sunday Games, Monday Games. This is so good, so good right now? Coat storyline, oh everywhere? Um go, Let's go back to the Derek car thing. It's interesting when we put the draft thing up with all the teams in their schedule. So if you're the GM of the Raiders, let me ask you, what would you do well? I would listen to what Josh McDaniel says, because we know he's running the show. But yes, I would say, can we get Tom Brady in here? Tom Brady's gonna do more for you next year in Vegas than any guy you draft at five or eight will do. So a one year deal is are we sure just one? It's gonna be forty six? I mean, does Tom Brady look wash to you? Or is it the Tampa Bay offensive line injuries? Remember he's also working with Byron Leftwich. He hates the game plan so much he's like, you know, changing things that day. I know he's eating avocado ice cream. But he'll be forty six. And the guys that I like, the Borough, the Mahomes, the Alan, the Herbert, they're closer to twenty six. That's twenty years. This is not being an accountant. You don't get better with age. That's fair. So are you saying I want to go Bryce Young or roll the dice? Will Levis? I'm keeping Derek Carr and I'm drafting a quarterback. Well, what if Josh McDaniels tells you, I came here to win. I tried to win with car. Look at his numbers. This is one of the worst seasons he's had in five or six years. I don't think it's gonna be fixed in year two. Get me another guy, Get me Tom Brady. What if what if Josh McDaniel says that, Well, then you have to get Tom Brady because he's running the show to make it more than the GM. I'm almost certain of that. All right, driveway dot Com, Where's your Happy Place? By Peru's search for a car Newer, old doesn't matter driveway dot Com