Cowboys-49ers Reaction- Brock Purdy outduels Dak Prescott, Jets-Broncos - Colin Cowherd NFL
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00:00 Denver would feel completely different than his five-year contract kicking in next year.
00:04 Right?
00:04 Yeah.
00:05 So if you consider contract, age, mobility, uh, accuracy, talent, and I said today,
00:11 Brock Purdy or Dak Prescott, it's not even close.
00:14 I would take Brock Purdy.
00:15 It's not even close.
00:16 Dak now is not mobile.
00:19 He's had too many lower extremity injuries.
00:21 Dak's a pocket thrower, but he was never a great pocket passer like Russell Wilson.
00:26 Although Russell throws a prettier ball, Russell needs mobility to be Russell Wilson.
00:31 A big part of Dak was that he could move.
00:34 He no longer moves.
00:36 So I get a below average pocket thrower who's super expensive.
00:40 Brock Purdy makes way too many good throws to be a system guy.
00:45 Dude hitting things down the middle tonight.
00:47 And it sounds crazy, but you have to consider what you pay players.
00:51 Once you pay guys, Burrow, Mahomes, Herbert, Allen, Lamar.
00:56 Well, those are special talents.
00:58 Dak's got a special contract.
01:01 He's an average pocket guy.
01:02 Look at that lineup for the Niners.
01:06 If you, if, if for instance, John, if Brock made what Dak made, you couldn't have Fred
01:10 Warner, couldn't, you couldn't have been able to get Christian McCaffrey.
01:14 You probably would have to get rid of one of your D lineman.
01:18 It's not quite the same team, right?
01:21 It's a good team.
01:21 It's not quite this team.
01:23 Well, when the 49ers made the trade for Trey Lance, you know, the logic of trying to swing
01:29 for the fences and get a star was in the right place, but a driving force was they wanted
01:33 that rookie quarterback contract.
01:36 And my big thing is the rookie quarterback contract.
01:40 Isn't that relevant when the guy can't play part of what made Dak such a good draft choice
01:45 back in the day was he was, he was a solid player, right?
01:48 Her cousins back in the day.
01:50 And then obviously we've seen in recent memory, some of the star quarterbacks drafted Brock
01:54 Purdy one.
01:56 He's really good.
01:57 I mean, you just watch, if you just watch NFL football, like that guy's really good.
02:01 John Kyle Shanahan didn't make Blaine Gabbert or Trey Lance great players.
02:07 Not all quarterbacks work with Kyle, right?
02:10 Like Brock is Brock's really good.
02:12 Well listen, and the other thing about Brock, you just hit on with Dak Prescott.
02:16 There were a couple of plays a night.
02:18 It's like Dak forgot that Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner are the best linebacking duo in
02:24 the league.
02:25 Their play speed is elite for their position.
02:27 And he rolled out a couple of times.
02:29 It's like, Dak, what are you doing?
02:31 You know, get rid of the ball.
02:33 If you're not going to be the athlete that you once were after the ankle injury, you
02:37 can't scramble away from these guys.
02:39 And then Purdy, the underrated part about his game.
02:42 Because I remember, I listen, I'd be lying if I said I watched that much Iowa state football,
02:47 but the one thing that was immediate when he started playing and the biggest difference
02:50 between him and Jimmy, and they obviously won a ton of games with Jimmy, was Jimmy's
02:54 lack of mobility after the ACL injury and his just ability to play make outside of the
03:00 pocket.
03:01 When you watch Purdy scramble, you're confident that something good is going to happen.
03:05 How about the touch that he has on the move when you're playing with this much talent?
03:09 Everyone's like, well, he's playing with a lot of talent.
03:10 We ain't got to get him the ball.
03:11 How many players have we've seen play with other good players?
03:15 Fitzgerald can tell you play with a million quarterbacks, couldn't get him the rock over
03:18 the year.
03:19 This guy, you just watch him.
03:21 Obviously he's a little smaller, but listen, I mean, his this fucking kid can play.
03:27 I mean, bottom line.
03:28 Yeah, I mean, and again, it's Mark Brunel was a late pick Brady, Kurt Warner, Romo.
03:33 It's not shocking.
03:34 We've seen guys undrafted and I think there's a ceiling, but it's not a Mac Jones ceiling.
03:40 He moves really well and they don't ask him to throw a ton of deep balls.
03:45 I mean, they just don't this.
03:48 You know, it's just it's funny like Dax rookie year in the first couple of years, you know,
03:53 he got an MVP voter to his first year in the league and so much of that was you weren't
03:58 paying DAC anything.
04:00 So they had the old line.
04:01 They had Zeke.
04:02 It was an all-star team.
04:03 Even their defense.
04:04 I went and looked it up the other day was top five in the league Dallas right now because
04:08 once you pay that quarterback, I mean Kansas City's roster is not great Cincinnati.
04:13 There's holes in that thing.
04:15 Everybody's roster has a hole except San Francisco.
04:18 I mean, well, I think I think also when you take a quarterback high, you like a specific
04:25 guy and you get aggressive from Josh Allen to my homes to when the Texans drafted to
04:29 Sean Watson to Baker Mayfield, like you like that guy to me when you get a guy in the third,
04:35 fourth and beyond there's an element of luck right at quarterback because teams are passing
04:40 on the guy.
04:41 It's easy to look back.
04:42 God, look how good pretty is but at the time, I mean he was one spot away from being an
04:46 undrafted free agent, but you cannot value and I think it's pretty clear guys like him
04:52 when you and I have talked about it when you go to Alabama or Georgia, you have such an
04:57 advantage on a weekly basis, right?
05:00 You really do help.
05:01 I will probably talk about Caleb a little bit later.
05:03 I think he's benefiting a lot early.
05:05 Scouts are going to benefit watching him play.
05:07 It's not as easy this year like he has to make shit happen.
05:10 His team's not has a huge advantage.
05:12 Well pretty his entire career.
05:14 We're going into games either as underdogs or having less talent than their opponents.
05:19 You have to learn how to play.
05:20 So now you watch him.
05:22 He clearly knows how to play and now he has the talent around him and it's bombs away.
05:26 I mean they feel I mean clearly like one of the better teams we've seen in terms of the
05:31 way they start and just how the level in which they're playing in recent memory in the NFL.
05:36 Oh, I think honestly again, if you had even a good quarterback Kirk Cousins, you could
05:43 not have the same roster.
05:44 You would not get both of those linebackers.
05:47 You know you you you wouldn't you would not have been able to acquire Christian McCaffrey.
05:51 Well, you take Christian McCaffrey and Fred Warner off this team.
05:55 It's not the same team.
05:57 That's the best linebacker in the game and the best running back right now and what they
06:00 can you know, it's the other thing is when I mean we've all had a bunch of bosses in
06:06 our life, but when you're in sports basketball is and hockey or really so fast, but in football
06:15 you huddle football plays are choreographed so you can sit on that bench as a football
06:21 player right baseball is very individual.
06:23 If a guy is hot on the mound, there's not a lot you could do.
06:26 Yeah, I get basketballs moving a thousand miles an hour and football, you know, when
06:31 the other coach is better than your coach like Dallas players are watching this Rubik's
06:37 Cube of an office, you know, they're going shit.
06:41 We're getting work tonight, right?
06:43 Like a player would know that well think about this a couple years ago.
06:46 They led the league in penalties when the 49ers beat him two years ago at Dallas.
06:51 They had a ton of penalties.
06:53 There was an undisciplined nature watching them play tonight.
06:56 There were a couple late hits out of bounds and I understand I always struggle like in
07:01 a physical matchup like this.
07:03 You want guys to kind of be on edge, but there's also the 15 yards when you thought the game
07:08 was going to be, you know, in somewhat doubt early.
07:11 It was going to be a tight game really really matter and you just watch Dallas, you know,
07:15 they're just they're not buttoned up and I think you always talk about this with defensive
07:19 coaches.
07:20 They just don't understand the quarterback.
07:21 They don't value certain things on offense.
07:24 One thing having had a front row seat for Kyle that really makes him special is how
07:27 much he values defense.
07:29 Think about they paid they drafted Nick Bosa number two.
07:31 They paid him a lot this year.
07:33 They signed Hargrave as a free agent immediately the moment free agency open last year.
07:38 They signed Charverius Ward at corner.
07:40 They've paid multiple linebackers.
07:42 I think his favorite player on the defense is telling Noah who funga from USC.
07:46 I mean, he loves that guy.
07:47 He really really cares about that side of the ball while being I don't know the best
07:53 play caller in the league.
07:54 Yeah, you know, it's it's funny too.
07:58 There's an Alpha with San Francisco.
08:00 I was thinking about this tonight, you know, the old Cowboy teams the Aikman Jimmy Johnson,
08:04 even the coach had a personality.
08:06 They were big and really good and big games that Cowboy team had personality.
08:12 They had Alpha it was Irvin.
08:13 It was Jimmy.
08:14 It was Aikman some of it unspoken.
08:15 Some of it very spoken Michael Irvin this Cowboy team to me is kind of kind of dull
08:21 a Mike Mike McCarthy's a little dull.
08:25 There's not a lot of Alpha.
08:26 I mean if I took the last 10 big games, they played in they probably won three of them.
08:32 I know I just feel like what the great Cowboy teams in my memory were better in big games.
08:40 I feel this Cowboy team we always kind of roll our eyes at Kirk Cousins because he shrinks
08:46 this Cowboy team shrinks.
08:47 They shrink against the Eagles.
08:49 They shrink against the Niners.
08:50 I mean we have to be honest about this is that whereas the Buffalo Bills can be inconsistent.
08:56 I mean, they're a real Avalanche team, but when they're in the big games against Miami
09:01 they show now they'll go to London and dog it or they'll they'll play a team like twice
09:05 a year and you're like what is happening to Buffalo.
09:08 But in the moment the biggest games the bills bring their best fight.
09:13 I think Dallas we have to we have to acknowledge this they shrink in big games a lot.
09:19 Why I think you know, I was thinking about this watching the Patriots today.
09:22 We talk a lot about culture, you know in football and usually the coach gets all the credit
09:27 for setting the culture.
09:28 It's really the players and you got rid of Tom Brady and it kind of unraveled but look
09:33 I mean you talk to Edelman he comes through Fox Edelman Gronk McCordy all those guys are
09:38 gone.
09:39 So when you look at the 49ers they are full on both sides of the ball.
09:43 They're all pro level players are high character grinder tough guys, right?
09:47 You think about Buffalo who are their high level guys Josh Allen Poyer Milano, right?
09:53 They're just high level guys.
09:55 So the Chiefs are great example like this modern-day Brady Belichick guy super high
10:00 level very serious all about football you watch Dallas.
10:04 Listen, I appreciate Jerry taking some big swings in the draft, but you get some of these
10:08 character guys and then you laugh about it in your 7 million interviews every other week.
10:12 Like it's like that that does unravel from the inside and listen Dax clearly a good guy
10:18 high level guy, but is he good enough to kind of be the tone setter for the locker room
10:22 clearly not.
10:23 No, I think Mike is probably the tone setter for the locker room.
10:28 Yeah, and I think we had kind of the circle back to Dak is that I'm not I'm not blaming
10:34 Dak for it.
10:35 But when Jerry talks about, you know, these long-term extensions, it's like Jerry long-term
10:41 extensions.
10:42 That's what you did for Brady or Patrick Mahomes.
10:45 They keep reworking the deal Lamar Josh Allen deck is not a long-term extension guy.
10:52 He is no longer he's no longer a mobile quarterback.
10:57 He is Greg Greg Cosell said this on my show about a month ago and it really I thought
11:00 was one of the eye-opening bites.
11:02 He comes on every Thursday and he said the tape doesn't lie.
11:06 Dak Dak can't move.
11:07 Well, we never thought what if Russell Wilson couldn't move?
11:12 I mean seriously, what if what if I mean you start looking on I love Josh Allen, but the
11:18 part where he moves is what makes him big guy with a cannon to all holy hell in the
11:25 red zone, you can't stop him like Dak is an average pocket guy who's now expensive and
11:31 doesn't move.
11:32 Well, here's the problem for the Cowboys Dak always hung his hat on like I'm the best of
11:37 the second-tier guys, right?
11:39 I'm not the superstar, but I'm the best I watch the Chiefs Minnesota game cuz is a better
11:43 player tonight.
11:44 Clear purdy is a better player.
11:46 So if you're no longer that in the way these contracts work right or wrong, it just it
11:50 is what it is.
11:51 That's making 40 million dollars a year.
11:53 So the contract extension listen, it's just football inflation.
11:57 He's going to want 45 million dollars a year.
11:59 Like you said, sorry can't pay it.
12:00 The problem is what the hell do you do right?
12:03 Because they're still going to be a 1011 win team.
12:06 So do you just hope you can draft a guy?
12:08 Do you let him walk?
12:10 Trey Lance isn't even I mean, he's not even in the same universe as that Cooper Rush.
12:15 They're kind of in a weird spot.
12:16 So in here's that what the Dak defenders say.
12:19 Well, he's winning a lot of games.
12:20 We'll timeout.
12:21 Aren't you analytic guys?
12:23 The one that always tell me that winning is not a quarterback stat, right?
12:28 You can't have it both ways.
12:30 You can't lecture me on winnings not a quarterback stat because if you look at Dax wins, it's
12:34 a lot of wins over Washington over the Giants over crappy NFC teams.
12:41 But again, let's go back to the big games.
12:42 They're not a very good big game team.
12:44 So you can't have it both way.
12:45 You can't tell me Dax great and he wins a lot of games and then simultaneously all the
12:49 smart people on the Internet is winning is not a quarterback stat.
12:53 So I mean, I do think that Dax intangibles are very, very strong leadership, smart, pre
12:59 snap, all that stuff works hard.
13:02 You know, like, yeah, I like all that stuff.
13:04 But just throwing darts from the pocket or making plays with your feet.
13:08 It's not there.
13:09 What any moment Josh Allen's the Herberts, the Mahomes can do something that like only
13:14 Elway and Favre's could do right?
13:17 Yeah, Dak can't do that.
13:18 So to be the best version of that tier two group, you can't be turning it over.
13:23 Right.
13:24 There was that moment on Monday Night Football when Daniel Jones throws the pick and dayball
13:27 when you can't, you're not allowed to do.
13:30 We're not good enough with you doing that.
13:32 Dak had the moment tonight through the ball in the center field to absolutely no man's
13:36 land a pick to the guy just had to play it like Willie Mays.
13:40 And even McCarthy was looking at him a little side eye coming off the field that that can't
13:44 happen with you.
13:45 All we talked about all offseason was the turnovers, the turnovers, cut them.
13:49 You watch him the night against a team that they are going to have to beat in the second
13:52 or third round if they want to go anywhere.
13:54 And he's throwing the ball the other team easily.
13:57 I mean, the third pick hit the guy in the hands.
13:59 Now maybe his confidence is unraveled, but he just wasn't good enough early beside really
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15:03 No.
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16:37 All right, I want to talk about Russell Wilson, Sean Payton, Denver and the Jets.
16:43 So I'm not a huge fan of Zach Wilson.
16:47 He's the opposite of Dak.
16:48 I don't like any of his intangibles, but he has a good arm.
16:51 But I don't like any of his intangibles.
16:53 I don't trust his leadership, I don't trust him pre-snap, I don't trust him running my
16:57 franchise, but he's got a good arm.
17:00 But I will say this about the Jets, and I think this is where Robert Sollett does a
17:03 good job.
17:04 You're as good as your personnel allows you to be, right?
17:10 If you're a real franchise coach, the Jets do what their personnel allows them to do.
17:15 They have good running backs, they run it.
17:16 They have a good defense, they have a pass rush.
17:19 They have good corners, although they're all banged up.
17:21 What the Jets can't do, they only have one legit big-time receiver.
17:25 They don't have a very good quarterback.
17:27 So there's limitations on what they can't get into track meets.
17:30 But I watched them today, Denver doesn't do anything well.
17:33 The Jets do a couple of things really well.
17:38 The things they don't, John, their personnel doesn't allow them to do that.
17:42 If Mikael Becton, forget Zach Wilson, if Mikael Becton would have been a really high-end left
17:47 tackle, maybe I think differently, but they got tackle issues.
17:51 They got a quarterback issue.
17:52 So they can't get into track meets.
17:54 That's not what they can do.
17:55 But when I watch Denver, what do they do well?
17:59 Nothing.
18:00 I mean, you saw today, if the Jets get a lead, that's where they're built, and the pass rush
18:06 can tee off, and their pass rush goes seven, eight deep, and they're as good as anyone
18:10 in the NFL.
18:12 To me, and listen, I saw it at the end of Andy Reid's run, he had all this juice, all
18:16 this power, and every decision went through him, and it obviously unraveled, opened up
18:21 perfectly for him because he went to Kansas City and became an absolute legend.
18:24 Now he has Mahomes and off and running.
18:27 But when the coach has so much power and won't listen to anyone else, and even then Andy
18:31 had Howie, he would listen to other people.
18:33 There was no one in that building Sean Payne's going to listen to.
18:36 And there is a powerful dynamic in the NFL when you have a personnel guy that can go,
18:42 that's not a good idea.
18:43 Because coaches sometimes are too close to the sun, they're desperate to get, McGlinchey's
18:47 a great example.
18:48 They gave him $50 million.
18:51 There cannot be many personnel people in the league that would have signed off on that.
18:55 He can't pass block.
18:57 You cannot sign a tackle to $50 million that can't pass block.
19:01 You can't do it.
19:02 So you just, moves like that, and Sean Payne's power is only going to go up because George
19:08 Payton will probably be fired.
19:09 He'll bring in his own guy.
19:10 But when he brings in his own guy, that guy's not going to have the juice.
19:14 That guy's going to, you know, kind of rely on Sean Payton and try to make him happy.
19:19 So the dynamics there are a little off.
19:22 Sometimes it can work, right?
19:23 Pete Carroll hired John Schneider, but immediately John talked him into Russell and he earned
19:27 the respect and it changed everything.
19:29 I think that's an underrated part of this because their issues are going to be personnel
19:34 oriented.
19:35 How do we improve?
19:36 What do we do in the draft?
19:37 What kind of moves we can make?
19:38 Sean has unlimited power and Sean always had Mickey Loomis in New Orleans.
19:43 He's even said is his best friend, trusted him, believed in him.
19:46 Even when you have trust, the two of you won't always be right, but at least you'll make
19:50 decisions with mutual respect.
19:53 And ultimately, whenever the decision was made, you both move forward here.
19:57 It's a kind of a one man band.
19:58 Sean's a coach and they got enough issues on the field.
20:01 He needs help in the personnel department.
20:03 And I could already see that.
20:04 Like I don't know how they fix that.
20:06 Well, and by the way, Bill Belichick, he's got too much power.
20:10 I mean, last year they drafted three guards and two kickers and this team has no speed.
20:14 I mean, it's like a ridiculous draft.
20:18 Pete Carroll, I thought, had a few years after Paul Allen's death.
20:21 Remember when Schneider went to the Lions to interview because Pete had usurped some
20:25 of his power, kind of a power vacuum.
20:27 And then last couple of years, Schneider has gotten some promises or guarantees he has
20:31 more power.
20:32 They've had back to back great drafts.
20:33 That doesn't mean Pete doesn't know personnel, but it's hard enough to be a great coach.
20:38 You can't be.
20:39 And Pete looks better for that.
20:40 Right.
20:41 Think how much higher everyone thinks of Pete Carroll now that he lets his GM influence
20:45 these picks.
20:46 Now everyone benefits.
20:48 Yeah, it's it's really interesting.
20:51 I really like Sean.
20:53 But when that when he took he wanted the Chargers job.
20:55 So when he so he and I were talking during the pursuit, right, like he was telling me
21:00 I didn't go on the air with it, but he told me who he was talking to.
21:04 And then when the Denver thing came out, he went kind of silent for a couple of weeks.
21:08 So I figured, OK, I just I know I get it.
21:11 So I stay away.
21:14 I thought my takeaway was, well, I think he'll make Russell better and I think they'll go
21:19 from four or five wins to nine or ten.
21:23 But I think the issue is I think he's solved Russell to some degree.
21:28 But Russell at the contract level that will start next year is not good enough for that
21:34 contract if he was making 12 million a year, 20, 40, 55.
21:40 So I think when Sean took the job, somebody offered him a lot of money and money gives
21:44 you power and makes you feel confident.
21:46 But it's not it was not, frankly, John, a great job.
21:51 You have to either have a superstar quarterback in their prime, you know, Alan Lamar, Mahomes
21:56 or Mahomes, right, right, Herbert.
21:58 That's a great job.
21:59 The Chargers now is a great job.
22:01 Buffalo's a great job.
22:03 Or you have to have a super talented rookie on a rookie deal.
22:07 C.J. Stroud, Demiko Ryan suddenly may have himself a really good job, right?
22:12 Kyle Shanahan.
22:14 What's not a good job is a wildly expensive contract for a guy who's lost his fastball.
22:20 So I this is a great example, prime example of Sean, I think, is a really good coach.
22:24 I think he took a job that's not right now a really good job.
22:27 Well, and think about this.
22:28 There's two.
22:29 Listen, obviously, you get 90 million dollars, he's making 18 million dollars a year.
22:33 Ninety nine percent of humans take the job, especially coaches.
22:35 They always view jobs like they can fix it.
22:38 But there's a dynamic as part of accepting this job that doesn't get discussed very much.
22:42 And Sean brought this up, I think, at the combine.
22:45 He had planned to go as a package deal with Vic Fangio.
22:48 But Vic obviously had just gotten fired a year ago from Denver, wasn't going to go back.
22:53 So Vic, he couldn't take Vic Fangio with him.
22:56 So part of Russell Wilson, if this was going to work, they were going to have to be really
23:00 good on defense, right?
23:01 Be a defensive team, be kind of conservative on offense like that's how they were going
23:05 to have to play for a couple of years.
23:07 Fitzgibbon has been terrible.
23:08 And in fairness, Sean had the right guy.
23:11 But he even said like Vic just wouldn't do it.
23:13 It was too uncomfortable.
23:14 He had literally just been fired 12 months before.
23:17 So yeah, it worked for Sean getting the money.
23:19 But big picture how he wanted to build the franchise with the defensive coordinator.
23:23 He wanted and the quarterback he was going to be forced to work with because of the contract.
23:27 Yeah, I mean, we'll see this year some of these jobs that open if the number one overall
23:32 pick job opens.
23:34 I think it's easy to kind of play Monday morning quarterback and go.
23:37 That was probably a major mistake by him rushing into it a little bit just because he had the
23:42 itch and listen, that's coach.
23:44 Remember when Jim Harbaugh took the job, people like a 49er situation.
23:47 That's a disaster.
23:48 So, you know, coaches, they're sick, Colin, that they really are, that they view things
23:53 for as much as they get paid.
23:55 They also think this this deep down confidence in their own abilities to change things.
23:59 And let's face it in this league, like Kyle Shanahan looks a lot better with the guys
24:03 he has than he does three or four years ago when he had scrubs around him.
24:08 Another game I want to talk about, I did it in my preamble.
24:11 Philadelphia beat the Rams.
24:12 I felt Philadelphia is the one team that could match up with San Francisco in the NFC.
24:15 I love Jalen Hurts.
24:17 I didn't know he was going to be this.
24:19 You know, my takeaway was he was when he came into the league.
24:21 I'm like, I don't know, what is he?
24:24 What is he is, you know, he can move.
24:26 I don't I didn't know what he was.
24:29 And then he gets Shane Steichen and it's interesting.
24:32 So he gets Shane Steichen.
24:33 And once Nick Serrani gives Shane Steichen the play calling duties, he explodes.
24:37 So Shane leaves and Jalen first couple of weeks is just scuffing.
24:42 He's trying to get it.
24:43 And then you've watched the last couple of games.
24:46 It's like the kid worked so hard.
24:48 Now he's starting to refine it without Shane Steichen.
24:51 And we've seen this before.
24:52 You have a coordinator, Matt Ryan, and you get this great coordinator, Kyle Shanahan,
24:57 your amazing MVP level.
24:59 He leaves.
25:00 You're never the same player.
25:01 But I think a testament to Jalen Hurts and just his ability to be coachable.
25:08 I have watched him now for five weeks, just get a little better and a little better.
25:12 And it's hard.
25:13 It's like losing your best friend.
25:14 It's like losing your best boss at work, your sales manager, and you're an account executive
25:19 and you're just off.
25:20 And I felt Jalen was like, cause Steichen's really a brilliant guy.
25:23 You see it again today.
25:24 I was going to say this.
25:25 I think Steichen calls as good a game as anybody in the league.
25:28 I'm watching today with Gardner Minshew and I'm like, shit, this is, this guy can call
25:31 a game.
25:32 They didn't skip a beat.
25:33 Not a, I mean Gardner Minshew, but I'm like, God, he's clever.
25:39 And you lose a Kyle Shanahan level coordinator.
25:44 And I watched today Jalen Hurts and I'm like, man, that kid, he is just, I think that team
25:50 has such strong belief in Jalen Hurts.
25:53 He had a couple of plays today when he scrambled, he a whacked, stayed on his feet.
25:58 And I'm like, it was incredible run.
26:00 It was, it just like, God, I there's just Jalen Hurts is one of those players.
26:04 I don't know if I was a professional scout and used to do this.
26:08 I don't know what I would have put on paper.
26:11 I had, I never saw this coming.
26:13 Did you?
26:14 He's a great result or a great example of the intangible stuff being so powerful.
26:20 He has improved dramatically, even the Eagles.
26:23 I mean, they never thought he would be this one thing today happened though.
26:26 And I jotted it down because I tension in football can be very healthy.
26:32 The Patriots had it forever.
26:33 I'm talking like players with the coaches during games, as long as you know, losing
26:37 teams it unravels, but winning teams, they harness it.
26:41 And then they like improve on the next drive.
26:44 He went through a terrible pick in like the front pylon of the end zone to Witherspoon
26:48 who actually made an incredible play getting, he made a great play.
26:52 And Sirianni lights him up.
26:55 I mean, they just start going and Jalen kind of takes it.
26:58 How many guys in the NFL in 2023, just pro sports in general, making $45 million a year
27:05 who just had the Superbowl he had that that never happens anymore, even in football.
27:10 And even I think Burkhart and Olsen were calling that game and even like dad's a coach.
27:15 He asked for this.
27:16 He wants it.
27:17 And then there was another moment, Jason Kelsey getting on the coaches, but it never feels
27:22 destructive.
27:23 It never feels like there's these guys are like players against coaches, coaches against
27:29 players.
27:30 It's all we're kind of in the boat together.
27:31 You're talking about their the greatest offensive lineman the franchise ever had is going to
27:35 the Hall of Fame and their $45, $50 million quarterback.
27:38 And it's like, yeah, it's just normal.
27:40 They handle it.
27:41 Their character.
27:42 I've seen it with the Niners.
27:43 They have it too.
27:44 Andy staff is not there.
27:46 They don't really yell as much, but they have the same thing.
27:49 It's just we will do whatever it takes to improve on the next drive to get it right
27:53 where a lot of teams, the coach has to be right.
27:55 The player gets bitter and there's like this animosity.
27:58 The Eagles do not have that.
27:59 And it all starts with their players character.
28:01 Yeah.
28:02 And it starts with Jalen Hurts.
28:03 I've heard this before about Mac Jones is that he can be very prickly with hard coaching,
28:09 right?
28:10 Like he can be very prickly.
28:12 Jalen Hurts totally accepts it.
28:14 And if the quarterback who got the bag accepts it, then everybody has to accept it.
28:19 And I think that's because that was an interesting pick.
28:23 It was in the end zone, if I recall.
28:25 Yeah.
28:26 The front pylon of the.
28:27 Yeah.
28:28 Yeah.
28:29 Yeah.
28:30 But it was funny because the Eagles are now five and oh, I don't think they played a great
28:32 football game, but I said earlier, I don't think I've seen a team.
28:37 Now maybe the Niners tonight physically imposed their will.
28:41 The Rams never had the bongs they could have in Philadelphia.
28:44 And it was really smart.
28:45 They're like, we're just going to eat this clock.
28:49 Maybe an occasional AJ Brown, we're just going to get four and a half yards.
28:53 And you could just see the Rams, just the body language.
28:57 And they were tired.
28:58 And it was like, there's a culture.
29:02 And by the way, the impressive game by the Rams, I mean, they sound like around.
29:07 Yeah, they are much better than I thought.
29:09 They really, I thought they were got Caleb Williams written all over them.
29:13 Puka Nukuah looks fantastic.
29:15 Stafford's playing well.
29:16 Donald's still playing his ass off.
29:18 They're going to compete for a wild card spot for sure.
29:21 Let's talk for a couple of minutes.
29:22 We must because we both love college football.
29:25 So here was my take on USC's near loss.
29:29 Notre Dame was next.
29:30 They were a three touchdown favorite at home against Arizona.
29:33 And they can see Notre Dame, Utah, Washington.
29:36 They know players know there are three touchdowns favorites.
29:39 So part of it is it had close game written all over it.
29:43 Secondly, outside of Washington, Arizona has the best receiving tandem, McMillan and Jacob
29:49 Cowling in the conference.
29:50 Those guys are pros.
29:51 They're good.
29:52 Arizona's not bad.
29:53 Yeah.
29:54 And the Trojans don't have great corners.
29:56 So the game was going to be high scoring.
30:00 The other thing is, and this is you get into a weird spot.
30:05 USC is a terrible tackling team.
30:09 Terrible.
30:10 So I don't know what that is.
30:12 Is it practice?
30:14 Is it the fact that their safeties and corners have to make so many tackles?
30:18 Those are not your best tacklers.
30:19 They don't bring down guys on a first shot.
30:22 But when I look at USC, my takeaway is they'll beat Notre Dame because they're built to beat
30:28 average offenses with good defenses.
30:30 They all they're just they're going to score 35 points.
30:32 That's just what they're going to do.
30:34 I don't think they can beat Oregon.
30:35 I don't think they can beat Washington.
30:37 UCLA is getting better every time I watch them.
30:39 What do you make of the battle inside a program when Caleb and an offense is carrying it?
30:46 How good is USC's personnel in your opinion?
30:48 Yeah, to me, it Lincoln is a Mike Leach guy, right?
30:52 Spent a lot of time there.
30:54 That's what shaped his philosophical beliefs.
30:57 And he's kind of morphed it off that.
30:58 Well, that offense you practice, you only have so many guys on the football team.
31:03 Your offense practice against your defense, right?
31:05 When you go up against the Eagles or the 49ers every day, right?
31:08 There's just a physicality in practice.
31:11 Look at Jim Harbaugh over the time as he's gotten better players.
31:14 His team is dramatically more physical.
31:17 Urban Meyer always had this.
31:18 Nick Saban's had this on most of his teams because that's how you play on offense.
31:23 Well, his offense has always been spread it out, throw it to the outside, especially
31:27 now because they are so predicated on these outside suite wide receivers.
31:32 It doesn't even if your personnel, you don't have Ray Mallouga and Brian Cushing walking
31:36 through that door.
31:37 It's harder to improve when you're running sideline to sideline in practice and not taking
31:42 things on.
31:43 So what happens sometimes guys just run it down their throat because to me their front
31:46 seven doesn't look that physical.
31:48 I will say this though, from an evaluation standpoint of Caleb, sometimes I get a lot
31:53 of my buddies like tell your boy Colin to slow down the hype train.
31:56 Cuts are always big on us the way and I was like this when I was in the league and I'm
32:01 like it now I get excited watching guys and Caleb's talent is immense.
32:05 But you know, you don't draft just purely off hype.
32:08 Now his talent and what he's doing now at Oklahoma and even last year for the most part
32:14 it became very, very easy to them.
32:16 This year it's a little more difficult.
32:17 They're playing in all these close games even in conference.
32:20 So you're seeing him the spot last night where it was like he had to carry him.
32:24 If he screwed up, they lose and he made remarkable because the only negative thing I've heard
32:29 is from an executive that said, you know, we have them kind of their verified measurement
32:33 slightly under six feet.
32:35 It's like six oh oh seven, but he's not small.
32:39 You saw the play last night when he carried the defender in the end zone.
32:42 So he's thick and his arm is just absolutely and last night his moxie and his I mean Lincoln
32:49 called was in overtime when he did the shift place like what are we doing weird?
32:54 But Caleb just refused to let him lose and made a play one on one with the guy.
32:58 I actually am learning more about Caleb in those moments than you do when they're just
33:03 routing Stanford 75 to three, right?
33:06 So you see impressed you see him making these plays against teams that you could argue they
33:10 should be blowing out, but because of their defense, they're just not.
33:13 So if he doesn't score on an every drive basis, it's like the Cowboys and Niners.
33:18 If Dak didn't throw four touchdowns tonight, they had no chance and he doesn't have that
33:20 capability or Caleb's like, yeah, I gotta throw seven touchdowns and run for two more.
33:24 I'll do it right.
33:25 And that to me, it's like we talked about Brock Purdy.
33:27 He played on some of those teams where he had to be awesome for them to upset somebody.
33:32 And he did a lot of the times in college why he was two time big 12 player of the year.
33:36 The only knock I've seen is that sometimes he can get a little off on his accuracy, but
33:42 he usually self corrects next drive.
33:44 But I have found Josh Allen Mahomes.
33:48 I think hyperathletic players sometimes they like their mechanics go a little sideways
33:56 because they're moving around.
33:57 Whereas Brady's mechanics were great because he had to have great mechanics.
34:02 You know, yeah, bro.
34:04 But I do think I do think he gets a little off on his mechanics sometimes and he gets
34:09 sloppy, but he's such a bright kid.
34:11 I know him pretty well.
34:12 He self corrects really, really quickly.
34:14 I don't see a lot of weaknesses.
34:17 He's going to have to be absolutely remarkable, in my opinion, for them to be in the Pac-12
34:22 championship game because now that they don't have like the North and South, it's just the
34:25 best two teams, right?
34:27 Record wise, they feel to me more like 10 and 2.
34:30 And if Oregon and Washington, whoever loses that game still runs the table and beats them
34:35 because I have a hard time seeing them beat Oregon and Washington the way they're playing
34:38 right now.
34:39 Yeah, I don't think they would.
34:40 In fact, I think I think I don't think Washington's defense is great.
34:44 They have a couple of good players.
34:45 I think Oregon could hammer them.
34:48 I mean, yeah, I think that game's in Otson.
34:52 That's trouble.
34:53 And the other thing USC could we'll see how Utah's playing, but Utah's defense is unreal.
34:57 So that's just and we saw last year they beat him twice.
34:59 That's just a tough game for Caleb and the offense.
35:02 Right, right.
35:03 John Middlecoff, three and out former NFL scout.
35:05 Good stuff, John.
35:06 Good talking again.
35:07 Take it easy, Gon.
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