The Ryen Russillo Podcast - NFL Division Winner Confidence Rankings and Georgia-Bama Aftermath With Todd McShay

Episode Date: September 30, 2024

Russillo starts the show with his NFL division winner confidence rankings after the first quarter of the season (1:01), before revealing his updated college football top 12 rankings (17:30). Then, Rye...n’s joined by Todd McShay to share what they learned from Georgia-Alabama, update their Heisman Eliminator, and try to make sense of how good Jayden Daniels has been (25:45). Check us out on YouTube for exclusive clips, livestreams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Todd McShay Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's episode, I'll take a look at all eight divisions in the NFL, our first quarterly report and where I am at on confidence, picking all of the divisions to ultimately not pick the divisions because I'm just confused one month in. College football top 12. We'll spend a lot of time on Georgia and Alabama with Todd McShay, the Millrow Rise, which is something I didn't see, but Todd apparently did. And then the Carson Beck conversation,
Starting point is 00:00:36 a little bit more on some college ball than Jaden Daniels as well with Todd. So that's what we have. Now, just a reminder, we have this live show coming up. So every person on the show, except for me and Wargon, is already traveling as of right now. So we have no life advice. So I am sorry.
Starting point is 00:00:51 Doesn't happen very often, but it was the only way to be able to pull this off so that we could have everybody show up and do the live show together. So we'll make it up to you as we always do. It's the Ryan Rosilla podcast presented by FanDuel. Football is finally back, and you can dive into all the action with FanDuel.
Starting point is 00:01:06 This is why I love FanDuel because actually a lot of times when I'm prepping out some of the segments, I'm like, who is the favorite in the Big 12 this year? Oh, it's Utah, but look at that number on Arizona. That's a nice little number there, might be worth it. And it's always finding new and fun ways to just create markets like the highest scoring game across Sunday's slate, quarterbacks with 75 plus passing yards in the first quarter,
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Starting point is 00:01:58 or visit RG-Help.com. As you rise to a new day, rise to something more. Good financial game. Introducing the new BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card, the credit card that rewards your good financial habits and helps you rise from bill payer to reward slayer. Rise to it with the BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card and get rewarded for paying your credit card bill in full and on time each month. I'm going to do this quarterly, quarterly report. So instead of just a normal week four recap, I want to take a look at being four games
Starting point is 00:02:39 in for pretty much everybody here and looking at the divisions and going from most confident to who I think wins the division to least confident of the eight divisions. And I may during the exercise talk myself out of the current order that I have right now. But that's what I want to do. And I'll also put in, because I think best win, best loss was, it felt like a little bit more of a straightforward week. Maybe except for what happened last night where Baltimore just destroys Buffalo, but they have that in them.
Starting point is 00:03:08 All right. So if I look at all the divisions and go, who am I most confident in quarterly in? I think it's the AFCs cause of Buffalo. Yes, I know last night, but between Miami and the two-o situation, New England is not good, the Cincinnati part. And then being competitive against Seattle was maybe this little trick of is this team going to be all right? And predictably now it'll be the countdown to when Drake may get to actually start one
Starting point is 00:03:31 of the games and takes over, which we knew was all going to happen. And as much as you looked at that Jets win again against New England, that was probably a little misleading. The Jets defensive numbers are still pretty good, but that's the worst loss of the entire week yesterday for the Jets to lose to Denver. At one point, Bo Nix was minus seven yards and seven attempts. And his eighth attempt got himself into the positives there. So that is a weird team where the Niners lost.
Starting point is 00:04:00 They looked like they're not physical and not tough defensively. Then they put together a couple of weeks where they looked good defensively. Obviously to hold another NFL team to 10 points is terrific, but you cannot expect Rogers to score nine and lose to Bo Nix in a head to head. So that's where Buffalo, it's, it's liking Buffalo despite last night and just feeling like there's question marks for the second best contender in the jets
Starting point is 00:04:27 and kind of writing off, depending on what happens here with Tua. Like you can't completely write them off, but I don't think New England's going to be much of a threat. All right. Baltimore AFC North, second most confident with this one. Uh, Baltimore number one in yards per play right now offensively. Um, Pittsburgh clearly in first place at three and one. I think Pittsburgh is a little weird. We know their defense is going to be terrific. It's been off the charts, you know, right up there with all the other great teams defensively a month in,
Starting point is 00:04:53 but losing to the Colts with Flacco, I think is a very Pittsburgh thing. Even though fields, you could look at that game and go, that's actually statistically the best game that he's had. He's moving the football. They finally got to the end zone. But I just think it was kind of a weird three and O team where it makes sense they would lose to the Colts with Flacco in a quarterback. And if you go from that, like, you know,
Starting point is 00:05:18 Cleveland, Cincy, both one and three, there's maybe one stat here that continues to be a little bothersome for the Ravens that they're giving up the third most passing yards allowed per game. But I think the question you ask yourself is how many other teams in the NFL could do what Baltimore did to Buffalo last night? All right. I just I don't think that's a very long list of teams and it's the best win clearly because it's so dominant against another Super Bowl contender in their conference Lamar moves to 17 and five in prime time football games. Okay. Third most confident in Houston winning the AFC South three and one.
Starting point is 00:05:57 The week three loss is just nasty. 34 seven at Minnesota. You're going to have to get over it at times. It can happen. I think most of you are over it. CJ's line is basically exactly where you would expect it to be. It almost mirrors who he was as a rookie. So that feels terrific. This Nico Collins breakout season is incredible. He's now a hundred plus yards over the number two receiver and total yardage
Starting point is 00:06:20 receiving so far on the NFL this season. That's Malik neighbors. I think he's going by like 103 yards already. receiving so far on the NFL this season. That's Malik neighbors. I think he's going by like 103 yards already. The defense gives up less yards than the point total. So when I look at that number, I go that that's something that feels like some of the defensive numbers will come towards them a little bit
Starting point is 00:06:37 more because of the yardage stuff. Now, sometimes it can be a little misleading there, but there's just a gap between what they're allowing yardage wise. Now, sometimes it can be a little misleading there, but there's just a gap between what they're allowing yardage wise and then what they're allowing scoring. So then it really comes down to a lot of the rest of the division stuff here as well, because the Colts are probably going to be weird all season long. I know Richardson goes down with a hip injury and then Flacco's in there. They're going to have to play Richardson all season long to give him the best chance at developing and knowing what they have for the pick that they spent on him.
Starting point is 00:07:07 So I don't think that that's a team that you're going to be super worried about. Tennessee hasn't won a game and this Jacksonville stuff with Trevor Lawrence is nine straight starts. Uh, I, I cannot believe it's this bad for Lawrence. The numbers now are regressing back to who he was as a rookie. this bad for Lawrence. The numbers now are regressing back to who he was as a rookie. I would think even if you didn't like him as a prospect, okay? Because there's always a few people out there that are going to zag on it. Even if you didn't like him, I don't think you would have ever thought the floor would be this bad. And it's so bad now, you're like, I would just,
Starting point is 00:07:43 you'd almost be happy and not with the money they've spent on him because he got the massive contract. He got like the real one, like some of the other guys in the extension, but average would be exciting for Lawrence at this point. I cannot, I still refuse to believe that this is how bad he's going to be. And it's not just him, but the team just can't get it done. By the way, but the team just.
Starting point is 00:08:05 Can't get it done by the way. Only one team in NFL history is started 0 and four and made it to the playoffs. That's your 92 San Diego Chargers. Alright, fourth most confident in picking a division winner. I'll say AFC West. Even if I like Kansas City more than Houston,
Starting point is 00:08:24 which I do, despite some of the stuff about Kansas City that maybe I don't like right now, it's about the rest of the division. The Chargers are at least better than I think anything else that's behind the Texas. Will we allow that? Yeah. Between the Colts, Tennessee and Jacksonville? Yes. Now granted, the Chargers are hurt again.
Starting point is 00:08:42 Nice effort from them defensively yesterday. And then I was looking at the Kansas city offense because they had the graphic up in this, this week, this is just another weird game yesterday. Um, Chargers get up 10 zip. They get a short field. Well, the touchdown drive, they went quite a ways after the fumble. And then the interception, uh, where it looked like my homes was looking for Kelsey, I don't know if that's, he was too much faith in Kelsey making play.
Starting point is 00:09:08 It was kind of an overthrow. And then on top of that, you have Mahomes involved in the tackle where she rice his knee ACL probably out for the season. So somebody who was definitely coming along as the number one receiving threat for the Chiefs is going to be out. So we're going to be playing this game all over again. But there was a graphic that came up during this game that said through three games, this is like the worst stretch for the Mahomes led Chiefs is going to be out. So we're going to be playing this game all over again. But there was a graphic that came up during this game that said through three games, this is like the worst stretch for the homes led Chiefs.
Starting point is 00:09:29 So we look at it after four, where they pull this one out, score 17 points because it's the Chiefs and you feel like they're always going to find a way to pull it out. The passing yards are way down per game. Third down conversion rates about the same. The yards per game is down about 30 and the points per game are third down conversion rates about the same. The yards per game's down about 30, and the points per game are actually up a little bit, which tells me it's just the defense doing more work here.
Starting point is 00:09:53 This defense is terrific. I don't know how bad it would have to be. I'd probably have to be like 10 weeks of them being a bottom half offense and being below for, like I just, of all the things in sports that I'm not below for like, I just, of all the things in sports that I'm not going to worry about, I'm not going to worry about their offense, even though the numbers tell me to worry about them. But that's why I have them forth only because they have a little bit more
Starting point is 00:10:14 competition than say Houston or Buffalo in front of them. All right. Um, I think we already did them home stuff. Yeah. He's, he's on pace for 20 interceptions. So he's kind of on one this year. That would be 20 picks for Mahomes would be a lot. All right.
Starting point is 00:10:31 All four divisions that I was more confident in all came from the AFC than the NFC. I don't know what that means, but let's try to figure it out. All right, so NFC West. Is it Seattle at three? No, no it isn't. I have new appreciation for Geno Smith. They're allowing 14 points per game.
Starting point is 00:10:45 It's the fourth best. They have the lowest passer rating against them. See Huck's defense here. Average passer rating so far right now is 67. So that means every quarterback somewhere in between Bo Nicks and Caleb Williams. Not great, but I'm still going with San Francisco. It would take more than a two and two start for me to like Seattle better than them. You know, I'm not going to be able to do, but I'm still going with San Francisco. It would take more than a two and two start for me to like Seattle better than them, even though the defensive thing is real.
Starting point is 00:11:11 And again, I just, I don't know what it is with Gino. Maybe it's watching somebody, other guys throw the ball short of the sticks all the time, um, that even when Gino had the resurgent year two years ago, I was like, is this real? Is this like, I have to think Gino's really good now. Moving forward, I finally got there. I finally got there later than others have, but I just kind of appreciate it. But what he does in comparison to the way some other guys, maybe higher profile guys play the position.
Starting point is 00:11:35 So San Francisco, the two and two star, the injury stuff. It's been alarming. Purdy's basically in line with exactly what he did last year. The Rams defense is bad. Their injuries are bad. Arizona, who we got kind of excited because of a close loss against Buffalo and then Kyler playing better. Their defense is falling apart.
Starting point is 00:11:55 The opponent, the opposing quarterbacks are converting, they're completing, I should say, 79% of their passes against this Arizona D, which looked a little spicy, I'll admit, maybe I just fell in love with the long sleeves and the athletes and everything with Arizona's defense, but opposing QBs are completing everything against his team right now. They're one in three. All right. Now it's really going from most confident to kind of least confident, right?
Starting point is 00:12:18 NSC North. I'm not handing it to Minnesota, despite the four and a star. How about the top four quarterbacks in QBR? Josh Allen makes sense. Andy Dalton's number two. So where does he go next year to make the playoffs? Sam Darnold three and then Jayden Daniels who will spend some time on here. For the commanders is number four.
Starting point is 00:12:37 So Allen MVP favorite, although you wonder what kind of data point getting housed in Baltimore will be, um, but obviously there'll be more games. We'll see, because I always think that there's a bit of a fatigue part with MVP voting. So you wonder if Allen would kind of get his turn or if that damage that we saw last night will actually linger into how people see the vote. But again, if Lamar lights it up and they have the best record, maybe he wins another one.
Starting point is 00:12:58 Um, but Green Bay getting Jordan Love back. That was another, like Minnesota puts it on him, stays aggressive the entire time. Green Bay, it felt a lot like the Georgia Alabama game, where if you're down that much, you can throw any pass that you want. You're going to just start going, any one-on-one that I get on the outside, I'm just going to put the ball up and hope my guy makes a play. And for Georgia, it was working out, and for Green Bay, it was working out here a bit. But it's not so much just being dismissive of a four and oh star here from Minnesota that again, it's like. Pretty remarkable based on season expectations and where their total was
Starting point is 00:13:34 like for teams that low on the Vegas win totals to be this good. This is pretty rare. Um, but because of Green Bay's existence and Detroit at two and one, and we'll see tonight with Detroit against Seattle, because golf is way off from where he's been the last couple of seasons. I have a hard time believing with this amount of weapons that golf is just now all of a sudden going to be incredibly disappointing, but it's really about the competition that remains in this division.
Starting point is 00:14:00 And yes, I didn't mention Chicago yet, but Chicago's defense still pretty good. And I would think Caleb would continue to get better throughout the season. Well then I win yesterday. All right, second least confident, NSC South. This is just because it's a toss up of all these teams. By the way, Tampa who I've mentioned at times, like hey, cool Tampa, but how serious do I take you
Starting point is 00:14:21 as like a real contender of getting out of the NSC and potentially playing in the Super Bowl. I don't know what yesterday's game means other than maybe I have to buy into Tampa a little bit more or just right off this talented roster of Philadelphia. You would think if there was one game that was on the slate for week four yesterday where a team would be really motivated, it'd be Philly against Tampa Bay.
Starting point is 00:14:42 And that's not the case at all. They just smashed them. it'd be Philly against Tampa Bay. And that's not the case at all. They just smashed them. So outgain them 445 to 222. Turnovers part of the issue as well. But between Atlanta, New Orleans, Carolina, not much of a factor. I just think all of those teams
Starting point is 00:15:01 are fairly even to me right now. I would be not surprised. I can't really say that about any of the other NFC North was the first one I got to I was like if there were three teams still alive today and one of them won the division whether it's Green Bay, Detroit Even with Minnesota star would you be shocked by any of this? No, even less shocked if it were New Orleans if it were Tampa if it were Atlanta So the least confident I am in picking a division winner four weeks in is the NFC East. I know what I'm supposed to do with Washington here. Jaden Daniels has been, it's not more than
Starting point is 00:15:33 advertised. No one could have possibly advertised this much. Like I've heard some of the promos, being like, well, you know, he's hot. You seriously thought a rookie was capable of doing this? And I would say even after watching the week one game and then not really converting many trips to the red zone in week two, I was like, okay, he's still a little limited in what he's doing. And then that Cincinnati game just kind of changed everything. The throw where he takes the hit, one on one, big spot, had a lead by the way. So he was still willing to be aggressive with the lead as a young quarterback about to get crushed. Like that to me is like one of the most important throws I've seen for any quarterback this season. away so he was still willing to be aggressive with the lead as a young quarterback about to get crushed.
Starting point is 00:16:07 Like that to me is like one of the most important throws I've seen for any quarterback this season and then yesterday he just completes everything. Look at some of these numbers as they just dismantle Arizona 42 14 yesterday. Um, this is Mike Sandow. We always like to reference at least once on a Monday. So Washington has now scored on 68% of its drives through four games. So that's the highest for any team through four games since they started tracking this in 2000. The Patriots scored on 58% of their drives through four games with that ridiculous 2007 squad. That's first half of the season offensively
Starting point is 00:16:47 was like off the charts because they did regress a little bit kind of in the second half. So Washington's at a 68% clip through four. Daniels has an 80% completion rate through four games. Wait, I think it's 82. I'll double check that. Daniels has an 80% completion rate through four games. Wait, I think it's 82. I'll double check that. 82, if I pull this up here,
Starting point is 00:17:13 because remember we were talking about this with Darnold's deal? Yeah, he's at 82. Gino's at 75, Derek Carr's at 72, Joe Burroughs at 71, Gardner Mishu's at 71, Justin Fields is Fields is 71, Baker's 70.5, rounding up, we'll make him another 71. I mean, it's just ridiculous. So, Jane Daniels is at 82. It's the best in league history through four games. However, As screwed up as Dallas is screwed up as Philly is. I don't feel confident enough yet to just say that it's the
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Starting point is 00:18:14 Let's take a look. Two weeks ago, really great. Last week, not as good. Why? We tried to get involved in the Trevor Lawrence game and that doesn't work out. So I like Detroit, minus four and a half. I like any time touchdown score, David Montgomery,
Starting point is 00:18:27 and give me Kenneth Walker over 40 yards. That's paying out at plus 3.85. So that is the play. Just visit fanDuel.com slash Ryan, R-Y-E-N to make every moment more this season. FanDuel, an official sports book partner of the NFL, must be 21 and older and present in select states. 18 plus and present in D.C., first online real money wager only,
Starting point is 00:18:47 $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued is not withdrawalable. Bonus bids which expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at Sportsbook.Fandl.com. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit RG-HELP.com. After that huge Alabama win at home against Georgia, and what an incredible game that ended up being after a ridiculous start for Bama at home. We'll spend more time on college football with Todd for this episode. All right. So I still have Texas number one. The coaches have Texas number one in the AP poll. Alabama jumped three spots.
Starting point is 00:19:24 They are now number one. I think the win against Georgia is more impressive than beating Michigan because of what I think of Georgia and what I think of Michigan. We can get into the particulars of, well, Bama did it at home and then blew the lead. Texas did it on the road. Did not blow the lead. It was dominant start to finish. So I understand the Texas argument.
Starting point is 00:19:46 Hell, I'm putting Texas number one with this. I just don't have a huge problem seeing it split both the AP and the coaches bowl, I just don't and I think after the South Florida game and then watching what Bama did to Wisconsin and then the ability to get up 28-0 and how perfect Milro was in the first half, just running all over the place. Georgia did a better job containing him there a little, but I cannot, and we're going to spend some time on this with McShea, I can't believe how bad Carson Beck was. Again, it could have actually been worse.
Starting point is 00:20:21 Like stuff that he was throwing into, you know, know, we can talk about it while you're down. So who cares throwing a double coverage. Yeah. Okay. Sometimes, but there's a bad possession. They get it right back. The first pass is almost a pick six where he just doesn't see another linebacker underneath. I don't know what, I don't know what it would be like for that group to kind of like.
Starting point is 00:20:46 Spend time watching film, but I mean, it was so bad for Beck that I wonder in the evaluation of how limited, you know, you've only got so many games to go on for somebody that's been at times projected to be the number one pick in the 25 draft. Is the film from that game, at least the first 30 plus minutes, is it so bad a team would say actually we're going to go in another direction at quarterback because it was brutal. All right. So I've got Texas one, I've got Bama two and Milroy right now is the second highest passer rating in college football. Technically Cam rising is number one, but if you're not playing, I don't know why it's still be up there.
Starting point is 00:21:26 Jackson D'Arch is ahead of him. We'll talk Jackson D'Arch a little bit later. And then Ryan Williams is 17 year old receiver. It just doesn't even seem like he's real. Like he's doing stuff now that you cannot, I mean, whether it's tipping the ball to himself and then running or the touchdown play where he gets all these guys confused, He's able to somehow go backwards like
Starting point is 00:21:48 he's skating out there. Putting them on skates may actually apply to him as overused as that is. I have number three Tennessee. AP and coaches both have Ohio State. But Ohio State's still getting first place votes. Four first place votes in the AP seven in the coaches poll, dominant again in big 10 play, 38-7 over Michigan State. No issue with that other than I just think that with Tennessee's win at Norman, that should be enough to jump Ohio State. But look, if you think Ohio State's better, that's fine. I had a hard time placing Georgia. Georgia is fifth in both polls. I don't have them there. I have Oregon fifth after Ohio State. So it's again, Texas, Bama, Tennessee, Ohio State.
Starting point is 00:22:26 And then I put Oregon fifth. Uh, I don't love it. I put Penn State sixth. I don't love it. And I put Georgia seventh. So my reasoning for this, it's not just as simple as undefeated. I guess I'm putting way more weight into how bad Georgia looked for most of Saturday night, as opposed to actually coming back and taking the lead.
Starting point is 00:22:53 That may seem unfair, but it's, it's what I'm doing. Would I pick Georgia against Oregon? Maybe, but something with this Georgia offense, I really do think like they're hit on all these big shots and I don't know if that's who they're going to turn into here, but I just found it incredibly alarming. I probably picked Georgia over Penn State. But whatever this is what I'm doing with the rankings here as of right now, Penn State was a winner against Illinois. State was a winner against Illinois. It was 14-7. I was watching it and Illinois had a fourth and six. There's a penalty. Then they got a penalty. So it's back to fourth and six. It was one of those games with one of those offenses with Illinois where like fourth
Starting point is 00:23:35 and six feels like fourth and 60. I was like, they're not getting this. And if they get down another score, this game's over. And that's exactly what happened through a pick six. 21-7 is the hundred to seven in this game. So Penn State's defense Carter just terrific shows up again. So I've got Georgia seven. Number eight Miami. I was tempted to even put them ahead of Georgia in this one. Don't know that it matters.
Starting point is 00:23:59 Don't know that anybody should care really all that much. Came back big time Friday night against Virginia Tech, who I kind of like Virginia Tech a little bit. And you've got the cam ward, just gotta be a little smarter with the football. The first fumble was completely pointless and then he had two more picks later on. So that's part of the makeup there.
Starting point is 00:24:19 Missouri nine, because I'm out of teams and they're ninth in both polls. Okay, this is the only part that might be interesting the rest of the way. You're like, oh cool, I'm glad of teams and they're ninth in both polls. Okay, this is the only part that might be interesting the rest of the way. You're like, oh cool, I'm glad you did this. Even you didn't think it was that interesting. But here's the point. I don't think Michigan's better than USC.
Starting point is 00:24:35 Maybe not even Ole Miss. LSU, I don't know, maybe. Notre Dame's kind of an afterthought still, but they're creeping up slowly. Clemson creeping up slowly. Iowa State, four and O, BYU, five and O. BYU went from complete afterthought to ranked. And now they're making up for all the perception lost ground before the season started, right? So Utah loses and they drop eight spots, but it's still without Cam Rising.
Starting point is 00:25:02 So you wonder if they still have this kind of outside chance, not winning the big 12, but getting the benefit of the doubt. If Rising comes back and they play better the rest of the way and you go, okay, you know, they're, they're lost. It's just the Zach Wilson brother. So I just went Mizzou and then Michigan because like, what's the point, this point of the season, if they've beaten USC, you've got to put them there. USC beats LSU.
Starting point is 00:25:24 So I put LSU 12th and I left out Ole Miss, even though they're 12th in the AP ahead of LSU and 11th in the coaches bowl ahead of LSU and USC. So the coaches for some reason put LSU three spots ahead of SC already. Which I think is a little weird. But if you're really trying to break it down for like who Ole Miss is, part of this is Kentucky waking up after that disastrous South Carolina game
Starting point is 00:26:00 we talked about a little too much. Jackson Darr at the end of this game was not what I expected at all. game we talked about a little too much. Jackson Dar at the end of this game was not what I expected at all. Like he had a couple chances if they were trying to keep things alive for the touchdown to keep the field goal in play and he starts taking sacks.
Starting point is 00:26:16 And it's just a disaster there at the end, which is not what you'd expect from Jackson Dart even playing this game long enough, but their loss at home to Kentucky is worse than Michigan's at home against Texas is worse than USC's at Michigan and then LSU to USC neutral field. Yes. I think that's fair.
Starting point is 00:26:41 Unless Kentucky turns us all around and ends up like as a 10 and two team. Still think there'd be some work to do there. They've got Tennessee, Texas and Louisville on the schedule. And don't forget about weird Auburn who almost almost pulled a Peyton Thorn. I thought he was back. Thought he was back in a big way. He is not back.
Starting point is 00:26:59 Huge pick six at the end and they ended up losing to Oklahoma again that they were in control of much. So who cares? I don't have Ole Miss in my top 12, but I just think that their loss is worse than those other teams. All right. Let's talk with McShea.
Starting point is 00:27:15 Got Todd McShea on Monday again. I think we're going to do a lot of college ball today, but we'll see what other NFL stuff that he wants to do. Let's just start with the headliner, man. Bama, huge lead Georgia comes all the way back. Bama pulls it out. Uh, the headline from that game for you is what? I think it was Jalen Milrose.
Starting point is 00:27:37 He arrived, you know, I mean, we knew what we saw flashes of what he was as an athlete last year, how explosive he can be. We saw the deep ball, how beautiful a deep ball he can throw. We saw the improvement after getting benched for the game last year and just like the mental toughness that he had. This year, start off the year, they've looked good.
Starting point is 00:28:01 But to see him do this against, I mean, it was a record setting performance in terms of doing it against an AP top five opponent, throwing the football, throwing with anticipation, throwing the ball placement that he had and having just not shy at all in terms of his ability to take off and run and knowing when to do it, how to extend plays. It was as complete a game as you could ask for. Now you say kind of they shut it down in the second half a little bit.
Starting point is 00:28:32 But like that first half is as good a half as I can remember a quarterback having in recent college football. I mean, so dynamic, so explosive against a defense that typically is so disciplined, his ability to get the outside, like, George is always great at setting a hard edge and forcing guys inside. It was too much speed for them. And to make some of the throws down the field. And then even when, you know,
Starting point is 00:28:57 George makes the big comeback and then, you know, was it 13 or 17 seconds to the lead because of one play, the throw he makes and obviously the stories of Ryan Williams and the catch he makes and doing, you know, just things that 17 year olds should not be able to do. But Jaylen Milrow was the story for me. And, you know, we could start talking about is he QB1 for the 2025 draft? We could start talking about is he the leader in the clubhouse right now for the Heisman? But forget all of that. Like if you're an Alabama fan waking up and kind
Starting point is 00:29:32 of assessing the situation, we've got the guy in college football right now is my mindset. I can't believe you just mentioned Milrow is potentially QB one for the 25 draft. Yeah, we'll get to it. And it may be not, might not be on your podcast. And you know, may have to do it some other places. I mean, you know.
Starting point is 00:29:51 Well, everybody knows that I'm not the biggest Millrow fan and I haven't been for a while. And I'm not saying he is QB1. I'm saying that you wake up Sunday morning and here we are Monday morning and you start looking and say, you know what, like we're starting the quarterback, and I don't want to go on a long thing here,
Starting point is 00:30:07 but quarterback development is different than it used to be. What you're looking for in a quarterback at the college level is different than what it used to be. The emphasis on the ability to create and having the, the ability to create big plays with your legs and driving the ball down the field. We've seen quarterbacks like Josh Allen. We've seen quarterbacks like Jalen the field. We've seen quarterbacks like Josh Allen. We've seen quarterbacks like Jalen Hurts.
Starting point is 00:30:27 We've seen quarterbacks come in. We've seen it. You know, we've seen across the league in recent years. Lamar Jackson today isn't what Lamar Jackson was the first two years. So you're seeing these quarterbacks. They don't have to be completed prospects or projects. They've got to have something that's a special, unique trait. Josh Allen has it. Jalen Milrow had it. We saw the improvement he made from college to the NFL. Lamar Jackson has it. So even though he's not ready in
Starting point is 00:30:59 terms of the mechanics and consistency and the ball placement decisions, the total package yet, he has things that a lot of guys can't do. So when we start talking about Shador Sanders and how great he's played at Colorado, when we start talking about Carson Beck, was he anointed too early on what basis for being the number one quarterback coming into this year for 2025 draft? When you start talking about Quinn Ubers before the injury and the improvement, like why can't we throw Jalen Milrow into that discussion? That's as far as I'll go today, but I think it's something that we have to keep an eye
Starting point is 00:31:35 on moving forward. Yeah, my position would be that there was just like the job of quarterback in that Michigan game where you just needed him to be more on top of things. And you want to tell me that's not who he is anymore. And it's proven against Georgia. You know, okay, maybe I think he's the best running quarterback in college football. It's not just his straight line speed, the way he accelerates into these turns or even Georgia, this defensive group thinks they have the angle on a running quarterback. And it's like, actually you don't. And that part of it is entirely special.
Starting point is 00:32:12 I always felt like the deep ball was just a deep ball throw and please somebody go get it. I think one of the coolest things about the first half is, and it's going to sound like I'm not giving Milro enough credit and that's fine. But I thought they were scheming up things where these throws were wide open too. And he was, but to his credit, he was smart enough to know where it was like, let me, let me take this throw instead of what I thought last year was his kind of default was he either ran or
Starting point is 00:32:39 he threw it 50 yards down the sideline hoping for like Burton to make a play. And more often than not, like Burton came up with it because I thought he was a really good college receiver last year. So, uh, let's, let's look at the other side. Cause I think the back tape is so bad. But let's, you just mentioned it. So I just want to kind of put a bow on it.
Starting point is 00:32:58 Sure. I don't think we give Caleb the board of credit, like offensively, you know, getting the most out of Michael Pennex and what we saw from him, the transition of what Pennex was at Indiana versus Washington, what Jalen Milro was last year, what we're seeing this year. And there's a lot to it, but I'll say this, if you're a football fan watching at home, like watch the amount of motions and the effectiveness of the pre-snap motions. The clarity that he's able to create with those motions
Starting point is 00:33:31 and the offensive, the personnel packages and the alignments, but specifically the motions, the clarity he creates for the quarterback, the launch points that he creates for the receivers, and the confusion, the confusion that these motions present to the defense. That is a big element of why Kaelin DeBoris had successful quarterbacks, successful offenses,
Starting point is 00:33:57 and it was a big element of why Alabama had so much success on Saturday night, and why what you're seeing, you're seeing the finished product, right the wide open receivers easy throws Just decisive quarterbacking Well, how did they get there go back and really study those pre-step motions and some of their alignments and some of their formations They they orchestrate a lot of that and Caleb de Boer deserves a lot of credit for that My favorite part maybe for DeBoer is just that,
Starting point is 00:34:27 you know, who knows what Georgia ends up being because we're going to get to the Georgia part of this year very quickly. But as I'm watching that game, I'm going, okay, well, the cool thing for DeBoer is post Saban, we know how hard it's going to be. And it's like, if Georgia had come in there and put it on Alabama on a Saturday night, we're like, look, there's a lot of, I've been to that stadium a bunch of times and that stadium is so spoiled. They can be over it a little quicker. That was not the case. That was not the case on Saturday night.
Starting point is 00:34:54 A couple of different people that were boots on the ground in there being like, this is the craziest I've ever seen Bryant Denny. And I'm thinking like, dude, you've been 10 times, you know, I, this is the craziest and they were up for it. And then of course they had to remain up for it because they blow the lead and the whole thing. So on the flip side, like part of me was happy for DeBoer because if you had blown that game being up 28, nothing with everything that's on the
Starting point is 00:35:15 line, then it, then it turns into. Probably an unfair freak out. So it's kind of just nice that he has that one in his back pocket. Uh, let's talk about back because I think the film from this is so bad it's gonna be hard for some teams to get over even if he lights it up the rest of the way. Well we talked about it last week right and I mentioned we didn't dive into it we don't have to do a deep dive it's pretty simple. I mentioned what I was seeing on the tape talking to a couple NFL scouts.
Starting point is 00:35:48 And to try to simplify it, just study the receivers on the receiving end of Carson Beck's throws. Watch how much work they have to do. That's the big difference. I think his ball placement and accuracy, he's in control. His mental toughness has never been more on display than it was the other night.
Starting point is 00:36:10 Let's give some credit here. It is real easy to go in the tank as a quarterback after you make those mistakes, dealing with that pressure, three quarters in the humidity, everything's going wrong. Your receivers, by the way, I want to get to the receivers in a minute. The receivers are not making plays, they're not separating. And so all of a sudden to be able to hang in there mentally, there's a lot to love there. But if you're studying him just as a quarterback prospect and you're going back and studying that tape and go back and study last year's tape and even early this year. The ball placement is not at that level when you're starting to talk about a quarterback is potentially 2B1 in 2025. Receivers working for it, missing
Starting point is 00:36:52 within the strike zone. And so that's the area he's going to have to improve it. And then under pressure, some of the decisions and the mistakes, just not up to that level. It is a damning first half and two and a half quarters of tape for him. And it's something he's going to have to overcome the rest of the season because it just, instead of going out there and at least playing at the same level for four quarters or maybe like answering some questions about his ball placement and how hard his receivers have to work, he went and he just handed on a platter to NFL scouts. What they were already thinking about him. Does that make sense?
Starting point is 00:37:31 Yeah, I just didn't know if that many people thought he was, I mean, he had three picks, he could have had five. Um, he was not seeing things and then for a long stretch, I was, okay, I think he's, he's like shook up here. So I don't know. I don't know if the scouts are going to go. That was, that was really, really alarming. Or you go, Hey, you know, road game and Tuscaloosa on a Saturday night, give
Starting point is 00:37:54 them credit for coming back and competing. I mean, the fact that they imagine if we're sitting here talking about them winning the game, like, are we allowed to make any of these points about Beck? I just think for somebody. I mean, yeah, that doesn't change. Well, you should have. The tape's the tape. Yeah. It was like that one deep throw that he had to the left side after he'd already thrown a pick, and you're like, what are you looking at? And some of the big completions
Starting point is 00:38:17 that he was getting later on, I don't even know. Maybe I give him credit for those. He had two and a double coverage with the safety coming over. I think one was completed, one was incomplete. And I don't know if I give him credit, cause like, should I give him credit for being that aggressive? Being down and being like, hey, you know what? Like I hope my guy makes the play and he didn't get burned on either of those.
Starting point is 00:38:37 So part of me likes that he was aggressive. But then when you combine that to so many of the throws earlier on, like what the hell is he looking at? Does he not see the linebacker underneath? Does he not see that guy outside of that route? Was he just throwing, not caring about the safety coming over and closing on a sideline shot? I don't know. I don't know the answers to that other than it just was messy, man. I'll tell you the biggest concern I have for Georgia moving forward and like I'm not one of those Monday morning
Starting point is 00:39:07 alarmists and they should only drop a few spots at the second half of the area, but it pulled, you know, pull out like if I'm a coach at Kirby smart has so much to work with in terms of here, like it's so clear cut. Here's what we, here's where we have to improve. You got like, if you guys don't listen to us as coaches now, like what we saw in the first half, we're gonna see more of that down the road in big spots. And number two is, I am so damn proud.
Starting point is 00:39:32 This is the effort, this is the culture, this is what we've built here at Georgia. So it's like, from a coaching standpoint, and Georgia can probably lose another game and still wind up in the college football playoffs. So from a coaching standpoint, it's not the worst thing in the world to have to wake up on Sunday morning and say, these are my circumstances. But from a big picture standpoint, just stepping back and looking at personnel, where's George's difference makers offensively? That was my biggest take
Starting point is 00:40:01 away. Carson Beck, yes, all the things we just talked about, but it's not all Carson Beck. Alabama played a lot of man-to-man coverage. Georgia's receivers just didn't win their one-on-ones. And this isn't something new. Like, in recent years, they had Lad McConkey, not an elite receiver, not a huge game breaker all the time, but a very consistent player, a difference maker, and faster and more explosive than people thought.
Starting point is 00:40:31 But you could rely on him, let's put it that way. They obviously, their tight ends have been outstanding, none better than Brock Bowers. So they've always had the guys they can rely on in big situations. Who are those guys this year? I look at it and it's scary to me. Now, systemically, like big picture, who wants to go, if you're recruiting, who wants to go to Georgia? George Pickens was disgruntled. He's always going to be, that's who he is. But he wasn't happy with what was going on there.
Starting point is 00:41:02 A.D. Mitchell, transfer. Jermaine Burton Burton transfer. Why receivers don't love this offense, period. They'd much rather go to Ohio State, to LSU, to Alabama. Ohio State, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Smith and Jigba, even Marvin Harrison Jr., Ameca, Jeremiah Smith now, Alabama, you go back to that Ford group that was sensational, kind of kicked things off with Jerry Judy, Henry Ruggs, Davante Smith, Waddle, Metchi was after that with Jameson Williams, now Ryan Williams, LSU, you start to go back to all the way to OBJ and Jarvis Landry, Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase, Malik Nabors, Brian Thomas, and now even like Tyron Lacey and Aaron Anderson. And now even Texas too. You can throw Texas in as the fourth one with Sark. So it's only recently receivers want to
Starting point is 00:41:57 go play there. So that's four programs in the country where the elite of the elite are, that's my home if I'm a top prospect of wide receiver. Who's going to Georgia? And that's a problem to me for as great as they are on both sides of the ball at every position quarterback, offensive line, defensive line, linebacker, defensive back, tight ends, they can work with running backs, they can recruit all of those positions that the elite, the highest level. But wide receiver, for the first time we're seeing,
Starting point is 00:42:29 we've always known it hasn't been elite, but for the first time we're seeing, uh-oh, this is like a major personnel flaw for Georgia. Yeah, look, I mean, I've talked about it in the past and they won two national championships while I was pointing out I don't really love their outside guys. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:42:43 So, but it's different now when you don't have two NFL tight ends or at least, you know, who knows? Because they still have recruited, Delta's a big crew and everything. And you know, I think Lovett's okay. And I was looking for him. Yeah, yeah, no, Lovett's a good player, but he's not, he's not even left in terms of like,
Starting point is 00:43:01 reliability, you know? And look, they couldn't run the football yesterday or on Saturday. So that's the other part of it. So, interesting game. How about that Alabama defensive front? You were right. And like, it looks- I love it.
Starting point is 00:43:14 They're clones. Yeah, but like, you know, I love the 23 and 22, James Smith and LT Overton respectively, Tim Keaton, the third. None of them are elite pass rushers, but those guys are stout, they're physical, they're frustrating. Then the linebackers, Diante Lawson, Jahad Campbell. Lawson had the big 11-yard sack, Campbell had the interception.
Starting point is 00:43:43 Those guys, they lead, you know, two leading tacklers for Bama. Like that front seven, you wondered, is it still gonna be, I mean, they got a bunch of dudes, a bunch of dudes. Yeah, and then there's number four, the freshman Roussa who got hurt in the Wisconsin game, but then he came back, he had the forced fumble,
Starting point is 00:43:59 he had a sack in that one. So yeah. I think Overton, as far as the bigger guys up front, that's kind of the one that you're looking at going. 22, right? Yeah. So yeah, I think Overton, as far as the bigger guys up front, that's kind of the one that you're, you're looking at going 22, right? Yeah. Yeah. Will he be the consistent edge guy that's bigger that, you know, can do some
Starting point is 00:44:12 of the stuff that we've seen for that position in the past, but I just feel like in the middle of the field against them is just horrifying. Yeah. Chasing everything down. They're breaking up passes and you know, when linebackers are back there making picks on top of everything else. Um, that Bama defense from the South Florida game to the second half of South Florida game to like now.
Starting point is 00:44:32 There's zero, there's just no concerns anymore. There's no concerns. And I know they were taking shots at the corners. I think number three is somebody maybe you could throw on a little bit there for Bama, but now I'm just, now I'm just getting particular about, you know, I think for most of the time they hold up and look, they took deep shot there and it was working out for Beck until he threw the pick and the end zone the rest of the way. Did you check out much of Ole Miss? Did you
Starting point is 00:44:57 get to see enough of that? I watched it. I was kind of going back and forth and unfortunately, like a couple things I had not studied the tape yet. But Kentucky, I just laugh at people, you know, when they talk about Kentucky and we need a new coach and all that like, scoops is always good for these and they're so consistent. It's like nine, we've talked about before, nine wins every year. Oh, we can't get over the hump. But like, yeah, you're Kentucky and you're winning nine games every year. And you put up fights in these big games. It's what you expect. If Ole Miss is going to lose, it's going to be a letdown game, like a noon kick or just not the hype train, not the excitement for the game. We talked about it last week. It was my screen to watch. I was dying to see against this physical defense. When you have an offense, it's tempo and fast and built on
Starting point is 00:45:52 big plays. And I know they run the football and they have balance, but how are they going to line up for four quarters against a physical and discipline? The biggest word for me is Kentucky is so disciplined. That's what Kentucky does to these types of things. They're physical and they're more disciplined. I would think they would have been able to get up for this one though. Even though it's early, but it's Furman, it's Middle Tennessee, it's Wake, it's Georgia Southern, here we go. I'm not saying any more. That didn't jump out to me. I'm just saying they've got a front-runner feel. I'll just say Ole they've got a front runner feel. I'll just say Ole Miss has a front runner feel to them as a program.
Starting point is 00:46:28 You know, there's a lot of social media. There's a lot of like, you know, splash. There's a lot of recruitment. You know, Lane Kiffin is the best in the country as a head coach in terms of like the excitement and you're constantly showing up on my feed and he's flying private planes to the places and he's stealing players like all that stuff, not stealing. You see players that want to transfer nil it's illegal now i get it but like i'm foreign get in trouble i'm just saying no no i understand right if he was sitting right next
Starting point is 00:46:55 to me we we could laugh about it like he just loves like those those hey um you know here's more private planes landing here at this airport so it just just has a feel. I don't know. What's it? What's it built on? And I don't know. It just, I, well, while the outcome was surprising and Alan and Ole Miss is clearly the more talented team, it wasn't shocking. It wasn't shocking. This is the kind of game I feel like they're going to lose every once in a while. Yeah. I wanted to see them get up for this one and, uh, you know, they're still ranked in the top 12 and I did my rankings and I dropped them out
Starting point is 00:47:30 cause I just think this loss is worse than Michigan's lost Texas to a cease loss. Schedule the rest of the way. I haven't looked at it. Do you haven't? I'm just curious. Like, I mean, they got one lost season. They're going to, they're going to come back. I don't know how treacherous their schedule is. They're at South Carolina, which I think after the Kentucky game, there's no guarantee. They're at LSU. They've got Oklahoma, Arkansas, home against Georgia, at Florida, and they close with Mississippi State.
Starting point is 00:48:02 So they're not, it's not brutal, but it's also not. They could be a three loss team though. They could lose to South Carolina. They could lose to LSU. I would think they'd have enough offense to outpace Oklahoma. I see them losing one of those three games and then losing to Georgia and now you're a three loss team. And it's like, this is the year. Remember like Jackson Darts back. You got, I mean, all the talent, Trey Harris is back, they recruited so well, transfers, all of it.
Starting point is 00:48:31 Hey, were you alarmed with Cam Ward's game or did you love his game on Friday night against Virginia Tech? I was alarmed, I thought it was sloppy, and what did we talk about last week? That's what Scott and I talked to, like let's pump the brakes a little bit, supremely talented, there's no question. First round, yeah, sure, we can talk about first round, but like, let's
Starting point is 00:48:51 just let's let let's factor history into this. And he's done this before Washington State. And it's still September, but the quote was, unbelievable September, but when you get into conference play, and it's week in week out, how's he going to perform? And this was kind of, I felt like an early sneak peek to what scouts I've talked to are a little bit concerned about. Is it going to be consistency week in and week out? Is he going to cut down on some of the mistakes that puts him in a bind and can put his offense into a bind? So definitely some, you know, ring some bells, some concern. I still love his game. I still think that he's, you know, he's grown and developed. I still think he's in the discussion with the top quarterbacks. You know,
Starting point is 00:49:35 it wasn't anything like that. It wasn't damning like Carson Beck in the first half against Alabama. But, but you know, definitely do kind of keep an eye on it. Do you think it was a catch? Yeah, you didn't. I couldn't tell. I thought the tape, the replays were hard. I thought the one from like the one camera angle for poster, like the goalpost looking in
Starting point is 00:50:01 was the clearest. There were a lot of arms there and the ball kind of got lost. I was surprised I honestly like if you just had to Make a guess like you're not based off the camera angles I would have said I'm not sure it's a catch like I think if there's a really good chance That it was kind of coming loose But I also thought because it was a rule to touch down on the field that it was going to be the play of stance. I was shocked when they overturned it, to be honest. Yeah, it felt like an assumption call because you know how you see the replay and you're
Starting point is 00:50:33 like, okay, well that didn't happen, but then it's like, do we know? Can you prove it? So you just never feel like the assumption call goes the other way. And that's the case there. Heisman Eliminator first round went this way. Todd took Milro, which I laughed at. If I remember, it was followed by, that's a mistake. Yeah, yeah. And look at you now. Thank you. I mean, where's sorudy when I need it?
Starting point is 00:51:06 We need some audio playback on that. I mean, you're literally- Yeah, no, I think we'll have it because Milro is gonna continue to put up numbers. And with that kind of win, like I don't even know what the odds are now. If I look up the Heisman odds, I bet you he's like third or something now.
Starting point is 00:51:21 I think number two, I would, go ahead. I would say two. You're gonna say two? Yeah. Cam Ward was a leader. I'd imagine he could, oh, Milro's now the favorite. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:51:32 Yeah. Is it still a joke? Look, I can't, I mean, look. Who's the joke now, Rossello? That's funny. It's plus 200 now. There you go. Cam Ward was plus 350 the favorite before. Now he's down to plus 500. I'm so low. That's funny. It's plus 200 now. Dan Ward was a plus three 50 to favorite before now he's down to plus 500.
Starting point is 00:51:50 All right. So, um, I can go first because you went first last week and so how's this work? I can keep anyone on my list. I want, I can get discard. You can, you can keep anyone. You can just say, Hey, I don't want to change anything I'm good okay or I can make a move first so I can't take one of your guys unless you drop one of your guys so I just want to make sure that I was clear that the audience is clear with the parameters of this situation. Well, cause I have Travis Hunter, I'm not taking Chador, even though Colorado, is there a new Colorado conversation to have here?
Starting point is 00:52:32 Yeah, we're running the football. Everyone's excited. Do I take the Boise State running back? I don't know. All right. So I'm gonna drop back. And I think I will take this is like, I didn't think I'd be doing this as soon. I'm gonna take your door. Okay. So I have two color. I'm Mr. Colorado again after I think I
Starting point is 00:53:01 said they suck two weeks ago. Yeah. So I've got currently my roster is Jalen Milro, Cam Ward, and Nico. Yep. I'm going to drop Nico for now. And I'm going to take Ashton Genti, who you alluded to the boys, you stay running back who like, I don't have his numbers up. What is it? 470 now it's more than that. It's like 600 something rushing yards.
Starting point is 00:53:29 I'm like 850 for her. Yeah. He's like 200 ahead of everybody else. 800 and what 845 actually 10 yards per carry. I mean, there's, they're just stupid. The Caleb Johnson for Iowa is number two. He's been great. Like if we still love running backs as much as we used to,
Starting point is 00:53:46 or if we loved Big Ten running backs, like Caleb Johnson probably would get a mention before week six. Yeah, so I got Melrose Ward and Gentie, and like it's gonna be hard for you to come back. I mean, you got Hunter. Hunter, you're holding on to. Yeah, but I like having yours
Starting point is 00:54:05 Okay, so I'm actually gonna drop chador and pick up Nico Ia. Maliava. Okay, so you you played right into my hands I did I was going to defer and let you make the move first hoping that you were gonna drop Nico and then I Was like no just make a move so he doesn't think that you'll do that I just don't like to say Iam Aliava every single week. You just nailed it though. You finally got it. So I'm happy for you. All right.
Starting point is 00:54:31 One last thought before we let you go here. Cause we have to talk Jane Daniels. Yeah. This is, as much as anybody could like them, this is a lot. Like I'm wondering if Cliff's gonna get another head coaching gig at some point. I was reading Sando this morning. It's like, I think Cliff took a little bit too much heat in Arizona. Maybe I'm a little biased because I like him, but I was like,
Starting point is 00:54:54 well, you know, he's brought in for a specific reason. And I think those specific reasons kind of worked out and Kyler gets hurt all the time. So like, you know, and there he, here he is, like the week one, Jaden versus what we saw the Cincinnati game was like the wake up call of like, oh my God, and you look at the pace of their scoring and the completion percentage. How real is this? Cause I'll look and I'm gonna give you credit here too. When we were debating all the Caleb Jayden stuff,
Starting point is 00:55:19 I remember late momentum for you going, the more you look at it, the more you kind of talk to people about it, there's a real like Jayden's probably, there's a lot of people that felt Jayden was the guy over Caleb. Yes. And I told you based off of last year's tape alone that Jayden was the guy. And I told you the story about being on the sideline with Brian Kelly and talking about how he was going to let it rip in the Tennessee game and they got
Starting point is 00:55:41 blown out. But he's like, the light kind of turned on in that game. And from that point on, he started to trust his readers and trust himself. And I saw so much progress in his development, in like that year and a half span, right? Last year, his tape was significantly better than Caleb Williams. And so, you know, when I was done with the tape, I remember getting on with you and being like, I don't know, man. Like, it's tough because what I'm seeing, it's like tangible versus Caleb. The special moments are so special.
Starting point is 00:56:18 It's more of a toss up. And then I started making the calls, as you alluded to, and there was real debate. And there were some teams, I told you, flat out, like, Jaden would be our guy if we were in position to draft him, but we're not. And so any, you know, talking to teams up at the top, they're not going to talk about the quarterback because that's their, you know, they're in position to make a play. But other teams, like legitimately are like, no, Jayden's our guy. So that was real. Now let's get to what's important. I always look at it through the lens, okay, what can we learn? What can we glean from this? I think a couple things stand out. First of all, what the situation you go into, Mike Denbrock, now at Notre Dame, I believe, as the
Starting point is 00:56:58 offensive coordinator, he was with Jaden. Similar system. So when you get to the next level, are you coming into something brand new? Is all the verbiage the same? Are the progression reads the same? Are they different? How big of a transition do you have from what you did in college to the NFL? He was in basically the same system.
Starting point is 00:57:16 So that transition was not that steep. It was not that big of a learning curve for him. That's critical. Second thing that's critical, 55 starts. And it's so simple. And I get it, there are outliers occasionally, but not as much as you would think. Like CJ Stroud, everyone's like,
Starting point is 00:57:32 well, he's kind of the outlier. It wasn't four years, it wasn't 40 plus starts. But he still has 25 starts. And so yeah, if you want to call him the outlier, that's fine, there's always going to be an outlier. But if you start to go back and really study the history, and this is one of Parcell's things, and I think the numbers have increased now with guys transferring and moving around and finding the right spot and getting them to play more.
Starting point is 00:57:53 But I think it's going to, like, for me, if I'm recruiting and I'm trying to go out and get a transfer quarterback, come here, you got two years to play, or whatever, whatever you're pitching. You got one more year to play. Come here and make a million or $2 million in NIL money versus, and I know it's always about, we'll get the clock started. And agents are always pitching to get the clock started,
Starting point is 00:58:14 to get that second contract in the NFL. But you know what, if I'm making a couple million or a million and a half, or even just a million dollars at college, there's not quite that, you know, quite as much pull to go get that second contract because I'm starting to see guys
Starting point is 00:58:28 that have experience and have success early on in their career. 55 starts, 29 in Arizona State I think, and 26 at LSU or maybe FFUP. So to me, you've got to learn from those sorts of things. And Jayden, that experience shows up. The lack of a huge transition from one system in college to the NFL, it shows up
Starting point is 00:58:52 and it allows and affords success. But then just Jayden himself, if he can protect himself and stay healthy, it's only going to continue on this arc. And I'm not saying every week is going to be perfect and all that, but like he's arrived. This is who he is. He's comfortable with his weapons.
Starting point is 00:59:11 He's comfortable with the system, his accuracy, his ball placement, his movement inside the pocket and his running skills are, but that's all real. That's not going to change. So keeping healthy in his frame with his mobility is going to be the key. You can say that for everyone. A scout gets so mad when you're like, well, if he stays healthy, no shit if he stays healthy. Right?
Starting point is 00:59:32 That's always the response. I have it ringing in my head. Cause every time I talk to a scout, they're like, well, you said if he stays healthy, no shit if he stays healthy. We all think that. But there are certain guys that are more prone to injuries in terms of their play style their body type
Starting point is 00:59:47 I worry about that, but I don't worry about anything that I'm seeing on tape right now It's it like he's so advanced beyond a rookie quarterback. It's like this is his second or third year It's incredible. The numbers are incredible and makes you rethink what is possible in the entire division. Thank you, Todd Love you, bud. Okay, that'll do it for us. We will have a slightly changed schedule, but Wednesday's show with Chris Long, well, that'll be on Wednesday because we're gonna be doing it Tuesday night.
Starting point is 01:00:13 All right, and then we'll be back to normal on Friday. So please subscribe and watch us live on FanDuel TV or YouTube. Ryan Roussela're here at Spotify. Must be 21 and older, present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in DC gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut or visit md gambling help dot org in Maryland hope is here visit gambling help line ma.org or call 800-327-5050 for
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