Right now, we're pleased to welcome former NFL QB and Super Bowl champion Sean King, who is fresh off a show recently that he does for Visa Network and that's based in Las Vegas, which is where we catch up with him now.
Sean, thanks so much for a couple of minutes. I feel like this is a curveball. We should be used to those with the NFL. Jimmy Garoppolo staying with the San Francisco 49ers, restructuring his contract. So now that it's had a couple of hours to sink in, what's your reaction after all the trade talk? He's not going anywhere.
Well, Amy, first of all, thank you for having me. I actually think this is the absolute 100% right move. Let me give you a comparable statistic. Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 3,800 yards in last year alone. Since 2018, Trey Lance has thrown for a total of about 3,500 yards. So you're talking about a young player that doesn't have a lot of experience playing the quarterback position. I remember two years ago when I looked at what they gave up to trade up to take him, I just didn't think that his maturation and growth process would fit with the rest of their roster makeup, because they have a Super Bowl caliber roster.
But I also knew that John Lynch didn't want to extend Jimmy Garoppolo for $200 plus million dollars because of his injury history. So I think this is the absolute right move. If Trey Lance is ready, then it's his job.
If he isn't, no harm, no foul. Garoppolo gives us the best chance in that scenario to still compete at the level the rest of our roster says. And next year, it'll be Trey Lance's job, unquestioned, and we'll just have to ride with the results. Well, let's start with the Garoppolo piece. Are you then investing in this young QB because you want him to get better, or is this still a competition in your eyes? Well, it's always a competition, but I think the great thing about this situation that I don't think has been a part of the national conversation is Jimmy and Trey are both great guys. You know, there's been a situation like Cleveland where you have people in the locker room saying, you know, Baker's worn out his welcome. You know, it's not a situation like Carolina last year, where Bobby Anderson comes out and says he doesn't think Sam Donald can do it.
He hasn't heard any internal issues. So I think that helps the situation. And you know, Trey is kind of in the same position that Jimmy was in last year. You know, here was Jimmy coming off of leading the team to a Super Bowl berth two years prior and they traded up to take a quarterback in the first round.
And Jimmy went out and did his job. So I think that was a great example for Trey about how to handle and balance the fact that I'm competing for the job, but also both of us are what's best for the team. Having two really good quarterbacks is better than having one. I think we've seen that in the NFL. I'm so glad you said that because I have compared the situation in Cleveland, Baker's exit with the way that Jimmy Garoppolo has handled his business in San Francisco, but also the fact that you do not hear one bad word about Jimmy G from his teammates or about Trey Lance. It seems like their teammates are real comfortable with the situation too, which obviously helps inside the locker room.
Absolutely. And I mean, the difference in this situation, if I was managing Trey Lance, I was an agent, I say, Trey, listen, this is the best, best situation for us. It's your team.
You get to go out and if you're ready for this responsibility, then it's yours. But Trey, if you're not, and you just need more time, then Garoppolo still allows the team to reach their full potential this year. And then a situation where they're ever going to consider giving Garoppolo what the starting quarterback market says he would get. So it's going to be your team. And what I think is really smart, so much of being a successful young quarterback is confidence. This protects Trey, if it gets off to a bad start from being ruined.
Interesting. Sean King is a former NFL QB and a Superbowl champion with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. So Sean, then if you are Kyle Shanahan, what signs are you looking for that you need to make a change? Well, I don't think you're going to it with that approach. I think you're going to it thinking Trey is ready. We're going to expose him, you know, to what we would normally expose our quarterback to from a scheme standpoint, from a game plan standpoint, we're not going to put speedometer on him. You know, we're going to let him go out and play.
And one, last year he started two games, got injured in the second game. If that was to happen this year, we're protected because we have Jimmy. But if it seems like it's too much too soon, he's getting overwhelmed because of his inexperience. We can tell him, listen, we're going to play Jimmy.
We'll have a few packages for you and still gain experience, but also not compromise. What's the ultimate objective of every organization, which is to win games? We've got a situation in Pittsburgh where it's a rookie in Kenny Pickett clearly has had a good preseason, but there's a couple of veterans on the staff and maybe Mike Tomlin already knows who he will start in week number one. But what do you think of that quarterback competition so far? Well, I think this is kind of the antipathy for what the San Francisco fan base seems mad that they have two what people think are pretty good quarterbacks, one potential, you know, one is proving it Pittsburgh related. I mean, I love Big Ben Robertsberger, but Big Ben's been shot for two, three years. Like they're so happy to have capable bodies that can move out of the pocket, avoid the rush, run around, make plays.
They don't know what to do. They're in a great position. You have Mitchell Trubisky and what is truly a contract year, a guy that I think doesn't get enough credit. I mean, in Chicago, he was really not that bad to be honest, Amy, 61 touchdowns.
I think 34 picks in his career. It's not his fault that Chicago drafted him ahead of Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahone. That was the biggest thing against Mitchell Trubisky, his entire career there. We could have had Deshaun Watson. We could have had Patrick Mahone. I think this is a great opportunity for him after sitting under Josh Allen last year to really reinvent, you know, his image to recreate the narrative around his career. At the same time, they got a really talented young quarterback from Pittsburgh and Kenny Pickens.
So if Trubisky isn't ready to take that jump, then guess what? You have a young guy that can grow with young pieces. See, to me, the difference between Pittsburgh and San Francisco is Pittsburgh's key components are young. Chase Claypool, George Pickens, Najee Harris, all relatively really young players. Even Deontay Johnson is not an old guy, so they can grow. Whereas San Francisco, Deebo Samuels, George Kittles, Trey Williams, like those guys are older, like they're in win now mode. So two completely different situations. I like both quarterback rooms for both organizations.
Hopefully I'll help both fan bases come around. You use the word jump to speak about a rookie quarterback as he's trying to acclimate himself to pro football. What's the biggest challenge facing a young QB when he is trying to prove that he belongs?
Expectations, Amy. I mean, it's the most unfair situation a young quarterback could ever be in. That's what Trey Lance is in this year. Tell me what was Zach Wilson's best and worst games last year. Tell me what were Trevor Lawrence's best and worst games last year.
Like nobody knows because nobody cares. They got to go out there every Sunday. Let me see if I can make this throw. Let me see if I can make that throw. Let me see if I really understand defensively what they're doing by audible.
And if they were wrong, okay, so be it. This was a developmental growth year. If Trey Lance played bad in the opener against Chicago, that will lead every national football show in this country. Like that scrutiny, that level of expectation is what ruins a lot of quarterbacks. The way this thing was set up initially young quarterback came into a bad team, got a chance to beat Troy Aikman in year one, got a chance to beat Peyton Manning in year one, throwing what, 28 interceptions?
And nobody cared because it was building for the future. Expectation to me is the toughest obstacle for a young quarterback and Trey Lance has been in a situation where the Niners have a whole lot of it. You actually bring up Trevor Lawrence and he's making a jump into a new coaching regime, new system.
A guy who was QB when he was in the league in Doug Peterson versus an urban Meyer that we know a lot of issues, mismanaged there. How much will this mean for Trevor Lawrence's development in the NFL to have a guy who not only has played the position, but is serious about coaching the team? Well, I mean, anytime a quarterback comes into that dumpster fire of a situation that last year was for the Jacksonville Jaguars, I mean, everything outside of there has to look funny and bright, right? The fact that Doug Peterson is a former quarterback, you know, enhances the situation even more because now you have somebody that's played the position that can help in your development. So I do expect Trevor Lawrence to take a huge jump.
I don't love what Jacksonville did in the off season. I feel like they overpaid for marginal type talent. I'm glad that Christian Kirk got the bad, but I don't think on anybody that's rational, you think Christian Kirk's the number one. I'd make some arguments that he's probably not a number two wide receiver in this league. So I don't really know that he's surrounded by elite talent, like say a tour who has Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle who caught 100 balls last year, and they brought in Chase Edmonds and Raheem Mostert as a legit tight end into second. I mean, I don't think he has that kind of supporting group, but I do think he's extremely talented for a quarterback his size. I think he has an elite arm, and I do think he has a much better level of consistency and professionalism throughout the organization. We're spending a few minutes with Sean King, former NFL QB and host on the Vison Network from Las Vegas, and we'll get into that in a second because he's actually about to make a big change.
It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. So I gotta ask you this because you played in the league. You were a quarterback. The NFL top 100 is chosen by players, and the players themselves put Tom Brady as the number one guy on the NFL top 100. I'm not saying the guy isn't amazing. Obviously, his longevity alone speaks for itself, the hardware and all of that jazz, and had a really good season. In your opinion, though, as a former NFL QB and actually one that played in Tampa, is he number one in the NFL? I think Tom Brady is the greatest overachiever in the history of professional sports. If you go back and look at Tom Brady's combined picture, he looked like he avoided the weight room all four or five years at Michigan. You could never look at that picture and think that in 2022, at the age of 45, he'd have seven championships, three MVPs, and be coming off of the year he had last year, what he's over 5,040 touchdowns. I mean, it's phenomenal.
It's amazing. He's married to what I think is almost a billionaire. I mean, he's winning in every aspect of life. This is a situation where they're giving him his flowers while he's still playing. Hat tip to Tom Brady, well-deserved, much earned.
So then it's a sign of respect from the rest of the league to make him number one. Absolutely. Absolutely. 100%. Sean King is with Visa Network in Las Vegas, spending a few minutes with us here after our CBS Sports Radio.
Couple of maybe storylines or topics that we haven't touched on that really pique your interest as we're about to kick off the 2022 season. I think it's disrespectful that the win total on the Pittsburgh Steelers is seven and a half. So for those of you listening that like to make money, Mike Tomlin has been the head coach in Pittsburgh for 15 years. He's never, ever had a losing record. Now I'm not a mathematician, but they're playing 17 games, eight and ones.
The only way he doesn't have a losing record, the total is seven and a half. I think this Pittsburgh team is vastly underrated. I think they win 10 push 11 games. I do think that roster is legit offensively with weaponry and with Brian Flores being added to help on the defensive side, kind of show up that run game.
That was a bit more last year. I like Pittsburgh to be a borderline playoff team, probably in the playoffs. Secondly, I am buying Jamis Winston and the New Orleans saints. I actually have them in the Superbowl playing against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. I love what the saints have done.
Nobody's talking about them. They got one of the top five defenses in football. Dennis Allen is now the head coach.
That's not going to change. They kept Carmichael. Carmichael was with Sean Payton from day one in New Orleans. So nothing changed schematically on offense. He has one of the best quartets of offensive weapons. Mike Thomas is back healthy. They added Jarvis Landry, drafted Chris Alave. Alvin Kamara is there. I'm telling you, last year when Jamis got hurt, 14 touchdowns, three picks. Jamis is my dark horse MVP candidate this year, Amy. Thanks, Bills in Arizona playing for it all.
All right. I promise you're never going to hear that anywhere else except for Sean King. So that's fun to do that here on our show. What do you remember about the emotions of these last few days before the season would kick off? Well, first of all, you're hoping you didn't get called today because I think today was cut day.
Yes. You know, the first thing is hopefully I made it. And secondly is let's get it going. Like, man, the off-season is so tiring and so monotonous. I got OTAs and I got training camp and I got preseason games. I don't really want to play, but I kind of need to get a couple snaps, but I don't want to go full speed. I don't want to get hurt. Now we get to actually play where it matters.
Like these statistics actually go towards me getting more money if I do well. So like, this is that time of year. Everybody's excited. Everybody's fired up, you know, all this work in the off season.
You finally get to showcase to America who you are and what you're about. So, I mean, it's a very exciting moment. And when you look at the fact that this time last year, who thought Cincinnati was going to be a Superbowl participant, right? Every team in NFL, Amy has expectations. I even had some Jets fans telling me that Joe Flacco is going to lead them to something and Zach Wilson is going to take over. Like it's the most delusional group of fan bases in the world. Cowboy fans still believe this is their year.
No shot. Patriots fans believe that Matt Patricia is going to win like coordinator of the year calling all. Like, it's great. It's a phenomenal time to be a football fan. It is. And I always tell fans the first month, freaking tap the brakes.
Nobody's winning the Superbowl in September, but people go crazy over it. All right, you just wrapped up a show that you'd been hosting for a year called the Nightcap on Visa Network. What's next for you, Sean? So shout out to everybody that listened to the Nightcap, watched the Nightcap. If you don't know, Visa can be viewed. It's actually a television show on YouTube, TV on Fubo and Hulu. Also, if you subscribe, you can watch the shows via the app. It's also a radio show that's syndicated across our country.
You can download the Vson, V-S-I-N app for free and listen. Myself and my partner in crime, Tim Murray, are moving to 6 to 9 Eastern, 3 to 6 Pacific, a new show called Vson Prime Time. If you want to make some extra money, you get to listen to the best sports handicappers this country has to offer. Get what we think about Thursday Night Football, what we think about the upcoming weekend in college and pro.
If you're a baseball fan, our show comes on before those seven o'clock games. And listen, last thing I got for you, Amy, we have what we call the College and Pro Begging Guide. So if you go to vson.com backslash subscribe, we've done all the work for you.
You don't have to research Ryan Holinsky at Northwestern. We told you that Northwestern was going to cover the 12 versus Nebraska, but you got to buy the guide. I'm saying in the guide that thanks for going to the Super Bowl. So you can find out all this information if you go to vson.com backslash subscribe. Amy, you don't have all that extra time to go through 100 plus college teams and look at all these 32 NFL rosters and know what's what.
Just get the guide. It is just a taste of what you'll get with Sean and Tim on their show on Visa Network. Again, moving to three to six Pacific, six to nine Eastern Time. You can find Sean on Twitter at Real Sean King, S-H-A-U-N.
It's a former NFL QB, a member of that Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl championship going back to Super Bowl 37. It's great to catch up with you. You're welcome anytime. Thank you, Sean. Hey, Amy, thanks for having me. It's been a blast. You're awesome at what you do. I don't know who your favorite team is, but I hope they go above and beyond what you expect.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-01-30 21:38:51 / 2023-01-30 21:46:25 / 8