Yes, you are. Welcome in, everybody. This is David Shepard in for the great JR Sport Friend. And it's great to be with you, however and wherever you may be listening from. You could be in your car, you could be in your truck, you could be checking us out on the Odyssey app for free.
You can be getting us on SiriusXM Channel 375. You can be getting us on a particular smart speaker device, or maybe potentially your local affiliate, however you choose to consume us on the Infinity Sports Network. It is always a pleasure to be with you. Always a pleasure to be alongside Ryan Bacher. And we got a lot to discuss, to get into these next four hours in terms of what is going on in the interesting, compelling world of sports.
We will certainly talk about Mike Vrabel shaking things up. Shake it. Oops.
Sorry, I had to do it. We will talk about. The cults and the expectations. With third-year starter Anthony Richardson? Is that going to be the case in a few weeks from now with Daniel Jones niffing at the heels of Anthony Richardson?
We'll certainly talk. Texas versus Ohio State. What a showdown that is going to be on August 30th to kick off the college football season. Ryan Day had some comments on who is going to be the potential starter. Alabama definitely had some comments on who is going to be their starter in 2025.
Hi, Ty Simpson. And so much to get into in terms of the world of baseball. and the Milwaukee Brewers. cannot, will not. Lose.
Winners of 13 of their last 14, 25 of their last 30. It is insane. What the Brewers continuously are doing with a payroll that is in the one-third bottom of baseball, where they have just one guy making more than $10 million per season that is currently playing for them right now. And the fact that they have never had a season in their 55-year history of 100 wins, they are on pace to go for 102. And who knows, they may get to 120 with the way they are rolling lately.
So, so much to get into on the busy program. Ryan Botcher, it's good to be with you again, brother. How you doing? I'm doing good. How are you?
I'm doing good, man. I got no complaints. Obviously, we saw the news of Jordan Love, so we'll get into that. Bacher, are you, before we even get into... our first topic at hand.
Let me ask you a quick question. Are the brewers? The favorites in your mind. to win the World Series right now? Or are they peaking?
too soon. In my mind, I'm going to say they're not the World Series favorites just because. Of playoff experience, they didn't get past the wild card last year. That's true. Peter Lonzo had something to say about that.
That is true. And then when you look at it, I know. they're on a really, really hot streak. But then when you come down to it, you're looking for guys who are proven winners and consistent in the playoffs. Freddy Peralta, you could say, is not that consistent.
Mizarowski, injured, he might come back. We don't know what's going to happen there. And a true rookie at that. And then you look at their bullpen. Trevor McGill is your closer.
Sure. Other than that, Do you trust all of those arms? In high pressure situations. Did you trust the 2023 Texas Rangers? I didn't.
I re but the the Rangers were such a special case to me. Where it was like all of the bats got hot. Adolis Garcia was insane, and then Nathan Avaldi, but he got hurt. He did. And what was his World Series experience?
That's true. I'm just playing devil's advocate. You're making a very compelling case of why the Milwaukee Brewers, when it's all said and done, are not going to be World Series champions in 2025. But I want to give hope, Botcher. I want to look at this from a perspective of: hey, I mean, talk about the Diamondbacks.
I mean, did Kurt Schilling have World Series experience? No, we know he lost a World Series in 93 with the Phillies, right? But we know he wasn't able to come out victorious. Did Randy Johnson have World Series experience at the time? Did Mark Grace?
Did Luis Gonzalez? Did Tony Womack? You get the point. Did Matt Williams?
So against the big bag Yankees going for four straight. That's true. The only thing to say about that, though, is. The Brewers, the names, Isaac Count's rookie. Walk off.
Okay. Bryce Terrain. Yeah. You're talking about guys who are. They're not Yeah.
Star stars. They're not stars. They're just A little bit above average good players. I love how you're going with the guys that had the biggest impact on the Brewers the last two games, by the way. I know, because that's just what they do, like Isaac Collins, Bryce Terang, they have Caleb Derb.
It's like there's so many people on the team where you could ask someone who doesn't watch baseball and they have no idea. who they are. I understand they're winning a ton of regular season games. But I don't know how that translates into the postseason.
Okay, well that that's a fair point. And Ryan Bacher brings up experience being a necessity. And I'm glad that he led us to that because Right now. is a really wonderful time in the NFL. Right?
Everybody is optimistic. About their particular squad. Let's be honest, half of Cleveland right now. Thinks that they're Super Bowl bound within five years with Shador Sanders. I'm not making that up.
So it is a very optimistic time in the NFL season because you never know. what is going to transpire. And we have a lot of good and qualified first-year head coaches, some completely new. Others not new as a head coach, but new with their respective organization. A la Pete Carroll with the Raiders, a la Mike Rabel with the Patriots.
But I want to focus on this particular coach because everything you're seeing, everything that I am hearing this is going to be a completely different season for the New York Jets. And somewhere out there, Joe Willie Namath is doing cartwheels. Probably not physically anymore. The guy is nearly eighty years old, but at least metaphorically.
So Aaron Glenn I understand he has not coached one regular season game for the New York Jets. We understand he's only coached one pre-season game in which they looked very good. Courtesy of Justin Fields, three or four from the field, a 13-yard rushing touchdown. He was brilliant in just one series. There is real palpable buzz around this team that is omnipresent.
And you it really starts with the physical practices. And it's something that was absent and bereft of the Jets for quite some time, especially under Robert Sala. And it's not lost on NFL fans that the last time that you really witnessed physical practices like this, you got to go back to the days of Rex Ryan. I'm not talking about ESPN analyst Rex Ryan when he's vouching for the Jets job for his second stand. I'm talking about when Rex Ryan was in his prime before he was making Adam Sandler movies and getting the Jets to back-to-back AFC title game appearances.
That's the last time the Jets have had this kind of intensity. In practice, and we all know. They have the longest drought of any North American professional sports team in terms of making the playoffs, 15 years and counting. And there's a lot of teams that are in that equation, 124 to be exact. 32 in the NFL, 32 in the NHL, 30 in the MLB and NBA.
And Garrett Wilson He's already taking notice of this. And he's referenced that this has been the hardest that he's been coached since his days at Ohio State. And the main theme that continuously comes up is accountability. And when you have the longest playoff drought of any team in North American professional sports, You're missing plenty of it. And that seemed to be something that Robert Sala could never grasp.
It's why the Jets didn't even wait to fire him at the end of the season. They did it five games into his third.
So the accountability is clearly something that Aaron Glenn has embraced from day one. I mean, you remember everyone's favorite quarterback. I say that tongue-in-cheek, of course. Aaron Rodgers, you know, he skipped minicamp last year. And why?
Was he dealing with an urgent family matter? No. He was vacationing in Egypt. How many consequences do you think he faced? Zero.
If Ryan Botcher and I wanted to, you know, skip out on something to go to Egypt, we would face more consequences than Aaron Rodgers did. That I will tell you. This wouldn't happen under Aaron Glenn. And remember when Hassan Reddick infamously held out half the season and was still somehow praised by the coaching staff for being quote-unquote unselfish? I wish you could see the quotations I'm doing with my fingers right now.
Come on now. The guy held out and he's being praised by the coaching staff as being unselfish upon his return. That's a joke. There's no way that that would fly with Aaron Glenn. And Garrett Wilson.
He spoke about the impact of the first year head coach for the New York Jets, and he realized it from Jump. For me, it was just getting in front of him, meeting him. He's done this thing. He's played at a high level. He's been a Jet before, which is, for me, is huge, man.
These things that are problems we may have had these first three years and the obstacles he's just being a player in the league he's went through that he can relate. Look, it's not just the intensity of the drills or the tackling that's a noticeable change. You know, he talked about Garrett Wilson, Aaron Glenn being there, done that.
So he understands how important it is to simulate what happens in practice to games. And he's bringing referees to camp to officiate practices. That was a lot different during their mini-camp. It's something obviously that never took place under Robert Sala. You would think this is a bash Robert Salah segment.
It's not. It's just to highlight and really emphasize the disparity between 2024 in the Jets start to their season versus 2025. And Glenn understands, you know, right from jump, there's clearly a lack of discipline with this franchise for quite some time. It's a reason why the last two seasons, the most penalized team in the NFL. Was the New York Jets.
And what Aaron Glenn understands is: if you're going to be a leader of men, you can't tiptoe around egos. It doesn't matter if it's Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Pennsylvania. Caton Manning, and that seemed to be the biggest problem in 2024. You're telling me that if Andy Reid wanted to embrace Patrick Mahomes or if Sean McDermott, and I know he's not exactly everyone's favorite coach right now in Buffalo, wanted to embrace Josh Allen, if John Harbaugh wanted to embrace Lamar Jackson, that they would be met with a stiff arm by their quarterback? No.
Aaron Rodgers seemed to do whatever he wanted. With this organization. And when Aaron Glenn got there, he shut that down in 10 minutes.
So obviously New York has not played a single down in the regular season, but there is genuine reasons to be excited about the foundation that is being laid out. And you got to love the immediate confidence that we saw and witnessed from Justin Fields in his first and only possession in game number one of the preseason. And it starts from the top. These guys are being held accountable. And look, I know that the greatest coach in NFL history is Vince Lombardi.
He never played in the NFL, had a hell of a career at Fordham, never played in the NFL. Bill Belichick, he played lacrosse in college, the greatest head coach of my lifetime.
So you don't necessarily have to play in the NFL in order to gain trust and credibility with your players, but it does go a long way, as Garrett Wilson referenced. And not just Aaron Glenn, the player, because obviously we know he's got roots with this Jets organization. And he wasn't just any guy. He was a three-time Pro Bowl cornerback. And most Jets fans will tell you this, most fans that remember those 90s, you know, in the AFC East days, you know, he was one of the greatest defensive players this franchise has ever seen.
But he doesn't just have credibility from a player perspective. Look at what he did turning around the Detroit Lions. They became a top 10 defensive squad under him with all the injuries. And obviously, we remember Aiden Hutchinson being chief among them. And it was a defense that ultimately led the Lions to the best record they have had in franchise history at 15-2.
And that was coming off of a franchise best 12 wins in 2023.
So instant credibility. For multiple reasons when it comes to Aaron Glenn. And I know there's a lot of new head coaches that we feel are going to make a tremendous impact. Speaking of Lions coordinators, not just defensively, but offensively. The Chicago Bears have a new headman in charge in Ben Johnson.
And obviously, he's going to be a significant upgrade to Matt Eberflues. Who are we kidding? The tree outside this building would be an upgrade for Matt Eberflus. I don't mean to be too harsh, but the reality is Matt Eberflues was getting worse with time. We also see a potential Hall of Fame coach in Pete Carroll.
He's the new man in charge with the Raiders. You got to love the impact that he's potentially going to have. Mike Rabel returning to his former stomping ground in New England. You know, he had tremendous success there as a player, a former all-pro defensive player and a three-time Super Bowl champion. He's going to have a great impact.
And then some lesser names, you know, coming into the fold, like Liam Cohen in Jacksonville, Brian Schottenheimer. Still don't understand why the heck he has that job. He just happened to be in the hallway, but I got to mention him. And then, of course, you have Kellen Moore for the New Orleans. Orleans Saints.
You got a lot of good names that are coming into their respective first season with their franchise. They're going to make a difference. But I can't help but think the biggest difference maker that you will see. As a new head coach in the NFL is going to be Aaron Glenn. And in part because of how far.
The New York Jets have fallen. Number to get aboard is 888-710-4ISN. That is 888-710-4476. Here's my question to you. Of all the new head coaches this upcoming season, and I include the ones that have former head coaching experience, whether it be someone like a Mike Rabel, a Pete Carroll.
Who do you envision having the biggest impact in the upcoming 2025 NFL season? Obviously, there's a lot of names to choose from. Who is going to be the biggest difference maker in your eyes? Again, number to get aboard, 888-710-4ISN, 888-710-4476. If you can't get through our busy phone lines, you can always follow me, reach out to me at SHEP on Air, whether it be Twitter or Instagram.
When we get back. There's another huge potential impact that's going to take place in the same division. With the new coach. We will touch on that next. This is the Good Shepherd, in for the great JR Sport Brief, right here on the Infinity Sports Network, along with the very esteemable Ryan Vacher, and we're coming right back.
You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. Here's David Shepard. Welcome back, everybody. This indeed is David Shepard. You heard the fancy voice music.
Number to get aboard, 888-710-4ISN, 888-710-4476. Great to be in for JR Sport Brief. Great to be alongside Ryan Botcher. Botcher, I promise you, this will not be a bit. Um but I got I got fan mail.
I mean, someone just gave this to me. And What do you think someone? Uh Pauli Rosenberg.
Okay. He said that I got some fan mail. And the postage is over $10 alone that this person spent on it.
So I can't believe that someone not once but twice would send me two different posters. What do you think this is? If you had to guess. If you look to your right, I know. There is a giant poster of Ryan Hickey, aka the Hickey Hex.
Right.
So if I'm putting my two and two together here, It'll probably be a poster of you as a wolf. That's crazy. That's but I'm going to guess it is. Oh my god. You know, twice I showed up not getting a haircut, and my hair was a little frowey.
That's where it came from? Yeah, Sheff and Wolf. Oh wow. Yeah. Um this hickey hex thing.
Is it real, or is it just something that we give him a hard time for? The hickey hex is real. I don't know if it. Don't let anyone tell you. Don't let him tell you that the hickey hex is not real.
Whatever he says. The opposite happens. I don't, but see, here, I'll tell you this much, man. And I'm going to put you on the spot for a second. I don't know if there's someone that knows more about college football.
at the entire entire Infinity Sports Network than Ryan Hickey. That's how much I trust his college football insight. He tortures himself. He's a Penn State fan.
Well, anyone tortures himself rooting for Penn State. I mean, who are you kidding? I mean, they haven't won a national championship. I don't think they've won a national championship since I've been alive, which is crazy. I know Joe Paul won too.
I know he had other things happen to him during his coaching career. That was very much brought up last night. But I don't believe in the hickey hex. I think that's a bit that people do because he's such a nice guy. That it's easy to give him a hard time and give him gruff, but I don't believe in the hickey hecks for one second.
Just put put okay. Whatever he says is a lock, put $20 down on it, and you'll immediately believe in the Hickey Hicks.
Well, let's be honest, Charles Barkley has made a second career of being wrong about everything.
So who are we kidding? And again, Charles Barkley liked Ryan Hickey, very entertaining.
So maybe he's onto something there. Number to get a void, 888-710-4ISN, 888-710-4476. We spoke in great length about. Aaron Glenn in the first segment and the immediate impact that he has had on the New York Jets. And while there has not been one single down that he has coached in the regular season, you see from the preseason the level of accountability.
That is permeating throughout this Jets organization. And it's not an accident that there were moves made in the Patriots organization. That very much did the same thing in terms of bringing in Accountability. We all know that the New England Patriots have struggled mightily since they said goodbye to a 42-year-old quarterback at the time when Bill Belichick was so convinced that they were going to be better off. And then, what ultimately transpires over the next four seasons would be B squared?
We know they did not win a single playoff game after the 2019 NFL season, and things, to put it mildly, have been very rough for New England, especially the last two seasons. 8-26 record overall. One of them coming with Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft said, Yeah, can't handle this anymore. If you're going to come in and run everything in this franchise and be the domineering figure and you can't win more than four games, you're not worth the headache. Go somewhere else.
Your time in New England's done. We're going to go with the younger Gerard Mayo. He's always been the heir apparent to you. Oh, yeah, he's not ready for this either. 4-13 following a 4-13 season.
Let's go back to someone that we're even more familiar with in Mike Vrabel. And you got to love so far what you are seeing from Mike Vrabel. Not just a first-team all-pro, former linebacker, three-time Super Bowl champion, but you have to be willing to shake things up if things are not going according to plan. And what you keep hearing and what you keep witnessing is Mike Vrabel is one of the guys. He's jumping into piles with players.
He's getting bloodied while doing that. I don't think Gerard Mayo was ingratiating. Himself to the team like that. Certainly Bill Belichick was not jumping in any player piles. That's for damn sure.
But there is something to be said about Mike Rabel. With his playing resume, with his coaching resume in Tennessee, when he did make an AFC title game, there's a willingness to show. That you're still willing to get bloodied up, you're still willing to put your body on the line, that resonates with players. That message matters. And one of the individuals who that has obviously left a lasting impression on is Drake May.
And whenever you have the ear of the quarterback, you usually have the ear of the rest of the locker room. And Drake May is going to ascend so much in year two. In year one, we saw Uh an accuracy and a decision-making skill set. That is not necessarily aligned with being a rookie. He really gave the appearance of being someone into year five, year 10 of his NFL career, the way he was able to throw the football and how accurate he was, the way he was able to make such quick decisions in the pocket when the pocket would collapse, right?
And I've made this comparison before. This isn't the first time I'll say this. If you look at Drake May's rookie season, It was better than Tom Brady's first season as a starter. There's no rookie in Patriots history, no first-year starter in Patriots history that has ever had eight consecutive games throwing a passing touchdown before Drake May. Drake May had a higher completion percentage than Tom Brady.
He had a similar touchdown to interception ratio that Tom Brady did. He had just 14 less passing yards per game than number 12. But here's the real kicker. Drake May, is a dual threat. Drake May had 421 rushing yards his rookie season.
That's quadruple any season that Tom Brady has ever had in terms of rushing the football. And as you will know, Matt Stafford being an exception, but he has a once in a generation type of arm. Any elite quarterback going into 2025, they can do two things really well. They can lead an up-tempo offense in any kind of situation, whether it be a two-minute warning, whether it be at the beginning of the game to set the tempo. And the other thing they can do extremely well.
Is they can beat you in multiple ways. Whether it's Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, they know how to beat you, not just in the pocket, not just rolling out, not just with cadences, not just with progressions. They can beat you if all goes to muck and you have the ability to then make that play and extend a play with your God-given athletic ability, aka your wheels. That is something that Drake May early has shown he can do for New England.
So, this is a very exciting time for not just the Jets organization in the AFC East, but the Patriots, because these are two franchises that are going to have a significant improvement. And it starts with their head coaches. And what you love about Mike Raybull is he wasn't setting the tone at the beginning of preseason. He wasn't setting the tone in training camp. He was setting the tone the very first day.
He got this job because expectations are everything. And if you don't believe me, ask the three-time Super Bowl champion Mike Rabel. Expectations should always be extremely high. You know, I mean, we are never going to hide behind high expectations. This is a competitive business.
We understand that. We have always embraced that. And what I always said is, you know. When there was Seven linebackers in the room that had all started at different points of their career. You know, we all figured it out.
Like, we hate we I remember telling Jen. Hey, there's Bunch of guys here to start us saying, you better have a good training camp, and then hung up the phone. And that's the competitiveness that we want to provide, but also then making sure that it fits within the team. And look, it's not an accident that Robert Kraft waited until 2025 to have the Tom Brady statue unveiling. I mean, he said it was about scheduling, it had nothing to do with scheduling.
Robert Kraft is a mastermind. In terms of understanding what his organization needs. Remember, It was Bill Belichick. that wanted to push Tom Brady out of that QB one position. Prematurely.
It wasn't Robert Kraft. You know, usually it's the other way around. Usually, the guy that has the right football instincts, he's the guy that's the football lifer. It's not the individual in ownership. It's not the self-made billionaire, right?
So for Robert Kraft to do this statue unveiling and do it in the first year. of Mike Ravel as their head coach. There's a reason for that. And there's a reason why Mike Rabel attended that ceremony. There's a reason why Drake May certainly took note of it.
And then you talk about getting off to the right start. I mean, how do you not love the start of New England's preseason with the Ohio State Buckeye great, Trayvion Henderson kicking, you know, having a kickoff return of 100 yards taking it to the house? I believe that is the ultimate sign of what is to come for the New England Patriots who are going to have a lot more highlights than low lights. And that is the first time you can make that statement for the New England Patriots. Speaking of highlights, that appears to be the only thing that we are talking about when referencing the Milwaukee Brewers.
We will talk about the hottest team in baseball next. But before we do that, and before I get to a sports flash, Marco Belletti, how you doing this evening? What did you say, Chuck? I'm not complaining, man. It's always good to work with you.
We were talking in great length about. First-year head coaches, not necessarily first-year in the NFL, but their first year with their respective team.
So, obviously, Pete Carroll, Mike Brable, they've been there, done that, once won a Super Bowl as a coach. Mike Bravel had, I thought, a lot of success given who was quarterback west in Tennessee, making an AFC title appearance with Brian Tannehill. We obviously know there are new destinations: Aaron Glenn with the Jets. You can talk about the more lesser-known names, right? The Liam Cohens of the world in Jacksonville, obviously, Kellen Moore with New Orleans, you know, Brian Schottenheimer with the Dallas Cowboys.
And you can obviously talk about the huge difference maker that I believe Ben Johnson's going to be in Chicago. When you look at new coaches for their respective teams coming into the 2025 NFL season, who Who do you see having the biggest impact this year? I could see the Jaguars making a jump, so I can see Liam Cohen being the benefit of that. Look. They've got a lot of issues.
They've got a lot of holes. It's not a great team by any stretch, but they have the weakest division. Sure. The Texans, as good as they have been the last few years, there's still a. They're an up-and-down club.
I love C.J. Stroud, and for that, I would put the Texans as the favorite, but the rest of that division is garbage. And it wouldn't shock me if the Jaguars at nine or 10 wins could sneak into a playoff spot.
So if that's the case, then Liam Cohen is going to be looking at coach of the year candidate. You're not buying the tandem of Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones yet? That's garbage. Yeah, I know, right? Look, and I kind of feel bad for Shane Steichen because I don't think he's necessarily a bad coach.
I don't know what he has as a coach. We can know. The fact that they were in a playoff position a couple years ago in his first year there really is a testament to what he was able to do with that group. Sure. Anthony Richardson.
It's you could put it on them for drafting him in the first place, but I'm sorry. That is a project that is going to take a really, really, really long time and it's never going to come to fruition simply because he's never healthy to be able to get the reps that he needs because he obviously needs them. If he can't read a blitz in a vanilla playoff with no preseason game, I don't know if to tell you. Yeah. So that's a disaster.
And Daniel Jones is what he is. He's a guy that's serviceable at best. At best. Yeah. He's a really good backup quarterback.
Right.
And he's a. Below average starter. I will never understand for the life of me. You know, you know, and by the way, I don't think Bryce Young should have been the number one overall pick. You referenced C.J.
Stroud. I forget what he did on the academic test coming into the NFL draft. We all know he was the better quarterback. He was the better prospect. We saw that with his footwork.
We saw that with his decision making. We saw that when he almost beat Michigan that year in the national semifinal game. To me, Marco. I can never. For one second, justify drafting a quarterback number four overall, which the Colts did with Anthony Richardson in 2023, and the guy was six and seven.
In his college football career. I don't care about upside. The guy went six and seven and had no memorable play in college football. It wasn't like he was Cam Ward lighting the college football world up on fire, throwing for 144 touchdowns in his Division I career. I get it.
I don't understand that pick for the life of me. Number four overall. I get it. Are you kidding me? I get it, but I do think that there is something for.
Potential and raw tools, and you know, the fact that he didn't play a lot. The record doesn't really matter to me. It was the fact that he didn't play a lot in college. That's where it's difficult.
Well, Sanchez, I mean, you know, as a New York guy, Sanchez didn't play a lot at USC, but he won. He played a lot more than that. Not much more. Yeah, I get it. But again, I don't get too caught up in the numbers in college.
I know that that's something that. Everybody's got their own way of thought. Like, well, you got to look at the winner. How much did Patrick Mahomes win in college? Like, stop it.
I need to see. Can you play? Because Tim Tebow won a hell of a lot in college, and Patrick Holmes couldn't win a whole lot of Texas Tech. Which quarterback do you want?
So there's got to be some tools there. It's got to be able to make the throws. Are you athletic? Like, there's a lot of raw things that you need. Richardson checks a lot of boxes.
But the quarterback position is not simply, are you athletic as hell? There's a lot more that comes into that. And there's a lot more that you need to be able to do. And you need to be able to play. You need to be able to understand it.
Now, if you're going to do that and know you got a project, number four overall, then you can't throw into the fire year one, week one, and then think, wow, three games he sits here, two games there.
Now he's learned. You don't learn in a week or two.
So either you decide that it's a project or you decide you're going to play through it. They've done both. They've sat him. They've played him. They have no plan.
And now it's become a total disaster. And now it feels like they don't want him. Yeah, I would agree with you.
So if that's buyers remorse, you don't want him anymore, then you know what? Cut it now. Decide now and don't bother with this nonsense of, well, he's going to play a little bit. Because you just waste seasons. And you know what you do?
You waste regime.
So Ballard will be out, Steichen will be out all sitting on the curb going, it was all Anthony Richardson's fault. When in reality, it was your fault because you never planned. And to your point, if you know that you made a mistake, if you know that that quarterback was drafted way too high, it's okay to admit fault and it's okay to move on. The 49ers did that brilliantly with Trey Lance, and look what they had to show for it. They almost won a Super Bowl if Kyle Shanhan knows overtime rules.
Brilliant to cut bait and to move on. Luck to run into Brock Purdy in the seventh round.
So, like, you got to have both. You got to have both. And I get it. Not everybody's got a brock. But you know what?
You move on to whatever you have. And you had to move on last year or coming into this year, you didn't go Richardson or Daniel Jones. Because you know what you got? Nothing. That's what you got.
So you got this or that, when in reality, what you got is three wins, top of the draft, and then looking for a new job. Congratulations. Cam Newton's doing a podcast. He may be looking to get back into the NFL and do, you know, play the quarterback role and not dive on balls in Super Bowls.
So that could be an option too. Number to get a board is 888-710-4ISN. That is 888-710-4476. We obviously spoke in great detail about the particular first-year head coach that we believe is going to have the biggest impact in 2025. What first-year coach with their respective organization do you envision having the biggest impact in 2025?
When we get back, we did allude to a lot of highlights that are going to be coming from New England, that are going to be coming from the New York Jets. That's something we haven't been able to say in the last couple of years with both franchises.
Well, there's all highlights and none lowlights when it comes to the Milwaukee Brewers. What they are doing is not just showing you why they are the hottest team in baseball and the best team in baseball. What they are doing is historically significant. We will give you the numbers on the other side. We will put it into its proper context, celebrating one of the best stories in 2020 and 25 and all the sports.
And the Milwaukee Brewers continue to stay hot as they have Freddie Feralta going on the mound looking for an MLB best 14 wins against Paul Skeens. Get your popcorn ready for that. But in the meantime, get your popcorn ready for Marco Belletti because we got a sports flash. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. Here's David Shepard.
Welcome in, everybody. David Shepard in for the great JR Sport Brief right here on the Infinity Sports Network. Number to get aboard is 888-710-4ISN, 888-710-4476. Just want to remind everybody at this particular time that we have the defensive player of the week, and that's brought to you by the Navy Federal Credit Union. Our members are the mission.
Shout out to Ryan Botcher, who we put our heads together, and Bacher came up with this particular defensive player of the week. And that is lefty starter Jose Quintana of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brew Crew South Paul was able to pitch six innings of just one run ball, allowing three hits. And more importantly, as we all know, the Brewers continue to win.
Now make it 10 straight for the Brew Crew, 7-1 in their last contest over Pittsburgh. And they have now had multiple double. Digit win streaks this season. I'm glad that Botcher came up with that particular individual. For the defensive player of the week, which again is brought to you by the Navy Federal Credit Union.
What the Milwaukee Brewers Have Done. these past few months. Let's just put this into perspective, okay? They don't lose. It's that simple.
And they win. in all kinds of ways. We saw what happened.
Sorry, Botcher, bring this up. We saw this on Sunday against the Mets. And Botcher referenced this at the beginning of the show. Isaac Collins with the solo homer that ended up being the walk-off game-winning home run. And that happened when they were down 5-0 early in that game and are able to come out victorious 7-6.
And how do the Brewers win that game when Quinn Priester gives up six runs, 10 hits in four innings? The Brewers still find a way to win. And by the way, Priester has not lost a game in three months. And the next game, they win in more typical Milwaukee Brewers fashion. Bryce Turang, first career leadoff home run.
And you just, you know, we referenced this, Jose Cantana, an individual who was great for Milwaukee as they win convincingly 7-1 over the Pittsburgh Pirates, now making it 10 straight wins, 30 games above 500. Milwaukee currently resides at. That is a season high. They are on pace for a career best 102 wins as a franchise. And considering they are in the bottom one-third of payroll among all Major League Baseball teams and are still five games better than every single squad right now in Major League Baseball, How can you not root for what is going on right now?
25-4 in their last 29 games, 13-1 in their last 14. And there's a reason why the Brewers have the most wins of any home team, of any away team. And there's a reason why. They win in all circumstances and they don't make mistakes. They just don't.
And you saw what happened on a recent road trip when they scored 50 plus runs, did not lose a game, did not commit a single error. That happened earlier this month. That's never happened before in MLB history on a road trip of any length. And it just goes to show you. What is brewing right now in Milwaukee.
And it's very encouraging to see a guy like Christian Yellich. And he was able to punish the ball and hit his 22nd home run on Monday. He's on pace to have as many home runs in 2025 as he did in 2023 and 2024 combined. And to put into context how hot. this Brewers organization is, and they're on fire.
They're not even hot at this point. The Chicago Cubs, they've had a pretty good season so far. In fact, since late May, The Cubs have had the second best record. in the National League.
Well, we obviously know who's had the best record. To put this into perspective, even though the Cubs have had the second best record in the last three months in the National League. The Brewers have distanced themselves by thirteen games. over the Chicago Cubs since that time frame. That's how invincible this Milwaukee Brewers organization has been, and they are the first team in baseball.
To not just have one, but two win streaks of at least 10-plus games this decade. Last team to do it was the Houston Astros in the late 2010s. In less than two months, The Brewers have gone from six and a half games back in the NL Central to six and a half games up. This is an ultimate historic run, and you got to love what you are going to ultimately see in the next week because I thought the Brewers were very smart. They were able to switch up Jose Cantana and Freddie Peralta.
You're going to see Freddie Peralta go against Paul Skeens on Tuesday. We'll certainly keep you updated on that. And you have one individual who has more wins than anyone else in Major League Baseball so far this season. And then you got Paul Skeens, who has the best ERA. In Major League Baseball, it's just a shame he doesn't get any kind of run support.
Otherwise, he'd have more than a 500 record.
So, this is an incredible time in baseball, especially for the Milwaukee Brewers. You have a legendary, iconic broadcaster pass away at the beginning of 2025. He's there for 54 years. He's never seen the Brewers win a World Series. They only went to one, and that was 43 years ago in 1982 when they were just one game shy of actually winning the World Series against the St.
Louis Cardinals. And for the Brewers to be doing this, In the months that have since passed since Bob Euchre's passing is just the stuff of fate and destiny. And it's why. I do not believe this run ends anytime soon. And while they will be making plenty of noise, not just continuously in the regular season, but also In the postseason, Kristen Jelich, the 2018 National League MVP, looking like that version.
He spoke about their recent win streak. This is courtesy of the FanDuel Sports Radio Network. I think it's just staying present and really not focusing on the past or the future and just looking at what we got to do tonight or today to win and putting all of our energy and preparation into that and then moving on to the next day and then keep continuing to do that. It sounds easy, but it's something that's hard to do. And we've been harping on that all year.
And Kristen Jelich, you know, I know you're preaching the obvious here. But you've got to love the improvement you've seen from this organization. Obviously, this is courtesy again of the FanDuel Sports Network. The guys have done a great job. You know, we've come a long way.
Over the course of the year, just gotten better at a lot of things and kept working at it. And it's a credit to a lot of our young guys, you know, keeping putting in the work and continuing to try to get better and make improvements and learn the big leagues and what it takes to win in the big leagues. And they've done a phenomenal job. You know, another component to the story that I haven't brought up yet. is sixty-five years old for some occupations, for some employers.
That tends to be retirement age. Pat Murphy. their manager. In his second full season, did not make his debut. As an MLB manager, until the age of 65 in a full season.
It's the stuff o' legends, folks. And you better believe. The soon-to-be 67-year-old Pat Murphy, a young soon-to-be 67-year-old, he's very proud of what this team has accomplished so far. Proud of the club competing every day, whether we lost one in there or won them all, ten of them. I'm proud of the club, the way they're competing every day, and all these games they've competed.
Well, they're going to again compete in a little while against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are going against the National League starting pitcher of the All-Star game and Paul Skeens. And obviously, you have Freddy Peralta at 13 wins going for an MLV best 14.
So get your popcorn ready. Cannot wait for that. All right, Botcher.
So if you don't feel The Brewers are your favorites to win the 2025 World Series. You tell me who is. As of now, Well, what you ultimately anticipate, yeah. I anticipate the Dodgers getting healthy. I'm getting back on track.
And going Back to back.
Okay, so the same team that squandered bases loaded against the Blue Jays when they have Shohei at the plate. He's making news for all the wrong reasons the last 24 hours. And then Mookie Betts, two MVPs, not able to get that third game against the Blue Jays. You're that confident. You see Betts slowing down a little bit this season.
How about Yamamoto giving up? What he gave up? Six, seven runs in that game yesterday against the Angels and four innings.
So you really that encouraged by the Dodgers? It's a game of up and downs baseball.
So they're on the down now, but they'll be on the up soon. All right.
Well, Guberto San Diego, he's happy to hear those words come out of Ryan Botcher's mouth. Number to get a board: 888-71-4ISN, 888-710-4476. How impressed have you continued to be by the Milwaukee Brewers? When we get back, we'll talk about another big story in the state of Wisconsin. Is there concern for the Packers?
There might be. We explain why, and who's the best young quarterback? We'll get to that as well. Mm.
