Most people would rather remove a nest of irate hornets than search for auto and home insurance. That's why The Zebra searches for you, comparing over 100 insurance companies to find savings no one else can. Compare today at thezebra.com. I think I'll wait inside. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast.
on the Infiniti Sports Network. We're pulling up on the final preseason game for teams here in the NFL. Camps and practices are starting to close up. As we get ready for the regular season, we got teams that have set their quarterback situations up. We got one team that doesn't know what they're doing, has no idea what they're doing at quarterback.
Hello to the Saints. And we got teams out of just Ready for a championship, at least to go out there and compete for one. Joining us right now is someone very familiar with the NFL. He is the senior NFL writer for the Athletic. Joining us right now is Mike Sando.
Mike, how are you? Doing great. How are you? I'm excellent. Appreciate the time.
You know, without wasting any time, I do want to ask you. About Anthony Richardson. I've seen your writings and your piece on him just this week. The Colts really dropped the ball on Anthony Richardson from day one, no? Yes, I mean using the top five pick for a player who's so raw is desperation.
Yeah. You know, they got into this when Andrew Luck retired. They weren't expecting it, and then they bounced from veteran to veteran to veteran. Finally they had a top five pick and they used it on a quarterback, but I think it was super high risk, probably unfair to him. I mean, he just hasn't played much.
He's got under 400 pass attempts in college.
So it was a big stretch. They tried to make it work because they have a pretty good head coach in terms of scheming for that. But Richardson just didn't show any awareness. He couldn't stay healthy. Let alone really operate the offense.
So it looks to me like it'll be Daniel Jones until. That goes sideways or he gets hurt. Do you think there's a realistic possibility that Anthony Richardson is in another uniform in a year or two? Oh yeah, I think it's a very realistic possibility that that could happen. You know, the Colts, you just have to figure out you know, who's even going to be making the decisions there in a year, right?
That could change too.
So I think it's a very fluid situation with him. And most definitely think about the ownership change from Ursa down to his daughters. Certainly a lot to pay attention to with the Colts. Mike Sando is here with us from the Athletic. Also, uncertainty.
We know this, and not for good reasons, with the New Orleans Saints right now. Kellen Moore leading a competition between Shuck. It's just, it's not good right now. Are we looking at a tank team? Are they going to be the worst team in the league?
Is Arch, if he's available and has a good year, could we realistically see Arch there or is he just going to hang out for two years at Texas? Oh, did we lose Mike? Mike, you got me. Yeah, no, you got me. You got me.
I think I think the Colts. But the Saints know that they're going to play Tyler Schook. They just don't know when. I think the ideal scenario for them would be to not have him go the whole season, to maybe have Spencer Rattler, you know, start and take some of the kind of bullets, so to speak, early. I think that would be ideal.
But sh but Tyler Shook's our guy. I mean, it's just it's just a matter of it's a long season. Do you want to set him up for failure by rolling him out there in week one or do you want to bring him along a little slower?
So to me, that's all that is. It's going to be Shook. We just don't know when. Yeah, Shuck is getting ready to turn 26 years old. There's a quarterback who's 37 years old, Matthew Stafford, finally getting a full week's worth of action.
Backs are certainly tricky. If Matthew Stafford is healthy enough to get through the whole season, I mean, we've talked to plenty of their players here on the air. They're talking Super Bowl. What say you, Mike? Yeah.
Yeah, I think they have a chance. I mean, look at the NFC. It's not like it's stacked with Buffalo and Baltimore and Kansas City. I mean, it's you know, the Eagles are going to be tough again, but I think you know, Detroit has suffered some losses there. The 49ers have a little bit of a transition.
So, why not? You know, if Stafford's healthy, they were pretty close to making the championship game last year.
So, I think it is a little bit open on that side. And if Stafford's healthy, He arguably, I mean, you know, depending on what Jaden Daniels does, I mean, he might be the best quarterback in the NFC.
Well, Mike, when you think about the NFC, one big question mark in a competitive division, the NFC North. We got the Minnesota Vikings, and they're going to employ J.J. McCarthy as their starting. quarterback. I trust Kevin O'Connell a whole hell of a lot.
What should we expect from McCarthy, O'Connell, and this Vikings team? Yeah. Yeah, I think some ups and downs. You know, hopefully, for them, their defense can be a stabilizer the whole way. I think that it's a good situation for McCarthy, but the odds are that you're going to have some.
You know, some ups and downs at that position coming in new, and he didn't play really at all last year.
So, um, I think you have to evaluate it probably over maybe after the first half of the season, unless it's just extremely good or bad. But the odds of that are low. I think that they'll try to protect him with, you know, like I said, the defense, and they've got a decent offensive line, I think.
So bring him along. And, you know, maybe by the second half of the year, they feel like they're in a similar situation they were last year. That would just be ideal. Senior NFL writer Mike Sando is here with us, courtesy of the athletic. JJ McCarthy.
Is technically a rookie. He's moving into his second year. We have Caleb Williams, who's also moving into his second year. He had a chance to actually play last year, and I think he got the short end of the stick because you mentioned Jaden Daniels, how awesome he was in taking his team to the NFC Championship game. This is a competitive NFC North.
How do you think the Bears are going to fit in? And Caleb has already taken a lot of crap here. In in a preseason. Yeah, well You know, I did my, you know, quarterback tears. Analysis last week where you know we talked to the 50 coaches and executives, and I thought the conversation around Caleb Williams was more negative than you would have thought, just in terms of his ability to play fast and process the game.
So, you know, I think that Chicago has improved their roster. I think their offensive line is better, so they should be able to support him better. I think he'll have a better year this year than last year. I think the offensive coaching is going to be better for them. But I do think he's going to have ups and downs too because he took 60-some sacks.
That's not all on the offensive line.
So is he going to be able to elevate them? I think that remains to be seen, which is odd for number one overall pick. We mentioned Jaden Daniels. He elevated his team, but I'm a little bit less sure about Caleb Williams.
Well, you talk about the tiers and the rankings that you guys are able to do with the athletic, talking to 50 different NFL coaches and execs. Nobody, there's no way you could expect what Jaden Daniels did. Last year, last season. Who knows what Caleb is going to do this year? But do you have an inkling, just by speaking to these coaches and execs?
About a player who Most people would rather assemble a 300-piece cabinet than search for insurance. That's why The Zebra searches for you, comparing over 100 insurance companies to find savings no one else can. Compare today at thezebra.com. Who has a chance to make a big leap this year? Oh, just one in general.
How about Bo Nix was in tier three, I think, this year. And I think a lot of people think that he can go to Tier 2 just by almost doing what he did last year. Just very, very encouraging what you saw from him last year. You know, the Fit's Good with Sean Payton. They're adding weapons.
So I think he's somebody who could definitely. You know, definitely elevate, move up a tier from last year to this year. And maybe, maybe he's on the fringes of the top 10. We'll see what the Denver Broncos do. They had that top defense last year.
The AFC West is interesting because you can take a look at the Kansas City Chiefs. They can go out and win 15 or 14 games, and people go, oh, the offense was pedestrian. They're certainly dealing with injuries. of this year. Are they going to take a step back or does it even matter with the Chiefs?
No, I think it matters to the extent that it could affect homefield advantage. I think what last season they were 11-0 in one-score games.
So not that they're going to be in as many one-score games this year, but if they are, they're not going to win. I don't think anybody wins 11, goes 11-0 in those games again.
So you could really see a way in which, okay, the division got a little tougher. I think Chargers in their second year with Harbaugh. Pete Carroll raises the floor for the Raiders. Denver's kind of got it going, right? You could see a scenario where Buffalo is still tough.
Um, you know, Baltimore is still tough. You could see a scenario where, hey, what if they didn't win their division or what if they had to go on the road, you know, at a certain point along the way, uh, margin for error a little bit smaller. You know, I think you could see, I think it matters. I do think it matters, and I think it remains to be seen if they can kind of open it up a little bit more on offense. The draft pick they made at left tackle, Simmons, in the first round is going to be huge.
If he solves that for them on the left side, I do think that they could see the old kind of Mahomes offense a little bit or just have it perk up. And Mike, I want to ask you about a QB from right here in Georgia. Went to Clemson, number one overall pick. I feel like every year he has a new coordinator, a new system, and that's Trevor Lawrence. I feel like I've heard about this guy since high school here, right outside of Atlanta, and it's just been disappointing.
Some reasons of his and some to the Jaguars. Is this the year? Is Travis Hunter going to help him out? I think, you know, Hunter and I think Liam Cohen can help him too. You know, I was a little disappointed in how it went with Doug Peterson.
I just didn't feel like Doug Peterson really brought his fastball for whatever reason. But I think we've also seen for Trevor Lawrence, hey, he kind of checks us the boxes physically. You kind of look at him and he's athletic. He's a good athlete. But we just haven't seen a defining trait for him.
I think his accuracy has been disappointing. And I think that's going to probably put a ceiling on him from really pushing to be up in that top tier. But I think we've seen him be kind of a second tier guy. You know, could he be in that You know, kind of in that Dak Prescott type mold, I think there's a chance that he could be, but he just hasn't shown the consistency. He hasn't had the help around him probably as consistently.
But, you know, after a while, I think you kind of are what you are, aren't you? No. I'm hoping Liam Cohen helps him a little bit, maybe Travis Hunter. And there's so much. I think he was hurt too.
I think he was hurt last year. Yeah, he's the shoulder. There's always something with a new coach, a shoulder, new coordinator. With Travis Hunter out there, there's no way in hell. I think people are hyping him up too much as to how much.
He can actually play in his first year, especially given his frame. What do you think is the best case of what we see from Travis? Yeah, I totally agree. I totally agree. Yeah, the I mean the best case would be You know, probably that he um You know, I think that he plays all the games and doesn't get hurt and is an upper-tier player at both positions.
I think I would like to see that. You know, I don't know how much he can realistically play on defense, but they have a good receiver out there already.
So maybe he becomes a good tandem there. Maybe he's a. You know, maybe he's a An immediate, you know, 60, 65 yards a game type of a guy. I think that would be really nice for him with some splash games and some definitely some splash plays with the ball in his hands. But I think it's harder than people realize to make that big of an impact on both sides of the ball.
Really do. Absolutely.
Well, Mike, before we let you get out of here, is there any other story, any other player, any other team? that you're really focusing on that you don't think is garnering a lot of attention right now. You know, I live in the Seattle area and I think the Seahawks are going to be pretty good. You know, I think that Michael McDonald got them to be, no, they won 10 games last year, but I really think that defensively, you know, they're going to be in that top five, top 10, and then they're going to run the ball, too. I think they're going to be a very different look on the offensive side of the ball and not putting too much pressure on Sam and Arnold.
So I think that they're a potential team to watch that isn't getting a lot. About Okay. We'll see what happens with those those Seahawks post Geno, post Pete.
Well, Mike, thank you so much for coming through and joining us. And tell everybody where they could find your rankings, all of your writings with the Athletic. Fill us in. Yeah, check it out on theathletic.com. Check it out through our app, the athletic app, and then you can find me on X at SandoNFL.
Hey Mike, thank you so much for the time. Enjoy the season, okay? Thank you, you too. No doubt. And shoutouts to Mike Sando for joining us, senior NFL writer.
From the athletic. He just spoke to 50 different NFL coaches and executives. and and pretty much to have them tear out who the top quarterbacks are in the entire NFL. And so, for instance, you look at tier one, these are quarterbacks who ultimately help their teams, they elevate them. Just them by themselves.
And you have Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen are in that first tier. in addition to thirty seven year old, Matthew Stafford. I'll encourage you to go ahead and check out Mike Sandles' rankings on the athletic. You can see where the other quarterbacks lie. That's a good way to look at it.
There are multiple tiers. Me, I'm a little bit more simplistic, okay? I got three categories. And then we have the guys, obviously, that are at the top. I wouldn't put Matthew Stafford there.
I got three categories. They're the quarterbacks who we know are good, who are starting. They're the quarterbacks who are in the middle that are replaceable. And then we got the bottom third, which are just bums. They're just there, they just exist to be replaced.
That's it. Like the New Orleans Saints. Rattler, and then also Shuck. I don't care. Shuck hasn't even thrown a pass, he's in that category.
Uh right now. Stinks try to be in category one or two. It pays off, makes life easier. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Again, thank you to Mike Sando for joining us.
from the athletic. 888-710-4ISN. That's 888-710-4IS. For ISN. We are going to take a break.
When we come back on the other side, speaking of quarterbacks, It was a whole big fiasco over the weekend. Dylan Gabriel's comments about entertainers And competitors. People found it to be a shot at Shador Sanders. Dylan Gabriel had to come back and explain, not apologize, but explain.
Well today. Shador had been had a response. We're going to dive deep as to what he said in response on the other side of the break. How does he feel about his teammate? We'll find out.
Here at the zebra research shows the average person would rather endure a root canal than search for auto and home insurance. Just try to relax. Or a perfect. Or be trapped in a car for eight hours with toddlers on a sugar hide. Or remove a nest of irate hornets.
That's why the zebra searches for you, comparing over 100 insurance companies to find savings no one else can. Compare today at thezebra.com. We do the searching, you do the saving. I think I'll wait inside. Mm-hmm.
