1.2.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 1

What's that sound? That's the sound of Downy Unstoppable's scent beads going into your washing machine and giving your clothes freshness that lasts all day long.

There it is again. It's like music to your ears. Or more like music to your nose. That freshness is irresistible. Let's get a Downy Unstoppable's bottle shake. And now a sniff solo. Nice.

Get six times longer lasting freshness plus odor protection with Downy Unstoppable's in-wash scent beads. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. What's today? I didn't drink a lot.

I really didn't drink at all. It's Tuesday, January 2nd. You just heard it.

It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. It's a new year. It's a new time. It's not a new me. Same old me.

Like genuine said except for I'm not genuine. Anyway, it is a new time. The JR Sport Brief Show if you've been living underneath a rock. If you're not connected to the internet.

You don't have social media. You have been listening to the radio. This is the new time for the JR Sport Brief Show. I get started every single weeknight. 6 p.m. Eastern Time. 3 Pacific. Thank you so much to everybody locked in and listening all over North America. Whether you're tuned in on one of our many CBS Sports Radio affiliates. Whether you're tuned in on the free Odyssey app. Sirius XM Channel 158 or whether you have a smart speaker.

Well, all you got to do is ask it to play CBS Sports Radio. It's simple. Thank you. Yeah, thank you for tuning in. I will officially say it and I will not say it again after today. Happy New Year.

Happy New Year. I mean, how long do we have to wait for people to tell us Happy New Year? How long is too long? Is it two weeks? Is it three weeks? I have no idea right before I went on air. Someone that I have not spoken to in two years said Happy New Year and I'm still trying to figure out whether or not I want to respond. I highly doubt that person is listening right now.

If they are, I'm sure I'll get cursed out any minute now. Either way, I'm rolling with you for the next four hours. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you all so much and I can call this guy a super producer because he is he falls in the Trinity of super producers. It's my main man Ryan Hickey host here on CBS Sports Radio, the producer of the show.

He is holding it down. Hey, Ryan in New York City. How you doing, man? You good?

JR, I am good. Happy New Year. Yeah, so now we don't have to say it again to each other, right?

That's right. Get it out of the way. You say Happy New Year. You get out the way and on the business.

I know a lot of people have yet to kind of get back into business. I got nothing better to do. So here I am on this Tuesday and we got a lot to do. Obviously, I cannot sit here and recap. I don't know the past week and a half. I feel like I've been gone for the better part of two weeks.

And unless you are unaware, oh hell yeah, you already know this. Time flies. OK, what vacation? I sat down.

I thought I sat down and here I am, but I am happy to be here. We're going to talk about a lot of the things that have gone on, you know, over the past several weeks, over the past several days. Obviously, we know what the college football final, the playoff final is going to look like. We're going to take a look at Washington going on out there and taking on Michigan. And God knows what's going to happen or Harbaugh after the fact.

I assume he's going to go bail. And so in about 20 minutes from now, we're going to have a conversation with CBS Sports HQ football analyst, all things college, all things pro. Emery Hunt is going to join us. I do want to take a look at a lot of what has taken place over the past few weeks in the NFL. Obviously, we got one week left. We got a bunch of bum teams that ain't going nowhere. And then we got teams that are kind of right on the line, like the Buffalo Bills. Lamar Jackson has certainly made his case and and stayed for MVP.

We'll get into that. David Tepper, we got owners throwing water and drinks at people. I thought that would have been something we would have seen from, I don't know, some guy in New York City.

But I guess that doesn't apply to Dolan. And then, yeah, LeBron got older. Tom Brady's making jokes about coming back. And then I even saw and this is the craziest thing I saw over the holiday. Ryan, how was your holiday, man? Did you have a good time? I got sick for like half of it.

So it's pretty, pretty quiet, to be honest, but not terrible. Not terrible. How depressing. Did you you feeling better today? Is this cheering you up? Oh, big time.

Come on. Do I need to like Uber Uber? Is it Uber X Uber Eats? Do I need the Uber deliver medicine to the New York studio? You OK? No Uber Eats or I guess no Uber eating.

Maybe medicine. I'm all good. I promise.

Ready to go. OK, I'm happy to hear that. And let's get this out the way. Out of all the damn things that that has taken place or have taken place. Correct.

Excuse my terrible English. Over the past couple of weeks. I told you about LeBron. We're going to get into this. The bowl games from last night. God bless you if you want to East Coast and you were able to stay up for Washington. Good for you versus Texas.

The most interesting thing over the entire damn holiday break before we got to the games last night. And I can't believe I'm going to say this. This was not on my my my list for 2024. I think that's the year that we in.

Yes, it is. It's a damn pop tart. Like how the hell is the most interesting thing? A Kansas state winning the pop tart bowl. Like what planet are we living on?

I couldn't tell you anything else besides. Yeah, obviously, you know, my Georgia Bulldogs smack in the living hell out of a Florida state team that wasn't really a Florida state team. It was a pop tart. I mean, they had a pop tart come out onto the field, pop out of a toaster with pyrotechnics.

And then after the game, the damn pop tart wanted to be eaten. I don't know if I should be, you know, excited. I have to curb my language. It's not a, you know, 10 o'clock, one o'clock in the morning anymore.

I got to I got to chill out a little bit. I don't know if I should be excited for the pop tart. I know the pop tart was excited. I mean, even on the broadcast, even on social media, everything was about this damn pop tart. I mean, even the folks over on ESPN, I think this is a nice straw. They were talking about the pop tart and its untimely death.

Listen to this. You just saw the edible mascot. He came out of a toaster, a giant toaster minutes before kickoff.

Can you really put the frosty ones in a toaster, though? Well, here's the sad part of the story. After the game, he will be devoured.

He will die and he will be his own last meal. They eulogized a pop tart on national television. And those folks from Kansas State, they sure did start by devouring that pop tart.

All they left was an eye. And all you had was a bunch of other, I don't even know, bowls. We got Cheez-Its trying to I don't want to say copy them.

We got the stupid Cheez-Its standing there saying, hey, I'm not edible like this is the world that we're living in. And I got to be honest, I love me football. I love all sports. I will watch two.

I got to watch my language again. I will watch two people run down the street with no aim in life if it's going to be entertaining. I will watch two sewer rats on the subway in New York City. I will watch them run down the tracks and I will consider that athletics if it's entertaining. Bowl season, I got to say, man, the most entertaining thing is a pop tart. I mean, when we got Georgia, the Bulldogs beating up on a team, but the guys didn't show up. I mean, what are we doing here? I like to look at the names. I don't know if Roto-Rooter is sponsoring a bowl.

I know Cheez-Its did because I feel like they did a poor imitation of the pop tart, even though I think the same company owns them. These bowl games just, they're black. We got students who are transferring out to other universities, going into the transfer portal. We got dudes heading out into the NFL draft. And I know that the Christmas time and New Year's, it's all about commerce. What can I sell you?

What are you buying? It's not all that much about love. If college football had a little bit of love for me, for you, then maybe they'd move the damn date back. Maybe there'd be a little bit more incentive for anybody to play besides dudes who are going into the draft.

And now we got guys who are switching teams like I could care less. I mean, even last night, last night's games were good. If you could stay up for the late one. Congratulations to Washington coming out on top and of course having that stop at the end against Texas. I blanked out for like 30 minutes. I woke up at the end and I'm like, oh yeah, way to go Washington. They got that stop against Texas after they kept trying to punch it into the end zone. Hey Hickey, you watch both games I assume, right? Oh yeah, oh yeah. That game ended at one o'clock in the morning on the East Coast.

What the hell is that about? One o'clock? Didn't start till 915 I think p.m. Eastern? Yeah, it was a late one for what felt like a Sunday night but I guess realistically a Monday night. Listen man, I'm no mathematician here.

But in my head, and there's a lot of things in my head, a lot of things in my head are either inappropriate or they don't work or they don't make sense. I said to myself, if I tack on three hours to the start of this football game, I should feel pretty confident that it's going to end give or take around midnight. Would you say that's reasonable?

College football, maybe three and a half is maybe the starting point. Did you think you'd be up until one o'clock in the morning? No, I did not. And nobody expected to be up at one o'clock in the morning. And yeah, here I was. I'm glad I got my 30 minute nap in the middle of the game at around halftime and so I was able to spare some time. And then I also heard all of these dudes talk after this.

I mean, you think about Michael Penix Jr., a lot of people are finding out about him, his backstory, how he got to where the hell he is, how many surgeries he's had on his knee and his shoulder. And after his 400 plus yard, two touchdown passing performance, he spoke to the media. I had a chance to listen to this.

He was on a Pac-12 network and he talked about beating Texas. It's amazing, you know, everything that we've been going through, you know, led us to this moment, you know, to come out victorious in this moment. You know, but obviously, like you said, man, we got one more to go, you know, but we're soaking it in. You know, it's been a long journey and this team, we're built for it.

We're built for it since day one and we're going to continue to keep believing and continue to put in the work to make sure that we get the big ring that we've been looking for all year. Yeah, the big ring is not a Pop-Tart, okay? It's not the Pop-Tart, it's not the strawberry frosting, it's not the crust. Hickey, you like Pop-Tarts?

I do, big fan. Oh, you got a favorite Pop-Tart? I like the chocolate chip.

Excuse me? They make, I haven't had a Pop-Tart in, I don't know, about 20 years. They make chocolate chip Pop-Tarts.

They do? You should try. You know, strawberry is very cliche, very popular.

It's under the radar, but very good. I'm chocolate enough. I do not need to eat a chocolate Pop-Tart.

I will take your word for it. But besides that, that's one winner. He's looking for the big ring, Michael Penix Jr. is. Not a Pop-Tart.

This other guy, he won last night too. I don't think he's looking for a Pop-Tart. I don't know if he's, oh, he obviously is looking for a trophy. If he doesn't leave, he might be looking at another suspension. I know he's looking for an NFL job. That's Jim Harbaugh.

I mean, last night, he was asked about whether or not he was going to bail, is he going to leave, and what the hell is next? Listen to Jim Harbaugh. Congratulations, coach. There's a lot of interest in your future. I wonder if you can tell me what the chances are that the championship game might be your last one at Michigan. My future consists of a happy flight back to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Can't wait. I know that sound. That is one, two, three, two and a half, three, in the span of about 25 minutes, 30 minutes between the press conference.

I know that sound. That is three, no, that's four glasses. Yeah, that's three, the equivalent of three glasses of champagne for Jim Harbaugh.

Trust me, don't ask me how I know, but I know what it sounds like. Congratulations to Jim Harbaugh for finally taking his alma mater, taking Michigan here to a championship. They're trying to pick up their first one since 1997. Congratulations to a dude who's been playing quarterback in college football for six years and Michael Pennix, Jr. Congratulations to him and congratulations to everybody listening to the sound of my voice right now, because it's 2024. You made it. I'm going to be here with you every single week night, starting at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, 3 Pacific. You can always listen to this show on the free Odyssey app.

You can tune in on your local affiliate, Sirius XM 158. If you want to talk to me, you know how to do it. You should know how to do it. I'm available. I'm everywhere. You want to call me? We paid our bill.

I'm sure we did. I'm looking at the phone lines. I already got people calling me up. It's 855-212-4CBS. That's 855-212-4CBS. Me, you can find me online everywhere.

That is at JR Sportbrief. We're going to take a break, OK? When we come back, I'm not talking about Pop-Tarts, not talking about champagne, not making other crude jokes. When we come back, I'm going to have a conversation with one of the best football analysts in the country and a buddy of mine as well. He played the game. He's on television talking about the game.

He's covering it at all levels. It's my main man from CBS Sports HQ. It's Emery Hunt. It's 2024. It's Tuesday, January 2nd. You are locked in to the JR Sportbrief show here on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. It is the JR Sportbrief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio.

Yeah, new start time, 6 p.m. Eastern Time, 3 Pacific. Man, how about this just came down the pipe? We got to get to this in like the next break. Super producer Ryan Hickey just shared with me. David Tepper, Carolina Panthers owner, probably saw this on social media.

He threw that drink at a fan the other day. The man was fined $300,000. $300,000. I'm going to get into it.

Do yourself a favor. Go ahead and Google his net worth and tell me whether or not David Tepper has been punished. We're going to get into that after we talk to our guest in the next break. I like talking about rich people making tons of money that don't get punished.

It's a life skill of mine. Anyway, last night we did have the college football playoff. We've moved towards the finals. We're going to get the final next Monday night. We'll have an opportunity to see Washington and Michigan duke it out.

But to kind of, not rehash, but reanalyze what took place last night and think about what's to come. Right now we're being joined by my main man. He used to play football at the University of Louisiana. This man has covered football in every capacity from the high school, college, and professional level. He started football game plan. It is my main man, CBS Sports HQ, host and analyst.

It's Emry Hunt. Emry, how you doing, man? Happy New Year. Happy New Year, JR. Glad that we're talking ball and congratulations on the new start time, man. Thank you so much.

I appreciate it. How was your holidays? Everything good? Everything smooth? Everything good, everything smooth, man. It was, you know, as we do, working and breaking down football as usual, man. No doubt about it. Well, let's start off with the games that we... You know what?

Before we get to the games last night, outside of those two or the final four that we saw, what other bowl game or what college football related caught your attention over the past week and a half? Wow. I felt like I was in my old head, old man-type mode when I just watched all the moving and shaking of the transfer portal and guys opting out, you know, the meme, what happened to the game I love. That's how I felt watching all this stuff go down. And I understand it from their perspective. I have to realize, and a lot of times I check myself for not looking at it through 1999 eyes, right? You know, how much the bowls used to matter, how much you wanted to be around your teammates.

You didn't want to leave your teammates. And, you know, the game has changed. Things are different now. Guys, they have options, which is something we always wanted.

So now that we got it, you can't really complain about it. And it's just a different era. It's the same thing how we look at music or movies. You know, we can't look at it from our perspective in terms of what we used to watch and what we used to listen to and how we used to go about things. Things change, things are different now. So that's what I find myself doing watching all these opt-outs and guys hit the transfer portal after, you know, a freshman year or something like that. It just rubbed me the wrong way, but I had to understand, like, you know what? That's their time.

Let them do what they need to do. Emry Hunt is here with us representing CBS Sports HQ and Football Game Plan. Is there anything that is a middle ground for both the viewers? Right before you joined, I talked about how miserable it is to watch Georgia beat, I don't know, Florida State's eight backups.

I mean, is there a happy medium? Is there something that can be adjusted with dates so we can actually get some good action? Because it's now not just dudes getting ready to go to the draft. We got guys going into the portal, like you mentioned. Yeah, and I think, you know, as much as it was a gift, the early signing date, it has become a curse because now we have the introduction of the transfer portal. So I think we need to at least go back to one signing date, the original one in February, and make the portal available after that, you know? So therefore, you know, you open up the spring with the portal and therefore guys can then get on campus in January and also then participate in the spring practice. And I would say limit the transfers to one free transfer and not multiple transfers. Now it gets confusing and now, you know, you run the risk of playing yourself out of college football because a lot of guys are still stuck in that portal because they want to take that chance and bet on themselves. But, you know, I feel like that's the medium. And also that's what I laid out, what kind of invites the high school student-athlete back into it because I feel like that's the biggest loser in all of this.

Absolutely. Emery Hunt here with us, the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. Let's talk about two teams that did play last night and two teams with guys who absolutely wanted to play. We know that Michigan beat Alabama. We know Washington beat Texas.

They're going to face each other on Monday night for the national championship. Starting off with Washington and knocking off Texas, we heard ad nauseum over the past couple of weeks that this was going to be a shootout. Did the game kind of go towards where you thought it would be?

Obviously it was close all the way down to the wire. Washington coming up with those big stops at the end of the game. What are your impressions and what should we look forward to as they get ready to take on Michigan? I thought Texas was going to win that ballgame going into the matchup because of their offensive line, defensive line, and their ability to run the football. What I didn't expect was that Washington really beat those guys essentially one-dimensional with their passing game. It was just Michael Penix and those wide receivers because they had no run game. Michael Penix's pocket presence was on display last night. We saw him maneuver within the pocket and still showcase that deadly accuracy deep down the field. To be completely honest, I thought Washington had a little bit more dog in him than Texas did, especially throughout the course of that game. You saw them extend that lead before things kind of snowballed late.

It kind of got interesting. I was so impressed with how well they played essentially a one-dimensional game. It was all Michael Penix, 11 yards in attempt, two touchdown passes over 430 yards. My goodness, man, what more could he have done to help his team win?

I thought that was the biggest. Their biggest player stepped up in those big moments. That's what you want to see. The receiver stepped up. Their defensive backs were able to step up and make plays on the ball. So I thought it was just a very impressive showing for Washington as they move forward.

Now, regardless of how many games Washington has won consecutively, how hot they've been, there's a good majority of the country who's finally starting to watch them play. People are finally now watching Michael Penix Jr. What are your thoughts on what he could potentially do on the next level? Obviously, his story is crazy.

He shot it out Florida last night. We know Tom with the Hoosiers and the surgeries and having to go up to Washington. Six years, six years in college, people make jokes about this online. What could be the future for him? You know, it is interesting when you go from what we're watching in terms of an analyst and as a fan to now put it on your head as a scout and as a GM, your question then turns to, okay, how much upside does this player have left? Because he touched on it.

He's six years in college, which means he'll be 24 years old. He has an extensive injury history. Now, we're going to bring up the injury history. We have to bring up the credit that he has been injury-free the last two seasons at Washington and has put up ridiculous numbers. So you like that he's playing on the positive side of that and bucking that trend of the injuries. And injuries are a freak occurrence anyway.

But in terms of upside, I think what we're going to see is what we're going to get. I feel like there's no more growth left within this game and that's completely fine because you come into the NFL at 24 years old, you get 10 years, you're 34. Not everybody can play like Tom Brady until they're 45 years old, right?

Not even Aaron Rogers can do that because we thought those four plays, he was kind of skittish in those four plays he played this season because age does, you know, catch up and is undefeated. So I feel like he still has a shot to be a productive, solid starter at the NFL level. Now whether that's first round, second round, wherever a team wants to take him, that's on the team. But when you look at how he plays, you can't tell me he can't jump right into a situation that needs a stable quarterback like a Pittsburgh or like a Las Vegas Raiders. You know, a team that may not be picking up high, but definitely has a need for a quarterback. Phoenix would be the perfect option for them to step right in because he has played a lot of football. He's seen a lot of football and he has played at the highest of levels with a game on the line and had to make money throws all throughout the season. So that's someone that I could see could step right in and be one of those day one starters. Well, he'll absolutely have a chance to boost and bolster his resume on Monday night against that Michigan pass rush. Emry Hunt is joining us here, the JR Sportbree show on CBS Sports Radio Emory coming from CBS Sports HQ.

Somebody else, I mean, I don't know if he, well, I guess this really would boost his resume on the way out the door. What are your thoughts on Michigan? I mean, the biggest talk is obviously about Harbaugh and whether or not he's going to stick around, win or lose. What are your thoughts about Michigan and Harbaugh heading into this championship? You know, I like that Michigan has played with what they call the chip on their shoulder, but I just like that they are all in, man. They are all in on each other. They're all in on Harbaugh.

They're all in on, hey, it's us versus the NCAA, us versus everybody. And they're playing great team ball. And we see this a lot in basketball where guys, you can tell they really rock with each other.

You see this in football in this situation where, man, it doesn't matter who is getting the brunt of the criticism. The team still rallies around him and defends him and rocks with him. And that same thing with their coach. And they just go out there and just play ball. And again, things wasn't great for them yesterday offensively. But when they needed to make plays, they found the plays that were there defensively, low key. They dominated up front in the fourth quarter, which is why Alabama had their issues along the offensive line.

Because Michigan was really whipping those guys up front. So I like that they're playing together. They're playing as one.

They're playing for a bigger purpose. And it just showcases itself out there on the field every time they take the field, especially this particular season. Oh, Emory, as we move towards this championship game on Monday night, what should we look out for?

What do you expect to happen in between the lines? You know, it's interesting when you think about Washington and how they won that game versus Texas. Texas had some success running the ball.

We know Michigan wants to run the football and they want to live in that world. But the key for Washington is can they come up with those key pressure spots like they did against Texas, where they got after Quentin Uris. They flushed him out the pocket. They were able to get him on the ground a couple times. They were able to light him up a little bit in the pocket. Can they do that versus J.J. McCarthy and make this game sort of like a one-dimensional approach? So Washington can go into a situation where they can just outscore people and they want to make it attract me. But can they do exactly what they did to Texas against Michigan? That's going to be the biggest key and what I'm excited to watch when they face off. Okay, Emory Hunt, as we start to wrap up here, the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio.

I know you cover the game at all levels. What can we look forward to in the NFL playoffs? We got one week left. I mean, I think I know the answer here, but who are your tops in the AFC and the NFC? Well, listen, I like Baltimore. I was in preseason and I thought Baltimore was going to get to the Super Bowl.

I still feel like that can happen. I just like how they are locked in. We talked about Michigan and how they're locked in.

They rally and play for each other. Same thing for Baltimore. They protect one another, they protect their quarterback, and they protect their head coach. So I feel like Baltimore is a team to really beat in the AFC. And in the NFC, it's all about what team gets hot at the right time. Because we've seen the best of all of these top teams. Frisco, Dallas, Philly, Detroit.

It's just about who can continue to be hot. Even the Rams have shown that they could beat anybody on any given Sunday. So I think that's going to be a much more competitive race. I still will lean San Francisco because of the elite level playmakers they have on offense and on defense. They can get after the quarterback. That's always key in the playoffs. So I see another game between San Francisco and Baltimore.

But you know what? I'm going to stick with my preseason pick. I'm going to go Baltimore, Philly. I feel like Philly will just find a way to rally around and get up to speed, clear out all the air, and get to the Super Bowl once again. And we'll have an all-birds Super Bowl between the Ravens and Eagles.

Wow. I hope all the players in Philadelphia aren't listening to WIP. They may decide to quit the game between now and then. You know, I'm going to go towards that rematch that we had in New Orleans some time.

And that was quite some time ago now. Listen, what the hell is going on with Harbaugh? Are we going to see him leave Michigan and go back into the league? That's the last time we saw them two on the same field. It was brother versus brother. Are we going to see the other brother jump back into the league?

What do you think? I would hope so because I think he's a fantastic coach. He's won at every level, every place he's been.

He's won and got them to where they needed to be. So I think we'll see that again. I hope to see it again because some young quarterback could definitely utilize his asset as a coach and as a former quarterback in the league. Wow. I also know he drives people crazy wherever he goes, so I'm looking forward to that because it makes great radio for me, okay?

I agree, totally. My main man, Emory Hunt. Emory, where can people follow and keep up with you as you track and cover football on every single level?

Well, this is the best time. Follow me on Twitter at fballgameplan. You can always see me on CBS Sports HQ. I'll be making my rounds of the different college football All-Star games that kick off this weekend down in Fort Worth, Texas at the College Rhode Island Showcase. And then you can catch me on CBS Sports Network as the sideline analyst for the Hula Bowl the following week. But I'll be there the whole week of practice. It's All-Star season now, JR. It's time for me to put on that scout net and get to find some prospects. As long as you ain't putting on that helmet and running over anybody, I think we're good, okay? Oh, them days over with.

My knees, hips, back, neck, all that won't work. I understand. Look forward to chatting with you again real soon, okay, Emory? All right, JR. I appreciate you, man.

Thank you so much. That a conversation with Emory Hunt from Football Game Plan and CBS Sports. I love chatting it up with Emory because you can't ask him anything about football and he not give you an answer at every level. High school and college, the pros, he has coached, he has played, he has analyzed, he has done it all.

He certainly has a unique, a very unique and educated perspective. Thank you so much again to Emory Hunt from CBS Sports HQ for joining us here. It's the JR Sportbreeze show on CBS Sports Radio. We're going to get into some more college football. I do want to mention some of the NFL points that Emory mentioned as a part of our conversation. I do want to get into the Ravens because Lamar Jackson has elevated himself and I can't even say elevated himself. The man is the MVP. I'm just saying that flat. And so we'll talk about Lamar Jackson at the top of the hour.

When we come back on the other side, I want to mention this quickly. There is a guy who's won a couple of Super Bowls, something Lamar Jackson hasn't done yet. And I guess he's trying to go out there and get another one. I'm talking about the Kansas City Chiefs.

And then we'll also get into this billionaire multiple times over who just lost a nickel or a dime or a quarter or a penny depending on how you look at it. You're listening to the JR Sportbreeze on CBS Sports Radio. It is the JR Sportbreeze show here with you on CBS Sports Radio.

Yeah, new start time, 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. Thank you so much to CBS Sports HQ Football Analyst. All things football. Emory Hunt for joining us in the last break.

We had an opportunity to look forward to the national championship in college on Monday night, to look back at the game last night. He certainly put in his two cents about Harbaugh potentially leaving Michigan. I think the writing is on the wall.

And let's be real. It ain't no big shock if he leaves. I mean, the guy's been interviewing with teams for the past few years. So we'll get back into Harbaugh. We'll talk more NFL. I want to talk about Lamar Jackson.

Yes, I did not forget Mr. David Tepper, owner of the Carolina Panthers, fined $300,000 for a Thorenet drink on a fan. So we got a lot to get into. But of course, I'm going to talk to you.

It's a new year. The phone lines are open. That's 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. If you are not familiar with the JR Sportbreeze show, I'm a man of the people because I'm a person. I'm not going to sit here and just spout and yell and tell you everything because I know it all. Because I don't.

I think I have an educated opinion, but I want to hear from you. And most importantly, I'm just trying to have fun. That's it. 855-212-4CBS. Let's go to California and talk to Chris. Hey, Chris, you're on CBS Sports Radio, the JR Sportbreeze show. What's on your mind, man? Hey, what's going on, man? How are you? I'm excellent. How are you? Happy New Year. Good, good. The one thing that's kind of irritating me right now and the reason for my phone call is is how Pittsburgh is treating their 20th overall pick.

Can you pick it? I feel like the dude is nothing but a winner. I don't know how many games when he drives a guy has, but he has quite a few of them, and all he does is win. Last time he took the field, he was 7-5, but the Steelers were 7-5, and then he got hurt. So the guy has to lose his starting position because he got hurt. I understand that Mason Rudolph is doing good, or he's winning as well, but there's plenty of backup quarterbacks that are doing well as well. For example, maybe Indianapolis, Garner Minch is doing well, might send them into the playoffs, but they're going to go back to Anthony Richardson. I feel that the guy is getting treated unfairly.

They're attacking his character by throwing some rumors out there as far as him not wanting to be a backup. To be honest with you, if I'm Kenny Pickett, the NFL will shove you to the side and you'll be forgotten about. So if I'm Kenny, I'm demanding a trade. Thank you, Chris. I'll respond to you.

Thank you for calling from California. Has he watched Kenny Pickett play? Kenny Pickett is average at best. He's good enough to go out there and throw a touchdown and then throw an interception. I watch Kenny Pickett play and I go, am I getting a touchdown or am I getting an INT?

And I'll say this, and maybe some of you have heard this, maybe some of you have not. I look at quarterbacks in three categories. Are you helping the team win? When you go into a stadium and you step out onto the field, is the other team looking at you going, we can't let this guy beat us? Is your name Tom Brady? OK, fine, top of the heap. Are you Lamar Jackson?

I don't know. Are you Dan Marino? Are you Peyton Manning?

Are you Steve Young? I mean, they're quarterbacks and there's only about 10 of them, sometimes less than that, on any given season that you just look at the guy and go, we can't let that dude beat us. Is anybody looking at Kenny Pickett on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday going, oh, we can't let Kenny beat us. And I mean, the fact that you've got to bring up game winning drives by Kenny Pickett, you know what you've got to be doing to have game winning drives? You've got to be losing.

You've got to be right there. I mean, this offense stinks. OK, Steeler fans know this. The offense has stunk. It doesn't matter whether or not offensive coordinator Matt Canada is running the show or I am. The Steelers are not going to get back to prominence until they have better offensive weapons. And we know the best and most important offensive weapon I should say on any team is the guy who throws the football. That's the quarterback. And yes, I saw the rumors of Kenny Pickett and he has to defend himself.

He didn't refuse to not go back into the game. Man, in order to have leverage, you've got to be good. I know we see a lot more of this in the NBA. XYZ player gets mad. XYZ player wants a trade.

Yeah, there's only a handful of dudes who want that. And they're good. They have Hall of Fame talent.

They got cachet. Kenny Pickett should be happy that the Steelers took him out of pit. 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Congratulations, though, to Tomlin. You know, guaranteeing himself another season where he's on the other side of.500. Who do we got here? A lot of people want to talk to JR. Wow, sure, of course. Damon is calling from Virginia. You're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, D? What's up, JR? Happy New Year to you. And congratulations on your new time slot.

I'm more of a nighttime person anyway, but I'm glad I get to hear you earlier. But besides that, I've been calling all year, chirping about my Eagles. Bro, I don't know what the hell is going on now.

Can you help me out? Well, I mean, we had like no physicality and everything. And yeah, I'm in Virginia, but I think you might remember I am from Philly. The thing about Philly is we're supposed to be tough.

Our offense is somewhat tough, but our defense is just getting smacked around like they ain't even out there. Well, y'all can't pull any garbage men out of the stands. I mean, it probably tougher. You can't do that. Exactly.

That's what I'm saying. I mean, I'm die hard. I only weigh 150 pounds, so I ain't going out there to play football. But I got them dudes backs. Have your own back.

Here's the issue. And thank you, D, for calling from Virginia. I'll talk to you soon, OK? No doubt. All right.

Thank you. Shout out to D for calling from V.A. It's injuries. It's injuries. I mean, part of it is injuries. If you think about the linebacker position, I don't know the Philadelphia Eagles, especially more recently.

They have taken taken umbrage and snatching up a lot of Georgia Bulldogs and throwing them up front. Somebody like Jalen Carter and a Kobe Dean who plays linebacker. He ain't playing. I can certainly think about James Bradbury in the cornerback. It looks like he left all of his talent up in New York with the Giants. I mean, bringing in Kevin Byer.

Is he a little too old? I saw him have, I think, a big interception on Monday Night Football a couple of weeks ago. But it seems like that's where it has stopped. And so the Eagles are just they look like they're running in place. And this isn't anything new here at the end of the season. All season long, it seems like the Eagles are just kind of torn the line of victory, coming from behind and halftime deficits to come out on top. I always found it peculiar and interesting because I'm a jerk that Nick Sirianni during his first press conference, the man was just stumbling all over his words. The idea the offense is to go out here and score more points than the defense. And we got to do this.

And the plane lands on Mars. He just sound totally sounded totally out of sorts. And I was shocked. I think a lot of people were shocked when they went to the Super Bowl last year. OK, Jalen Hurts has turned himself into one of the best QBs in the league.

Not this year. I mean, especially all the turnovers, 14 plus plus of them at this point in time. And between the injuries, I think the Philadelphia Eagles are in what you would call a little bit of a backtrack. I think they still smelling themselves a little bit based on what took place last year.

It's not so easy. And I know as they move forward, they still want guys like Jason Kelce up front. Is he going to stick around and come back for next year? But let's not call it a wrap. Let's not call it a dub. But the fact is, the Eagles are not looking as strong as they did last year.

They got to work out some of the kinks. I just don't know if there's enough time. And for Nick Sirianni? Well, I can't wait to hear a postgame press conference whenever the Eagles are eliminated. They don't look like they won in the Super Bowl.

That man will be just stammering and stumbling over every single word. I'm sorry, Eagles fans. Last year looked good. It's going to be a little bit of a reset this upcoming offseason. 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS.

That's 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. Mack is calling from Baltimore. What's up, Mack?

You on the Gerald Sport Brief Show. What's up, JR? How are you?

Go ahead. We're up against a break. Doing good, brother. Real quick, Lamar, he has not only elevated his own play with maturity and evolution as a quarterback in the NFL, but moving on from Greg Roman who gave Lamar a good foundation into a more accelerated guy in Todd Monken, Lamar Jackson has not only been the best thing for the offense, for our team, but more importantly, I just want the country to know that his effort being locked in has raised up this whole city, my brother. He has raised us up, brother.

We're ready to fight whoever wants it. Well, thank you for sharing that, Mack. Appreciate you for calling from Baltimore. Let's take a break. On the other side, we'll talk about Lamar Jackson.

I think he is the MVP. No ands, ifs, or buts about it. I'm going to get some more of your calls. We'll talk about David Tepper being fine for throwing water at a fan. Yeah, we got a lot to do. It's the JR Sportbreeze show, new time, here on CBS Sports Radio. Don't move.