Emory Hunt, CBS Sports HQ College Football / NFL Analyst

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. Man, glad that you we're talking ball and congratulations on the new start time, man.

Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate it. How was your holidays? Everything good? Everything smooth? Everything good. Everything smooth, man was, you know, as we do working and breaking down football as usual, man. Oh, 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 are the 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, you know, to me, what happened to the game?

I love that. 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 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. We, 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 different now. So that's what I find myself doing watching these, 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 day, 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 day, the original one in February, and make the portal available after that, you know, so therefore, 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 transfer 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 I, you know, I feel like that's the medium and also that what I just laid out, what kind of invites the high school student athletes back into it, because I feel like that's the biggest loser in all of this.

Absolutely. Emory 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 nauseam 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 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 ball game 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 Pinnix and those wide receivers because they had no run game. Michael Pinnix'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 and it kind of got interesting. I was so impressed with how well they played essentially a one-dimensional game. It was all Michael Pinnix, 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, and their biggest player stepped up in those big moments. That's what you wanted to see.

The receiver stepped up, the defensive back was able to step up and make plays on the ball. I thought it was just a very impressive showing for Washington as they move forward. 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, and people are finally now watching Michael Pinnix 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's interesting when you go from what we're watching in terms of, you know, 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 for the team. 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 saw those four plays. He was kind of skittish in those four plays.

He played this season because H does 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. 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. Emery Hunt is joining us here, the JR Sportbree Show on CBS Sports Radio. Emery 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 balls. 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, you know, getting the brunt of the criticism. The team still rallies around him and defends him and rocks with them. 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. 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 of 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. OK, 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. 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. 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 could be a much more competitive race. I still will lean San Francisco because of the elite level playmaker they have on offense and on defense. They can get after the quarterback. That's always key in the playoff. So I see another game between San Francisco and Baltimore.

But you know what? I'm gonna just stick with my preseason pick. I'm gonna 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 gonna 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 gonna 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 gonna see the other brother jump back into the league?

What do you think? Oh, 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, Emery Hunt. Emery, 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 to the different college football All-Star games that kick off this weekend down in Fort Worth, Texas, at the College Gridiron 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 practices. It's All-Star season now, JR. It's time for me to put on that scout hat 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 overweight.

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

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