Who do NFL coaches really want as their QB?

We are thrilled to be joined by Brooke Pryor from ESPN and ESPN.com. Her day job, I guess, is covering the Pittsburgh Steelers, which I think is a pretty choice gig if you ask me about covering an NFL team. But she's also on ESPN and the GetUp crew on Friday. Do you do Thursdays and Fridays or just Fridays?

Just Fridays. I fly in Thursday afternoon, watch Thursday night football, and then, you know, get to rise literally before the sun and get to the studio and then I stay through and do this just in the afternoon and then, you know, head back to Pittsburgh. Head back to Pittsburgh. They're trying to get through the season. This will be the first losing season more than, I guess, with under Mike Tomlin. I don't know how they're going to process this, but I still love Mike Tomlin and I hope the people in Pittsburgh still love Mike Tomlin. Let me ask you, though, about the latest news about Baker Mayfield because I can't figure out the Rams. I don't know that you do.

You can't either. Why did they claim Baker Mayfield? I know John Wolford's hurt and Stafford's out for the year, but why did they? Are they being petty to the 49ers?

You know, I am absolutely here for pettiness driving an NFL waiver claim, and I wouldn't rule it out. But I also think that when Baker Mayfield came out in the draft, Sean McVay really liked him. I think they just broke out as two guys, maybe not necessarily from a football perspective because I don't think that he needed a quarterback at that point. And the Rams, I don't believe, had a draft pick high enough to even consider getting Baker Mayfield. But, you know, I think when you just look at the lack of depth in that quarterback room and then you look at the fact, OK, there's a number one former number one draft pick available. I mean, and on a bargain, and I understand why you make that decision just to get through the year because John Wolford is hurt because Matt Stafford is on. I think that they just had such a vacancy and a void in that position group. You know, why not take a flyer on this guy? I mean, I hope it works out for Baker, but I don't think that this is like the start of a career renaissance for him.

I literally think he's just a Band-Aid to get through the last couple of weeks of the season for the Rams. And I guess as an added benefit, if it happens to monkey up the wrench or throw a wrench in the spokes, I don't even know what I was trying to say for your your rival up the coast. So be it.

It just makes it even sweeter. But look, we watched Baker Mayfield here. And I understand that the Panthers as an offense and then as a coaching staff at the time were a complete mess. But I've watched the Rams play. Nobody's saving that right now.

They are a MASH unit. And frankly, they're just trying to get to the end of the end of this season as well, three and nine. They've lost six in a row. And I guess the last laugh maybe is with San Francisco because they just announced that they think Jimmy Garoppolo can return for the playoffs. So they just need Brock Purdy to get in there. Right, exactly. It's kind of, you know, the Rams made this move.

If it was a move made out of Penny does it may have blown up in their face a little bit, although again, it does. Baker does fulfill a need. And look, I, I really hope that this does something for Baker. I'm not going to, you know, be optimistic that it will be overly optimistic.

But I think a lot about what we talked about all the time. And that's that young quarterbacks are destroyed more than they're made into, you know, future franchise stars. Baker's a guy that I never wanted to go to Cleveland coming out of OU because Cleveland was such a dysfunctional organization. I felt like this is a guy that really needs to go into a place that is established, that has some consistency and some stability where he's going to be with the same OC, the same quarterback coach to develop him. And look, he, he did better early in Cleveland than I ever thought he would. I mean, taking them to the playoffs, beating the Steelers at home, I saw that game.

It was brutal, but you know, inevitably the Brown's chaos and, you know, Brown's and whatever it is you want to call it is inevitable. And it happened and it got to Baker after he got hurt. And then I think he was just kind of wayward in that organization.

He gets to the Panthers. That's not much better. I mean, yes, you can look at the on-field product. That was also clearly not very good, but to me, I think that he, his lack of development is a product of outside factors more than it is a lack of talent. But I mean, you look at the Rams there's stable in the sense that Sean McVay is a good coach and they have a good coaching staff, but like you said, it's a mash unit. So I don't know that that's the system that he's going to go into and suddenly, you know, be revived and be the Baker Mayfield number one, overall pick that he looked like when he first got to Cleveland. I think the best thing you could say for Baker Mayfield on his behalf. First of all, I actually think that there, he offers a lot in terms of confidence.

And I think there's some leadership qualities there. He certainly carries himself as a number one quarterback, but there's so many teams in the NFL that are screaming for quarterback help that he'll get another opportunity. There's, I don't, there's no question in my mind, whether he should have been the first pick overall is a completely different conversation. And the more you talked about quarterbacks being destroyed rather than nurtured or whatever the phrase you used, because I've been talking about this for a long time. The more I feel like Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold were like the Spider-Man memes pointing to each other.

You were destroyed too by a dysfunctional organization. Cause I still think the Jets are dysfunctional, but they're less dysfunctional. I think right now, let me ask you, Brett, um, Brooke prior from ESPN, B E prior on Twitter is joining us here in the Adam Gold show. Let me ask you about a team in your division. What is the immediate future of the Ravens with an injured Lamar Jackson, knowing that they were already sort of, you know, spiraling a little bit.

Yeah. You know, it's kind of the opposite situation of the 49ers right now where they still have all of the skill position players. They have all the hope around Brock produce. They can kind of plug them in and hope that, you know, he can, he can just play nicely with the toys that he's given, you know, kind of a little bit like Cooper rush in Dallas.

He stepped in, he still had a really good cast around him. When you look at what Tyler Huntley is stepping into with Lamar Jackson out one to three weeks, I mean, currently have a lot of the same principles as Lamar. You know, he, he is also a mobile quarterback. Mike Tomlin talked to this week about how the scheme doesn't change a lot, but let's be honest, like Lamar is, does things that no one else can do. He can take an offense that has, I mean, he has one pro bowl level receiver or, or offensive skill player in Mark Andrews. And that's it like you treat you, you took away his deep threat option in Hollywood Brown traded him away, said, you know what? We're going to trust Rashad Bateman to stay healthy shocker.

The guy who couldn't stay healthy is not healthy. And you look at the skill position players, but now Huntley is left with, and it's kind of like the Island and misfit toys. I mean, you're, you're going in and you're thinking, all right, like, good luck, get, get Christmas presents to the boys and girls across the country with just pieces and broken toys. And it's, I don't think that it's going to go well. Um, the Ravens defense is getting a little bit better, but that's been a liability for a while. I mean, I think that we want to think the Ravens are a lot better than they are. And that's the Lamar factor.

I mean, he, he does things that he's not supposed to do with the people around him, but he, he takes everybody to another level and your backup is not Lamar Jackson. So to me, it's, it's going to be, you know, I, I think that this game against the Steelers is going to be really close. I think the Steelers could win this weekend. Um, I don't think that it's a given that the Ravens win this division. In fact, I look at the Bengals they're surging right now. I think this is the Bengals division to lose, but the way the Ravens are trending and I'm not ready to say that the Steelers are going to make the playoffs. That is a bridge too far because they only just won two games in a row, but they're leaving the door open for Mike Tomlin to do Mike Tomlin things with the Steelers teammate. I don't think that, that it's necessarily given that they're going to have a losing record because the reasons are leaving the door open right now.

They are. And Pittsburgh gets two cracks at Baltimore in the last five weeks. And like, I want to get to this part and then we'll have to let, uh, Brook Pryor go from ESPN in the NF. Well, let's do the AFC first. The AFC basically has three teams fighting for one playoff spot.

Uh, it's the jets who are at seven, five, the Patriots and Chargers are both at six and six. Now we could look at schedules to say, well, this team has got an easier schedule. This team has an easier schedule. Uh, but I'm not sure the schedules really matter as much as we think they are of those three teams. Who do you think the best team is? Gosh, that's hard because right now I don't feel like any of those teams has a good momentum coloring. They've all stumbled recently of that group.

I, I can't believe I'm saying this. I feel the best about the jets. Um, I think that, I mean, they played the Vikings close. I think Mike white is as has some Baker Mayfield qualities in the intangibles and just like the swag that he brings, the leadership that he brings. Um, I like, I like New York's defense a lot. I think sauce Gardner is a great player.

Quinnen Williams in the middle to me, they have, they, I think that, that their loss was more of a blip than, you know, a complete downshift in momentum, but I don't trust this Patriots team, this chargers team. I mean, they failed Justin Herbert. He it's crazy how much I feel like we've forgotten about him in the rest of the country. And he's, when I talk with execs around the league, like he is a guy that they're all like, man, I mean, yes, Lamar's good. And Josh Allen's good.

But if I were building a team right now, I'd want Justin Herbert as my quarterback. And when you look at the record and you look at how just uninvolved the chargers are in the national conversation, it's really a shame. So I do think that, that of that group, it could end up being the jets.

That's, that's who I would, if I was a gambling person, that's who I would put my money on. Uh, amazing that anybody with a, with functioning gray matter, and I believe you have functioning gray matter, but prior to say that if I was a betting person, I would put my money on the jets. Uh, but I agree with you. I think the jets are of those three teams are the best. We all, we would all agree though, that bill Belichick, even for all the Patriots foils are, uh, he is the best coach.

All right. In the NFC. I think there are three teams for two spots, Seattle, the giants and Washington. I'm not sure which of those teams I like less.

I don't know. I think the giants are the giants were never as good as they, as their start, they kept winning strange games. The, the commandos are the commandos. Here's what I like about them. Ron Rivera is just a solid human being, and he's a good football coach. And that team has an identity and they had been playing well for a while. I kind of give them the edge, uh, even over the giants and Seattle.

I, to me, it's a toss up between Seattle and Washington. Those two teams, I, the giants are, I mean, a lot of the 2020 Steelers where they start out with 10 or 11 and no, and the whole time I was like, ah, their record is not, it's not matching up with, with the eye test with, with the eye test grade tells me that they are. Um, that's the giants to me. Look, I, I like, I like Saquon. I think that he's really played himself into having a nice contract at the end of this, whether it's, you know, remaining in New York or going and getting paid as a free agent, even though I don't really think you should pay for your running backs that much. Um, but, and I like link Martindale. I liked his defense, but I still, I don't trust the giants.

Um, I, I like Seattle a lot. I think that Gino Smith has just been one of, to me, the bright spots in this season. And we should have known from week one when he went out with, you know, they wrote me off.

I am right back though. Like that, that to me is my favorite thing that has happened this season. Like I'm here for a comeback player, a guy that everybody wrote off.

It's like, there's no way. Like, I like that a lot, but to me, the, the commanders are like you said, they have an identity. I really liked the material Heinecke. I like their story outside of the organization itself, just being a dumpster fire, like the actual football product. Do you feel bad that the support system they have is, I mean, built on toothpicks and string.

It's really a shame. I mean, it's also what their stadium's constructed out of, but I think it's a toss up between, we're going to go on, on two coasts here between Washington and Seattle. I agree. Um, yeah, Ron Rivera has masked.

He's been the Febreze on that organization. And I appreciate your maturity and not falling into my commandos trap. Uh, Brooke Pryor, uh, you're awesome. I appreciate your time. Uh, safe trip to New York. Uh, don't spend too much money shopping. I will.

I mean, look, it's Christmas time. I may or may not bring an extra suitcase to fill while I'm there. Who's to say I would.

Yeah, I would absolutely do that. Uh, I can, you could, uh, you could drop, you could drop some cash in the, in midtown Manhattan. Oh, I'm sure it's easy. It's the city gets bad rap, but it is a great place for the holiday. You don't have to spend money. You really don't. I mean, I, I do more window shopping in New York city than I would do anything else, but walking the city this time of the year, it looks pretty so good. So good.