Panthers and Jags Oh My!

It is a Monday drive, so let's talk about Panthers and Jaguars. From what I know, both are jungle cats. They seem to be very similar. I honestly don't know the difference between the two.

Robert, he watches a ton of animal videos every single time I come into the office and get set for the radio show, so I'm sure he has more he can add on that. But in the NFL context, the Panthers and Jags, they've always been linked. Came into the NFL together in 1995 and their second seasons went to the conference championship game. And in the last few years, they've had their rosters torn apart, just completely depleted in a way I don't think any of the other 30 NFL teams can relate to. The Panthers, no longer do they have Cam Newton or Greg Olsen or Thomas Davis or Luke Kuechly. A lot of leaders have left the Panthers organization.

Look at Jacksonville, went to the AFC championship game in 2017. Since then, Blake Bortles no longer around. Tevin Smith, AJ Boye, Jalen Ramsey, Kaleis Campbell. And this weekend, they traded away Yannick Ngakwe to continue stockpiling draft picks. They have 10 for next year's draft. They got a fourth rounder for Kaleis Campbell that they used this past draft that just happened.

Same thing for AJ Boye as well, I believe. And this morning, they released Leonard Fournette. With Doug Marone saying, we tried to get a fourth round pick back, a fifth round pick, a six or a seventh round.

We couldn't get anything back for Leonard Fournette. Which leads me to the differences between Carolina and Jacksonville. They're both rebuilding, sure, but I'm convinced the Panthers are building the right way while the Jaguars aren't. Robert, before I dive into the football, just how different are Panthers and Jaguars in the wild? Well, they're both big cats, obviously. Jaguars, a little bit slimmer, a little bit thinner.

They're the better swimmers of the two. They kind of deal with like Cayman and other smaller prey. But Panthers, they get about a foot to two foot taller, about 50 pounds more, and they deal with more like land prey. Just like me with my t-shirt right now, black makes you look slimmer. So I guess maybe the black fur makes the Panther look slimmer than the Jaguar.

I don't know. That's not something I noticed before them being 15 to 20 pounds heavier. Unlike Jacksonville, Carolina isn't wasting time with their rebuild. Jacksonville, they've completely discarded this year.

They're not expecting to win. They're doing what Miami did a year ago and Cincinnati, but Miami and Cincinnati knew who their coach was going to be moving forward. Cincinnati, yeah, they were tanking to try and get Joe Burrow. But they still had Zach Taylor in his first year establishing what the culture is going to be for the Bengals. The Miami Dolphins probably did it best.

Traded away Minken Fitzpatrick, got rid of Kenny Stills, got rid of Laramie Tunsel. Ton of players completely up heaved out of the Miami Dolphins organization. But they knew who their general manager was going to be.

They knew who the head coach was. And we saw at the end of the year, the Dolphins were figuring it out. They beat the Patriots in Foxboro in a meaningful game. It cost the Patriots a first round bye. The Dolphins were really playing well. They got a top five pick. They got their quarterback.

That's the right way to go about it. That's the way I think Carolina's handling it. Carolina knows who their coach is.

You got Matt Ruhle. They know who some of the cornerstones are in their organization. They're going to try and win games, but it's an evaluation year. You look at the Panthers. They have their young core in place. Russell Dokun, he's the only offensive starter in his thirties. Defensively, only two starters are projected to be thirty year older. Tahir Whitehead at middle linebacker, KK Short and the interior defensive line.

That's it. Everybody else is on a short, cheap contract and they're in their twenties. So it's all about the evaluation. Carolina is not wasting time. Jacksonville, they're going to blow up this front office. After last year, they got rid of Tom Coughlin, Doug Marone, David Caldwell.

They're going to be out at the end of this year. They probably should have been gone last year. So what exactly is going to be accomplished other than the team being really bad? Oh, but Josh, they're going to get Trevor Lawrence.

Okay. Find me the example where the player, a singular player in football changed the organization, completely transformed things. That's the big difference between basketball and football. I believe tanking works in basketball. One player could completely change everything. That's not the case in football. You've got to have a collection of players, a ton of talent surround people. Like look at what Deshaun Watson has to do in order to win with the Houston Texans.

And even in that circumstance, Deshaun, he dropped. He dropped way down in that draft. Trevor Lawrence, you pick him number one, what's going to surround him?

How are you convinced the evaluation is sound in that scouting department? This is a crazy stat somebody posted earlier today. I think it was Field Yates from 2012 to 2017 Jacksonville picked in the top five every year. None of those players from 2012 to 2017. Again, all top five picks are still in the roster. That blows me away. So I'm not convinced draft picks can overcome a losing culture and bad scouting department.

Good luck with it. Like what coach are you going to bring in to completely overhaul the scouting? Tanking doesn't work in football. Jacksonville, they're shipping away potential long-term pieces in a way Carolina is not. Christian McCaffrey gets the extension.

Shaq Thompson gets the extension. So while Carolina has these younger players and they're on short cheap contracts, Carolina is paying the guys they feel like are going to be longer term assets. They picked up a quarterback. Teddy Bridgewater, three year deal. There's no money on the third year.

So it's still a very easy contract to maneuver around. They decide to keep DJ Moore, not trade him. They decide to keep Curtis Samuel, not trade him. The Jags, they can't keep anybody happy because they only seem interested in trying to get the number one pick. You'll lose, Ramsey.

You lose Ngakwe, forcing their way out. You give Fournette away. Key defensive players.

I'm so convinced of this. Carolina is doing it right. I don't care that the Jaguars have three more picks in 2021 than Carolina does next year. Carolina is establishing a culture. They're trying to figure things out.

They know who their leaders are. Jacksonville doesn't. Jacksonville doesn't know who the leader on their football team is in the locker room. There's no chance that that coach and that GM are both going to return to coach whatever team is there in 2021. It is a glorified mess. Your thoughts are welcome on Twitter at sportsupdryant 336-777-1600. Who do you think is doing it better?

Better form of rebuild, the Panthers or the Jaguars, 777-1600. I can't begin to express what I was feeling Saturday night watching Central Arkansas play Austin P. I was at Myrtle Beach. That's why I was off on Friday, spending some time generally the week before Labor Day, because we work on Labor Day. We take a little bit of time off because we expect college football to be there.

And thank goodness we got some college football. I went out of my way. I even dragged my girlfriend.

We were riding bikes in a market area, grabbing some Cold Stone ice cream. I said, we need to be back in front of a television at nine o'clock on a Saturday night watching Central Arkansas play Austin P. And that's exactly what we did. And there are two things I felt more than anything else, optimism and relief. And I'll even go this far.

Saturday was the most optimistic I've been during this entire pandemic because it's so easy to be negative. When the NBA bubble concept was presented, going to Disney, you had just the list of media members who shot it down. Oh, it's not plausible. We've never seen anything like this. It can't work.

In the NBA, Michelle Roberts, head of the NBA PA, comparing it to prison. So nobody thought it would work as a concept. Oh, and COVID for sure is going to infiltrate it and nuke some of these games and potentially ruin the integrity of the playoffs.

None of that happened. It's worked. I think what happens in sports media sometimes you have people talking outside of their lane, right? The reason I have this platform is because I have expertise in sports. I know quite a bit about it.

I think about it all day. I study it. I research it. I talk to coaches.

I have access to players, right? What happens, I think, with the pandemic affecting all aspects of our life and culture, there's the reporting that's done, which is so important, but you can't separate the reporting from the opinion people. The opinion people are trying to play doctor and tell me whether or not we can have a college football season or whether or not we can have an NBA season in a bubble when really they are not the people speaking in the know. That's not their expertise. It just isn't.

So it's people outside their lane. I was on a Zoom call about a month ago, 30 plus people working in sports, and they were talking down on there being a football season. It got to the point where I asked the question, does anybody else believe that there's going to be a season other than me?

Nobody else would speak up. And I remember being made out to be a fool. Like, hey, this Josh guy, who else do you believe? The Easter Bunny? You think the Easter Bunny is going to be playing football this year?

I mean, come on. I was made out to be a fool for thinking there'd be football. And we've started.

It's an undisputable, undeniable fact. In 2020, we have played college football. It's happened. And if Austin Peay and Central Arkansas can play a football game with 2,000 fans in the stands and could do so safely, if those two schools can do it, why not the ACC? Why not the SEC? Why not the Big 12?

And I would even ask the same question to the Big 10. It's a tremendous sign. And that's where I get optimism from.

Here's where the relief comes in. Wright Thompson had a great piece before the start of the Saturday night game, talking about the ambiance of college football, talking about the pageantry and how things look and the bands and the sounds. And he was worried his heart was going to be broken by it just not being up to snub with how the atmosphere should look for college football.

One of the greatest drawing points of the sport. When I watched Saturday, the sights and sounds exceeded my expectations. I think you don't need a packed stadium for it to sound like there were a lot of people there. 2,000 is not a lot, but it kind of reminded me of some of these high school football crowds. Clemson, they're going to get 19,000 people into a stadium in September.

That's what South Carolina state government said over the weekend. So I was impressed. My expectations were exceeded with how the sport looked, how it sounded, the sights and sounds.

And that made me feel really good. Now the next thing that all the critics are saying, the same people that said the bubble wouldn't work, the same people that said there wouldn't be a college football game play this year. Oh yeah, but they're not going to finish.

They started, but they're not going to finish. Says who? It's very easy to be negative. It's more difficult to be positive. It's more difficult to be optimistic. What I'm encouraging you to do is to have a little faith.

Try it. It doesn't hurt to be optimistic, to have something to look forward to and have some faith that considering we've already kicked off the college football season and we're about to do so for the NFL and people said we weren't able to do that. And we got an NBA season pretty much in with no threat of the pandemic affecting things.

The NHL the same way in Toronto and in Edmonton. Have faith that the powers to be in college football are going to find a way to get this season finished. They're going to find a way to get this done. Have a little faith because we were rewarded. Those who did have faith were rewarded Saturday night for being optimistic. And not only was I optimistic, I was relieved to watch the sport that we all love. All right, let's go. Oh, I'm so excited. And three, two, one, go.

The Drive with Josh Graham on Sports Hub Triad. Robert, you know, I love the AP poll. I don't pay it any mind.

Actually I do. I pay attention to it, but then I make fun of it. We mock it.

It's something we look forward to every single year. This year is no different, especially as they include teams that aren't going to be playing this year in the Big Ten and the Pac-12. So over the last two weeks, I've been doing a lot of homework in preparation for this moment, where I have my top 10 college football teams ranked this season.

In terms of teams, their talent, their chance to win a national title, I have them ranked one through 10 here. And this weekend I made the mistake, I brought my studio quality headphones to the beach. Probably not the smartest move. Like there's sand all over these suckers now. And yeah, it might lead to some discomfort over the next few days.

But as I was on the beach, listening to podcasts, listening to music, I was diving through Phil Steele's magazine that's full of outdated information now, searching things on the internet. So I feel like I'm more prepared than ever for the college football season. We're ready to go here. Top 10 teams for 2020.

Let's get it started. Number 10, Oklahoma State Cowboys. They return a quarterback who put up some really good numbers as a true freshmen, Spencer Sanders. And they have a great running back who is the guy speaking up against Mike Gundy over the summer.

You got to separate how much you might agree or dislike, agree or disagree with what Mike Gundy said and what his beliefs are with how good the football team is and how good of a coach he is. Oklahoma State's going to be really good this year. So they're number 10 on this list. Shubba Hubbard, maybe the best running back in college football.

However, I'd venture to say Travis Etienne is slightly ahead of him. Number 9, Cincinnati Bearcats. This is the best group of five team in America.

I put it in this order. Cincinnati 1, Memphis 2, Appalachian State 3. They got great quarterback play. Third year starting for Desmond Ritter.

Older team, really well coached. Memphis, they're dealing with the coaching change losing Mike Norvell, but they do have the infrastructure in place as they promoted an assistant. Same deal for Appalachian State, but it's happening for the second straight year. Eli Drinkwitz replacing Scott Satterfield.

Now it's Sean Clark with half state. So I think Cincinnati, they're the team that could really be a playoff buster this year. Maybe those other teams as well. Cincinnati, they have a difficult schedule having to go up against Memphis, having to play UCF. But the Bearcats, they're in the top 10, no question. Number 8, Oklahoma Sooners. This is the first time since Lincoln Riley's been the head coach, I feel comfortable saying they're not the most talented team in the Big 12.

They're going to be favored to win it. But they have, last year they broke in four new offensive linemen and this year they're losing a left tackle. I didn't really like the O-line play from a year ago. Kyler Murray, he's no longer around. Jalen Hurts, he's no longer around. I don't think they're going to have a Heisman hopeful this year. The offense is going to prop up some of the numbers, but no CD Lamb, that hurts too. Oklahoma, the number 8 team, a little bit lower than where they're generally at. Number 7 That's because the Texas Longhorns are going to win the Big 12 this year. It's about damn time for Tom Herman. They have urgency on the line. They also have one of the best quarterbacks in the country, Sam Ellinger.

Terrific leader. Now he needs to produce the wins, he needs to produce the offensive numbers that we haven't seen from a Texas quarterback in comparison to Oklahoma. I like Tom Herman, I like the zest, the energy he brings to the team. I think Texas, this is the year they win the Big 12. Number 6 North Carolina Tar Heels. 12th right now in the adjusted AP poll.

Picking out the Big 10 and the Pac-12 teams. You just got that great combo of Mack Brown and Sam Howe. Phil Longo and Jay Bateman are back too as coordinators. 10 of the 11 starters on offense.

Jasserratt on defense. They're not playing Clemson in the regular season. They've gotten every single scheduling break. I like what this Tar Heel team is capable of. The goal should be to be a top 10 team by year's end.

I think they are that and that's why they have them just outside the top 5. Number 5 Notre Dame Irish. I call them the Irish instead of the Fighting Irish because every team gets to that point where they take the fighting out of their name. Like we don't need to call you the fighting fill in the blanks anymore. Okay.

Small rant, put it out of the way. Notre Dame, they got Ian Bookback, Brian Kelly. They are a top 3 offensive line. They have a top 3-0 line in the league. D line is pretty strong too.

There is some secondary concerns. Their schedule is easier than it would have been as an independent in the ACC. As much as that is an indictment on the conference, it is true. And I think Notre Dame having a conference championship game, also just being Notre Dame, they're going to be looked on favorably. So I have them 5th in my top 10 college football team last.

Number 4 Florida Gators. This is my surprise national title contender. Like this team with Kyle Trass playing quarterback, I think he could have the Joe Burrow like leap this year. Statistically, I mean he has all the makeup.

He's got weapons around him. You got the coaching in Dan Mullen. Florida, this is a really really strong team. I think it all comes together for them and they end up a top 5 team. End up being right on the doorstep of making the playoff. They do have a difficult schedule playing in the SEC but they don't play Bama in the regular season.

That's something important to note. Number 3 Georgia Bulldogs. They're going to be fine with Zamir White at running back, George Pickens at wide receiver. It is a quarterback battle. I think Jamie Newman is going to end up being the guy, the former Wake quarterback but I wouldn't be surprised if it's JT Daniels. JT Daniels, he's more of that Todd Munkin type quarterback. Jamie, he adds more of a running element.

A little bit sturdier. But this might be the best coaching staff in America. Alabama gets credit for that. Georgia, they've been able to maintain and the facilities are tremendous too. Kirby Smart's done a tremendous job. Probably should have a national title already.

I'm a little concerned we're overselling the quarterback play and underselling what Jake Fromm's done the last few years. But Georgia, there's no question, you gotta put them way up there. Number 2 Clemson Tigers. Can't put them number 1.

I think the losses, they are significant. Justin Ross, T Higgins, Isaiah Simmons. You lose AJ Terrell, first round corner.

At some point, you gotta be hurt by all these losses. I can't put them outside too when you have Trevor Lawrence, Dabo Swinney, and Travis Etienne there. Two ACC Players of the Year and a coach who has won multiple national titles.

Brent Venables, defensive coordinator. The ACC, not as strong. But this is the most vulnerable Clemson's been in the last 5 years. So they're not the number 1 team in the country as they are ranked in the AP pool. Number 1 Alabama. I think it's Alabama this year.

I really do. How's this for Alabama's run they've been on historically out of the SEC? They finished 8th in the country last year and people thought that was a doomsday season. Robert, you wanna know the last time Nick Saban finished outside the top 4 at the end of the year in consecutive seasons? When was that?

Never. His first season, they were like 500. His second year, they lost to Tim Tebow in the SEC Championship Game. At the end of the regular season, they're the 4th ranked team. So if the playoff existed, they would have gotten in. That was their first loss of the year. Year 3, they won the national title.

So they're gonna get back in the playoff. You got Mac Jones at quarterback and that's a drop off from Tuatunga Veloa. But he's still throwing the ball to Devontae Smith and Jalen Waddle. And you got Najee Harris in the backfield. Morgan Moses, or not Morgan Moses, he's the offensive lineman. Dylan Moses, the inside linebacker, he's back and gonna be a contributor. Patrick Sertana, top 5 pick. Just talent all over the place.

They're number one in America, in my mind. You are listening to WSJS Winston Salem, WCOG Greensboro, WPCM Burlington, WMFR High Point. Those signals make up Sports Hub Triad. Watching college football debut over the weekend with Central Arkansas going head to head in Montgomery against Austin Peay, I came across the realization that rightfully, we spent so much time covering what's happening with coronavirus and whether or not the season is actually going to start, football games are going to be played, and talking about very important social issues as well and how it's infiltrated every corner of our culture that usually in the month of August we spend so much time getting people ready for the college football season and telling, hey, trying to figure out who's gonna be really good this year, who might be struggling, and we haven't done a lot of that this year. So I think there's a lot of room now to try and look at these rosters and figure out what teams are gonna be in the ACC and to help us make sense of it is Andrea Adelson of ESPN, who you can follow on Twitter at aadelsonesbn, one of the best college football writers on the ACC for ESPN or anybody in general.

Andrea, appreciate the time. I want to start with the top of the ACC, where you got Clemson, of course, who's won the conference the last five years. Notre Dame added to the league. They're going to be a preseason top 10 team when things are adjusted to include the teams that are going to be playing this fall. And then you got North Carolina.

We talked to Mac Brown last hour. I think the Tar Heels returning 10 of the 11 starters on offense, returning a quarterback, the assistants, Chas Serratt on defense. They're a legit top 20 team. I buy that. When you're looking at tiering the ACC, how wide is the talent gap between the Tigers in Notre Dame and how wide is it between Notre Dame and North Carolina?

Well, that's a great question. I do think that the talent gap is large between Clemson and everybody else, and that includes Notre Dame. I'm just not feeling very confident that in the last couple of years since Clemson beat down Notre Dame in the Coswell playoff that Notre Dame is that much closer to where Clemson is right now. Now, obviously, Clemson has some questions that they've got to answer, new starters on the offensive line, a lot of uncertainty at receiver for the first time in a really long time.

Who's going to be our playmaker on defense with Isaiah Simmons gone? But when you have got the likes of Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne on your roster and Darion Kendrick too, and some of the other guys, Tyler Davis, we could sit here and list them. Who compares on the Notre Dame roster to that right there?

So that's number one. As to the talent gap between Notre Dame and everybody else, when I sat here and tried to come up with what I thought everybody was going to finish with final records, it was extremely difficult to come up with much separation between really 2-3 where I had Notre Dame and North Carolina, and then Team 10. That's how bunched up it is to me in the middle. And I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that we don't know what these rosters are going to look like week to week because of coronavirus and because of conditioning. We don't know what shape these teams are in. Every coach is talking about needing depth.

We don't know what that depth is going to look like. And so when you sit here and start looking at the matchups to come up with win-loss records, just about every game if you take Clemson out of the equation, maybe Notre Dame, it's very evenly matched. You can see almost every game going just about any way. And I think that's what's going to make the ACC so interesting to watch this year. I do think it's a better conference top to bottom. I think there's a better top this year than the last couple of years. But I also think the middle of the league, everybody is about the same.

And that's going to create a lot of really close and fun games, at least I hope. See, you're in Florida. So I'm interested who you are more confident in right now to take a leap this year. You're too Manny Diaz in Miami or year one Mike Norvell transitioning from Memphis to lead the Knolls in Tallahassee. Well, right now, I think Miami is slightly ahead. But again, I had both teams finishing six and five this year.

And I think a lot of that speaks to where the middle of the league is. I think both those programs right now, based on the results we've seen the last couple of years, are in the middle. The reason I say Miami is because I think Derek King at quarterback is more dynamic than James Blackmon. I think they have better depth at the running back position. I think their offensive line is slightly better. And defensively, Florida State probably has a little bit of an edge. I like the players they have coming back on the defensive line. The secondary should be outstanding. But the issues that Florida State has had continue to be issues, offensive line and quarterback and James Blackmon.

You know, I got to say this about this young man. He has worked his butt off now for four different offensive coordinators. He's he's the leader of the offense.

The players love him. He wants to be good. And the question now is, can this offense put him in a position to be good when the offensive line isn't really going to be that much better? There's questions at running back and also at receiver beyond some orientary. So again, these are the same things that we've been asking about Florida State that I don't really necessarily know their answers for. And oh, by the way, the other two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster right now are injured. So it's James Blackmon or bust for Florida State. And so this is just a couple of reasons why I think Miami might be slightly ahead. Andrea Adelson with us on Twitter at a Adelson ESPN. So that's the ACC.

Now let's get a little weird. See, I in our listening radius, a team outside of the ACC, a lot of people follow very closely has one of the strongest fan bases is Appalachian State 13 and one. They were a team that was, I was surprised wasn't included in the AP poll before we have the adjustment where if you take out the Big Ten in the Pac-12, they'd be ranked 22nd, third highest ranked group of five behind Memphis and Cincinnati. But if I lump in Cincinnati and Memphis into this discussion, what I've often been told, you know me as somebody who is a group of five apologist, we had the discussion about UCF when they're unbeaten, hey, do they deserve a spot in the college football playoff? Or are they a reason why we need to expand things out without the Big Ten playing, assuming that they don't play and that remains the case and the Pac-12 not playing. Is there a circumstance where you see an unbeaten American conference team or maybe even an Appalachian State considering all the returning starters in the 13 and one year getting left out if there is a college football playoff this year? Yeah, I still don't see a team from outside the power five structure making it in. Although I have to say, you know, I really like Jeff Scott's idea.

He's now the USF head coach with Clemson's offensive coordinator with Tony Elliott for years, just said, let's go with the top group of five and the three power five chance and let's make it a playoff. I would have no problem with that. Because as you know, I also would like the little guys to get a chance one of these seasons. But you know, the unfortunate part of it for the group of five teams this year is there really no non-conference opportunities for them to truly prove it on the field because of the way the conferences have decided to go with their non-conference games. It is interesting, though, that some of them some of them are trying, sorry to interrupt you, is trying to add games like App State's argument is if just playing it out, if all these games happen, hey, we might play more games than the power five.

Maybe that I don't know. Is that a legit argument? Again, they're going to look at strength of schedule, and that's always been one of the biggest determining factors.

That's that phrase that we hear every time we talk to committee members about what was the difference, right? Strength of schedule. And they look at whatever that non-conference strength of schedule is going to be.

Well, there really isn't going to be that opportunity. So let's say App State plays 12 games and, you know, the SEC plays 10 and the ACC's got 11. What's that one extra game? It's not going to be against a ranked opponent, right? So that right there is what the disadvantage is going to be for these group of five teams is they're not going to have ranked teams that they've beaten unless it's in the American. And it's one of the couple of ranked teams that are out there right now. Cincinnati, Memphis, UCF would be the three. And Memphis now, Kenneth Gainwell looks like he's opting out. They're best players. So who knows what Memphis is going to look like this year. So to me, again, this is all about trying to keep the power contained to the power five. Don't let anybody else in.

And there's a built in argument this year against the group of five because there just won't be enough games against ranked teams to justify a spot in that top four. All right, let's close with this. Watching college football on Saturday.

See, Wright Thompson had that great piece for ESPN where he was talking about, I hope when I watch college football without the pageantry, the fans, the bands, I hope it doesn't break my heart. So I'm looking at it. I'm nervous. And I felt a great sigh of relief at how the sight lines look, how it sounded. It wasn't. My expectations were exceeded. Watching Central Arkansas in Montgomery play in Austin Peay.

How did you watch? Did the sight and sounds Saturday night exceed your expectations? I was just happy there was football, to be honest. And that probably is why it exceeded expectations because I don't think a lot of us thought we were going to get to this point where there was going to be kickoff. Back in April and May and June, even a month ago when the Big Ten and the Pac-12 made those decisions, it seemed dicey that we were going to get football at all. So while I understand it's not the same and it is heartbreaking that you don't have the bands on the field and you don't have the full stadium and you don't have all the cheer squads and everything that you're used to with the pageantry around college football, I think a lot of folks are just going to be happy to have any football on their television sets. And though the sights and sounds might be missing, the fact that we've gotten to this point where there can be football hopefully played safely in the conferences that are going to be playing football is a win, I think, for everybody. Now again, it's got to be done safely. Hopefully it continues to be done safely as the season progresses. Hopefully there is a full season.

But at least for right now, I'm not sure two months ago I thought we would have been at this point. So I was thrilled to see football. It was fantastic.

I enjoyed watching it. I went out of my way. I even dragged my girlfriend saying, hey, we need to go.

We're at the beach. We need to get to a television. Why? Who's playing?

Central Arkansas and Austin Peay. And it exceeded my expectations. And yeah, you're right. I'm just glad football's here. Hey, we'll be talking more during the season, hopefully about actual games that are happening in the ACC. And the time is appreciated as always. Keep up the great work, Andrea. All right.

Can't wait. Thanks, Josh. There you go. Follow her on Twitter at A. Adelson ESPN. Andrea Adelson spending time here.

All right. Up next, the real difference between Panthers and Jaguars. This is a Monday drive. What the hell is this?

The drive. This is kind of a great thing and I'll tell you why. Get caught up with all things sports. That's awesome.

Well, that's not totally true. He talks about the bachelorette to the drive with Josh Graham on Sports Hub Triad. It is time for us to get crazy. Hot takes only three three six seven seven seven one six hundred is the phone number. Bring in the hot takes.

Now we throw away journalistic integrity for 10 minutes each and every week. I don't want to stall any longer. I want to dive right in because I my vacation was one day and then I had the weekend.

I was at the beach. I've been thinking about things the last few days that I need to get off my chest. We do that now. Cue the print. Robert Walsh, are you with me, man? Let's wake people up right now. Hot takes been a long day. You're getting home from work. You're thinking about your sports teams. You've been watching the NBA, college football on Saturday and you're just fired up right now.

Seven seven seven one six hundred. Bring it. Robert, are you ready to go?

Yeah, I'll fire one off here. Giannis is coming up against the Bucks and I say Giannis because that's really the only guy besides Chris Middleton on the Bucks that I give a rip about. Oh, Eric Bledsoe is mad about that. Well, Lopez, come on.

They can come see me. Both of the Lopez. It doesn't matter. They're playing the heat.

Bam. This is the only guy I think in the NBA that is built to guard Giannis. Giannis isn't going to have over 20 points or a triple double in this whole series.

And the Heat are going to end up beating the Bucks. Let's go to John and Winston Salem. John, let's get crazy. John and Winston Salem, let's get crazy. The Clippers are going to lose the Denver Nuggets in the semi-conference finals with Jamal Murray averaging 40. It was wild what he was doing last night.

Thanks for the call, John. I think about Jamal Murray, what he's doing. You can't sustain that much longer, can you? Like people were pointing out, oh, Utah, they're blowing this. What could Utah have done last night? The NBA, or I think any high level of basketball, it's about figuring out what they'll live with, right? Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic being open from 18 to 20 feet.

Those are at times things to live with. Like people were talking about, why don't they just double team Jamal Murray? Because Jeremy Grant's going for 20. And Nikola Jokic, you have this two man game that's just incredibly hard to defend.

It's amazing. Like if they play that way again, they're not losing. You're not going to lose to Utah game seven tomorrow night. All right, I got something here.

336-777-1600. If you want to play along, we're getting crazy here on the drive. I was at the beach all weekend, Myrtle Beach specifically. Sitting under the pier as a beach spot is better than being out in the sun exposed. My man Hayes Permar be giving me crap on Twitter here, saying that you can't sit under the pier.

What are you doing? You can always step out into the sun and play in the water. Also during the summer, you have these really quick summer storms that come by.

I like having the cover underneath the pier. And also I'm pretty fair. So look at me right now, Robert, do I look burnt?

No, but you took the easy way out. I'm not going to dog you because it's Let's Get Crazy and that you're allowed to have crazy takes in this. All right, turn down the microphone real quick or turn down the hot take music, the Let's Get Crazy music.

I'm going to allow for you to crush me because I don't know how you're going to. Why is sitting under the pier a thing to even mock? Because you look like that's where trolls sit and things in like fairy tales. They're under the pier under the bridge.

Why don't I just hang out in the sun, put on 100 SPF, get a tent, get a UV shirt. There's a million things you can do besides stay under the pier and look like a creep. I have never walked under a pier and looked at someone sitting there and been like, that guy is very attractive. That guy does not look crazy. That guy might not steal my wallet if he knows where it's at in my beach bag. If you're under the pier, you're just giving off a weird vibe. Like, why aren't you out here with the rest of us?

It makes no sense to me. Mark tweets in the Tar Heels are going to be playing for an NCAA football title. I could give a **** about North Carolina right now.

336-777-1600 if you want it on the show. I disagree with everything you just said there about being underneath a pier. Maybe it goes back to, I met all kinds of friends underneath that pier. I'd rather be cold than warm. Like there's nothing you can do if you're too hot other than try to go to a colder place. You can take off at the beach. I know, but your clothes are already off at the beach. It's 90 plus degrees.

I don't understand. You're like, it's so hot out here. Then why even go to the beach? You're taking all the fun out of it. It's a great point. I don't, I, I am more of a, if I had to pick mountains or beach, I'm more of a mountain person than a beach person, but I have more access to things at the beach than I do in the mountains.

Mountain people hit me up. Robert, let's get crazy. Randy Orton is the greatest wrestler of this generation.

How do you classify generation? I would say from the end of the Attitude Era into the new era of WWE where the faces are like John Cena, Batista, any of those guys, Randy Orton is head and shoulders above them because he never left. He stayed, he puts guys over and that's evident this Sunday as he put Keith Lee over in his first pay-per-view match. Randy Orton's the best and nobody can convince me otherwise. I'm trying to think who else would be in that discussion. Cena, Brock Lesnar maybe. Brock will probably be in that conversation too, but both those guys, I wouldn't say Cena's selfish, but Brock is definitely selfish and Cena left for greener pastures.

So the, the trophy belongs to Randy. I was assigned on my Instagram live show with B. Dot that we're now calling Instagram and B.

Dot. I was assigned to watch Love and Basketball and I did so over the weekend. First time I watched it. I liked the movie, but Love and Basketball, I'll give you my full review of this.

Eight o'clock on IG. Follow me at Josh Graham radio. Love and Basketball's nothing more than a Nike and safe sex ad. Have you seen this movie? I have seen this movie.

Okay. There are the points where I call him President David Palmer, probably more well known as the guy in the Allstate commercials. He is this star NBA player for the Clippers and it gets to the point in the movie where he's revealing to his son that he cheated on his wife and also that he may have had made a mistake having him at 19 years old. Then later in the movie, Monica is talking to her mom and the mom's like, I had dreams too, but I had you at 19 years old.

The first time there's a love sequence between Quincy and Monica, he's making sure to grab protection. It seems that has been pushed a lot that I noticed it during the movie. Second thing's this, you cannot watch this movie and not see how you're getting slapped in the face by Nike product placement throughout the entire damn thing. It didn't affect my enjoyment of the movie, but the amount of Nike that's all over this movie was jarring. If we're going to say that about love and basketball, then you have to admit space jam is double. So just a walking advertisement for anything that would throw money at that film. Michael Jordan, I'm trying to think, let's go grab a, let's go grab a big Mac, get our Coke and put our Nike zone. He like knocks out like advertisers like this in that watch it again.

It is just a walking product placement for anybody that would throw money at that movie. All right, real quick. Three, three, six, seven, seven, seven, one 600. Robert closes out with your hot take Leonard Fournette. He's getting a lot of guff this week, but I think he's going to sign with the Rams. He's going to get over a thousand yards, not just a thousand yards. He's going to break any record that Todd Gurley said there. He's going to have more rushing yards than Todd Gurley ever had with the Rams. I don't think Todd Gurley set records with the Rams. Just his records. I mean, you're very precise with this. I knew you were going to come. I thought you were going to say Rams records and I was like, I don't know if he's going to come at Eric Dickerson. Todd Gurley's he's going to end up being a better Rams running back than Todd Gurley. And that is, let's get crazy.