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So he's not wrong, but let me remind you, welcome back into hour number two. I am Jim Rome and the show is presented by FanDuel. Our FanDuel segment's coming up in just one moment. James Kelly is ready to go. But I want to remind you, we are on Westwood One.
Proud to do so, proud to be so. We're also on SiriusXM. We're also on our YouTube channel. We're also on the Rome TV channel, which has eight different platforms.
So, lots of different ways to find the product that is by design. As part of our FanDuel relationship, and the show is presented by FanDuel, every Thursday we have a FanDuel segment where I bring in the big head. He's odd. He's got gigantic head. He murders the English language every time I talk to him, and he has for years, but he's like a savant.
He knows ball. And he's had great success picking games over the years. And when he's not acting like a nine-year-old, I really do like chopping it up with him. Let's go to the head. James Kelly, what's up, Pat?
How you doing? I went with a dark hat. A dark hat today, dude. I went with a dark hat today. Yes.
You know, like San Antonio Spur Black. in honor of Popovich and You know, having a little Tony Parker in him. Anyway, you want me to think that's funny? No, way to say that the very thing that the entire internet said. Way to go, James.
Way to follow this sheep off the cliff. What an old dog. It is, yeah, yeah. It is. He must be doing a little bit better than I saw him last.
So, credit for that. Wow, James. Yeah, apparently, so, right?
So, how about our guy, man, Coach Bud? Can this guy not get a break? No, he cannot get a break, man. I would love to hear him. I would love to hear from him.
Maybe he's cool with it. Maybe he's not. I can't imagine him being cool with it. I don't know, man. Yeah.
Okay, so really quickly, where is the so-called bro code start and end? Like, is there a statue of limitations? Number one, for those who don't know what we're talking about, a former longtime assistant of Greg Popovich. Mike Brunhoser was married, got divorced. Pop just married his ex wife.
So is there any violation of a bro code there? That's question number one. Number two, is there a statute of limitations? Number three, does the bro code apply to people over the age of seventy five? Number four.
Well, maybe not over the age of 75, but the other ones, absolutely, because the first thing I did, I went and looked at the resume to see how long he was around for. And dude, they won a lot. I mean, I mean, years, almost a decade-type thing back and forth working together.
So I kind of think that, yeah, that's a violation of the bro code, without a doubt. You can't go there. I don't know the nature.
Okay, fair. I don't know the nature of their relationship. I don't know if Pop went to him and said, hey, man, are you cool with this? Do I have your blessing? Or just did it?
I don't know. I don't know any of the details other than I saw the story. And unlike everybody on the internet, I was not going to rush in with a comment. Or Popovich is like, dude, I made your career. I got you jobs.
I got you championships.
So it is not going to deal with it. I don't need your permission. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome for me marrying your ex.
That could be it. I'm talking about James Kelly of you. You're welcome. You're welcome. Outro.
All right, bro.
So you got that. I always allow you that one thing off the top. Why don't we get into it? Why don't we start with TNF? We got it spoiled last week.
This week is not as interesting, but a little bit interesting because your favorite guy, Michael Pennix Jr., is going to play. What's the line? How do you see it? Where are we going with this? I mean, dude, if there ever were a team who could use a shot of some big Pennix energy, it's this Atlanta Falcons team.
I mean, worst passing offense in football and really good line, good weapons. It is their quarterback play. Cooper Rush through two games. Big Penis. Energy!
Thank you, Destiny. Thank you, Disney. Yeah, big pizza idiots. Live. I still can't believe that guy did that, right?
We had this live on the same time. I can't believe that that guy did that. And that's, I mean, a really respected athlete and broadcaster. I still can't believe that guy did that. Dude, it's unbelievable.
One of my favorite things of all time. Oh, I know. But they need it big time, rush. For two games, 5.2 QBR. Shadow or Sanders last season, 18.9.
That would have been the worst had he qualified.
So, Rush has been terrible. The Falcons should have been. That's what happens when you have not been in the red zone once in two games. You get a QBR of 5.2. 5.2.
So they need some kind of quarterback play tonight because the Green Bay's defense has actually been pretty good. 3.9 yards per play they've allowed. Only do you know Michael McDonald's Seahawks have been better? As for Green Bay's offense here. Jordan Love is a happy man to see this defense.
Atlanta has the best run D in football, yardage-wise, but that's more of a byproduct of teams chucking around the yard against these guys. They have no feared pass rushers, which is great considering Green Bay's O-line struggles and them having the worst run game in football right now. But, dude, ATS here, bad news for Green Bay. Coming off an overtime game and play on a Thursday, Super Bowl era here in that spot on a Thursday or earlier. 25% ATS covers.
Can't do it, dude. I got to go with the fail clowns, plus four and a half. The Fail Clowns. Listen, I think there are so many questions about the Green Bay Packers right now, and there's so many things about them right now that I do not like. You mentioned the running attack.
I don't know. I'm looking at the fail clowns and I'm looking at Penix. And let's be real. Penix, when he was healthy, was not playing that well. And now he's coming off another surgery.
And you're just going to drop him in prime time Thursday. I'm not saying the Packers are world beaters, but I feel strongly enough that they'll find a way to get it done. I'm going to lay the points. I'm going to go Green Bay minus four point five. All right.
So that's where you and I are on that one. Where are you going next? Bingles Stiller is here. Since he is favored by three and a half points on the road, Sexy, Dexie, and Jonathan Allen, Jim, have changed this defense. They completely shut down Houston's run game last week and then teed off on CJ Stroud.
The D is fourth in the NFL in QB hit rate. I can't imagine a Mike McCarthy, 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers-led offense. That averages an NFL worst 3.8 yards per offensive play, that has exactly the same amount of touchdowns as their defense. One is looking forward to this game. Bro, not Aaron's fault.
Not Aaron's fault. Ask him. Ask him. Passive-aggressive. Yeah, the king of that stuff, right?
Yeah.
That's for Super Defense. I know, dude. What a terrible decision for him to go back there or to hire McCarthy. Both, I hate it. Both.
Both. Both. Who thought that reunion was going to work? Who thought that was going to work? Nobody.
But that's why I was so shocked when Aaron went along with it. I'm like, dude, you know better than everybody else how bad this guy is. It's like your only opportunity, so you gotta go along with it. Just weird on the whole thing.
So, um, but dude. Since he's offense, they failed to get 300 yards last week, and they still won by 14 points. When's that ever happened to Joe Burrow-led offense? He just has to be careful with the football here. Pittsburgh's defense does make plays.
I think they've got two turnovers each game, and they have held each offense under 200 yards passing. But you know, this Sincy offense isn't the last two offenses they've. Based in Cooper Rush and Drake May's offense.
So ATS. Home underdog and Mike. Oh, no, wait. McCarthy, not Tomlin. We usually hit Tomlin and the underdog for the home underdog, not here.
We're going Bengals minus three and a half on the road. You know what? I don't love the hook, obviously, but to your point about Pittsburgh's defense making plays. It does. It still does.
They always will. They always will. But their offense is not making any plays. Where's DK Metcalf? What exactly is that?
Dude, no, no. Another one. Front office, man. Yeah.
I don't like the hook, but I do like the Bengals. I love them defensively. I'm going to get to Sexy Dexy later on. I already hit that with you. Bengals minus three and a half on the road.
The road favorite. I'm going to take them because I think that little of the Steelers right now. All right.
Who's next? Texans v. Colts here. A huge bleeping game for both organizations. No one wants to start 0-3.
Houston certainly doesn't want to do it for a second straight season. Damn, that line moved already. Yeah.
What do you got up there? One and a half now? Yeah.
Yeah, one and a half now. Dude. Not when I hit it. Not when I hit it, it wasn't one and a half. Yeah.
I hit it in two and a half. I did. Yeah.
Yeah.
Nick, dude. Pick me up, NTC. They need to, but Indy, they got to be at their best too. They've lost nine straight games themselves. Quick question here: Do you think if Ursai's daughter fired someone, she'd do it in that headset she listens to every Sunday?
Or I don't know. I mean, that thing's pretty kick-ass. Or scratch out a note off her notepad and say you fired. Either one, too. You're fired.
What a story. I wonder if Nick is going to come down there on the sideline and take notes. That'd be cool, right? What a glorified story. And everybody's like, this is the greatest thing I've ever seen in my life.
But I would love to see it if she actually. Everybody's not saying that. There's a lot of people saying it's the dumbest thing they've ever seen in their life. Those people are accurate because I think it is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done, seen in my life. I'm somewhere in between.
I hate to straddle, but I'm somewhere in between it being the best thing I've ever seen and the dumbest thing I've ever seen. Yeah.
I don't know. But I'm you know, back to when we used to own racehorses and I didn't really know as much as those who trained the horses and made decisions, I always let the horse people run make the horse decisions.
So I thought if I were to own a football team, I would let the football people that I hired make the football decisions and then double back after the fact. I have no doubt about it. And then it's like, not even like personnel. It's like call, like, you know, call him plays, right? Like, you're really going to go, like, Jed Pork's going to go down there and like take over for Kyle because he listened to Kyle in a headset.
Pork's not pork moved to Ohio and didn't even tell us.
So I know he's not going to be on the sideline like that. He's not. I'd actually, I'd love his play calling. No, I want to see pork. I definitely want to see pork down there.
The thing I would just say, like, if she's down there and she's looking over their shoulders, look, I understand the whole thing. Like, I'm the CEO. I can do whatever the hell I want. I need to know. Fine, you do.
But you need to know as it's happening, let them do their job, man. They have to make really tough decisions in really tough, like. On the spot. Let them do their thing. Anyway, she's got some of her dad in her.
Man, maybe she needs to bring the pancake guy back or something like that. Even he didn't do that.
So, what do we do?
So, what do we do with the Texans?
Okay.
So, yes. Yeah, this is one. Let's start with Houston here. Their D last week, sacked Joe Burrow five times. Their O just couldn't put points on the board.
The running game was non-existent. They should find success here. Lou Anarumu's D, not good right now. They're allowing 177 yards rush in a game. Only Carolina is worse, but that's actually a strength right now.
Why is he always my guy, Lou's fault? I know. Why is Lou always the fall guy? I know defense right now, Jim. They rank dead last in points, yards per game, yards per play, yards per pass, passing yards per game.
That's probably right right there. I don't want Lou to be Carly's fall guy. I'm gonna go with Indy, though. I'm gonna take point. Oh, dude.
Sorry, Nick. Nick, you'll win by one point. I love you. You'll win by one point, bro. He loves you too, but you keep picking against him, man.
Wow. I know. I know. All right.
So I'm not. Not only am I going to ride with Nick. I've already ridden with Nick at minus two and a half, and now it's mine. Yeah, minus two and a half. I wish I had your two and a half.
Yeah, I know. I wish I had your one and a half. No offense, Nick. All right, what else we got, dude? Where are we going next?
Vikings v. Bucks. Interesting matchup here in Kyler Murray v. Baker Mayfield. Whoever handles the Blitz better could very well win this game.
According to Pro Football Focus, in 2025, Baker Mayfield was the worst quarterback v the Blitz in 2024. Tyler had that distinction. The key is because, of course, Brian Flores loves to blitz that quarterback. Yes. Dude, he's through two games.
What's the over-under of how many times he's going to blitz? Is he going to blitz 75% of the time? In this game. 71.6% of their opponent's drop backs, he's blitzed on. It's an insane number.
Like the second closest is Denver at like 40%, but Flores is just housing everybody. I absolutely love it. Yeah, it works for sure, too. Tampa actually ranks third there, too.
So both these guys are going to see heat all day. But, dude, Todd Bowles, I got to keep it real, man. He's trending towards the ass list. He's got to be there. You lost to a Deshaun Cosby-led football team.
You're lucky you're not on it. You're trending there. I'm going to be nice for another weekend.
So, thank you, Lauren. I still want to take up for him, but I can't. Like, he not only should he be on that list, he's lucky he's not on the fired list and is probably going to be the first one to go. Like, dude, you lose the game that they lost. You and I were talking about this off air when we were texting during the whole thing.
Those are the types of games where heads roll and you start over and you clean house and people get fired. You lose to Deshaun Cosby and you lose to them the way they did. That costs people at home. That costs people jobs. Lots of people.
Absolutely, it does. And they just gave Baker a contract, so it's not going to be Jason that's going to go. It'll be Todd. Todd will be the fall guy for that thing.
So, not good at all. He better win this game. As for KOC, though, his offensive reputation is taking a hit over last year. Right now, dead last in yards. Yes, you had Carson Witz as your quarterback, but you couldn't muster a touchdown or nine against Dennis Allen's led Bears defense that gave up 7.9 yards.
Now you're just getting personal. You're looking for any reason. That's a fact. It's a fact, but they are 2-0.
Okay.
They are 2-0. Dude, I got a scoreboard for you too here for KOCN ATS here. Dude has covered 80% of his games as an away favorite since taking over. That's 13 games too. Not a small sample.
I do like that stat. I gotta go with the Vikings because of that. Minus one and a half here. And the Bucks, man, who would have thought they are home favorites or home dogs, I should say, at one and a half. Interesting game.
You're stat about Baker Mayfield not doing well against the Blitz. You know, Flores is going to send everybody every single play. In fact, I think he's going to Blitz 100% of the time. I think 100%. I hope so.
Nobody is dialing up or calling better games right now on either side, I don't think, than Brian Flores. This dude is an absolute maniac. All right.
Love him. What else do we have left? One more game we're here. Let's go. Seahawks and commanders.
The game scares the hell out of me. The spread is seven. I feel do you know Michael McDonnell and his defense that ranked second in points, second in yards? First in yards per pass would beat the breaks off a Marcus Marioto-led offense with quite possibly the worst line in football. My biggest worry.
Uh, Jaden's. That's a joke, Alvin. That's an absolute joke that Roger Goodell did, and you're correcting me there.
So I'm just pointing that out. And no one's buying that, dude. No one's buying that you were mocking. You're just being you. Thank you.
No, no, no, no, no, that did not. No, you weren't. Nobody believed it, huh? No, you weren't. None of us believed that.
You are the last guy who gets the benefit of the doubt. Rokai and Suzaki. Hey, Bukai. Yeah.
Alvin did that right. Um Dude, I don't know if they like this guy.
So they might rally around Marioto.
So that could be something going on right there. But still, Yeah, I didn't know if Sam Darnold's playing, but Drew Locke has been great. Only Big Clock, Dak, and Josh Allen, Jim have a better QBR than he does in the season, and no one has a better PFF rating than Locke does right now. And the Commanders. They're also allowing over 30 points per game, and Dan Quinn's defense hasn't held an opponent under 300 yards in a game in over a year.
ATS, Dan Quinn. Do you know what Michael McDonald's team is also elite crossing three time zones? 87.5% coverage rate, dude. I'm going with Seattle might have to be a lot more. You keep track of stuff like that.
87% ATS while crossing three time zones. Three time zones. And we mark them all. Don't get a fool, too. We mark time zones.
You know what, DJ? I love this one. Jana was on a plane right now from Madrid to L.A. Speaking of time zones. And she checked out her best friend, ChatGPT, to find out what she should do to guard against jet lag.
And the robot told her, you're crossing nine time zones. You need to stay awake for the entire 12-hour flight. You are not allowed to sleep. That's what it said. That's what it said.
Nine time zones. Nine time zones. All right.
I'd still take Michael McDonald in nine time zones, too. You can probably find a number for that time. Minus seven and a half on the road. No, seven. You got seven?
Seven. Better be seven. Yeah.
Yep, seven. All right.
There you go, Ed. All right, nice job. Are we done? Anything you want to say on the way out the door? We're done, man.
That's it. That's all I have. All right, Paul. That's more than enough. Great job.
Appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you. Hit that, post that stuff, get it up there.
Sounds good. I'll see you soon, dude. The big head, James Kelly. That is our man duel segment. We do that every single Thursday.
And take the heads, picks, do what you want. Either fade him or go ahead and ride with him. But listen, do it responsibly. Have fun with it, but... The thing I like best about it is it's the community, right?
We either commiserate together or we celebrate together or we just talk about how little we know or how much we know. It's all good, either way. I like all of it, I like everything about it. FanDuel, that segments once a week. James Kelly, and if he's made you some money, why don't you thank him for that?
Coming up, top of the hour, we've got the beef segment 1-800-636-8686. Go ahead and start dialing. If you want to write in your beef, you can do that. Do it on X. You can email me a beef.
You can even do it on chat if you want to do that. Mike Mayock is still coming up. I do want to talk about the Bengals. He mentioned Sexy Dexy. Man, this dude's been incredible.
Absolutely amazing. I want to get to that as well.
So lots still to get done. And the Jim Roam podcast, which normally pushes out on Wednesday, did not yesterday. We'll take another shot at that today. Speaking of FanDuel. Welcome to your most rewarding season ever, only on FanDuel.
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Call 1-8778-HOPENY. Text HopeNY, New York. Call 1-8777-867, Louisiana. You're listening to the Jim Rome Show. A few years ago, a loss in our family was a reminder that life is in fact unpredictable.
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Next segment. Top of the Out of the Beef segment.
So start dialing in or writing in your beefs. All right, so really quickly, I mentioned it earlier in the week, but I just want to list. The next seven opponents for the 0-2 LA Chargers. This is what they're looking at after two gimme's. And they're 0-2.
They're at Buffalo. They're at Seattle. Versus Denver. At Kansas City, at the Rams. Versus Houston at Baltimore.
In other words, Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. Uh oh. Uh oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh.
This is why you cannot go around losing to the Cardinals and the Raiders. Those would both be horrendous losses in a vacuum. But in the context of the Chargers' twenty twenty six schedule, A year where they were supposed to win the Super Bowl, those losses are straight up catastrophic. Those losses have essentially already ruined their season. And it begs the question, how did any of this happen?
If week two was must win. And I think it was. What does that make week three? How did this happen? All right, so maybe they were overrated.
Clearly, they were, and clearly, they are nowhere near an actual Super Bowl contender. Clearly. But that's still different than getting your ass handed to you by Arizona and Vegas in back to back weeks to start the season in games that you absolutely had to have. I mean, there is no excuse for that at all.
So when the ball gets dropped this badly, Obviously, people are going to point to leadership. People are going to wonder what is actually going on with Jim Harbaugh. And Justin Herbert and Mike McVape McDaniels. People are fairly asking the question: does this team have a leadership problem? Because, how else is this possible?
How could this happen?
Well, they ran that question to Justin Herbert yesterday, and he first acted like he was confused about the question, and then he answered it like this. I think our team is is so close. And so I I don't think there's a lack of vocal leadership at all.
So I think I'm going to stop you right there and say that it's very present. We've got great leadership on this team. And I trust those guys in that locker room. And so I don't think anyone is panicked or worried because that's not going to do us any good. It's moving on to the next play and understand that we're close, we've made mistakes.
How do we fix them? And how do we move on? Close to what? You weren't even close to winning either of those games against two crappy teams. Yeah, let me cut you off right there, my guy.
Because there's no lack of vocal leadership here. We have nothing but amazing leadership here, and we all trust each other, and we all love each other, and we all have each other's back, and the chemistry is amazing, and nobody is panicked, and nobody is worried. Really? Then why the hell are you 0-2? Why the hell are you 0-2 with losses to the Cardinals and the Raiders?
If everything is that great, Why is everything actually so terrible? This dude's almost acting like it's unfair to question the leadership situation. When really questioning the leadership situation is not only fair, it's a critical question right now, because it doesn't really seem like there's that much leadership at all. What are you doing sitting there 0-2 after losing those two games to those two teams? Clearly, there are questions about leadership.
And that's why you're getting the question. The dude was all but saying, Yo, Justin, when are you going to get in somebody's face? When is this season going to actually get started? Man, my guy, you are the face of the franchise. When are you going to get it in somebody else's face?
Simple question from my former neighbor. If the leadership is so good. then why is the team so bad? If you guys are all so tight and trust each other all so much, then why do you play like you've never even met each other before? If everything is so good with all of you guys, then why is none of that showing up on the field?
Now I will give him this much. That answer was more than he usually gives in a presser, which is typically nothing. I'll take Herbert being a little bit spicy right about now because he needs to be a little bit spicy right about now. I just don't need him trying to tell us that the leadership is pristine and impeccable and that everybody's on the same page and they're all so tight and they're all so close and nobody's panicked and nobody's worried. I think I'm going to stop you right there.
Then let me stop you right there. You sure as hell should be worried. You're playing for your entire season in Buffalo against a team that looks like it could win the Super Bowl. You should be panicking, you should be worried. Because you can tell the press room that everything is fine and that the leadership is great and that we're not the ones that are there and that the team is unified, but you can't tell that to the Bills or the Seahawks or the Broncos or the Chiefs or the Rams or the Texans or the Ravens.
Hell, you couldn't even tell that to the Raiders. Or the cardinals. What do you mean everything's fine? What do you mean everything is great? What do you mean I'm going to cut you off right there?
Because we have no issues with vocal leadership. Wh where's the leadership? I don't see it. I see a team that everybody hyped the entire offseason. The second we found out that Mike McVape was coming to town, that offense was going to go to a totally different level.
Justin Herbert was going to finally look like the Hall of Famer that everybody said that he was going to be and win the Super Bowl. They got their lineman back. Everything was great. And, and, and, They were going to play some hardbaugh football because McVape likes to run the ball too. Like they were the ones to watch.
My response to all that. Ah Uh Far and away, the most disappointing team in the NFL so far. But we have no issues. regarding leadership or at all, and we were that close. Wow, bro, you're not that close.
You lost to the Cardinals and the Raiders, and now you have to go to Buffalo. I think I'm gonna stop you right there. This might be one of those, let me stop you right there because this might be one of those rare instances. Where those who don't know actually do know, and those who are supposed to know don't know. You're actually not that close.
Somebody said earlier, you know. It'd be the most Charger thing ever if they were to go win this game. Pretty much. Just like it'd be the most Buffalo Bills thing ever if they were to lose this game. Pretty much.
I I guess neither would surprise me. But I know this: if the season isn't already over for LA, it will be if they lose this game. You're not coming back from 0-3, not with that schedule. Our team is so close. No, it's not.
No, it's not. Mike Mayock joins me when we come back. Beef segment, top of the hour. Don't go anywhere. Let's get out, Abby.
You're listening to The Jim Rome Show. That is true. Welcome back. I'm Jim Rome. Great to be here.
Great to have you here. Let's get right back to it. We are joined right now by a former NFL player and a front office executive. He played safety for the New York Giants for a couple of years. He was the Raiders GM for three years from 2019 to 2021.
He is currently a Westwood One Sports NFL analyst and a senior scouting advisor to Sumer Sports. Of course, I'm talking about Mike Mayock. Mike, it is always good to see you, my guy. How are you doing, Mike? Jim, I'm doing great, man.
How are you doing, brother? Great, great. Great to see you, Mike. Appreciate you. Let me start really quickly with the Giants.
So the buzz surrounding the Giants, Mike, coming off their win over Dallas was sky high, man. It felt great. And then it came crashing down when Jackson Dart went down with that knee injury. Where do the Giants go from here, Mike? Just underscores the criticality of that position.
I think it's the most important single position in all of professional sports. There are probably 16 competent quarterbacks in the NFL where, you know, maybe five of them are franchise. You, Quarterbacks, nine to 11 of them you can win with. And then after that, it's just a bunch of head coaches and GMs are going to be looking for jobs.
So, Jackson Dart scrambling to become one of those 15 or 16 quarterbacks. And they look real good week one. And then you bring in Jameis Winston and I've watched a lot of Jameis Winston tape, and you know, a lot of that was ugly the other night. And you can say You know, he didn't practice with the first group. You can say a lot of things, but the one constant about Jameis is that all the way back to Florida State, he turns the football over.
So This is going to be a physical ground and pound team with Harbaugh and Scataboo and the physicality of that O-line, a good defense.
So they got to find somebody, I believe, outside of Jameis Winston, whether it's J.J. McCarthy. You know, whether it is the backup quarterback in San Francisco, Mac Jones, whether, I mean, on the waiver wire, somebody not even playing, a guy like Garoppolo. But they've got to have another option on that roster that they don't have now. All good stuff, Mike.
All good stuff. Let me ask you one more thing about Jackson Dart. As you mentioned, he's scrambling to put himself in that top 15 category and probably was on his way. But if availability is your best ability, does that team need to reassess its long-term plan at quarterback, given how much time he's already missed? Would that concern you?
It absolutely would. And I mean, that's a great quote. And the first time I heard it was when I was playing for Bill Parcels. And unfortunately for me, it wasn't in a group setting. He was telling me point blank, you got to get on the field more often.
But it's true. And when you look at, What's happened around the league at the quarterback position? Jaden Daniels, I love everything about Jaden Daniels. The only note I had in my summary on my scouting report was: in person, very slight frame, barely 200 pounds. Can he withstand an NFL beating as a quarterback that's going to carry the football and scramble with it?
You know, there's a fine line between talent and ability to be available and you hit it right on the head, Jim. Mike Mayor, someone asked you about Max Crosby because you took him in the fourth round of the 2019 draft. Obviously, that turned out to be an incredible value, an incredible pick. What do you remember about evaluating Max when he was coming out of Eastern Beach? Yeah, it was pretty cool because when the head coach and the GM both agree on a kid, it makes it easy.
And Coach Gruden loved his playstyle. Absolutely loved his play style. The issue we had in the scouting department is we were very aware of his off-the-field substance abuse issues, as was every team in the league.
So, You kind of play with that a little bit. How much risk do you want to take, and where is the reward worth it? We had three picks in the fourth round that year. And the night before day of the draft, I remember talking to John, and it was kind of like, you know, at pick number 106, which was our first of the three. Let's stay put.
And take Max. I think it was the third or fourth pick of the fourth round. And that was our plan: stay put, take Max. His play style, he played with his hair on fire. He was kind of a lean guy.
You were hoping he would grow into his frame. But the biggest issue. Quite honestly, and since Max is open and honest about it, that was the biggest issue: whether or not this is a guy that could control. The Devils With him, or a guy that was going to flame out. And I'm proud of Max because he's a great husband, a great father.
And if he can stay healthy, he's on his way to a Hall of Fame career. 100%. I love the guy. I absolutely love the guy. Mike Mayaki joining us.
Hey, Mike, so the Raiders are a surprising 2-0, and they've got a tough road test coming up Sunday in New Orleans. How much are you buying them during this quick start? I like what they're doing, Jim. And I think big picture. Beyond this Sunday, I love what they're doing with the number one overall pick Mendoza.
That's even more important to me because you and I both know they're not gonna win a Super Bowl this year. That's not in the cards. It's a solid start. They're going to be a tough out for a lot of teams this year, but I love the fact that Medosa is sitting back and watching Kirk Cousins how he prepares, what his week looks like. How do you become a professional quarterback and learn?
And I think Mendoza is the kind of kid that will be a sponge. And at a certain point, I think Kubiak is going to look around there and go, you know what? The kids ready, number one. We're ready from an infrastructure perspective to take care of him: O-line, pass protection, run game, and defense. All of those things are important for a rookie quarterback.
And at a certain point, They're going to hand the ball over to him and say, You're our future. And I love the plan. And I think they're going to be a good competitive tough football team this year. But ultimately, it's going to be how far can Fernando Mendoza take them down the road. Talking ball with Mike Mayock.
Mike, I agree with you. We both know that the Raiders are not going to win a Super Bowl this year. We also both know that the Chargers are not going to win a Super Bowl this year. The difference is, Mike, we thought they might. When you're looking at this team and they're 0-2, what are you seeing?
You know, I watched some of the tape week one. That was the Arizona game. And it struck me how. The defense couldn't get off the field. And offensively, which I think most of the fans are most worried about, I mean, they were third down, I want to say they were two for eight.
Fourth down, they were 0 for 3. I don't even think they gained 275 yards in total offense. I mean, offensively, they couldn't make a play. And When you've got a quarterback that has all the tangibles, height, weight, speed, arm talent, he's smart, he's tough, when you have that guy. and they haven't done a great job of supporting him with an offensive line.
They've got the tackles back now that are really critical and good football players. They didn't run the football well on tape. They averaged under four yards of carry. Defense played points.
So you can't put it all on Herbert, but at a certain point, Man, they got to take a stand. Herbert's got to step up and rip it, you know, 350 yards, four touchdowns, take some chances. Right now, I don't see any of it. And I'm really surprised like you. I agree with you.
Like how long are we going to say this guy's the guy, this guy's the guy, before you realize, you know what, this guy isn't the guy. And I'm not saying it's all his fault, but you're right. He's going to have to stand up and he's going to have to make that stand and let it rip.
So is that going to happen in Buffalo this week?
Well, I tell you one thing, he'll have a good look at a franchise quarterback coming off the other sideline. You're right. Because that dude's ripping it. And if there are five franchise quarterbacks in the league, he's number one, in my opinion, right now. He's the best quarterback.
If I had the first pick in the entire NFL, he's the guy. As far as their chances, I mean, I The first two weeks has been ugly. Their opportunity to go on the road in Buffalo to an excited home base. That crowd's awesome. New stadium.
They're going to have to put. 30 plus points on the board. to win that game. And I don't see that happening. Mike Mayark joining us.
Mike, I agree with you. I think Josh Allen right now is the best player in the league, period. Point blank. But I think the most impactful guy right now might be sexy Dexie. How about the Bengals at 2-0?
And Dexter Lawrence just absolutely wrecking shop. It is early, but does Cincinnati look like they might be a Super Bowl contender once again? Yeah, it's fun because what the numbers tell us over Joe Burrow's career is that when he has a healthy season. They're a legitimate contender for a Super Bowl. I believe that.
Um, offensively, I believe that, and they've got to be good enough on defense. They're never going to be number two or three or four. That's not who they all their money's on offense. The fact that they went out and moved that first-round pick, and I forget number 10, I want to say overall. it was 10.
They were sitting at 10 and that was kind of At a certain point, are you going to get a difference maker at that point? And I think in their minds, they're kind of going, are we better off trading for Sexy Dexy and getting a difference maker now? Or do we want to take a turnout in the next two or three years? I love the move. I thought Duke Tobin in the front office did a great job.
And I've watched a little bit of that tape, and I've watched a lot of Dexter over the years. And it always brings me back, Jim, to. The great quarterbacks that I've talked to one-on-one over the years and have always asked all of them. you know what's the what's the number one issue you have On a game plan, what's the one thing you hate the most? And just about every single one of them said immediate pressure up the middle.
You get a big stud on defense that can push a pocket, or an Aaron Donalds that's real quick and get up. If you disrupt the pocket from the inside out, that's a problem. And that's who he is. Interesting you brought him up. Let's end on that, Mike.
I was going to ask you because the Rams Broncos Sunday, strength on strength, great matchup. How did Aaron Donald look to you in his first game back without Miles Garrett? Yeah, I saw what I needed to see. You could even see it just watching him on television as far as quickness, get off, all the things you saw ever all going back all the way to University of Pittsburgh. He's different.
And I like the comments he made after the game when he was asked for his own overview of his performance. He just said, you know what? It reminded me that, A, I can still do it. I've got what I need physically to get it done. I'm not ready yet to dominate a game because there's a bunch of stuff that I kind of forgot about and I'm feeling my way through.
That was a veteran talk, and I love the answer because you don't want to play. The Rams in two or three or four weeks because I think he's going to be back to, especially if they're playing him, you know, 30 to 40 snaps a game, which is probably his sweet spot right now. I don't think you want to play Aaron Donald. I agree. I love it.
I love the way he looked. Former NFL safety, also a general manager of the Raiders, currently a Westwood One Sports NFL analyst. Good friend of the program, Mike Mayock. Mike, appreciate you, my brother. Great job.
Always good to talk to you. Hey, Jim, I appreciate you. Thank you. I love it. Mike Mayoc joining us.
Love talking to Mike. Love talking ball with Mike. All right, when we come back, the beef segment.
