REShow: Bruce Feldman - Hour 2

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Try Dove Men Plus Care Dry Spray goes on dry clean feel all day. 11 game suspension for Deshaun Watson. This is the Rich Eisen Show. What do you apologize for everyone that was affected about this situation?

There was a lot of people that was triggered. Live from the Rich Eisen Show Studio in Los Angeles. I hope he uses this 11 game suspension to find a better place for himself and deal with his clear issues. Earlier on the show, host of Peacock's Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio. Coming up, Fox Sports College Football Analyst, Bruce Feldman.

Plus your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now it's Rich Eisen. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show on the air here on Peacock Sirius XM and the rest of the Rich Eisen Show terrestrial radio and streaming partners. We just had a great chat with Mike Florio in hour number one. It is now time to kick off hour number two to turn our attention from professional football to college football. And joining us here in studio in hour number two for exactly that from the athletic and Fox Sports, our good friend Bruce Feldman. Good to see you here again, sir.

Good to see you again. So I don't even know where to start, but I'll start with a conversation I had just the other day with Greg Sankey, the SEC commissioner when he was on this program. And he basically said that he's receiving calls at the SEC for expansion. They don't have any plans to do that. He also said that the 12 team college football playoff that was on the table that he said, some people rejected.

He has apparently gotten calls from those people to try to turn those machines back on. Where does the expansion world exist right now entering this college football season now? Well, obviously we know that over the summer USC and UCLA are going to move in a couple of years formally to the big 10. The big 10 just had a massive TV deal. We're talking around $8 billion.

And is there going to be more expansion on that front? And obviously the school that everybody would want to add is Notre Dame. They're the ones who have the biggest earning potential.

They're the ones who would draw the most eyeballs, the biggest brand. Also academically, if you're the big 10, you see them as a great fit culturally for what these university presidents like to be. There's the Pac-12, which now is missing USC and UCLA, and that's an LA market, but it's also the flagship school of the conference. So what happens to those other schools? People are wondering, all right, is the big 12 going to try to poach whatever they can poach?

We know that there's two big conferences. I would have thought maybe about a month ago that the chances of one of the other Pac-12 schools going to the big 10 was maybe 10%, 10, 15%. Because I think as much as some of the presidents might be interested in a Stanford or a Cal or maybe Oregon and Washington, I'm just not sure it makes much TV sense in terms of like, do they bring value?

Because now all of a sudden, as opposed to splitting it 16 ways, you'd be splitting it potentially 20 ways. And that's a lot of money to give up if it doesn't bring in TV value. At this point, I'm not so sure that Kevin Warren in the big 10 and those presidents are probably more intrigued by the idea of maybe adding those four schools than I thought they were probably a month ago. My personal hunch, I'm a little more optimistic, if you want to use that term, that they would go to 20, not even talking about Notre Dame, than I was a month ago, that they would stay at 16. Because even if the money doesn't sound like it's there, I still think it seems to be, from what I've heard, very appealing to Kevin Warren and some of those presidents in the big 10. So then, I guess expansion, we're going to cool our heels a little bit? No, I think expansion in terms of the playoff, I think that is very much on the table and a thing that they know there's money there, right? And I think that sorting out how it works, whether there's automatic entry for some of these other leagues, or it's just like, hey, we're going to take the best 12 teams or potentially the best 16 teams, I think that's something that will... I think they look and see there's so much money that they're going to leave on the table if they don't.

And I think Greg Sankey, as you heard the other day, I think he's like, they're going to be fine either way. The SEC is the one who's best represented in this format. I don't think it's going to change whether it gets brought to a bigger scale, but they and certainly the big 10 are the ones who really can drive this. Now, the question to me, when you circle back to Notre Dame is, do those two commissioners with the biggest chips in their pocket, do they say to Notre Dame, do you really think you should have a spottedness, just like it was in the current format, if you're not part of any conference? Could they, because I don't think everything I've heard that Notre Dame wants to give up its independent status at this point. So could they force their hand?

I don't know. I mean, it's too soon to tell that. Well, I guess, and it's playing at the same time as our colleague, Pete Famel's report, that the board of managers started talking about removing college football from the NCAA's purview and placing it under the college football playoffs purview. And that's the way that you can create your super conferences. I mean, we had Kyle Whittingham on the program yesterday, Utah coach, number seven team in the country.

They won the Pac-12 last year. He said, absolutely, this is going to super conferences. No doubt we're going to super conferences. That's the way this is going to go. And I believe that's the way it's going to go. And it looks like it's heading in that direction.

Would I be wrong? No, I mean, I don't, especially if the big 10 ended up going. Now what's interesting is for Kyle in his position at, at Utah, you know, if the big 10 is going to take four and I'm not saying that's imminent, but if that was where it ended up heading, putting Notre Dame aside for a minute, you know, I don't know where that leaves Utah in terms of a power, you know, super conference, because I could see the response maybe from Greg Sankey in the SEC. There's a handful of schools either, you know, especially in the ACC that might be attractive to them in one way or another. But beyond that, I don't, you know, if you're one of the other teams in the Pac-12 who's not maybe among those four that, you know, that I'm told definitely there's interest from the university presidents in the big 10, I don't know where that leaves some of these other schools in, in the Pac-12, because I don't foresee the big 12 becoming a third super conference.

I think it, you know, it's viable. I just don't see all of a sudden the big 12's number, which they're already adding, you know, a bunch of schools in the wake of Texas and OU going to the SEC. BYU being one of them. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF, but I don't see you adding, you know, let's say they add Utah, Utah, which obviously has long history with BYU.

You add Colorado, maybe the Arizona schools. I still don't see that seemingly to be on a level playing field or anywhere near it from the money. You know, we just, I just said $8 billion in this, in this TV deal for the big 10. We know the SEC and ESPN have a humongous deal that they have, you know, packaged. Where it comes to the big 12, you know, if it was that way, I don't, I don't know where that goes. I mean, I definitely could see super, super leagues, and I could also see a break from the NCAA because I don't think they want, in terms of the football part of it, you know, it's people, a lot of people don't think of it this way, but we know the NCAA tournament for basketball is tied to college basketball.

The playoff hasn't, you know, it's not an NCAA thing. It's, it's already outside of it. And so I think some of the governance pieces of it, especially with NIL, especially with a lot of other things that have come up.

Transfer portal and everything. You can create your own rules that are, that, that won't get slapped down by the Supreme Court and near your own guardrails. And then you keep it, instead of saying, trying to get 350 member schools in a uniform rule, you now got 64, right? You get a much smaller universe of school presidents and ADs to try and figure out what to do. Yeah. And you also get, what you get away from is where did this rule come from?

Well, it came from, you know, it was proposed by some, you know, smaller leagues that are playing, I mean, on the, on the field footballs is similar, but it's just in terms of how they operate is dramatically different on the Alabama, Ohio state side compared to, let's say, you know, your hometown school Wagner or one of those other, you know, other smaller programs that isn't making, you know, that much money or really struggling to stay at that level. I appreciate you utilizing my actual hometown school to make your point, by the way, Bruce, I have to give a nod to Staten Island. Know your, know your audience, know your audience.

I know my Wu-Tang Clan's favorite small school Wagner up there on Grimes Hill. Absolutely. I got Bruce Feldman here on the, that's right here on the, on the Rich Eisen show. So let's also now get into the season. Do you agree with the rankings as they first come out, Bruce Feldman?

I agree at the top of it. I think to me, if you said Ohio state or Alabama or somebody else, I wouldn't take somebody else. You know, I feel like this is not a field situation where I think you have, Ohio state is going to have a ridiculous offense as long as they stay healthy. I mean, great quarterback, great running back, the deepest receiver room in the country, really good offensive coach running the show. And Ryan Day, I think they've upgraded on defense with the defense coordinator Jim Knowles. Love a lot of things about Alabama, best player in the country and Will Anderson on defense, Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Bryce Young. They added some really good transfers, starting with Jamar Gibbs, a running back from Georgia Tech, who's really special.

After that, you know, you look at Georgia. I mean, they got a bunch of guys. I know they lost a lot to the NFL. Jalen Carter's, you know, as good as anybody they had on that defense.

Great tight ends, a lot of pieces. Clemson is going to be interesting. That's where I, you know, once you get past Georgia and maybe Clemson, I feel like there is a big step down. I, you know, Notre Dame is going to go into Columbus week one.

That's right. And I like what Marcus Freeman's doing there, but that is, I think it's going to be a real struggle for them to keep it a game in the second half. Tyler Buckner's a talented young quarterback, but this is his first real big game. They're already undermanned at receiver. They're probably going to be about one of their most, Jarrett Patterson, their most experienced offensive linemen. And they're going to go up against a team that it's like, it is going to be like getting into a three-point shooting contest with Steph Curry. Like I think that's how explosive Ohio State is. So, you know, yeah, I think Notre Dame is a top 10 team, but I feel like once you get past those first three schools and maybe Clemson, like we got to see a lot more from Clemson. They got a really good defensive line. They have, they have some guys who are hyped recruits, but they haven't done anything yet. I mean, that team that they have by and large is not the one that we remember from, you know, being in the playoff. I mean, Trevor Lawrence is in Jacksonville, Travis Etienne is in Jacksonville.

You have a bunch of other guys who've moved on. And I think including the coordinators, Brent Venables, who was a great defensive coordinator for Dabo Swinney, he's now the head coach at Oklahoma. So I'm not sure if Clemson's in that, in that mix with those other three. And what's your, your preseason handicapping of the Heisman race right now?

What do you got on that front? You know, I think it's going to be hard for Bryce Young to repeat, you know, given no one other than Archie has ever done that. I really like CJ Stroud. I think his receiving core is ridiculous. He's, you know, he's in a place where I think he is going to put up ridiculous numbers.

And I just think everything about him, as long as he stays healthy, I think to me, he is, he is the guy I think the guy to beat. Who else could, who else could be on the outside looking in that can come out of nowhere? Because let's be honest, at this point last year, no one was saying Aiden Hutchinson had a shot at the Heisman trophy.

So. Look at this point, a couple of years ago, no one was talking about Joe Burrow and Joe Burrow ran away with it. I mean, this does happen from time to time, you know, go back to Johnny Manziel came out of nowhere to win it. So I, you know, I'm sure there'll be some buzz and I'll probably add to it a little bit and say, you know, Caleb Williams out here reunited with Lincoln Riley. They're not very good on defense, but they're probably going to put up a lot of points. You know, if they go on a run, I think he could be in the mix. You know, I think there's, there's some other really, really good running backs. But to me, it feels like coming off of what Bryce did last year, coming, you know, with CJ Stroud, I just think there's, it's going to be tough to get past those quarterbacks just because that's the, that's where all our eyes go.

You know, you add Caleb also has the bullet in a coffee winner. Now Jordan Addison comes from Pitt. He goes out there. I mean, he's going to put up big numbers and he's already got people watching. There's buzz around USC.

I think he will, he will definitely be in the mix. All right. I'm going to take a moment for myself, Bruce Feldman. How's the Michigan quarterback situation breaking down? I think it's better than it was a year ago at this time. And I would say this, you have a much deeper receiving core. Now look, at this time last year, nobody knew Ronnie Bell wasn't gonna be able to play most of the season. He's back, but I think they were so much deeper. I talked to your guy, Jim Harbaugh for a while, a couple of weeks back.

And that was one of the first things he talked about was how deep the receiving room is. You know, they have a lot of speed. Obviously they'll miss Hassan Haskins. I don't think people outside of the Big Ten realize how good he was, but you know, Coram is fast.

Donovan Edwards is dynamic. They have a lot of weapons. They have, you know, Eric Hall, I think really established himself last year and really, you know, the tight end. So I think what's interesting to me most about them, having been around their players a little bit in, at Big Ten media days, they have a chip on their shoulder, which is interesting because a year ago, Josh Ross, Aiden Hutchinson, you could feel them talk about, it was like they were disgusted and embarrassed by what happened with Michigan State and certainly, you know, like the way the year played out previously. And those guys were real leaders. And I think they established a real standard there.

And you talk to, you know, DJ Turner and Mozzie Smith about what they like, I think they're, and they didn't use this word, but this is how I kind of, you know, felt like it sounded like the way they were talking about. I was like, people thought it was flukish that they beat Ohio State last year and they won the Big Ten. And maybe some of that has to do with the way they got mauled by Georgia in the playoff. Right. But, you know, there's definite talent there. And I think if they play with the, with the kind of the passion that we heard, I heard from some of these guys about like, you think that was a fluke, you know, like that was a one-off. And if they can take that, because they, I think they, they've always had enough athletes to be competitive. Now, look, I think Ohio State has more, but, you know, Jim Harbaugh had a really physical team with a, that was really good on both lines last year. Right.

And I'm more of a believer in them now than I was probably a month ago before hearing how these guys, how it came out, how they felt like coming out of last year, they took it. Hmm. So I don't know if you saw my snippet of my hosting gig at, in Canton, Ohio.

Yeah. I don't think that's, I went over big. It did not in the room.

It didn't go over well in the room. So how large of a check do you think I wrote? Like, like, I mean, is it, is it a, an uncashable check? Is it a too large a check? Is it a, an appropriate check?

How large of a check do you think I wrote for myself? I think it depends on how close you are to certain Buckeyes. Let's put it that way. All I know is like, I've sat in the, I've sat in the green room with like, I don't know, was Charles Woodson the greatest Wolverine of them all, you know, like, and you see the, you know, the frustration, the angst when it's like guys can't, you know, whether it's against Michigan State where it's like the guys playing his position, I'm not expecting them to be him, but like, you know, you're, you're calling out a team that has is loaded right now. Well, I'm not calling them out. I'm, I'm, I'm pointing out what happened last year with the hopes of following it up in a way that would be surprising.

So you think that the, it, the divide is, is too large to bridge? I, I, I would, let's say this. I would be, if you told me that, that Ohio State was a 10 point favorite right now, I'd be like, ooh, they're going to cover that. I mean, I just think, you know, CJ Stroud and those guys, like they gave credit to Oregon and Michigan for beating them, but I think they kind of felt like, you know, we were not at our best.

Right. And look, credit to, credit to the teams that either outcoached them or outplayed them on those days. But I just think this is, I could be way off on Ohio State. Like if you ask me right now, who do I think is going to win the national title? I would actually say Ohio State more than, more than Alabama.

Really? That's who you think right now. And how big is the Texas A&M Alabama game going to be this year? Is that, is that, is that number one on your list? Could it be Michigan Ohio State again?

Like what's number one on your list of the games coming in, top two, give me your top two games that you're circling right now. Yeah, obviously the, the Jimbo, Saban dust up. It feels like forever ago now. Doesn't it?

I mean, it really does. I don't, I know Texas A&M has recruited really well. I don't think Texas A&M like to save and try to beat them by 30.

I don't know, you know, can he? I, I mean, you know, Texas A&M has unproven quarterback. They have, they have a bunch of guys to replace. They have really good young D Lyman. They have good secondary and they have speed in the backfield, but I don't think they can, you know, like I don't think A&M back to back years can, can hang with them. I could be wrong. I didn't, I definitely didn't see it last year.

If you told me Zach Calzada was gonna, was gonna beat Nick Saban, I would, I would have lost a lot of money on that. Right. But that's definitely, you know, interesting in the run-up to it. I don't know. You know, I want to see what the post team, I'm sure they'll be fine in the post game handshake. I mean, I don't think any of that stuff, you know, Nick Saban is, you know, if he, if he's fine with, with Lane Kiff and he's fine with all these other guys, he, you know, I think it'll be okay.

Well, I mean, I asked, thank you. Did he have to do some commissioner talk to the coaches after that? And he said he spoke to both of them.

He did a lot of listening with one and he did more talking to the other is what his response was. Yeah. Cause we know who like, you know, I remember writing about this afterwards, talking to some coaches and they're like, yeah, he doesn't want to mess with Saban. You know, it's just like, he doesn't. Are you serious?

That's what he said. You don't want to mess with Saban. No, I, I mean, that's the vibe from all the, from a lot of the coaches who've been in the room. It's like Nick Saban has looked at differently in that league. It's not, it's not a shot at Greg Sankey.

I mean, Nick Saban changed the SCC because he, he won like nobody's won, you know, in the modern era and he set the bar. Whereas Jimbo, you know, it just kind of went out there a little bit half cocked with like some of the things he had said in terms of, you know, it was almost like daring people to call him to say, okay, you worked with him. What was, you know, what are you saying? Yeah. How did he really cheat? You know, like we're going to go right to the source.

You want, you know, you would know. And I think then it kind of fizzled out, but he didn't, you know, from my understanding is thank you. Didn't, you know, he definitely didn't want Lane Kiffin going out there to, to comment and, and, and squeeze more air onto the, you know, throw more gasoline on the fire. Cause that was already burning. I don't think the SCC does not love that. Paul Feinbaum may love it, but you know, and the fans may love it. I don't think Greg Sankey wants any part of that. Okay.

So before I let you go, what's the one thing that I didn't ask you about that you wanted to, I know you do, you did your freaks list. Yeah. I think you'd be all in on, you know, Michigan having the number one guy, Mozzie Smith. If you haven't seen it, you know, this is different than combine stuff. We see all this freakish stuff at the combine. Yeah. Go look at, at Mozzie Smith. He's on the athletic, right?

Yeah. Go look at the video of him looking like a 337 pound Jack rabbit. Michigan has these plyo staircase that basically they're, they're stairs almost like jumping up on your desk, right? It's not like stairs we'd have in our house and to see how fast this massive guy just can, can vault up it. And then there's another thing where this combo twist machine, which you wouldn't really see, you know, in, in normal gym, but they had to get it re-engineered and have a different company contract out because he was so strong.

They couldn't even accommodate him to pack on 200 more pounds. So I've had freaks. I don't know if I've ever had one quite like Mozzie Smith.

Okay. So I should be excited about that. You should be excited about him. You should be excited about the guy. They're hoping can, uh, you know, can maybe give them some of the pass rush skills that, uh, Aiden gave them, not, you know, guys as freaking athlete, but he was a German mogul skier.

And now they're going to expect him to try to at least give them something. I love it, man. You just know everything about everything.

And you're so unassuming about it. I just love you coming in here. Thanks for doing it.

Bruce Feldman. Always appreciate it. Uh, so w where are you headed next? Where's your first gig? Uh, we I'm on the road with our big noon show and we have a really great opener. So Nick Saban's, uh, Alabama team is going to play at his former, uh, protege, Steve Sarkees in Texas, Alabama in Austin.

It should be wild. Okay. That's right. And when does arch sign his letter of intent December?

So it's happened. Yeah. It would be, are they nervous?

Are they holding their breath? Probably more nervous about, uh, Nick Saban coming to town only. So we got a lot of Michigan this year though. W which ones are you Iowa?

You get the one I think we do. I mean, it's not all official, but I feel like we have like, I'm already hiding under my desk for that one. Michigan's big 10 opener is at Iowa.

Oh my God. That's where so many big 10 seasons have gone to duck for Michigan. And obviously they've got some payback from Indianapolis last year that they're out on their minds. I'm sure about that. That's what makes it fun. Does it?

Well, for me, I mean, I don't sweat out. Like I don't have as much of a vested interest in the actual like outcome. I just want to see like great games and I want to see some of the drama and, you know, like you said, I mean, I don't know, Mike, our crew used to go in to Ohio state for the games after they lost. So we had Urban Meyer and Ohio state after it. Iowa put it on them.

No, that's not good. We got them after Purdue whipped them. You know, it's like, you don't necessarily want to be around those staffs after they like got upset by one of those places. You don't want to give your, you don't want to come out without your A game against Iowa. Well, I know you don't root for one school over another and you root for close games. When I first started at NFL network before I went on the air, I had a chat with a lot of league executives and Paul Tagliabue being the commissioner at the time. And he was a long time Washington season ticket holder. And I asked him, I said, how are you, you know, when Washington plays, like, do you still have a rooting interest?

He said, when I took over as commissioner, I asked about just that to Roselle and Pete Roselle told me, you're now commissioner of the NFL. So you must root for the team that's losing every game. That's what you must do in a game. You must root for the team that's losing because you want a close game. You want to come back. You want something to talk about. You want to now you're rooting for yourself.

Like I had something like I, the first book ever did was a Miami book and I, you know, to promote the book, the better, the better it is, they need to have a really good year. They get, they play a three versus five game at Virginia Tech. They lose. My older brother calls me.

He was like, Hey man, really? Sorry about this. Knowing that like the them going down is not helping my book sales. I said, listen, anything where I'm dependent on something I have no control over and it's basically what's going on between 17, 18 and 19 year olds. I can't get too caught up in it.

Like, you know, it's like, there's nothing I can do. And you know, it's going to happen, whatever it is. And you just kind of rooting for as best, you know, as best you can, but you just want to see good games. Good games. The first big game of the season.

How about that? Nick Saban, Sarkeesian, Alabama, and Texas too. Blue Bloods. That'll be on FS1. No, the big Fox. The big Fox, the big Fox with Bruce Feldman right here on the Rich Eyes Show. And also check out all of Bruce's writings, including that awesome article about the freaks list on the athletic. Thanks for coming in here, sir. Always a pleasure. You got it.

That's Bruce Feldman right here on the Rich Eyes Show. We will be back with more in a moment. Pre-season football. The big week began last night and I am genuinely concerned, genuinely concerned based off of last night's action for Sam Howell, Malik Willis, George Karlovtus, and George Pickens, because those were the four other guys I said, I was looking forward to seeing more good stuff out of entering week number two in the pre-season based on how well they performed in week one of the pre-season. I gave you a top five list of that. Those five rookies that I needed to see more out of.

And last night the Bears showed up in Seattle. Number five on that list. The first name I read off Charles Cross. The left tackle of the Seattle Seahawks. Can't get any bigger of a position right on the offensive line than the left tackle. He did so well in Pittsburgh. I said, I needed to see more from him. Five penalties, four false starts, one hold. So I guess I put the Ziggy on Charles and I'm genuinely concerned for the other four kids on my list. Do you want to retract or amend the Seattle's not going to be as bad as people think?

My other top five list of the week was the top five items I'm now beginning to try and talk myself, the top five new items I'm now trying to talk myself into. And one of them is it's Seattle's not going to be as bad as people think. And last night Seattle looked as bad as people think. Now look, they had problems on penalties. They had problems tackling. My God, they had problems tackling. They had problems moving the offense. I mean, this is exactly what it would look like, one would think, for a team that's going to choose first overall. And the problem is, okay, it's preseason. Drew Locke had COVID.

There's a lot of stuff that went a little sideways. But you're at home and the Eberfluses came knocking last night. And they're the team that looked better than people would think, not Seattle. Yeah, but if the Bears did that to Seattle, Russell Wilson's going to put 50 on them week one. Well, you certainly can't have your left tackle leaping off sides four times like you're a member of the visiting team amongst the 12s. You're one of the 11 in front of the 12s.

You shouldn't be the one jumping off sides like that. You'd think not. Four false starts and one hold. And the holding penalty came on the drive where they actually got inside the Bears 30, which was an earth-shattering moment for the Seattle offense last night. Again, it's preseason.

It's the middle of August. Seahawks MVP was the punter last night. Man, oh man, oh man.

Michael Dixon. It's going to be a long year for Pete if that happens. Well, Rich, it may not be a full year for Pete.

Stop it. You're crazy when you say stuff like that. Rich, I'm telling you right now, if they have the number one pick, Pete Carroll's not the coach next year. Why would you say that?

Because they're going to have a new quarterback, new life. It's just time for new voices. Pete even said it last night during the broadcast. What do you say?

Sometimes it's going to be the best. What do you say? Sometimes it's time for new voices. New voices among the coaching staff, new voices among the players.

I would bet Pete's not back next year. Boy, is that a hot take right there. That's a hot take.

It's August. For hot takes? I think it's, I mean, yes, I get it's hot, but if you have the number one pick in the draft next year and you have CJ Stroud or Bryce Young. I find it hard to believe a Pete Carroll coach team is going to have just two wins out of 17 or three wins out of 17. It doesn't matter who your coach is if the players aren't good.

I don't know, man. They have two backup quarterbacks as their starters. I'm not going to take that jump. I'm not going to, all I know is I just put the Ziggy on Charles Cross and it also just shows you what a genuine concern you would have entering the season, not just the fact that Russell Wilson's gone and you got a new era at the quarterback spot and your choices are currently Geno Smith and Drew Locke coming off of COVID and you've got an opener coming up. Let me get the Seattle schedule right here off the top. I know the Bears are taking on the 49ers to start the season in Seattle's opener against Denver. My bad. It's September 12th.

You just mentioned it. And then they're at the 49ers week too. That's a tough one. And then you've got, you know, obviously the Broncos sending Randy Gregory, et cetera, your way. And then you got Bosa coming your way and you've got an itchy rookie left tackle.

I mean, Charles Cross has got to settle that motor stat, stat. And then Drew Locke's got to get healthy and they've got to put together a coherent offense. The runny nose of a team in the NFL, you know, the runny nose of a team in Major League Baseball is a bad bullpen.

Okay. Where a team can't get anybody out and a two run game turns into a five run game or worse, a two run lead turns into a four, you know, a two run deficit because somebody comes in in the eighth inning and can't close things out. And momentum not only stops, but spirits break. That's the runny nose of a baseball team. The runny nose of a football team is bad tackling.

That's the runny nose. Cause if you can't tackle, that means your will gets broken. That means you can't stop the opponent. That means you can't get off the field. That means you can't help your offense by making the touchdown that just got put on the board, stand up.

That's the will breaking stuff. You have problems tackling, look out, man. And that, that's, that's what we saw last night. But, and if it was against the Rams, you'd be like, okay, that's the defending champs out there. But when it's the Bears coming in and Roquan Smith's in pajamas because he's holding in. And it's also just like, with all due respect to the Bears, it's a team we expect to be at the bottom five and they just routed them. I got to just, I'm just going to put it at preseason.

All I know is the other four rookies that I said, and you know, more from the bar is set very low for you to show me more. I don't mean to make light, but I guess I just did. All right, we'll take a break. Your phone calls 844-204-RICH, number to dial.

Our number three is also for you. We are, we have no guests. We're just going to take you home to the weekend and talk more preseason action coming up next right here on this edition of the Rich Eisen Show.

Back here on our Rich Eisen Show, terrestrial radio outfit. You want to come? No. I mean, you couldn't even give him a slow yes instead of a quick no on that. For what? His fantasy draft? Just make them think you're thinking about it.

Who shows up to another person's fantasy draft? I did once to his. Yeah, but you came after it was over.

Well, I came for the food. True. Yeah. Yeah.

You would want to sit there through a fantasy football draft with a no time limit. I waited nine hours after it started. Yeah, he showed up at like nine o'clock. And then I got food. He left over.

Which is fine, man. I live a little further away now. Yeah, that's a hike. Let's go to Ty in Boise, Idaho. The great state of Idaho.

What's up, Ty? Which line are we on? That's line three, sir. Line three. Line three.

Line three. What's up, Ty? Hey, what's going on, guys? What's going on?

I'm going to say Rich, big fan. Been, you know, watching you since the 90s, man. Thank you. So I just appreciate everything you do. Right back at you.

Thank you. Of course, man. I just wanted to say, are you worried at all about the Yankees? Yes. Losing the top spot. I'm sorry. My quick yes stomped on the rest of your question.

I just told you slow yeses, Rich. Are you worried at all about the Yankees losing the top spot in the American League? Losing the top spot in the American League? They're three and a half behind a team that just scored 21 runs last night because Alex Bregman's one of the best players in his position. He's a great player. He's one of the best players in his position. And Jose Altuve is one of the best players in his position.

And Justin Verlander may win the Cy Young. Does that answer your question? I think the ship sailed. I think Fish McWilliams is gone with that ship, man. I think the American League is done because I don't know where the American League being first in division for the first in the league for the Yankees is over.

Oh, interesting. Absolutely. You don't think if they meet up in the division or the ALTF, they might have a chance? I mean, it depends on how healthy the Yankees are. Is Luis Severino coming back and throwing like he did in the first eight weeks of the season? Is Clay Holmes coming back off the injured list and the back problem that he has is settled where he's fine in the strike zone again with with his 99 mile an hour sinkers that are tough to hit? I mean, do the Yankees also have D.J.

LeMayhew completely healthy? I mean, do we have that? I mean, because if they don't, then the Astros are going to the World Series. That's for sure. Yeah. How do you feel about Joey Gallo doing work with the Dodgers?

Hey, good for him because he didn't do it for the Yanks. Thanks for the call, Ty. I appreciate it. What a breath of fresh air that was. They're concerned, which it's only August 19th.

Nice. It's late. No, it's late.

It's late. It's late in the season to try and make up three and a half games. And the Yankees, you know, are I mean, Andrew Ben attendee has now three games of three or more strikeouts this year. They're all with the Yankees. Frankie Montas. OK, Frankie Montas is is getting ready to win the Steve Trout Award.

Look that one up. He is getting it. He is getting pounded. This guy who is just filling up the strike zone for the Oakland A's, I guess when you're playing in Yankee Stadium and you don't have two par three golf holes in your foul territory, it's tougher to pitch. And you got 30,000, 40,000 people screaming at you and at the rest of the team as they're stinking on ice. It might cause a bit more butterflies than there's just 5,000 people sitting there and underneath Mount Davis. In Oco Stadium, whatever it's called.

Different ball of wax. Not everybody can hang, you know, and you know, and the Yankees are three and a half out of the lead in the American League. The Astros are going to run away.

They're going to run away with this thing because the Yanks can't put anything together right now. Stanton's coming back. I guess Severino will come back.

I guess Clay Holmes will come back. But the Yankees can't come back. They have like one comeback win against the Rays, which was a miracle, and that one win in Boston where they suicide squeezed in a run. And other than that, they haven't won, I think, outside of that in their two of their last, two and eleven in their last thirteen or something like that. So at least they crushed it so well in the first two and a half, three months of the season that I don't know, if the Jays sweep them, they could wind up being just six games behind the Yanks leaving the Bronx before Labor Day.

And then really you'll feel the squeeze. That's my long-winded answer. Am I concerned about the Yankees? You bet I am.

You bet I am. Because Garrett Cole can't come up with that two-hit shutout we need, where the one run they scratch is enough for him. He hasn't done that. Nestor Cortez is their best pitcher. You know, they swapped out Tyone for, I mean Montgomery, for Frankie Montas.

Montgomery's turned into Andy Pettit in St. Louis. We'll see what Tyone does tonight. Coop's feeling all right. He already turned on, turned on the MLB app as I was leaving today. He gets, he's still on East Coast time from his, from his camp. 7 a.m. he's up, he wants to watch highlights.

Early start. He's the one who told me about Poull Hulce's pinch hit Grand Slam for career number 690. He's closing in on 700.

You may get seven this year. Just needs 10 more the rest of the season. So he's watching and he saw Tyone is pitching against Gossmann tonight. He goes, uh-oh, dad. That's how I left the house today.

Even 11-year-olds can smell the fear. So A-Rod finished with 696 career home runs. If Poull Hulce is like around that number, do you think he comes back next year just to get 700? I, I don't know. Because this is supposedly the only way he's going to get 700. I, I don't know.

Because this is supposedly it, right? I guess. What does he want to do?

Get to 700? I don't know. If he wants to. Somebody, you think St. Louis will give him a roster spot?

I mean, he could, he might catch the babe if he plays next year. Jake in Massachusetts, you're here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, Jake? Which line? That's five, sir. Line five for those scoring at home. What's up, Jake? What's up, Rich? Big fan of yours.

Thanks, Poull. I, uh, just wanted to talk a little bit about the Bucks receiving core. How come no one's talking about how deep and loaded it is this year? Especially when it was kind of an Achilles heel for them last year with AB freaking out and Godwin going down. I think Russell Gage is the best third or fourth receiver in the NFL. If they get anything out of Julio, that's a bonus.

Cameron Braids, a viable tight end, not to mention Godwin coming back and Mike Evans being a perennial stud. Well, Jake, uh, are you originally from Massachusetts, Jake? Born and raised, still live here. Pretty much. So then, so then, uh, I'll use a phrase that you might be familiar with.

I, I've been talking about Russell Gage for, for, for months. How do you like them apples? You know, do you like apples? Do you like apples, Jake?

How do you like them apples? That's right. One of the worst quotes in a great movie. You know what I mean? Because I, I, I, if I'm not mistaken, Chris, didn't I say he was the most underrated number one, not the number one off season, off season move that nobody's talking about Russell Gage. That's what I mean.

Yes. Talking about him. And I don't know why other people aren't, everyone's like, oh, well, Julio's old. It's like they got four top receivers. They just need their quarterback back.

Hopefully we'll get them soon. If there's anyone who can miss an off season and not miss a beat, it's Tom Brady. So I'm not worried about him taking a couple of weeks off in August. He does sound originally from Massachusetts.

Don't you think Chris, don't you think me and Jake get along? I've been watching Brady since the fifties. So I really think he's going to light it up this year. Thanks, sir.

Greatly appreciate it. There's a, there's Jake in Massachusetts. Brady had statistically, maybe his best season last year, which is insane. Florio said it perfectly in hour one, everything about him is unprecedented.

Everything, everything about him is unprecedented. A 44 year old who retires and you're thinking why 45 year old who comes back and then you say, thank goodness. Good for him. Why would he come back? Huh?

Either one like, yes, it's awesome. He's back. Or why would he come back? Cause he loves the game and he wants to play and he wants to win one more and he didn't like the way it finished or whatever the hell happened to cause him to retire, but not really retire in the first place is something he wants to rectify. I have no idea.

I have to imagine retirement's boring. And now, and now, and now, uh, look at him. He's killing it. He comes off a 5,000 yard season and he's got as to Jake's point, Evans, Godwin, Gage, right? And now Kyle Rudolph's now down there and. He can have Gronk and Edelman back if he wants, apparently.

Well, definitely Edelman. Everyone's like, if somebody wants to give me a call, I was Tuesday. We didn't talk about it that much. Other shows have talked about it more than we have. Cause I kind of just thought he was just, I don't know, listen to my podcast.

That's what I've said for years. I thought he was doing the thing. No, I don't think he was doing the thing.

He would have been like, dude, I'm done. Doing the thing where he thinks he could get a call by a team in November. Yeah, about week 12 and then end of the year play up front. Why not play eight games? Maybe he can give you, he can give you half a season.

Right. I mean, look, if you need a first down, he's your guy. What if he comes back and he wins a Superbowl with somebody with like an eight catch game in the Superbowl. Don't you think now with all the hall of fame, that's sort of like, don't you think? Well, I mean, I already think he would, but I don't know about that as much as I love the guy. And as much as I think down the line on the veterans committee, he gets in.

Look at all the people who are going in now. He's the second best playoff wide receiver ever. What if he comes back and he wins a Superbowl one more time and he has like six catches for a hundred yards in the Superbowl?

And I hopefully all the haters will be quiet. Then you'd really have to think hard. What's the difference from what he's done already? It's not one more. Like people's point is that he's never made a Pro Bowl. He never, you know what I mean? It doesn't have any accolades. Just the regular season, you didn't have like a cup type season. You didn't have anything close to a cup type season. Oh, he played with Brady and whatever, you know what I mean? Like these guys don't get credit for being as great as they are because they think Tom just made them. Right.

844-204 Rich is the number to dial here on the program. When we come back, our number three of this year's show, Chris Brockman's got a what's more likely for coming up this weekend. We take a look over the steering wheel about your sports weekend.

And TJ Jefferson has his big ass grab bag. That's how we're rolling into our break. Taking us from hour two to hour number three here on this Friday edition of the Rich Eisen Show. And also the phone calls, as I mentioned, 844-204 Rich number to dial right here on this fun Friday program.

You're still here though. Mike in New Jersey, let's take your call. What's up, Mikey? Rich line. That's line six. Thank you. What's up, Mike?

Hey, Rick, how are you? What's going on, brother? Hey, so the other day I know you had discussed, um, Better Fall Fall and the season finale, excuse me. I know Brockman had watched it. Have you seen it yet? Yes, I have seen it. I saw the finale. Um, I saw it Wednesday night.

I saw it. We've got Vince Gilligan, the creator, uh, in studio on Monday, but, uh, I don't know. I mean, should I, I don't want to spoil it for anybody.

I would say let's wait and we'll talk after Vince. Right, Mike? I mean, I thought it was terrific though. I had no problem with the way it ended. I thought it was beautiful.

I loved it. I agree. Can I offer a question for you to ask Vince on Monday? Please go.

So I'm curious what you think, as I've noticed online, a lot of people talking about whether now that Better Fall Fall is finished, whether someone who's new to the Heisenberg universe should watch Better Fall Fall prior to watching Breaking Bad. And I'm curious what Vince's interpretation of that theory is. Okay. I will, I will ask him that.

Thanks for the call, Mike. I appreciate that. Um, I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't do that either. Personally, I can't wait to go back and rewatch Breaking Bad, just knowing what we know now about Saul, but like, Saul's a broken man in Breaking Bad, knowing what we know now.

Yeah. But there, there you'd, what Saul, some of their, you wouldn't, number one, uh, understand some of the surprises. You wouldn't also understand some of the narratives. And also you'd have some Breaking Bad moments spoiled. You've got to watch Breaking Bad first. Got to watch Breaking Bad first. Especially since you're watching Saul and you know what's already happened to some of these characters. And it's kind of a wink and a nod that they do some things in Saul. Right. You have to watch Breaking Bad first.

Yeah, absolutely. You have to watch Breaking Bad, period. It's, it's truly- You should watch Breaking Bad, but you should watch it first if you're going to, if you're deciding between- I was saying it's, it's the, the best show that wasn't on like a pay cable channel. I know in this day and age of streamers and things of that nature, that's like an old phrase, but like an HBO or Showtime or Cinemax, right?

Outside of those worlds where you could curse your head off. Breaking Bad's the best such drama ever. It's great.

Unbelievable. And Vince Gilligan's going to be on this show at this very time next week on Monday. For the real story behind some of wrestling's biggest moments, it's something to wrestle with Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson too. All-time Hogan opponents, Macho Man's got to be in the conversation. Where's Andre for you? I've always said Andre was number one. Wow. Because even going back before, you know, Hulk Hogan was a baby face, Hulk and Andre were able to go in and headline at the New Orleans Superdome at Shea Stadium in Japan. Wherever they went, that was an attraction. Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.