RE Show: Mike Sando - Hour 1 (8-1-2023)

Everybody talking about the running back market coach.

Let's go, go, go. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Why did this happen with Dalvin Cook, coach? Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

The salary cap is a real thing and the decisions that Kwasi and our front office, you know, have to make, they're never easy. Today's guests, NFL writer for The Athletic, Mike Sando, senior writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer, ESPN NFL analyst, Lewis Riddick. And now, it's Rich Eisen. These are facts.

Every last thing you just heard is a fact. And we're here, right here on the Rich Eisen Show, live on this Rich Eisen Show terrestrial radio affiliate Sirius XM Odyssey and then of course the Roku channel. For those who are listening right now, I'm wearing a fantastic light blue button down shirt that I picked out of my closet this morning for no reason. But decided to put it on because I think it looks great and that's the way you should tune into the Roku channel and agree. Just what else can I tell you, Chris? It's just that's the way I'm starting the show.

And ironically, Rich, I did the exact same thing. But you button to the top button like you're Rain Man. You do the full Rain Man. I just think it looks better. It's a better look on me than leaving.

Okay. Does that make me the Charlie Babbitt of this show right now? Didn't expect to start this way, but we will.

Sure, 328 toothpicks. Good to see you over there, Jay Felley. Where's Mike Del Tufo? Should we get like a live stream of him waiting for somebody to show up to the house with a Del Tufo cam, like waiting for an eaglet being born. We're like waiting for his washer dryer to show up. Is that what he's waiting for today?

Do we know? Is that what he's waiting for today as well? It's a washer dryer. It's a washer dryer. He's concerned about the floor being scratched. And speaking of a man who once had an opportunity to win a washer dryer but walked out with a pool table, TJ Jefferson.

Good to see you over there. First and foremost, it was a car. Not a washer dryer.

All right. And do you notice? I know it wasn't a washer dryer, because the Price is Right would call that a kitchenette, right? Back in the day? Had I gone on to the game previous, there was a washer dryer. I would have won that, and then history would have been changed.

But oh no, it's that stupid master key. That's the way we're starting today's program. What a dumb game, Rich. 844-204, Rich.

Number to dial here on this program. Hey, everybody. It's that time of year.

What do I mean by that time of year? I mean, it's a training camp. And right around now, with the Hall of Fame game set to kick off the preseason in Canton, Ohio. Yeah, we've got pro football Hall of Famers getting inducted this weekend.

Football will be officially back in Canton, Ohio. And preseason football. And we'll start to wonder what we can read into preseason football.

What does it mean? We're already looking at snap counts. Like, why is Brandon Allen getting all these snaps in San Francisco's training camp when you need to get, you know, Trey Lance's reps and his time? And what's going on with Sam Donald?

Doesn't he need his reps and his time? What are we saying? What's with Brandon Allen being getting his reps and time? What are we doing? This is what we're doing. And then, you know, this is after the... or perhaps we're in full swing of the... Look at how Deuce Vaughn is running through a defense that's not tackling him because they're not allowed to. And hey, that's an indication that he's ready to play because he's bouncing off guys who aren't allowed to tackle him.

He's very fast though, Rich. Seven on sevens, 11 on 11. What can we read into these things? And in the meantime, how do we pass the time with lists? I am going to be hosting the top ten reveal of the NFL 100 top players in the NFL.

It's voted by their peers. Really? Yes. I actually conducted an interview with an individual yesterday who's number two on that list. So you already know? I know things. So you know the list already? I will not reveal.

How is there... Because Mayor Brotman could put some action on that. I may not reveal. You know why? Right. Because I'm a team player, despite it being an eye in Rich and Eisen.

How's Aaron Donald doing? And despite having an eye in Rich and Eisen in the show name for this show. It is.

I will never cannibalize NFL Plus in my life. Okay. Did Micah Parsons ask about TJ? That was going to be my question. Nice tries.

All you all, nice tries. I will not reveal. You just made the list.

There are lists being formed and made into television shows. I got one more. As we speak. Did Josh Allen give you a virtual handshake?

Great try. I will neither confirm nor deny if any of those names are even on the top ten. We got lists.

Chris, we know who he didn't speak to if they were number two. We've got lists. That's my homes.

I will confirm that. That's simple. Here's the deal. Lists.

That's what we're trying to do while Aaron Rodgers is getting all chatty with Liev Schreiber. We got lists. And here's the one. Here are the ones. Oh, man. The ones that are created using the thoughts of unnamed coaches and executives.

Those are chef's kiss. Mike Sando of The Athletic every single year has a list that everybody's focused on. We're all focused on this list because it's 50 unnamed coaches and executives and people involved in the NFL tiering quarterbacks. Five tiers. You don't want to be a fifth tier quarterback.

You just don't. There are none this year. There are four tiers of quarterbacks as voted on by 50 NFL coaches and executives, 10 head coaches, 15 coordinators, 10 executives, four quarterback coaches, three coaching slash analytics individuals, and a partridge in a freaking pear tree. And tier one quarterbacks are those as described by Mike Sando is someone who can carry his team each week. The team wins because of him. He expertly handles pure passing situations.

He has no real holes in his game. Mahomes won. He burrowed two, Allen three, Allen Rogers four, Justin Herbert five.

What do you mean what are we doing? Aaron Rogers is the fourth best quarterback this year. Same number as his MVPs, two of them coming from just two and three years ago. Just two seasons ago.

Best player in the NFL. Last year. Last year. Last year. Not so much. The quarterbacks is 19 and 15 in his career, Brockman, and yet he's- Yeah, Justin Herbert.

Tier eight. Are you talking about Justin Herbert? Yeah, win a game on his own? Yeah, 25 and 24.

But yes, I see your point. Justin Herbert. Everybody loves him.

Everybody loves him and good for a reason. I take him. Justin Herbert is more skilled than Aaron Rogers right now? He's not according to this list.

Aaron Rogers is more according to these folks. No, this is a list. These are lists. I love lists. Here's my problem. Tier two quarterbacks, as described- Now we got a little something.

Okay. Tier two quarterbacks, as described by Mike Sandow, are someone who can carry his team sometimes but not as consistently. He can handle pressure, pure passing situations and doses and possesses other dimensions that are special enough to elevate him above tier three. He has a whole two in his game. And number six on that list in front of Lamar, Trevor Lawrence, Dak, Stafford, Watson and Cousins is Jalen Hurts. Let me land here for a moment.

Please do. Have we not learned about Jalen Hurts yet? What have we not learned about Jalen Hurts- Don't doubt him?

Yet. Do we not account for his makeup and his ascent and the number of times he has been doubted and what he did last year? Are we saying he's not a tier one quarterback? How in the world is that guy not one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and on a certain day or two he could be better than Mahomes?

You betcha. And that day, damn near, was Super Bowl Sunday last year. What this guy did last year is as tier one as you can get for a quarterback in the NFL. He is a major problem. And what he did with his legs is what everybody talks about, obviously. But what he did in the passing game to A.J.

Brown is something else. You could put that list up one more time of tier one quarterbacks as well. And none of them have what Hurts did in the Super Bowl on their resume and may never. And I took a photograph of this on Super Sunday last year. First quarterback in NFL history to rush for two or more touchdowns and throw another in a Super Bowl. And I took this photograph not only to recall this stat later on, on the Monday show, but also, just to note, that was before halftime. And this is on Super Sunday when everyone's like, how's Hurts gonna handle this big moment, this pressure? And I know he put the ball on the turf at one point in a huge turnover that led to points for Kansas City.

He did it at every possible way last year. A defensive coach, because, you know, I always look at these things to see who's gonna crap on somebody anonymously. And Hurts in the profile, this is as bad as it got, which wasn't so bad after all, but a defensive coach quoted here, so I guess one of the coordinators, it was a big conversation last year.

If Hurts does not play well, they're gonna draft another quarterback. But I remember after seeing him going, this dude can play. I thought he was a much better drop back passer than what people were saying. I told our guys, man, this quarterback is good. And I take that as he's even overcoming the doubts within his own organization. Remember he said that? Was that right before the Super Bowl or after? Was it after he won the NFC Championship game? Keep on doubting him. When he said, even people in this town couldn't believe, didn't believe I could do it. I saw that. I'm like, how is this guy not tier one?

How is he not? So this is a big season again for Jalen Hurts. And you're just feeding this fire. Just feed it. You're just stoking it. Look out. Look out. Look out because AJ Brown is going to be better. And look out because Devontae Smith is going to be better. And look out because Dallas Scottert is going to be better. Look out. Jason Kelce came back.

Look out. You know what's going to be really, really good this year? All the Georgia Bulldogs that they drafted. Not this year. Last year. Last year. Jordan Davis apparently healthier than ever before. He dropped the weight. He knows what's what in the pros.

The Kobe Dean I think is as healthy as before. These guys know how to win. I'm just saying don't give them fuel to the fire. And tier one, tier two, who cares?

I get it. I can't believe that somebody out there saw what Hertz did last year and thinks that he still has... does he have something to prove? I guess what he has to prove is... He can do it again.

Is it to do it again or does he have something to prove? Like, game on the line, championship on the line. Can he do it in a two minute drill to lead his team for a comeback win? We got robbed of that last year as we all know by a yellow flag. We got robbed of that. Not to go down memory lane in a way that folks could be in Philadelphia breaking out in the hives.

I don't know, man. Well, that did suck. But yes, to your point, Rich, do it without your feet. I mean, that's what the pure football purists want to see. In the pocket, two minute drill, lead an 80 yard drive. If you think that Jalen Hertz needs to prove it that he doesn't do it with his feet anymore, you didn't watch him last year.

But that's the only reason why he's not in tier one. One of the best moments of the Super Bowl this year that led to that statistic being put up on the scoreboard, rushed for two touchdowns and threw another. The touchdown he threw to A.J.

Brown. That ball in the air was truly one of the most amazing throws I've ever seen. It was going away from me. I was sitting in the end zone that he was throwing away from. He put that where only A.J. Brown could go get it.

He was like throwing against, he was running for his life and he found that guy. All right. I'll take him in tier one. He's a tier one guy.

And out of the tier two guys, I think you are spot on there, where there are guys that have something to prove. Lamar, we got to see something from him where he can stay healthy for a year. A hole in his game right now is his inability to stay healthy.

That's a fact. And I know he's got numbers in the pocket throwing that are stupendous. So I'm not concerned about his ability to throw.

I'm concerned about his ability to stay healthy. That's a hole in the game. And if you put up the tier two guys as well, Dak throws the interceptions. Trevor Lawrence is just, in my mind, hasn't done it in the way that Jalen Hurts has done it. Trevor Lawrence has done it for one year. Correct. So he's still young enough. Right. He's still ascending.

Stafford, can he stay healthy again? Deshaun Watson is there just out of respect to what he did in Houston. But that was three years ago.

I get it. I mean, my biggest beef here is Cousins being 12. He really should be nine, probably, on this list. Stafford missed all of last year. Watson hasn't played in three seasons. Dak has the picks. Kirk Cousins has consistent numbers the last five, six seasons. I know it hasn't translated to playoff wins. But who on that list has done anything in the playoffs except for Matt Stafford one time? Hurts is tier one. Hurts is an elite quarterback. And he's going to prove it again this year. And I feel it in my bones.

And I don't even know why I have to keep saying it. What he did last year, it's over, as far as I'm concerned. What is he going to forget? Is that what's going to happen?

He's going to forget how to play? I know you're nervous about it. I would be.

Yeah. If I'm sitting there in Dallas and, you know, you got the lion there and Parsons, you got all those guys who are terrific playing football, and then you have somebody like Hurts sitting in your division, no thanks. I'm sitting here, you know, thinking this is the best jet chance to actually make a Super Bowl since Rex Ryan was a coach and maybe in my entire lifetime, and I got Josh Allen I'm staring up at.

That's after Brady finally freaking left and retired. Hurts is one of those guys. I would put him in that list, you know, and if you say I can only take five, I would unfortunately for Justin Herbert, I'd kick him out. And I know his skill set is remarkable and deserves every penny he just got and is definitely somebody who I would build a team around and is elite. But if I can only choose five guys, Jalen Hurts did it.

Super Sunday, everybody's like, what are you going to do? And he breaks a record before halftime. And Chris, you said that the people want to see him do it with his arm and not his feet, but I'm looking at these stats, 27 to 38, 304 yards in the Super Bowl. The thing nobody talked about last year about why the Eagles were great was the deep passing game. It fired the general manager who traded AJ Brown to Philadelphia. It wasn't the run game.

It wasn't their pass rush or their front seven. It was Hurts hitting AJ Brown. Let's take a break. Mike Sandow of The Athletic will join us. I'll personally blame him, Lewis Riddick in hour number three, always love talking ball with him. And Albert Breer will join us from Titans camp, fresh back from Bengals camp, and fresh back from getting a text from Jim Irsay from his bus about Jonathan Taylor.

Where does all this stand? That's hour two. And I've got two lists.

One of them I'll definitely tell you about, the one that's going to be a surprise. Top five underrated difference makers of 2023, folks who can make a difference for their team that nobody's talking about. How about them Angels? Right. Baseball trade deadline day, and the Yankees are an absolute disaster. A stinking pile in the Bronx. Is Judge on the block?

All right. We'll take a break here on the Rich Eisen Show, 844-204-RICH, number to dial. Mike Sandow of the Athletic when we return. Back here on the program, my phone algorithm is sending me a bunch of stuff from the Super Bowl today. I don't know what it is.

Because you just talked about Super Bowl, that's why. No, come on. Are you serious?

Is it listening to me right now? Yes. Absolutely. 1,000%. Always. Are you serious? 100%. Come on. 100, 1,000, 10,000%. Yes.

And then go to your Instagram and see how many ads you get. Man, I want a new boat, boat, boat, boat, boat. Speaking of boat, arch manning cards that you sent me? Yeah.

It's going to buy me a boat, like I said. Seriously? Seriously. Really? Which part?

You are not serious people. You have an arch manning card that you think is going to buy you a boat one day? Remember? I bought those cards like a year and a half ago. He has some high school arch cards. Okay. Are you the only human being that thought of that?

No, seriously, I'm not doing that to be difficult. I honestly don't know how this works. Well, he just sold, what did that card sell for, bro? It was a special.

He signed a deal with Panini. It was a one of one card. All the proceeds were going to charity and it sold for 102,000. And that's not the card you have? That's not the card I have. Okay.

But if Arch goes the way we think he is, eventually... Somebody bought that card for 102,000. It's the only card. That one.

One of one. Okay. And then they put that in the safe deposit box or right on the wall. We can't have it on the wall because the sun might hit it and might... Exactly.

That has to be in a dark, cool temperature. And you only bring it out to... And people can't... To show people. But they can't look at it. It'd be like Seinfeld looking at cleavage. You just glance and look away or you can't look at it.

Don't stare at it. It might not be his mint. Someone pointed out... Is that how it works?

The standing card, I think, went for 70. So he's already talked to his uncle. So yes, Rich. Okay.

To answer your question... I'll bring... I'll come on your boat with my grandchildren.

And you should. Lord willing. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, part of our live stream on the Roku channel. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk, furnished by Grainger, with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger is the right product for you.

Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Mike Sandow of The Athletic, back here on the Rich Eisen Show. All right, Mike. You did some fine work, once again, tiering quarterbacks. We're having a bunch of unnamed coaches and executives do so. What did you learn from it, Mike? I think we're seeing Rich to where more and more of these guys in the top tier, and even the top two tiers, kind of have the ability to beat you off platform, off schedule.

I was just looking at the... This is the 10th time I've done quarterback tiers. And when you go back to the first time, it's Brady and it's Peyton Manning and Brees, right? And that was really what the tier one quarterback was. And I think you still have to be able to do those things.

You still have to be able to win as a passer from the pocket. But so many more of these guys, to really get into the top, they have something else they can do when the play breaks down. And so I think that's one thing. And then just Russell Wilson's fall is interesting and more than just a one-year thing.

I was just looking at it now. It's really a four-year... This is the third year in a row that he's fallen, so I thought that was kind of interesting. Yeah, walk me through that one, the Russell decline, if you will. So 2020, he's unanimous tier one, going into that season, 50 votes all tier one.

And the next year, it's 40 in tier one, the next year, it's 15, so that's even going into the last year before the debacle in Denver, and now it's zero. So I think he's clearly lost some of that dynamic athleticism that we were talking about that can help separate some of these guys. And now you're just kind of hoping that Sean Payton can stop the bleeding and make him at least be efficient again, so that he can be maybe in those top two tiers somewhere, as opposed to really tier three, Jimmy Garoppolo and Geno Smith and Ryan Tannehill and Max Jones are in there, and that's what, unfortunately, he may be closer to that than what he was. The thing that I went in on prior to your calling in, Mike, is I don't know how Jalen Hurts after last year doesn't get tier one status unanimous. I don't know how people are looking at him and saying, well, he still has this hole or that hole, or the only hole I saw on Super Sunday was the ball coming loose when he's trying to run, that one unfortunate turnover, and unfortunately for him, we were robbed seeing him in a game-winning two-minute situation by a penalty flag that will leap out every single time we talk about last year's Super Bowl. I don't get that. What did you glean from the conversations about Jalen Hurts?

Well, I mean, some of these guys, it's where you're coming from. The first year he was in it, he was 30th, then he was 20th, and now he's sixth, so I don't think there's any disrespect in being at the top of tier two and just saying, okay, you had a great year. Have another great year, and you can come in to the top group, which has Mahomes and Burrow and Helen and Rogers and Justin Herbert.

That would be the debate, right? Some people have said, well, wait, what makes Justin Herbert be in tier one and not Jalen Hurts? Maybe this is a snapshot in time that Jalen Hurts will be there if he has another good season. Typically, it takes more than one really bad year to just throw you all the way to the bottom or more than one really good year to throw you all the way to the top.

From 20 to 6, that's pretty good. Now, I know, just so many Sundays, I'm sitting on game day morning on NFL Network, and we usually put Kurt Warner in this situation because he's the quarterback on the set. Mike is just like, which quarterback would you choose today? And I look at the Philadelphia schedule at New England, home for Minnesota, at Tampa, home for Washington, at the Rams, at the Jets, home for Miami, at Washington, home for Dallas.

That's the first few weeks. Jalen Hurts would pretty much win the conversation, is which one would you take today? And then we finally, maybe at the Jets and Rogers, week six, depending on how Rogers looks the first five weeks of the season, you might take him. And then we arrive at Kansas City, home for Buffalo, when Rubber, I guess, would meet the road as to whether he's a Tier 1 quarterback, and the rest of it, you'd take him every single time. And to me, that is a message as to whether he's Tier 1 or not. That's the way I would put him. Well, but you basically said I would take him over all the quarterbacks except the ones that are in Tier 1. Well, I would maybe take him over them. I just need to see... I'd say it's still a conversation, which means he's on par, is the way I would push back on that.

That's right there on the edge. I think the other guys, you would have an easier time putting all of your money on them because they're more established in Tier 1. And Josh Allen went through the same sort of thing. He had a great climb. He's the only guy who's been in this thing for at least five years and improved every year. Jalen Hurts may do that as well, but there was a year there where he was at the top of Tier 2. Then he did it again, and he got in. Lamar Jackson went to the top of Tier 2. He didn't do it again. He didn't get in. He's still high Tier 2, but he didn't kind of prove it.

I think that's all it is. No one's saying that he's not going to be there, but do it more than one year. I think for some of these guys and some of these teams, you have a great situation. You have the best offensive line.

You have a great scheme. You've got a top 10 defense. You've got maybe one of the five best owners. Maybe you've got one of the five best GMs. All of those things go into it as well, in addition to with Hurts, where he started out.

You have to, when you come in lower, it probably takes you a little bit longer. Remember this discussion with Russell Wilson. Wasn't it the absolute high pick? Probably takes him a little bit more to win everybody over. I think that's what we're seeing with Hurts, and I don't think it's necessarily overly disrespectful to him. I think he'll get there with another good year.

He'll put him in there and say, yeah, we know for sure we'll take him. Mike Sandow of The Athletic here on The Rich Eisen Show after the publishing over the last couple days on The Athletic of the list of quarterbacks in the NFL, top 30, ranked by tiers, ranked by number, right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Which one surprised you then, out of all of them?

Okay. So a couple things surprised me. Kirk Cousins moved up some. Like I know it's just over the border into tier two, but I was kind of thinking, don't we know everything there is to know about Kirk Cousins?

Why would there be a little bit of a positive shift? Are people over reading into the fact that they won a bunch of close games? And then I looked and saw that he had eight fourth quarter comeback drives, which is tied for the most of anyone in the season since 1960. The other one is, I thought the talk on Kyler Murray was more positive than I was expecting. I mean, he took a little bit of a hit to the top of tier three, but for someone who's been really openly trashed, whether it's Patrick Peterson or just some of the whispers that come out of there or the clause in his contract, the guys that I talked to weren't overly down on him and actually made some kind of contextualizing or even some excuses for him. That surprised me a little bit for him. So we'll see.

I don't know what he can do this year, but those were a couple of things that stood out to me. All right. Can you put a little bit more meat on those bones about excuses or about caping for Kyler? Yep.

Yeah. So two of them. One, I included two of them in there and one of them was the idea that, okay, not very long ago, this was a playoff team and you can't find any reason but him why it was. It wasn't like they had this great coaching staff, like they have some other, but it didn't have the offensive line like they have in Philly or whatever. They didn't have a great defense, didn't have a run game. It wasn't just DeAndre Hopkins. So giving him the credit for whatever success that they've had while pointing to, I think since then, a lot of things in that organization are really look especially bad. So maybe relative to all that, Kyler Murray, not necessarily the driver of failure to the degree that he was made out to be.

And the other one was weird to me, but notable enough to put in there. The idea that you have this kind of immature player coming in of a kind of a new generation and the fact that he was paired with some really good veteran receivers like Larry Fitzgerald or DeAndre Hopkins made it maybe harder for him, made it more fatal for him when he made a bad initial impression as an immature guy. It's hard to win over a fifth. It's hard to maybe win over some of these top achievers who played with good quarterbacks.

I thought that was, I don't know that I agree, but I certainly wouldn't have thought of that. Well, I mean, I'm glad to hear that there are some people who feel that Murray has the, I guess, fortitude that, for the lack of better phrase, that others were saying he didn't. The fortitude to take criticism or grow or mature or get better despite obviously him being hurt. I fear he's about to go through some things, Mike, because if you take a look at the Cardinals first few weeks of their schedule, there are some games, certainly if Colt McCoy has an off day, the defense might not have a good day. They have some major problems on that schedule and that if Murray, say, is still not a hundred percent by, what, week six, week seven, do you just hold them out? I agree. And then suddenly Caleb Williams is sitting there. This is a real possibility, Mike, you know?

It completely is. They have given themselves options. I thought Monie Osborn did a great job in the draft. They have picks and then their own could be really high. And all Kyler can do is try to impress them with his off the field. If he does come back, he's not going to be a hundred percent. The dynamic guy that he was, right, being able to outrun everybody, he's going to look a little tentative. There's no way this year at any point Kyler Murray's going to look his best, right?

We can agree on that. He can impress them in the classroom, he can learn the offense, he can be the team guy, but that only goes so far if you have that top pick with a new regime that maybe wants a fresh start and wants to change some of the narratives that have built up around Murray and the whole organization. I think it's a fascinating place where all those things are on the table and we're going to be talking about it a lot in the second half of the season. Now I noticed, Mike Sandow, the athletic here in the Rich Eisen show, that you put Minshew in there instead of Anthony Richardson and then the two quarterbacks because it's the top 30 that are going to be starting this year that are not in there are the top two picks in the draft and Bryce Young and C.J.

Stroud. Did you still kick the tires on those guys with your 50 analysts? No, because I leave out the rookies because here's what I find. You talk to 50 people and 40 of them didn't really study those guys that much because whatever their team wasn't going to get them or that sort of thing. I think the projection from college to the NFL is so crapshooty. You can break down the tape on Josh Rosen and make a case that he was going to be a good pro and then it's just not even close to that. Whereas I feel like once they've been in the league, there's a much better handle on what they're going to do. Like I said, some of the guys on the bottom, Jordan Love, there's not much to go on, but at least he's played a game so we can talk about them a little bit. The rookies, I think, anyone's guess is a little bit much, but look at the situation C.J.

Stroud's in in Houston. Look at their opening schedule. Look at all the defenses they're playing. The first seven games are probably six top 15 defenses with who's a receiver, right? The first new offensive coordinator.

What could the expectations be? Not too much on the rookies for this because it's just, to me, too volatile, too hard to project and probably not going to look good early on. Yeah, C.J. Stroud's first games at Baltimore, then his next road games at Jacksonville. He got Pittsburgh. New Orleans is always the sneaky great defensive team, I guess.

You could say that at Carolina is not easy. Mike Sandow here on the Rich Eisen Show. So before I let you go, what was the individual who everyone was like, yeah, I'm not going to put him higher up, but look out.

This is the year for this guy. What did you hear on that front? You know, so I think the most probably chatter, but I don't think they're betting on him. They want to see is Justin Fields. I mean, when you look at the path that Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen, to different extents, have taken to go from sort of the guy with accuracy questions but is athletic to get to the top, I think Fields is by far the most interesting.

And instead of saying look out, it's more like, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised in a year. We're talking about him being in Tier 2, but there's enough questions about him as a passer that I don't think anyone's pushing all of their chips into the table on him. And I feel like a lot of the guys in Tier 4, really, I mean, I would rather have them in there than the same old Mariotas and Wentzas we've been looking at, but they're still sort of like, you're not really overly all in on them, right? Desmond Ridders and Sam Hall, I don't see anyone like that. So it would have to be Fields in the bottom half of having the greatest potential to suddenly be up there in Tier 2.

I'll push back and say, what about Purdy? I mean, what we saw from him last year and whatever quarterback competition we were hearing about in San Francisco certainly doesn't seem like it involves him. It's who's 2 and 3, basically, right now is what it looks like in San Francisco. And if he shows up healthy and just winging it around like he did at the end of last year and everybody's doing San Francisco things, I mean, that is Tier 2 and potentially a Tier 1 career written all over it.

Not to overreact. Here's how I predict what happened, unless he was just lights out and really added a lot with his own dynamic play, I bet you he would go to the top of 3 because what happens with guys who play in a Kao Shanhan offense or even what's happening with Tua and Mike McDaniel with those weapons is the credit ends up going to the coaches. Or Jared Goff, Ben Johnson's getting credit, Sean McVay gets credit. Isn't it interesting with some of those guys who are not visibly dynamic in their own way? They're not incredible with their ability to run or create off schedule.

When they get in the right system, with the right team that has a good defense and makes it easy to win, that all gets taken into account and prevents them from getting the suddenly Tier 1 votes. Mike, thanks for the time, thanks for the food for thought, greatly appreciate it. Let's have you on right before the season and throughout. Greatly appreciate it, Mike. Great. Hey, thank you.

You bet. Mike Sandow of The Athletic here on The Rich Eisen Show. You know who was the system quarterback? Everybody.

All of them. Tom Brady was the system quarterback. He ran a system. He was the system. Right. Peyton Manning was the system.

Breeze. Everybody's a system quarterback. You know who was one of the greatest system quarterbacks of all time?

Ben Roethlisberger. Remember that? When Ben came out and it was just like, oh God.

He was handing the ball off. Oh, who was it? Was it Bubby Brister who got hurt? Was it, no, was it Tom Zack who got hurt?

No, no, no. Who got hurt? It was the guy who was- Tommy Maddox.

XFL MVP. Maddox. Tommy Maddox was hurt. And I remember future Hall of Famer Alan Fanica was quoted as saying, oh, there goes our season. We got this rookie from Miami of Ohio and then he didn't lose until the playoffs.

I believe he didn't lose until the AFC Championship game. And it was nonstop. Just don't make the mistake, Ben. Just hands on ten and two, foot on the break.

Don't screw it up. And that's why, you know, when Cower left and Tomlin came in, Roethlisberger now had somebody who's just like, okay, you're not the rookie that we've been grooming. Yeah. Right. That whole business of system quarterbacks. It's just like they don't believe in the guy's ability to win. That's it.

We've got to see it from Purdy. That's why you're tier four. Got to see it from Hertz. That's why you're not yet tier one, which is nuts.

I have a set of eyes, thank goodness, that work, even with glasses. Come on. At any rate, that's nutty. What is going on in San Francisco? I got to find out from Brea. Brea Brea. All right. Yeah. Let's get him on the phone at the top of the next hour, but in the meantime, your phone calls 844-204-RICH, number to dial here on the Rich Eisen Show. Trade deadline.

Nothing's popping. Brockman's looking at the old X machine. We'll come up with that next.

What does an NFL team get with Jalen Hertz? Well, I'm a dog, a relentless competitor, and I'm going to work my tail off every day. Try to win ballgames. I mean, I've done a pretty good job with that. And just most importantly, impacting the people around me to my best ability. I think that's the biggest thing, is kind of got to impact guys and bring guys with them and just bring a presence about himself to the organization and to the program.

So I'm looking forward to what the future holds for me, and I just continue to work my tail off and try to take steps every day to be the best player, quarterbacking man I can be. So what questions are you asked? I mean, what more do you need to, in your estimation, put out there that you're being asked about?

Well, you know, Rich, it's a process, and it's something that I've never experienced. And they pretty much just ask me questions to try and get a better feel of who I am as a person, as a leader, and they ask me to talk ball, right? So it's very unique in my position, because I've had so many different offensive coordinators and I've been around so many great minds in the game. So these coaches simply want to know what I know. They know I know ball. They know I've been well-taught from each and every coach.

So me spitting back the things that I know and showing them that I'm a student of the game and I'm very knowledgeable of what I know and what I'm doing. Jalen Hurts had us at Hello, folks. He had us at Hello. That was before his drafting years ago. Okay, let's talk a little bit more about this quarterback stuff, okay? Because Mike Sandow was talking about how Justin Fields was the guy he heard from a bunch of folks saying, don't be surprised if he's going to have a big step up. And I just thought to myself, that quarterback class right now on this tier list, Trevor Lawrence is top 10. He's a top 10 quarterback, according to the mix of evaluators, head coaches, 50 people. Half of them are either a coordinator or head coach in the league.

Okay, so that's a pretty healthy supply of people on the field, in film rooms, circling players to say, don't let this person beat us or we've got to stop that person, right? Trevor Lawrence is there. Justin Fields is the next highest ranked quarterback in tier four at 21. And Mac Jones is 23 and not pictured in the top 30 are the second and third overall picks of that draft. Zach Wilson and Trey Lance. And you're hearing right now, Trey Lance is not getting nearly as many snaps as one would think he would be getting when he's got to get better. And the only way he gets better is with reps and any rep. Give him a rep anytime, anywhere. That's the general sense about Trey Lance, who didn't play a lot of college football and was drafted coming off a season in which COVID ravaged his final chance to get game action in college. And it was drafting him on the upside of his height, weight, rep and tape from two seasons previous.

And every time you hear it, you hear, they just got, he's just got to get action. And you're hearing Brandon Allen's getting more than his share. One would think, and you're not going to carry four quarterbacks.

Are you? If any team's going to do it, it would be the 49ers who could have used a sixth quarterback last year, right? As they got down to McCaffrey doing wildcat stuff.

And then a one-armed Brock Purdy is what they basically were down to in the NFC championship game. That was wild. So what is going on in San Francisco?

What is happening? Is it possible that by the end of this training camp, we have a surprise? Once again, last year, the surprise was the guy that is absolutely gone, because not only did he say farewell to the press after their previous game, but, you know, he's still only there because he had surgery on his shoulder. And by the end of training camp, not only did he have a playbook again, he had a new contract. And Jimmy Garoppolo, that was a surprise.

No one was seeing that at this point last year. Is it possible this year? Train lance just gets released? Out. The gate.

Gone. That Brandon Allen, they like him so much. And you can't sit here and go, come on, Brandon Allen.

Brock Purdy damn near won the Super Bowl last year. So with that team, they see something in somebody, they're going to go with it. Not only because they trust their gut, but they have ownership that says your gut has the floor.

Go for it. Oh, you gave up all that draft capital for a guy you're about to be released or it's thinking you're thinking of releasing. Normally an owner would say, well, you better think twice because your ass is on the block otherwise. Not in San Francisco.

It's just Jed York's like, okay, that's what you guys think. Is that possible? Would that be your scenario for the Bengals? Perfect. This is available and you just can just get them, bring them in and let them go for as long as Joe Burrows out. And that's kind of what I was saying yesterday. I know it was kind of a hot take, but it was just, just insurance.

You know, we saw with the video that Joe came up a little bit lame calf strain. Okay. What's the timetable? Unclear.

Six weeks to week one. Or do you, if you're again, I'm just the 49ers take a fifth round pick for Trey lance right now. Or maybe flip a fifth round pick for Trey lance because he's better than whoever your second quarterback's going to be. And more often than not in the NFL, you were doing that. What if you're Arizona? That's certainly, I mean, Cole McCoy has been a solid player for a long time.

By the way, you used the word solid, but I, that was purposeful. But what if he can't answer the bell one week? Like he couldn't when Murray was out a couple of years ago too, the San Francisco really do that. Or are they just giving Brandon Allen some reps and throw them on a practice squad or and keep lance because they believe in him or they're just not going to release him. There's so much chatter surrounding this kid right now.

I know we're still nuts. I know we're still what a week away or a couple of days away from a hall of fame game and a full week away from actual, you know, the rest of the league doing preseason games. But I am really curious to see what San Francisco does with these preseason reps. You know, the Rams famously don't play anybody. I highly doubt we'll see, you know, Aaron Rodgers out there playing preseason games for the Jets, but the 49ers have all, all four of these quarterbacks need reps. They need playing time Brock Purdy. We need to see if he's really ready to play football. Sam Darnold, could he step in if Brock Purdy is not ready to go and, and obviously Trey Lance has reps. Yeah. Yeah. What are they going to do in the preseason?

These guys all going to play a quarter each game? Maybe. Sure.

Why not? Well, you, you, you, you just get Purdy out there to break a sweat and then you put him aside because the crazy thing about this quarterback competition in San Francisco is it's not for one. That's his gig. Yeah.

I mean, it's it, there's no competition. I don't think so. If he's healthy though. I think he is. Which we don't really know. We'll find out and pre-season ain't it.

It's going to be week one against Pittsburgh. Let's go. Hey, TJ Watt. There you go. Go get him. Yeah. Yeah.

Right. Or, Hey, go protect him. You tell him to the, to the line, Hey, Trent Williams, how you feeling?

You really think Brock Purdy is going to play all 17 games this year? Um, I, I don't have my crystal balls around the corner, but that's the plan, but I'm saying seems unlikely. Like, let's get these other guys ready. That's the plan. And then let's just take this here.

Can you put up the tier four one more time? And then Albert Brier will join us top of the next hour. Who would you take? You have to buy stock in. And by that, I mean, you put stock in it and you'll either make money or you'll lose money this year. Would you put your stock in Brock Purdy or your name? No. I would.

TJ. Break the tie. I'm Purdy.

I would. Yeah. Your name.

I got to see more, man. Yeah. Your name. So you say name.

My name is Kenny good. So you say yes. I'm going to say yes. Can he pick it? Can he pick it? Gets all of my money. He gets all of your money. Interestingly enough, did you finally pay him for that draft choice bet on Kenny pick it? Yeah. Oh, there it is.

There's a $20 bill right there. I'll take Kenny picket stock. Do you take Kenny picket stock? Buying Kenny picket. Go ahead.

Put it back up again. Number 26 on the list. Jordan Love. Yeah. I take stock in him too. Yes, sir. Absolutely. You got Christian Watson out there is going to make them look good. Yes, sir. Baker. Yeah.

He's got a great. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. You're going to lose money. Okay. We'll find out. You got Evans and Godwin.

Like you better be able to make something happen. Sam Howell. Yeah.

Your name? No. Yeah. I would, I would, I would pocket my money on Howell. Good receivers.

McLaurin. But I don't know about Desmond Ritter. Yeah. I'll pocket my money on Ritter too. I'll take your advice on that.

Okay. And Gardner Minshew. I don't even think he's going to start.

No, absolutely not. I don't think he's going to start. Howell. I'd have to consider it, but Baker Mayfield do not sleep on him.

If he is healthy, that's my Devins and Godwin buddy. Yeah. Come on. He's got, he's got Brady's set up. If he doesn't succeed here, then it's never going to happen. How many chances are we going to give Baker Mayfield just because he's the number one pick? Yeah.

You do get some kind of leeway, right? I think he's in a better spot this year than he was last year with the Carolina stuff. Albert Breer coming up. Well, was it the Cleveland stuff, the Carolina stuff, the Rams stuff? Well, the Cleveland stuff is the shoulder stuff. The Rams stuff. He had one of the greatest comebacks of 2022. That was unbelievable.

Against the Raiders. That was unreal. Cool. And one last thing too. I don't know if this is Sean Mitchell or Jordan Sherrow of our crack staff who put this together.

Can you put that up one more time? What's with the Sam Howell bedhead? What's with the bedhead on Sam? Like Sam Howell's bedhead. You writing that down? Sam Howell's bedhead is pretty good. For a fantasy team name. You know, it's another one. Mike Sander used the word crapshooty.

That's pretty crapshooty. That's not a bad fantasy team name. We're not going back in time. But Sam Howell, what's with the bedhead there? Maybe that's how he rocks his hair. Is that what it is? Could be. That looks like, hey, I woke up.

Is it picture day? You know what that looks like, Rich? It looks like Sam Howell is so into his playbook and working out and becoming the quarterback. He don't care what his head looks like. That's a head of lettuce, Sam. By the way, you could have flipped Baker and Sam's headshots and no one would know. You know what Baker looks like.

That's what Baker may feel looks like. Matt, they look exactly the same. They look like brothers. Come on, man. They look like brothers. They're brothers. I mean, look at the tier, the tier four. If you take a look at it one more time, Mike, I'm sorry.

The tier four is a tier one hair. Look at Purdy. That's very Matt Ryan cut like. Well, Purdy's selling you a shirt. Pickett's got, Pickett's got the, the mullet. Purdy's our stockbroker for this segment. Look at it.

I mean, Gardner Minshew is definitely not 30th in terms of quarterback hair. They're selling us something. And then Sam Howell is like, good morning, Sam, take a picture. Gardner Minshew's on righteous gemstones. Here comes Albert prayer. Beautiful.