Kurt Warner: Tough To Be Competitive Without A Good QB

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See terms at Discover.com slash credit card. This is The Rich Eisen Show. The Rich Eisen Show.

But I'll tell you what, Bears fans. Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles, DJ Moore and Keenan Allen may just be the best tandem of wide receivers a rookie quarterback is inheriting. The Rich Eisen Show. As a first overall pick, today's guests, pro football hall of famer, Kurt Warner, comedian, preacher Lawson, two-time NCAA champion and 13-year NBA veteran, Christian Laitner. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Alright, everybody. Welcome to this edition of The Rich Eisen Show.

Live on the Roku Channel. We've got lots of fun in store over the next three hours. Sit back and enjoy. Call us. 844-204-RICH. Number to dial. Good to see everybody right here on the Roku Channel or if you're listening on The Rich Eisen Show Terrestrial Radio Affiliate Network Coast to Coast Series XM Odyssey or the podcast version of this show, it's your right to listen to us whenever you want. All three hours available in podcast form. We say hello to you as well.

Lots going on in our neighborhood. Kurt Warner, Hall of Famer, is going to be first up in about 20 minutes time. So we're excited about getting to him.

The comedian, preacher Lawson, is going to be here in studio. And with March Madness beginning tonight, in the men's bracket with a, I guess, don't play it, don't call it a playing game. They're the first four, whatever you want to call it.

Sure. Even though it's not just four, it's the first eight. But it's the first four in once they're winners.

Bottom line is, there's games tonight and they matter. And I've got my bracket right here in my hand. We'll talk about my bracket and what you can do with your bracket.

And I know that sounds threatening. But no, we're going to have a little bit of a contest. We're going to have a little bit of a contest and we'll give you the details of that and what you may win later on in this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. And you want to come hang with us. Christian Laitner. That's a very long wind up for here's the pitch. Christian Laitner is on this show in hour number three.

And as a Michigan Wolverine, I'm very excited to have him on. I'm sorry, did I just go somewhere? Just get transported back to the early 90s? I'm sorry. Let it go. I can't. I can't. But actually, very excited to have Christian Laitner on this program and very excited to.

Chris Brockman, I hope you don't mind when I say hello to you first. But it's not your birthday. It's not. They say it's your birthday, Mike Del Tufo.

Yes, it is, Rich. Hey, Del Tufo. What's up? Here we go. OK, here we go. In the words of Russell Wilson. OK, yeah.

What do we got? How old are you? I'm 58.

I feel like, oh, if the body feels. Wait, are you now the world's oldest teenager? Oh, yeah, I think so. 100 percent.

OK, 100 percent. Carol, Carol's retired. Carol is still the world's oldest teenager.

Just because I don't think he's retired either now. But happy birthday. Thank you, Rich. T.J. Jefferson, how are you, sir?

I'm great. I mean, I see Christian Laitner on the show. I'm a Shaq lyric who's the first pick me word is born and not a Christian Laitner, not Alonzo morning. You know, that's the first thing I thought of. And then, of course, you know, so the greatest college players of all time. Bomani Jones was very upset when he was here in studio and learned that of the many teams T.J. considers his own and is somewhat in varying degrees, emotionally attached to and invested in.

He was very surprised and dismayed, I think, to see Georgetown and Duke on the same page there. I mean, that's more of a no, I understand that. I mean, how do you think Christian Laitner is going to handle that piece of information when we do inform him of that? Well, we don't have to inform him.

We can't. Really. Absolutely. You know, when somebody comes on the show, we give them the full experience.

Yeah, but they don't think he'll need to know that. OK. I disagree. But that'll be later on in this program. That would be a lot of fun.

I was thinking about this. Is that the greatest shot in college history or maybe basketball history? Well, that's hard to say. The one that beat Kentucky. Yeah.

I know he didn't win the championship, but it's definitely on the list. It did cap. He was perfect that day. He literally did not miss. Yeah. 10 to 10 from the field. 10 to 10 from the foul line. Just the fact that they were able to get the inbound.

I mean, I think it's a general sense of the the past to the the inbounds past. Great throw by Grant. Right.

Just the whole setup, who he beat as well. It's just Vern's call. Right. Right. But I mean, there's been great shots in the C.A. But it's definitely there's a list. It's it's up there on the short list. Yeah. And Christian Laitner, also a member of the dream team.

There's always conversations to be had about that. Yeah, because we never really get his insight on the dream team. So I'm interested, like you like for him to be on that team. How old was it? Was he 21? And back to back national champion and player of the year in college basketball. 92, 21, averaging five points a game for that team because it's a dream team.

And just like I'm sure that's Jordan, that's magic. That's for he got pazed. He didn't play like I wouldn't say a word. He probably didn't. I wouldn't say a word.

Just sit there and learn. Right. I mean, I believe he talked about it with us a few times ago, but he said he doesn't really take the gold medal out. It's just in a room. And he just, you know, it's just there.

He has it. Well, appreciate your refreshing my memory because I didn't remember that. Lots happened. OK, let's jump into this. I don't know what's going on with the state of quarterbacks in the National Football League. I just don't anymore. And things have changed. They have flat out changed where you draft somebody. And normally when you drafted somebody, you're invested in that player to make it work come Hecker high water. And we're seeing teams just dump out of quarterbacks two, three years into their career, just gone.

See you. And we're seeing guys get opportunities. And if you don't have immense success at the very beginning of your career now in the National Football League, you're you're you're just not going to play for that team.

Very long. And I say this fully aware that I'm a jet fan saying I don't want to see the second overall pick of the 2021 draft play a single down for the New York Jets ever again. And I'm sure he feels the same way.

A million percent. There was no redeeming Mac Jones, the. 15th overall pick of the 2021 NFL draft.

Yeah, I think that's right. There was no redeeming him in New England anymore. Trey Lance, Trey Lance. Got very little opportunity in San Francisco, that's a different ball of wax where he was drafted and then given the opportunity to sit, then given the opportunity to definitely start, and then he gets hurt. And then while he's hurt, the last pick in the draft, the year he gets hurt, becomes so sensational, there's no sense in keeping him around anymore. And then Justin Fields, the 11th overall selection, they give him the treatment that you think would be good for him by letting him sit. Although I was stunned that they were going to have him sit at all in Chicago, but the offensive line was so terrible in front of him.

He eventually got in there. And then Matt Negi, his coach who drafted him, gets fired. And the general manager who drafted him gets fired. And then the coaching staff that has him in is a defensive minded coaching staff. And then they get a new offensive coordinator in there and he doesn't match very well with him. And now he's gone. Now, Trevor Lawrence is the only guy of the top 15 picks in that draft.

Who's a quarterback and is still with his team, and as a matter of fact, his backup is now the guy who was drafted last of that first round group. It's crazy. It's totally nuts. And I am not buying the fact that there was a bag of balls in return for Justin Fields is proof that the NFL thinks he's not a starting quarterback. I won't believe it. I understand you think I'm misreading the room. But I just think it is part and parcel of the way things go that you have to in the NFL.

By the. Month of May of somebody's fourth year, decide you're going to pay him. A considerable amount of money, more in the fifth year, you have to pick up a 50 year option, 25 million bucks. And a lot of teams just didn't want to do that with Justin Fields. And I don't understand why.

I'll be straight up with you. I don't understand why the Jets wouldn't have gone ahead and gotten Justin Fields as opposed to, you know, Tarod Taylor. I don't understand why they wouldn't have done something like that. I have no idea. Maybe they did. And Justin Fields didn't want to go there.

I don't know. We're here and he wanted to go to Pittsburgh. I don't know if that's it's just a convenient thing to get out there to the information community that is putting that information out there, because it helps the Bears say, hey, don't blame us for only getting a six.

That's potentially a fourth in next year's draft for him. That's where he wanted to go. And it's good for him to say, hey, don't blame me for being traded for a bag of balls. I wanted to go here.

It helps out. Because in this day and age, I don't get it anymore. I don't get anymore how somebody like Sam Howell has a year's worth of experience in him and he gets traded to Seattle. And everybody thinks, well, he can't be the starting quarterback of the future for the Seattle Seahawks.

Suddenly you're dead, you're dead to people. In our in our world, and I just think it's a quarterback development issue. The NFL is not equipped to handle. There aren't enough reps in training camp, there aren't enough reps during the playing season, and there aren't enough reps in the non-playing season.

Right now, I mean. Sam Howell was like, if you will, screwed either way. Let's just say he stays put in Washington, D.C. and click Kingsbury, wants to give him his new playbook and get him in the building and start doing X's and O's with him. Start coaching him up.

Can't. Because the collective bargaining rules say he's not allowed to be in the building for that sort of stuff until the off-season workout program begins a month from now. He goes to Seattle. They want to give him his new playbook and get him in there and start getting in the film and getting him in there and getting him in there. And start getting in the film room with him right away.

Can't do it until April. And then what you think? Geno Smith is just going to cough up much needed reps to Sam Howell. So Sam Howell is going to get ready in the middle of the season?

No. I remember last season when I was in London with Kurt Warner, who's joining us in about eight minutes time, talking to Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans prior to the game against the Ravens in London. And I asked him, how's Will Levitz doing? He shrugged his shoulders like, I don't know. How's he looking? I don't know. We don't have reps for him.

Yeah. And Sam Howells, a Seattle Seahawks, because. He performed. The way he performed with the rest of the team performing the way they performed for a coach that I thought everybody knew with a new ownership group coming in was needing to have a miracle season to stay put. And the team collectively performed so poorly, they have a second overall pick where there is a new quarterback to be had. And thus, Sam Howell got one full season of a look see in Washington before they said we're done.

Justin Fields was able to survive last year. Because the Bears thought they had more runway with him. With a third and fourth year before picking up a fifth year option and needed more help.

To build up a roster. For Justin Fields, to the point where they were going to keep him and not go with. A rookie quarterback, they didn't have to reset the clock too much on a contract because they were only two years into Justin Fields's contract and they weren't sold on Bryce Young or CJ Stroud. Interestingly enough, I'm wondering if they would have had they known who CJ Stroud was and figured they could have gotten that version of CJ Stroud, even though it's an environment and roster issue and coaching issue that clearly Houston had that maybe Chicago wouldn't have had. But let's just say, hey, Chicago, would you have taken the CJ Stroud that you could have the CJ Stroud that Houston had? Would they have flipped out Justin Fields for him knowing that? 20-20 hindsight, perhaps they would have. Perhaps not.

But this time around. If Justin Fields is. On a team that doesn't have the first overall pick, let's just say the Bears had the ninth overall selection in this draft. Would they have kept Justin Fields? Or would they have traded up to go get Caleb Williams? They would have kept Justin Fields. Yeah, you're right.

However. Carolina was so terrible with Bryce Young, the Bears have an opportunity to take Caleb Williams and thus Justin Fields becomes expendable, and it's thrown into a pool. In a quarterback market where everybody is just swapping them out now. Nobody is around to be developed anymore because they don't have the reps for him.

So they'd rather go with a veteran like Gardner Minshew while they get the young kid ready in certain ways, sitting around and watching. Or what? I don't know what the answer is anymore. Hopefully your UFL. Yeah. Is going to be something where quarterbacks can go and and and develop.

I don't see it anymore. Zach Wilson should go play in the UFL, and if you're what we think you could be, he'd dominate, win MVP, and then bam, he's now ready to be a much more viable NFL QB. Kurt Kurt is going to join us in five minutes. Without his time in the European League, in NFL Europe, the World League of American Football or whatever the hell it was called when you played it. Yeah, he would not have been ready or as ready as he was for the moment. The Rams needed him. This day and age, if you don't come out of college and show Burrow, Herbert, immediate, immediate. Results.

90% of the time, you're going to get flipped. I don't know what's going on anymore. We had Jared Goff on this show last fall. And I figured I'd ask him how how many years should somebody get?

He's a perfect guy, right? Drafted first overall by the Rams, got thrown to the Wolves in Jeff Fisher's first season after Fisher got fired, as a matter of fact. As soon as Fisher got fired, they put Jared Goff in for a first career start in Seattle, he got smoked.

I was there that day. I thought he was going to be taken off on a stretcher. He did get some time in in Los Angeles, took him to the Super Bowl and wound up getting swapped out for Matthew Stafford, and everybody thought he's done. Now look at him.

Asked him this very question. You know, it's not necessarily fair to a lot of these guys to make a decision on them within 16 or 25 games. And it certainly wasn't that way 15 years ago. You know, maybe 20 years ago, it was a decade ago where guys got three or four years, they got their rookie contract to kind of figure it out. And nowadays you're seeing guys get replaced after two, you know, even after a year and a half, you know, even even less than that, I think it injured certain things happen and, you know, it's the world we live in. It's the NFL world we live in. A lot of it's people like your fault, Rich, who tend to put a lot of, you know, undue pressure on some of the young guys. Yeah, it's unfortunate. But, you know, you wish the best for them. And, you know, the cream typically always rises to the top no matter how long it takes.

But yeah, unfortunately, some of these young guys don't get as much time as some of these guys used to get. Well, I've got to push back, Jared. You know, I have to push back.

I mean, maybe it's my profession, but I don't know if it's me. That's why that's why I'm asking you in all seriousness. So what's the number that you think would a quarterback coming out of college, whether it's drafted like you first overall or or anywhere? But what's the proper number you think to evaluate a quarterback would be? Personally, I think it's three years. I think you got to give them three years and you got to be patient. You got to make you know that the first two might not go your way and it might not be fun and they're learning and they're figuring things out. But if you're making an investment in a young guy, wait, wait three years and then make your decision.

And if it doesn't work after three years, and so be it. And Goff was in the NFC championship game for the Lions when apparently everybody thought he was sent to the Lions figuratively by the Rams and the quarterback he beat to get to the NFC championship game. Baker Mayfield, he was supposed to be just.

A reclamation project. And yet he's another first overall pick now with a 100 million dollar contract for team number four. Right. So I don't know how it goes anymore in the NFL. Used to be drafted somebody and you developed them.

And come Hecker high water, he was going to get a shot in a legitimate one. Not anymore. And everybody in our world thinks Justin Fields is toast. Honestly, it's crazy.

I don't know how to evaluate it anymore, and that's the way we're going to get maybe what five first round quarterbacks chosen in the first 15 picks again, just like twenty twenty one when four of them have already found new homes. Crazy. Let's talk about it with Kurt Warner. That's next. This is the edition of the Rich Eisen Show.

And hopefully you're ready to buckle in for the next two plus hours. Looking for an assist with your credit card, but can't get a hold of anyone. Luckily, with twenty four seven U.S. based live customer service from Discover, everyone has the option to talk to a real person any time, day or night. Yep, you heard that right. You can talk to a real human and customer service any time.

Sounds like a real game changer. If you ask us, make the right call and get the service you deserve with discover. Limitations apply. See terms at discover dot com slash credit card. Let's talk game time tickets, people. It's the fast and easy way to buy tickets for events near you. Right now, all users get one hundred dollars off when they buy a big game ticket with code Vegas one hundred game time is the ticketing app that gives you complete peace of mind with your purchase. I get to see the view from my seat before I buy with game time tickets. I also have all in prices with game time. Tickets shows you your total up front before you buy. Take the guesswork right out of buying tickets with game time. Right now, all game time users get one hundred dollars off a big game ticket with code Vegas one hundred restrictions apply. Visit game time dot com for terms. Just download the game time app and use code VEGAS one hundred for one hundred dollars off a big game ticket. Or if you're not going to the game, use code EISEN E-I-S-E-N for twenty dollars off your first purchase. Download game time today.

Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, there is a Mike Williams trending line on the old X machine right now. What do we got? It is him with the Jets is why he is trending. And the reason why he is trending with the Jets is because a Jet fan. As he's visiting with the Jets today, trying to help the process by delivering a breakfast sandwich to the Jets facility.

That is why he is trending. So I'm like, oh, what is there some news? No, it's a fan who sent me a picture of him. No, it's a fan who sent a breakfast sandwich to the facility. Yes.

Go ahead and click on Mike Williams. And that's that's what's happening. Like there's a photograph of a bag. Oh, yeah. That's amazing.

Confirming your order, confirming your order and everything like that. So that's the end of that. Anybody who loses out to Mike Williams free agency is because the fans didn't send a breakfast sandwich. Taylor Ham, two eggs and cheese. That sounds delicious. Well, oh, got to be careful.

Do that with the right player. Morristown Diner. What if somebody's staying off of meat? What if they're vegetarian? Like, no, thank you for that sandwich.

Now I'm going to sign somewhere else. I don't think you want a vegetarian on your team, do you? I don't know why. I don't know. It's just you're you're anti vegetarian is making a joke.

OK, got it. Morristown Diner. How close is that to Forum Park? Well, that's right there, right down the street. I'm sure it's delicious. I'm sure it smells great. I mean, I'm looking at it on the old.

Did the Jets actually give it to him, say, hey, this is from a fan? How about that? That's happening right now, so. This diner is not open 24 hours. No, they're not anymore. What is up with that?

There's one in Staten Island that was made famous in in the movies that was openly only open 23 hours. Yes. Remember that from Easy Money? Back on The Rich Eisen Show 844204 Rich number to dial. Joining me here are pro football Hall of Fame friend back on The Rich Eisen Show to talk about everything going on in the quarterback world. Kurt Warner, how are you, Kurt? I'm good, buddy. How are you?

I'm doing great, man. Would you have been able to make it in this NFL world? Had you not had the experience that you had in Europe and and and the Arena League? Would you have been able to survive if the the way that they view quarterbacks now?

You know, I think it's I think it's hard to say. I mean, it's hard to to know, you know, what I would have been had I, you know, made it right out of college because I was a guy that played one year in college. So I believe the Arena League and NFL Europe, as much as anything, gave me more experience. I got to, you know, experience more situational football. I got to play more football and understand what that meant to play every single snap and grow in certain areas.

No question Arena League helped me to hone some of my skills without a doubt. So I think that's a really, really tough question, because I'm assuming you're alluding to the fact that, you know, it's so hard going from college to the pros and the different style of game and not fully understanding who a lot of these quarterbacks are. You know, how much time do you get to be able to grow and become maybe the quarterback that you can be?

And I was able to do that in other leagues. So when I got back into the National Football League, I was much more seasoned as a quarterback, much more ready and confident to be able to play the NFL style of football. Then maybe some of these guys are now when when you're going from the college product, which to me is very, very different than what you're going to be asked to do at the NFL level. Well, that's my bad.

I should never have an interview subject wonder or assume what I'm what I'm alluding to. So that's my bad, Kurt. What I'm alluding to is the quarterbacks in our world getting a year or a year and a half, two years of maybe some injury marred action where it's not as consistent for them to prove themselves. And then if not, they're out because of, I guess, maybe some circumstances like in Chicago where Caleb Williams is available or a circumstance like Kenny Pickett, where Russell Wilson is viewed as a better option and out he goes. So that's what I'm alluding to is is that just doesn't appear to be much patience on the quarterback front anymore. Well, well, I mean, Rich, you know, as well as I do that, if you don't have a guy at that position playing at a high level now with with all the rule changes, you know, because you can go back a decade and a half, two decades when there was more patience with quarterbacks.

But you could win different ways. You weren't winning specifically because you were throwing the football. You know, we kind of ushered that in with the Rams and in really ninety nine two thousand before that, it was play good defense, run the football, and then the quarterback be kind of a complementary piece more than anything.

And now because of the rules, it's throw first. You've got to throw more often because the rules are more and more wide open and you depend on that position to do a lot more now than you did, you know, years ago. And so these quarterbacks come in. And if you aren't in a position to be able to do that, if you aren't in a position to be able to carry your team, it's going to be tough to be competitive with the best teams in the National Football League.

And that's why to me there's so much turnover. Now, let's look at the Packers. I mean, you know, they had the luxury of having Aaron Rogers, which was, you know, Hall of Fame quarterback to play. And Jordan loved to have two or three years to get acclimated. So when he did finally get in there as a starter, he was much more seasoned and understood what it meant to be an NFL quarterback. And, you know, I think we saw some of the fruits of of that labor this year as he played so well and especially got better down the stretch.

And so, you know, that was also a model back, you know, two decades ago as well. Is that a lot of quarterbacks come in and they sat for a year or two and then took over as opposed to being thrust right in there and expecting to carry a football team. Because, again, the nature of how they have to play and the nature of how football is played at the National Football League level, really at every level surrounds the quarterback having to play and make numerous plays with their right arm. Kurt Warner here on The Rich Eisen Show, what's your opinion of Russell Wilson's arrival in Pittsburgh and whether it's a match? And we could see the Ross of Russ cooking Seattle days.

Kurt? Well, I mean, you know, I think we have to wonder if Russ can still be that guy. I mean, that guy was was so special and such a difference maker, you know, primarily, you know, making plays off schedule as much as anything.

Can he still be that guy? But just by the nature of how Pittsburgh, I believe, is going to play with Arthur Smith taking over as the offense coordinator, they're going to want to run the football. They're going to be more Tennessee ask, I believe, because they've got the two backs and they're going to try to dominate the line of scrimmage and then play action pass off of it, which to me fits who Russell Wilson is. Russell Wilson, when he went to Denver, they tried to make him or he tried to make himself into more of a drop back quarterback, see the field, the full field and make those decisions.

And it wasn't necessarily what he did well. And so where they had the most success last year with Coach Payton was doing those sort of things, you know, limiting the reads, allowing him to make the big throws down the field when it wasn't there, create, check the ball down. That, to me, is the nature of how Pittsburgh wants to play football with bringing Arthur Smith in and coach Tomlin and want to play defense and run the football. So I think it's a really good fit for him at this point in time in the year.

Or I mean, in his career. But, you know, I will continue to say that you're still going to go up against those teams that are going to put points on the board and are going to spread it out and throw, especially in the AFC side, you know, with the Baltimore's and the Cincinnati's and the Kansas City's and the Buffalo's, where I believe the quarterback is still going to have to, you know, make a lot of plays with his right arm to continually win and to beat the best teams in the league. And we're going to get a chance to see, you know, if Russell still has that kind of magic in him.

But I do believe they're going to win a lot of games because of how they're built and how I think they want to play football based on, you know, the history of Tomlin and Smith. Well, the the conversation about how Arthur Smith likes to have the ball thrown over the middle and is that Russ's forte? Kurt, like that's I mean, of course, I believe Russ can can do those things. And, you know, more timing oriented, more limiting the reads is kind of how I would put it. You know, when you watch Russell in in Seattle, he was really good at throwing the ball anywhere and everywhere.

You know, he could make plays all over the place. But it was really dictated by a simpler type system where, you know, it was more a find your match up, pick your guy and then and then wing it. And that to me is what more of this play action stuff is. It's not having five guys go out in a in a pass pattern and you've got to pick the best concept based on the coverage. It's more, hey, let's see if we can pull the linebackers up and then you rip it right over the top of them or you find that hole that's in the middle of the field. And so that to me is more who Russell Wilson is. And I think more of who Justin Fields is at this point in time in his career. Also that they're guys that if you can limit their reads and allow them to pick one or two guys, they're much better quarterbacks than when you're asking them to read to read the entirety of the field. Kurt Warner here, my colleague from NFL Network, he's in his QB confidential room. It's where everybody to check out for sure on YouTube and wherever you can find Kurt's analysis.

It's as keen as anybody else's. And it's it's great. Makes you smarter right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Let's move to Justin Fields. What's your opinion of the narrative? And I know I'm throwing a media narrative in your direction here, Kurt. The narrative of the return that the Bears got for Justin Fields and the market that they found for Justin Fields. Is proof that the NFL writ large does not believe Justin Fields is a starting quarterback in the NFL.

How do you respond to that? Well, I mean, I understand it and I understand why people, you know, look at it that way, because, you know, when you watch him in Chicago and you watch the entirety of how he's played, definitely a playmaker. You know, we've seen him rush for over a thousand yards. We've seen him do so many different special things athletically. But when you're talking about playing the quarterback position, he struggled to show that he has the consistency to see the field and make those throws over and over again.

And that, to me, coupled with the fact that, you know, you're going to be going into year four and you're probably going to have to, you know, pick up the option and maybe pay him if you want to keep him around. I think there's a lot of elements there that say we don't know yet. I don't know if it's necessarily the NFL saying he's not or he can't be a starting quarterback in the National Football League.

I think it's simply saying we don't know yet. And a lot of that could be because of all the issues they had in Chicago. Some of that could be, you know, kind of what you alluded to earlier, is that he wasn't quite ready to do this and step into a starting role when he did. He was forced into it.

And now when you're forced into it, you're just trying to survive. You're trying to do whatever you can to be successful without being able to grow into maybe the player you can be or grow into the type of player that people can look at and go, ah, that's a franchise quarterback. He can do the things we need from our franchise quarterback. And so I believe that's what the NFL is saying is we don't know. And I believe that's what Chicago is saying, is that having the number one pick, you know, to let Justin Fields go, you really just had to ask the question, in my opinion, do you know he's a franchise quarterback or are you unsure? Does it mean you don't like him? Does it mean you haven't seen good things?

It doesn't mean you haven't seen good things, but that was the question you had to ask. If the answer was we're not sure, then to me, you have to move on because you can't go down this path again for another year, have to pay him big bucks. When you are not sure, you start over and you go, hey, we're not sure about these college guys either, but we think there's some good prospects out there.

Let's go that route. And I believe that's just what the market was saying as well. We're not sure on Justin Fields. So we're not ready to put all of our chips in to pay him and to give up whatever Chicago wanted or what some people thought he was worth, because we're not sure that he can be our franchise quarterback.

Kurt Warner here on the Rich Eisen Show. And as you just alluded to, Bears faced with the question of saying, do you think Justin Fields, are you sure that Justin Fields is a franchise quarterback in the NFL? Unfortunately for the Bears, unfortunately for Fields, the Bears got a second shot at having to answer that question because they were gifted, if you will, with the first overall pick for a second straight year. This one, they didn't earn it. It was it will. They earned it by getting Carolina to give it to them and then having Carolina handed to him for a second straight year.

So that's the way to phrase it. Caleb Williams is the one who forced this question to be asked of the Bears again. What do you see on film to confirm that the Bears made the right decision or not?

Kurt? Well, I don't think anything confirms that, Rich, you know, and I don't know if the Bears are 100 percent confident that any of these guys are going to become great at the next level. It's just it's too hard to project. Yet when you look at these guys and you look at Caleb Williams, you know, there's certain things that you see. You know, you see a skill set, you see a feel for the game. And what I mean by a feel for the game is the ability to kind of see spatially what's going on and find ways to create and make throws that not everybody can make.

You've seen, you know, a body of work in college that shows you everything you want to see. I, you know, breaking out all these guys, it's tough because I'll see one game and I'll go, I'm not sure. And I'll see another game.

I go, well, that one's better. But you don't see necessarily the consistency, whether that's the offense or whether that's the player themselves or whether that's the guys around them. So you're really trying to guess what they can be at the next level. But I've seen enough from Caleb Williams to go. I know he's got the creative things I know he's got. And again, I hate to compare, but that Mahomes in tight feel for the game, you know, where things break down or you can make certain throws, you know, off balance and on the move that that's just rare. And then I've seen games where he's played more in the pocket. He's been more patient in the pocket. He's manipulated the pocket. Instead of taking off and running and trying to be creative all the time, he gets back in the pocket and makes throws down the field.

So I've seen that aspect as well. And so when I can put all those things together and I've seen a body of work for a few years now of him doing that over and over and over again, I think you have to just go, OK, this guy's the best prospect. We've seen as much from him as we've seen from any of these guys consistently playing really good football with that special ability that, you know, again, I think he's the best prospect when you put it all together of this group. But none of that, again, guarantee that I've said this, you know, from day one when we get into this offseason is that every one of these guys is going to have to be better at the NFL level. None of them are going to be able to be the guy that I've seen on tape for the last couple of years and just be that guy going to the NFL, they're going to have to be better, better. They're going to have to be more consistent. They're going to have to see the field better.

They're going to have to make decisions quicker. So which of these guys can continue to grow and get better year in and year out? And that's what makes this position so hard to evaluate because we have no idea, right? Your guy, Tom Brady from Michigan, he is the perfect example of a quarterback that just kept getting better and better and better, where we would have seen him in college and go, well, his ceiling's not very high.

Well, his ceiling was high because he could get better and push himself to be better every single year of his career. That's what these guys are going to have to do. And none of us really know the answer to that. So then the question I have for you anyway is the second best prospect is or out of all five of the first rounders or if you want to throw Bo Nix in here as well, you know, who do you think has the best shot at being, you know, the best pro? I'm putting you on the spot right there. And I'm giving you the entire quarterback pool outside of Caleb Williams. Kurt, you are.

And again, I wish I had the answer. You know, if I was just going on last year, you know, Jayden Daniels had an unbelievable year and he showed a level of consistency, you know, he had certain games where I don't want to say he was flawless, but he was about as close to flawless as you could be. But he's had that one really special season, kind of like Joe Burrow. And so you ask yourself, OK, is that the guy we're going to get for the entirety of his NFL career or was this season more of an outlier? And so that's the hard thing. If that's what you're going to get. If what I saw on tape last year was who this guy is, I think Jayden Daniels is the guy that you take second.

Although you have some questions, right? You know, his stature, you know, can't can he handle, you know, the pounding and what it takes at the NFL level? I like Michael Pennix when I when I watched him on tape, you know, over and over again, his ability to make throws. He's going to be more of a pocket passer.

But that's what I like, because I still think the NFL game is one inside the pocket. Watching him at the combine, as I know you did, the ball coming off his hand and seeing it in person, you know, made him more impressive with what I was watching on tape. I understand Drake May and I understand what people see there and the possible upside. There was a lot of inconsistencies with Drake May watching him on tape. And you say to yourself, well, if we can just clean up his technique, maybe that's the guy because he's got the prototypical size and the big arm.

And we've seen success there. So, you know, that's the hard thing, which is I've got pluses with all these guys and I've got questions about all these guys that I don't I don't I don't know the answer to that. And, you know, I'm glad I don't have to assess it. You know, I always tell people to the other thing I don't get to do is I don't get to sit in a room with these guys and take them through their tape and ask them what they're seeing, you know, so I can understand the processing piece of this, because to me, more than anything else, I want to know that my quarterback can process, that he understands what he's seeing, that he can connect his physical to the mental. And I don't really get a full chance to assess that by simply sitting back and watching tape. And that brings me back, I guess, to full circle here. Curtis, I'm in order to become a better processor.

You've got to have live reps in which to process. And, you know, it's more than just sitting and watching film. It's experiencing it. And I'm just wondering, in this day and age, post-Brady with Mahomes being as dominant as he is, you know, and seeing all the kids come out of college and some will just burst and some will pop in the wrong way, you know, that I'm just wondering if a 28-year-old vet, you know, getting a second shot at the NFL like yourself, will ever see one win a Super Bowl again, because folks like Baker, Sam Darnold in Minnesota right now are viewed as castoffs. They're viewed, you know, as as as, I guess, sloppy seconds to be straight up, you know. And and I just don't know if those guys are going to get too many shots.

Like, I'm rooting for Sam Darnold and the Vikings. Like, let's go. Let's see.

Let's see if if this third or fourth time is a charm for him here and that he's now learned to process and I don't know if we're going to ever see somebody like you again. You know? Yeah. I mean, it's hard to say, you know. Well, you know, I'll take a couple of those examples. You talked about Baker.

Sure. And I thought Baker was a starting quarterback in Cleveland. I think he should have stayed in Cleveland. I thought the fit there was really good and he had some success.

Yeah, there were some ups and downs. He wasn't necessarily a complete player, but he's also matured and grown from that. And we see a better quarterback now than we did when he was in Cleveland, even though I thought he was a good quarterback in Cleveland with the system that they had. And so I think that was one of those unfortunate situations where, you know, he hadn't become the complete quarterback he was going to be.

Although he had done some good things. Let's go see if we can find someone that's better. And I'm not sure there's thirty two guys that are better than Baker Mayfield and Cleveland probably figured that out with Sam Darnold, Sam Darnold has got a lot of opportunities to play. And to me, he hasn't shown the consistency to process, see it and make the play that a guy like Baker did. And so, yeah, I'd love to think that, you know, a guy like like Sam, you know, his season has matured and now can step into a position and, you know, and be a starter.

But I'm still more skeptical because I've seen him play a lot of football and I've never seen that level of consistency that you need to be a franchise guy. But, you know, but to your point, I understand your point when you're thrown into tough situations and you're trying to succeed and you're just trying to make it work, even when you're not ready. Justin Fields, maybe Sam Darnold when he was with the Jets, a number of guys out there are thrown in there so fast that they're not ready to play, they're not ready to do the things that they need to do. And so when you're in survival mode, it's hard to grow, right? It's hard to grow when you're just out there and they throw you out there.

It's like just find a way to win. It's hard to grow into who you can become as a quarterback. That's why I bring up Jordan Love again. I believe he had a chance. You know, there were some flaws there looking at him coming out of college, but I think he's had a chance to grow and mature and learn and watch, you know, how you do it and learn from one of the best that's ever done it.

And so when he got his chance, he was much more seasoned and mature as a player than some of these guys that just bounced from one place to another and are just trying to survive. You're the best, Kurt. Best of Brenda. Everybody check out QB Confidential, QBConfidential.com or just plug in QB Confidential on YouTube and hit the subscribe button. Thanks again, Kurt. You're the best. All right, buddy.

Talk to you soon. You got it at Pro Football Hall of Famer at Kurt Warner at Kurt 13 Warner. That's the way you follow him right there. Let's take a break. When we come back, we will update the free agency tracker that needs updating, believe it or not. Coming up. Make sure you click on the links that are in there, too. Oh, absolutely. I can't wait.

I'm excited. Find out more by searching the Stacking Benjamins podcast wherever you listen. Welcome to Talkville, the Ultimate Smallville rewatch podcast. Title Transference aired October 27, 2004. Director James Marshall, writers Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer. I really like this episode and I'm surprised that you don't like it as much as you thought you did.

I actually respect your opinion more than I respect my own in general. When you say things are good and I check them out, they are. Jump in now or catch up on any of the past seasons of Talkville on YouTube or wherever you listen. Anthony Anderson, he's over there with TJ right now. He told a story. We're back live on the air, by the way. Put the photograph up. Yeah, we're back. Put the photograph up.

Anthony, is he still wearing his mic? OK, just real quick. Tell the story.

Can you tell the story real fast? With that photo. So we're in Monaco, the international television. And Prince Albert.

Yeah. And Prince Albert is is I'm friendly with Prince Albert. So when you're out when you're out the castle, when you're at the palace. Yeah, you're not allowed to take pictures. And so we're taking pictures and they're like, they come stop me. And I was like, no, Prince Albert said we can take I can take pictures.

And they shrink away. And so I go to every black person there. And you saw the group of his 50 cent myself, TJ.

Yeah. So I was like, hey, guys, we're going to take a black picture at the palace. And they were like, what?

I said, we're going to take a black picture at the palace. And they're like, OK. And they're like, when? I was like, you'll know when. So ten, five or ten minutes later, people in various conversations. I was like, OK, it's time to take the picture. So I just give the call.

Who do you? And people are mid conversations in it. Oh, I'll be right back. I got to go take a picture. So we all gather around the steps in the back of the picture. One was in the middle of getting someone's phone number, too. Yeah. So we're in the middle. And we just we go in the back and, you know, we take a picture.

Jesse Smollett, 50 Cent, myself, my wife, T.J., T.J. Jefferson, T.J., of the Rich Eisen Show. Yeah. From from Monaco to El Segundo. That's one of our favorite clips right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call click Grainger dot com or just stop by. I was hanging out yesterday, just chilling out at home. And I I felt I felt something. I thought to myself, is that an earthquake? Oh, did you feel the ground shake a little bit yesterday? You didn't know because I didn't I had a check. It wasn't an earthquake. No, no, it was a it was a free agent signing by the Dallas Cowboys.

This guy. I knew it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

It was I knew it. In fact, Rico Daddle with the Rico agreeing to terms. Right. You guys very, very, very, very, very, very.

His agents tweet a very nice meme that they have there. Look at that. Rico.

Yeah, that's right. Rico Daddle staying in Dallas about the moves we're making. So move over, Deuce Vaughn. There's company in the running back room again. I'm saying you guys, it's Rico Daddle.

So now I figured any time the Cowboys sign a free agent, we should treat it. Mike, like it's the old Jerry Lewis telethon. Remember that? We checked the board board. They played the timpani drums and Ed Ed McMahon would announce, you know, what the new total was and Jerry Lewis would get emotional.

And it was I remember these moments as a kid, right, watching on Channel five back in New York City. Right. All right. So so every single time we have to update the Dallas Cowboys free agency tracker on NFL dot com. Timpani hit it. There it is. There it is.

Rico Daddle add him to the list of Eric Hendricks, Jordan Lewis and the original free agent moved by the Dallas Cowboys in twenty twenty four, resigning their long snapper, Trent. See, you know what that looks like to me. So it's like Super Bowl. That's a nice chunk of the pie. There you go. Look, there it is now four strong.

You can't spell Super Bowl without Trent. Dude, you are only you are only I'll do the math here. You are only 10 players away from a seven on seven. We run seven on seven free ages.

Whatever our team was so good last year, we don't need a bunch of free. Now that's all in right there. All in my all in my ass. That's right.

There you go. That's the that's the update on what's going on with the Dallas Cowboys updated fantasy rankings were coming up on a week into the new league year. Rico Daddle is the eighty seventh running back. It's far too far too low. OK, hey, listen, all the rages you guys are going to feel bad when we draft the Marius Mims out of Georgia in the first round.

What did I say that loud? You think he's going to be available? Whoops, I guess he is a twenty fourth overall.

He's never given up a sack. He's very large playing for the old Daniel Jeremiah's mock draft. He had the Green Bay Packers having him at twenty five, which means he doesn't think the Cowboys are going with a Marius Mims being on the board. He's got the Packers replacing David Bach to Ari with with Mims.

That's fun. Well, I would never say D.J. was wrong. By the way, Daniel Jeremiah's latest mock draft. He said he chose chaos.

He's not wrong. We'll see how Earth responds to that. Yeah, we'll get that an hour or two. But at any rate, it was a big moment for the Dallas Cowboys. Yeah, man, put some respect on Rico. Think about his family. Think about all the hard work right now. He's the bell cow to get to this point, all the training, all the all the parties that he missed out on.

Really trying to come by the way. No, hey, listen, he had he had some giddy up on him when when Tony Pollard, he did, couldn't bring the heat last year. And like I said, when when Balaque Corum's were in the store, now you're talking here and you're not going to. My tune will change, pal. I can name that tune in one note.

I'm not going to use a 70s phrase from TV. Oh, yeah, we're going old school. Richard Preacher Lawson coming up in studio preacher.

Oh, yeah, I'm with you. Preacher Lawson, you want you want Blake Corum. I'll take him. Reminds me of a guy. He wore number 22. Name was Emmett.

Are you scared out of here, man? Come on now. I love Blake Corum. But to say he reminds you of Emmett, he's not that good, obviously. Yet it's bigger. Emmett's bigger.

He puts a star in his helmet. He might those powers might transfer. Dude, Blake Blake Corum, I can feel it. You would be you would be lucky. You would be lucky to have Blake Corum. I'll take him. But you're not going to get him because unless you take him twenty fourth overall, you're not going to get him, bro. Blake Corum is not going in the first round.

I know that early second, maybe. But first of all, can he beat out Rico? That's the question. Oh, yeah. You know what he can do?

Beat out Rico. How excuse me. Exactly. Excuse me.

I know you're trying to slander me back right now. I mean, I like Blake, you know, that what we're doing is we're just covering a story of free agency, which is the Dallas Cowboys owner at the Senior Bowl in January saying they were going all in. And the sense of all in is four guys in free agency through the first week.

And a re redoing of a signing bonus into a roster bonus into a signing bonus to save five million dollars of DAX contract, that's not that's not all answer. Look, to quote the quote fame rapper cannabis is about who strikes hardest. Now strikes first. OK, so we'll see. It ain't over yet, is it?

Oh, it's definitely not. It's definitely not just this hour is. Hey, everybody, this is Dan Bespress, host of Fantasy NBA. Today, a daily fantasy basketball podcast. We cover every box score from every game every day. Plus bonus shows on Bilo opportunities, players to stash, schedule analysis and really anything you could need to smash your league into deliciously tiny pieces. Catch the Fantasy NBA Today podcast, be part of the Believe Network on YouTube or wherever you listen.