Surprise Lamar Contenders (Hour 3)

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From ZQ certified Merino wool, to a bouncy midsole made from sweet foam, the world's first carbon-negative EVA material made from sugarcane. Out at number three of our radio program, that's right, it is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. I was reading an article, and it said that Jeremy Fowler of ESPN said, and then when you talk about good fits, discussing possible destinations for Lamar Jackson, that he asked some executives around the league what teams would make sense, and then you get some wildcards like Tennessee with the Titans, or New England with the Patriots, teams like that who like to run the ball, you never know. He also did, and this is a team that I threw out over a year ago, he did throw out that one executive said, how about the Minnesota Vikings as well.

Hickey, like right now, teams going back to last Wednesday were allowed to talk to Lamar Jackson. We've heard nothing on that front of encouraging news, positive news, in terms of teams are actually starting to show their interests. What is starting to become clear here, and I think it became clear the day right where he got the non-exclusive franchise tag, is that if there's ever going to be him leaving, and him getting traded for the two first round picks and signing a deal with someone else, this is going to be a slow, and I mean a very slow, and a drawn out long process where, like I just wonder if another QB was available, and he was willing to budge on the guarantees, you gotta think that someone else would come calling. I really wonder, even though it hasn't been reported publicly, and if you're Lamar, I think you would want it out there if teams have actually come calling, and teams actually had discussions with you, because then you leak that out, and then maybe another two, three, four teams, whatever it is, start to come call, and then you really start to get some negotiations going on. But the fact that we've heard nothing here, I don't want to say it's surprising, because you look at it in realistic terms, when you saw the day it came out that he had the non-exclusive franchise tag, we had what, four or five teams it was, that reports were, oh they're not even going to show any interest, they're not expected to show interest in Lamar Jackson, it seems like, maybe, I don't want to say, yeah, it is a dead period right now, unfortunately. It's kind of like a stall mate, where Lamar and the Ravens aren't progressing, no other teams really come calling, and it kind of feels as if, Hickey, we may have to wait until a month from now, leading into that draft, and it wouldn't surprise me if leading into that draft, there's a report from a Schefter, or a Rappaport, or a Pelissero, Glazer, whoever your NFL insider is, that may say, okay, look for this team, if they don't get a quarterback in the first round, they could be expected to have at least a conversation bare minimum with Lamar Jackson. There are, I think, three things working against Lamar news right now in the moment. One, you just mentioned, I think the draft, a lot of teams are going to look at the price tag of not only trading for Lamar, but also giving him the big time deal, if you're going to look at quarterbacks and say, okay, if there's a guy, like, for whatever reason, let's say Anthony Richardson or Will Levitz is a guy that you fall in love with if you're a team later on in the draft, you say, okay, well give up a first and a second and go get that guy, but at least we don't have to give him the big time money, whereas maybe that's why you prioritize going for someone in the draft compared to going for Lamar Jackson, we got to both pay the price of giving up draft picks and also pay the price of paying him. Also, you mentioned before about leaks. This is where I think Lamar Jackson not having an agent really hurts information, because who's the one doing all the leaking?

It's usually the agents. So if teams, like teams could be calling, but if you're the Ravens and it doesn't make you look good, I don't think Lamar Jackson's out there working the phones and giving Adam Schefter, whatever NFL inside you want to name information, because anything we've heard about Lamar Jackson and the Ravens contract wise has only come from the Ravens side, right? It's never come from anywhere with Lamar. So the only time we hear anything from Lamar Jackson is on Twitter when he's either clapping back at people that are saying something or setting the record straight or is tweeting out his own health information. Otherwise, there's no leaks coming out from Lamar Jackson's camp that are beneficial to him, and so if there are teams interested, let's just say out of team we're too cold right now. I have no idea.

Let's just say that's possibly the case. I don't think we'd hear about it because I don't think Lamar's the one putting it out there. And the third thing is, I don't think the Ravens will match a deal, but what if most teams are thinking, maybe the words out there internally that the Ravens are going to match whatever offer that a team throws out there. Why do their dirty work? Right, why do their contract work for them?

So screw them, I'm only going to get interested. Well, the leaks would only come, I think, in this case from Lamar if a team is having a conversation with him, because let's just say, I'll throw out a random team. This is not a team that has done this yet to our knowledge. Let's just say your Colts ended up talking to Lamar Jackson.

Why would they leak it out? Because if you do, maybe it makes another team to say, oh, I thought because I think collusion's going on, whether they're working all together or they're all, and I say this in air quotes, operating on their own. But if one team, like let's say Atlanta, hears that the Colts are talking, maybe that makes them change their mind. And the other part is not that you really need to care about your current quarterback room for any of these teams.

The Colts, for example, who's going to get mad? Sam Ellinger? Go pound sand, go take a hike. Show some respect for Gardner Minshew, okay? Come on. Gardner Minshew, sorry, nice mustache.

Really don't care if that mustache is covering a frown, let's just say. If you get a little annoyed and caught up in your feelings if the team pursues Lamar Jackson, but it's not really the quarterback room that you're looking to disturb or that you would disturb, because who cares? If you have a team like the Colts, let's just say, that get wind, that, I don't know, Ballard or Ersay placed a phone call to Lamar Jackson to just see what it would cost.

You know now, and you saw it with the Jets, right? We live in an era where younger players get excited and for a while be like, I don't say anything that's going to distract the team. Now there's a lot of recruiting or just even if they're fun tweets that get sent out and you don't want to maybe get the excitement level up of a Jonathan Taylor, of a Michael Pittman. Maybe Darius Leonard sends out a few tweets. I don't think Quinn and Nelson are going to be doing any tweeting, but you get the point where you start to make a push and then you don't get the guy or you're not willing to spend the money.

Then it becomes, oh, what a major letdown. We're just stuck with Sam Ellinger and Gardner Minshew. And because again, Lamar doesn't have an agent, we've never seen him leak anything before. So I think he's going to start now saying, oh, I've gotten or him tweeting, I've gotten calls from the Colts or whoever.

I genuinely don't think a team has called yet. I think we're too early in the process where all these teams, and you see this right in labor negotiations all the time, like with players. I know it's different from an ownership standpoint and when you have a team, but how many times do you go through CBA deals where players would go, oh, we're all going to fight together.

And then someone starts missing paychecks and it's okay. Now we're going to give up this and give up that. And then the union is not really as strong. With all these teams right now, I do think most of them are working together. We don't want to see a fully guaranteed deal issue. So we're not going to have the conversations now, but once a team misses out on a QB in the draft, then I do think that changes things.

And I think it could change things rather quickly now. Will the Ravens match? That I don't know. The Ravens don't want to give them a fully guaranteed deal. I don't know if a fully guaranteed deal is ever going to be given to Lamar Jackson, but it would be stupid of the Ravens. I think if let's say he ends up getting $200 million fully guaranteed, if they go, oh yeah, we're not going to match it now.

That to me doesn't make sense. I think you match it. The thing about the Ravens, I get their apprehension. The toughest part is just the backup, like the option, the plan B of where you go from here after Lamar Jackson is so, so bad.

You're trying to win now. You have a roster ready to win now. You're not going to get drafted quarterback this year. You probably still won't be bad enough to be in the top two or three next year. Well that's the thing. They're very similar to the Steelers, where even when they have a down year, they're still a competitive football team.

7, 8, 9. It's almost like to a detriment in a way because they can't just reset and tank. It's like they're almost too good sometimes for their own benefit. Like right now you're 22. We've seen teams, if you're the Ravens, a few years ago, the Bears be in that similar spot at like 2021, I think they were when they moved up to 11 to go get Justin Fields.

So you could take a jump. Like we've seen the Chiefs move up to go get Mahomes. We've seen the Eagles move up twice to go get at the time Carson Wentz. We've seen the Bills move up to go get Josh Allen.

So we've seen teams do that. But this year, first off, I don't think Anthony Richardson's fallen 2-10. But is that really the guy that you're going to go get where, oh yeah, by the way, if you get rid of Lamar, people are going to want to see immediate success. And Anthony Richardson, from everything that I read and everything that you kind of see, he may not even play for two years.

And if you rush that process, you could potentially ruin him early on with how raw of a talent he is. And if that's a quarterback you're going to go after, you know me, if you want to go after Bryce Young or CJ Strada, if there's a Trevor Lawrence in this draft, it's one thing. But if you're going to go after a guy like Anthony Richardson or Will Levis, which is basically the same style of quarterback Lamar Jackson is, you're going to trade Lamar to then hope, pray that those quarterbacks get to a level Lamar was at. It just doesn't make any sense.

Well, that's what I think is stupid right now. So we threw out your team in the Colts. I'll throw out the Raiders as well. Both of those teams need a quarterback. On both of those, I know the Raiders just got Jimmy G. So if you want to, I guess if you're the Raiders, right, they're out of the conversation for Lamar Jackson. But if you want to tell me the Raiders go draft Anthony Richardson because you just signed Jimmy G, okay.

But you look at a team like your team in the Colts that really have no option at the quarterback position. I'm not saying right now you have to be on the phone with Lamar Jackson. But barring a crazy shakeup where CJ Stroud or Bryce Young is somehow available at four.

So that's why you could wait right now since no one else is moving. But let's just say in three weeks you hear before the draft, all right, give me a random team. Everybody is going to give a fully guaranteed deal to Lamar Jackson. They're going to offer him five years, $230 million fully guaranteed. They're going to give the Watson contract.

If you're the Colts, like now you don't have to do that. But if that happens in two, three weeks, it would really be a disservice to your fan base to not offer that because the odds of Young or CJ Stroud being available at four are practically zero now. Like either Young or CJ Stroud are going to be the first pick in the draft and then the other one is going to be the second pick in the draft to the Texans. So if that happens where all it takes is one, one team gets in, I think it does expedite the domino falling effect here quicker just because a team like the Colts, like Kiki, that's your team. If you're telling me you got to run the risk of getting Anthony Richardson or Will Levis when you could have that known commodity right now in a Lamar Jackson, that makes sense to me. I mean, you're talking about those two quarterbacks. No, it does not make sense because like I said, they're both projects and you're both at that point with their careers hope that they can get to the level Lamar Jackson's at. But again, I think there is real and right concern about giving Lamar Jackson that much money when he can't stay in the field recently. I think that's absolutely a fair reason to show some pause and maybe not be interested. But who even knows what Anthony Richardson or Will Levis actually get on the field and then what they're going to look like.

At least I know. I'm not saying I'm preferring Richardson over Lamar. I'm just saying in general I get why teams are hesitant. But even if there's concern, I'm your team in the Colts. I'm looking at this as even if this guy can't consistently stay healthy, we at least know what he could be on the field.

I run that risk. I run that risk in the last two years, his season ending with injury, just because of what the upside is and what he's shown in the league before. Richardson and Levis, I don't even know if they're going to be good pro quarterbacks. At least I know bare minimum, Lamar Jackson is a good player. Just can he stay healthy at the end of the year and that's an unknown. Big question. It is a big question. What's the point of paying Lamar Jackson $45 million a year if he's going to be on the sideline in December and January?

That doesn't look good either. But right now, let me ask you this. Would you rather take the risk of Lamar Jackson potentially being an injury-prone quarterback or would you rather draft Anthony Richardson or Will Levis with a fourth overall pick? Which one would you rather do? It's that tough a decision, really?

I think this is easy peasy. Go get Lamar. I would probably say neither, but I guess in this situation, Lamar Jackson. But I don't feel great about either. How do you not feel great about Lamar? Because the health is a real concern and the playoff play or lack thereof production is also a big time concern. You're paying a guy who's never played well in the playoffs. Big time concern. You're paying a guy the last two years in the biggest games of the season has not been on the field and healthy. Big time concern. There's a real risk here with Lamar Jackson.

It could work out. He could be healthy and he could be great. But it's also too, you got to look at the corn of just like there's a reason why the Ravens right now are not locking up Lamar Jackson or not doing everything possible to make sure he can't leave the building. Like there are real questions about if you truly feel good about him being your franchise quarterback. I would take that risk if I'm a team like Indianapolis. A team that the last few years has had basically nothing at the quarterback position. Ever since Andrew Luck has left the building, their best quarterback has been Philip Rivers and you knew that was going to be a one and done scenario.

I think this is the easiest. For example, a team like the Colts should be on the phone with Lamar right now. A team like the Falcons should be on the phone with Lamar right now.

Tennessee, you really going to run back Ryan Tanner? Like give me a break. And you know what?

That foul report, I know we got to take a break. Where he just said some executive said awesome wildcards could be the Vikings. I've made that clear how I think Minnesota should go do it.

Even a team like New England. You look at my team, I know they have Mac Jones. Go trade Mac Jones.

You can get back whatever you want. I would take that risk of Lamar not being helped at the end of the year just because of what the upside is of a Lamar Jackson. And I know people are going to say, oh the playoffs, the playoffs, the playoffs. Not everyone's Super Bowl their first four or five years in the league. And that to me is something that the guy didn't play well the first three, four years of the playoffs and it's like, oh, he can't win a playoff game. I don't know for sure how great he could be in the postseason. But I'm not ready to say that he can't win a Super Bowl because I do believe Lamar can win a Super Bowl one day.

I think the biggest concern is the health. But once again, if I don't have a quarterback, trying to find that quarterback with other unknowns doesn't really make sense to me. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll do the QB Carousel next.

Lorenzo Neal will join us. We'll talk a little bit about the Los Angeles Chargers. The Los Angeles Chargers are designed for a level of coziness that makes you feel like you can do anything. You might even forget you're wearing them. And their shoes are so stylish, they go perfectly with a wear whatever I want attitude. Allbirds is all about loving Mother Nature too, because no one wants to leave a bad footprint. Each shoe is carefully crafted from natural materials that tread lightly on our planet.

From the new certified Merino wool to a bouncy midsole made from sweet film, the world's first carbon negative EVA material made from sugar cane. So get comfortable in your shoes. Get to know the wool runners, pipers and loungers at Allbirds.com.

That's A-L-L-B-I-R-D-S.com. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. The Super Bowl is over, but the NFL quarterback carousel is just beginning. You could ask yourself a question.

Do I feel lucky? What does the future hold for all 32 NFL teams at the QB position? Now I'm going to give you an opportunity to spin this wheel right here. Let's spin the wheel and find out which teams we hit today. Los Angeles Chargers.

And we welcome in one of our favorites, Lorenzo Neal, the two-time first-team All-Pro fullback who joins us right now. Lorenzo, we all know the goal for the Chargers for the start of the season was to make the playoffs. So they make the playoffs, so they just had that devastating defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars. How do you look back on the Chargers' season from a year ago?

Yeah, I think it was a successful failure. Zach, thanks for having me on the show, first of all. But when you look at their season and you think about some of the situations that they were in and some of the things that they were not able to overcome, it makes you say, okay, how can this team better itself? And I think that's why you think that's why the head coach went out and said, I'm going to get an analytics guy that's going to tell me what do I do on these fourth-down situations. I've got to remove myself from the game because sometimes when the game's going on and trying to make these decisions, it costs the Chargers and it costs them dearly I think this year. How do you recover from that mentally as a player? Because they were up so big, you're probably thinking, okay, you're going to the second round and then boom, it smacks you right in the face and you don't even walk out with the victory and your season ends.

Yeah, it's not the crash that killed you, it's the sudden stop. So I think mentally this team is going through some things and guys are looking around in that locker room and that's why you've seen the moves that the organization did, you know, by bringing in a new offensive coordinator, you brought in a guy that's with the Dallas Cowboys, you said, let's try to get this offense even more prolific. Let's go do other things to try to strengthen this team because it's hard for guys to overcome, especially when they look around and when it's not a self-inflicted wound, but it comes from sometimes a coach's decision, that's really tough for guys to get over, but you have to because it's a national football league. How do you view Justin Herbert as a quarterback, Lorenzo Neal? I think Justin Herbert is one of the better quarterbacks in this league. Look, Mahomes, let's look at Mahomes, what he can do. Mahomes, you know, he's magic in the bag.

We watched this guy, Superman, without the cape, even with the half leg, he was able to win a Super Bowl. Mahomes, and then you look at, I think Cincinnati, when you think about what that quarterback and the way that he plays and how he handles the game, Herbert, to me, he's, I would say, five, maybe some would even question four. I think that there's not a lot of quarterbacks that are better than Justin Herbert. He's got a big arm, he's mobile, he can get in and out of, he can get out of trouble.

The guy, he has a rocket of the arm. I like what he does in the pocket, so Justin Herbert, to me, is a game changer. He is an elite quarterback, and he's definitely on a short list.

He's not the best, but I guarantee he's in that top five to me. Yeah, the toughest part, and I love Herbert, but you're in a division with Patrick Mahomes, you just talked about Joe Burrow, you're in the same conference as the Cincinnati Bengals. You know us, we're all about, can you win the Super Bowl or not?

I think Herbert can win a Super Bowl, but then you look at the conference and the division, it's like, man, how far can this guy really take the Chargers? Yeah, and you know what, the biggest thing for me, the Chargers, Chargers gotta get better consistently in between the tackles. You know what you have in Joey Bose, and you know what you have in Khalil Mack, those guys are, you know, they're getting a little older, we understand in injuries, but you gotta win in the trenches. Those guys are those boy dogs that are on third down and third and long, third and five or more, you can pin their ears back and they go after the quarterback because you gotta pick which one you're gonna double team. They have to do a better job on first and second down, getting guys in third and long.

That's what this team needs to do, they need to be more physical against the run, they gotta be stouter in the run, and I think that's what this organization is going to try to do in the draft and the free agency, you see them trying to address that. What do you think ends up happening with Austin Eckler, because he's allowed to speak to other teams right now and try to seek a trade? Yeah, look around the league and everyone's talking about, okay, they're gonna bring in, you know, you think about a team that's played very, very, very well running back, you know, when you talk about the Tennessee Titans, Derrick Henry, they're saying, well, Derrick Henry might come there, but when you lose Austin Eckler, using a guy who's a chain mover, this guy can catch the ball out of the backfield, he brings you a dimension that Derrick Henry doesn't in the passing game. I like Derrick Henry, but are you gonna be more expensive, and how much more thread does Derrick Henry have on his? When you look at Austin Eckler, only 26 years old, 27 years old, the guy still has some thread, and he's a big help to the quarterback, huge for the quarterback.

It would be a massive mistake if they can't find the way to keep him this year. I know for running backs, right, the shelf life is, it goes very quickly, but there's not a lot of wear and tear in that body for Austin Eckler. It really isn't, that's a great point, Zach, because you look at Austin Eckler, the way that he plays, he plays, he's a perimeter type of running back.

They give him the ball outside zone, they give him in the screen game, they pass the ball to him, they throw the ball. Derrick Henry's a guy that runs in between the tackles, makes a lot of his live in between there. So you're talking about Austin Eckler, Derrick Henry, and you just look at the offense that the Chargers have. Derrick Henry, he would fit it because now you've got a new type of offensive coordinator, but you've got to realize, Austin Eckler, in the passing game, I don't think there's two other running backs out there that are better passer-exception receivers out of the backfield. Of course, McCaffrey was pretty good, one of those guys is probably better, but Austin Eckler is on a very, very short leash. It would be too bad if the Chargers can't get this thing to work. And if you look at probably the three most important players to the success of the Chargers, it's Herbert, it's Bosa, and I know some could say Derwin James, but Austin Eckler, to me, is in the top three. I'm absolutely with you.

You're a smart man, Zach. 39 touchdowns in the last two years. I mean, come on, look what the guy's doing for this team as far as touchdown machine.

So you look at it, yes, there are some guys that you can't replace. I get it, but Austin Eckler is the offensive guy, to me, that's been consistent. Keenan, you know I had some injuries. Keenan and I was a good receiver, love the guy, he's a possession receiver, but to me, like you said, Herbert needs Austin Eckler because he is that security blanket and that safety blanket that Justin Herbert needs. Were you surprised that Keenan Allen's going to be back with the team? I know how important he is to their success as well, but the feel going into free agency was that they probably were going to move him.

I thought they were, I was a little surprised, I thought they were, but I see that he restructured his contract. But Keenan is a chain mover. You look at this guy, what he is, he's a possession receiver, the guy knows how to find, he knows how to get open, so I understand the Chargers looking at the leadership and also just his ability on those third downs on third and five or third and ten when you need it, he knows where to go, and Justin Herbert loves Keenan when it comes to being that guy on third down. But I did think the Chargers was going in a new direction because they say, you know what, you've got to be healthy, you can't make the club in the tub, and Austin Eckler, unfortunately, had a lot of injuries that he's been in the tub.

Lorenzo Neal here with us. Brandon Staley, your views of him as a head football coach after this year or what? Yes, Brandon Staley, when you look at Staley as a head coach, the guy, one thing you know, he's riverboat.

He's not shy, he's going to go for it. I thought we talked about it earlier. You remember the game against Cleveland. You're winning the game, you've got a minute something left, you punt the ball, don't leave it up to your defense, you punt it deep, need the field goal to beat you, and they decide to go for it on their own 47. That play right there, if you lose that game, unfortunately the field goal kicker from the Cleveland Browns missed the field goal, but that game right there, after that game you shook your head and you said, okay, coach, you got lucky there, you should have punted the ball and leave that to your defense to give them a short field. Only thing they needed to get was 20 yards to get a field goal.

You should have lost that ball game. Talking to Lorenzo Neal, do you think it was the right decision to bring him back as the head coach, Brandon Staley? I think so, and that's why you took some of the responsibility off his chest. You took some of the things out of his hands, because Staley always wants to say, I want control, and he's a good man. I met the guy as a coach, he's a good coach. I think you're going to see him have more success because he's going to delegate more opportunities to other coaches to stand up and do the things they need to do. He can't make all these decisions as a head coach. It's too much.

Sometimes you've got to lighten your plate in order to be successful. The only thing that's tough for me is that Sean Payton was available. I know the Chargers probably weren't interested, but he was definitely interested in them, and then you let him go to a team inside your division in Denver.

Yeah, and I totally understand your point of view there. I mean, look at Sean Payton, what he's done to this league and how he is as a coach and a motivator, and he's a leader of men. And Staley, though, we've got to look at you. You brought this guy in, he won a Super Bowl with the Rams, so you look at it and say, God, who do you want? We have won, and yes, it's a huge slide. It's not even close to what Sean Payton has done in this league and more gravitas, and he walks in that locker room and he has instant credibility.

So without a doubt, we understand the magnitude. You're talking about a Sean Payton, a revolutionary type of coach. So yes, that was tough that they didn't go after him, but I think that Staley is going to get it together, and I'm telling you right now, this is a year without a doubt that the Chargers have to go to the Super Bowl. They have to get in the playoffs, and they just can't glimp in. They have to get in the playoffs. If not, I think Staley will be the last year. I've got to go win some playoff games this year.

They've got to at least win one. I'm with you. I'm with you. We're in the same church, same pew.

I'll be sitting on your lap. I'm with you there. Lorenzo, before we let you run, we know the Chiefs are the best team in the division. I would still say the Chargers are two. How do you differentiate the Raiders and the Broncos right now in terms of who you believe in more? Yeah, I think those two guys that we talk about, when you look at the NFL, it's a quarterback-driven league. Zach, it's a quarterback-driven league.

You think about those two quarterbacks. You have a guy that's won a Super Bowl and probably should have won another one in Russell. Russell this year was not Superman without the Cape. Russell Wilson struggled, and he struggled awful. It was a situation where I think where Russell Wilson, in Seattle, he had so much gravity and had so much leeway, he could do what he wanted to do, and he had the Legion of Doom, the Legion of Boom, and now you don't have that. And so Russell Wilson is going to have to re-find his game, and he's gotten a little older, he's gotten a little slower, he can't get out of harm's way.

They're going to have to protect Russell Wilson. But I'm telling you, the biggest thing with me, I'm going to take Denver because, like you alluded to, the coach. I trust the coach.

All things being equal, Zach, remember this, all things being equal. Players make plays, but coaches make decisions that determine outcomes of game. So I'll put a lot on coaches, and I think that the Denver Broncos have a better coach. I know the easy answer is winning, how you win back over a locker room, but I'll be fascinated, Lorenzo Neal, to see how Russell Wilson wins back over that locker room in Denver, and how McDaniels, after getting rid of Waller and Carr, wins back over that locker room in Las Vegas. Yeah, both of these organizations have an uphill battle because, you're right, Russell Wilson has the quarterback, that's your leader of the team, and you lost a lot of gravitas, and a lot of guys didn't want you there, and you're like, hey, let's cook. All you would do is be positive, let's cook, and the team was in a dire state of winning, needing to win, and you're just like, let's cook.

And I know you're trying to be positive, but a lot of people took that in a negative. They wanted to see a guy be more, not humble necessarily, but more sad, and you look at the Raiders. Josh McDaniels really haven't won anywhere. So it's going to be interesting just to see what he can do with this team, because a year before, the Raiders were in the playoffs. So now you go out and you bring in a Jimmy G, who everyone wanted out of San Francisco, not that Jimmy's not a good quarterback, he's a good quarterback, not a great quarterback. He's a game manager, not a game changer. I don't think that either one of these quarterbacks right now are game changers.

When you talk about game changers, you know, Patrick Mahomes, when you look at Herbert, you look around the league, Josh Allen, those guys are game changers, and some of these other quarterbacks, when you're talking about Russell Wilson now, and you're talking about Jimmy G, they're just game managers. Lorenzo Neal, thanks so much. I always appreciate you joining us. You're the best, Zach. Thank you. There's Lorenzo Neal joining us on the Zach Gilb show on CBS Sports Radio.

855-212-4CBS. Let me just quickly take Lee in Cincinnati. Next up on CBS Sports Radio. Lee, what's happening?

Not much, Zach. I got a question for you, though. We were talking about the NCAA bench bracket.

Yes. You're talking about all the upsets and everything. And let's face it, that's one of the reasons why we watch. That's one of the main reasons we watch the upsets. Do you think there's too many upsets happening? I guess. Is it making it where the upsets aren't as special?

Because we've never had a 16-meter one before, and I've had it happen twice in the last three years. I would say, so it's a fair question, and I think, Lee, the parody is good for college basketball. And when I watch the NCAA tournament, I just want to be entertained. And in the moment on Friday night when we're on the air, I'm genuinely losing my mind in elation when Fairleigh Dickinson is taken down Purdue. Or when Princeton is finding a way to beat Arizona. Because in the aftermath, we all say, oh, like, all right, the parody of it is a good three years in a row, a 15 beats a two, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Who's picking these upsets?

We're not expecting these things to happen. So I still do believe that there is genuine shock, and it's not a bad thing for college basketball. And I know there's a lot of lazy radio hosts that end up saying, oh, yeah, Fairleigh Dickinson winning is great, but then in the second round, like, what do they do?

And things like that. We see now, right, teams get on these runs, whether it's VCU, George Mason, St. Peter's a year ago, go to the Elite Eight and they lose to UNC, and not every game is going to be unbelievable. But you now look at the 16 teams remaining. Alabama, San Diego State, Creighton, Princeton, Florida Atlantic, Tennessee, Kansas, Michigan State, Houston, Miami, Xavier, Texas, Arkansas, UConn, Gonzaga, UCLA.

That's pretty damn good final 16 teams to me. Where if you have a problem with it, well, if you're Kansas, don't lose to Arkansas. I know Arkansas is not a Cinderella team. If you're Purdue, know how to score a few points in the final five minutes of a game. If you're Arizona, know how to utilize your size up against Princeton. So if you don't find the way to get the job done, I'm not going to sit here and say, oh, it's bad for college basketball. Go be better. Because those teams like Princeton and Fairleigh Dickinson on paper shouldn't be able to match up with Purdue and Arizona.

And that's what makes the NCAA tournament so much fun for me is that it's truly so unpredictable. There's nothing better than feeling comfortable in your own shoes, and that doesn't mean flopping down on the couch with bunny slippers. Maybe you're a parent raising a little rock star or a techno man working from anywhere and jumping from one thing to the next. Whoever you are, all bird wants you to be comfortable in your actual shoes, too. Their wool runners, pipers and loungers are designed for a level of coziness that makes you feel like you can do anything. You might even forget you're wearing them. And their shoes are so stylish, they go perfectly with a wear whatever I want attitude. Allbirds is all about loving Mother Nature, too, because no one wants to leave a bad footprint. Each shoe is carefully crafted from natural materials that tread lightly on our planet.

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It's great. You know, our guys were disappointed about the way they played Friday, so we were really ready to show that this is Miami basketball. We're very hard to guard. Is he the most likable coach remaining in this tournament, Hickey?

Ooh, um, I don't know. Muscleman's like, that's the thing. There's really no villains. Dusty May, I think, has grown out a lot of people now with FAU. I know people are annoyed that Fairleigh Dickinson lost, right?

That became the team that everyone started to root for and the player tried to dunk at the end. Is Dusty May, I just think that's just Jackassery on Twitter. That dude's likable.

That's what I'm saying. He's getting more likable, so that's a guy I think a lot of people rally around. Was he really, however, not likable?

No, no, he was. And now you're starting to see it. You know, your two great games at FAU, now you're starting to see his rise. So it's like, I think he is becoming likable by the minute.

But no, do people actually hate this guy ever? No. Okay. That's okay.

Continue. What? Did I say something? Oh, my bad.

I was confused there. No, no, no. You're asking if Jim Mileng is the most likable guy. You're saying Dusty May is very likable.

Tom Izzo is very likable. The way you said it, you made it seem like this guy was a villain and now people are starting to love him. Oh, no, no. I was just confused. No one knew who he was like two weeks ago.

Gotcha, gotcha. No one knew about FAU and so now all of a sudden they're winning games. So I think he's growing on people. Jim Laronega, like you mentioned, it's, you know, Eric Musselman, again, taking a shirt off every time they win.

That's, you know, enjoyable. Mark Few is interesting because I think people like him because Gonzaga has come up short so many times that, at least I'll talk myself, but he's rooting for him to have success just because of so many heartbreaking failures in the tournament. This is a really tough, you know, sweet 16 in terms of... Rodney Terry's a, it's weird to say it's a good story because of what happened where he got the job, but Rodney Terry's been phenomenal with Texas. I mean, 15 of the 16 teams, I would argue, are very likable.

I think the only controversial one is Alabama, depending on how you feel about how they're handling the Brandon Miller situation. And also, I don't think Sean Miller, people are rooting so hard. I'm not saying that he's a villain, but where how it ended at Arizona. I know it's a little bit different now with NIL, but people went to jail. You're paying, I mean, look, this is all over stupidity of paying players and giving them money and getting caught. I get it's your fault for getting caught, but I think the hatred, if there is any towards Sean Miller, is a lot different than, let's say Rick Bertino or other people. Make the people see Hurley yell a few times, too.

Well, that's true. You know what I actually would love to see actually win it all? I don't think he will, but I don't think it's a sexy name and I think it's a name that is very vanilla at times. Rick Barnes. I could pull for Rick Barnes at Tennessee. I love Rocky Top, so if that means they keep winning, they keep playing the song, I'm in. Good ol' Rocky Top. That's now stuck in my head twice this year, when Alabama lost to Tennessee in football, and then over the weekend when Tennessee did defeat Duke. Rocky Top, that could be the catchiest song in college athletics.

I think it is. So there you go, so that's another reason to root for them if you like hearing the song, it means they only play when they win. Let's hear Dusty May, he says FAU should not be overlooked. We never felt like we were a Cinderella team. Our league was tough this year. We went into an SEC school and won and have been in some very tough environments. So we never felt like we were a Cinderella story because of our record, because of the players in that locker room. But yeah, we did feel like we'd be able to get the common fan or the extras on our side if we did play Purdue.

But obviously when you're playing FDU and they're on the run that they're on, they're easy to root for, especially the way they're playing. I know there's a lot of yelling that goes on during the NCAA tournament, Hickey, but I am a sucker for the raspy voice by the coach. That makes me like the coach even more when you have a raspy voice.

Like they talk and breathe like they just played the game itself? McCrone and raspy voice. Dusty May, raspy voice, and then probably the king of the raspy voice, Tom Izzo. He says he is very happy with how his team responded to adversity all game long as they did take down Marquette. We beat a good team, but I am so proud of these guys for withstanding that. Because that was, I've been in Elite 8 games, I've been in Final Four, that was as intense and tough a game as I've been in in my career. And a lot of credit goes to Marquette and Shocka and how they played, too.

He sounds like he has all the war stories, right? And he just gets very emotional when talking about anything and he sounds so nostalgic as well in Tom Izzo there, Hickey. That fist bump he threw when they got the offensive rebound with like a minute and a half left, I don't want to say legendary, but it was like, wow, okay, Izzo is feeling this one. Wasn't it against, I think it was against USC when he broke the clipboard, right? That was in the first round, not the second round.

And that was within the first ten minutes of the game, I'm pretty sure. Him and Sabin, I would just love to see freakouts on the sidelines. I know Sabin is a totally different sport, but for college football, just give me the Sabin freakout, and for basketball, just give me the Tom Izzo freakout as well.

Jerome Tang, what a story that is. They were picked last before the year started in the preseason poll, and now they are in the Sweet 16. He says his team wasn't intimidated by Kentucky's rich history. Well, you know, we have a program that's rich in tradition also, and the, you know, I mean, like all those old dudes that played for Kentucky, they ain't coming back, right?

Like, so, I mean, tradition does not help you if you don't get out there on the floor and play with some dudes. I think there's some teams, though, that lose the game before the game even tips off, where you get caught up in, oh, how great this team is, or, oh, how great the history is of this team. His team clearly did not care, and I think also when you have these, right, 17, 18, 19, 20-year-olds, even though Kentucky's had a lot of success, right, with big-name players in the last decade or so, the way that we or guys that are 20 years old of us look in Kentucky, how many times do you hear guys that are 18, 19-years-old in the NFL, college, or in the NBA that have no clue about guys that haven't played that long? Like, remember this past year?

Of course you do. It was Kayvon Thibodeau, who Jeff Sanders and the other team is like, oh, what the heck did he ever do? The guy's a tremendous center, obviously.

A lot of these players, they don't know the history compared to what they just see on YouTube or what they remember watching growing up as a kid. Let's hear from Mitch Henderson. He says reaching the Sweet 16 is a dream come true. I've always dreamed of playing deep into the tournament. As a player, I got to the second round a couple times, never got beyond it, so I feel like these guys are unbelievable.

We go to coach Musk, Eric Musselman. He says he's very excited to beat the reigning champs. I mean, we're celebrating back there because we have such incredible respect for Kansas defending champions, MVP of their league in number 10, Jalen Wilson, and they're a hard, hard, hard team to prepare for.

Didn't play as good a defense as we normally do, but we really wanted to create more pace in the second half. And this is Musk on CBS saying the Razorbacks are peaking at the right time. I mean, that's such an unbelievable win for our program. I keep telling people that we're getting better. Not many teams can get better this time of year.

I'm so, I've never been prouder than a team like tonight. There's such a difference. Musk talking to the TV reporter after the game in the postgame press conference. Musk talking to the TV reporter right after the game is kind of the young puppy dog.

And then the young puppy dog eventually gets tired. And then that's him in the postgame press conference. Let's hear Drew Timmy. He's still at Gonzaga.

He pulled a hickey. He cursed when discussing not messing up Gonzaga's run of eight straight Sweet 16 appearances, TBS. Before they announce our starting lineup at home, I was like, there's seven straight Sweet 16s. I'm like, we could not be the team that **** this one up.

So just to get it done and not fall under that Hypno-Toads, Ginjutsu or whatever it is feels good, man. And then John L. Davis also curses during his interview with Jamie Urdahl. This was on TruTV. Are you a player that plays in a moment like this with something to prove about yourself?

Yeah, a lot. I've been trying to prove this ****. That's all right. It happens to all of us. We're on TruTV, man. What does that mean, we're on TruTV? She knows a lot of the crazy shows are on TruTV. That's like, you know, that's like the after dark of the Turner network.

That's the one where it would slide the most. Yeah, but it's not as if it's on Sirius, right, in the radio world where I can't say that on the radio, right, to all of our affiliates and then on Sirius you go ahead and say it. I thought that was funny.

Thought that was a good line. No, we're on TruTV. All right, that's the news brief. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio. Coming up in the next hour, we'll do a little onsides, offside. Also, Nick Saban, there was an issue with the player away from the football field, had a much different response than Nate Oates from a few weeks ago. And it was very interesting, let's just say, the wording that he used. We'll play that for you coming on back in five minutes. Also, do five questions, five answers, which we do every Monday and Friday. Onsides, offsides coming up next right here on CBS Sports Radio. It's the Zach Gelb show.