QB Or Not QB (Hour 2)

Alrighty, our number two of our radio program, that's right, it is the Zach Gelb Show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio.

You can find us so many ways on Sirius XM, Channel 158, maybe your great local CBS Sports Radio affiliate, also on the free Odyssey app. And make sure you jump on board on YouTube as well. And I love the YouTube chat, let me tell you. I know I've adopted now the Weedos and the Purple Drankers, as they called them from the Maggie and Perloff show, and still do with them moving over to 6 to 10 a.m. Eastern Time, but enjoy the conversations in the chat.

And if you want to hit me up on social media, I'm always here, Twitter and Instagram, at Zach Gelb, that's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. We'll do a little college football today, coming up in about an hour 20 from now, as former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray is going to join us. He's all over the place. Works for Sirius XM, ESPN, and also the volume, and is very good on the air. So got some college football thoughts for Aaron Murray coming up later today in about an hour 20 from now. I want to hear a little Jerry Jones. Jerry Jones does like 7,000 interviews on 105.3 The Fan.

I believe that he is the best interview hit that is a weekly in football season with all the content that he does give. I feel like whenever Jerry Jones opens his mouth, whether it's on Sean and RJ or any of the shows on 105.3 The Fan, it always winds up making big news, because you never know what Jerry Jones is going to say. And as Jerry Jones has gotten a little bit older, you almost need a Jerry Jones translator, because there's some times when you're listening to Jerry Jones and you go, Huh?

Is this like my crazy uncle talking? Like what the heck is this guy trying to say? What did Maggie and Perloff do with Aaron Rodgers? Like what the bleep is Aaron Rodgers talking about today? I almost want to say sometimes what the bleep is Jerry Jones actually trying to say? So I have not heard this audio yet, so I don't know if it is crazy Jerry Jones or if it's somewhat normal Jerry Jones. We'll get to it in just a bit.

But I will never forget when the whole Dak Prescott situation happened with the contract that they made him wait and wait and wait. He talked about how when you're in the forest and you slice your hand open in order to repair the cut, sometimes you use your your liberal arts degree and your bachelor degree compared to your master's degree to sew back up the hand. And I was trying to translate that and I go, maybe he was saying what you're a master in and what you got your your extra degree in and what your big focus is in the world isn't the skills that you need to sometimes try to fix a situation. And maybe it was a minor detail that you learned when you were an undergrad. That was my best stab at it a few years ago. But there's been a lot of times where Jerry Jones speaks and I just don't have a damn clue what he's trying to say. So I think he was clear and concise.

I believe with the way that Santa set it up for me before the show. But let's listen up. This is Jerry Jones on one of five through the family Sean and RJ talking about the matchup this weekend. Big game on Sunday Night Football.

Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. Between the Cowboys and the 49ers. They are right now probably the most likely team to go in Super Bowl.

And but in order for them to get there, they've got to go by us. But the bottom line is that you're playing the best. You don't need the game to tell you that you're playing the best, but you need the game to show you how you stack up against the best. Out of all the quotes that I've heard from Jerry Jones throughout the last two to three years. That was actually the most like sensible quote from Jerry Jones.

He's 100 percent right. Well, kind of 100 percent right in terms of he's playing into how big of a game this is. He knows the Cowboys right now on paper are a top three team in the NFC. And when you're blowing out the Giants, when you're blowing out the Jets, when you're blowing out the Patriots. It's tough for me to really say, oh, the Cowboys are definitely better than where they were a year ago because the Cowboys the last two years have been a really good football team in the regular season. They've won back to back years of 12 games and then come playoff time against the 49ers. This team didn't get the job done and their quarterback failed them on the biggest stage.

So now you're going up against the 49ers and it's a wonderful litmus test game for us to try to see. Are the Cowboys actually different this year compared to the Cowboys the last two years? The only thing that I'll take a little issue with when it comes to Jerry Jones is I don't see how you could definitely say that the 49ers are better than the Eagles right now. Because he basically said it right now, if you look at the NFC, the team most likely to go to the Super Bowl is the 49ers.

How? The Eagles haven't taken a step back. They still have Jalen Hurts, they have A.J. Brown, they have Devante Smith, skinny Batman as they call him in Philadelphia. You have Dallas Goddard, maybe the best offensive line in football and you have a defense that's deep. And oh yeah, by the way, this is an Eagles team and I know the 49ers fan is going to tell me, oh, we lost Brock Purdy.

That's fair. But last year, when I watched the Super Bowl and I was at the Super Bowl, I watched the Philadelphia Eagles, not the San Francisco 49ers. Now later in the season, the Eagles will welcome the 49ers back to South Philadelphia and that's going to be maybe the biggest game of the NFL regular season, especially with how nasty it's been between those two fan bases in the Eagles and the 49ers. But I do understand where the Eagles are your rival if you're the Cowboys inside the NFC East and you're going up against the 49ers. Maybe that's why Jerry Jones this week elected to say, yeah, they're probably the team that's going to go to the Super Bowl, take a little friendly shot at the Eagles and also send the message to your team. This is a big test and this is the first time where if the Cowboys want to shut me up, where there's a reason why I call the Cowboys, the drama Dallas Choking Cowboys, where they haven't been to an NFC title game since 1995.

They haven't won a Super Bowl since 1995. This could send a big message to the NFL that the Cowboys are for real this year because I look at the Cowboys as a team that they have a championship defense, but I don't trust their quarterback in the big moments and you examine Dallas. I do believe there's a separation where the Eagles and the 49ers are like kind of neck and neck, but they're up here and then it's the Cowboys that are below them.

There is that separation. Now, you don't win a Super Bowl this week. You don't win an NFC title game this week, but the Cowboys without even fully examining the rest of the slate. They have the most to prove this week because the Dallas Cowboys, if they lose to the 49ers, we're going to look at them and say, oh, the Cowboys will be good. The Cowboys will have double digit wins, but they dropped the game that they should have never dropped against the Cardinals.

And that's when the question started. But against the elite teams, you see the separation. So we'll see where the Cowboys still have to play the Eagles twice and you got to win one of them. And then you also play the 49ers this weekend. What the Dallas Cowboys are really made out of, where it doesn't make you just if you win the game, say, oh, the Cowboys are definitely great and the Cowboys are going to be awesome and the Cowboys are going to the Super Bowl. But if you lose this game coming up on Monday, you're going to hear a lot of people say, ah, this Dallas team, the real Dallas Cowboys are standing up. And I thought that was a good response by Jerry Jones. I didn't think we were going to when we play that audio.

And I did not believe when Santa said, oh, you got to hear this Jerry Jones audio before the show. It was going to result in something that I clearly and thoroughly understood with Jerry Jones. So let me give you my NFC power rankings with what I've seen, just the NFC through the first four games of the season in at number five. I had the Detroit Lions, the Lions in week one had an enormous victory. I look at Detroit as a team that I was a little bit skeptical on them before the start of the season. You know, I like Dan Campbell. You're right.

Bite off your kneecaps, drink about 10,000 cups of coffee. I'm a fan of Dan Campbell. And that offense you knew was going to be able to put up a lot of points. You know, Jared Goff is a solid quarterback, Amara St. Brown. He may be the new Keenan Allen, where everyone says he's the most underrated wide receiver in the NFL.

Now, he's one of those guys that gets that. Everyone says he's like the most underrated wide receiver in the league. You'll eventually get back Jamison Williams off the gambling suspension. Sam Laporta has done a really good job, and that's a good draft pick. I've been disappointed with how early that they used Jamir, you know, took Jamir Gibbs with the 12th overall pick.

The way that they've utilized him, I would thought that we would see more of Jamir Gibbs, but David Montgomery has done a good job. But the Lions are in at five and against a team in the Packers, which was on Thursday night to kick off week four, they sent the message that there is a big discrepancy between the Lions and the Packers because you look inside that NFC North, right? The Vikings stink right now.

And you examine the rest of that division. The Bears are awful. This is a two team race between the Lions and the Packers, and the Lions clearly showed that they are a better team. So I put the Lions in at number five.

Four, it's the Seahawks. I loved what I saw from the Seahawks secondary last night. We know last year they drafted Reek Woulin, and then this year they drafted Witherspoon, the cornerback with the pick six and just a monster performance. You saw Seattle, and I thought their draft strategy last two years was fascinating, right? They draft Kenneth Walker, who I love the running back. They draft Tyreek Woulin in the fifth round, who turned out to be a star last year. And then from there, they doubled down this year early on in the draft, taking a cornerback in the top five and then taking Zach Charbonnet out of UCLA, also in the second round. And they have found a way to put a lot of young players and really capitalize off this Russell Wilson trade.

And Geno Smith has turned out to be like a good quarterback in this league, which is crazy to say. So Pete Carroll has done a phenomenal job. The Seahawks beat the Lions. So I have to put the Seahawks in front of the Lions. But the big question this year was Seattle's defense ready to take that next step? They embarrassed Daniel Jones last night. I know we didn't have Andrew Thomas. I know we didn't have Saquon Barkley, but they had Jones under duress and they kind of showed why Daniel Jones isn't a franchise quarterback. So I put the Seahawks in a number four and the number three. It's a Dallas Cowboys, right?

We just talked about it for eight minutes. Mike McCarthy, I think, doesn't get enough credit for the job that he's done the last two years. And really the way that Mike McCarthy, I don't want to say check his his ego, but has found a way to delegate where it got so nasty at the end between Rogers and McCarthy in Green Bay. But in Dallas and McCarthy's even said that he has not been intimidated by Dan Quinn. And Dan Quinn has done a wonderful job with his defense.

But a lot of people are speculating. Oh, well, Dan Quinn one day replaced Mike McCarthy. And even McCarthy has said a few years ago, I probably let that get to me and have Dan go somewhere else. But he realized it's what's in the best interest of the team.

And, you know, he did have a little power play. That was one with the whole Kellen Moore situation. I think Kellen Moore is such an overrated coach in this league. Everyone's like, oh, he's going to be head coach, head coach, head coach.

McCarthy just wanted to move on from him. And I know he's landed with the Los Angeles Chargers, which is a good landing spot with all their talent. But to go from offensive coordinator to offensive coordinator, when people a few years ago had you as a trajectory of being a head coach kind of shows you that Kellen Moore isn't all that. But for the Cowboys, it's very simple.

Are you going to be able to beat the top dogs? And that's the 49ers and the Eagles inside the NFC. They got an opportunity this weekend against the 49ers. And they have two opportunities coming up against the Philadelphia Eagles. And number two, I do put the Niners in there when I'm ranking my top five in the NFC. The Niners are in at two.

They have a ridiculous roster. The big difference why I put the Eagles in at one compared to the 49ers in at two is just the quarterback. Like Jalen Hurts is an elite quarterback. We've seen Jalen Hurts the last two years show that he is capable of winning MVPs in this league. And he got to a Super Bowl and he outperformed Patrick Mahomes on the biggest game in the game in the Super Bowl. So I just believe more in Jalen Hurts.

These rosters are splitting hairs, but that's the big difference for me. And that's not me putting down Brock Purdy. Brock Purdy has been rocking out with this Brock out.

And he's been looking pretty awesome. You got a little scared there, Sam. You haven't heard me say that before. I was like, where's the dump button?

Where's the dump button? Yeah, don't worry. You don't have to dump me. You know, there is one day that maybe I'm going to slip up and say that the wrong way, but it has not happened just yet. And just because you said that, it's going to happen this week. Yeah.

So anyway, I'll get back to a story in just a second off of that, where one time I unintentionally cursed on the air and said something that I was not allowed to say, but it wasn't done intentionally. But just to put a bow on this and wrap up the point, Brock Purdy can be really good. I've just seen more of Jalen Hurts and Jalen Hurts being elite level where Brock Purdy, I still think we're all trying to figure out.

Is it more of Brock's excellence individually or is it just being in a great system? So the one quick story. I was a little bit annoyed about some money that I may have lost. You know, it wasn't big time bucks, but when you're right out of college and I was working on this station in Philadelphia, I was doing postgame. And it was the day after. Remember when Marcus Mariota threw a ball, caught it in the playoff game and then scored a touchdown? It was Tennessee up against Kansas City. And I couldn't believe once Travis Kelce got hurt in the game, when you had the league's leading rusher in Kareem, pause, pause, pause, pause, hunt, that they didn't give him the ball at all in the second half.

And I know Andy Reid loves to abandon the run game all the time. So I said that very quickly. And I may have said a word that you're not allowed to say on the radio. And I did not have a great producer back that was very astute and that was plugged in on either. I think it was an early Sunday morning, which makes sense. Saturday primetime playoff game. Kansas City going up against the Tennessee Titans and the producer didn't dump it. And there was two times on that station where something was said that should have been dumped.

That wasn't that one. You know, happened. I think everyone was like OK with it because you could tell what I was trying to say.

The other I had someone prank phone call me and say they wanted to do something with my mother, which was not that nice. And I pressed the dump button and so did the producer. But sometimes, like behind the scenes of radio, when you carry live games, they take the delay off. Someone never put the delay back on. So we dumped it and it never actually dumped because someone didn't ramp back up the delay. And I know you being a big time radio guy, Sam, and an old school radio guy, a veteran of the business.

Sorry to make you feel really old. That probably just annoys you just hearing that story. Yeah. Hearing me get screwed because other people screwed up. It's like that is slow traffic or other people impacting my ability to drive a computer not working right, impacting my ability to do my work. Or somebody else who I work with not doing something they're supposed to do, which therefore screws me up.

Those are like my biggest pet peeves and unforgivable offenses. Yeah. And I told management that I dumped it and they were like, oh, it probably never happened because I guess they weren't listening to the like young weekend host. And it was new management, too.

It wasn't the management that hired me. So I don't know how much they actually love me. And then the same guy called their afternoon host a few days later and I was listening, did the same whole line talking about that afternoon host mother. And then they finally called me and said, oh, yeah, you're right.

That dump button wasn't actually working when it happened with their afternoon host. Now listen, I've heard with the last name Hunt, if someone's first name is Michael, I can understand because you have the... Don't give everyone the answers to the test here, Sam. It's not about the answers. I'm confused. I can understand how you combine that letter of Mike... I just said it very quickly.

Where is that? I guess it just must be a mouth fumble. It happens. We all have done it before.

I just wasn't sure how the Kareem into Hunt could lead into that word. Be very careful. Be very careful. That's why whenever I say the owner of the chief's name, I always say Clark. Take a deep breath.

Hunt. Yeah. I always get messed up with slip disk. Oh, bulging.

Bulging disk. Yeah. I've seen a lot of update anchors do that before.

Yeah, you've got to slow down and disk. Anyway, it is the Zach Kelp show on CBS Sports Radio. If you want to react to the Jerry Jones situation, you could do that.

855-212-4CBS. I shouldn't say situation, just what he had to say. And how do you kind of look at the top teams in the NFC? A team that I didn't mention though, Tampa Bay, they're lurking. And Tampa Bay could maybe be in the top five of the NFC teams at the end of the year. Well, come on back and we'll discuss the NFL MVP. Is this going to be the year where a non-QB wins the award?

Tell me how you really feel. This is Zach Kelp show on CBS Sports Radio. This portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial. Stuck in a timeshare and want out, contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free timeshare exit information kit at wesleyfinancialgroup.com. We'll get into this MVP conversation in just a moment, but let me take a phone call here first.

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. Let's go to Mo in San Diego next up on the Zach Kelp show. Mo, what's happening, man? Zach, you sound good in the middle of the day out here. You sound great, man. How you doing? I'm doing fantastic and I appreciate that. And it's nice to actually get out of this building at 6 p.m. Eastern, take a nice little 25-minute walk home and cook some dinner at a normal hour. So I appreciate that.

Normal hour. Well, that's great. I talked to Maggie and Pearl off this morning, too, so they're doing great. Anyway, I was trying to dissect what you were talking about there with with Jerry over there talking about that game. How about them cowboys? You're correct.

And part of it and what you said, this is a measuring stick game, a measuring stick game at the formerly known as Campbell's stick game. And so that obvious because for the Cowboys, they have been knocked out the last two seasons by the San Francisco 49ers. So therefore, they are a favorite and it's a team that, you know, we have to deal with. But I think when he said talking about going through the Cowboys, I think he's saying simply this. We see ourselves as the Cowboys as a team that should be right at the top. And that does not necessarily mean that it has to be the Philadelphia Eagles, because in Dallas's sense, they may have struggled with San Francisco. But their history with the Eagles doesn't say they can't beat Philadelphia. You're right on that. That's a good point. That's not a given in the last. As a matter of fact, you can say a lot of things about Dak, but his record against the NFC East is 28 and seven.

Yeah, it's gaudy. And so I think Jerry's feeling and you have to feel that way if you're if you're if you're the Cowboys owner. Hey, we have no choice but to say San Francisco, the top of the food chain, because they've knocked us out. The evidence is there, but we're not committing to Philly.

We can't you can't do that. And I think that's what he was trying to say. And that's all it all makes sense. Of course, none of that matters until you play it on the field and every year is different. So we'll see how it plays out.

But it sure is exciting. The last thing I wanted to say, you said that Brock Purdy is a system quarterback. Do you feel that Jalen Hurts is playing in a system? Well, so so here's what I'll say.

And it's a great question, Mo. You need talent around you to win. Like if you don't have good wide receivers in the year of twenty twenty three and a good offensive line talent for sure.

It is tough to do so. But what I will say in the Super Bowl, I thought Jalen Hurts was the system. Jalen Hurts did everything running the football, throwing the football as well.

And Quas Watkins dropped that ball in the Super Bowl and did not help him out. I think Jalen Hurts looks like an MVP where I want to be clear here. When I say Brock Purdy is a system quarterback, it doesn't mean I think the guy stinks. It doesn't mean that I don't believe that one day he could elevate his game. I just haven't seen him enough individually to say that it's more so him than it is the system.

I think Jalen Hurts could go anywhere right now and for the most part light the league on fire. I don't know if that's the case with Brock Purdy. And you could be correct.

You could be 100 percent correct. I just look at, you know, how the Eagles run their offense with the RPOs, with the running game and that offensive line. I mean, it makes so much sense.

They're doing it perfectly, you know, in sync with the strength of their team and the way it's set up. And Jalen Hurts fits in. Well, Mo, let me ask it to you this way. Would you rather have Jalen Hurts or would you rather have Dak Prescott if they were on the same team? Well, I mean, I don't know.

I mean, and I'm honest about that. It's not like Dak doesn't have a lot. Dak has pieces. He does have pieces, but I mean, he he he's been an excellent quarterback for a longer period of time than Jalen Hurts.

He's been good. I see. I see. I see what Jalen Hurts did last year, but that was the first year he did that. So I still need to see.

I still want to see a couple of more, you know, some more seasons of that to show. And if he does, there's no doubt he's playing at a higher clip than Dak is. But to me, I put them in the same category. They're quarterbacks. You're trying to get over the top. They're all trying to lead their team. They got holes. They got good teams.

And until they get over the top, they ain't gotten over the top. Well, no, they haven't won a Super Bowl. Thanks for the phone call, Mo. But Jalen Hurts has been to an NFC championship game, won the NFC championship game and has also been to a Super Bowl.

Dak Prescott has not. Dean in Indianapolis next up on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Dean, how are you? Good afternoon. Good. How are you, man? Doing great.

What do you got? Man, Eagles are a great team. They're probably two of the top, probably top three team in the league. But Jalen Hurts is not a great quarterback.

He's... Based off what? Based off, he's got five touchdowns and three interceptions this year. Did you see him in the Super Bowl last year outplay the best quarterback in the league in Patrick Mahomes? What happened to that game? Who won that game?

Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs. But just because you won the game doesn't mean that you outplayed another quarterback. You can't say but. Well, hold on.

Let me ask you this, Dean. Do you think Tom Brady played a bad game when he lost the Super Bowl to the Eagles and Tom Brady threw for 505 yards? Was that a performance where you're like, oh, Nick Foles was definitely better than Tom Brady? You don't want to get me on Tom Brady. Why? Why? Because you're a Colts fan? Because you're a Colts fan?

Is that why? System quarterback. Dean, you're the biggest moron on the planet if you think Tom Brady's a system quarterback. Tell me all the great wide receivers that Tom Brady won a Super Bowl with, Dean.

I'll take your phone call all day. Go ahead, Dean. I have one question for you. When the Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl with Tom Brady, you know how many people scored a point on that team that was on it the previous season? Okay.

Can you name me any of the wide receivers Tom Brady won a Super Bowl with the New England? Go ahead. Yes.

All kinds. All right. Go ahead. Name them. I'm here.

Take the phone call. Let's go. Name them.

You got nothing, Dean. Troy Brown. We could talk about the year where they lost the AFC title game with Reshay Caldwell and Doug Gabriel.

Come on. He made Julian Edelman great. He made Danny him and Dola to be a really good wide receiver. And he didn't win a Super Bowl with Randy Moss. That was the great wide receiver he had. I know they had Rob Gronkowski. But, Dean, if you were living in the year of 2023 and you're going to call Tom Brady a system quarterback, how's the team been in New England without Tom Brady? Oh, wait. That's right. Because Tom Brady was the system.

That's maybe the dumbest and I mean the dumbest phone call I've ever taken. And Dean is just someone that hates Tom Brady and he can't appreciate the greatness of Tom Brady. Come on. We're talking about David Patton, David Givens, Troy Brown. Brady won three Super Bowls to start his career. And then won three more Super Bowls and like a Brandon LaFell. Edelman's a good receiver, but not great. Danny Amendola. Like, give me a break. What a ridiculous phone call that was. Alrighty.

Here's something I want to get into. The NFL MVP this year. Who is going to win the NFL MVP and can it be a non quarterback this year?

So I also think not only when you win the MVP, you have to have the individual success, the obvious statement, but you have to have the team success. And so far, right, I kind of feel like for Mahomes to win the MVP, he's got to be the number one overall seed. Mahomes, as great as he is, the offense isn't humming yet. I think it's a different standard for Mahomes to win the MVP. No one else in the AFC West is going to win the MVP this year. The AFC South, there's not going to be a quarterback that wins the MVP. In the North, maybe it is Lamar Jackson, seeing where the Ravens finish out this year. And in the AFC East, there could be a conversation of Josh Allen and then also to Atunga Vailoa. In the NFC, Hertz will be in that conversation.

Now we'll see how we're looking at Dak Prescott at the end of the year. I'm just going through quarterbacks right now because usually this is a quarterback award. NFC North, no one's going to win the MVP. NFC South, no one's going to win the MVP. And in the NFC West, I don't think Brock Purdy is going to win the MVP. So you go through that list and with the Bengals taking a step back, it's not going to be Joe Burrow this year.

And their offense has been garbage through the first four games of the season. But you go through that and you say, hmm, maybe this is shaping out to be one of those years where we're accustomed that the quarterback always wins the MVP. And then the offensive player of the year is the best non quarterback because that's the way the award has gone recently. And if I had to give you a name right now, and this is my offensive player of the year before the start of the season, I kind of feel like there's a great case to be made as long as he stays healthy for Christian McCaffrey to win the NFL MVP this year.

Because it goes back to the conversation that we're having right now. I like Brock Purdy. You know, I'm not tearing down Brock Purdy. But when you think of the 49ers offense, Brock Purdy isn't the first guy that you think of. It's Christian McCaffrey. And they have other very talented players too. My BFF in Deebo Samuel, you have Brandon Iuch, you have Kittle too.

There's a lot of talented players there. But McCaffrey right now is their best player on offense. So if I had to take a crack at this and say if it's not going to be a quarterback, who's going to win the MVP this year in the NFL? I'll look at the odds right now for Christian McCaffrey.

Maybe I'll sprinkle a few shekels on that after the show. Santer and Stu, I know that we're all now accustomed to the MVP's going to be a quarterback. And maybe it ends up being Josh Allen if the Bills win the AFC East and maybe have the number one seed in the AFC. But it's looking a little bit around the league like there's a legitimate chance this year that a non-quarterback can win the MVP. And McCaffrey is the first one that should be at the top of the list out of the non-quarterbacks.

Yeah, there's a lot of guys. I mean, you look at what the wide receivers are doing. I'm not saying Puka Nakua is going to be an MVP candidate, but Justin Jefferson.

Puka Nakua. Tyreek Hill, right? You're telling me Tyreek Hill can't catch 2,000 yards and be an MVP candidate?

Here's the thing though. I don't think Tyreek will get to 2,000 yards because he also has Jalen Waddle on that team. I know he was close last year with 1,800. Ironically, it seems like he has better games when Waddle is there compared to when Waddle is out. Yeah, you are right in that because I know Waddle came back last week, but the week before that he didn't have a tremendous showing. But I look back the last two years, like Cooper Cupp won the Triple Crown for wide receiver, didn't win the MVP. Justin Jefferson, I was pushing like week two for him to win the MVP.

He wasn't even close really last year. When you look back at that, you knew it was going to be a quarterback. So I do think it's so tough, especially if it's going to be someone I think, and wide receivers never won the MVP. I think it's going to be a running back.

Justin Jefferson's on page, I know it's on page for 2,300 yards. Yeah, but the Vikings aren't going to make the playoffs. You're not going to win the MVP if you're not making the playoffs.

That's true. So then maybe we look at some of the teams that might make the playoffs. We're looking at Christian McCaffrey, the running back position, a couple of the wide receivers we've talked about. What about TJ Watt, or Miles Garrett, or Nick Bosa over in San Francisco. Micah Parsons, if the Cowboys win that division and Micah Parsons continues to dominate, there are some defensive players who are deserving of MVP consideration. The four defensive players that you name, Micah Parsons, possible, especially with Diggs now going down for the season as well. Nick Bosa, I think they would go more McCaffrey in offense than they would go defense. And then as far as Watt and Miles Garrett, who are having sensational seasons, I just don't think the team success is going to be there. This will either be a quarterback or it's going to be Christian McCaffrey, in my opinion, for this year. Early MVP situation in the NFL, four weeks in. If it's not a quarterback, who's someone that you're going to throw maybe a few bucks on?

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. I'll update you on some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio when we come on back. But first up with the latest CBS Sports Radio update, here is the Ackman, Rich Ackerman. Alrighty, news brief time on CBS Sports Radio. This was on the Zach Gelb show, which you're listening to right now.

It's always weird to say because it's a different time slot when this happens, 6 to 10 p.m. Eastern time, so that's why I said it. This was Magic Johnson with me last week when I asked him if he is still the greatest point guard of all time after Steph Curry said that himself is the greatest point guard ever. If he got more than five championships, if he got more than three finals MVP and three league MVPs, then he's the greatest. If he got more than number one in assists all time in the finals, number two in double doubles, number one in triple doubles all time in the NBA playoffs, number four in steals all time in the playoffs.

If he got more than those numbers, he's the best, but the last time I checked, he doesn't. So that was Magic Johnson. Clearly he was annoyed with Steph Curry saying, even though Steph did it in a respectful way, that Steph believes he's the greatest point guard of all time. And I expect Magic to say himself because I believe he is. I believe that Steph should also say himself because you're in that conversation.

So this was brought up today at Media Day. This is via 95-7 the game in San Francisco where Steph Curry was basically asked to respond to the whole Magic Johnson conversation. This summer you said that you're the best point guard of all time. Michael Jordan disagreed and then Magic Johnson, you know, he said himself.

What do you think about that dialogue? Do you think that's more of just a generational thing? It's all that.

It's also the unsolvable debate that is why everybody asks those questions and why everybody loves to talk about them. It's because I can say I'm the best and Magic can defend his position and any other point guard can chime in. It's the beautiful thing about basketball in the era is like the way I answered the question at first, you know, obviously there's so much respect and admiration for what Magic did in his career. His resume is second to none and so no matter what area you're from, no matter how what your style of play was, traditional point guard, you know, hybrid, whatever it is, if you're in that conversation then it's a job well done. So I even, when I asked the question to Magic Johnson, I said I thought Steph was respectful in his response even though Steph said himself. I was really surprised how it set Magic off and maybe this stuff gets to Magic where you see an all-time great player in Steph Curry and he feels like he's starting to infringe on his territory and everyone loves getting called the greatest and the best and when others start to say, hmm, maybe it's Steph Curry, maybe that did strike a nerve with Magic Johnson in the response. Let's go to Lebron James at Lakers Media Day when asked about if Anthony Davis is the face of the Lakers. He is the face, you know, and he's another, you know, you look at all these numbers that surround this facility, all the greats that's come here and 80 is one of them, you know.

So, you know, I was very, very happy and extremely proud and like just super dope to see him get that extension to be a part of this franchise for years and years and years and has been a treat so far playing alongside of him and I hope we can do some great things. Yeah, Lebron's wrong. He's not the face of the Lakers. As long as Lebron James is on the team, you can't say that Anthony Davis is the face of the Lakers. You may believe that Anthony Davis is the most valuable player on the Lakers because Lebron can't win on his own right now and you need Anthony Davis to be healthy, but that's a different conversation. Whenever people talk about the Lakers right now, the first player you think of is Lebron James. It's not Anthony Davis.

Maybe one day it will be Anthony Davis, but that won't happen until Lebron James is either on a new team or retired from the NBA. Here is Anthony Davis on the motivation to beat the Nuggets after losing to them in the Western Conference Finals is courtesy of our friends at Spectrum Sports Net. It's very motivational. I mean, obviously, you know, KCP is my guy, so you kind of congratulate them like you got this one, but it was just a lot of like the talking and all the Lakers. It was just so much of that going on. Like, all right, we get it. Y'all won.

But, you know, I think, you know, me and Brian had some conversations like we can't wait. Well, the reason why there was a lot of talking was, A, you win the championship, you win the championship, you pop off. But also, in that Western Conference Finals where the Nuggets, let me remind everyone, did sweep the Lakers, the entire conversation was all about Lakers this, Lakers that, and Mike Malone fed into that and used it as motivation for his team.

And when you win a championship, you look back at the run, and I think that was a big part inside the locker room. Now, the Lakers could have all this motivation that they want. If LeBron and Anthony Davis aren't healthy, it doesn't matter how motivated you are. But heading into this season, the Lakers aren't the best team in the West. They're not even the second best team in the West.

I believe the third spot is up for grabs, but to kind of look at it the way that we look at football in the NFC, it's clear that the 49ers and Eagles are the two best teams in the NFC, trying to figure out who the third best team is. Right now, I would say it's Dallas. In the NBA's Western Conference, the two best teams heading into this season are the Nuggets and then also the Phoenix Suns.

And the question is who will emerge there as the third best team in the Western Conference. Let's go to David Griffin who runs the Pelicans on Zion Williamson and what type of shape that he's in right now. Everybody has alluded to Zion. Zion is obviously in good condition, and this was the first summer where we've seen Zion really take his profession seriously like that and invest it off the court on his own in a way that I think is meaningful. Well, that's good. At least you're seeing progress from Zion Williamson.

I don't know how much of that is actually genuine. You know, Zion does look like he's in better shape, so that would be saying that he, yes, put in the work this offseason to get into that better shape, but can his body hold up and will that continue? But this needs to be a wake-up call this offseason for Zion Williamson, and hopefully it was because we haven't seen a lot of Zion Williamson on the court, and I hope that does change here in 2023. Let's go to the newest member of the Milwaukee Bucks, Damian Lillard. He said he was actually pranked that he was dealt to the rap. There's before finding out that he was going to be teammates with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

This is courtesy of NBA TV with Chris Haynes. Everything was up in the air. I was on the phone, and I just got a random text from OG like, welcome to Toronto. So I was like, man, let me call this dude and see, and I finally called him. He didn't answer, then he called me back.

He was laughing. So we all knew that Damian Lillard wanted to go to Miami, right? Missing piece for a championship team. The Heat needed a finisher. Now, when the Miami deal wasn't going down, other teams he was thinking about, clearly the Milwaukee Bucks, that's a championship team. I saw there was one report that he was contemplating the Nets. If you're trying to win a championship, I don't get why you would go to Brooklyn.

But the Raptors are also thrown out there, and the Raptors aren't anywhere close to getting back into championship form. But I thought that was hilarious. At OGN and OB, behind the scenes, texted him and basically said, oh, congrats, welcome to Toronto to kind of poke a little fun and have some fun at the expense of Damian Lillard and probably give Damian Lillard a little bit of a sports heart attack. Let's go to Miles Sanders, who I think is overrated with the Carolina Panthers, and this is not going to make me happy. I guess he was asked about the fans booing in Carolina, and this was Miles Sanders' response. How does it make you feel when you hear the fans booing the offense? It's not cool. It's not cool at all, you know, especially at home.

It's not good for them. So Miles Sanders did something similar in Philadelphia. Your play speaks for itself. That's what I'll tell Miles Sanders. Where your team stinks right now with the Carolina Panthers, you're not living up to that contract. Fans are allowed to boo. Now, sometimes fans cross the line, but if they're just booing and that gets you very, you know, in a sensitive mood, I'm not saying you should like it, but I wouldn't go public with that. What do you want Panthers fans to do?

Show up to the stadium and cheer when the team is playing like absolute dog crap? And I thought Malcolm Jenkins once handled it perfectly. It's when I was covering the Eagles and I was in Philadelphia. Eagles just won a Super Bowl. Their first game back against the Atlanta Falcons.

They are down at halftime. They got booed off the field after the first 30 minutes since winning a Super Bowl. And Malcolm Jenkins got in front of the cameras after the game and he said, I love that Eagles fans aren't getting spoiled and I love that they're going to hold us accountable. I'm not saying athletes should love to get booed, but go play better is what I would say to Miles Sanders. And there's nothing for Panthers fans to actually cheer about. And finally, let's get to Jonathan Smith. When he was running down the clock and milking the clock, he was rubbing his nipples and he had to apologize about that.

Not looking just only at our players on tape, looking at myself on tape, you know, in regards to how we signal plays at the end, communicate. Got to do things better there. So for those I offended with that, I apologize.

I won't be using that signal again. Who was offended by that? You're milking the clock and you're rubbing his male breasts, let's just say, for the head head football coach. And there's actually someone out there that clearly said something to him. Maybe you shouldn't do that. Where he thought people were offended that you had to apologize.

I know sometimes people say society is soft and I don't always agree with that. But if you have to apologize for that. Jeez, Louise, that's a joke. Probably shouldn't be rubbing your nipples during a football game. Let's be honest. You do it all the time, Sam. What are you talking about? Before the show? I say you do that all the time. Zach Keldt here with you on CBS Sports Radio.