Drake Maye over Caleb Williams? (Hour 3)

We continue, this is Zach Yelp's show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio, our number three of our radio program. So there's two stories right now about Caleb Williams and the other is with Lincoln Riley. Let's tackle the Caleb Williams report first that whoever drafts him, he's going to ask them for partial ownership of the team.

This is the biggest, like, nonsense story I've ever seen. Like, you may want ownership of the team, but it's not something that's going to happen. And also, could you imagine if you are someone that is highly touted and you haven't done anything yet in the professional world.

And let's just say, I don't know, this was on Wall Street. And I know it's always tough to compare, like, real world to the sports world. Because the sports world is not the real world and these crazy scenarios and these crazy conversations just don't happen in real life. But if you had someone that was, like, top of their class at some fancy schmancy business school that I would never get into and they're a big deal and they go on to Wall Street and they're like, Oh, you know, I'm entitled to this, this, this, this, this and this and I need this off this sale and all that stuff.

It's like, what are you doing? Can you at least show that you belong first before you have? I don't want to say big aspirations because everyone should dream big, but the potential of demanding that you should get partial ownership of the team.

It's just not a realistic ask. Like, Aaron Rodgers, there was that report that he wanted partial ownership of the Jets. If that didn't happen for Aaron Rodgers, who has won a Super Bowl, who has won multiple MVPs in this league, who is going to the Hall of Fame, it's not happening for Caleb Williams. And I think the world of Caleb Williams as a football player, right? People are comparing him to Patrick Mahomes. We'll see if he turns out to be anywhere close to what Mahomes has done, but what we've seen in college outside of the Notre Dame game this past weekend and everyone has a bad game. It's just unfortunate for him that it happened with everyone watching up against Notre Dame. And, you know, now people are going to look at USC and I already thought that USC wasn't going to a college football playoff this year, more so because I thought their defense would crumble. It wasn't the defense's fault, not that they played this great game up against Notre Dame defensively, but the reason they lost that game on Saturday evening was because the quarterback didn't clear 200 yards passing. And he threw not one, not two, but three footballs to the other team. And if your offense isn't getting to the level that it's expected week in and week out, and that's a tough standard to play with because eventually you're going to be human and you're going to need your defense to win a game and the defense wasn't able to do that.

But the surprising part with that Ohio State, or it should be that USC loss up against Notre Dame, it wasn't that they lost, it was just how they lost. Because we all think the world of Caleb Williams, but this idea that Caleb Williams, you know, we all know is going to be probably the number one overall pick, walks into, I don't know, New England or Denver or Arizona, whatever, Chicago, and goes, oh now I need to be a partial owner of the team? That's not going to happen. And also, I'm pretty sure, because we saw this with Brady, that if Tom Brady was going to be a minority owner of the Raiders and still wanted to play when that was in the infant stages, and I know there hasn't been any update, and I know that the deal seems like it's on life support, and we don't know if Brady's ever going to be that minority owner with the Raiders, but the other owners would have to approve it. And there's no way owners are going to approve of Caleb Williams because it sets this precedent of any other highly touted pick or any other number one pick that's a franchise quarterback demanding partial ownership of the team, and owners aren't going to do that. So I don't understand where this stuff comes from, how this report ended up coming together, but any conversation further of Caleb Williams before taking a snap in the NFL with him being a minority owner in the NFL is just a giant, and I mean a giant waste of time.

Because I'm not saying he shouldn't have that dream, he shouldn't have that hope, but getting it before you do anything on a football field, and for other reasons why you're not going to get it, it's just not going to happen. So we could kind of lay that conversation to rest, but I thought the more fascinating two conversations with USC is there's going to be a good debate with Drake May at UNC and also Caleb Williams at USC on who's going to be the number one overall pick. Now I thought what Christian Hackenberg said earlier is fascinating, where you had Bryce Young, you had CJ Stroud, it seemed like CJ Stroud made a legitimate push to be the number one overall pick. You've got to remember Frank Reich from the reports from Adam Schefter, he wanted CJ Stroud, it was David Tepper who wanted Bryce Young, but Bryce Young was tabbed throughout the college football season as that guy heading into the season that was going to be the number one overall pick. And at the end of the season, people looked at Bryce Young last year at Alabama and they were like, oh he lost two games. Alabama didn't win the SEC, Alabama didn't get into an SEC championship game, Alabama didn't even get into the college football playoff, but it wasn't Bryce Young's fault. Like last year you look back at that Alabama team, it was really Bryce Young and Jamir Gives on the offensive side of the ball, and there wasn't a lot left to be desired.

And you had Alabama lose two games for Alabama standard, that's not good, that's not bueno, but they lost those games close and it wasn't because of who the quarterback was. So we all knew that Bryce Young was going to be the number one overall pick, the only concern about Bryce Young was his size or lack of it. And it was going to take a lot for Bryce Young not to be the number one overall pick, and that was even with the team that traded up to the number one spot, having their new head coach wanting CJ Stroud to be the number one overall pick, and knocking Bryce Young down. And Bryce Young, as good of a player as I think he can be, he is not Caleb Williams, he is not talked about the way Caleb Williams is talked about, and I would say in the last ten years, there are two quarterbacks that we sat there and all we did was say that those quarterbacks were can't miss quarterbacks. And that was Andrew Luck coming out of Stanford where everyone knew he was going to be the number one overall pick, and practically for what, three years? We all knew whenever Trevor Lawrence was eligible that he was going to be the number one overall pick as well.

And look at those two guys and the way that they were talked about, those were considered to be generational talents. There was a tank for Tua debate and conversation, and Tua ended up being the second quarterback taken in that draft, and Tua fell, but that was because of an injury and the emergence of Joe Burrow too. But the way that Caleb Williams is talked about, it is a can't miss prospect, no flaws with Caleb Williams right now, similarly to the way that we thought about Andrew Luck at Stanford, and then Trevor Lawrence at Clemson as well. So if we saw a push be made, even by some of the Carolina Panthers who had the number one overall pick, to try to knock Bryce Young down and elevate C.J. Shroud, and that still didn't happen, even though Drake May could go on to be a great quarterback and he's so highly touted and comes from a family, a football family, and Drake May is doing some excellent stuff this year, I just don't see the scenario where Caleb Williams is not going to be the number one overall pick.

And maybe you have an owner that does get a little bit apprehensive with just the ask of him wanting to be a minority owner, but that's never going to happen. And I don't think that's a reason why you go, oh I'm not going to draft potentially a guy that Tom House, the quarterback coach, and the throwing coach last year, right, he said that Caleb Williams is the closest thing to Patrick Mahomes that he's ever seen, and there's nothing that Caleb Williams could do on a football field that Caleb Williams can't. Caleb Williams even agreed with the quote as well, as crazy as that sounds, it's always stupid to compare people to Patrick Mahomes, but there is a belief that Williams is that generational player, is that video game player, so regardless of how great Drake May continues to be, I would be absolutely shocked if Caleb Williams isn't the number one overall pick. I guess the only way that doesn't happen, and still I think you take him one and then you would trade him, is if he does what Eli Manning and the Manning family did years ago, where they're like oh we're not going to that destination. And even though that's always speculated and sometimes that's suggested year in and year out, I think that's very tough to do.

I think it's extremely tough to do. And remember, the Manning's had the backing of Archie and of Peyton as well when Eli was coming out of Ole Miss, so I'll be shocked if Caleb Williams, whatever circumstances or scenarios or factors you throw out there, if the team at one eventually says yeah we're going to pass it and we're not going to take him because we're afraid of this, we're afraid of that, you take who the best player available is. And on paper right now, Caleb Williams is not only the best player available, he's a franchise altering, franchise changing player that we think is going to be the case in the NFL. And then there's one final USC story, and this one, I haven't heard it get a lot of play, but Scott Wolf, who's a part of Inside USC, said in NFL coaching circles, the talk is that Lincoln Riley is putting out feelers about taking a job in the NFL next season.

To be clear, this chatter was going around last week and has nothing to do with USC's loss to Notre Dame. The word is Riley would be open to an NFL job if he could follow Caleb Williams to the same franchise. So if the Chicago Bears have the number one pick, it would probably be ideal for this theory. And if you think about it that way, if let's just say the Bears are picking number one, just because you're picking number one doesn't mean that you're getting rid of your head coach. Like if Arizona, for example, is picking number one, I don't think they're getting rid of Jonathan Gannon after one year. And that's not me saying that Gannon's going to be this great coach. I'm still very iffy on Gannon, even though his teams have responded to him with that one win early on in the season.

But they're playing tough in circumstances that are not ideal, and a football team that is not all that good this year, and they're absolutely terrible and putrid. But a team like the Bears, I have a hard time envisioning right now. There's still a question about what's going to happen with Fields. But I don't think Polls is back next year, Ryan Polls the GM, and I don't think Matt Eberfluss is back. So if you're the number one pick, you're going to be taking Caleb Williams. Do you want to bring in someone that's very familiar and the most familiar with Caleb Williams in Lincoln Riley, who not only was his coach at Oklahoma, was also his coach at USC.

And at first, my first instinct says, draft Williams, leave Lincoln Riley. And I would not hire Lincoln Riley in the NFL. And a lot of times, college coaches don't go on to have success in the NFL.

There's a few guys that have done it before. But Lincoln Riley, even with how well he's perceived in college football, it's not as if he's this perfect college football coach. Like his defense has been horrible, was bad at Oklahoma, has been brutal at USC. And offensively, as great as this guy has been, and right how innovative he has been, and how well respected he has been, the guy has never won a college football playoff game. You know, that guy for years dominated the Big 12. That guy was in the college football playoff a ton. And he's not able to win one, one, with Heisman Trophy winners and Heisman Trophy finalists, not able to win one college football game. So Lincoln Riley, and I believe this, he's definitely a guy that you want coaching college football. Lincoln Riley is a really good coach. But I'm not even ready to say he's this must-have, all-time great coach that I need to see him get to the NFL. Now he may want to go to the NFL, because even though he had it made for himself at Oklahoma, right, he's a different dude, he takes the USC job, now he has it made at USC. Coaching college football, and we could play the small violin here, I get it, but coaching college football is not easier than coaching NFL.

And I'm talking about from a personal lifestyle. Because now you have the transfer portal. You're constantly recruiting in college football as well. In the NFL, there's an actual offseason. In the NFL, you don't have to deal with recruiting.

You don't have to deal with the name, image, and likeness stuff. And this has been a guy, right, reportedly, or it's been discussed, that he may not want to coach past 50. So if he's got like 10 years left of coaching, and just because coaches say that doesn't mean that they're definitely going to leave.

I know he's close with McVeigh. He's like McVeigh the last two, three years, he's one foot in, one foot out, and he just signed an extension with the LA Rams. But there could be a desire for Lincoln Riley to go to the NFL, and if I'm an NFL team, I would not hire him.

I have him stay in college. But the allure of Williams and Riley as a package, it is fascinating because stance and situation on where you get drafted to does matter. And no one knows Williams better than Riley. But I have not been jaw-hitting-the-floor-level impressed on Riley as a college head coach where the guy hasn't won a college football playoff game ever where I go, oh, just because he coached Caleb Williams, I have to now bring him in as the head coach. I would bring in a more veteran-savvy NFL coach or a coordinator that's been a coordinator for a while or has been in the NFL for a while to go team up with Caleb Williams if, let's say, a team like the Bears gets the number one overall pick and you're looking for a new coach and also you're selecting the services of Caleb Williams. But I saw that report and it has not got a lot of play.

I don't know the validity to it. I could see why Riley would want to go to the NFL, but I'm still going to assume Riley just feels like a college coach to me. He does. He does not feel like an NFL head coach. And with how few have actually worked in the NFL, there also has to be desire from an NFL team to want to hire Lincoln Riley as well. I'm sure like one or two of them would end up saying yes, but to also be packaged with Caleb Williams, it seems like a good idea.

And I can understand why people say it, but I feel as if it's probably more fantasy. So could you see Lincoln Riley coaching to the NFL? Could you see him coaching Caleb Williams in the NFL as well?

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. Is there anything that Drake may can do to usurp Caleb Williams as the thought to be number one pick in the NFL draft coming up in April in Detroit? And Santa, I don't know about you by the way, but we've been to the draft the last few years for CBS Sports Radio. You know, I think last year people said Detroit was the location and we know that was the location last year.

It was like, okay, it's Detroit, you know, whatever. Now with the Lions being a happening football team, you know, I think Detroit's going to be one raucous atmosphere at the draft. Because usually you'd be thinking about the Lions and then pick it in the top 10.

They won't be picking in the top 10 this year. They could actually be celebrating a season with a team that was very, very special for an organization that hasn't won a division since 1993. A team that hasn't won a playoff game since 1991. And I'm just thinking about this now, that draft coming up in April in Detroit, that could be a big time party scene. And I don't think Detroit is like the biggest partying town in the world, but you have a lot of passionate football fans that haven't seen a win in a long time. And this Detroit Lions team is damn good. Well, we're either going to see a really passionate, enthused, hyped up fan base, or we're going to see a lot of depressed, really upset fans who haven't sniffed success and came close. Because it's one thing to always suck.

It's another thing to like get close and then lose. So we'll see what happens at the end of the season. But I do think it's going to be amped up.

Detroit loves their football, whether it's their Lions or other teams in general. So I think it'll be fun. April in Detroit will be fine, as opposed to an outdoor Super Bowl like in Minnesota or Detroit a few years back.

So I think the weather will be nice. More than a few years back. There was what, Seahawks and Steelers that Super Bowl when Sean Alexander was in the Super Bowl? That's a long time ago in the Jerome Bettis final game. Did you know that Jerome Bettis was from Detroit? Yes.

Yes. That was the last stop for Jerome Bettis and the bus stops here as the big sendoff was. That was a big storyline that week.

Just a little bit. I think that's one of the five most overplayed and outplayed storylines in Super Bowl history. Oh, now Jerome Bettis is one of the nicest people on this planet. I heard that he was from Detroit a thousand times in three days.

Oh, Jerome Bettis is from Detroit. Cool. Nice.

Move on. Oh my God, man. Santa, you're just like a miserable person. You know what? Santa Claus, just make sure we put some coal in his stocking. I don't worry about Santa Claus anyway, so I'm not too worried about it. He can skip over my house any day of the week.

Yeah. You know what? If I was Santa, I wouldn't even come down your chimney to go get the cookies. I would say this house is just going to be filled with negativity.

I will not do it. Zach Gelb's show CBS Sports Radio coming on back with a news brief after these short messages. It's getting delivered tomorrow.

Visit Carvana.com or download the app to get pre-qualified today. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports. Alright, let's start it off with DK Metcalf of the Seahawks.

Seahawks coming off a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Here is DK Metcalf on his penalties. I mean, I'm not going to change the way I play. I mean, if you look at the penalties, there's a taunting, unnecessary roughness, face mask, holding, and I think it was one more in there. So, I mean, I'm doing pretty good if I look at it and judge myself, you know, how I play and just try to be consistent and, you know, have clean hands or whatever the case may be.

But, you know, I'm not going to change who I am as a player or a person. So, I like the Seahawks team. I think they're a good team. Their ceiling, though, is probably at most an NFC title game appearance, and I don't think they're going to get there.

I'm not going to freak out here about DK Metcalf. The thing for me, though, that becomes so compelling with the Seahawks is they have a good enough roster with the way they drafted the last two years, the players that they've had before, where Geno Smith should be able to take this a step further than where they were a year ago. And the game against Cincinnati just gives me a little pause is that that was a game they should have won, and Geno didn't step up to the occasion.

So, I don't lambaste Geno after one bad performance, but it is something that makes you question, well, how real was last year and how genuine was last year with what we got to see from Geno Smith? And out of nowhere, he becomes the comeback player of the year after basically a decade, him being a bad quarterback in the NFL. Let's go to Shane Steichen, the coach of the Colts, first-year head coach who has now lost his quarterback, Anthony Richardson, for the season following shoulder surgery. Here is Shane Steichen on Anthony Richardson's surgery. This is the best thing for him and this franchise moving forward so we can get him healthy for next season.

I believe he had fourth overall, tremendous competitor, great player. The longevity of him needs to be at a premium, so this is the best thing for him moving forward. So, you never want to see your potential future quarterback and star quarterback get hurt. With that being said, though, I don't think this is the worst thing in the world, where it stinks that the young man who was off to a great start, Anthony Richardson, is now done for the year, but you already had injuries piling up. And this Colts team, the offensive line, even though they're highly compensated, they're not at this great level as they were two, three years ago, where they're a good offensive line, but they're not a dominant force.

But everyone says, oh, Indianapolis Colts, one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. Jonathan Taylor just got that new deal, but outside of that, on the offensive side of the ball, I know the receiver Downs has been good so far, but they need a number one wide receiver. So, this offseason, coming off the injury to Richardson, you punt the rest of this year, and you've got to be aggressive in free agency to set up your young quarterback in a position to succeed when he's back, so you can make him quickly assert to that jump and reach that full potential that Anthony Richardson is capable of. Let's go to Patrick Mahomes.

All this talk about Caleb Williams becoming a minority owner. Here is Patrick Mahomes, if he'd like to own an NFL team one day. Yeah, eventually, when I'm done playing. I think Tom's trying to do it right now, but that's definitely where you want to get to, because I love this sport and want to give back in any way possible. When I'm done playing, obviously, I'll be a Chiefs fan.

But at the same time, I want to have that competitive edge like I've always had my entire life. There's certain players that could go into that category, go into that mindset, and I like the way that Mahomes has talked about it, where it's after he's playing, because while you're playing, it's just not realistic. So I remember last week, there was this report that if Sean McVay's wife did go into labor, as they're expecting the birth of their first child, he would miss the game.

Everyone understands that. I guess the kid has not been born yet, and Sean McVay was asked if he'll miss a game for the birth of his son. My wife's doing great. I think there was a lot made about me missing a game. I'm not going to miss a game. My son knows better than to come during a game.

So that's not going to be anything that we have to worry about. So, Samter, you're a new father. You have dealt with a pregnant wife recently. There's one thing for Sean McVay to say that, and I thought that was marinated in sarcasm. If his wife goes into labor the day of a game, he's definitely missing the game for the birth of his child, right? You know, if there was any other coach, I would say absolutely. But Sean McVay seems like one of those dudes where, like, football is life and life is football, where I feel like I could see him, you know, missing the moment, yes. I would be surprised by it.

I really would, especially because that's your first child. And I guess they're having a boy with him saying, you know, his son knows not to come during a football game. But really, McVay, I know he gets that tag of being a football guy and eating, sleeping, and breathing football. This is a dude that has talked about the stress of football and how he wants to focus on his personal life a little bit more. And there was that thought, you know, right after they won the Super Bowl that he was going to walk away.

I don't see how you miss the birth of your kid just because of what your job is as a football coach. Here's Sean Watson when he was asked, will his shoulder get to 100 percent anytime soon? This is going to linger at all this year that's going to affect your passing through the season? Or do you think that you'll be 100 percent at some point?

I'm not sure. This is my first time dealing with a rotator cuff. So, I'm just trying to get as comfortable as I possibly can to go out there and perform at the level I know I can.

And if I can't, then, you know, we just got to continue to take it day to day. You know, I'm not going to put the team in jeopardy if I can't do certain things. There's a lot of pressure on Deshaun Watson.

And there should be. With everything that happened off the field, which is absolutely disgusting. And then a team says, OK, I'm going to give up all those draft picks for you and give you two hundred and forty something million dollars guaranteed. You've got to start performing well, because last year in the final six games, you return coming off the suspension. If you want to tell me he has to knock off Russ, that's fine. I don't want to hear the Russ excuse this year.

I don't want to hear the injury excuse as well. Heck, P.J. Walker just walked in against the San Francisco 49ers.

I know P.J. Walker didn't play this great game, but the Cleveland Browns won the game. So everyone understands that Russell Wilson.

Right. Those two quarterbacks that got traded Russell Wilson Deshaun Watson. That Russ is no longer that dude for Deshaun Watson. It's still an incomplete if he could go back to being that top seven quarterback that he was three, four years ago. But when you get back on the field, it's go time. And I know a lot of people are going to look at Kevin Stefanski and say, oh, if the Browns will make the playoffs, they got to get rid of Kevin Stefanski.

I'm not in that mindset. This is now on Deshaun Watson. Stefanski and the Browns won that game up against the 49ers.

That is a great win. Now you need your franchise quarterback whenever he comes back to start playing like that, because you're paying him a lot and you give up a lot of draft picks to go get him. Here is Mike McDaniel when he was asked his Tua Tunga Vailoa, a system quarterback. Some folks who believe that many quarterbacks in this scheme with you as the coach, Tyreke and Jalen, maybe even many, many quarterbacks would excel, would flourish near the top of the pass. A reader leading MVP candidate. What, if any, pushback is there relative to win? Hold on to what is a little Christmas podium over my my answer to that would would be who the F cares. Wow. Well, fiery response there from Mike McDaniel, who's usually someone that just rambles and rambles and rambles.

And you're like, what the heck is he saying? And he's not wrong. And that was the thing a few weeks ago when people got annoyed when I said Brock Purdy is more of a system quarterback that maybe one day could turn into a franchise quarterback. If you're winning games, if your team's playing well, you should not care what people are saying about you, because ultimately you're judged off of wins and losses.

And if you have more wins than losses, that's all that should matter. And the Dolphins are one of the best teams in the NFL sitting at five and one. And they have an enormous game this weekend with a big test to make in South Philadelphia up against the Philadelphia Eagles. Hey, Sam, let me ask you this real quickly, because I'm in Miami right now getting a feel of the fan base.

You know, I listen to a lot of local radio. Do you think the Miami fans are happy with the national perception right now of Tua Tungava'i Loa, or do you think they're mad with the national perception of Tua Tungava'i Loa? How do you guys think the Miami fan believes the national perception is of their quarterback?

I would say that where it is now is probably more aligned to what they believe. I think now the national media is kind of coming over to the idea that Tua, when healthy, is an elite-level quarterback. If you asked me this five, six weeks ago, they would have been furious with the media nationally, doubting and questioning his arm strength, his durability, his system quarterback-ness, and all these different things. Now I would say it's more aligned, but I would still imagine that they're a little bit frustrated, that they still think that there are too many doubters out there in the national media. But I would imagine it's more aligned now than it's ever been with their assessment of him. Stu, what do you think the perception is? I think they think it's fair. I think they see that Tua is someone who is good when he's healthy, but when he's not healthy, there are concerns, and there are obviously concerns that he might not be healthy.

So I think they're kind of in the same boat as the national media. So the first show I listened to today, they were fuming, and they were really annoyed because of the system quarterback conversation. Then, once 9.59 turned into 10 o'clock, there was a new show, and they were actually saying, they called Mike Greenberg's show Jet Up, which I thought was very funny, instead of Get Up, because of all the love that Greeny shows to the New York Jets. And one of the hosts said, oh, Mike Greenberg was even giving praise to Tua Tungavailoa. So they were happy that more people in the national media are now praising Tua Tungavailoa. But I thought it was fascinating that one show was annoyed, saying, oh, people are calling him a system quarterback. And you have Stephen A. Smith saying he only completes two-yard passes when they show a highlight of him throwing a 60-yard bomb.

And the next show was like, oh, I love the perception out there about Tua Tungavailoa. I think the perception about Tua, if I just had to get a read on it, on what most people should feel, is that he's living up to the potential that he had at Alabama and the way that we thought he was. And it all comes down to him being healthy.

But when healthy, in a great environment and a good coach and also with all these weapons, he has everything right in front of him to go on to be a great quarterback the way that he's playing right now in the NFL and continue that for years to come, as long as he does stay healthy. All right, let's keep it moving. Here's Nick Nurse on if he was surprised that James Harden skipped practice. Yeah, from the last discussions that I've had with him and from everybody, yeah, it was a little bit. I'm still going on what he said the last time we talked to him.

He was going to ramp up and get ready to play Friday, so we'll see how it goes. So I don't think anyone should be surprised at anything that James Harden does. James Harden doesn't want to be on the Sixers anymore.

I don't think it really makes a lot of sense. Clearly, you don't have a bunch of teams outside of the Clippers that have any interest of acquiring the services of James Harden. James Harden's a loser. James Harden is a great regular season player, a horrible postseason player. He cares more about partying than it actually does in terms of winning basketball games and finally getting that championship. And this is what James Harden does. He goes to a place, he plays well at times, then can't win, and then he starts to turn on the organization and blame someone.

The whole thing's a joke. Adam Silver has no backbone, and he just allows the players to run the league right now. But if you're James Harden, what are you going to do, not play this year?

And if you do, it just shows how much of a loser you actually are. Here is Dusty Baker of the Astros. The Astros get on the board in this series. Rangers still lead two games to one with this series at the Rangers ballpark.

Dusty Baker on his team's Game 3 win. We were close to winning the first two games. You know, we were one hit away.

It might not have won, but we were one hit away from at least tying it up or going ahead. I mean, this team doesn't quit. We know that the Rangers don't quit either.

Well, we all know the Astros, who have been to seven straight American League Championship Series, have won two World Series in the last seven years. They're going to be a tough out. Even when they're down two games to nothing, they're not going to go out without a fight. They're still alive to win this series. Let's see where we are after Game 4. Here is Max Scherzer on his Game 3 performance. Max Scherzer continues to show that he's past his prime.

Scherzer coming off the injury, back on the mound, did not go well. Here is Mad Max. In these situations, you know, look, there's some badness. I get it. But, you know, that's where you kind of got to turn out and look at the good. I was able to do well. Look, I made some mistakes.

I get it. You know, I got punished for it, but there were some good things I also did as well. So there you have it right there from Max Scherzer.

I don't know how much good things he did. In the baseball world right now, you have Game 3 of the NLCS with the Phillies and the Diamondbacks. The Phillies, you know, I say this as a Mets fan. They've been such a fun team. They have so many good personalities on that ballclub.

And they just seem so in sync right now. And remember, they started off slow last year. They fired Girardi. Then they're in the World Series. They lose to the Astros, which are their only two losses at home in the last two years in the postseason. And now they have a two games to none lead. Game 3 of the NLCS underway at the end of two.

We do have no score. And it was good in the American League Championship Series that the Astros did get on the board last night. And now we'll see if the Astros could steal Game 4 tonight to even the series back up to 2-2 between the Astros and the Rangers.

First pitch will be at 803 p.m. Eastern later this evening. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll come on back and we will preview tonight's Thursday Night Football game between the Jaguars and Saints.

All eyes are going to be on the status of Trevor Lawrence for this one. And you have a Saints team. Man, I just can't believe in the Saints. But Jacksonville, they've also showed how good they could be.

And then they've had some very questionable losses this season as well. So we'll preview that game coming up on the other side. But first, stream the NFL and Westwood One for free. Sponsored by AutoZone all season long. You can listen to every Westwood One broadcast of the NFL live on the NFL app by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports or on the Odyssey app. Get in the zone AutoZone. The free AutoZone fix finder service can help you find the fix for free. Get in the zone AutoZone.

Restrictions apply. Here's Rich Ackerman. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Today's Memorable Moment is sponsored by Prevagen.

Prevagen is the most recommended memory support brand by pharmacists. The last time the Saints and Jaguars squared off was in October of 2019. And the Saints won 13-7 behind a fourth quarter TD pass from Teddy Bridgewater to Jared Cook.

Man, how about those two names? The Saints lead the all-time series five games to two with New Orleans winning the last four meetings. And I like the Jaguars tonight. I know that Doug Peterson told Ed Warder that the expectation is that Trevor Lawrence is going to be good to go for this game. Coming off that injury that he suffered late on Sunday towards the end with the knee injury.

But that doesn't matter to me. I think this is more so just my lack of conviction in the Saints rather than it is praising Jacksonville. And there's a lot of reasons too like Jacksonville. The Jaguars have a good young quarterback in Trevor Lawrence. Calvin Ridley has been phenomenal. Travis Aten has not been talked about enough. But it seems like this dude finds the end zone one or two times each and every week. Especially recently and we know how tight Trevor Lawrence and Travis Aten are going back to their college days. We've had two really good games from Josh Allen as well. The pass rusher out of Kentucky. You need Trayvon Walker to start playing a little bit better and imagine if the Jaguars actually selected Aiden Hutchinson with the number one overall pick. A few years ago where they had back-to-back years of the number one pick. I thought that was a mistake when they didn't take Aiden Hutchinson and they ended up going with Trayvon Walker.

I actually like some other names before I would even have selected or thought about taking Trayvon Walker out of Georgia. But look at the Saints. This is just not a good team. And the Saints have been a very underwhelming team. Where I never thought the Saints were going to be good this year. But with the Saints, their division was thought to be really crappy heading into this season. And Tampa Bay, even though they had a stinker last week against the Lions who had lost 20-6.

Is not as good or better than what people would have thought. The Falcons, it all comes down to will Arthur Smith start using his brain a little bit. And will he run the ball more with Bijan Robinson and Tyler Algier instead of just asking Desmond Ritter to throw the ball more times than he's capable of. And trying to be a pass first team where you have all these weapons that are filled with speed.

Run the ball more and put the ball more in the hands of Bijan and Tyler Algier. And allow Desmond Ritter, who no one thinks is a franchise quarterback, to be a game manager instead of trying to win off the arm of Desmond Ritter and trying to prove a point that Desmond Ritter is your franchise quarterback. It's just coaching to your strengths and the Falcons aren't doing that right now. And you can forget about the Carolina Panthers.

I know Brian's in the chat back from his sports hiatus as he's trying to cleanse himself from all of his teams losing. But the Panthers absolutely stink. But then you look at the Saints, it's like New Orleans has all this talent. And the Saints are perceived to be that team.

I can't trust Derek Carr and I can't trust this team to stay healthy. But you go through really the Saints schedule this year. They beat Tennessee by one point in week one.

The Tennessee Titans stink. The Panthers, you beat them in week two. It was more of a blowout and it ended up being a backdoor cover where the Panthers lost 20-17.

The Panthers are the worst team in the NFL. You had a lead up against the Packers. You were up 17-0 entering that fourth quarter. And then the Packers rallied to score 8-10 and answered in the fourth quarter. You had a really good run by Jordan Love in that game.

An insane catch by Romeo Dobbs as well. And then Tampa Bay, they get blown out 26-9. They beat the Patriots 34-0. I say this as a Patriot fan. The Patriots suck.

They're garbage. They're terrible this year. And last week, you lose to the Texans. So the Saints have just been bad. I know they have three wins. And I know their record is 3-3. But when your three wins are Tennessee, the Panthers, and the Patriots, why should I believe that you are actually any good? So I know that the Saints are home tonight. That's always a tough environment to play in.

And that's a very tough spot. But this Saints team I don't think is all that good. So I'll trust Peterson. I'll trust Travis Etienne Jr. and whatever the health is now of Trevor Lawrence more than anything the Saints have to be offered. Because the Saints are mediocre. And the Jaguars may not be a great team, but they are a good team.

So I'll trust the Jacksonville Jaguars coming up later tonight on Thursday Night Football to start off week seven of the season. Let's go to Ethan in Pennsylvania. 855-212 for CBS.

855-212-4227. Ethan is next up on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Ethan McShaken. Hey, how are you doing, Zach? Doing great. Good. Wanted to thank you. I've been listening to Sports Talk Radio forever.

And I've never heard a Michigan and Lions poll where they're both first. So appreciate that. Maybe the last time too, Ethan, if we're being honest here. It could change. And then I've got a question for you. And I'll hang up and listen. These allegations against Michigan as far as sign stealings. Just wanted to know your thoughts on that.

And if it's just the NCAA being as petty as they always are. And I'll hang up and listen. Yeah, Ethan.

Appreciate the phone call. So we talked about this a little bit earlier. But we could bring it back up here and rehash it.

There was part of me today. Just being a human being and not trusting the NCAA or sports. Where I go, okay, the NCAA had an issue with Harbaugh. Because they didn't think he was forthcoming with the recruiting allegations.

And he had to self-impose a three-game suspension earlier in the year in Michigan. And there's probably still more to come from that. Where I'm like, hmm. Are they, not that they're making up things because there has to be merit to something in some capacity. You talk about the seriousness.

That's a different conversation. But are they going after Jim here where a lot of other times the NCAA sits on their hands and tries not to go after other people. They usually go after people that they're upset with.

That did cross my mind. The thing is though, even if you're sending someone, and I get at the rules of the rules. To go to another game to try to get the signals and all that. It's like now we're in a building where fans, 100,000 people could be on a camera and they could film the sidelines and get the signs. I just don't think it's a big deal. I've always thought in football, signed ceilings, stealing now, especially with everything going over the headset.

Is really just a non-story. If I'm a Michigan fan though here, and I happen to be somewhat of a Michigan fan as well with my two best friends. Going to Michigan and owning a Leroy Hoard jersey, who I saw today in these Miami studios.

I always love seeing Leroy. I do believe that this is it for Harbaugh at Michigan. Where if an NFL job this offseason comes to him and they say, we want you to be the head coach.

I think he takes it. Because a lot of coaches, especially in college, it's a tougher error now in NIL and also the transfer portal too. Plus if you have the NCAA breathing down your neck, where a lot of us roll our eyes and go the NCAA never gets it right. Remember this is the same organization that they used to allow programs to provide bagels to the players.

But if they provided cream cheese, that was an infraction. And I can see Harbaugh saying, as much as I love Michigan, I'm done and I'm going to go to the NFL. But it requires an NFL team to offer him a job. Alrighty, that's it for the Zach Gelchill table. We'll be back tomorrow for a football Friday.

Danny Connell will join us in addition to Ryan Horvat. Big thanks to Sam through each and every one of you for calling, listening and tweeting. We'll be back tomorrow everybody. We out. Bye-bye. Peace!