Transfer Portal Madness (Hour 3)

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$10 minimum per order. Additional terms apply. Our number three of our radio program, that's right, rocking and rolling, it is the Zach Gilb show on CBS Sports Radio. The transfer portal, it's crazy how quickly it picks up in intensity and with how many names that we do have of big time college football players. And it makes a lot of these bowl games irrelevant because either you're sitting out because you're off to the NFL or with the transfer portal, you're sitting out because you're intending to leave your college. You're sitting out because you're intending to leave your current university. And if you're not in a major bowl game or in the college football playoff, there's not a lot of incentive to wait, wait, wait, wait, wait and play one more game for your current team.

You know, there's a lot of good that comes with the transfer portal. Like you look at the Heisman Trophy finalists, four of them, Bo Nix, Jayden Daniels, Michael Penix Jr. and then Marvin Harrison Jr. Three of those four guys are transfers. Daniels came over from Arizona State and he's had one of the more outstanding individual seasons that we've ever seen from a college quarterback with what he's able to do through the air and also on the ground. Bo Nix had that one great moment to start his career at Auburn up against, ironically, Oregon. And then after that, it was a lot of disappointing with Bo Nix. At times, they would call him Bo Pics for how many picks he would throw. And he goes to Oregon coming over from Auburn. And the last two years, he has been sensational. Michael Penix Jr. was the quarterback at Indiana and he had that controversial touchdown up against Penn State.

But unfortunately for Michael Penix Jr., his career was remembered for a while as just marred with injuries, unfortunately, and derailed with injuries. He goes to Washington. The last two years, he has been one of the better players in college football where last year everyone was up in arms that he didn't get an invite to New York for the Heisman Trophy.

This year, he gets an invite to New York for the Heisman Trophy and it's either going to be him or Daniels, the quarterback at LSU that are going to win the award. So there's a lot of good that comes from transferring. But with that being said, like all of us when we were in college, you make a decision. Sometimes it's good.

Sometimes it's bad. And when you're in that stage of life, more times than not, there's usually more bad decisions than good decisions. I still believe you should have the power to make that decision and you don't like the current school you're at or not even not like it. You think there's a better alternative for you to flourish during your time in college?

I have no problem with you leaving and making that decision. But there's a cautionary tale because for every Daniels, for every Penix Jr. and for every Bo Nix, there's Spencer Sanders. Where Spencer Sanders had a really good situation at Oklahoma State, for whatever the reasons were, and I still don't know why he left Mike Gundy, he thought he had to leave to go join the lane train in Lane Kiffin.

There was already someone there who started the year before in Jackson Dart. And I guess Spencer Sanders was betting on himself and thought that was the best spot for him to go. And he didn't start a game this year because Jackson Dart had a really good season for a top 10 program in Ole Miss.

So sometimes you may leave a situation that you don't realize is a really good situation until you leave. And I'm not saying Spencer Sanders didn't appreciate his time at Oklahoma State. But who talked about Spencer Sanders this year outside of, man, you made a bad decision because you used your transfer portal. You use your free transfer and you went from Oklahoma State to to Ole Miss.

And in your final year of eligibility, we barely even saw you play outside of garbage time. So I will be curious to see with all these names in the transfer portal how it does play out. Now, the Oklahoma one, I think, is one of the more intriguing ones and one that I was not expecting because Dylan Gabriel has entered the transfer portal. And Dylan Gabriel, now multiple spots we have seen, is a good quarterback. And at one stretch this year, coming off a Red River where they beat Texas, there was a thought that Dylan Gabriel could have a chance to get to New York for the Heisman Trophy. Now, Dylan Gabriel is leaving Oklahoma. I think a lot of people are saying, is that a decision on his own or was he talked into that decision? And I would probably lean the latter because Jackson Arnold is supposed to be that next guy at Oklahoma. A five star recruiter played a little bit this year and burned his redshirt eligibility. So now they're going to go to Jackson Arnold. Was that Brenton Venables going to Dylan Gabriel? Hey, we appreciate what you did for us here. We like you a lot.

We want you to do what's in the best interest for you and go somewhere else and find that next home. But it's not like Dylan Gabriel was a bad quarterback this year. So there's two sides of it. Why did Dylan Gabriel leave? And the other part of it, assuming it goes the way that I think it did go in where Dylan Gabriel was kind of advised to transfer, you're now going to trust a younger player compared to the older player.

And this all ties back in Samta Wright to Texas, where we're now seeing. And we had Fosse Whitaker on the other week who said, even if Quinn Ewers comes back, he doesn't expect Arch Manning to transfer. And he thinks Arch Manning would to be still on the team next year, even though this would still be Quinn Ewers' team.

So there's a lot going on here in terms of what you could control individually. And then also how much of a decision is it really for the individual with teams maybe pushing a player out the door, similar to what maybe happened at Ohio State, where if I'm just going to guess at Ohio State, like Kyle McCord was fine this season. I think everyone knew he wasn't the answer. But I don't know if Kyle McCord is leaving on his own accord, as that's a tongue twister, or is he leaving because Ryan Day said to him, yeah, I can't guarantee that you're going to be the starter. We're going to try to bring in some competition.

We're going to use the transfer portal. And maybe Kyle McCord said, yeah, I kind of see the writing on the wall. I'm getting blamed. And I know he didn't play well up against Michigan. He had the two bad picks, but they're looking for somebody else. So let me not just get in a battle because there's a chance that I get in a battle I lose, where I could go somewhere else and someone could go bring me in still in a power four, power five conference. And they could use me even if I'm taking a step down in terms of the school that I'm going to. So that's the fascinating part about this. How much are these decisions really individual driven? And how much are they really team driven as well?

But you look at the transfer portal right now. You've got Dylan Gabriel in it. Cam Ward. We're just talking about quarterbacks. Riley Leonard, Dante Moore, Will Howard, D.J.

Uwe Ungolale, Grayson McCall, Kyle McCord, Tyler Van Dyke, Will Rogers, Max Johnson. And I could probably keep on going for another 20 minutes listing quarterbacks that are going into the transfer portal. Let's listen up to Pete Thamel from ESPN. Dylan Gabriel going to be a hot commodity. Here's what Pete had to say on some teams that could be interested in the Oklahoma Sooners former signal caller. As for Dylan Gabriel, sources just told me in the last hour that he's expected to take a visit to Oregon this week. Oregon has jumped out ahead as the favorite for Gabriel services.

He's obviously thrown for nearly 15000 yards and one hundred twenty five touchdown passes in his career. Oregon and Washington were the two schools that I thought of right away. And maybe they're just because they're in the news right now and they just came off that Pac-12 championship game. And they're both going to need quarterbacks next year and they both utilized the transfer portal before. But for Dylan Gabriel, whether you wanted to make a decision on the on your own or kind of Oklahoma forced you out, that'd be a pretty damn good move going from Oklahoma and landing in Oregon or going from Oklahoma and landing in Washington. And we've seen both those coaches, DeBoer and Lanning, be able to work with Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. where there was a lot of uncertainty about both those quarterbacks.

You know, before they got to Oregon, before they got to Washington. And they both had two great seasons in back to back years in both those guys first two years with their programs respectively at Washington and Oregon. And Dylan Gabriel has accomplished a lot more than Bo Nix did when he was at at Auburn or Michael Penix Jr. did when he was at Indiana. You know, I could say that Dylan Gabriel, Dylan Gabriel potentially going to Oregon.

That just is one sampter that it just seems right like that. You say that that seems like, OK, there's a lot of logic behind that, especially with Oregon now going over the Big Ten. Well, so that was the part of it going to the Big Ten. I mean, he's going to be in three different conferences in four years, basically.

Dylan Gabriel. So like part of me was wondering, like maybe there's a Big 12 team that he could have transferred to to stay within the conference. He knows the teams.

He knows the areas. Moving to a completely different conference could be troubling. But Dylan Gabriel, he's a stud. He's going to be great wherever he goes. Oregon, Ohio State, whatever. I think it's going to be really interesting. I just I find it so fascinating if what you're saying is right, that he's not moving on his own accord, that he's being pushed out by Oklahoma. Which I think is the case because they have this stud recruit coming in or who's there.

Yeah, he's already there. I find that to be incredibly fascinating that they're pushing out the guy they know is great for a guy that could be great. And then you see Texas on the other side also going to the SEC with Oklahoma, choosing to stick potentially with Quinn Ewers if he stays rather than forcing him to leave so they can get Arch Manning in there. I find it the two approaches to quarterbacking very interesting. Right. There's there's one program who's going with the who would seems like go with the seasoned veteran and the other programs going with the hot young recruit. So it's really interesting.

Now, two things off of that. I wonder if Oklahoma just and I know this is kind of weird to say after he just threw 400 yards passing Dylan Gabriel in the final game of the season as they slay T.C.U. 69 to 45. I wonder if Oklahoma feels like maybe they've reached their apex with Gabriel where everything went right for him this year. And he had this incredible season this year. And still it was 10 and two where they had that big win up against Texas. But ever since that went up against Texas, they lost the Kansas. They lost the Oklahoma State. And maybe they feel as if now going into this new era of the SEC, they're just ready to hand the baton over to the younger quarterback as they embark on this new journey.

That could be one of it. Or also, you know, you look at the Texas decision individually. I also think it makes it easier when you don't have the pressure of the Manning family rushing to get Arch Manning on the field because that's the thing that gets lost in this.

I don't know how easy of a decision this is for Texas. If the Manning family was singing a different kind of tune where they were saying, no, we were OK with sitting for a year, we want to see Arch play in your number two. And I heard Archie Manning do an interview recently. And even though he didn't like fully say it, you know, he did discuss how it's not the worst thing in the world to be patient with the young quarterback. And we know this. We've seen it from both ways. Like we've seen quarterbacks play one year and then people say, oh, we only played one year.

It's it's not enough of a sample size. Then we've seen guys play three, four years and just natural fatigue does happen. Arch Manning, they know the Manning family, how good he can be. And if they think he could be great in just maybe a year or two of college football, maybe they're fine with with this going down. Because if you had the Manning, imagine you had the power of the Manning family and you had Eli and Peyton and Archie.

Doing interviews or leaking to reporters that they all have relationships with on Arch is ready to play. Like, could you imagine if if if Arch Manning went into the transfer portal? It'd be wild. It'd be crazy.

Matt Rule said the other day, what? To get a good quarterback now you're paying a million to two million dollars for a quarterback? What would Arch Manning go for? Like, look how much money should North Sanders made this year? Look how much money Caleb Williams made this year?

Because not only of how good of a player you could be, it's also the story, too. And there would be no hotter commodity in the transfer portal, even with some big names like Dylan Gabriel and Cam Ward. It was a no star recruit. And now who is it? Brock Huard, who said there was like eight or nine schools that were that had a million dollar offers to him already. Imagine you then put just the last name Manning in the transfer portal. Oh, that would be a we could televise that on ESPN. That would be a great fight between all these coaches to see how much money they could get together from their boosters through NIL. Let's go to Pete Thamel, Riley Leonard, the Duke quarterback, who I actually like out of this courtesy of ESPN. Here is his potential teams that could be interested, according to Pete Thamel. Sources have told ESPN that Riley Leonard is going to go on a visit to Notre Dame. It's probably instructive that a lot of the schools in the quarterback market have backed off Riley Leonard a little bit. So there's an expectation that he could end up there.

We'll see if he signs on the dotted line this week. I don't know why every time I hear Pete Thamel, he sounds too serious. You're a college football insider. He seems as if he could be reporting politics for like CNN or Fox News. That is a really, really serious reporter when we're talking about things that in the large scheme of things are not that big of a deal, even though we treat them like a big deal in college football.

But I almost feel as if I'm like on the edge of my seat getting ready to hear something really serious when we're talking about where kids go in to transfer. Riley Leonard to Notre Dame does make sense. We've now seen that back to back years. Like he's a respected quarterback. I think he's a good quarterback.

No one thinks he has the ceiling of being like this great NFL player, similar to kind of with Sam Hartman, where he was a really good, experienced quarterback at Wake Forest and he had a good year for Notre Dame this past season. All right, let's hear one more for Pete Thamel. D.J. Ouyeungele, once at Clemson, did not work out, then had a very successful season at Oregon State, but Oregon State now doesn't have a conference really, now doesn't have a head coach or Jonathan Smith taking the Michigan State job.

This was Pete Thamel on D.J. Ouyeungele hitting the transfer portal. As for D.J. Ouyeungele, we could see a return to the ACC, Kelsey. Two schools that have emerged as his top shooters are Florida State and Louisville.

He has no visit set. Mississippi State has also shown some interest. But D.J., you could be making a cross-country trip back to the Atlantic. I would I would think of maybe three or four schools for him.

You know, Oregon, Washington, I think everyone's going to think Oregon, Washington, because they're fresh and they just utilize the transfer portal so well. Would Ohio State be of interest in D.J. Ouyeungele? And I wonder if Ryan Day would want to hitch his wagon to D.J. Ouyeungele where the last time he was in a big time program, even though I think that was more so on the coaching problem than it was the individual ability of D.J.

Ouyeungele, we saw D.J. U not reach those expectations at Clemson from an entertainment aspect. And I know there's a bunch of changes in the landscape of college football with the conferences. Him going back to the ACC and having him go to like Louisville will be fine. I don't think it does as much sizzle and pop as it would Florida State. Now, Louisville was in the ACC championship game and Jeff Brom going home did a phenomenal job this past season.

They were better than anyone could have thought. But imagine him going to Florida State who are in the news a lot, just went undefeated, just won the ACC. And now he gets to go battle up against Clemson, who has been perceived as the team that has been falling from their throne, where Dabo and D.J.

did not get along towards the end. And then you have Mike Norvell benefiting from what Dabo couldn't get right after another move with him going to Oregon State and then Jonathan Smith leaving. And then you have D.J. Ouyeungele going back to the ACC to do direct battle with Clemson.

I think that would be a whole lot of fun. And the other thing, too, I think the obvious here is you also have to look at Michigan State. Wouldn't Jonathan Smith love to bring like a little luggage with him, right, as Dion said, as Luis?

Wouldn't he like to do that potentially? Now taking over at Michigan State, but would D.J. Ouyeungele want to go to Michigan State?

It's another question. The two quarterbacks, I can't wait to see where they land, or really three. Dylan Gabriel, Cam Ward, who I think could go to Ohio State, and then D.J.

Ouyeungele. Those are the three that I'm most interested in. Alrighty, this is that Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. One of the best stories in the NFL are the Houston Texans. Their third overall pick from this past draft coming off a two-sack performance. Will Anderson Jr. out of Alabama will join us next.

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For all terms and limitations, visit FelixCatInsurance.com slash terms. We continue this is that Gelb Show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. One of the best stories of the NFL this year are the Houston Texans.

They are seven and five. And coming up on Sunday, they have a game up against the New York Jets. And now joining us is a standout rookie from Alabama, now dominating the NFL early on, coming off a two sack performance on Sunday to win up against the Denver Broncos.

And that, of course, is Will Anderson Junior. Will, appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this. How you been? I've been good. Thank you for having me. I appreciate you.

Well, thanks so much for coming on. So I got to start you off with two weeks ago. You guys lose a tough one to the Jaguars. You guys then go up against the Broncos, who have been one of the hottest teams in the NFL.

And you put an end to their five game win streak. Just what does it say about your team's toughness to be able to store away a loss and then bounce back with a nice performance against the Broncos? Yeah, I think it's just the hunger the team have. Like we know that we can accomplish something really special this year.

You know, if we're all locked in, we're all doing our job. And I think that everybody's been seeing like we can really win games. We have a really good football team. So like we can bounce back from anything. And, you know, I think the type of team we just have is a really like just a starving team. We just starving for greatness.

And I think we just want more of that. So, you know, we bounce back from that. Go win this one and we just want to keep this thing rolling. How about your performance this past Sunday individually? I know you're a team guy being a captain. You've always been a team guy. But to get two sacks and also get a hand on that football to deflect that punt. That was a pretty impressive performance. Yeah, man. I would just say it's all God, man.

Like it's just staying down, staying true to who you are. You know, I'm saying not listen to the outside noise, but also have to give a big shout out to, you know, the D line room and the coaches that's in there and everybody like that. Man, those guys, you know, did a really good job of working with me. And I think that's been the main thing this year. Just beginning to learn from a great group of guys like Rank and Jerry Hughes, JG. And then we added DB to the room and then Kerry, he would say San Fran. So I just been trying to connect with those guys and they've been doing a really good job of taking me under their wing and teaching me to rope.

So I just have to give a really big credit to those guys. We all know that expectations have always been high on you and you've always been under the spotlight to be able to make this transition seem so easy to the NFL. You know, I wonder, is there a next level to Will Anderson Jr.? Like, how comfortable are you so far with the transition? And how much more growth do you think you still have? Oh, it's never been satisfied with anything. It's always room for improvement and always room for growth. I feel like now at this next level, like I feel like I have even reached, you know, where I can really go with my game, you know what I'm saying? Like, and that's what excites me the most. Like that's like I said, just learning from everything. Like it's just so much stuff I've learned so far from all these guys that like I didn't even know in college or like I don't even know coming to league, man. And it's just beautiful to see. And it just makes like it's getting me fired up right now. Just thinking about some of the things. So like, I'm excited, you know, I'm saying like, but right now, like I'm just focused on like the team right now.

What we have to do to go out there and accomplish what we have to do. Talking to Will Anderson Jr. right now on the Zach Gelb show. I remember on draft night and let me preface it by saying you're my favorite player in the country defensively heading into the draft and the Texans move up to get you after taking CJ Stroud. And I was surprised by some of the pushback. People are like, oh, the Texans are going to be no good.

They give away their first round picks for next year to the Arizona Cardinals. Did you hear a lot of that criticism and to prove a lot of doubters wrong, not only individually, but also as a team? What does that mean to you? Yeah, I learned my lesson in college, like early and often to stay away from all of that stuff. And, you know, nowhere, you know, your faith is and everything like that. And knowing that God makes no mistakes and that everything is going to work out.

So I learned that lesson way in college. So when I got here, man, and Coach Ryan's, he did a phenomenal job with me and CJ. Like when we first got here, like it's like, of course, it's expectation. But he was like, we're not coming in here asking you all to be Superman or anything like that. We brought we brought you all in here for the type of man that you are, the type of players that you all are. You all are great, man. Just be yourself. You don't have to go out there and try to do anything extra, anything like that. And I feel like when he told us that me and CJ just like it was like a burden kind of lifted off our shoulders.

We can just really be ourselves and just being ourselves worked out. You know, the guys in locker room were amazing. The team is amazing. The staff is amazing.

So it's beautiful to see, man. We're all in for the team, honestly. And this team, I couldn't be more proud of them.

And I know you got a good mix of veterans, but you got a lot of youngsters that are playing well. Stingley had the two pecs. You had the two sack performance. You know what CJ's doing? Unfortunate injury with Tank Dell.

But he was off to a monster start this year in your number one. Just what is that like when you have an organization that's trying to turn around what they've been and you got a lot of hungry guys, younger guys working together? Yeah, it's exciting to see. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing to see, man, and to be a part of it.

It's just a blessing, man. All those guys that you name and the other guys that we do have on the team that's been balling out too, man. It just shows, you know, what type of team we have. We have a team full of ballers. We have a team full of playmakers. And everybody's been locked in and bought into the system, which is the offensive system, defensive system.

But ultimately just to text his way. And, you know, coach always talks about just doing us better. And I think we've been doing a really good job of just doing us better. You're the name on the defense, Will Anderson Jr. We know the name on the offense of the entire organization is the quarterback in C.J.

Shroud. What you've seen out of him so far. How do you just describe what he's doing as he's taking the league by storm? I don't even know if it's a word to describe the amazing things that C.J.

is doing. Like coach had showed up a highlight of him yesterday. He had did like a back shoulder throw. I want to say the Nico, I want to say, or it was Nico or Brevin. And I know like it was crazy thing to see.

I've never seen nothing like it. But like to be so different at this stage where he's at right now is just like unbelievable, man. And then just the man that C.J. is, man, he's just a great high character guy. You know, everybody loves him in the building.

Great personality, always cracking jokes, always being himself. And I think that's what makes him so special. He just he's just C.J. He doesn't try to be anybody else.

It's not a facade. We get the same exact C.J. every single day. And I think that's what makes C.J.

so special. I know you're an Alabama guy, so you portray one game at a time, not even one day at a time, like one second at a time. But going back to this summer, when you guys were forming together and you started to see what this team could look like with D'Amico Ryans, the new kind of jolt of energy with you and C.J., a lot of people are surprised you guys are seven and five. What type of team did you guys think you had in the summer?

What did you think you could accomplish? Honestly, for me, I knew we were going to be way better than they were last year. I was like Coach Ryan just came from San Fran, had, I think, the number one defense. And I love the system.

I love the scheme that he has. I was like, we have ballers over here that I know for a fact can fit into that system. So like when we got a chance to really get that thing going and practice it and go against each other in practice and then slow came with the offense and everything like that. We just see how competitive it was.

We was all like, oh, yeah, we really got a chance to be a really great team. Unfortunate injury last night with Trevor Lawrence. He has a ankle sprain.

We'll see how many weeks he's going to miss. The Colts have been a really good story as well. And there are you guys, one of the best stories in league at seven and five. Why is this group ready now to go win a division? Because that talk's going to pick up this week as it's attainable for you guys to win the AFC South the rest of the way. We can't worry about that, man. We just got to worry about the Jets. We got to worry about the schedule that we got. We got to worry about how we can just keep improving every week and getting better every week and not focus on any of the noise. And I think that's what this team does a really good job of that. Everybody does a really good job of just focus on a week ahead, a week ahead, the practice ahead, the preparation ahead, leading up into the rest of the season. I have to ask you about your college team.

They've been in a lot of the news. Get into college football playoff. You know, Saban, very well. Anderson Junior, you tell me, what do you think Nick Saban's like behind the scenes this year? Because after they lost to Texas, the Alabama dynasty's done.

It's dead. This team's not going back to the college football playoff. And here we are. They're SEC champions beat in Georgia.

And now they're one of the four teams remaining. Yeah, I just say this type of type of coach he is like he's very competitive and he all he likes challenges. And that's what keeps them going. I remember walking with him my last year and really just get a lot of wisdom from him. And that's one of the things he told my coach, how do you been doing this for so long? He said, I love the challenge of it. Every year is going to be a different challenge. And how can I go like take like take advantage of that challenge? And I think just like this, you're like, oh, they lost. That's Texas.

That's that's a challenge. Let's see how the rest of the season will go. So I think he did a really good job with the hires. Yeah, the players, you know, they're listening to him and everything like that. And I just called the Saban effect like everybody's locked into what he has to say. And, you know, they're going to do what he's going to say or else they're going to get out.

Did they take the antenna out? Just wondering of your brain? Because I'm convinced ever since seeing Quinnen Williams freeze up when he's about to take a shot at Kyler Murray, all those years ago, that Saban kind of has an antenna in your guy's brains a little bit.

Right when you're about to say something controversial. No, no, no, no, no. Before we let you run, Will Anderson Jr., how do you compare your coach now, D'Amico Ryans, to one of the best ever do it in Nick Saban?

Do you see any similarities between the two? Very, very. They're both competitive. Love the game of football.

Very passionate about it. I would just say, like, of course, Coach Ryans is just he's played in the league. He knows how it is. So he's more youthful, too. So he has a little bit like more energy and everything like that. And like he can like really get the room going for because of the energy that he has and the passion that he has for the game and everything like that. But I just say as far as mindset and as far as mentality, like practice and everything like that, like the exact same.

So that's how I would say that they have a lot of similarities. You know what it's like to be the team that everyone is hunting when you go into a game this week against the Jets. Everyone's going to be praising you guys. No one's going to be talking about the Jets because their offense is in a really bad spot right now. How do you guys stay focused and not overlook an opponent this week?

Because we just have to worry about what we have to do and worry about going out there, executing and doing our jobs to the best of our ability. Again, not listening to any of the noise, not listening to the rat poison, as Coach Saban would say, and just focus on us and doing us better. Last thing I'll ask you before we let you run while Anderson Junior, I just want to ask one question about your college teammate in Bryce Young.

You guys are so synonymous for so many years. People are now wondering how Bryce is going to be as a pro quarterback. It has not gone well in a tough situation in Carolina. Just what do you say to people that are doubting Bryce Young as a QB? Man, I love Bryce to death, man. Bryce is going to be OK. You know, Bryce have all the tools and ability to be a great quarterback in his league. Awesome guy. And once, you know, they get everything situated over there, Bryce is going to flourish.

You know what I'm saying? Like, Bryce is going to do his thing. I know the guys over there respect him a lot. He's a great captain, a great leader and everything like that.

Loves the game of football, very competitive. So I would say it just takes time to give it time. Let them get the right, you know, people over there for him. He's going to ball out, man. He's just going to continue to be who he is, to be Bryce Young.

So Bryce is going to be OK. Well, things are fun right now in H-Town. Really do appreciate you taking a few minutes today out of your schedule, Will Anderson Junior. Thanks for doing this. Thank you. I appreciate you.

Alrighty. Closing things down on a Tuesday. This is that Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We do this in the football season on every Tuesday after another week of the NFL.

It's called overreaction proper reaction. Stuart Kovac. Hit it. 4 for 4. Another NFL week is complete, which means it's another week to freak out about your favorite team. Which takes are truly crazy. But sometimes a game can be so bad, it's almost good. You know what I'm saying? No.

And which are so crazy, they might be right. He's 6'5", he's 245 pounds. He's probably a Popeye's biscuit away from being a tight end. Zach lets you know in this week's edition of overreaction or proper reaction. Alrighty, Big Mike CBS. Welcome back.

What do you got? Well, I got Trevor Lawrence, who went down with an injury in Jacksonville's 34-31 OT loss to the Bengals last night. They now hold just a game lead over the Texans and the Colts.

Today, Doug Peterson said the injury is just an ankle sprain and didn't rule Lawrence out for next week's game against Cleveland. So overreaction, proper reaction, the Jaguars will not win the AFC South. So I'm conflicted here, because I was around Doug Peterson when he was in Philadelphia, and lost his quarterback, his best special teams player, his best linebacker, and also a future Hall of Fame offensive lineman, and he still won a Super Bowl. So I know what he's capable of, even if he has to miss his quarterback for a week or two. I'm going to say, though, that this is a proper reaction when you say the Jaguars will not win the AFC South.

And here's why. The Texans final five games of their season. They play the Jets, they play Tennessee twice, they play Cleveland, and they play Indianapolis. I think the Texans are running the table the rest of the way. I think they're ending the season on a six-game win streak. They just beat Denver, I think they're going to beat the Jets, they're going to beat Tennessee twice, they're going to beat Cleveland, and then they're going to beat Indy. And the Texans not only make the playoffs, they make the playoffs as AFC South champs. I will just trust C.J.

Shroud, I will trust D'Amico Ryans, and I will trust the guy that just joined just a few moments ago in Will Anderson, June. And man, it'd be a lot brighter of a path if they won that game against the Jags a couple weeks ago. Crazy. Yeah, with Amendola, who hit the crossbar, that 58-yard field goal attempt that would have put the game in overtime. If they lose the division, it'll be by a foot. It's crazy. Now, since returning to the lineup, Kyler Murray is 2-2 for the Cardinals, and Arizona has fallen out of the top pick in the draft, and sit third right now with your Pats number 2.

That's right. Can you say Drake May, ladies and gentlemen, Drake May, New England Patriots quarterback, but have just one fewer loss than five other teams due to the Cardinals. So, overreaction, proper reaction. Kyler Murray doesn't get enough credit for being an absolute star when he's healthy. Oh, that's an overreaction because Kyler Murray, I can't say he is a star. As an NFL quarterback, he's a good quarterback. He's not great. He thinks he is better than what he is, and he was very sensitive to some of the criticism that was deserved after his team laid an egg in that playoff game up against the Rams.

I think this is more of a reflection on our society where we go, everyone is great, and we don't realize you could just be good and not great. Maybe one day Kyler Murray turns out to be a great quarterback, and I do think he'll be the guy for the Cardinals next year, but when you say he doesn't get enough credit for being a star when healthy, I would push back on stardom in the NFL so far. So, I would think that's a, when you say Kyler Murray doesn't get enough credit for being a star when healthy, I guess I'd go overreaction because I wouldn't call him a star.

So maybe I'm the problem on this question. No, it's not you, but just remember a couple years ago before he got hurt, he was an MVP candidate early midway through the season, and when he's healthy, he's dynamic. It's just the problem is he can't stay healthy, and it's not just the injuries that keep him out of games. It's the injuries and the pain that he continues to get because he's small and gets hurt that he's just not playing 100% throughout the season.

But, I don't know, I'm curious to see what he can do with the Cardinals moving forward, especially if he can stay healthy. And I know Cliff Kingsbury is no longer there, but whenever he was with Cliff Kingsbury, they had these incredible starts, and then just these painful, I mean painful finishes to their season. Because Murray just kept getting banged up, banged up, and banged up. Now the Saints have dropped three straight to fall to five and seven.

Now said tied for second in the NFC South at the Bucks. Right after a Derek Carr interception on Sunday, injured wideout Michael Thomas tweeted, quote, When your eyes don't work, you get people hurt. It's not a mystery.

Huh. Overreaction, proper reaction. You still have faith that Derek Carr can be an effective NFL starting quarterback. Now Michael Thomas was a better wide receiver than Derek Carr ever was as a quarterback. But I find it very ironic that a guy that can't stay healthy in Michael Thomas, and has been underwhelming, is taking a shot at another guy that has been underwhelming and can't stay healthy in Derek Carr.

That's just amazing to me. I never had faith that Derek Carr was this great quarterback to begin with, so I think I'm the wrong person to ask if I still have faith that Derek Carr can be an effective NFL starting. And also, I picked against the Saints this year in the NFC South, and I went with the Falcons because whenever Derek Carr is supposed to be this, or supposed to be that, or supposed to be the guy, he always finds a way to mess it up. I wish him nothing but the best in terms of health, but the way he conducts himself in the media, it's always like, Oh, I'm the hardest worker. Oh, what was me? And oh, I'm going to be the great leader.

The story just gets old. Like every time Derek Carr speaks, I want to just play like the small violin because that's what it sounds like to me. It sounds like someone's trying to tell me they're better than what they are, and it sounds like a lot of whining from Derek Carr, but I don't like this coming from Michael Thomas, but I don't have any faith that Derek Carr is going to be an effective NFL starter, so I guess I would say when you ask me, you still have faith that Derek Carr can be an effective NFL starter. I would go overreaction. The NFC North is heating up as the Packers won their third straight and moved into a tie with the Vikings for second. Both teams are currently in the playoffs at six and seven respectively, though Green Bay doesn't play a game against a winning team the rest of the season. Da-na, da-na-na-na-na, go Pack, go! So overreaction, proper reaction. The Green Bay Packers are a top five team in the NFC.

Ooh, spicy, spicy, spicy. Eagles better, Cowboys better, 49ers better, Lions better. And then? It's not anyone in the NFC South. I trust Jordan Love more than Josh Dobbs. Seahawks? Yeah, I would still give the edge to the Seahawks. It would be like potentially five, could be five, maybe we should buy more stock in them, but I don't want to write Geno Smith. Because then he won't write back.

Yeah, I'll say they're just on the outside. But I like that Packers team and how quickly they have changed the last few weeks. We had Kevin Arlen on and it was like, Jordan Love, don't show something. He won't be back next year.

And then, boom, here comes Jordan Love. And the da-na, da-na-na-na-na, go Pack, go! Packers are a top five team in the NFC. Close. Close, close, close, close, close. But I will go a slight overreaction. Now Kenny Pickett underwent successful surgery on his high ankle sprain and Mike Tomlin says he doesn't believe it will be a season-ending injury. The Steelers' offensive struggles have been well-documented both before and after firing Matt Canada and also both with Trubisky and Pickett under center. But overreaction, proper reaction, if Mitch Trubisky thrives... Trubisky. OK, that guy thrives under center over the next couple games.

He should remain the starter when Pickett returns. What do you mean by thriving? Anything better than what the Steelers' offenses look like. Like, let's say... Not inept.

What do you say? He misses about three games, let's say? Potentially, sure.

OK. Let's say they are two and one. And in that one loss, he didn't even play that poorly. They played New England, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. It's not even about the wins and losses, it's about how the offense looks and how Trubisky's handling that offense. I am the farthest thing from Mitch Trubisky's advocate, but if he does play well or thrive, as you would say, I think you got to continue to go with him. It's a proper reaction. I'm not saying I expect that to happen, but Kenny Pickett has been pretty brutal this year to watch.

All right, and last one. The Jets fell to four and eight with yet another loss from yet another awful loss. Another loss from yet another awful quarterback. Robert Salah fell to 15 and 31 overall as the Jets' head coach, and apparently he's been texting a little bit too much with some media members. Joe Benigno, bro. Maybe giving a little bit too much information and being a little too open with some other Jets media people.

Overreaction, proper reaction. The Jets will fire Salah after the season. Robert Salah's a nice guy, but he's an idiot. I told Joe this. The day we found out that Benigno and Salah are close, I remembered Joe in the newsroom, and I said to him, you know he's only being nice to you because he doesn't want you to bash him publicly. And that signified to me someone that is afraid and knew that his team wasn't going to meet the expectations that were out there. Now, it's completely out of whack, the expectations, because Aaron Rodgers got hurt four plays into the season.

But the fact that he is texting Joe so much and good for Joe with the relationship, and then you hear something Joe says and Joe is spilling the beans, it's like, this seems a little sloppy here. I think Salah will be back. He shouldn't be back, but I think he'll be back because Aaron Rodgers wants him back. But if I was running the Jets, I would get rid of him. So what was the question here? One more time? The Jets will fire Salah. They should, but they won't. So I will say that's an overreaction.

Benigno is not the most technologically sound human being on the planet. I'm just amazed that he's been able to keep up this texting relationship with the coach of the Jets all throughout the season. Alrighty, fun show today. Good to have Moist Mike back in the building.

Big Mike CBS. Stuart Kovacs, great job as always. Big thanks to each and every one of you for calling, listening, tweeting, participating with the show. We'll be back tomorrow in a very busy Wednesday edition of the Zach Gilb Show on CBS Sports Radio. I'd like to thank Byron Young from the Dollar General store to the NFL.

What a story that is. And also Will Anderson Jr. for joining us as well. We'll talk mañana, everybody. We out. Bye-bye. We'll be right back.