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Vikings Trading Jefferson??? (Hour 1)

Zach Gelb Show / Zach Gelb
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February 26, 2024 4:04 pm

Vikings Trading Jefferson??? (Hour 1)

Zach Gelb Show / Zach Gelb

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February 26, 2024 4:04 pm

Vikings reportedly could deal Justin Jefferson I Top 5 QB’s in NFL Draft I Onsides/Offsides

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Hey, Rob Bradford here. I have set out on a mission with my good friends at FanDuel to prove what I have known for some time. Baseball isn't boring. Now I have a daily podcast to prove it with some of the most notable people in the baseball world, screaming baseball isn't boring for the mountaintops, or at least agreeing to come on our show. Players, managers, GMs, and yes, even the commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred. It has been a constant wave of baseball to both powerful voices.

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You'll be glad you did. YouTube.com slash CBS Sports Radio 855 212 for CBS's number to chime on in 855 212 4227. You could always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb. That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. We've got an action-packed show for you today coming up at 5 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Pacific.

Former Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright is going to stop by and of course has always got Moist Mike and Stuart Kovacs rocking and rolling with me all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. So I am back from my time in Orlando from a very fun bachelor party. I am here for three days this week. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And then I'm off on more vacation going to Puerto Rico coming up on Thursday morning.

So let's get right to it. And I saw a bunch of stuff over the weekend in the world of sports. And we're going to start the show with two reports. One about the uncertain future of Justin Jefferson in Minnesota and then Peter King who announced his retirement today. By the way, congratulations to the great Peter King, one of the preeminent sports writers to ever do it and is a man that is just all class and is absolutely phenomenal and sensational at his job. But he also had a nugget about the first round pick and he actually believes that the first overall pick, he supposes that the Bears are going to trade that top pick. So two stories to unpack inside the NFC North. And let's start with Justin Jefferson. Let me make this abundantly clear. The Minnesota Vikings would be absolute morons to trade Justin Jefferson.

It would be idiotic and it would make no sense. I don't care if his price is going up and up and up and you're going to have to pay him north of 30 million dollars a year because of the never-ending rising salary cap. I don't care what the cost is of Justin Jefferson.

The Vikings, and I said this about 9,000 times, they should have got the deal done last offseason. Because when you don't get the deal done last offseason, natural tension and sometimes some contentious situations could form and you run the risk of Justin Jefferson getting PO'd with your franchise and either not wanting to come back or it getting to a point where this just keeps on going on and on and on and it's unnecessary drama and unnecessary stories. So the Vikings have already dropped the ball by not already getting this deal done with Justin Jefferson.

And I'll say it again. I don't care what the price tag is for Justin Jefferson. You cannot trade Justin Jefferson. I don't care if a team calls you up and offers you two first round picks.

You do not trade Justin Jefferson. Because if you do, you are heading towards a full rebuild. And that doesn't make sense to me why the Minnesota Vikings who have a good team and who could be a quarterback away from being a contender in the NFC would head to a full rebuild. And before people call me up and say, well, they have a quarterback in Kirk Cousins. Well, Kirk is a free agent. And I think that this front office has made it pretty damn clear through their actions that they don't intend and their number one priority isn't to bring back Kirk Cousins. They tried to replace him or set the future up for their quarterback position in Minnesota last year, where if you go back to the NFL draft, and you remember all the reporting, they aggressively tried to trade up in last year's draft to go acquire the services of Anthony Richardson. So, Anthony Richardson was a fun prospect, Anthony Richardson was all based off potential.

But if you were ready to move mountains for Anthony Richardson, why wouldn't you do so a year later, when there are some prospects in the top three of the draft at the quarterback position that are more polished and perceived to have higher ceilings and be better quarterbacks than Anthony Richardson. Now, I don't know if the Vikings are going to be able to get a deal done with the Chicago Bears. I don't know if the Bears are trading the number one pick, but we told you about the Peter King report.

And not only that, there was also another report over the weekend. And this was coming from Darren Wolfson, KSTP TV, who said that there's already been some homework done by the Minnesota Vikings to trading up into the top three. And they had recent conversations going back to the Senior Bowl at the earliest with the New England Patriots who hold the number three overall pick. So I'm just following the trail of crumbs that are being left throughout the last two years from the Minnesota Vikings. They are looking to go get a young quarterback in the draft.

Now, you could argue that's the right decision. You could say, OK, just get a deal done, iron out an extension with Kirk Cousins, or maybe you go out there and you sign a veteran. And I don't think they'll be able to trade for Justin Fields, but maybe Russell Wilson is someone that is a possibility to be a stopgap. But you got to remember who the coaches of the Minnesota Vikings. That's Kevin O'Connell. Kevin O'Connell is one of the young, innovative minds in football.

I don't think he's going to want to right now. Go with the veteran. Like if you're moving off of Kirk Cousins, and I've been someone that suggested maybe it's Russell Wilson, maybe that's the plan if they aren't able to trade up in the draft. I do believe the Vikings, just following what happened last year with Anthony Richardson and now the reporting this year, are really intrigued on moving up in the draft and going into the top three and getting a quarterback. But let's say you trade with the Patriots and Jayden Daniels is still there at three. Why would you then trade Justin Jefferson? And if your only answer is to recoup some of the draft picks and the first round draft picks to kind of negate them out that you had to trade to move into the top three to go get your quarterback, that doesn't really sit with me. Like how many times do we talk about a young quarterback getting drafted and then going to a situation that doesn't have a lot around him? Justin Jefferson is a top three wide receiver in the sport.

Justin Jefferson has been sensational and he started his career at a historical pace the first three and four years in the NFL. Why wouldn't you get this deal done? Why wouldn't you trade into the top three, get an explosive player with a ton of potential like Jayden Daniels, you get your young quarterback of the future and immediately pair him with Justin Jefferson, get that contract extension done, Jordan Addison who came on strong at the end of the year and is a first round pick out of USC and Pitt.

And that's how you start to form your future. It's with those three pieces on the offensive side of the ball and you pair them with the head coach who's an offensive minded head coach. Like that to me seems like a no brainer and it would make no sense to want to move into the top three if you're Minnesota and not keep Justin Jefferson. It would be one of the dumbest decisions in football history right now when Justin Jefferson is right smack in the prime of his career and he's on a Hall of Fame pace and he's the face of your franchise to not get a deal done with him. So Minnesota, do us all a favor. Don't be stupid here. You can't afford to be stupid. You want to debate young quarterback and bring him back Kirk, bring in a veteran.

That's fine. But something that's not debatable to me at least is trading Justin Jefferson. You should have got the deal done last offseason. Now anything short of not getting the deal done this offseason is just a disaster.

And it would be just the definition of an incompetent organization. You have a chance to set up your organization for the foreseeable future if you get this draft process right with the quarterback and you do the smart thing. And that's giving a big fat lucrative extension to Jay Jettis.

So that's number one. And I've made myself pretty damn clear in the last 10 minutes how stupid it would be if the Vikings elected to trade Justin Jefferson. But now let's go into the other story inside the NFC North. And last week we all sat here and we've made the case before why the Bears should trade the number one pick.

But eventually you need to separate what should happen and what will happen. And we went around this room last week when we were talking about will the Bears trade the number one overall pick. And Stu said yes, Samter said yes, and I said yes. And none of us really gave a great chance for Justin Fields to be back with the team next year. But Peter King who is as respected as they come and is one of the more plugged in NFL scribes that we have in America. He penned a farewell, no fanfare kind of article where he announced his retirement. Peter King is getting up there in age. He's still flawless at his job. He is a legend. But no one was hearing that Peter King was going to retire when all of us blabbermouths were together in a room a little under a month ago at the Super Bowl.

So Peter King, just in Peter King fashion, right, he's like Tim Duncan, just says, I'm walking away. I'm retiring. And in his column that came out yesterday, the Monday morning quarterback where it's a football morning in America now, not only did Peter King say that he was retiring, but he also gave us a pretty big nugget to chew on.

And that nugget was this. I suppose the Bears are going to trade the top pick. I know nothing, but that seems to be the way the wind is blowing. So you hear that. And the first thing that jumps out to me is him saying, I know nothing. That's his way of saying I'm not reporting it, but I'm just going off the scuttlebutt and the rumors and the speculation that people in the NFL are telling Peter King. That's the way that I read. I guess it's not a report, but however you want to call it, of Peter King in his column. And when I hear that.

Like internally, my body is screaming to me and it's tough, it's conflicting emotions because I respect Peter King greatly. But I also have this rule that a lot of the stuff that I hear leading up to the draft starting this week of the combine. So through the end of February, with the few days that we have left in February into March and then into April, nine point nine times out of 10, since I don't know what the motives are of getting that information out there and where it's coming from. I tend to not believe or I tend to question almost everything that gets reported. And in this case, it would go against the way that I felt what would happen, not what should happen, but what would happen with the Chicago Bears.

And I would still be surprised, but I guess now I wouldn't be shocked because it is Peter King saying this. If we get to the draft or leading up to the draft because it wouldn't happen the day of the draft would happen a few weeks out if we get some breaking news alert that the Bears are going to trade the number one overall pick. But my question then becomes, how far are you willing to fall back? Because in an ideal world, I know you wouldn't get the most in return, but the Bears move back one spot. They stay at two.

The commanders come up. Caleb Williams goes to the Washington commanders and then at two, the Bears draft Marvin Harrison Jr. And you pair up for Justin Fields for the foreseeable future, DJ Moore and Marvin Harrison Jr. Like that would make sense. But you go through the rest of the teams. I don't think New England's coming up from three to one. You know, the Cardinals, they're not coming up from four to one. Chargers have Herbert with the Giants, maybe Shannon Daybell trying to reset the time clock and give them more years. Would they go trade up for a quarterback?

Kind of would be tough to do now would excite the fan base, but you just pay Daniel Jones, who was not worth the money. Tennessee, I don't see what trading up. Atlanta could be a team in at eight, and that would make sense. You know, it's not going to be the Jets at 10. Maybe it's Minnesota, like we talked about at 11.

Denver, they're looking for a quarterback. It could be at 12. And then you kind of draw the line in the sand at 13, where Stu's Raiders are. Like after that, like when you start to get into 14, 15, 16 or even the 20 range, you could get into the top three.

You could get into the number one spot, but the price just keeps on going up and up and up. I will still believe that the Bears are going to keep the number one pick because, as Brian Urlacher told us, and I know that the Bears organization, they just have a history of messing up young quarterbacks. And it's probably more on the Bears on why Justin Fields did not succeed rather than Justin Fields. But when you sit there after three years of watching someone, you still can't guarantee me that he's a franchise quarterback. He's probably not a franchise quarterback. Now, that doesn't mean that Justin Fields can't go on to have a good career.

Because you could be good and there's a difference from good to great. But inevitably, you're going to have to pay Justin Fields. And Caleb Williams, even though he did not have a great season a year ago at USC, he is perceived to be that next transcendent quarterback.

Sometimes you are, sometimes you aren't. Now, I can make the argument here and I have made the argument why the Bears should trade the number one pick. But even with the great Peter King, pending his farewell to the NFL world for now, and he said that he supposed the Bears are going to trade the top pick. As much as I have to respect Peter King and listen to what Peter King says, until I get that news that the Bears are trading the top pick, I kind of think they're going to keep it still. And they'll end up selecting Caleb Williams out of USC and then trading Justin Fields for, let's say, probably a second round pick.

It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Should the Minnesota Vikings trade Justin Jefferson? I am telling you, absolutely not. Will the Chicago Bears trade the number one overall pick? Maybe a little bit of a different feeling today after the Peter King report. But ultimately, I think the Bears take Caleb Williams at number one. What say you, 8-5-5-2-1-2 for CBS, 8-5-5-2-1-2, 42-27. We'll take a break. When we come on back, the combine is getting ready to get underway. We'll look at my top five quarterbacks entering the 2024 NFL Draft when we return to the Zach Gelb show in five minutes.

Join the revolution. Subscribe and soak in baseball if it's boring. Listen on your Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.

You'll be glad you did. Alrighty, this is the Zach Gelb show, coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. We're gearing up for the NFL Combine and we'll have a ton of NFL draft talk from here all the way through the end of April when the draft does get underway in Detroit this year. Quarterbacks are always talked about. I know a lot of these quarterbacks at the Combine really don't do much. Like you won't see really anything out of guys like Caleb Williams and Drake May. Like they'll be there.

They'll do interviews. But they're not really going to go through any of the drills because those are the guys that are at the top. And when you're perceived to be the guy or one of the guys, it's a dumb process. And I've always slammed the combine process where you would think someone like Caleb Williams could get on the field and throw the football around and kind of ruin us. But he's in shorts and a T-shirt anyway.

So what does it really mean? But you're showing off your arm strength, but they don't feel like there's any really incentive for him to do so. And I can't fault those top prospects that do the bare minimum at the Combine because when you're already a top prospect, all that could happen to you in all likelihood is for something to happen and it doesn't result in a positive favor. Like let's say if someone like Caleb Williams oozes and azzes at the Combine, is that going to be the determining factor? Is that going to improve his stock anymore?

No. Because he's perceived to be the guy that's going to be the number one overall pick, whether it's two, the Chicago Bears, or it's somebody else. So I get it, but just as a football fan, even though I do laugh at a lot of the Combine stuff, because guys put on tape for two, three, four years, and one or two days at the Combine can catapult your draft stock or it can make your draft stock plummet. Which I always say, trust the tape, trust the tape, trust the tape.

I think the Combine's more important, not for how blazing fast of a 40-day run or what's your three cone drill time or how far you could throw the football in shorts and a t-shirt. I think the interview process is important, but there is a downfall with the interview process. And I know that they've tried to put some punitive actions in there for executives that ask stupid things like, didn't someone ask Des Bryant once if your mother's like a hooker or a prostitute or something like that? And there's been a lot of other dumb things that have been asked throughout the years, so I say that with a grain of salt that yes, I do believe that the interview process is important, but are these teams going to make themselves look like jackasses? And a lot of times, whether the name of the executive doesn't really get out, I remember that rare instance when it did in the whole Des Bryant situation. I think it was Jeff Ireland, too, was the GM at the time in Miami that asked Des Bryant that question if I'm remembering right.

But most of the time, you just hear of stupid things that have been asked and you never find out who actually said them. So moving all that aside, this is a league now, and the way that a lot of us talk about the draft, it's quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, and then who are your other playmakers that are not quarterbacks? Like, for example, Marvin Harrison Jr., stud, I think he's the best player, period, in this draft, but he won't be the number one overall pick.

Roma Dunze, the receiver out of Washington, I think he could be a top 5 pick, but he will definitely be a top 10 pick. Brock Bowers, I'll tell you, it's weird, you watch a guy on TV so much, and then you see him in person, and sometimes they're bigger in person, that was the opposite with Brock Bowers. And when we saw Brock Bowers walking around at Radio Row, and I said to Santa, I'm like, who is this guy?

He looks familiar. And then you found out it was Brock Bowers, and he was standing next to Gronk, and Gronk has lost a lot of weight, and I'm like, hmm, I shouldn't be out on Brock Bowers just because this is the first time I saw him in person, but I was almost out on Brock Bowers even though he is projected to go in the top 10. You know, you got a bunch of linemen as well, offensive linemen, Jared Verse is supposed to be a very good defensive end as well, coming out of Florida State, and we've been in on him all the way back to before the start of the season. So there's going to be at least 10 to 15 guys that will be talked about, and pretty much the conversation is going to be jammed down your throat from now until the end of April. But every year, quarterbacks are what sell, even in the years where you don't have a lot of quarterbacks go in the first round, like you go back to two, three years ago, when you only had one quarterback go in the first round, and it was Kenny Pickett, there was still a lot of extensive draft talk, and that was like one of the times where now we're just accustomed that bare minimum three guys are going to go in the first round that are quarterbacks, and maybe you get five or six that end up going in the first round, but it doesn't always happen. But this draft class, like last year, I would have thought that four quarterbacks would have gone in the first round. I thought Will Levis would have been the fourth, and obviously Bryce Young and CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson did go in the first, but this year it feels like you obviously have three locks to go in the first round.

And then the question just becomes, will there be a fourth or a fifth? And I actually think right now that there's going to be four quarterbacks that go in the first round of the draft. And I'm not saying that these are the four best quarterbacks, but the four quarterbacks that I think will go in the first round are Caleb Williams, Drake May, Jayden Daniels, and then also I do believe JJ McCarthy will find the way to slide into the first round. Michael Penix Jr., who I have ranked higher than JJ McCarthy, we'll get to that in just a second, I think his injury history with all the injuries at Indiana is going to scare some teams off. Because you know what happens when you have this much time to analyze a prospect, you do too much analysis, and even when you hear some red flags, and the one red flag with Michael Penix Jr. are the injuries, they just get magnified, and the talk around the injuries grow bigger and bigger and bigger, and that's sometimes a way where a guy falls out of the first round.

Like I would not be shocked whatsoever if Michael Penix Jr. falls out of the first round. I actually, as I said, I am picking Michael Penix Jr. to be an early second round pick, but I do feel like it could be 50-50 on if it'll be a first round pick or not, because if you get past like 23 or 24, it's not always a lock that someone comes and gets you. Like last year, no one came and got Will Leviss, you know, a few years back, Lamar Jackson was falling, and the Ravens ended up getting to the 32nd pick and trading up to go get Lamar Jackson, so it's not always just because you're falling, someone comes and gets you, and maybe you have to wait until the second round does begin, but for Michael Penix Jr., I think that's 50-50. And it's crazy because after the semifinal game that he had up against Texas, we were like talking about him, and the conversation around him was being a top 15 pick, and maybe being the second or third quarterback in this draft.

And then the national championship game comes, and the entire Washington team didn't play well, and then now it's okay, it's 50-50 if he's going to be a first round pick. You know, he will not be there five to ten picks after the second round, but this feels like a year where it's going to be four or five quarterbacks in the first round. I do think McCarthy will be the fourth quarterback off the board to get to a fifth, I think it has to be Michael Penix Jr. Like I don't see Bo Nix going in the first round, Spencer Rattler is not a first round quarterback, Michael Pratt out of Tulane, who I liked the last two years, he's not a first round quarterback either.

So, long story short, I'll give you my rankings here five to one on the top five quarterbacks in my opinion in the NFL draft as we get set to gear up for the combine. In at number five, I think it's J.J. McCarthy. When I look at J.J. McCarthy, he did not have, it's weird when a guy went undefeated in a national championship this year, for me to say that he didn't have a great season, individually didn't have a great season. But they played to the strengths of that team, which was big offensive line, good offensive line, and you had two running backs in Donovan Edwards, who's explosive, and then Blake Corum, who's been maybe the most reliable player in college football the last two or three seasons. So, J.J. McCarthy, all he's done in high school and college, win, win, win, win, win. But he wasn't asked to put up prodigious stats at the position this year. He made a throw up against Ohio State, which was right in front of me, where I was sitting at that game, where he found Roman Wilson.

That was just pinpoint accuracy. And when you look at J.J., he has the mix of someone that could have a good arm and a big arm, and he needs to develop into it, but he's also very mobile. And I think that kind of fits the position for where quarterback is at in the year of 2024, where you look for guys that not only have a good arm, but could also be athletic. And for J.J., something that he has to his resume, he's played in a lot of big games because Michigan's been one of the best teams in college football the last three years. So when I look at J.J. McCarthy, I don't, like personally, I don't think he should go in the first round. I think he will go in the first round. He's my fifth best quarterback entering this upcoming NFL draft.

In at number four, it's Michael Penix Jr. He has pinpoint accuracy. His accuracy, and that was on full display up against Texas, is just absolutely sick. I never thought he'd be a first round pick when he left Indiana. Really, when he was at Indiana, the only thing you remembered about him were injuries and then that controversial touchdown up against Penn State. But you got to see the last two years reunited with Kalen DeBoer and having good weapons around him, too, what he's able to be as a quarterback. Because the last two years combined, he was talked about a lot to be a Heisman finalist two years ago, and a lot of people thought he got snubbed. And then this year he was a Heisman finalist and he was the Heisman runner up. So the accuracy is there, but the injuries are going to be talked about a lot. And I think that's what makes him the fourth best quarterback in this draft.

And the one concern are the injuries. In at number three, it's Drake May. You know, what we saw from Drake May two years ago, you thought he was going to pop off this year.

He wasn't bad, but he wasn't great. And he's got a big, strong arm. He has the mobility, as we all know. But when I watch him play, you think of ceiling for a guy. And for me, I just don't see a great ceiling for Drake May. That doesn't mean the guy's going to be trash. That doesn't mean the guy's going to be bad. But I think sometimes we just see quarterbacks that are going to be good or very good. And I think that's Drake May's ceiling, just being a very good quarterback.

In at number two is Jayden Daniels. Now, Jayden Daniels is also someone that never really popped at Arizona State and then transfers. And the last two years, he was flawless individually at LSU.

And you know what he could do through the air. And then the reason why he won the Heisman this year and why he ran away with it is because what he did on the ground with over 1,100 rushing yards on the ground. So there is a good mix there with the arm strength and then also the just insane rushing ability.

And I think Jayden Daniels is the second best quarterback in this draft. And then number one, for a lot of guys, we end up throwing out the Mahomes comparison. I think that's a problem with the draft where it's like, oh, who compares to Mahomes? And there's always one guy that it's like, oh, it's not Mahomes, but maybe he could be like 50 percent of Mahomes or 45 percent of Mahomes. Caleb Williams, ever since Mahomes has been just phenomenal. He's the one guy where the comp for Patrick Mahomes is actually valid. Now, when I say that, I'm not saying that he is Patrick Mahomes because no one's Patrick Mahomes.

He's one of one. And I didn't love Caleb Williams season this past year. But what he did two years ago when he won the Heisman, you saw that Mahomes like potential where, you know, he has a big arm like Mahomes. He has mobility, but it's really to extend plays like you see sometimes Mahomes take off and run.

But most of Mahomes is running is behind the line of scrimmage, just going from sideline to sideline or moving around the pocket to extend the play. And Williams has the confidence because I had a conversation with him and Tom House, the legendary quarterback coach and quarterback guru. He compared him to Patrick Mahomes and he doesn't think there's anything that Caleb Williams, that Patrick Mahomes does that Caleb Williams can't do. And Caleb Williams basically reiterated that sentiment when I got a chance to talk to him at the Heisman two years ago. So when you have potential to be somewhat like Mahomes, you're going to be the number one overall pick in the draft. And that's what Caleb Williams is going to be. So those are my five quarterbacks entering the combine where I look at them and evaluate them. And those are my five guys, how I ranked them heading into this NFL draft at the end of April.

JJ McCarthy in at five, Michael Pennix in at four, Drake May three, Jayden Daniels two, and Caleb Williams in at one. We'll take a break. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. When we come on back, Samter has some questions for me.

I have some answers. We call this segment Onside, Offside. We do it every Monday and Friday right here on CBS Sports Radio, only on the Zach Gelb show. We'll take a time out.

Update time first. Here's the Ackman, Rich Ackerman. Zach's taking on the most polarizing issues in sports. Which side of the line of scrimmage will he end up on?

Offside, defense number 69. It's Onsides, Offsides with Zach Gelb on CBS Sports Radio. And it's time to Ask the Pros. You, the listener, gets asked us a question brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Simply tweet your question at CBS Sports Radio or at Zach Gelb using the hashtag Ask the Pros.

We'll be listening later in the show when we might answer your question. You can think O'Reilly Auto Parts or all your car care needs. Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. O-O-O-O-O'Reilly Auto Parts. All right, Moist Mike, what do you got cooking for us today?

We got a lot cooking here on the plate. We'll start out in the NFL as we always do. The league is reportedly considering adopting the XFL's kickoff rule where once the ball is kicked only the kicker and the returner can move until the ball is actually fielded. At that point, that's when the rest of the return and kickoff team can move.

Okay. The point of this is it leads to less high speed collisions and impact. It also gives returners more of an opportunity to return the ball. We saw this year that the percentage of returns in the NFL was at an all-time low. Yeah. So yes, they were avoiding injuries, but there were no kickoff returns going around the league.

So this kind of solves both of those. So onside, offside. The NFL should adopt this new kickoff rule.

So I'm going to say offside and here's why. I am pro-kickoff. I would not have really changed the kickoff that much. I think it's one of those talking points where the NFL, who I don't think truly cares about player safety the way that they say they do, but that was one of their sacrifices to make it actually appear like they do care about player safety. So they practically wanted the kickoff to go away and now they're annoyed that it practically has gone away so you're trying to improve it. Since they didn't care for it in the beginning, I just think you continue to non-care about it now and you rarely see kickoff returns and it would be an extreme rarity when you get to see one that ends up going 100 something yards to the house at a breakdown in coverage or something along those lines. So the NFL should adopt this new kickoff rule, I would say offside. And also, man, that would create a lot more returns and I know that you are decreasing the amount of high impact collisions because those guys wouldn't be able to start running until the kick returner ends up making a move.

But then what happens when the guy gets to the 35 yard line and gets popped? Then everyone's going to start saying, oh, we need to change the kickoff rule. So the NFL wanted the kickoff to practically go away. Now it has.

It stinks. But I don't think now you all of a sudden go back to try to get more kickoffs into the game. So I would go offside. Now one rule that the NFL reportedly will not change is the fumble out of the end zone rule that gives the ball to the defense. Now while the NFL PA wants to have discussions on the matter, Judy Batista reports there's little traction for change. So onside, offside, they should change this rule. We can discuss how to change it, but at the very least they should change it.

So I have been with the majority up until this year. It's a stupid rule. You fumble the ball out at the one yard line. You get it back at the one, but you fumble it out of the end zone. Then the other team gets the ball and it's a touchback.

But then I heard someone say this, and I forget who said it, but I agree with it at the time. We now make this league offense, offense, offense, offense, offense. And almost every rule is catered towards the offense. The one rule that actually gives the defense a benefit, we're now trying to take that away. And since I like defense and also the coach that I love for 20-something years, Bill Belichick, would always preach, do not extend that ball out unless you have to. That comes back to coaching. And I think that is something that is an exciting play, even though it drives people nuts.

And look, we saw it twice this year in the playoffs with the impact games. But I'm fine with that because now we try to strip away everything from the defense. I don't want to strip away the only rule that I can think of that really does favor the defense.

So they should change this rule. I'm going to actually go with offside. Now the Arizona Cardinals, I know we were talking about the quarterbacks, they have the fourth pick in the draft, and most assume they'll draft Marvin Harrison Jr. if he's available, or another receiver to compliment Kyler Murray. Today, the Cardinals tweeted a picture of Murray with the caption, quote, our franchise QB.

So onside, offside. If one of the top three QBs, either Caleb Williams, Drake May, or Jayden Daniels is available at number four, the Cardinals should draft a quarterback. So was there a lot of steam and momentum being picked up that the Cardinals had to tweet this out? Because I don't think there were a lot of people that were doing takes on the radio or television, oh the Cardinals need to draft the quarterback at four. Everyone's been saying Marvin Harrison Jr., one, two, three quarterback, and then you get Marvin Harrison Jr. at four. Even if a quarterback falls to them, and I think it would be Drake May if any of the quarterbacks were to fall to four, I don't think the Cardinals should take a quarterback.

I don't. Kyler Murray has showed before in this league that he could be good. Now he needs to mature a little bit, you need to study a little bit more, you need to be a little bit more of a professional, but this guy was a winner in high school, he's been a winner in college, he's made the playoffs before in the NFL, and now he's fully recovered from the ACL injury, and I've always said it takes a full year for you to mentally recover before you're back to being yourself, and the Cardinals were a positive story. I don't think they need to take a quarterback. Continue to build that roster around Kyler Murray, and if Marvin Harrison Jr. isn't there, then take Roma Dunze with the fourth pick.

That's what I would say. So when you ask me if one of the three QBs in Caleb Williams, Drake May or Jayden Daniels available at four, the Cardinals should draft him, I'm going offside on this one. The only one I think that you would end up drafting a quarterback for with Arizona would be Caleb Williams. He's not getting to four. There's a zero percent chance he gets to four.

And I like Daniels, as I just said in the last segment, over May, but I don't think Daniels is going to be there at four either. So the question really is, do you believe in Kyler Murray, or do you just think it's better for them to try to build around him than it is to start all over with a new quarterback? I think Kyler Murray is a good quarterback that has potential to be great, but potential means you haven't done it yet. And he needs to end up in the next year or two taking that next step. So I don't think they should because he's shown you he is good and he could be great.

So with all that being said, when you just paid him to, would it make sense to then have to try to go trade him right now after he did well down the stretch coming back from that injury? Now speaking of the draft quarterbacks, reports indicate that neither Caleb Williams nor Jaden Daniels will throw at the combine. Bo Nix, Michael Pennix Jr., J.J. McCarthy, and Spencer Rattler have announced that they will throw, but there's no announcement yet regarding Drake May whether he'll throw at the combine. Onside or offside, top quarterbacks should never throw at the combine and wait for their pro day.

So I don't like it, but I'll be fair here, I guess the answer is onsides. Because you just said it, top quarterbacks. What is there for them to gain by throwing at the combine? When everyone's just looking to criticize to criticize at the combine. They've already solidified themselves, Williams and Daniels. Williams being the number one pick and Daniels at the latest being the third overall pick in this year's draft.

There's no benefit, it doesn't behoove them to throw even though I would like to see it, but just because I want to see something doesn't mean that's the way that I would advise you to do something. So I'm going to say onside, top QB should never throw at the combine. Most believe that the Bucks and Mike Evans were headed toward a divorce, and while it appears they won't be able to work out a new deal before free agency begins, ESPN reports that in an ideal world, the Bucks want Evans back, and Evans reportedly wants to retire as a Buck and remain there in Tampa. Well then pay him for what he's worth. So onside, offside, I know you said earlier a couple weeks ago that Mike Evans would be with the Texans, but onside, offside, Mike Evans will re-sign in Tampa. I think he does want to get a deal done, and I think the Bucks want to get a deal done, but there's a difference in saying you want to get a deal done and then actually paying someone what they're worth as they're getting up there in age. And that's what I don't think the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will match the energy of wanting him back with the contract. That's why I still believe, bearing him taking a discount, which I don't think he will, that Mike Evans will be somewhere else next season.

So Mike Evans will re-sign in Tampa Bay, I'm going to go offside. Now while NILs have become the wild wild west in college sports, some around the NCAA have propositioned that schools pay the athletes directly. This week, however, new NCAA president Charlie Baker said, quote, 95% He still has that title?

Yeah, I know, it's great. No, well, I mean, Mark Emmer was the old one. Charlie Baker's taking over. He was the, what was he, governor? Something like that. Yeah, but he's taking over as the new president when Mark Emmer leaves. Yes, correct. He said 95% of colleges would not be able to afford to pay athletes directly.

Governor of Massachusetts. There you go. So 95% of colleges would not be able to afford to pay their athletes. So onside, offside, despite all of its warts, NIL is the best system for athletes in college to get paid. Yeah, they have to find a way to control it, but it's the best way because it's what was the old way, except just in a newer way with the legal way to it, where you just have boosters that used to give bags of cash to guys that they were trying to have sign with their university. Now that's basically what's happening as well, but there's a collective.

I just think schools should be able to have a little bit more of a hands-on approach to try to help these guys, which I'm sure they all do behind the scenes, and there is even some rules that are getting broken, but now it's just legalized. They need to fine-tune it, but it's still the best way, even with all the warts that it has, so I will go onsides. Now the last one, the Clippers unveiled new uniforms and a brand new logo, and to the surprise of many, the look is actually pretty fresh, garnering positive reviews across the board. Their new stadium is going to be finished built probably this year and ready to go for next year or at the very least in two years. So onside, offside, with Ballmer and all of his money, the Clippers can someday overtake the Lakers as Los Angeles' team. I know they're having a good year. They're 37-19, but whenever it's with the Clippers, I always feel like it's, oh, we're going to be this, we're going to be that, we're going to do this in the future, and it will still never be enough to overtake the Lakers. The Clippers will always be a pimple on the Lakers' ass, all right? That's what they're going to be. Like your Mets and my Yankees, I get it.

That's fine. I'm realistic. I know the Yankees are still the team of New York, but let's not pretend like the Yankees have been this great franchise as of late with one world championship since 2009, all right? More than the Mets.

That's true. I'm realistic here. I'm realistic here. I'm not a stupid sports fan like you that won't be realistic, all right? Go Chiefs. But come on. No, the Clippers usurping the Lakers? Ha. What a joke. I'm not a stupid sports fan.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-02-26 18:34:03 / 2024-02-26 18:51:51 / 18

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