Best QB/HC Duos (Hour 3)

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It is the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. The big news today is John Harbaugh went to bat for his guy Lamar Jackson, but it didn't even seem like he needed to go to bat for Lamar Jackson. There was a time where the conversation around Lamar Jackson was unfair.

I don't think it's in an unfair spot right now. The Baltimore Ravens just had the number one overall seed in the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens. All they had to do was win two games in the playoffs and they're in the Super Bowl and they played one good half up against the Texans in the second round. And then in a home AFC championship game, I was there. It was boring.

They didn't show up. And the Chiefs still tried to find a way for the Ravens to win, and the Ravens offense could do nothing in that game. Lamar didn't play well, and the game plan was absolutely atrocious. But John Harbaugh comes out swinging and is like, Oh, Lamar is going to go down as the greatest quarterback ever. And he felt compelled to defend his quarterback in Lamar Jackson. What's the unfair criticism? We all know Lamar is a great quarterback. The nonsense he had to deal with to come out of college, except then I'll say it again, was stupid.

It was, and Bill Polian looked like a moron for it. But right now, I think the conversation is fair. Can Lamar win a Super Bowl? And up until this past year, I thought it was unfair to say he couldn't because it was such a small sample size. But when you had all these things in front of you in the way that it played out this year and you didn't achieve what was necessary and succeed to get to a Super Bowl with only having to win two games, you deserve to have that question out there.

And people either say, No, you can't or be unsure if you can't. So I don't think it's that ridiculous right now to say Lamar is not going to win a Super Bowl because the road won't be probably ever as easy or easier as what it was last year. So are the Ravens going to be good yet? Will the Ravens be a playoff team?

I think so. But this idea that Lamar has been disrespected this offseason, I don't know, Ravens fans just put on the purple glasses and only seeing it their way. That's what it feels like to me because I don't think Lamar has been disrespected this offseason. Lamar is viewed right now as a top five quarterback.

He's fourth to my list. The only three quarterbacks I have in front of him, Mahomes, Burrow and Allen. So you could be a great regular season quarterback and then come up small in the postseason.

And what? Now we have to crush people for or now people get crushed for just saying they don't think Lamar could get the job done to win a Super Bowl? That to me doesn't make sense.

It doesn't. And I know people are going to say, Oh, well, Zach, what about Burrow? He hasn't won MVP. OK, Joe Burrow's been healthy for two years when he's been healthy. He's been in a Super Bowl and an AFC Championship game. Lamar's been in one AFC Championship game. Josh Allen. Yeah, he doesn't have the MVPs.

Totally got it. Josh Allen's only been to an AFC Championship game just like Lamar. But Josh Allen and the Bills that beat the Ravens in a playoff game once when Taron Johnson had that pick and took it to the house, like 100 yard pick six or whatever it was. One hundred and two maybe even was it was in the end zone.

So, yeah, I get it. Josh Allen didn't get the job done this year. But then there's also been other years where he's balled out.

And the Chiefs with Mahomes and the defense, 13 seconds. And that all did go down. It'll be one thing if Lamar Jackson played great in that championship game.

Right. There was excuses why he didn't win. He didn't play great, though.

That whole offense was off in that game. So the Ravens trying to sell you that Lamar has been disrespected. Sure, would have worked when he was coming out of Louisville. Would have worked after a few years in the league.

But I think everyone right now looks at Lamar. They say great quarterback but needs a championship. And that's sports. It happened to Giannis Antetokounmpo.

It happened to Nikolay Jokic. Guess what those guys did in the NBA after winning multiple MVPs? They shut everybody up by winning it all. So if the Ravens are annoyed or if Lamar is annoyed or if Harbaugh is fed up with the idea that people are critical of his quarterback.

And sometimes criticism is unfair, but here I think it's warranted. He had a great regular season. People bought into the Ravens. People said the Ravens were the best team in the league. And when it mattered the most, they got lucky to win the game up against the Texans. And then the Chiefs didn't bring their A game and they still couldn't beat the Chiefs. Like you look back at last year, I think some people forget how great the Ravens were in the regular season.

I know they had the one seed. But remember they smothered the 49ers. They beat the Dolphins towards the end of the year 56-19. They beat the Rams in a crazy game. They beat the Bengals at the end of the season. They destroyed the Seahawks 37-3. They beat the Lions 38-6.

It's almost like the Ravens last year they peaked too early. They started off the year 3-2 and then they went on a win streak. They went from 3-2 to then they beat Tennessee, Detroit, Arizona, Seattle, four wins in a row. They lost that game to Cleveland, which they choked. And then after that they beat the Bengals, the Chargers, the Rams, the Jaguars, the 49ers, and the Dolphins.

They lost, you know the last game of the regular season didn't mean anything, but from mid-October to the end of December, they lost one game. And then come the playoffs, they had a, I know it was 34-10 that they beat the Texans, but the first half that game was close and then they lose to the Chiefs and their offense was only able to score 10 points in the game. And remember that game at halftime against the Texans, that was a tie ballgame.

That was a 10-10 ballgame. And then we saw what the Ravens did the second half. So what am I supposed to praise the Ravens off of from last year? The Lamar won another MVP. They had a great regular season, but the thing that people have been overly critical about their postseason failures, they played what, a good second half against the Texans? So I'm supposed to sit here and tell you how great the Ravens are and how awesome Lamar Jackson is and how great John Harbaugh, hey, I'm someone that I put John Harbaugh as the third best coach in football and Lamar Jackson as the fourth best quarterback in the league. I've been positive with the Ravens, but until Lamar wins the Super Bowl, that conversation's not going away.

And there was a time where it was premature. There was a time where you could say it was disrespectful, but now I don't think the Ravens have been unfairly attacked this offseason. I think Lamar has been unfairly attacked this offseason.

You had a team that was good enough to win it all and you guys played one good half in the postseason. So John Harbaugh, please, I don't feel like you needed to go out there and say how Lamar is going to be the greatest quarterback of all time and your quarterback, who's very confident, he should be confident, didn't need the confidence boost. So it made zero sense to me what John Harbaugh was trying to accomplish.

It just made zero sense to me. I don't get what there was to gain outside of, oh, you went to bat for your quarterback. You've already gone to bat for your quarterback. You guys just paid him a king's ransom and you defend him every turn you look at.

So this to me is just a weird one. I don't think Lamar has been unfairly portrayed or attacked this offseason. I have in other years and I thought there was no benefit or no reason why John Harbaugh basically had to tell everyone that Lamar is the greatest thing ever.

Here is John Harbaugh saying Lamar is going to be the greatest quarterback ever. The vision for Lamar Jackson, it's a vision. It's something you see it like it's already happened.

You can see it like it's already been done. The victory has already been won when you pour into a vision. And the vision that we have together is that Lamar Jackson is going to become and be known and be recognized as the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the National Football League. That's the vision. It's going to happen by Lamar, his work ethic and his brilliant talent.

That's how it's going to happen. It's nice to have a vision. But as great as Lamar is, he's never going to be Brady and he's never going to be Mahomes. You know, forget other quarterbacks that we can aim to. But that's the thing that's missing from Lamar's resume.

It's a Lombardi Trophy. So to go on this diatribe just didn't make any sense to me. It really didn't, especially off the year that you guys just had in the regular season, where it kind of validated people that said Lamar was never going to win a Super Bowl and that he's great. But then playoff time fades away because that's what happened this past year to a T. Here is John Harbaugh defending Lamar Jackson against the criticism.

There's a lot of stuff that said you got to just scratch your head about and kind of wonder what's that person even thinking, you know? So but we take it personally. You know, Lamar's a guy all his life. Lamar Jackson has been a guy who's been answering those same questions. I'm talking about since he was a kid, junior high, high school, college, the draft, the success he's had in the National Football League.

And it still comes up. That to me, at certain times, he's not wrong, but after this offseason to be this fired up and to think your quarterback has been treated unfairly. What was said? What? Putting three quarterbacks or four quarterbacks in front of a top ten list is disrespectful.

I think that's what we're doing. That, you know, saying the Ravens aren't going to Super Bowl this year, is that district like it doesn't make sense to me. If you want to prove people wrong, if you want to shut people up and and I like Lamar, I've defended Lamar a crazy amount of time, a crazy amount of times on this show. But last year, you really don't have a leg to stand on if you're the Ravens. When what everyone said about you or not everyone, a lot of people said about you ended up.

Making those people look right, because that was the team you guys were rolling, you could have got the job done and you didn't. So I I just don't get where this is coming from. And it feels like it's from previous years. And then you heard a little bit of it for like a week or two after the championship game. And then, OK, now you felt as if you had to come out swinging to start a training camp.

That doesn't make any sense to me. But let's do best quarterback duos, quarterback coaching duos in the NFL. So I think there's four that need to be at least three that needs to be on everyone's list.

Probably four. I think the four best quarterback duos in the NFL before I get to the fifth, because the fifth becomes a little bit tricky. Rita Mahomes is number one.

I think the second spot is debatable. It has to be between either Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford or John Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson. Now, Lamar Jackson has had more individual success than Matthew Stafford in the regular season. Harbaugh has won a Super Bowl. Sean McVay has won a Super Bowl.

But Stafford has also won a Super Bowl. So since Stafford was able to win a Super Bowl with the Rams and you have a coach and a quarterback, both winning a Super Bowl, I put McVay and Stafford together there in at number two. I then put Harbaugh and Jackson in at number three. You have to have Rita Mahomes one. McVay, Stafford, Harbaugh, Jackson. They have to be two and three. Whichever order you want, though, two and three.

I'm not going to crush you for it. I don't even think that's up for debate. Now, my fourth best coach quarterback duo, it's actually Josh Allen, who I think is third best quarterback in football, and Sean McDermott, who is like I had him as the tenth or ninth best coach in the NFL. Now, McDermott, you got to remember, it was almost two decades the Bills didn't make the playoffs.

All they've done has made the playoffs since they got there. But with McDermott, it seems like he's reached his apex in Buffalo, where it's just getting to an AFC championship game. But for this fifth spot, this is where it gets tricky, because there's some teams that have the quarterback but don't have the coach.

Like the Jets have the quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. You can't make a case that Robert Salah should be anywhere in the in the top five when it comes to quarterback coaching duos. So here were the other guys that I contemplated are duos. Mike McDaniel and Tuatunga Vailoa. Joe Burrow and Zach Taylor. I know it was only one year. C.J.

Stroud, D'Amico Ryans. Doug Peterson and Trevor Lawrence had that one really strong year than last year they regressed. I know we have not seen Herbert and Harbaugh together, but Jim Harbaugh, we know he was in the NFL for four years, made three NFC championship games with the Super Bowl. Dan Campbell and Jared Goff, crazy with what they did a year ago. But my answer is actually and remember, when you go to the fourth one being Allen and McDermott, where McDermott's a good coach and Allen's a great quarterback.

I think it's just good good here. And this is a tee in the last three years. Twelve wins, twelve wins, twelve wins. Their quarterback is good, not great. And their coaches won a Super Bowl in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers, albeit. But he has done better than what people expected out of him in Dallas, even though the playoffs have been an abomination. It's Dak Prescott and it's Mike McCarthy. And like, I don't love it.

I don't think it's sexy, but it's solid. You know what you're getting? It's going to be a good season and then in the postseason, they're going to flame out. But I can't put McDaniel and Tua. Tua's only been healthy for one year, one full season with that duo together. Burrow and Taylor, I thought.

And I thought going into last season, many people were like, OK, that's all Burrow. And then Taylor did a nice job coaching when Burrow was out. But I know it's more than a half good season for Taylor because you shouldn't take away from that team get into the Super Bowl. But if Taylor doesn't have Joe Burrow, I don't think Zach Taylor still has a job with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Stroud and Rhines, it's too premature. Peterson and Lawrence after one year. Yeah, you could say up into the second year was bad. I really thought about Herbert and Harbaugh. And I do think that could be the top five next year. And I do think Harbaugh and Herbert's good, but I think Harbaugh is going to take Herbert to a different level. And Goff and Campbell, tremendous season together.

But I got to see more than one season. So I ended up putting Dak and McCarthy in there at five. Stu, do you think there is there another duo there? Because I think we'd all agree inside the top five, you got to have Reed Mahomes, McVeigh, Stafford, Harbaugh, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Sean McDermott. Like those four quarterback coaching duo have to be somewhere in the top five. But for the fifth one, I ended up going with Dak and McCarthy. If it was not Dak and McCarthy, who do you think should be in there out of the groupings that I gave you?

I actually like a lot. I would like to see a little more playoff success and them to be together for a little longer. But I do think Dan Campbell and Jared Goff is a really solid one. And I think an argument can be made that Campbell's a better coach than McCarthy and Goff is a better quarterback than Dak. Argument can be made.

I'm not saying it's like absolute for either one, but... Well, you know what? You bring up a good point, because going into this season, if I gave people Jared Goff or Dak Prescott, I think it'd be close. And you would definitely have some people, I think it'd be 50-50, you know, maybe because the Cowboys are a bigger brand and Dak, right? Well, I can't say he's been around longer, but more so he's been in one spot where Goff was an add-in to that deal to get an extra first-round pick with the Lions.

He ended up turning out to be their franchise quarterback. But right now, I would feel... You asked me to win one playoff game, who am I more confident? Goff or Dak?

I would take Goff over Dak. And then the coaching side of it, McCarthy's won a Super Bowl. I think McCarthy gets disrespected a lot. But we've seen now McCarthy in Dallas coaches Asimov in the regular season. Dan Campbell just got the Lions, the Lions, to an NFC Championship game. The Cowboys haven't been to an NFC Championship game since the 1995 regular season. So that's a good one there. I just got to see it again, because they were awesome down the stretch two years ago, the second half of the season.

And then they got better this past year, and now you have the Super Bowl expectations there. So that's definitely a good one there. All right, we'll take a timeout. We'll come on back when we do return. The monkey was already off Zander Shafley's back. Now it's really off his back because it's sustained success. Who's the next star to get the monkey off his or her back when it comes to winning a championship?

We'll get to that on the other side. So Zander Shafley won his second major championship over the weekend, the Open Championship, his second major championship this calendar year. You know, Zander Shafley always see him with good showings, and then it was like, oh, can't get the job done. And, you know, he had other top five finishes at the Masters in the U.S. Open, and we know just some of those crushing defeats that he's had. But to find a way to get the job done not only once is impressive, but then to show how great you are with the sustained success and winning it. You know, the final major of the year to make it.

Two out of your last three majors, all the all the power in the world and all the blessings in the world, the Zander Shafley like. So he finished second and just go major by major. He finished second in the twenty nineteen Masters, third in the twenty twenty one Masters, another top ten finished in twenty twenty three, the top ten finished in twenty twenty four. PGA Championship had obviously two top ten finishes when you factor in this year, winning U.S. Open tied for third, fifth, tied for seven, tied for tenth, tied for seventh this year. And the Open Championship ended up winning it all. Now, if you go back to even twenty seventeen to twenty eighteen, he had two more top ten finishes in the U.S. Open and then the Open Championship.

He was tied for second in twenty eighteen. So you won't talk about a guy getting so close, but yet so far. That was Andrew Shafley and it shows you right when you get so close, but yet so far, like going into Lamar conversation, you know, people like all the Mars not going to win a championship, which he may he may not. I'm not saying they definitely will, but we have seen before in sports guys or gals get so close, not get the job done. Sometimes they never get the job done, but then they they break through.

And I feel like that's the most fun. Like you look at someone like John Elway, how close he was and at the end won two championships, paid a manic early on in his career. He couldn't win a big game to save his life. And midway ended up getting the job done, that epic comeback against Patriots.

And two weeks later, they beat the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl and then got one at the end of his career where outside of the AFC Championship game, that was like, hey, you show up, you don't really do work for the class assignment, but you still find the way to get the A because it was a group project. So I think that all championships are fun, right? But I think the two ways about is when it's someone that comes out of nowhere, wins it all. Or then I think the most that we appreciate them is when someone is so close is perceived as a choker, perceived as someone that can't get the job done, and then they tell everyone to go bleep off by winning it. But it's one thing to tell everyone to bleep off one time, then you do it two out of the last three majors.

The only unfortunate part about this one. And Stu, I don't know if you're a big golf fan. I don't think you're a big golf fan, right, Stu?

Stu shaking his head no. But do you at least, like, are you a casual golf fan? Will you watch the golf majors? I will watch the last few holes of the Masters and that's about it. That's about it, yes.

Okay. So I always get fired up for the Masters, always get fired up for the PGA Championship, I get fired up for the US Open, I'll watch a few other events in the calendar year. It used to be different before the Live and the PGA stuff, because so many of these big stars now are on Live and you never hear from them, and the PGA Tour just isn't what it once was. But, like, I'll watch some other golf throughout the year. The Open Championship, and I know that it ended here early in America, but on Thursday when you had, like, tee time started at, like, three in the morning, it's just not conducive for me to watch.

It's not. And I don't know, the first two days of the tournament, trying to find a way to watch a golf major is, like, nearly impossible. But that's the only part that's, like, a shame here with the Open Championship, is that a guy for Zander Shafali, if let's say he would have won the Masters and then the US Open, him winning two major championships in a calendar year, I just think it's more talked about, but the Open Championship, just because of the time difference, I don't think it got as much attention from most of us, like, traditional people here in the US media. But, like, if you would have thought that there would have been any golfer to win two major championships in a calendar year, it would have been Scottie Scheffler this year, and it ended up being Zander Shafali.

So let me play you one audio clip before we get into the topic here. Here is Zander Shafali on winning his second major championship this year, already had the PGA Championship, and then wins the Open Championship over the weekend. I think winning the first one helped me a lot today on the back nine.

I had some feeling of calmness come through, and it was very helpful on what has been one of the hardest back nines I've ever played in a tournament. So it's a dream come true to win two majors in one year. You know, it took me forever just to win one, and to have two now is something else. Yeah, that's the other thing, too, and I think it makes a great point.

After being told you can't do something for so long, and then you finally do it, you almost become an expert after that in how to do it. And for him, it's like he had a jam-packed leaderboard, and you're looking at it, and people are like, oh, he already won one, so, like, the pressure is off. But if he didn't win that one, then the pressure intensifies even more, and he probably doesn't end up winning the Open Championship. So let's go through the four major sports right now. Who is someone associated with the sport to win their first championship, or let me say it this way. Get the monkey off his back. Because, like, for example, I'm not going to say Joe Burrow in the NFL. I don't think there's a monkey on Joe Burrow's back right now.

Two full years in the NFL, and it's been a Super Bowl, but in a championship game. You know, there's a difference of being the first athlete to win a Super Bowl or win a championship that has it, and then also get the monkey off the back. In the NFL, Dak has a monkey on his back. Josh Allen, monkey on his back. Lamar Jackson, monkey on his back. I would not say Joe Burrow does.

But you know what? My answer is actually not a player. It's a coach. Kyle Shanahan. Kyle Shanahan, I know people that say, oh, he was the offensive coordinator with the Falcons. He was an offensive coordinator that blew a 28-3 lead. So if you want to tell me, oh, that's not him as the head coach, you know, put more of that on Dan Quinn, fine.

I can even entertain that. But then in the Super Bowl now, twice. Up 10 against the 49ers. Two different against the Chiefs. Two different times.

You have 10 against the Chiefs. Two different times. You couldn't slam the door shut on either one of them. And Shanahan, I don't think there's a coach this year under more pressure in the NFL than Kyle Shanahan. Now, there's different ways to define pressure.

Pressure is very ambiguous because you can look at it in many different ways. Kyle Shanahan is in no danger of losing his job, but you never know how open or how much longer that Super Bowl window is going to stay open, and it could slam shut on you real quick. So Kyle Shanahan, to me, who is the next person in sports to get the monkey off his or her back in the NFL, I think it's Kyle Shanahan. Major League Baseball was between two. It's Bryce Harper and Shohei Ohtani. Now, Harper has been to the World Series with the Phillies.

Ohtani's only played in three postseason games with one series with the Angels. I actually think it's the Phillies. I know the Phillies are the best team in baseball the first half of the season. The Dodgers, to me, I know they won one World Series as of late, and that was in the COVID year.

They are just so ridiculously good when you look at the entirety of their team. I think the mental factor is more on the Dodgers than it is the Phillies. Because the Dodgers, we know the Phillies have stars, right? Trey Turner and Aaron Nolan, Zach Wheeler, and Bryce Harper. But the Dodgers have Mookie Betts, Freddy Freeman, and Shohei Ohtani. Just in their line, three guys just in their lineup.

So, I think it's going to be Bryce Harper. NHL, let's be real, it only applies to one person here. And that's Connor McDavid. And he got close. I don't know if he's going to win a cup.

I would think he would. But anyone else, I don't think there's like a monkey on their back right now. You know, I know you could say, oh, Zach, a Rangers fan, you know, is disrespectful to Igor Shostakin. Has played awesome, absolutely awesome in the playoffs.

Just gets some help around them. You want to tell me, Artemi Panarin? Well, if Artemi Panarin wins a championship, I don't think people are like, oh, he got the monkey off his back. No, I think it's more so to, it only really applies for me to Connor McDavid.

Alrighty. And then finally, the NBA. See, this is where it applies that I don't think there's a monkey on this person's back.

Where you could not have a championship and not have a monkey on your back. Like, I thought about Jalen Brunson, right? The Knicks with all the moves that they made.

But I don't think it's him. The Celtics just got one off their back, Tatum and Brown. I think it's between two people that I think of right away. It's Damian Lillard and Paul George. Now, Paul George is in Philly. And Paul George redeemed himself a little bit when Kawhi got hurt with the Clippers a few years ago and they got to the conference finals.

But if the Sixers win, like, Stu, the Sixers win a championship. You think of Embiid first, right? Yeah, that's all about Embiid. I think it's honestly about Embiid. You know what, it's not even Paul George, it's Embiid.

Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely Embiid because he's won the MVP now. I know Paul George is going to be a Hall of Famer, but I would say that it's Embiid who probably has the biggest monkey on his back in the NBA for guys that have not won a championship. My answer is going to be Dame here. Like, Giannis already won, already got the monkey off his back, but that was just an atrocious year. I think Dame was in, and he's talked about this before, he wasn't in the best mental spot in Milwaukee as his big adjustment going from Portland to Milwaukee this past year.

So, go through that with me, Stu. NFL, I said Kyle Shanahan, do you argue anybody else? That would have been mine, but I'll just throw Lamar Jackson in there as the other one, yeah.

Fair. Major League Baseball, I took Bryce Harper, I'm assuming you'll take Otani? Yes, I think Trout is another one. Obviously, not his fault, though, because of the team he's been on. Can he be healthy, though?

He needs to be healthy, and he needs to be on a different team. Yeah. NHL, just McDavid. Just McDavid, yeah.

Yep, and then the NBA. Who would you go with in the NBA? I'm gonna go Dame, but the more I think about it, it could be actually Embiid. It could be Embiid, it could be Dame. Actually, we're probably a year or two away from this, and he had a really good year this year getting to the finals, but I think if Luca doesn't get one in the next couple of years, he's gonna start hearing the same things that Tatum got going into this year. Yeah, I see Christina and Toronto is on hold, and this is actually a great one for the NHL. A great one.

Christina, go ahead, give me the name. Uh, Austin Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs. A thousand percent, because that is a team.

One million percent. Yeah, that's the thing, though. I just never expect them to actually get the job done, but you're so right in talking about getting a monkey off their back. It's definitely the Maple Leafs, because it's like death, taxes, and then come postseason time. The Maple Leafs just disappointing year after year after year.

We call them up here. The Toronto Maple Leafs want to win. Yeah, now say this, though.

If you don't win a championship with Burubi, then then it's just not gonna happen because Burubi did a great job taking over. And thanks for the phone call and a great one. Christina. Great one. Not good.

A great one. But Burubi took over as the interim with the Blues wins that Stanley Cup and Burubi is a no nonsense type of guy. You know what? Marco Belletti is here to the Infinity Sports Network the way that he conducts a locker room.

No BS. That's Craig Burubi, the chief. We call you El Capitan. We call Craig Burubi, the chief.

We Yeah, but that's the thing. Like they got the right coach and they have so much talent. And that's a great one. Austin Matthews, if you take McDavid out of it and McDavid just got to a Stanley Cup final and get the job done. Almost pulled off that epic three oh come back. But yeah, Austin Matthews would definitely, definitely be different sport.

I'll give you one more, though, that you didn't mention. Aaron Judge has not performed in the playoffs. Well, the Yankees haven't won in 15 years, haven't been there in 15 years.

Aaron Judge with all the 62 homers. He needs to be Yankee fan or something. He needs to. He needs to step up. You're right.

That's definitely one of them, though. So NFL, I'll use you as checks and balances and then we'll take a break. Shanahan, Dak, Burrow, Allen Lamar, take Burrow out of it.

Because Burrow got to a Super Bowl. I think that's fair. MLB, we have Harper, Otani, and Judge. Yes. NHL, McDavid and Austin Matthews.

Yes. And then NBA, Dame, Embiid were the two that we really zeroed on. Yeah, and I'm with Stu. Luca's getting close. Again, he's got time because, again, he's young and he has been there once. That's helpful, but at some point you have to bring home that trophy.

I think it's Embiid, but I think Luca's headed in that direction if he doesn't get one in the next three or four years. And it's Zach Gelb's show on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll come on back. Stu's got some questions for me.

I'll give you some answers. We'll do a little on-sides, off-side, but first up with the latest Infinity Sports Network update. Some people say, some, some say, he's like Craig Berube. Here he is.

I'll copy Tom Markability. Alrighty, it's time to answer Ask the Pros Question of the Day. It's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. William Baltimore says, Zach, who'd you rather have for the rest of their careers? Lamar Jackson or CJ Stroud?

You can submit a question by tweeting at infsports.net or at Zach Gelb using the hashtag Ask the Pros. 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'Reilly Auto Parts. The answer is CJ Stroud. Now, I think currently Lamar Jackson's a better quarterback than CJ Stroud.

But the question was for the rest of their careers. Lamar Jackson is 27. Now here's a misnomer about Lamar Jackson.

Takes a lot of hits. Lamar Jackson does a good job at protecting his body, but there's just a lot of wear and tear already on that body. And he suffered some injuries, but they were not because of running those injuries. And Lamar is at an elite level right now winning two more MVPs. But how many more elite years does Lamar have in him?

Like is Lamar who's 27? Let's say four years from now, when he's 31. Is he gonna still be able to run with the frequency that he does? You know, I know it wasn't the last time he had a thousand yards was 2020. So back to back years 2019 and 2020. But he had 133 times run the ball this year, 112 or in 2021, 112 in 2022, and then 148 this past year.

Like eventually the body's not gonna be able to withstand that. And for CJ Stroud, his running is basically horizontal. It's not vertical. That's something that I will always remember from CJ Stroud. I talked to him at the Heisman two years ago, and this was before they lost at Ohio State to Georgia in that semifinal game. And he said, I'm more mobile than what people give me credit for.

And I look forward to putting that on display soon. A lot of his running's not vertical though. It's horizontal. It's like Mahomes, right?

More running horizontally to extend the play. And I think what Stroud did show this past year, he may never win an MVP, but I would take that for the next 10 years, like talk about the rest of their careers in Lamar for his next 10 years. So that's the way that I'll answer that, but that's not to be disrespectful to Lamar because I'm a big fan of Lamar Jackson. He's currently my fourth ranked quarterback in the NFL. The only three in front of him, Josh Allen, Joe burrow and Patrick Mahomes in that order. But Sue's got some questions for me.

I'll give you some answers. Let's get to a little onsite offside Stu. 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. All righty, Stu. What do we got cooking today? All right, Zach. By the way, welcome back. Yeah, finally back. It's been about you were sick.

Yes. Then you were sick. Were you out a week then leading into the vacation? Yeah, I came back one day, but that day you were not here. So it's been, I've seen you.

I'm not here for one day. You know, that's a good, hardworking guy. Stuart.

That's right. What was the highlight of your vacation? Did you go anywhere? It was like a staycation. It was more of a staycation. A lot of pool time. A lot of EA Sports College football time.

That was pretty much the highlight. I hate that video game, by the way. You hate it? Yeah. Why? I don't have a PS5. Oh, I have a PS4. Right. They only made it for the current gen. I'm not a big video game player anymore. Yeah. So you don't want to spend that money on it.

No, it's not even that. I'm sitting around like, I can't wait for the video game launch day. I'm like, oh, I'm going to download it.

Like all excited. And then I'm like, why can't I download it? And it's because I have a PS4, not a PS5.

That's terrible. Yeah. And am I going to go out and go get a PS5? Like, probably not. How much is a PS5 now around? You know, probably still four to $500.

And then how much does it cost for the video game? Like 70. They're 70 now. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Pretty crazy.

I did get a brand new TV over the weekend. Ooh. Yeah. That sounds nice. Getting ready for football season. Yeah. Right in time. Well, speaking of football, the Texans, they have high expectations thanks to the emergence of CJ Stroud, as well as the additions of Safon Diggs and Danielle Hunter this off season.

Now, Houston has added Cam Akers to a crowded backfield that includes Joe Mixon, Damian Pierce, and Dharay Uqawwale. Ohgumbawale. Ohgumbawale. I think I'm the biggest Dharay Uqumbawale fan ever.

He was the last interview I did in studio before the pandemic happened. He's like the former defensive lineman on the Dolphins, who I could not pronounce his name from the early 2000s. Ohgumbawale. Oh, okay. Yeah.

I can read it, but I can't pronounce. But anyways, they've added those running backs. So onsides, offsides, the Texans' backfield is better this year than it was last year. You have a lot of names in that backfield. Just because you have a lot of names doesn't make it better. But with Devin Motor's single, Terry, he had a good season last year, but his career, he's been very streaky.

So I think that the answer is yes, it's better than what it was last year, just because you got a lot of horses in that backfield, and they could carry the load like every three to four weeks and just kind of pass the baton, so on and so forth. The Clippers open up their $2 billion arena to the media this weekend, showcasing their incredible 44,000 square foot Halo screen that hovers over the court. Now, one of the craziest features of the board is that it has t-shirt cannons built into it after owner Steve Ballmer said, quote, it's unfair. It's not right that fans in the higher seats don't get a chance to get the free swag from normal t-shirt cannons. So onsides, offsides, Steve Ballmer is the best owner in sports. He's the most fan friendly owner, but he's not the best owner because he's won nothing yet. It's been all talk, you know, right?

Everything's being hyped up, hyped up, this and that. You got to go win a championship. So I'm going to say offside on that. But I do love that. And also, I think the biggest losers to go to sporting events is the people that take the t-shirts from the children. Or if you're going for a foul ball and you get in, there's like a child right next to you, you don't give it to the children.

The worst. And the craziest when they do the t-shirt toss, when they give out free t-shirts, like as a promotion for the game, like why are you doing a t-shirt toss and people are going nuts for it? You know, if a child's near you, you don't need the t-shirt.

Give it to the child, make a child's day. Yeah, people lose their minds for those t-shirts. Yeah. Anyways, over the weekend, the SEC released its preseason all conference teams with one very interesting note. The conference released the Longhorns, lineman Kelvin Banks Jr. as TEX, while Tennessee center Cooper Mays was listed as UT. The two programs have fought for years over who the true UT is, but it seems like the SEC is picking Tennessee. Onsides, offsides Tennessee, not Texas is the true UT. I'm going to go offsides here because Texas, I feel like to me is more UT than Tennessee. For Tennessee, I just like calling them Tennessee and then sing good old Rocky Top. So that's just a personal preference. I would never just go UT for Tennessee because I think it's sliding the Tennessee faithful into singing good old Rocky Top the way that I like to sing it.

So that's my answer. Braxton Miller was a standout quarterback for Ohio State before fizzling out with injuries, but his 11-year-old son Landon is already getting some attention. The sixth grader announced on social media that FAU and head coach Tom Herman have given him his first official offer.

As you know, of course, Herman was the OC at Ohio State when Braxton was there. Onsides, offsides, the NCAA should prohibit schools from offering scholarships to players not yet in high school. Yeah, because it's just all publicity for programs. Like, do we ever follow through with the kid and find out what the kid does?

Like, yeah, there's a good chance that Braxton Miller's son could be a very good quarterback. But how many times do you just get the hopes up for summer and then you just take it away if the kid's not good enough when he gets to high school? So I don't think that you should be allowed to give a kid an offer in middle school or elementary school and you should have to wait to high school.

So the NCAA should prohibit schools from offering scholarships to players not yet in high school. I will go on sides. Alrighty, we'll cut it there. I think for timing purposes, we only got about 40 seconds left. But fun show today. Big thanks to Stu. Big thanks to Moist Mike as well.

And a big thanks to Cadre Ismail for joining us to talk a little bit about the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh with all those comments being the majority of the show. We will be back manana. Only two more shows for you this week. I am taking some summer vacation again on Thursday. So I'll be off Thursday, Friday, and then Monday. But that's how they say it in Philly. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. So sometimes that does come out with the seven years I've lived in Philadelphia. But we will be here tomorrow and Wednesday. Long story short. So we'll have some fun shows over the next two days.

A lot of college football out of NFL, all that jazz as well. Alrighty, we will talk to you tomorrow, manana. Kind of combining those at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific. Have a great safe night, everybody. We out.

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Talk to your pediatrician or visit YVaccines.com. Brought to you by Merck. Today's episode is sponsored by Nerd Wallet Smart Money podcast. Get your head in the financial game with smart investing and budgeting tips straight from the nerds. Nerd Wallet's experts will set future you up for success with dependable fact-based insights. No financial misinformation allowed. Learn how to save on your summer vacation. Find your next credit card or loan for a big purchase and invest in your next index fund. Make smarter decisions in 2024. Follow Nerd Wallet Smart Money podcast on your favorite podcast app.