Rich Gannon, Former Raiders MVP QB

Rich Gannon, former NFL MVP, is the co-host of the Sirius XM Blitz with Bruce Murray on Sirius XM NFL Radio Channel 88 and on the Sirius XM app. And Rich is kind enough to join us once again on the Zach Gelb show.

Rich, good to have you on. I know it's been a while. How you been?

Zach, doing good, my friend. It's been a crazy, crazy couple days. I'd say I'd love to be an NFL agent right now. You know, those guys are just busy on the phones making a lot of money for their clients.

Yeah, no, it's not a bad life. So let me ask you a little bit about your Raiders to start. I know that it's been obviously more than a few weeks, but what was your reaction when they ended up hiring Pete Carroll to be the next head coach?

Well, I thought it made a lot of sense. Look, they've been through nine coaches since 2011, so they've had so much turnover. In 1987, he got hired by Bud Grant in 1985. So we know about his background as a position coach, as a coordinator, certainly as a head coach for a number of different organizations in college as well, winning a national championship at SC. So Pete brings some stability, some leadership, some know-how to kind of changing the culture and the environment in Las Vegas. And of course, he brings a quarterback that he's familiar with as well, Geno Smith. So I think when you look at the decisions that they're making, still, they're not doubting. But I think when you look at what they've done initially, I think it makes a lot of sense.

Well, that's the big thing, right? They go make the move for Geno Smith, and they trade a third round pick for him. We'll see what happens contractually. But now a lot of people wonder, Rich Gannon, what the Raiders will do with the sixth pick. If Shadore Sanders is somehow, some way, still available with the sixth overall pick, do you think the Raiders should select him?

I do. Look, if they've done all their due diligence and feel really good about, you know, the door, then they should pull the trigger. Look, yeah, I think you look at the model that the Packers have had when they had Brett Favre and they decided to take Aaron Rodgers. When they had Aaron Rodgers, they decided to take Jordan Wild. I think, you know, you look at Geno Smith, done some really good things the last three years, at least 34 years old.

I think you're always looking for competition at that position. The other thing I would say, Zach, is that, you know, they've got a quarterback behind Geno Smith that I think there's certainly some familiarity with and some comfort level with inside the organization. Aidan O'Connell's first year went 5-5. Won three games in a division against the Chiefs, Chargers, and Broncos. And despite the fact that they fired his head coach and replaced the play caller.

And they did that again last year with the play caller. So, you know, I think there's some upside there. I think there's some experience. I think this is a guy that can step in at a moment's notice and put your team in the finish line. But, you know, I think Geno Smith is a guy that can provide some stability, some leadership, and some production for the Raiders moving forward.

You know, you don't have to be looking at that position. If there's a quarterback, it may not even be in the first round. I think you look at what happened last year, even Bo Nix. In fact, there was a run on quarterbacks and then we weren't sure what the Broncos were going to do. But you look at those quarterbacks last year, all of them.

Whether it was Drake May, whether it was Jaden Daniels, Bo Nix, they all played well. And I think there's some real merit to having that conversation in-house. I don't know how much you're able, Rich Gannon, to watch Adore Sanders, but when you see him play, just what are your thoughts on him as a quarterback? Well, I like the pedigree.

Let's start there. I mean, that's the fact that he's been around football his entire life. The fact that, you know, he grew up in a household where football was important.

I think everywhere he has been, you go back and you study him at Jackson State before transferring to Colorado. He did some good things there. And even last year, I mean, he set a school record with 64 career passing touchdowns, led the FBS.

You know, his school record, 74% of his passes were completions. You know, he does some things well. I think the fact that, you know, he's got good arm talent.

I think the ability to, you know, change the launch point when needed. Good eye discipline. I think he shows the willingness to stand in the pocket, take a hit. That's really apparent when you watch him.

This guy's not going to flinch. I think very good ball placement accuracy when he throws and moves inside the pocket. So, you know, I think he has a lot of competitive reps out there.

I think you just have to do your due diligence. I think, overall, very talented and experienced prospect. He's been around the game his entire life. I think he knows what success looks like. I think a lot of these quarterbacks in this draft class, Zach, I think he's going to need some, he's going to need to be in the right system. He's going to need a staff and team around him to be patient with him to reach his full potential. I don't know that we're going to find a Jayden Daniels in this draft class that splashes onto the scene and wins 14 games and takes his team to an NFC Championship.

I don't know. I think he set the bar pretty high last season. Yeah, I also think the fascinating thing, and once again, I don't even know if Chador is going to be available with the six pick as Rich Gannon is here with us. Brady knows so much about him because they had a relationship before Brady even became the minority owner of the Raiders. So Brady's influence on this when it comes to maybe picking the next quarterback, to me, is going to be really intriguing.

Well, Will, I think the fact that you have someone around the organization that's, you know, one at the highest level that knows what success looks like, knows what a culture and environment that's conducive to winning looks like. And so the one thing I would throw out there is that he's not in the building every day. He's got a home in Florida. He's doing NFL games each and every week. So I think he can certainly weigh in on some of these decisions and certainly be another set of eyes for spy tech and for Pete Carroll. But, you know, look, they've got people in the building. They've got a pro staff, a college staff, a college scouting department that has to, you know, go through all these quarterbacks.

I mean, it's not just, you know, it's not just Chador Sanders. You know, I think when you look at Jackson Dart, when you look at Quinn Ewers, I mean, one of these guys may fit the bill in terms of what they're looking for. They may even circle back at a second runner later in the first round and grab a quarterback. We don't know what the Raiders are going to do, but kind of in that catbird seat when you look at, you know, a couple of teams in front of them that need quarterbacks.

Rich Gannon here with us. If you're Caleb Williams, you got to be pretty happy. You got three new offensive linemen. You revamped that offensive line, Rich. And also you get a brilliant play caller in Ben Johnson. We'll see how he makes a transition to becoming a head coach. But seems like the Bears have had a good offseason so far.

You know, it's incredible. When I look at Caleb Williams last year, Zach, I think there's a lot of things that you're pleased with. The fact that he played every game, he showed some real toughness and resolve despite the fact that he got sacked more than any quarterback of the league. I think the expectations were really high.

I think what happened to him last year was unfortunate. They are the head coach. They replaced the play caller and they replaced the play caller where someone doesn't have a lot of experience doing it. The offensive line play wasn't great. And I think when you look at what they've done with, you know, Tooney and Jackson and Dalman, that's a great start. You know, now we always talk about when you build a football team, you want to be strong down the middle.

And I think that's what they're trying to do in Chicago. They got this good, talented young quarterback. Want to make sure that he's upright. Make sure he's got a cleaner jersey this season than he did last season. Let me get your thoughts on Justin Fields landing with the Jets on a two-year deal, $30 million guaranteed. What can you expect out of Justin Fields this year in the Big Apple? He did some good things last year at Pittsburgh before they yanked him and threw in Russell Wilson.

I thought he handled the situation well. I think he showed improvement over what we saw from him the first three years in Chicago. There's no question in my mind that Justin Fields is an ultra-talented quarterback. I mean, he can make all the throws. He can create and extend and manufacture offense. Where he has to be better is functioning from the pocket. He's got to be better on third down. He's got to be better in the red zone. He's got to be better in situational football. I think the big thing with him is can he learn to slow down the game, quiet his feet and sit in there and be better with anticipation and accuracy when he has to throw the ball in the pocket. Rich Gannon here with us, the coast of the Sirius XM Blitz with Bruce Murray on Sirius XM NFL Radio Channel 88 and on the Sirius XM app. Rich, right now I feel like Rodgers is going to wind up with the Steelers and then you're going to see Russell Wilson go to the Giants and maybe the Giants will still find a way to get a quarterback in the draft.

Is that kind of what you're expecting as well? You know, I think if you're Aaron Rodgers and you're sitting back and you're just looking at what's already transpired and you say to yourself, what's the best landing spot for me? Maybe even before, you know, Daniel Jones finding Indianapolis and some of these other situations with, obviously, Darnold going to Seattle and such. I think this is a great situation for Aaron Rodgers. If I were Aaron Rodgers, I'd be pushing my agent to get a deal done as soon as possible.

Why? Even despite the struggles they had last year at the quarterback position, this team still won 10 games and made the playoffs. They've got a good football team. They just went out and got D.K., Matt Cappe, George Pickens. You know, you've got some talented running back position. They've got a good defense.

They've got one of the best defensive players in football, T.J. Watt. I think the big thing with Aaron Rodgers, he's got to be willing to be uncomfortable. He's got to be willing to work with the coaching staff and Mike Tomlin and the folks in Pittsburgh and just simply say, you know what? I'm going to commit myself to the entire offseason program. I'm going to do everything that's necessary. I'm not going to go on any trips during the season or during minicamp.

I'm just going to commit to being, you know, the guy in the building every day and being one of the guys in Pittsburgh. And if he's willing to do that, I still think there's plenty of talent there. He's obviously not the same player he once was, but if he really studied the tape from last year, he's still got great arm talent.

He still can move a little bit, protect himself. I just think he was so frustrated, Zach, with what happened last year. The coaching situation, firing the head coach, replacing the play caller, lack of communication, you know, guys that weren't held to a certain standard, guys that didn't know what to do, guys that weren't running the right routes, guys that weren't getting the right depth. He needs to go somewhere where there's some professionalism, accountability, attention to detail. And get that in Pittsburgh with Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith. Do you know how quarterbacks, though, could be, especially when they're this established and they get to their older years? I just like I think Roger should go to the Steelers, but I don't know how much different of an Aaron Rodgers you're going to get in terms of the commitment and all that stuff.

Well, I think that's what you have to decide. Like, if I'm Mike Tomlin, that's where we start. Like we sit down. We're not going to talk about the tape. We're not going to talk about football.

We're not going to talk about the offense, what that's going to look like today. We're just going to sit there and say, hey, what do you want? What do you want with your career?

You're at a point in your career, you'll be 42 in December. Do you want to go out before you go to Canton and get that gold jacket? What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to have a chance to compete for a world championship?

Here's the place. I've never had a losing season, but here's what I need from you before we even sit down there and talk about dollars and the contract and our offense. Are you going to be all in? Are you going to come to Pittsburgh, get an apartment, get a townhouse, move here, be in the building, be in the weight room, be in the meeting rooms, be out in the practice field, be in the OTAs.

Like, I need a total commitment from you. And if you'll give me that, what I'll do is we'll put together a great offensive football system that you're comfortable with. We'll tweak what we have to tweak, but we're not going to become one of these wide open systems of football where we throw it 40 times a game just so we're going to be true to who we are. We're going to be physical. We're going to run the football. We're going to play action.

We're going to change the launch point. We'll be aggressive, but you have to work with us. And I think that's what Mike Tomlin has to figure out. Is this guy going to be all on board or are there going to be distractions?

Are there going to be some things that he's not as comfortable with? I'm not really at this point, if I'm Mike Tomlin, I don't want to go down that road. I don't want to set my program back to accommodate one player. And that would be a huge mistake if, in fact, you don't get a total buy-in from Aaron Rodgers. Last thing with Rich Gannon, the former NFL MVP.

Let's get two questions here into pretty much a similar topic. JJ McCarthy, I think that he could be just as good, if not better, than what Sam Darnold did in Minnesota. And I think a lot of people are knocking JJ. I think he's in a perfect fit spot with Kevin O'Connell, Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hockinson, and et cetera.

And then for Sam Darnold, I thought it was a fine move by the Seahawks, $55 million only guaranteed. I'm just curious to see what he does with fewer pieces around him. How about a little on JJ and then Sam to end up the conversation? Well, I really like JJ. I've known him. Actually, we're members of the same golf club in Minneapolis, if you can imagine that. But not that you play a lot of golf in Minnesota. It's this time of the year.

But let me say this. I think he's set up for success there. I think he benefited from what happened last year despite the injuries in the building. He was part of game planning.

He was out on the practice field watching the reps. I think he was staying involved as much as he could mentally. I just think that they're really excited about him. I think he's got a lot of upside. I think it's a great offensive football team. It's a good defense.

It's a head coach that played the position, that's coached the position, that sees the game through the eyes of the quarterback. I think it's a really good situation for JJ McCarthy. Now, certainly the expectations are based on what happened with Sam Darnold last year.

They're not going to be very patient. But I just think he'll be fine. I think it's a good situation for JJ. I think he was well trained at Michigan with Jim Otterball.

I think Sam Darnold. Let me just say this. I'm pleased.

I'm so pleased for this guy. I did a lot of his games for CBS when I was calling games in New York. He struggled. He struggled at SGA taking care of the football. He struggled in Carolina.

And he had that red shirt here in San Francisco before going to Minnesota last year. The best thing he did last year was clean up the decision making, take better care of the football. And he played great football with the exception of the last two games of the season.

But I don't think they played well around him. I think it's a great situation for him in Seattle. It's a great organization. You've got a good young coach. And you've got a play caller that I think understands protections and how to put the quarterback in a position to have a chance to be successful week in and week out. He's Rich Gannon.

The former NFL MVP is also the co-host of the Sirius XM Blitz with Bruce Murray on Sirius XM NFL Radio channel 88 and on the Sirius XM app. Rich, always appreciate it. Thank you. Exactly the best. Thanks, brother.