Mike Pritchard, VSiN Sports Betting Network

Date number one inside Radio Row, Phoenix Convention Center. Zach Gelp here with you for CBS Sports Radio. Now joining us, former NFL wide receiver with the Falcons, Broncos, and Seahawks.

And that does a great job for VSAT. And that, of course, is Mike Pritchard. Mike, appreciate the time. How are you? Appreciate you, Zach.

My pleasure, man. I'm great. Super Bowl week is finally here, right? Or have we not been waiting for it? I mean, the buildup hasn't even felt like it's been real yet. I actually wish that there wasn't two weeks.

Really? In between conference championship games. I know it delays more of the, you know, more of a us going into this time of, oh, we don't have football. We got nothing to talk about.

Right, right. But the Pro Bowl, I guess, was a little bit more interesting than years past. But for most part, I don't care about that week before Super Bowl week.

You know what, Zach? From my vantage point with VSAT and a betting standpoint, I mean, I love the two weeks that Patrick Mahomes has to get ready for the Super Bowl. I couldn't imagine what that would be like after playing that AFC conference championship game the way he did and then being sore.

And then, OK, now you've got to play the Super Bowl the following week. I mean, I love that we're going to get close to maybe closer to 90% Patrick Mahomes, which I think can be highly effective, too, though. What's your favorite bet right now heading into this game?

Not spread, not over or under. Just favorite bet. Miles Sanders MVP. Wow.

And here's why. He's a top five rusher in the National Football League. Had two touchdowns in the championship game.

That, too. In terms of explosive plays, he had over 34 explosive plays which put him in the top four from a running back standpoint, right? So I think if he can have a breakout game, if he can have a big situation in which he can have a few big plays, I think he creates that narrative along with the touchdowns, of course. I got him scoring any time touchdown. That was plus money, too.

Plus 110, I believe. And so, yeah, I think he could have a fantastic game because the Eagles are going to need to run the football. And if they can, then I think he could be explosive. I think he's going to be incredibly biased. I also think it's an amazing bet as someone that went to Temple, went to college, went to Saun Riddick. Saun Riddick Super Bowl MVP plus 4,000. That's a pretty damn good bet.

It's a really good bet. It's tough for a defensive player to win it. It's tough for a defensive player. In particular, that position, right? I mean, Von Miller. Yeah. You need a big strip sack or a fumble that's returned for a touchdown in a low scoring game. Absolutely.

A lot of stuff needs to happen that way, right? Which I think for MVP, I mean, you think about a quarterback that's why they always win it because they're more impactful. But Riddick, he's the type of guy that can produce that, though, right? But I don't know if the Chiefs are going to give him that opportunity, though. When you look at Kansas City and you mention the ankle with Patrick Mahomes, Mike Pritchard, who joins us on CBS Sports Radio, I just want to see if they get into a shootout and you have to put up 30-something points, maybe even 40 if it's kind of like that Super Bowl from a few years ago. Eagles and the Patriots, just how that ankle holds up throughout the course of the game. Yeah, I mean, he's going to have to throw it, what, over 35 times, right?

I mean, I factored that already into the game plan. And I think what I saw that guy go through with that ankle, Patrick Mahomes, and how he gutted it up and was able to make that play the biggest play of the game, a scramble for the first down that led to the penalty. Yeah, I think he can do that. I think he's a human eraser.

He is. He can block out the pain enough to get rid of the football. Or to overcome that kind of situation.

And then I think he uplifts everybody else around him, too, right? I also did some work on the fact that if they don't score 24 points, I thought against the Cincinnati Bengals, they needed to score north of 24 points. But I did the work and if they scored less than 24 points, what was their outcome, right? They were 13-11. Now they're 14-11. So they're more than capable of scoring enough points to win the game and making an impact that way. And I think the Chiefs would rather have Patrick Mahomes hobbling with an opportunity to win the game with the last possession of the football game. So if they can create that, too, I mean, there's a lot of paths to victory for the Kansas City Chiefs. I haven't looked at the numbers from a betting standpoint yet, but it seems like the Eagles are the popular pick right now.

Well, yeah, I mean, I think it's down the middle. I saw there was a million dollar bet placed on the Eagles. I know.

I know. There's some high dollar bets coming in on the Eagles, that's for sure. Gotta hang out with those guys that are making that bet. I walk up with cash, too, making that bet. Let me take a 20.

Sure, I know, at the window with a bag, right? You know what, Zach, the numbers suggest, and you can check all the boxes with the Eagles, I believe, they're that good. I mean, they're the better team. I think a lot of people will have that opinion, but they don't have a Patrick Mahomes, though, right? And I think Patrick Mahomes in that regard has brought respect to the number.

I'm curious where the number is going to go during this week as we get more and more information about the receivers, in particular Juju Smith-Shuster. Jalen Hurts is having a remarkable season, Mike Pritchard here with us, and you look at him, if he didn't get hurt and missed those two games, he may have won the MVP. I actually think him missing those, this is not how it works, but I think him missing the games and them losing both of those games enhances his case for the MVP, but it's going to be Mahomes at the end of the year. When you look at Hurts compared to the rest of the league, where do you rank him in terms of your tier of quarterbacks?

He's climbing. He's not in that top tier yet. Getting to a Super Bowl, I get it, and he's been remarkable. He really has, but his game and what the Eagles are doing offensively is perfect.

It's a perfect fit. I mean, they're using six eligible. He's a running back more times than a passer, which is highly effective for the offense, but in order for him, I think, to get to that elite tier, he's going to have to become more efficient from the pocket, which he will be. I think he's on that path. And I wouldn't be shocked if next year or the year after, we start talking about Jalen Hurts in that regard.

That way. And with Brady now retiring, it's weird that Brady spent three years in Tampa Bay. Rogers may be getting traded outside of the conference. You look at that NFC, there's not a lot of guys who look at the quarterback position that you say are elite quarterbacks. And you got Dak, you got Kirk. They never win big games. Jalen Hurts could be the face of the NFC for years to come. It could be. I mean, it was a year at a backup quarterback in the NFC conference.

Brock Purdy. Exactly. There was backup after backup to the backup to the backups playing this year.

So you're right. I mean, it's a get better league, Zach. You know, I say that to young players all the time. Make sure you're sharpening your skill set. Make sure you're improving your game.

Make sure you're evolving because there's somebody chasing you. Jalen Hurts and his story, I think he understands that already, which is going to allow him to get better. Like Zach Wilson doesn't understand that yet. You know, there's a number of quarterbacks that don't understand it that way yet. And also Zach Wilson doesn't know how to command a locker room.

He does not. I've been to that Eagles locker room. Jalen Hurts is the heartbeat of that team.

Hands down. I've never seen a quarterback like Zach Wilson. When you get asked the question, when your team, the offense side of the ball is clearly the reason you lost the game. Did you let your defense down? If you are a franchise quarterback, you say that one was on me. Won't happen again.

We'll be better. And he may have never even gotten benched. That's the crazy part. Yeah, I know.

Exactly. The fact that the team lobbied for the other guy and not you spoke volumes. Should have spoke volumes too. They had Mike White t-shirts.

T-shirts for Mike White. See, I've never gotten that far as a teammate, but that was incredible, right? But yeah, Zach Wilson doesn't get the message. Because when you look at his talent, man, the guy's got incredible arm talent, right?

Zach Wilson. And he's perfect from a pocket passing standpoint, but he doesn't have it. Jalen has it and all he has to do is improve on some things and he'll be an elite quarterback.

And he keeps on getting better and better from the benching at Alabama, then what he did at Oklahoma, and look from where he was last year in that playoff game to where he is now at the Super Bowl, 60 minutes away from potentially winning it all. I'm glad, though, that we bizarrely got on the topic of Zach Wilson, because I think that's a big problem with the draft now. Everyone's looking for the next Mahomes. There is no such thing as the next Mahomes, so we try to find the next 1 16th of Patrick Mahomes. And a guy like Zach Wilson, yeah, you can make the case first round quarterback.

How he was unanimously anointed that guy second overall in the draft after Lawrence is something I don't get. Yeah, I think GMs or executives will fall in love with the talent. And there is a lot to like and a lot to love about Zach Wilson as a college quarterback and the talent, and you try to project that. See, that's the problem.

How do you project anything without knowing what fits? Like Zach Wilson in that locker room is not a good fit. You know, Jalen Hurts and Philly in that locker room with a number of draft choices. The unique thing about the Eagles, what I love is outside of AJ Brown, every one of those guys offensively were drafted to the Eagles. And so it's the Eagles way. It's that culture. And then you find the perfect quarterback for that culture.

Now you got the perfect fit. You can run any offense you want now, right? I think other places like where Zach Wilson is, I mean, you got to be specialized or you got to go find a coordinator that fits that guy.

And that's hard to do, too. How does Russ, because I saw Sean Payton was introduced today as the new head football coach of the Broncos. I saw he was doing an interview and said, yeah, all those other guys that were with Russ that he employed aren't going to be in the locker room. You have to be employed by the team to be in the Denver Broncos locker room.

So that's a big step. And I think it's the start of Sean making sure that Russ takes some accountability for what happened last year. But I know they made that last push late in the year where all the guys started coming out and saying, we love Russ.

We love Russ. That wasn't there the first 14 weeks of the season. How does he actually win back that locker room? That was forced. I mean, that's ridiculous. That's borderline T-shirts.

It's like Vince McMahon wrote the script. I know. Like, where's the T-shirts? We love Russ at, right? Being held hostage in order to say that. Yeah. The fact that Sean Payton went public with that, that's all you need to know.

He said, I wasn't familiar with that, but that's not happening here. Right. So the fact that he went public because, you know, as a coach, sometimes coaches, they'll say stuff to the public and then they'll hold back other things, right? This is for the locker room. This is for that player.

This is for that. But for him to say that publicly, Russell needed to hear it. And his teammates needed to hear it because they know he was treated differently.

So Russell elevated himself out the locker room, right? So he's got to become a better teammate. He's got to become coachable. And I think Sean Payton understands that right now and is trying to convey that to Russell Wilson. So the success of the Broncos and Sean Payton knows this.

I mean, he's got to get his quarterback back to where he's coachable and improving as opposed to surrounded by enablers is telling him how great he is. Wrapping up with Mike Pritchard here with us on Zach Gelb, the former NFL wide receiver here with us on behalf of Vison. So Colorado, your alma mater. Yes. A smile right away. Of course. You guys are like the fat kids in the candy store right now. A little bit. Yeah.

Yeah. We're Charlie. We just found the golden ticket. We did that fifth golden ticket. You know, getting coach Prime is open up doors that have been shut for a long time at CU. And the excitement, the profile that he's generating for the school, for an institution is exactly what we needed.

And he's the only person who could have done that. And so everybody's embraced it. Everybody's supportive of it and cannot wait for spring ball. I mean, that's where we are right now. He did a wonderful job at Jackson State HBCU. I know it kind of seems silly to doubt the on Sanders because the guy's been a lead everywhere he goes. But that jump up into the into the power five.

How do you think he'll handle that? Well, the way he's recruiting in a way he's managed to transfer a portal. I mean, I think it's different now than it was five years ago because and I own the transfer right. And we could not compete.

See, you cannot compete. It's I don't want to call him like a marketing head coach, but it's perfect for a guy that knows how to market even people that are not market. Right. Exactly. And, you know, bringing the attention in a profile and for that matter, I mean, helping and boosting the profile of the Pac 12 now.

Right. So I think the type of players that he's attracting and landing and then currently working out at CU gives us a chance to compete in the Pac 12. And and hopefully one day for that college football playoff as well. Last thing I'll ask you, Aaron Rodgers, what's your prediction?

What's it? What's your visa in long shot or visa here on Rogers next team for a run. So you mean his next team? I'm not gonna put any odds on. Do you think he's coming back to Green Bay? I don't think so. I don't either.

I don't think so. And I didn't say the last the last two years I said he's going back to Yeah, this year I think he's gone. I know for a fact he threw some stuff out there that help angle other situations, perhaps in Denver. That didn't happen. But I don't think he's coming back to Green Bay.

I mean, there's no reason for it. Seems like it's Vegas in the Jets right now. I think either one of those two teams and I would lean Vegas. I would lean Vegas even though he won't win a Super Bowl. They won't win a Super Bowl in New York. Close. He'll get close.

That's all. I think that's all Vegas wants and needs right now as the Super Bowl is going to be hosted in Las Vegas next year. So Mark Davis, they don't have to break him off a lot of money.

I mean, all he has to do is renegotiate a contract. I think at this point, if you go to New York, they don't have who's a coordinator now in New York on the offense side of all Nathaniel Hackett. It is Hackett. That is right. Because I was thinking the floor and he's okay with his brother, the floor. But now it's Hackett. I don't know. That's a good team, though.

Maybe I'm wishful thinking because I'm from Vegas and I want to see A.A. Ron out there in Vegas with the Raiders. Well, Mike, we appreciate the time. Thanks so much. Thank you very much.