Lamar's Lofty Goal (Hour 2)

I have a speech to give coming up tomorrow night, and I actually feel bad for everyone else that has to give a speech at this wedding.

Wow, it's that good, huh? Well, no, I didn't even write the speech yet. I'm going to go off the cuff. But there are 10 speeches at the rehearsal dinner tomorrow.

I'm the first one. My goal is to make my speech so good that no one else wants to hear the other night. So that's what I'm going to come to do tomorrow night.

Well, that's what I'm trying to do tomorrow. There are 10, I've never been to a rehearsal dinner, 10 speeches given? A lot of people wanted to talk.

I did think that was a big number, if we are fair. But it's not my wedding, so I'm not going to sit here and bitch and complain. Now, I don't think, we were told kind of keep it to like two minutes each, you know, per speech.

So I don't think it's going to try. Yeah, it's not as if it's going to be, I'm speaking for 15 minutes and someone else is speaking for 15 minutes. I would get up and leave at that point or say that I have somewhere to be. But yeah, they put me first and I thought that was a bad decision actually.

I think that's a little bit of a risky thing. Like for example, at my sister's wedding, it was me, her maid of honors, my brother-in-law's best man, and then my parents gave a speech and I was the first one. And I wrote it out. I gave a really good speech. I kind of did it like a survival guide for my brother-in-law to survive dealing with my sister. And it was very good. It was funny. And then the best man went right after me. He's like, yeah, they probably shouldn't have put me after some guy that has to speak for a living on the radio. So there's a lot of pressure, I think, on me tomorrow night. Better deliver some good one-liners. I mean, you know where the bodies are, Barry. Let's go here. Let's get people laughing.

Yeah, but you know what? I think that's always tough with speeches at a wedding because you don't want to make it a roast because it is the happiest night, right, of both their lives or should be. So you want to throw in some one-liners here or there, but I think you got to go more PG-13 than rated R when it comes to the speech. Like, you can't be crushing the bride and groom, even though there is material to crush the bride and groom.

I'm not saying crush, but you know, there's some good stories I'm sure people would enjoy in a lighthearted way. Have you ever given a speech, by the way, at a wedding or no? No, sir. No, never? I'm very surprised by that because you've been to quite a few weddings recently.

No one wanted to hear Hot Take Kiki give a speech, I guess. None of my close friends yet have made the plunge, we'll say. A lot of my friends were all kind of on the same pace, slow. Slow and steady. Slow and steady.

No one's racing to the altar. You're on the Perry Ellis plan. That's what you're on. Or the player at Gonzaga. Why can't I think of his name? Drew Timmy.

Yeah, you have a lot of success, but it's taken a while there for you. Which, by the way, you know when we're in Kansas City and we were talking about who would get invited to your wedding here at CBS Sports Radio? Denny, who does a great job making sure that the office stays clean. Denny was listening when we were in Kansas City. Denny comes up to me the other day in the office and he was annoyed at you. That you didn't even mention him because I was sitting there waiting to hear my name. You know, I thought I had good camaraderie with Ryan and he never mentioned the name of Denny, so.

And they give a lot of enemies in that office, though. Denny's got some nerve, you know that? He always gangs up with you against me and then he expects to get a name recognition shout out and an invitation to the wedding? Come on my side, Denny. So how about this?

Back me up here in an argument or two and maybe I would change my mind. You know Denny would be great at a wedding, by the way. You know, he DJs on the side.

I know that. So you could get away, first off, I'm more of a band than a DJ guy at a wedding, but I think you could get away with doing, oh Denny, I'm going to invite you. Oh, by the way, do you want to DJ?

And then you may not even have to pay for a DJ at the wedding. No, if I'm going to invite Denny, I want him to have some fun. You know, he always talks about partying. He never invites us to party, which is also ironic that it's getting mad at me for not inviting him to this fake wedding that is not happening anytime soon, by the way, for anyone listening out there. And then also on the other side, on the other coin, then goes out and parties doesn't tell us about it. So I kind of see Denny in action here, see what he would be like.

Yeah, but to be fair, if Denny invited you out to go party with him, I think you may big time him because let's just be real, there have been times that I've invited you places and you're like, oh, I'm busy. Oh, it's my mother's birthday. Oh, it's Mother's Day. Oh, I got to do this.

I got to do that. There are a lot of moments where there's a lot of convenient excuses that I don't know how actual those excuses are because you don't really want to hang out with anyone at the station. I mean, I would say Mother's Day, on Mother's Day is a good excuse as to why I can't hang out, but I digress. Yeah, Mother's Day probably wasn't a good point out there, but I've heard you say it's your mother's birthday like two or three times, like how many birthdays does your mother have? What does she celebrate her half birthday too? And like the quarter birthday as well? Hey, life is short, man. What else are you going to do? You guys celebrate all the time.

Any accomplishments or milestone? So yesterday, Kyle Brandt comes out with this AFC QB tears and we reacted to that. The one big problem that we had was that Trevor Lawrence was so low and I didn't really get that. I saw you sent me today an email that he came out with this NFC QB tears. And before I read it, I said, you know what? I'm going to close this email.

I want to try to guess. So you tell me, is it seven tiers like yesterday as well? Seven tiers.

You want to know how bad the NFC is at the quarterback position? When I went through my list, I couldn't even get to seven tiers. I just made it six tiers and I have all the quarterbacks in there that can't start week one. So how many are in tier one? One, just like my homes in the AFC alone in tier one in the NFC, there's one quarterback in tier one. Oh, so that's easy.

So that's Jalen Hurts. One for one. All right. How many in tier two? Three quarterbacks in tier two. I think this is easy too. Kirk Cousins.

He's on there, right? Yes, sir. Dak Prescott.

Two for two. At a site out of mine, but did win a Super Bowl. If he's healthy, Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford. Three, four, three.

Okay. So how many in tier three? Three. So far, by the way, my NFC quarterback tiers, Hurts is one. Then in tier two, I had Stafford, Kirk and Dak Prescott.

So I am in agreement so far with Kyle Brandt. This is a good list so far, but eventually we're going to disagree because I didn't even get to tier seven. I just stopped at tier six. So how many in tier three? Three quarterbacks in tier three.

Okay. So I had four in tier three. He had three quarterbacks in tier three. Kyler Murray on that list? He is not in tier three. Okay. So then it has to be Jared Goff, Geno Smith.

Two for two. Derek Carr. Those are the three in tier number three. So my tier three, I had Jared Goff, Geno Smith, Derek Carr and Kyler Murray. Now I know this past year, Kyler Murray got hurt and I don't even know when he's going to come back. And maybe you just get to a point where it's just like, okay, it's a wasted season for Kyler Murray.

Let's not rush him back. Let's just give him the full year off with how late in the year that he did tear his ACL. But Kyler's got to be in that tier three category because yes, Jared Goff just had a really good year. Geno Smith just had a really good year. And Derek Carr had a really good year two years ago. This past year wasn't a good year, but all those quarterbacks have good potential and all those quarterbacks have been so up and down and just off one year. I don't think that's right to put Geno in tier three and not Kyler Murray with some of what Kyler has done in this league before. And let's be real out of those four quarterbacks, the term that you like to use a lot, the highest ceiling, the highest ceiling out of any of those four quarterbacks is Kyler Murray. I'm not in love with any of those four quarterbacks. I think Jared Goff's a solid quarterback. I think Derek Carr is a solid quarterback. Like anytime he steps right into the top 10, he takes three or four steps out of the top 10. And then for Geno, it's okay. Let's see if you could replicate what you did last year.

And if there is regression, how big is the regression? And for Kyler, two years ago, I had a really good year, disastrous finish in the post season. They've not been good down the stretch, but just because he was in a bad situation last year and he has to now be a better leader as well and he's been hurt, I don't think that's right that you put Goff, Geno and Carr in front of Kyler Murray.

I kind of looked at them all on the same playing field where they're a step above the guys that have not been named yet, but they're all pretty much erratic when you look at their careers. We got for tier four, three quarterbacks in there. Really? Three. Wow. So I only had two in my tier four.

So let me see if I could get my two in the tier four first. Justin Fields. Yes. Daniel Jones. Yes.

So those are my two tier four quarterbacks. Oh, is it Brock Purdy, the third one? No. Baker? No. Wow. I'll give you a hint, you just talked a ton about him.

I just talked a ton about him? Yes. Oh, Kyler Murray. Yes. So I was looking at the bottom because I just assumed that my list was right and that's why I didn't have Kyler Murray in consideration there for tier four because for me, he's tier three. Okay.

So Daniel Jones, Justin Fields, Kyler Murray. Gotcha. Now how many in tier five? Two.

That has to be Brock Purdy. Yep. Baker?

Baker Mayfield. Okay. Alone in tier five. Tier six has three quarterbacks in there. Now, can I ask you a question about tier seven?

Sure. Tier seven only has one? Yes. So he had to have put Bryce Young in tier seven, I would imagine, just because he hasn't played yet. Just like he did in the AFC, tier seven was all rookie quarterbacks.

Same thing here. So then tier six is Sam Howell. Yep. Jordan Love. Yep.

And then Desmond Ritter. Yes, sir. Okay. Here are my tiers of quarterbacks. Tier one was Jalen Hurts in the NFC.

Do you think anyone else should be put into that conversation? No. Tier two, I had Stafford, Kirk, and Dak. Do you have any problem with any of those guys in tier two?

No, sir. Tier three, Goff, Gino, Carr, and Kyler. Are you fine with me putting four in tier three? I would have put Kyler in tier four. I don't think he's right now tier three is right now tier three material. Really?

Yes. So, yeah, A, because he's hurt, but what else makes you say outside of the injury that you have to take Kyler Murray out of the tier three? He hasn't played well in a year and a half.

That's, for me, the biggest thing. Not even really the injury. It's the fact that ever since they started 7-0 and you had that game, I guess the Packers on Thursday when the Packers had no receivers healthy, I believe that was because of COVID and they still were able to win the game. Kyler Murray has not looked good whatsoever since that.

There was a total tail slide. He was hurt and missed a few games because he got hurt in that game. He was hurt down the stretch. He did not look good. He was awful in the playoff game and he came back the following year and kind of picked up where he left off. He's not very good whatsoever before he got hurt. So, right now, it's a year and a half of bad football for me.

That's what I put him into tier four. So, you think Kyler is more so on the playing field of Daniel Jones and Justin Fields than Goff, Gino, and and Derek Carr? And during this year, absolutely. Okay.

If that's the way that you want to word it, fine. Now, tier four Jones and Fields and then you had Kyler, I just have Jones and Fields. You know, like I said, outside of Kyler, I think I'm in agreement there. I think Daniel Jones and Justin Fields absolutely tier four right now.

And here's the thing. I feel like Jones and Fields are both similar where Field just hasn't played enough yet and Jones has more in-game experience. But we both know that those quarterbacks can run. We saw Jones improve as a passer this year. Fields made some big throws as well. And do I think Fields has a higher upside? Yes. And I do think now that the Giants is a little bit more trust in that organization with what they did this past year.

But I kind of feel like they are similar quarterbacks where you watch what they did last year and you see signs and the Giants had more team success. But you want to see if they could really put it together this year. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I'm with you.

I can't argue that. And then tier five for me, it was just two quarterbacks. I had Brock Purdy and Baker Mayfield.

Like Baker, I think his past that one year in Cleveland does matter. Brock, it was a very small sample size, but I do think they're a step above than my tier six, which was Sam Howell, Jordan Love, Desmond Ritter. And then I was debating where to put Bryce Young because I think Bryce Young is going to be really good, but we haven't seen him play yet. So I'll put Bryce Young, you know, I'll put him more tier six than tier five, but it wouldn't shock me after this year if we look at Bryce Young as a better quarterback than Baker Mayfield and Brock Purdy. The only thing I would say just down the stretch of these final tiers is I just can't sit here and tell you Brock Purdy and Baker Mayfield are in the same tier. Like if you want to put Brock Purdy in tier five by himself, fine, because he played well in a very small sample size, but that's exactly what it is.

An extremely small sample size of five starts. So I can't feel like I can't put him higher for the guy like Dalen Jones who has, you know, had years of success and won a playoff game. And Kylie Murray's at least had years of success as well, where again, it's been so small with Purdy. Baker, yes, he played well in 2020 with the Browns, absolutely. He had one year.

He's not been very good since then. You know me, I'm a Baker guy, but even though Love, Ritter, and Howler are in tier six, Lisa and Kyle Brandt, how he did it and all kind of inexperience, you know, they've played very little and Baker Mayfield is not exactly a guy who's inexperienced, I think I'd still put him in tier six, honestly. You would put Baker in tier six, really?

I would. And isn't that funny? Because you were someone last year that said Baker Mayfield before the season started is better than Kirk Cousins, and you said Baker Mayfield was going to be a top five quarterback in the NFC. And how did that turn out?

Outside of one great Thursday night game against the Raiders, it turned out poorly. I learned my lesson. There you go.

I learned my lesson. You know what's going to start happening? You're going to have agents that start reaching out to you. Like if their client is in a QB battle, like, for example, give me Trey Lance. Let's say Brock Purdy isn't ready for week one. Let's just go under that assumption. You're going to have, like, Sam Darnold's agent reach out to you to say, hey, can you go advocate for Trey Lance that he's going to be great just so our guy Sam Darnold could win the job?

That's what I think is going to happen. You can make a lot of money that way. You know what? I was going to say, if I'm getting paid, I can make that an industry for sure.

I think you'd be great at it because I don't think you try to be wrong, but you end up being wrong a lot, just like the worst take you've ever had yesterday on CBS Sports Radio, where I got a lot of angry DMs. A lot of people are unhappy with you when it comes to the fact that you were criticizing the appearance of Jessica Alba. A lot of people upset. And you know what's bad? You're on this island with Marash.

Like that's when you know you have a bad take if Marash is the only one that's coming in to throw a life saver at you, a life vest. It's, I mean, I'm not even saying she's ugly. All I'm saying is just like people are fawning over and like it's like she's gorgeous. And it's like, oh, you know, take Jessica Alba for like 2010 right now. You're ridiculous.

You're absolutely ridiculous. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll talk some NBA postseason with former NBA player Jason Thompson next. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. We continue it as a Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio broadcasting today inside our great affiliate, CBS Sports Radio affiliate, Sports Radio 94 WIP as I'm here in town for a wedding. And a lot of people today in the city of brotherly love, they're not happy with the Philadelphia 76ers.

That series is tied up at one game apiece after they took game one, but then they lost game two. So head out to the guest line right now and welcome in the co-CEO of Hydrate IV Therapy and Wellness. He's a member of the Rider University men's basketball coaching staff.

And he, of course, did play in the NBA. And that's Jason Thompson. Jason, appreciate the time. How are you? What's going on? I appreciate you for having me.

Well, I appreciate you coming on. So game one worked oh so well for the Philadelphia 76ers without Joel Embiid. Then Embiid comes back and the Celtics, they found the way to just destroy the Sixers in game two. The biggest thing that I've seen from the series so far is just James Harden, like game one he was awesome, game two he wasn't. That's a big concern for me because Philadelphia needs him to be that finisher if they're going to want to find the way to beat Boston in this series. Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, you have Joel leading the league and scoring and you had James, you know, leading the league and assists.

So, you know, you had that balance for most of the season. And obviously when the playoffs come, everything kind of just shrink and you kind of, you know, get to analyze teams a little bit differently. You know, with the Celtics matchup, it's a little bit tough because of their three-point shooting and things like that. And, you know, I think with Joel and James playing against the Celtics, I think, you know, they haven't had the best record. I think Joel has actually lost to the Celtics, I think, six times in our six straight games.

With that being said, like you said, it just opens the floor up. You know, I understand the Warriors, you know, aspect mentality of playing through injury and stuff, you know, in game two and right after winning the MVP, which was well-deserved. But like you said, you know, James wasn't really, you know, that aggressive in game two, you know, and then he has to use that, especially when Joel is out. Did you think that was the wrong decision to play and beat in game two? Did you think you already took game one, maybe just rest him for game two and then get him back in Philadelphia for game three a little bit rested? Yeah, people were asking me even before the game, I was thinking, like, just, you know, keep getting one game and I just think that, you know, just keep riding and see how it is, right? Because I think that the Celtics had to make an adjustment, but I think with Joel coming back, they didn't really have to adjust.

They went through the same game plan that they did when they played against them, you know, during the season. So, you know, I think, I mean, it's tough to say because, you know, if you're MVP of the league and you say you want to play, I don't know too many coaches that are going to say no or heck no. So, you know, it's a tough situation for sure, but you just want to make sure that he's healthy and obviously he's definitely playing game three.

Jason Thompson here with us. Last night, Jason Tatum only had seven points in the game and the Celtics still had a big beat down on the Philadelphia 76ers. That's also what's concerning if you're a Sixers fan. Like, Tatum wasn't even great in game two and they still kicked their ass. Yeah, I mean, I just think it was just the rhythm of the game.

Sometimes it's like that. There, you know, there are, you know, times where, you know, your most, you know, crucial players, you know, don't have to do much in those type of things. You know, I think the game was kind of out of reach at a certain point and then, you know, there was no point for the coach to put him back in the game regardless of his shooting. And, you know, he didn't really shoot the ball that much, but they were moving the ball around. So, you know, obviously, you know, it's just one game and it doesn't really affect the whole series, but, you know, you got to take advantage obviously now, you know, with two games at home and adjust to what the Celtics have to bring. Hitting up some of these other series, Miami and New York, Jimmy Butler didn't play game two. The Knicks were able to get a win. That series now tied at one game apiece as it moves to South Florida. I know this isn't the prettiest of basketball, Jason, but I love the competitive spirit by both teams of Jalen Brunson and then Jimmy Butler when he's been playing. Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's like the old school, you know, Knicks and Heat from, you know, Alonso and Patrick Ewing, but I think it's, you know, it's a balance.

I think it's going to be a seven game series, honestly, though. But like you said, I mean, it's just a chess match of, you know, Miami got, like I said before, with the Sixers series, they got their win. You know, even though Jimmy got hurt, you know, they're like, we can, we can, you know, be able to rest him and then get him ready.

I think they had like, you know, four or five days off and things like that. But also the missing piece for the Knicks was, was Julius Randall, because he didn't play game one as well, too. So, you know, there's a lot of things where if guys play well, guys are on the floor. But, you know, like I said, Miami's still coming in there with a lot of confidence. I mean, I'm thinking they're thinking, you know, the game was still winnable for the Heat even without Jimmy.

So, you know, they got to come in there with a lot of confidence with two games going into Miami. Jason Thompson here with us. You were briefly a part of the Golden State Warriors all these years later.

What do you take away from being a part of that organization briefly? Well, honestly, I mean, it was crazy. I had went back to, I went to the games one and game two in Sacramento, Kings and Warriors. And obviously, you know, I played for the Kings for seven years and longest tenured in the team's history. So it was definitely a surreal situation being back in that arena and going to a game with two teams I played against. So I have to say that, you know, you go from one team where at the time wasn't in the playoffs for a long period of time and then going to a championship type culture, you know, you just kind of just wish you were around that environment, you know, from day one or season one, you know, the years that you play. But like you said, you know, they have that formula. And even if they don't maybe have the same type of team that they had last year, they still have a chance and are proving people wrong.

You know, you're the chance until you're beaten. The Kings probably were the best feel-good story in the league since you played there for so many years to see what Mike Brown did this year, what De'Aaron Fox did in a big spotlight on a big stage. What was it like for you to see that team success? Yeah, I was happy to see, man. I mean, it's, you know, finally have the right ownership in Beck and then being able to have a great coach in Mike Brown and does everything sell when it's coach of the year. And I think, you know, that's what happens when stuff at the top is good and smooth.

And, you know, I wasn't surprised at all. Then you have a legit superstar in De'Aaron Fox, you bring an all-star in as a bonus. And then you got like a guy like Malik, six man, then you got Harrison and a lot of, you know, and like I said, Keegan Murray, you know, rookie and stuff like that.

So you got a lot of guys that are great pieces and, you know, sky's the limit for that team. Jason Thompson here with us. I got to ask you about Draymond Green because I'm all over the place with him. I couldn't stand him when he stomped on the bonus. And then the other night when he came to the defense of Jordan Poole, I thought that was neat. But then I remembered he punched Jordan Poole in the face before the season started. You were briefly around him. What is Draymond like as a teammate inside that locker room?

Nah, man. I mean, it's Draymond, you know, it's a good dude, man. Honest, you know, somebody's got to be the villain at times. And, you know, regardless of certain things you had and resume, I understand that, you know, you're most, you know, hated, but, you know, he thrives off that, you know, he's an energy type guy and he has the championship pedigree and, you know, use it to his advantage. So obviously there's, you know, certain things and, you know, the time that, you know, he got suspended against the Cavs that one year where they didn't win the championship and stuff. So, I mean, you know, sometimes it's unfortunate, but, you know, without him on that team, you know, they're not a championship caliber team.

So you kind of got to just take and give in different situations, the good and the bad. You played in the NBA from 2008 to 2016. Dylan Brooks bit off more than he could chew in that series up against the Lakers. And now it seems like he's getting clowned.

The team wants nothing to do with them anymore per the reports. What advice would you give Dylan Brooks? Man, I mean, you know, this generation is just a little bit different, man. I think that like, you know, Dylan is, you know, no disrespect, but like trying to be that type of like Draymond, but, you know, with Draymond, regardless if their skill sets are not the same, you know, he's been around, you know, championship, you know, caliber and has the rings to prove it. So, you know, to be the villain when, you know, essentially, you know, they haven't, I don't think they've been to the Western Conference Finals and, you know, and all the turmoil and that young, but talented team, man, it's just, you kind of just, you know, like I said, sometimes that works out. But, you know, when you get, when you're going against out of all people, LeBron James, man, I mean, that's, that's probably the best advice you can give me. Don't poke that type of bear.

That bear is a little bit different than a Yogi type bear. Jason Thompson with us on the Zach Gelb show. That game won between the Lakers and the Warriors. Everyone's talking about the shot at the end of the game by Jordan Poole.

Sure, you'd rather have him closer to the three-point line, but I don't get what else he was supposed to do because the Lakers play good defense on stuff. Yeah, I mean, it's tough, man. We live in a world where with social media and you, you know, no one misses anything. Right.

And everyone's perfect and everyone's supposed to do what everyone thinks they're supposed to do. So regardless of saying that Anthony Davis had 30 and 20, and he was the reason why they were even in that position and, you know, they'd made a 14 and something run in the fourth quarter. So technically, you know, if the Lakers stayed home, then there wasn't even that type of shot, but he also had made six threes at the time. You know, obviously he could have moved in and stuff, but you know, like I said, he took the shot.

If he makes it, he's a hero. If he misses it, it's a terrible shot. I know CP3 is hurt, but how much is it? The lack of chemistry right now with the Phoenix Suns is why they're down 2-0 to the Nuggets. Well, it's tough.

I mean, I don't, I'm not sure about the chemistry because I haven't broken down the film like that. Obviously you could tell even just second half of the season, I think that Chris Paul, you know, hasn't been himself. So that could be injury, but you know, with veteran guys like that, man, they don't try to use excuses because you work so hard in the off season to be where they are. But like I said, I mean, it's obviously concerning if he's not going to be able to play in game three, four, I think they said three to five. But then like you said, man, you got, you know, you got Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. I feel like, you know, going to be pretty solid if they're healthy. But I think with the trades and stuff, it's just tough for their bench, you know, with the type of production that they might need. So it might, you know, take those two and then a couple other guys. Who are you picking right now to win it all? Because I like Denver with the way that Murray has kind of got back and Shoji give me that finisher.

Yeah. I mean, honestly though, like before even all this second round of playoffs, I was saying either the Celtics or the or the Suns. But if I was a better man, I might have to change stuff and and maybe say the Nuggets as well, too.

I mean, like I said, man, this is that's what makes the playoffs so exciting, even though it's probably not exciting for fans that are fans of specific teams, because, you know, you never know who is going to be able to win a series, let alone each and every game. So right now, you're the co-CEO of Hydrate IV Therapy and Wellness. Tell me about it. Yeah, man, it's been great. I've been teamed up, you know, with my, so I'm actually the coach, assistant coach at Roddy University and the head coach's sister has been in the medical field.

So, you know, what a better way to kind of get back to the community and stuff and being able to hydrate, you know, athletes and young adults and adults and, you know, and, you know, the elderly and the list goes on. So it's from South Jersey where I'm from, you know, about 10, 15 minutes outside Philadelphia. And, you know, we opened up this month in May. So I'm really excited and being able to, you know, just start a new business. Well, good luck. We appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this. I appreciate you guys for having me. Thanks.

There you go. Jason Thompson, former NBA player joining us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Once again, the co-CEO of Hydrate IV Therapy and Wellness, also an assistant coach now on the Ryder men's basketball team and played in the NBA with Sacramento and also the Warriors, the Raptors, I think another stop or two as well. We'll take a break here on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. When we come on back, I got to get into something that Lamar Jackson said.

And if I'm a Ravens fan, I hear this and I'm concerned. We'll tell you about that on the other side. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show.

It is Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio broadcasting to you today live from Philadelphia. Hickey actually had a cheese steak today. I haven't had a cheese steak in a while, even though I've been to Philadelphia quite a few times, but just have quickly like come down here for games or had to just quickly come down here for a wedding.

But today I had a lunch and I had a cheese steak. Wow. Okay. Where do we go? The name of the place, I don't even know where I went to be honest with you.

And that's going to sound very weak. I was meeting up with friends and I just went to go get it. I just sat down at the restaurant.

I don't even remember the name of the place. We just like were walking and then stopped in at a place and I wasn't even familiar with it. It was my friends were on their lunch breaks and I saw there was a cheese steak on the menu. So I got myself a chicken cheese steak. So it wasn't like I ended up going to Della Sandro's or Mama's or John's roast pork or Angelo's.

I will be making one of those stops today, but when you're in Philadelphia and you sit down and you haven't had a cheese steak in a while, I just felt compelled to get a cheese steak. It was a solid cheese steak. It was like a, let's say like a 6.3 out of 10. Like it was good. It wasn't great. I've had better, but for some reason I don't even remember the place. My friend just, we were walking me and a few friends and they just said, all right, let's go to this place.

They just wanted to find the place that there was no wait for lunch. All right, not bad. Not a bad way to start the day at all.

No, none whatsoever. I'll tell you, this is very un-Zach Gelb like. A chicken cheese steak was pretty good, if I had to admit. Usually you think, right, Zach Gelb will be getting the meat cheese steak, but I ended up getting a chicken cheese steak with provolone cheese and some onions. It was very, very tasty and it had to be on an amarosa roll.

There was no doubt about it. That tasted just like an amarosa roll. So very much so, did enjoy my cheese steak. I am concerned though, and it's not because I had a cheese steak and the cheese steak did not disagree with me.

So it's no bathroom problem that I'm going to have to go through. What I'm concerned about is the quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens. And if I'm concerned about the quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens, that's a problem because this is a guy that I have defended from a lot of unfair criticism for so many years. Like when that dope Bill Polian was saying he needs to change his position.

I thought that was a bunch of hogwash. When people are now saying Lamar Jackson can't win a Super Bowl because he's had some shortcomings early on in his career in the playoffs. I think that's ridiculous because not every quarterback walks into the league and right away is Tom Brady or is Patrick Mahomes. I think people forget sometimes how long it takes for a player to go out and win a Super Bowl.

But really you would think that there is no problem with Lamar Jackson because he got the contract, $52 million a year. What was it? $1.80? Was it $1.85 guaranteed?

I believe so. Whatever the specifics were. So you should really think there should be nothing critical that I have to say about Lamar Jackson because I think he was deserving of big time reset the market quarterback dollars. Well, I heard Lamar Jackson's press conference today, Ryan, and there's one thing that really concerns me about what I heard from Lamar Jackson today. And I want you to hear this audio. I think I told someone like, man, I want to throw for like 6,000 yards with the weapons we have. And I'm not an individual or a war type of guy or a stat watcher.

I just want to do that because no one ever done it. And I feel like we have the weapons to do it. We got explosive guys.

I know that you hear that and you're like, Zach, what are you freaking out about? The guy said he wants to do something that no quarterback has ever done, which is throw for 6,000 yards in a season. And the quarterback with the most yards in an individual season was Peyton Manning back in 2013 when he had 5,477 yards in that season in Denver, which was actually 2013.

So I hear that, Ryan, and what makes me concerned is you look at Lamar Jackson. He's been nowhere close in his career for throwing even to 4,000 yards. Like the most passing yards that he's had in a season is 3,127. And by nature, because of how much he runs the football, you're not expecting him to even throw for 4,000 yards in a season.

So if he's saying he wants to throw for 6,000 yards, first off, that's not realistic. But then by design, he's going to be running the football less. And I know some Ravens fans may be sitting here and saying, oh, that's great if he's running the football less because that means he's not opening himself for injuries. Lamar Jackson and a big misnomer about Lamar, even though he's running the ball a lot, we've not seen Lamar take a lot of vicious hits. And what makes Lamar so great, and he's not a bad passer, but he's not a great passer, he's a good passer, he's a solid passer. But it's that threat to be able to run, like outside of Jalen Hurts, like no other quarterback can run in the NFL. So if he's saying the goal is 6,000, and I think we could all collectively roll our eyes at the idea that he's going to have 6,000 yards passing, but maybe then in his mind, it's really like 5,000 because a lot of quarterbacks go get high fours, low fives when it comes to passing the football. And that tells me, Hickey, that he's going to be running the ball less. And in his mind, he wants to throw, throw, throw, throw, throw this year. And I know he's had some improved weapons, like you'll draft safe flowers. Maybe Rashad Bateman could stay healthy. They bring in Odell, but Odell, he's never healthy anymore.

Likely is fine. Mark Andrews is one of the better tight ends in the NFL. But when I hear Lamar say he wants to throw for 6,000 yards, I probably shouldn't be concerned about it because it's a goal.

But how do you come even remotely close to achieving your goal? That means you're going to be running the football a whole lot less. And that's not the best version of Lamar Jackson. It's the way that he can not only kill you with his arm, but then be pretty much one of one on a football field at that quarterback position with the way that he runs the football. Right, Lamar's at his best when he is a dual threat and he's running and passing. I'll be honest, I hear that.

And I just think it's someone who is caught up in the moment in the sense that he just got paid. You now see all of a sudden the Ravens for the first time are actually putting legitimate resources into the wide receiver room. I don't think the offense, honestly, even with the new offensive coordinator, Ty Monkey coming in is going to change that drastically in 2023. I still think the Ravens and especially John Harbaugh know what is going to lead to success for the Ravens offense.

I don't think they're going to get away from that. And especially too, if you're the Ravens and your biggest fear now that you paid Lamar's injury, both times Lamar has gotten hurt the last two years, it wasn't running the football. No. He was in the pocket.

Yep. He was passing. And that's a misnomer about Lamar. Oh, he ran the ball on a designed run, a quarterback sneak, and we can't do that anymore. He was a pocket passer both times he got hurt. So I don't think that even the injuries are going to scare the Ravens away in the sense that they're going to run him actually less when the games start in September. And really, I'm sure there's been other times he's taken vicious hits.

And we've talked about this before. The only time I really recall Lamar taking a vicious hit where you were like, oh, he's just not going to be able to survive this if he consistently does that is in the game where he broke the most rushing yards in a single season by a quarterback all those years ago. I forget the opponent, but that's when he took really a vicious pop.

I'm sure there's other instances because it's just by nature in the NFL, but with how much he exposes his body, it's not as if he's taking these horrible hits as much as you think he would with how much frequency he does run the football. Right. Which is a reason why that the offense, even with the new OC, I don't think should or will change drastically now that Lamar is paid. And now that you kind of view him as that prized asset, you want to keep him on the field as long as possible. Did the Ravens though, you talked about how they improve their wide receiving room.

Did they really improve it by that much? Like I like Zay Flowers, but I also liked Rashad Bateman coming out of college. And so far we haven't seen much out of Rashad Bateman because he just has not been available. And I was a big fan of him and Tyler Johnson back at Minnesota. Actually, didn't they play a really good game up against Penn State Hickey where they beat Penn State? That they didn't.

Yeah. So that's when I first like really became aware of Johnson and Bateman and I really started to like both those wide receivers and Bateman hasn't really done much in the NFL. Odell, he's not an elite wide receiver anymore, but in NFL circles, people love Odell Beckham because he was once a star. He could still be a good player, but I can't say he's going to be a great player because I just don't know if he's going to be able to be healthy. I wouldn't say they improved, but they definitely put resources. They definitely tried at least for the first time in a long time with... But did they get the right resources? Like they brought in Nelson Aguilar and Odell Beckham Jr. Do either of those names really excite you?

Like out of the three, I would be most excited about Zay Flowers because we just haven't seen enough of Zay Flowers yet. I mean, I'm with you. I don't think this wide receiving core, especially OBJ, is now all of a sudden going to be this breakout wide receiver and the Ravens have their bonafide number one that can match up with Jamar Chase or Stefan Niggs, that's for sure. How do you think Lamar, by the way, came up with the number 6,000? In the moment, kind of got carried away and felt, let's just say, number that no one's achieved. Because it's nowhere even close. It's nowhere even close to Paden who did 5,477 yards.

Like it's not even in the ballpark there. That's why it's such an obscure number. Like, Peyton Manning would have had to play, what, two more games maybe to get those other 520, whatever something the math is. So it's kind of bonkers when you look at the number 6,000. Let me ask you this, will Lamar even break 4,000 passing yards this year?

Because I would probably say no. Like, you look at Lamar, the most was that 3,100 something yards in a season and he's still going to run the ball. But I just wonder, and here's the point that I'm making, I'm wondering how much is the number 6,000 going to be him saying, guys, I want to knock that perception that I'm just a running quarterback and now I got my deal. We're going to do it my way.

I want to throw, throw, throw, throw, throw. It's just something I wonder. I'm sure there'll be a balance. If he gets the 4,000, though, he should be celebrating that because I don't even think that will happen.