# 40s and Free Agents: Week 1 College Football Standouts and Lookahead to 2027 NFL Free Agents

An episode of [NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/680904259), 8 Sep 2026, 45 min.

Audio: https://pdrl.fm/91be81/podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/claritaspod.com/measure/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/f7cfc65f-e6f2-46cb-a8c1-b291006e6616/074f0590-a60d-46c2-aad2-b4bf016caa0e/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=deff018f-4b51-4501-937c-ae27003475d1

On this episode of 40s and Free Agents, Bucky Brooks and Lance Zierlein are joined by Gregg Rosenthal to talk the top free agent wide receivers in 2027, how much teams should be willing to pay for mid-tier quarterbacks, and what's next for Baker Mayfield. Then, Bucky and Lance discuss Week 1 college football standouts, whether or not WR Jeremiah Smith is "generational," and what matchups they're most excited for in the first week of the NFL season. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcasts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:03] Speaker 1: Welcome to 40s and Free Agents. I am your boy,
[0:06] Speaker 1: Bucky Brooks. This is Lancey.
[0:07] Speaker 2: Greg Rosenthal. My man, first time we've been on the
[0:10] Speaker 2: pod for like ages. But I'm glad to have my man, Rosie, here. Rosie,
[0:16] Speaker 2: what's up, guys?
[0:16] Speaker 1: What's happening?
[0:17] Speaker 3: It's Disorienting. Did 40s and Free Agents last year. I'm
[0:20] Speaker 3: excited because... it's college season. So I'm going to step
[0:23] Speaker 3: to the side for most of the year, but we got,
[0:24] Speaker 3: we got some good free agents this year to talk about.
[0:27] Speaker 4: Yeah, we really do. We, this is, I mean, we're
[0:29] Speaker 4: already talking about free agents and one of them hit
[0:32] Speaker 4: the wire. He's a new free agent just this year,
[0:34] Speaker 4: Darius Slayton. Before we even start off Darius Slayton landing spots, guys,
[0:38] Speaker 4: I'm saying, I'm saying Colts or Saints are my prediction
[0:42] Speaker 4: for those of the two teams. Uh, Colts need a
[0:44] Speaker 4: wide receiver and the Saints have Jordan Tyson on the sidelines.
[0:47] Speaker 4: So any predictions, Greg, for a, uh, a current free
[0:52] Speaker 4: agent who probably won't be one for long after getting
[0:54] Speaker 4: cut by the, the giants.
[0:56] Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good one.
[0:56] Speaker 3: Cause him and he led the giants in receiving when
[0:58] Speaker 3: he was with Daniel Jones. I thought of those two
[1:00] Speaker 3: as well. And then I thought about Brian Dable in Tennessee,
[1:03] Speaker 3: even though they're pretty thick at receiver, he apparently is
[1:06] Speaker 3: their GM. He just brought half the roster with him
[1:08] Speaker 3: to Tennessee. So that seems like a possibility too.
[1:12] Speaker 1: I mean, look, it's a great possibility. I didn't know
[1:14] Speaker 1: this about Darius.
[1:15] Speaker 2: I didn't know Darius Slade was like their lead receiver, like,
[1:17] Speaker 2: like for the years that he was there.
[1:19] Speaker 1: Like you talk about a.
[1:20] Speaker 2: Roller coaster ride coming out from Auburn and finding his
[1:23] Speaker 2: way and doing a bunch of different things.
[1:25] Speaker 1: He won't be on the streets for long.
[1:27] Speaker 2: But I got to tell you, Greg, we haven't even
[1:29] Speaker 2: started this season and we have an eye towards 2027,
[1:32] Speaker 2: the offseason. You ranked the top 25 free agents in 2027.
[1:37] Speaker 2: Tell me, one, what entered this when you were ranking them? Like,
[1:40] Speaker 2: how did you decide, like, who's one, who's 25?
[1:42] Speaker 1: What were you thinking about?
[1:43] Speaker 3: I give a big advantage to the younger players because
[1:46] Speaker 3: you can get them on the longer term contracts and
[1:49] Speaker 3: I don't get it too twisted. Positional value gets into it.
[1:52] Speaker 3: So we have two quarterbacks on the list, Baker Mayfield
[1:55] Speaker 3: and Kyler Murray, but I have better players at their
[1:58] Speaker 3: respective positions like Puka and George Pickens at the top
[2:02] Speaker 3: of my list. Cause to me, they are top shelf,
[2:05] Speaker 3: top shelf receivers, obviously in different categories themselves, but ahead
[2:08] Speaker 3: of where those two quarterbacks are. And, I've done this
[2:11] Speaker 3: exercise at this point of the year for about four
[2:13] Speaker 3: or five years. And it's actually one of the better
[2:15] Speaker 3: lists that I put together in August. Now, a lot
[2:18] Speaker 3: of these guys will get signed eventually, but I feel
[2:20] Speaker 3: like there are a few less guys that have gotten
[2:23] Speaker 3: signed for various reasons entering the regular season.
[2:27] Speaker 4: You have the two top guys at the, you know,
[2:29] Speaker 4: there's clearly Puka and Pickens are the top two. I'm curious.
[2:34] Speaker 1: I don't see.
[2:34] Speaker 4: Puka getting away, even though, you know, he's been a
[2:37] Speaker 4: little bit of a pain for the Rams, but he's
[2:39] Speaker 4: such a good player. Pickens is curious to me because
[2:42] Speaker 4: the Cowboys just, they just can't avoid drama with some
[2:46] Speaker 4: of these guys who are being franchise tagged. And he's
[2:49] Speaker 4: one of them. Do you see a scenario where Pickens
[2:52] Speaker 4: leaves the Cowboys? And if so, I'm curious if he resets,
[2:56] Speaker 4: if you expect him to be the type of talent
[2:58] Speaker 4: that resets the market of wide receiver.
[3:01] Speaker 3: I don't think any team will give him that type
[3:02] Speaker 3: of contract, like topping where JSN is at right now,
[3:05] Speaker 3: topping wherever Puka, you know, ends up financially. And I
[3:09] Speaker 3: do think, think there's a chance he could get traded.
[3:11] Speaker 3: We could put a pin in that. But when it
[3:12] Speaker 3: comes to Pickens, I expect him to be an ex-Cowboy.
[3:16] Speaker 3: He is a rare guy near the top of this
[3:17] Speaker 3: list at this time of the season going into week
[3:21] Speaker 3: one that I'd be surprised if he was back. I
[3:24] Speaker 3: think they kind of telegraphed like in press conferences. And
[3:28] Speaker 3: then especially when you listen to the drip, drip, drip
[3:30] Speaker 3: of the reporters that cover the team, I don't think
[3:33] Speaker 3: they want to set up a structure where they're paying
[3:35] Speaker 3: two different wide receivers over $ 30 million a year. And
[3:39] Speaker 3: they see Pickens as a guy, they're going to get
[3:40] Speaker 3: as much as they can out of this year. And
[3:43] Speaker 3: then possibly they tag and trade him or possibly he
[3:46] Speaker 3: just walks away and they get a comp pick.
[3:48] Speaker 1: Yeah. So interesting because we've seen the wide receiver market escalate.
[3:51] Speaker 2: There's been a conversation about a, you can pay one,
[3:54] Speaker 2: but you have to draft another. And we know coming
[3:57] Speaker 2: down the pipe that there's look, it's always a loaded
[3:59] Speaker 2: wide receiver class coming. So will they punt the, George
[4:03] Speaker 2: Pickens find another option. I just think it's in the
[4:06] Speaker 2: last five years, how popular the wide receivers have become
[4:10] Speaker 2: in terms of being viewed as marquee possessions.
[4:13] Speaker 1: And now that the money has escalated.
[4:16] Speaker 2: Over $ 30 million, like if George Pickens doesn't stay with
[4:19] Speaker 2: the Cowboys, I know we're way ahead of it. What
[4:22] Speaker 2: do you think would be the right spot for him?
[4:24] Speaker 2: Because he played one way in Pittsburgh, but then he's
[4:25] Speaker 2: played another way in Dallas.
[4:27] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[4:28] Speaker 3: I mean, it obviously is going to come down to
[4:31] Speaker 3: the teams that have room going into the off season.
[4:33] Speaker 1: It's funny.
[4:34] Speaker 3: Cause you just, you just said Colts and I'm trying
[4:36] Speaker 3: to think of like teams that essentially don't have long-term
[4:39] Speaker 3: money tied up. The chiefs are another really good team.
[4:43] Speaker 3: I think that could use a one type of receiver.
[4:46] Speaker 2: You know how it is.
[4:47] Speaker 3: People are always reacting to the season that just happened,
[4:50] Speaker 3: but those are the two that come to mind. And
[4:52] Speaker 3: I don't think he'll struggle at all to get money,
[4:53] Speaker 3: but I do think the Cowboys want to see, okay,
[4:56] Speaker 3: you did it once. This was a breakout year and,
[4:59] Speaker 3: It was mostly calm. Let's see you do it again.
[5:02] Speaker 3: And just again, the way you know how that team
[5:06] Speaker 3: operates with the off the record with these reporters, the
[5:08] Speaker 3: way the reporters have talked, they make it sound like
[5:11] Speaker 3: the Cowboys aren't particularly interested in engaging because they got
[5:14] Speaker 3: too many other contracts to worry about.
[5:16] Speaker 4: It really is tough when you think about the amount
[5:18] Speaker 4: of money at two wide receivers and quarterback. It's the Bengals,
[5:22] Speaker 4: you know, have that issue. it is so hard to
[5:25] Speaker 4: feel the type of team you want to when you
[5:27] Speaker 4: have that type of cash going to those three positions.
[5:30] Speaker 4: And so I was thinking, you know, Chargers would be
[5:32] Speaker 4: a team that might be interesting. The Panthers, if the
[5:35] Speaker 4: Panthers wanted to stick a lot of money in there,
[5:37] Speaker 4: if Bryce was kind of the guy, you maybe even
[5:39] Speaker 4: look at wherever, you know, Arch Manning or Dante Moore,
[5:43] Speaker 4: one of these young quarterbacks go, it may be their
[5:45] Speaker 4: plan to say, let's grab pickings. Let's, let's make our
[5:48] Speaker 4: focus quarterback and take all of our free agency money
[5:50] Speaker 4: and and turn it into wide receiver one. So it
[5:55] Speaker 4: is getting to one of those points. It is getting
[5:57] Speaker 4: to a point, though, where the quarterback money is becoming
[5:59] Speaker 4: so high. Of course, it's a percentage of the salary cap.
[6:02] Speaker 4: But I still question whether or not you can pay
[6:05] Speaker 4: two wide receivers like wide receiver ones and have a
[6:08] Speaker 4: quarterback making $ 50- plus million. I don't know how you're going
[6:12] Speaker 4: to be able to do it down this– in the
[6:14] Speaker 4: long haul, unless you're really, really good at evaluating offensive
[6:18] Speaker 4: linemen and defensive linemen, and you're constantly able to draft
[6:22] Speaker 4: and develop at a successful rate.
[6:24] Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, look, I'm with you. It's going to
[6:26] Speaker 2: be really, really hard to be able to do that.
[6:29] Speaker 2: But I wonder, a lot of it is dependent upon
[6:31] Speaker 2: the quarterback. Maybe the better the quarterback, the lesser the
[6:34] Speaker 2: need to have two established receivers. Or maybe the better
[6:37] Speaker 2: the quarterback, the more likely you do want to have
[6:40] Speaker 2: two standout guys because now you say offense, we need
[6:43] Speaker 2: to get 30 points a game and it alleviates some
[6:46] Speaker 2: of the pressure on the defense. There's a few different
[6:48] Speaker 2: ways to think about it. But yeah, wide receiver has
[6:50] Speaker 2: become one of the bigger conundrums when it comes down
[6:53] Speaker 2: to determining who gets paid and who shouldn't get paid.
[6:56] Speaker 4: I was going to say, speaking of quarterbacks, you had
[6:58] Speaker 4: a guy on the list in Baker Mayfield. And he's
[7:01] Speaker 4: had some really good talent around him in Tampa. And
[7:04] Speaker 4: yet they still don't want to give him, they're still
[7:06] Speaker 4: not keen on giving him the money that he wants.
[7:09] Speaker 4: He's that guy that I was wondering if you thought
[7:11] Speaker 4: he could be the next Sam Darnold, because we're all
[7:13] Speaker 4: looking for the next Sam Darnold, and that may just
[7:15] Speaker 4: be an outlier situation where you just don't find it again.
[7:19] Speaker 4: What do you think about pairing him with good wide
[7:21] Speaker 4: receivers and hoping to get the most out of him
[7:24] Speaker 4: if you can get him without going into the $ 50
[7:27] Speaker 4: million range, which I don't know anyone right now who'd
[7:30] Speaker 4: be willing to pay anywhere near that?
[7:32] Speaker 3: I think the Bucs... aren't that far off, but what
[7:36] Speaker 3: he needs to do is rebound this season and be
[7:40] Speaker 3: more consistent. And look, they have weapons on their offensive line.
[7:43] Speaker 3: We'll see how that receiver group plays out. I think
[7:46] Speaker 3: it's deep. It's maybe not that, that top heavy. Abuka
[7:49] Speaker 3: has got to kind of prove he can be that,
[7:51] Speaker 3: that lead guy. But if Baker plays well this year,
[7:54] Speaker 3: I think he'll be a buck. If he's somewhere in
[7:57] Speaker 3: the middle, like he was last year and the season
[8:00] Speaker 3: ends poorly. then Lance, I think he's shown with enough
[8:04] Speaker 3: around him, you can win with him, and he'll get
[8:06] Speaker 3: a big-time contract. It's interesting to think about him as
[8:09] Speaker 3: the next Darnold because they've been compared so often, and
[8:12] Speaker 3: he kind of already was that guy. I think he's
[8:14] Speaker 3: having a very good career considering how up and down
[8:17] Speaker 3: his time with the Browns went. But he's also a guy, Bucky,
[8:21] Speaker 3: I'm curious what you think. I do wonder the way
[8:24] Speaker 3: he plays and the way he takes hits, and he's
[8:27] Speaker 3: not the physically most imposing guy, how he ages physically.
[8:31] Speaker 3: I'm not assuming every quarterback is going to age like
[8:33] Speaker 3: Aaron Rodgers did when he got to mid-30s and Tom
[8:36] Speaker 3: Brady and some of these guys. I think there might
[8:38] Speaker 3: be a little bit of caution with the Bucs of like,
[8:40] Speaker 3: is he going to be as good at 33, 34
[8:42] Speaker 3: as he's been earlier in his career?
[8:44] Speaker 1: Yeah, look, he is a little reckless. He does put
[8:46] Speaker 1: his body in harm's way, I think.
[8:49] Speaker 2: It's the gift and the curse because one of the
[8:50] Speaker 2: reasons people love him is because he will lay it
[8:54] Speaker 2: on the line.
[8:54] Speaker 1: His teammates love the fact that he.
[8:56] Speaker 2: Is a quote-unquote football player as opposed to a typical
[8:59] Speaker 2: Diva quarterback that won't engage. But as you're trying to
[9:02] Speaker 2: figure out who can age gracefully at the position, look,
[9:07] Speaker 2: he's been beat up a little bit.
[9:08] Speaker 1: He is a bit of an undersized quarterback.
[9:11] Speaker 2: It's really important that you have all the things around him,
[9:13] Speaker 2: the offensive line and the wide receivers. I can't say
[9:16] Speaker 2: that he elevates them. They more so elevate him. And
[9:19] Speaker 2: then Lance talks about the price tag. To me, the
[9:22] Speaker 2: best situation that Baker can be in is the situation
[9:25] Speaker 2: that he's currently in.
[9:27] Speaker 1: They understand his shortcomings. They know exactly who he is.
[9:30] Speaker 2: He's been a model citizen and leader for this team
[9:33] Speaker 2: since he's gotten there. They just got to get the
[9:35] Speaker 2: money right. And some of that is some concessions that
[9:38] Speaker 2: he has to make and the team has to make
[9:39] Speaker 2: and trying to find that middle ground. I would hate
[9:42] Speaker 2: for them to let him walk out the door because
[9:44] Speaker 2: I know how hard it is to get another quarterback
[9:48] Speaker 2: that can do what he's done in terms of leading
[9:50] Speaker 2: them and helping them win division titles and those things.
[9:53] Speaker 4: The three of us could sit and have a long
[9:54] Speaker 4: conversation about tiers of quarterbacks. And what a true tier
[9:57] Speaker 4: one is, forget what the quarterback are paid because we
[10:00] Speaker 4: already know that's a busted mechanism right now and there
[10:04] Speaker 4: has not been a course correction at that position for
[10:07] Speaker 4: what players are truly worth they're just hey it's my
[10:11] Speaker 4: turn i get paid it's my turn i get paid
[10:13] Speaker 4: um cj stroud is going to be a great It's
[10:16] Speaker 4: going to be the next great study in terms of
[10:19] Speaker 4: how he plays versus what the demand and what the
[10:22] Speaker 4: Texans are willing to pay him. But it is going
[10:27] Speaker 4: to be interesting to see. the breakout in tier two
[10:32] Speaker 4: and tier three, what the salary structures look like. And
[10:35] Speaker 4: I hate that we always have to talk about salary
[10:37] Speaker 4: all the time with the NFL. There was a time
[10:39] Speaker 4: all three of us were talking football and we didn't
[10:41] Speaker 4: constantly have to talk about Christian Gonzalez's contract and Weatherspoon's contract. Everyone,
[10:46] Speaker 4: it's the money in the bag that they're getting. But
[10:48] Speaker 4: with quarterbacks, it's just essential because it takes up such
[10:51] Speaker 4: a chunk. Like you cannot afford to miss on your
[10:54] Speaker 4: contract and your evaluation combination.
[10:56] Speaker 3: It's interesting because Baker, I think, set an interesting new
[11:02] Speaker 3: floor of those mid-tier quarterbacks now he's paid a lot
[11:06] Speaker 3: of money but when he got to Tampa it was
[11:10] Speaker 3: on a cheaper deal and even the first contract extension
[11:12] Speaker 3: they gave him that actually provided a lot of people
[11:16] Speaker 3: like Seattle with Sam Darnold to copy kind of okay
[11:19] Speaker 3: we're not going to give you the huge Joe Burrow
[11:21] Speaker 3: bag we're going to give you something in between it
[11:24] Speaker 3: was around also where Daniel Jones ended up coming in
[11:26] Speaker 3: like back then it was you know it's 30 to
[11:28] Speaker 3: 35 and then on the.
[11:30] Speaker 1: Extension.
[11:30] Speaker 3: It got raised. And so I disagree with you a
[11:33] Speaker 3: little bit in that. I don't think that the quarterbacks
[11:36] Speaker 3: are underpaid. I mean, overpaid at all, but it is
[11:40] Speaker 3: figuring out which guys are worth it. That's where I
[11:42] Speaker 3: agree with you is like, is the two, uh, Daniel
[11:46] Speaker 3: Jones Baker group of players really worth playing 80, 90%
[11:51] Speaker 3: of the top guys? No, I don't think so. There's
[11:53] Speaker 3: probably about 12 guys that are worth it. And that's
[11:56] Speaker 3: where if you're the bucks, you got to just bite
[11:59] Speaker 3: the bullet and say goodbye rather than pay him a
[12:02] Speaker 3: Joe Burrow money. And ultimately I think Bucky, he's going
[12:05] Speaker 3: to make the decision for him because if he plays well,
[12:07] Speaker 3: they're all going to keep their job.
[12:09] Speaker 1: They'll all be back.
[12:09] Speaker 3: Jason Light's probably not going anywhere, but if Baker doesn't
[12:12] Speaker 3: play well, like they're going to have a coaching change.
[12:14] Speaker 3: They'll probably have a quarterback change and there'll be a
[12:16] Speaker 3: lot of changes there.
[12:17] Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting.
[12:17] Speaker 2: So we're getting closer to the point where we are
[12:20] Speaker 2: going to have that crossroads when it comes to quarterbacks.
[12:23] Speaker 2: Do we overpay for what some would deem to be
[12:26] Speaker 2: average or do we let them walk? We talked about
[12:28] Speaker 2: it in college terms. Do you let them graduate and
[12:31] Speaker 2: find a new young collegiate guy that you can bring in?
[12:34] Speaker 2: I think a lot of it depends on who's your
[12:37] Speaker 2: offensive mastermind. Does he have a system that is quarterback
[12:40] Speaker 2: friendly for young quarterbacks where young quarterback can come fresh
[12:43] Speaker 2: off the collegiate field and get in there and run
[12:45] Speaker 2: the offense to a same or comparable level of efficiency?
[12:49] Speaker 2: Because that's really what it comes down to. Otherwise, You
[12:52] Speaker 2: do have to overpay for Baker Mayfield, or even you
[12:55] Speaker 2: talked about guys that just missed the gut, like a
[12:57] Speaker 2: Mac Jones. Someone is going to overpay Mac Jones if
[13:00] Speaker 2: he flashes like he flashed last year.
[13:02] Speaker 1: We're going to talk about.
[13:03] Speaker 2: Him getting a Malik Willis-type deal just because in a
[13:07] Speaker 2: small sample size, he's shown that he can be, I
[13:10] Speaker 2: won't even say a competent starter, but that's the best
[13:12] Speaker 2: way that I can phrase it, a competent starter in
[13:14] Speaker 2: international football.
[13:15] Speaker 4: It's created hope. I mean, yeah. Backup quarterbacks, it's always
[13:19] Speaker 4: been about hope with backup quarterbacks, and he may not
[13:22] Speaker 4: play this year, and guess what? It won't change the
[13:25] Speaker 4: value of what he gets on the market at all
[13:27] Speaker 4: if he doesn't play a snap because he played well
[13:29] Speaker 4: enough last year for teams to say, we don't love
[13:33] Speaker 4: this quarterback or this quarterback, and we're going to take
[13:35] Speaker 4: a shot. Now, a little later on, we'll talk about
[13:38] Speaker 4: some of the quarterbacks, Bucky, in this year's draft class.
[13:40] Speaker 4: But I want to ask you about Quentin Nelson. Quentin
[13:43] Speaker 4: Nelson's on your list as well. It's rare to see
[13:46] Speaker 4: good offensive linemen play. make free agent lists simply because
[13:49] Speaker 4: until they get much older because they simply, you don't
[13:53] Speaker 4: let them walk. You don't let good free agents walk, Greg.
[13:56] Speaker 4: Like it's hard to find a tackle and it's equally
[13:59] Speaker 4: hard to find a pro bowl caliber guard like a
[14:03] Speaker 4: Quentin Nelson. The fact that Colts haven't gotten a deal
[14:05] Speaker 4: done with him yet, does that lead you to believe
[14:07] Speaker 4: this is legitimately a shot where they could let him walk?
[14:10] Speaker 4: I mean, that's not a team. They always have a
[14:12] Speaker 4: lot of cap space or a little bit cash poor
[14:14] Speaker 4: in terms of how they operate in free agency. You
[14:16] Speaker 4: think he can legitimately hit the market there out of Indianapolis?
[14:21] Speaker 3: I'd be surprised. I mean, he's still playing at a
[14:24] Speaker 3: high level. He's coming off a very good year. There
[14:26] Speaker 3: are some people that thought his 24 tape maybe wasn't
[14:30] Speaker 3: as high as his usual standard, but I think he
[14:31] Speaker 3: played very well last year. So that is one where
[14:33] Speaker 3: I expect that they would get it done. But the
[14:36] Speaker 3: fact that they didn't sound like they were even trying
[14:39] Speaker 3: caught my attention, and I have him in my top 10.
[14:42] Speaker 3: And so there's certainly a chance anyone gets to this point.
[14:45] Speaker 3: At this point, if you're a player– Once you get
[14:48] Speaker 3: through this season, unless they're coming to you early in
[14:50] Speaker 3: the season, you might as well push it because that's
[14:52] Speaker 3: how you're going to make the most amount of money.
[14:53] Speaker 3: And I had two trends from this top 25 list overall.
[14:56] Speaker 3: Number one was an incredible amount of Rams. I had,
[14:59] Speaker 3: I think, five in the top 16, three in the
[15:02] Speaker 3: top five. I had Puka, Kobe Turner, and Byron Young.
[15:05] Speaker 3: And then the other one includes the Rams, which is,
[15:07] Speaker 3: you're right, there were a lot of interior linemen, which
[15:09] Speaker 3: never happens on this list. It was Quinton Nelson. It
[15:12] Speaker 3: was Steve Avila and Kevin Dotson, who both played really
[15:15] Speaker 3: well for the Rams at guard. Michael Wenyu, I think,
[15:18] Speaker 3: had a good career for the Patriots. And so a
[15:21] Speaker 3: few more interior linemen. And I think those guys must
[15:23] Speaker 3: know now, man, if we get to free agency, they
[15:27] Speaker 3: make tackle money now. The guard market has exploded probably
[15:31] Speaker 3: percentage wise more than any other market over the.
[15:33] Speaker 1: Last few years.
[15:35] Speaker 2: Well, I think a lot of that is due to
[15:36] Speaker 2: the way that people are changing the way they structure
[15:39] Speaker 2: their defense. Before it was, hey, I want our two
[15:41] Speaker 2: best pass rushers to be on the edges. So the
[15:43] Speaker 2: tackles needed to be the premium positions. But then we
[15:46] Speaker 2: saw a shift where they started putting those explosive athletes
[15:49] Speaker 2: right over top of the guards because it's the quickest
[15:52] Speaker 2: way to impact the quarterback right.
[15:53] Speaker 1: In his face.
[15:54] Speaker 2: Now you have to have a guard that is stout
[15:56] Speaker 2: and sturdy, not only in the run game, but that
[15:58] Speaker 2: can firm up the middle of the pockets. It is
[16:01] Speaker 2: funny how these marquee positions or premium positions are changing
[16:06] Speaker 2: because right tackles are getting paid like left tackles. You
[16:09] Speaker 2: can't really differentiate between the two, but the interior guard
[16:12] Speaker 2: position is certainly one. I got to bring this up
[16:15] Speaker 2: because we thought he would get paid. He hasn't gotten
[16:17] Speaker 2: paid yet. Joey Porter Jr. for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He
[16:21] Speaker 2: is a hard one to determine because not quite a
[16:25] Speaker 2: top five corner, but he's the best corner on Pittsburgh's team.
[16:29] Speaker 1: He does a lot.
[16:30] Speaker 2: Of number one responsibilities for them, but I don't know
[16:34] Speaker 2: if we can rank him as quite elite. So where
[16:36] Speaker 2: does he fall in the pay structure? What do you
[16:38] Speaker 2: think about his situation when it comes to being a
[16:40] Speaker 2: free agent?
[16:41] Speaker 3: I think there's a chance he leaves because they have
[16:43] Speaker 3: the most expensive defense in the entire NFL.
[16:45] Speaker 1: He wasn't.
[16:47] Speaker 3: Drafted by this coaching regime, at least. And I think
[16:50] Speaker 3: they wanted to just see what he looks like here
[16:52] Speaker 3: in Patrick Graham's scheme. I noticed for week one, they
[16:55] Speaker 3: get tricky with these depth charts. They put Joey Porter Jr.
[16:59] Speaker 3: or Asante Samuel jr.
[17:03] Speaker 1: As a starter.
[17:03] Speaker 3: And I was like, you're not even writing him in
[17:05] Speaker 3: as a locked in starter. Like what's going on there.
[17:07] Speaker 3: Is he possibly going to sit out? Are you trying
[17:10] Speaker 3: to send a message? I don't, I don't really know,
[17:12] Speaker 3: but that's one where I could see them being like, man,
[17:14] Speaker 3: we just paid Benton. We just paid Nick Herbig. We
[17:17] Speaker 3: have a lot of money on the defense. Maybe we
[17:19] Speaker 3: don't pay top tier market for Joey Porter jr.
[17:22] Speaker 4: Well, that's Greg Rosenthal, his piece at NFL.com. You can
[17:25] Speaker 4: check it out. Outstanding work as always. Top 25 free agents.
[17:29] Speaker 4: It's never too early to start looking at how your
[17:31] Speaker 4: team could get better next year, especially if you have
[17:33] Speaker 4: a team that you expect to be bad this year.
[17:36] Speaker 4: You're already on this podcast because we're talking draft and
[17:39] Speaker 4: free agency right now. So this is the place for
[17:42] Speaker 4: bad teams where you can go and try to see
[17:45] Speaker 4: what your team's going to look like next year. So
[17:47] Speaker 4: make sure you check out Greg's great work. Greg, where
[17:50] Speaker 4: else can people find you this year on podcasts, for example?
[17:53] Speaker 3: We got NFL Daily.
[17:54] Speaker 4: It's in the name.
[17:55] Speaker 3: We're cranking them out, so we'll see you there.
[17:58] Speaker 4: All day, every day. Greg Rosenthal. Greg, thanks.
[18:01] Speaker 1: All right, guys. Thanks. Appreciate you.
[18:11] Speaker 2: All right, LZ, you said it. Look, 40s and free agents,
[18:14] Speaker 2: where we talk about everything. We talk about the pro side.
[18:17] Speaker 2: We talk about the college side. We're coming off a great,
[18:19] Speaker 2: football weekend where we saw a lot of ballers kind.
[18:21] Speaker 1: Of do their thing.
[18:23] Speaker 2: And I would say maybe baller of the week played
[18:25] Speaker 2: on Friday night, and that was Malachi Toney from the U,
[18:29] Speaker 2: showing up and showing out. And he was so impressive that, look, man,
[18:34] Speaker 2: Michael Irvin is dapping him up, talking about he might
[18:36] Speaker 2: be the greatest receiver to ever put on the uniform.
[18:40] Speaker 2: How impressed are you with the diminutive playmaker from the U?
[18:46] Speaker 4: You know, he's actually– He's probably going to check in
[18:50] Speaker 4: around 5'10, enlisted at 5'11. He's probably going to check
[18:53] Speaker 4: in about 5'10-ish, maybe. He's going to weigh in in
[18:58] Speaker 4: the upper 180s, maybe about 190. And I was trying to–
[19:02] Speaker 4: on my radio show this morning, Bucky, we were talking
[19:04] Speaker 4: about him. My producer's a big Miami fan, and we
[19:06] Speaker 4: were talking about how good he is. He's not draftable,
[19:08] Speaker 4: so just keep that in mind. He's going to be
[19:10] Speaker 4: back next year. But he's one to keep an eye
[19:13] Speaker 4: on because I think he's really good. And I was
[19:16] Speaker 4: trying to think of who he reminded me of. And,
[19:18] Speaker 4: you know, I think the way that he makes plays,
[19:20] Speaker 4: there's some element of Percy Harvin in his game, but
[19:24] Speaker 4: I can't get all the way. I think Percy was
[19:26] Speaker 4: a little more linear. He's got the wiggle of Santana Moss,
[19:30] Speaker 4: but I'm having a hard time really.
[19:32] Speaker 2: Putting somebody, I don't know. It's kind of funny because
[19:36] Speaker 2: in a way, man, at first thought, and I would
[19:38] Speaker 2: say that, like, you want to do the comparison justice.
[19:42] Speaker 1: He reminds me a lot of, like, T.Y.
[19:44] Speaker 2: Hilton, but maybe with a little more stuff.
[19:46] Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying?
[19:47] Speaker 2: Like, He is explosive, he's dynamic. He's a natural pass catcher, man.
[19:51] Speaker 2: When you just go around the building, you talk to
[19:53] Speaker 2: people that are there. They talk about how hard he
[19:55] Speaker 2: works and the routine that he has and catching all
[19:58] Speaker 2: the balls off the jugs machine and how easy he
[20:01] Speaker 2: made it look versus Stanford. And people can say whatever. Yeah,
[20:04] Speaker 2: it's just Stanford, but it was so easy and effortless.
[20:08] Speaker 2: And then you got Mensah just laying out bombs and
[20:11] Speaker 2: how they're just putting the ball in the paint without
[20:14] Speaker 2: a lot of work. He is definitely going to continue
[20:18] Speaker 2: to open some eyes and he's going to challenge us
[20:22] Speaker 2: when it comes to how we rate receivers, because that
[20:25] Speaker 2: frame and that stuff would tend to lead you not
[20:28] Speaker 2: to want to make him a top 10 player, but
[20:31] Speaker 2: he's so good.
[20:32] Speaker 1: At playing the game that you have to give him
[20:34] Speaker 1: his just due.
[20:35] Speaker 4: So dynamic. And Mensah, who you mentioned, came over from
[20:39] Speaker 4: from Tulane over to– I'm sorry, Duke. Tulane to Duke
[20:43] Speaker 4: over to Miami. You know, a player like– I've got
[20:48] Speaker 4: to say, we've seen this with Ohio State quarterbacks who
[20:52] Speaker 4: climb the draft charts, never perform to where they were drafted,
[20:55] Speaker 4: a lot of them, but they had amazing wide receivers
[20:58] Speaker 4: they were thrown to. Mensah, I think Mensah's a good quarterback.
[21:03] Speaker 4: It's got to be said, it helps when you have–
[21:05] Speaker 4: it's going to help Arch Manning throw on to Ryan
[21:07] Speaker 4: Wingo and Cam Coleman. it's going to help Mensah headed
[21:10] Speaker 4: into the draft this year because he's throwing to Malachi Toney.
[21:13] Speaker 4: You put it in his hands and it turns into
[21:16] Speaker 4: production after catch, which on the stat sheet, you're throwing
[21:20] Speaker 4: for 315 yards. You know what I mean? Because Malachi
[21:23] Speaker 4: is doing his thing. So it's always worth noting that
[21:25] Speaker 4: these quarterbacks can be helped out draft wise by special
[21:29] Speaker 4: wide receivers. I think Malachi Toney is special, but I
[21:31] Speaker 4: also think Mensah is a legit first round prospect too.
[21:37] Speaker 4: I think he's a good prospect.
[21:38] Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I think he is a really good prospect.
[21:40] Speaker 1: And I thought he was a good prospect last year.
[21:42] Speaker 2: And that's why, you know, it's funny having an opportunity
[21:44] Speaker 2: to watch all the quarterbacks over the course of the weekend.
[21:47] Speaker 2: Like we'll talk about Mensah. We can talk about Winadad
[21:50] Speaker 2: Chambliss and how he came through when they needed it.
[21:54] Speaker 2: Got a chance to watch CJ Carr and.
[21:56] Speaker 1: Some of the other guys.
[21:57] Speaker 2: Like people talk about this class and there is some
[22:02] Speaker 2: intrigue and some excitement, but there's also like the hype
[22:05] Speaker 2: machine that may have run them up. when it comes
[22:07] Speaker 2: to some of these guys that we're talking about, Mesa
[22:09] Speaker 2: played great. Trinidad came through when he needed it, but
[22:13] Speaker 2: as you're given the sign, old Notre Dame, CJ car
[22:16] Speaker 2: was just, yeah.
[22:18] Speaker 1: And you had a chance to look at it.
[22:19] Speaker 4: Kind of like the Wisconsin kid actually showed me some
[22:21] Speaker 4: stuff that I was a little surprised, Joseph, I'm keeping
[22:23] Speaker 4: my eye on him, but coming from old dominion, but
[22:27] Speaker 4: one of those quarterbacks who has that hype machine working
[22:30] Speaker 4: for him and has for a while is Arch Manning. And,
[22:33] Speaker 4: He takes on Julian saying Texas versus Oklahoma, I mean,
[22:36] Speaker 4: versus Ohio State. You know, Bucky, there is legitimately six
[22:41] Speaker 4: first-round prospects here. I think we could see four of
[22:44] Speaker 4: the players in this game going to top ten, Arch Manning,
[22:47] Speaker 4: Jeremiah Smith, Colin Simmons, and Trevor Goosby, left tackle from Texas,
[22:52] Speaker 4: Trevor Goosby. Of course, you know the other guys. We
[22:55] Speaker 4: could have four of the top ten picks playing in
[22:58] Speaker 4: this game, and then you throw in Cam Coleman and
[22:59] Speaker 4: maybe Julian Sand. That could round out into– six legitimate
[23:04] Speaker 4: first round prospects in this one single game. I know
[23:08] Speaker 4: you've scouted games before where you had just loads of prospects,
[23:11] Speaker 4: but this one's really going to be, and I know
[23:15] Speaker 4: it's early in the season. But this is going to
[23:17] Speaker 4: count for Julian. This is going to count for Arch.
[23:20] Speaker 4: People want to see Arch have that moment. Now you
[23:22] Speaker 4: have Ryan Wingo and you have Cam Coleman coming over and,
[23:26] Speaker 4: you know, the great Jeremiah Smith is on the other
[23:28] Speaker 4: side of the field against Texas. Like, you know, this
[23:31] Speaker 4: is a big game for all of the prospects on
[23:34] Speaker 4: this field because we always, Bucky, want to see– good
[23:36] Speaker 4: on good when we're ready for draft study. And this
[23:39] Speaker 4: is one of these games that is going to be
[23:41] Speaker 4: circled and we're going to watch every Ohio state prospect.
[23:43] Speaker 4: We're going to watch every Texas prospect because you get
[23:46] Speaker 4: good on good in this one.
[23:47] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[23:47] Speaker 2: And it even goes beyond that. Let's think about the
[23:50] Speaker 2: deep dive that scouts would do. This is a chance
[23:53] Speaker 2: to kind of do a progress report on Arch Manning.
[23:56] Speaker 2: Last year, we got a chance to see him against
[23:58] Speaker 2: Matt Patricia, former NFL head coach and NFL defensive coordinator.
[24:02] Speaker 2: We saw him struggle mightily in that game. Now, A
[24:06] Speaker 2: year later, how much better has Arch gotten? Is he
[24:10] Speaker 2: able to attack the defense? Does he punish the defense
[24:13] Speaker 2: for doing some of the things that they did last
[24:14] Speaker 2: year against him? Or does Matt Patricia have him all
[24:18] Speaker 2: tied up in knots where he can't figure out where
[24:20] Speaker 2: to go with the ball and those things? No matter
[24:23] Speaker 2: what we talk about the name, we have to be
[24:25] Speaker 2: able to assess the game. And this is a great
[24:27] Speaker 2: opportunity to assess where Arch Manning is in his development.
[24:31] Speaker 2: How does he handle a pro-like defense with pro-like players?
[24:35] Speaker 2: And How does he bounce back from any of the,
[24:39] Speaker 2: I would say, mistakes or miscues that he has?
[24:42] Speaker 1: I want to see that. I want to see how
[24:43] Speaker 1: does he respond to the critical errors?
[24:45] Speaker 2: Because ultimately, that's where his bread will be buttered in
[24:49] Speaker 2: the pros, his ability to respond to the bad moments
[24:52] Speaker 2: that he delivers on the field.
[24:54] Speaker 4: There's really no excuses now. You've added Cam Coleman into
[24:57] Speaker 4: the mix. I think you have a better offensive line
[24:59] Speaker 4: this year than you had last year. He's a really
[25:01] Speaker 4: good right guard. I was studying a bunch of offensive lines,
[25:05] Speaker 4: watching a game tape for the Joe Moore Award selection
[25:07] Speaker 4: stuff I do, and I was impressed with this rookie
[25:09] Speaker 4: right guard, this freshman right guard, I should say, number
[25:12] Speaker 4: 73 for Texas. I really want to see how he plays.
[25:16] Speaker 4: I think Texas O-line is better. You've got Arvel Reese
[25:19] Speaker 4: and Sonny Stiles and You know, all of these pros
[25:23] Speaker 4: are now gone. Caleb Downs from that defense that Ohio
[25:28] Speaker 4: State had. So, you know, in theory, Arch Manning is
[25:31] Speaker 4: facing a defense that doesn't have the same level of talent.
[25:34] Speaker 4: He's added a wide receiver one into the mix. I
[25:37] Speaker 4: think the O-line is better. He's got a lot of
[25:39] Speaker 4: starts under his belt now. I mean, Andy's at home. Like,
[25:44] Speaker 4: there is no excuses for him not to have a
[25:47] Speaker 4: solid defense to very good game here. And I think
[25:51] Speaker 4: he really needs that for his draft stock. It's not
[25:54] Speaker 4: the end if he doesn't play well, if Julian Sane
[25:57] Speaker 4: doesn't play well. It's not the end for those guys.
[25:59] Speaker 4: But let me tell you, if they play really well,
[26:01] Speaker 4: it kind of stamps them moving forward where you think, okay,
[26:04] Speaker 4: this guy's taking a lead early on in terms of
[26:07] Speaker 4: guys who are going to be up the charts for us.
[26:09] Speaker 1: Absolutely.
[26:09] Speaker 2: So there's a lot of that when it comes to
[26:11] Speaker 2: Arch Manning. But I think this is a perfect game
[26:13] Speaker 2: for Julian Sane. I am a huge fan. I was
[26:16] Speaker 2: a fan over the summer when I did the summer tape.
[26:18] Speaker 2: There's something about his gunslinging ways, his ball placement, just
[26:22] Speaker 2: his playmaking prowess that captivates me. And I know a
[26:26] Speaker 2: lot of people are going to be like, man, look,
[26:27] Speaker 2: he's playing with the best support and casting ball. Like
[26:30] Speaker 2: he should be able to look good when you have
[26:32] Speaker 2: a Jeremiah Smith and the next great.
[26:35] Speaker 1: Buckeye receiver, whoever emerges.
[26:38] Speaker 2: I mean, but there is something to his ability to
[26:41] Speaker 2: play with time and spacing and all that.
[26:43] Speaker 1: And he's been coached by Arthur Smith. And Arthur Smith has.
[26:47] Speaker 2: Had some great comments about how the game is changing,
[26:50] Speaker 2: how you have to be able to play on the center,
[26:52] Speaker 2: how to be able to check and do things at
[26:54] Speaker 2: the line of scrimmage. So for Julian saying to be
[26:56] Speaker 2: able to get that kind of tutorial while he's playing
[27:00] Speaker 2: for a major brand with a bunch of big time games,
[27:04] Speaker 2: there's going to be a chance for him to kind
[27:06] Speaker 2: of move up and move ahead of some of the
[27:09] Speaker 2: names that are always thrown out ahead of him because
[27:12] Speaker 2: that experience in a pro style offense is is going
[27:15] Speaker 2: to really appeal to some play callers around the league.
[27:18] Speaker 4: Yeah, and there's no question. I watched his tape, and
[27:22] Speaker 4: it was like I came away some ups and some downs,
[27:27] Speaker 4: but it made sense because that's his first year taking snaps.
[27:31] Speaker 4: And so Arch had the same thing. I always give
[27:33] Speaker 4: those guys grace, but now he was certainly way more
[27:37] Speaker 4: consistent than Arch Manning was last year. And we give
[27:40] Speaker 4: Arch a lot of grace. I think partially because his
[27:43] Speaker 4: last name's Manning. I mean, if we're being real about
[27:45] Speaker 4: this and the amount of hype he had coming in
[27:47] Speaker 4: versus the tape. But he's got a lot of physical tools.
[27:51] Speaker 4: I'd like to see him run the ball more. I'd
[27:53] Speaker 4: like to see Sark cut him loose because I think
[27:55] Speaker 4: that gets him into the game. You see how Sam
[27:57] Speaker 4: Levitt at LSU plays. he's a wild man. You got
[28:01] Speaker 4: to let him run with the football and just do
[28:03] Speaker 4: what he does. Can you imagine him sitting in a
[28:05] Speaker 4: pocket all day? That's not who he's going to be.
[28:08] Speaker 4: That doesn't get his juices flowing. And I think, I
[28:10] Speaker 4: think Sam Leavitt, Arch isn't Sam Leavitt, but I think
[28:14] Speaker 4: that ability Bucky to get outside of the pocket. Sometimes
[28:17] Speaker 4: when a quarterback gets his nose a little bloody, they
[28:19] Speaker 4: really get into the game. Like they, they need that
[28:21] Speaker 4: juice of running around a little bit to get into
[28:23] Speaker 4: the game. And I think Arch could be one of
[28:25] Speaker 4: those guys.
[28:26] Speaker 1: Yeah, he absolutely can be like being there firsthand.
[28:28] Speaker 2: In the building when they took on Vanderbilt and you
[28:30] Speaker 2: got a chance to see some of the athleticism when
[28:32] Speaker 2: he was starting to turn the corner on his play,
[28:35] Speaker 2: he is very intriguing because he certainly isn't the statue
[28:38] Speaker 2: that his uncles were in the National Football League standing
[28:41] Speaker 2: in the pocket from the grassy knoll and delivering and
[28:43] Speaker 2: unable to get out of the way of anything. He
[28:46] Speaker 2: has more athleticism. He has more juice, more swag than
[28:49] Speaker 2: I would say them. But what he doesn't have to
[28:52] Speaker 2: be on their level, He doesn't have the experience and
[28:54] Speaker 2: the expertise in terms of managing, running the game, controlling
[28:58] Speaker 2: the offense. That said, have had an opportunity to watch him,
[29:02] Speaker 2: seen some of the behind-the-scenes footage. You see some of
[29:04] Speaker 2: the other stuff like he's improved by leaps and bounds.
[29:07] Speaker 2: But now it's about putting it together on tape.
[29:10] Speaker 1: And I'll say this. Don't have anything.
[29:13] Speaker 2: I don't know if he's a lock to come out
[29:16] Speaker 2: this year. Like given the blueprint that his uncles have
[29:20] Speaker 2: used successfully, I don't know if it's a lock that, hey, man,
[29:23] Speaker 2: Archman is going to play this one and he's for
[29:25] Speaker 2: sure going to leave. Look, he may have the wherewithal
[29:28] Speaker 2: to be able to stay if he doesn't like his
[29:31] Speaker 2: progress or where he's potentially lined up to go when.
[29:35] Speaker 1: It comes to the end of the season.
[29:37] Speaker 4: I think it's a great point. They all started four years.
[29:41] Speaker 4: and Arch has not started four years. This will be
[29:43] Speaker 4: his second year as a full-time starter. Another year, look,
[29:47] Speaker 4: he's going to make, what, three to five million, whatever
[29:49] Speaker 4: the going rate is for quarterbacks these days. He's going
[29:51] Speaker 4: to be on the high end of it at University
[29:53] Speaker 4: of Texas, I would assume, if he were to stay,
[29:55] Speaker 4: for example. And it may be because he doesn't You know,
[29:58] Speaker 4: the family doesn't like the landing spot. It wouldn't be
[30:00] Speaker 4: the first time a Manning didn't like the landing spot
[30:02] Speaker 4: and did something about it. And what's the worst thing
[30:06] Speaker 4: that happens? I mean, you get more experience. You get better.
[30:10] Speaker 4: You still make money. Quarterbacks play a long time. So
[30:13] Speaker 4: I don't think that's a family that's worried about rushing
[30:15] Speaker 4: into the second game. You come out now so you
[30:17] Speaker 4: can get to the second contract. They want, and we
[30:20] Speaker 4: always talk about the Mannings as a collective, which I
[30:22] Speaker 4: don't know if that's fair to Cooper Manning, his actual father,
[30:25] Speaker 4: not his uncles, you know, not grandpa. But when you
[30:29] Speaker 4: think about it, Buck, they want to see him be
[30:32] Speaker 4: the best that he can possibly be. Money, I don't think,
[30:36] Speaker 4: is the primary issue, even though he's making a ton
[30:38] Speaker 4: of it in NIL. So if you want to be
[30:40] Speaker 4: the best that you can be, if ultimately your goal
[30:43] Speaker 4: is to be the best NFL quarterback, your overall legacy,
[30:47] Speaker 4: you know, it's not the worst thing in the world
[30:49] Speaker 4: to get as much starting experience as you possibly can.
[30:52] Speaker 4: It's not like you're a running back with limited shelf
[30:54] Speaker 4: life if you're a quarterback. That's just that's not the
[30:56] Speaker 4: case for QBs.
[30:58] Speaker 1: No, it's definitely not the case.
[30:59] Speaker 2: And it's one of those things where we talk about
[31:02] Speaker 2: career decisions, and he has been afforded the luxury to
[31:04] Speaker 2: be able to make decisions without having to think about money.
[31:08] Speaker 2: He's making plenty of money or whatever. I can't count
[31:10] Speaker 2: his pockets, but he's making a ton of money at
[31:13] Speaker 2: Texas and NIL. Comes from a family that has done
[31:15] Speaker 2: pretty well when it comes to the family business of
[31:18] Speaker 2: playing quarterback in the National Football League for both the uncles.
[31:21] Speaker 2: He can make a decision based purely on the trajectory.
[31:25] Speaker 1: Of his career. How does it project? Where is he going?
[31:28] Speaker 1: Is he getting better?
[31:29] Speaker 2: Does he have the experience that he needs to be
[31:32] Speaker 2: able to develop into an expert at the pro game quickly?
[31:38] Speaker 2: Only he knows that. But, yeah, there are a lot
[31:40] Speaker 2: of options on the table. And speaking of options on
[31:42] Speaker 2: the table, I got to tell you, because we're going
[31:44] Speaker 2: to talk about wide receiver and we're going to talk
[31:46] Speaker 2: about Jeremiah Smith. But I want to bring up Jeremiah
[31:49] Speaker 2: Smith and Cam Coleman, because. Sometimes, you know, when you're
[31:53] Speaker 2: riding around town and talk radios on and you hear
[31:56] Speaker 2: people kind of begin to have the conversation, Jeremiah Smith
[31:58] Speaker 2: is this. But keep an eye on Cam Coleman. Cam
[32:02] Speaker 2: Coleman can challenge him for the number one wide receiver spot.
[32:05] Speaker 2: And people are like, oh, hold on. Like, what are
[32:07] Speaker 2: we talking about? Like, comes from Auburn and those things.
[32:10] Speaker 2: But I will say he is a freak show on
[32:13] Speaker 2: the perimeter when it comes to catching the ball and
[32:15] Speaker 2: making plays. Hasn't quite gotten his opportunity to fully display
[32:19] Speaker 2: everything at UT. but there are a lot of people
[32:22] Speaker 2: that are buzzing about him. Not quite saying that he's
[32:24] Speaker 2: closed the gap on Jeremiah Smith in this debate, but interesting.
[32:29] Speaker 4: Yeah, it's funny. I watched, I did a piece over
[32:32] Speaker 4: the summer, my top like 25 prospects to watch this year.
[32:37] Speaker 4: And I got through some quick, you know, they put
[32:40] Speaker 4: it on me at about 10 days out. And I'm like,
[32:42] Speaker 4: I got a lot of tape to watch. So I
[32:44] Speaker 4: went through a bunch of tape and I finished Cam
[32:47] Speaker 4: Coleman and I was like, yeesh. This guy can ball.
[32:51] Speaker 4: Like you can see the quarterback play wasn't great at Auburn,
[32:54] Speaker 4: but what we're looking for Bucky is translatable traits, translatable playing,
[33:00] Speaker 4: playing styles and, and play traits. And I mean, we're
[33:03] Speaker 4: talking about a guy with size, with speed. You talk
[33:06] Speaker 4: about catch radius and the hands and the ability to
[33:09] Speaker 4: make those difficult catches. He's got all of that can,
[33:11] Speaker 4: can impact the game on three levels. And I made
[33:14] Speaker 4: a comment on Twitter and I was like, there's a
[33:17] Speaker 4: lot of talk about Jeremiah Smith, but, don't, but be
[33:20] Speaker 4: careful on Cam Coleman. This is this, this battle between
[33:23] Speaker 4: these two is a little closer than you think. Then
[33:26] Speaker 4: a day later, I watched Jeremiah Smith. So, so you
[33:35] Speaker 4: and I, so I started off bright eyed and bushy
[33:38] Speaker 4: tail when I first started doing this for NFL, like
[33:41] Speaker 4: I get hyped on a guy. And what happens is
[33:43] Speaker 4: the longer you do this, the more, so I'm saying negative,
[33:47] Speaker 4: you get like, Alonzo Heisman is my buddy. You know Zoe.
[33:51] Speaker 4: And our joke is he's never seen anybody that's better
[33:53] Speaker 4: than a fourth rounder. Like everybody in the draft is
[33:56] Speaker 4: a third or fourth rounder for him at best. Because
[33:59] Speaker 4: the longer you do this, I don't want to say
[34:01] Speaker 4: you get more cynical, but you get– Realism hits you
[34:04] Speaker 4: in the face because your previous draft classes, they play
[34:07] Speaker 4: themselves out and you see where you've missed and you've
[34:10] Speaker 4: seen where you've overshot. I hate the phrase generational. I
[34:15] Speaker 4: hate it. My kids, we joke to say my wife
[34:18] Speaker 4: is a generational hater. Well, that actually gets said in
[34:22] Speaker 4: the room. Like my daughter's calling her a generational hater now.
[34:26] Speaker 4: Can't find a band she likes. Can't find a restaurant
[34:28] Speaker 4: she likes. But anyway, I don't like the word generational.
[34:32] Speaker 4: I don't think you do either because that's special when
[34:35] Speaker 4: you say that. MJ was a generational talent, whether it's
[34:39] Speaker 4: Michael Jordan or Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady.
[34:42] Speaker 4: We know what they look like, right? And it's not necessarily–
[34:45] Speaker 4: Tom Brady is a generational– well, he didn't have generational talent.
[34:49] Speaker 4: He was a generational player. Jeremiah Smith, I am willing
[34:53] Speaker 4: to take the G word and put.
[34:56] Speaker 1: It out there.
[34:58] Speaker 4: Weight, hands, routes. Buck, he's got three drops in the
[35:03] Speaker 4: last two years, and two of them were focus drops
[35:05] Speaker 4: in game one against Texas last year. Never had a
[35:07] Speaker 4: drop the rest of the year. He's Andre Johnson meets
[35:11] Speaker 4: Julio Jones to me. Bucky, I truly believe this is
[35:14] Speaker 4: a generational talent. I truly believe that.
[35:17] Speaker 2: That is tough, man, because I'm thinking of that matchup
[35:20] Speaker 2: that you talked about. Andre Johnson meeting Julio Jones.
[35:24] Speaker 1: You're talking about two big, fast, physical freaks on the perimeter.
[35:29] Speaker 2: Guys that can do it as number ones all day,
[35:32] Speaker 2: every day, no matter what the competition, no matter what
[35:34] Speaker 2: the tactic is. That speaks volumes to... the ability to
[35:38] Speaker 2: kind of carry the crown is wide receiver one. When
[35:41] Speaker 2: I look at Jeremiah Smith, one, first thing that stands
[35:45] Speaker 2: out in the highlights, man, he dominates the guys he's
[35:47] Speaker 2: supposed to dominate. Like if you don't give a guy help,
[35:50] Speaker 2: he's going to beat him to sleep over and over
[35:52] Speaker 2: and over again.
[35:53] Speaker 1: And then his ability to score from every level, short.
[35:56] Speaker 2: Intermediate, deep, catch and run concepts, bomb concepts, deep overs,
[36:01] Speaker 2: he can do it all. And I just think about
[36:04] Speaker 2: the depth, the talent, the legacy that is Ohio State.
[36:09] Speaker 2: I just don't know how we can exclude him for
[36:12] Speaker 2: the conversation as one of the generational guys to come through.
[36:16] Speaker 4: I mean, he's six, but look, but he's like six, two, six, three,
[36:21] Speaker 4: two 25 is going to run in the high four
[36:23] Speaker 4: threes to low four, four range. Like I said, has
[36:26] Speaker 4: three drops over the last two years and he's a
[36:28] Speaker 4: highly targeted player dominates the catch space is a, impressive
[36:34] Speaker 4: route runner. That's something that I don't, you know, he's
[36:36] Speaker 4: got a great, uh, wide receiver coach over there in heartline.
[36:39] Speaker 4: I mean, it's clearly, it's important to him to be
[36:41] Speaker 4: a good route runner as well. So I think everything
[36:44] Speaker 4: is there for him to succeed early. Now me to
[36:46] Speaker 4: make a con, you know, for me to compare him
[36:48] Speaker 4: to Andre Johnson living in Houston, that's a big deal.
[36:51] Speaker 4: But with Dre, Dre, John, with Andre Johnson playing in
[36:56] Speaker 4: Gary Kubiak's, you know, levels passing concept, I see a
[36:59] Speaker 4: lot of the same routes that Jeremiah runs. That's why
[37:02] Speaker 4: it's easy to, uh, No, that's right. It's not Hartline.
[37:05] Speaker 4: I can't remember who's over there, but he worked under Hartline,
[37:08] Speaker 4: Jeremiah Smith. So this is going to be a great
[37:11] Speaker 4: opportunity in this game against Texas to stamp himself. Now,
[37:15] Speaker 4: let me throw some numbers at you that you may
[37:17] Speaker 4: not know. I went and looked at it this morning.
[37:19] Speaker 4: As a freshman in the playoff game against the Longhorns,
[37:23] Speaker 4: one catch, three yards. Last year in that game we
[37:27] Speaker 4: talked about with Arch Manning not playing all that well,
[37:29] Speaker 4: three catches for I want to say 46 yards. for
[37:32] Speaker 4: Jeremiah Smith. This is kind of a big one for
[37:34] Speaker 4: Jeremiah Smith to say, hey, I'm that guy also because
[37:37] Speaker 4: he hasn't done that against Texas, and this is three
[37:40] Speaker 4: years in a row that he'll have a crack at
[37:42] Speaker 4: the Texas defense, this time in Austin. So Jeremiah Smith
[37:46] Speaker 4: is kind of in need of a big game in
[37:49] Speaker 4: this one. I mean, his talent is stamped and cemented,
[37:52] Speaker 4: but I'd like to see him show out in a
[37:55] Speaker 4: game like this against Texas. You can't have one team
[37:57] Speaker 4: shut you down three games in a row.
[37:59] Speaker 2: No, you can't have one team shut you down three
[38:02] Speaker 2: games in a row. His wide receiver coach, I looked
[38:04] Speaker 2: it up, is Cortez Hankton. That matters because Cortez Hankton
[38:09] Speaker 2: recently came over from LSU. Cortez Hankton had an opportunity
[38:13] Speaker 2: to do with Brian Thomas Jr. and Malik Neighbors. So
[38:16] Speaker 2: when people are beginning to make these comparisons, he can
[38:19] Speaker 2: give you a bird's eye view on, hey, he falls
[38:21] Speaker 2: in between these guys. He exceeds these guys in these categories.
[38:25] Speaker 2: You can't underestimate that. And then I just think about
[38:31] Speaker 2: you talk about big stage, big games, the platforms. As
[38:35] Speaker 2: a scout, you're always looking for the signature game that
[38:38] Speaker 2: can rubber stamp a prospect, like a big game on
[38:41] Speaker 2: a major stage where he.
[38:43] Speaker 1: Shows up and shows out and you're like, yeah, I'm good.
[38:45] Speaker 2: Because whatever he did here tonight is more like what
[38:48] Speaker 2: he's going to do on Sundays each and every week.
[38:50] Speaker 2: It's a big game for him because you said he
[38:52] Speaker 2: hasn't had one of those marquee games or enough marquee
[38:55] Speaker 2: moments to make you forget the other stuff. He has
[38:59] Speaker 2: to win in the margins or it's just never, it
[39:03] Speaker 2: won't happen for them. So this is fantastic to be
[39:06] Speaker 2: able to get an early look-see at Jeremiah Smith and
[39:09] Speaker 2: the rest of the prospects that are in this game because, man,
[39:12] Speaker 2: this is must-see TV. This is what you want week
[39:15] Speaker 2: two of a college football season to be able to
[39:17] Speaker 2: see a bunch of blue chip players going against each other.
[39:19] Speaker 4: I'm driving up, Buck. I already got the media pass
[39:22] Speaker 4: and I got the company to okay me on a hotel.
[39:25] Speaker 4: you know so i'm like i'm good let me drive
[39:28] Speaker 4: up there and uh.
[39:29] Speaker 2: Well okay well in true houston h town fashion are
[39:36] Speaker 2: you going up in that candy painted that candy red
[39:39] Speaker 2: i saw those cougars come out with the car, you
[39:43] Speaker 2: gotta tell me what that, I'm not from H-Town, so
[39:45] Speaker 2: you gotta tell me what was that all about? I
[39:48] Speaker 2: just saw a big old red car, all hammers and
[39:51] Speaker 2: all that, and I was like, what are we doing
[39:54] Speaker 2: in H-Town?
[39:55] Speaker 4: But they came out behind a slab. That was a
[39:58] Speaker 4: candy color, that was a candy red slab with elbows,
[40:01] Speaker 4: also known as swangers. And then the Cougs came out
[40:06] Speaker 4: behind that, and so it's car culture. Here in Houston,
[40:09] Speaker 4: that's very much a Houston rap culture thing, car culture thing. So, yeah,
[40:14] Speaker 4: they're going to do it every time. I like the
[40:16] Speaker 4: fact Willie Fritz and his squad is doing something to
[40:19] Speaker 4: kind of endear themselves to the city. It's what everyone
[40:21] Speaker 4: has to do now. In this era of wanting kids
[40:24] Speaker 4: to be part of something cool and big, University of
[40:27] Speaker 4: Houston came up with a concept that was smart. I
[40:30] Speaker 4: think they're going to have different celebrities driving the red
[40:33] Speaker 4: car into the game now to kind of, you know,
[40:38] Speaker 4: kind of charge up the crowd. So Willie Fritz talked about,
[40:42] Speaker 4: or the head coach from University of Houston talked about
[40:44] Speaker 4: with me on the radio this morning, having somebody, there's
[40:47] Speaker 4: going to be a different ride driver in the car
[40:49] Speaker 4: next week. So I think that's going to be something
[40:50] Speaker 4: to watch. I already said odds on it. Paul Wall,
[40:53] Speaker 4: Bun B, maybe University of Houston graduate Hannah McNair with
[40:57] Speaker 4: the Houston, Texas, because there's a video of her.
[41:00] Speaker 1: I saw her doing her thing.
[41:01] Speaker 4: She was in the, She was hitting the south side.
[41:04] Speaker 4: The practice, she was hitting that south side.
[41:06] Speaker 1: I saw it. I saw it. It could be her.
[41:09] Speaker 4: It could be her also. And then maybe Tank Dell,
[41:12] Speaker 4: former University of Houston wide receiver who's injured right now
[41:14] Speaker 4: for the Texans. So we'll see what happens with the Cougs. But, yeah,
[41:17] Speaker 4: they're not letting me take that up to Austin. I
[41:20] Speaker 4: don't get a ride in that.
[41:20] Speaker 1: It's just going to be a rental.
[41:22] Speaker 4: It's just going to be a rental, probably like a
[41:25] Speaker 4: Kia something. I don't get the candy-colored.
[41:28] Speaker 1: No, no, no, no pain, no candy. No, no, no.
[41:31] Speaker 2: But I would say that between H-Town putting it down
[41:34] Speaker 2: with that, between Prime coming out with the homies, doing
[41:38] Speaker 2: his thing down in Atlanta, between Memphis having a team
[41:43] Speaker 2: meeting with Moneybagg Yo, there are a lot of coaches
[41:46] Speaker 2: that are talking about their seriousness, but then they turn
[41:49] Speaker 2: up quite differently on game day. Just like my man
[41:52] Speaker 2: LZ always turns up when the pod gets together. Lance,
[41:56] Speaker 2: before I let you go, what else? What else are
[41:58] Speaker 2: we looking for this week? What are you looking forward
[41:59] Speaker 2: to this weekend when the NFL season kicks off?
[42:01] Speaker 4: You know, I'm really looking forward to it. Me personally,
[42:04] Speaker 4: I want to see– it's right in my hometown right here, right?
[42:07] Speaker 4: Josh Allen trying to exercise the demons of the Houston
[42:10] Speaker 4: Texans defense. He's been terrible against the Texas defense. Speaking
[42:14] Speaker 4: of exercising demons, C.J. Stroud's got the most demons to exercise.
[42:19] Speaker 4: Buffalo's actually a small favorite against the Texans, which I
[42:22] Speaker 4: thought was crazy. So I think, you know, I think
[42:26] Speaker 4: the tone of that game could– spell what you can
[42:31] Speaker 4: expect to see this year in terms of the best
[42:33] Speaker 4: team in the AFC. This is a huge game right
[42:36] Speaker 4: off the bat. So that's one that I'm really looking
[42:38] Speaker 4: forward to seeing. And frankly, Buck, I'm interested to see
[42:41] Speaker 4: how the Rams and 49ers do with a time difference
[42:45] Speaker 4: so different and then how they respond coming back from
[42:49] Speaker 4: Australia over the next couple of weeks to see if
[42:51] Speaker 4: that has an impact on the body clock.
[42:53] Speaker 1: So. Yeah, it'll be interesting. Like a couple of things. One,
[42:56] Speaker 1: the Buffalo-Houston game. I am fascinated.
[42:59] Speaker 2: Aziz Al-Shahir was on Chris Long's podcast, and he was
[43:02] Speaker 2: talking about how some games, man, D'Amico, Rhines, and Matt Burke,
[43:06] Speaker 2: they're just staying one defense and just play it all day,
[43:10] Speaker 2: every day, as simple as can be and allow their
[43:12] Speaker 2: talent to overweigh me. So I'm curious to see what
[43:14] Speaker 2: that looks like against Josh Allen. And then you just
[43:17] Speaker 2: talked about The game's on the schedule. People are talking
[43:20] Speaker 2: about the travel. The Niners went over way early to
[43:23] Speaker 2: Australia to try and get on the body clock, whereas
[43:25] Speaker 2: the Rams are taking a 48-hour approach. They want to
[43:28] Speaker 2: get there, play the game, and get back because they
[43:30] Speaker 2: have another game when they return, and they want to
[43:32] Speaker 2: get back on.
[43:33] Speaker 1: California time quickly.
[43:34] Speaker 2: What we know, the winning team will set the table
[43:38] Speaker 2: for the way the rest of the league does it.
[43:40] Speaker 2: Sean McVay had a lot of success doing the turn-and-burn
[43:43] Speaker 2: trip in London. If they go 2-0 with the turn-and-burn,
[43:47] Speaker 2: You can forget about playing one of these international games
[43:50] Speaker 2: and get some sightseeing in. It's going to be in
[43:52] Speaker 2: and out for every NFL head coach when it comes
[43:55] Speaker 2: to taking on these games.
[43:56] Speaker 4: Plus, you keep the players inside. No chance of anybody
[43:59] Speaker 4: getting in trouble. We need the full 48 playing. We
[44:04] Speaker 4: don't need any problems. So, yeah, you're right. That's a
[44:06] Speaker 4: really good point. It is going to potentially set the game.
[44:11] Speaker 4: set the stage for how other teams operate. Because you
[44:14] Speaker 4: know the NFL is going to only go forward with
[44:16] Speaker 4: games played outside of the country. So moving forward, it
[44:21] Speaker 4: may have an impact on what teams do in Brazil,
[44:23] Speaker 4: what teams do in London, what teams do if they
[44:25] Speaker 4: go back to Australia. Yeah, very good points on all that.
[44:28] Speaker 1: Sure, man. You made a bunch of good points.
[44:30] Speaker 2: Make sure you guys come back and tune in to
[44:32] Speaker 2: the next edition of 40s and Free Agents. Me and
[44:35] Speaker 2: LZ will be here next week.
[44:37] Speaker 1: We'll be right back.

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