Colin Cowherd Podcast - NFL Draft Combine, Mendoza A Lock To Raiders At #1, Eagles Drama, Chiefs Rebuild?

This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story? I've just been made to fit. The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapsed. What if the truth was disguised by a story we chose to believe? Oh my God, I think she might be innocent. Listen to Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. The perpetrator was sentenced to 99 years until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to Adventures of Curiosity Cove every Monday from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. All right. I thought I'd bring in former NFL scout, John Middlecoff, three and out, who spent a couple of days at the Combine. And it's real deal making for the three days people are in. The executives are in Indianapolis. It is a lot of late nights. John, can you confirm that it's late nights and early mornings? Yeah, it was a lot, Colin. These guys are letting it rip. You know, in fairness, it's not a normal life they lead, especially the coaches. The six months you get to the combine, which by all accounts is tamed down dramatically from where it was, I think, three cell phones. It's nothing too crazy, but, I mean, it's an event unlike, I mean, you have every NFL head coach out to dinner, out to cocktails out with each other every gm every assistant gm think about all the coordinators now that used to be head coaches that are pretty famous walking around indianapolis isn't exactly london i mean there's not that many places to go so safe to say the jw marriott is uh is is is ripping every night so i i had to get out of there colin because i i couldn't last more than 48 hours. Let's talk first, John Snyder. I saw you sat down with him, the Seattle GM. I think he's being now fairly regarded as maybe the best drafting GM in the league. There's a lot of different skills. There's free agency, there's trading. Howie Rosen is probably the most aggressive. I don't think you can deny that John Snyder is the best drafting GM. If you look at his track record, really since Pete left and he completely, absolutely took over the entire draft. But he's got some tough decisions to make. Kenneth Walker is, you know, there's going to be a market for Kenneth Walker. Teams like Kansas City in the AFC need a running back and it's a bad running back draft. But give me your kind of sense of how John's feeling and the kind of the crest he's kind of riding now. Yeah, I think his personality feels the same whether he won the Super Bowl or whether you would see him when they would get bounced in the first round. Obviously, he's pretty elated coming to this combine. One thing he mentioned is he's, because they just went, I mean, they were playing two weeks ago, he's behind on the draft. He spent all of his energy getting ready for free agency. They have a ton of money. I personally would probably let Kenneth Walker walk. Yeah. Unless it's a relatively, I mean, two years, $15 million or something. But when you start bidding for a running back, they draft him in the second round. But up until the second half of this year, he's kind of had an underwhelming career. And you bring in Fleury from the Niners, the Kubiak-Shanahan system, you can kind of find running backs. So my guess would be they're definitely not franchise tagging him. Like whenever I see the Jets are going to franchise tag Brees Hall, it's like the Jets are going to franchise tag a running back. Not even the Jets would do that. Come on, guys. Let's use some common sense here. So Seattle's riding high. I got to meet Mike McDonald, talk to him. He's really, really impressive. I mean, they got something pretty special going in Seattle because they have a ton of cap space. They have a ton of young players under contract. I would say their confidence in Sam, the person. I mean, you've talked about this. You know, clearly the player, like most players not named John Elway or Peyton Manning, aren't going to be great 99% of games, but I think they are all in on the human being. And I think what they learned down that stretch, that Thursday night game against the Rams when he flipped it and then up until the Super Bowl. I think they're feeling pretty confident in their quarterback. So a team that's, you know, the difference, John, between winning one Super Bowl and getting to five is having to move off players. I mean, the Chiefs moved off Tyreek Hill and returned to the Super Bowl. So Seattle's got to make those tough choices. And I think they will. But let's talk Kansas City and Brett Veach, where offensive line needs help. They've got an early pick. They'll probably attack that. Running game, it's a weak running back class, so they may have to pay for that. You saw Brett Veach. The first half of Mahomes and Reed 1.0 is five Super Bowls and three trophies. That was the same for Brady in New England. But the difference is Brady in New England played in the division with the dysfunctional Jets, Dolphins, and Bills. Well, Harbaugh, Herbert, Bo Nix, Sean Payton, Mendoza should be pretty good. And now the league only allows, John, one bye. So New England and Brady for those years won their dysfunctional division, got a bye, got two home games. You win them, you're in the Super Bowl. I mean, if there's an easy path, that was it. Kansas City's path is different. One bye, brutal division, and they got holes to fill. A lot of them on offense. What do you gather from your combine visit? I think if you remove emotion, it's probably time to divorce Travis Kelsey. You know, I mean, unless he would come back basically for no money. And that's the NFL, right? It's like, well, he's one of the greatest players in the history of the league. And he's, you know, one of the poster childs of this dynasty. And it's kind of what Belichick and Bill Walsh do. So that's going to be a tough decision as they negotiate with Travis Kelsey. I think Chris Jones could be a trade candidate. His cap number is huge. And he had a down year. Yeah, he can be very hit or miss in games. Obviously, his good is great, but he can also disappear for a Hall of Fame player. Trent McDuffie is definitely a trade candidate. A guy they drafted in the first round. These extensions for these DBs get enormous. So I think they got a lot of moving parts. I saw Veach. He was a little under the weather. He just looked tired. Part of it is they have a cocktail at the end of the day because there were 18 hours of talking to agents and going back and forth. I mean, it's exhausting. These are really tough decisions. And I think the Chiefs, Belichick did this. They kind of have to pivot beside Mahomes off the majority of those guys. Andy Reid said last year, Joe Tooney, Andy Reid's been coaching for like 45 years. He said Joe Tooney's one of the favorite players he's ever coached in his career. They just traded him. Isn't that football? Isn't that the NFL? They couldn't afford to keep him with the cap. They didn't want to get rid of him. Like, they downgraded by losing him. I think it's a little different with Kelsey. Obviously, the Swift effect, he's so famous. He's relative to what he was. I mean, kind of a shell of himself, right? And so when you start asking for $15 million a year, Jason Light, same thing with Mike Evans. It's these emotional decisions of these great Hall of Fame players who you love their character and what they mean to your – that's, you know, Bill Walsh let Rodney Locke go. You know, I mean, it kind of is what it is. So I think fans in football, wouldn't you say understand it a little bit more? But still, I do. It can be pretty eye-opening when you see Mike Evans is signed with the Jags. Travis Kelsey is signed with the, who knows, J.J. Watt signed with the Arizona Cardinals. Travis, you don't just automatically go to a good team. Because sometimes football, they offer you more money and you just go, well, maybe they can turn around and that's where you go. So I would say you're going to see some potential legendary players throughout the league on different teams. I mean, that's just kind of the way it works. You know, what's also interesting now is because there are so many good offensive coaches that you are seeing quarterbacks like Baker and Darnold have a second life if you can land your Liam Cohen. I mean, Trevor Lawrence made a big leap this year. And I think these guys off the Sean McVay tree, the Kyle Shanahan tree, they go places and they change the arc of quarterbacks' careers. Sam Darnold bust to star to Super Bowl champion. Baker Mayfield resurrected his dip. Kyler Murray and Tua are different. Tua can't stay healthy and is really limited physically. Kyler, as a story out this week, he hasn't talked to the GM since the end of the season. So he's not terribly verbal. There are commitment issues. There are health issues. And even though we're in a league now where you do get second teams and second runs, you know Arizona well. Does Kyler have a market? I mean, there's such bad PR. Someone told me this week that Kyler Murray and his camp, they want to go to Minnesota. Well Aaron Rodgers wanted to go to Minnesota too Most quarterbacks do I can imagine Kevin O wanting Kyler Murray Kyler Murray is at the point if he truly wants to resurrect his career he's made a ton of money at this point, right? Number one overall pick, got this huge deal that is now an albatross, makes him untradeable. If he gets cut, which he's going to, why not surely, you know, the Ravens, the Chiefs, one of those type teams would be like, hey, we'll take you for the veteran minimum. If Andy Reid calls, or something, you would be crazy not to make a decision to go there and potentially maybe rehab your image because he does have a branding problem right now. I would say throughout the league, he's not viewed very highly as a player on or off the field. Not like bad, like some of these guys that get in trouble, but just, yeah, we don't want to deal with that. I would say the number one thing you hear talking to these guys, yeah, we got to deal with this with our defensive linemen. You've talked about this forever. They do not want to deal with the quarterback room. I mean, the quarterback room better be like your coaches, better be like your executives, just high-level professionals. I never even think about you. I have to deal with immaturity in some other positions, not the quarterback position. Imagine if you just go to Andy Reid for a year. You know, Sam Darnold did this. Daniel Jones kind of did this when he got cut by the Giants. And just rehab his image. And then by the end of the year, maybe you play, maybe you don't, but you have an Andy Reid type guy. And I'm just using him as an example. You could use Sean Payton. You could use whoever would be interested that's established and go, we love that guy. That was a great experience being around him. Then that changes the arc of the way the league thinks about you. Because being there, the league is one, it's like a high school. Everyone knows everybody and everybody talks to everybody. And you could probably play one degree of separation. You just put Mike Silver in the middle. He knows everything. They all know each other and all the information on what a guy is and isn't as a person. You know, one of my big takeaways is we can get into draft, why this pick makes it, why this free agency or, you know, guy didn't work. This is a people business. And the teams that are good have just really high-level people. Right. On the coaching staff, I mean, I hear some stories, Colin, about position coaches making millions of dollars. They get title stripped in the middle of the season and throw a hissy fit and won't go to meetings. It's not just the players. These assistant coaches' egos are enormous now. You've got a lot of personalities, and the best teams are just – I hear stories about Kellen Moore or Kubiak, and you're like, I see why these guys are having success. Just easy to deal with, high-level guys, get along, high EQs. And clearly, the league has kind of been defined of you need a few crazies on your team, but you better have a high-character operation from a football character standpoint, or you got no shot? Speaking of a high-level coach, Ben Johnson and Mike Vrabel turned it around in one year. I saw that you ran into Ben Johnson. I mean, he's got to be – they have a really interesting situation where they know exactly what they need. They need some help in the linebacker core. They're not fast enough, and they need a rush end. But, I mean, they've really – John, they could literally use every draft pick on defense. They don't have a hole offensively, maybe another tackle in the building, but receiver, tight end, back, quarterback, interior line, really good. I mean, was Ben walking on cloud nine in a pretty good mood? Well, I use you because sometimes, you know, it's easy if you know the guy to start a conversation. When you don't, you got to come with a little material. So I had you in my back pocket. I dropped your name early, and he said that he'd seen you, he thought, at a restaurant. and I said, Ben, I can't believe you didn't go talk to him. You guys would have been breaking down offensive football. He started laughing and people were like, I'd never see Ben Johnson smile. I'm like, well, I got that magic touch because I used you and we'll have to link you up. The Bears, I talked to Ryan Poles. They feel like they got a pretty good, those two guys. Ryan had some bumps early, right? He did. Some personnel moves. No, I've said the Chase Claypool thing didn't work, But receivers are a hard acquisition. It's just a tough position. Then he redeemed himself with a DJ Moore deal. And as a GM, you look way better with a good coach. I mean, you just do. So now you get a guy who, I mean, I think one thing you've been at this combine, the status of Ben Johnson and Mike McDonald in a 12-month span, like if you would have been there last year to where they are this year, It just couldn't be any higher. The way they're thought of in terms of coaching on the field is extremely high. And I would expect DJ Moore is going to be a name that we're going to see over the next week. Because they're going to have to move an offensive piece. They don't have many draft picks, you know, to kind of retool this thing. And they let one of their linebackers I saw seek a trade. The other thing is that division, you know, I make fun of the Vikings because of their quarterback situation, as most people do. We talk about the Lions taking a big step back. Both those teams went 9-8. I mean, both those teams, the Vikings and the Lions, are a pretty well-established culture with really good players. Their floor is extremely high. And if the Packers just can keep some guys healthy, clearly they're one of the best teams in the league. So that division from the Bears' standpoint is really, really difficult. And the Bears, who have been atrocious, now are going to get a first-place schedule. It is going to be more challenging. and they're going to sneak up on nobody, which when you see Ben, he's wired for that. Like, I don't think he's, he's not resting on his laurels. He is, you can just tell a lot by the way guys carry themselves. You know, the Harbaugh brothers or Vrabel, like they're so comfortable in their own skin. But some of these new guys, the newfound fame, like when Ben Johnson walks in somewhere, he's really famous now. And to me, he just carries himself. like he looks the exact same as he carried himself a year ago and I would say the same thing with Mike McDonald their personality like this the no ego I was talking to him last night and just going this guy won a Super Bowl like three weeks ago and you would absolutely you would never know if you brought some guy off the street that didn't know football you just met this guy you you would have no clue that this guy is the Super Bowl champion and the uh the toast of the town right now in the NFL. So I would feel pretty confident if I'm the Bears, but they do. Like there are a lot of, because the cap is so big right now, there are so many options with trades. And I talked to Howie about this. When I first started working for Howie in 2010, he was on the forefront of the NFL forever. Wasn't that trade heavy? Oh God, no. Before the Jimmy Johnson trade, the Herschel Walker teams didn't trade. Yeah. The historic trades stand out so much in like the 80s and 90s because they didn't happen that much. Howie was ready to trade like an NBA Major League Baseball GM, but the rest of the league wasn't. And then now you fast forward 15 plus years in the mid-2020s, all these GMs or the majority of them are kind of like him. They're ready to trade. So people are willing to, hey, you want this guy, you want to trade draft picks, you want to do this. So there is just a lot of action, which I think stalls some deals because it gets so expensive. It's like a house. If you only have one guy bidding on the house, you probably can dictate the terms a little bit. You got seven people waiting out on the front of the street to buy the house, that price is going to skyrocket. And I think that happens with some of these deals. I've been saying this about Max Crosby. Breer told me, he's like, I don't think they're going to get two ones. I'm like, well, he's under contract and there would be minimum five high-level playoff teams who would be bidding on them. So, yeah, in theory, you'd be like a one and a two. Well, if five teams are bidding against each other, like the reason McCaffrey went for a two, three, and a four is because the Rams also wanted them, so the Niners had to put in a little bit more. That's the way it works. So that's where I think that historically 20 years ago, yeah, Max Crosby probably just goes for a one. But now you have all these GMs that are lined up to wheel and deal. And that's cool. Like you're there. This is a wheeler in a dealer league. This is a league where, you know, the John Schneider types, you've got to be great at identifying personnel. You've got to be dynamic, wheeling the deal. You've got to be willing to make moves. It is much more, I would say, complicated now. You've got all the money. You've got to lean on your salary cap guy. It's a pretty intense environment when you're there. You just realize the pressure cooker of this thing. I mean, I'm watching Aaron Glenn do a press conference. I'm like, God, I wouldn't want to be that guy right now. He's got to be thinking, like, get me out of here. I mean, this is even Veach, you know, you could just say there's just a weight to all this stuff. I mean, this is this is a long, intense week because it lays the foundation for next week where that, you know, that tampering period, it's just full go. And these Drew Rosenhaus, these guys are ready to do a deal and get moving. Today's show brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet, Florida's best sports book. I know it's tough with no football, but like the song says, I will survive. Hard Rock Bet, always something to bet every single night. Hoops, hockey, so much more. All the great same-game parlays, live betting, player props. Hard Rock Bet is the official sports betting partner of the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic, so they know their basketball as well. If you haven't signed up yet for Hard Rock Bet, never been a better time. Sign-ups, double your winnings on your first 10 bets, maximum 50 bucks. If you would have won 200 bucks in your bet, make that 200. Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook, only legal sportsbook for wherever you're in Florida or you also, if you live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Michigan, coming soon to more states. Hard Rock Bet's got new promos daily. Whenever you're listening, just open the app, check it out any day of the week. Download the Hard Rock Bet app and make your first deposit. Payable and bonus bets, not a cash offer. Offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida. Offered by Seminole Hard Rock Digital LLC in all other states. Must be 21 plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida, call 1-888-ADMIT-IT. In Indiana, if you or somebody you know has a problem, wants help, call 1-800-9-WITH-IT. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. In 2023, a story gripped the UK, evoking horror and disbelief. The nurse who should have been in charge of caring for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history. Everyone thought they knew how it ended. A verdict? A villain? A nurse named Lucy Letby. Lucy Letby has been found guilty. But what if we didn't get the whole story? The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapses. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we follow the evidence and hear from the people that lived it to ask what really happened when the world decided who Lucy Letby was No voicing of any skepticism or doubt It cause so much harm at every single level if the British establishment of this is wrong Listen to Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. NLP, aka Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a blend of hypnosis, linguistics, and psychology. Fans say it's like finally getting a user manual for your brain. It's about engineering consciousness. Mind Games is the story of NLP. It's crazy cast of disciples and the fake doctor who invented it at a new age commune and sold it to guys in suits. He stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all? NLP might actually work. This is wild. Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. China's Ministry of State Security is one of the most mysterious and powerful spy agencies in the world. But in 2017, the FBI got inside. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. This MSS officer has no idea the U.S. government is on to him. But the FBI has his chats, texts, emails, even his personal diary. Hear how they got it on the Sixth Bureau podcast. I now have several terabytes of an MSS officer, no doubt, no question, of his life. And that's a unicorn. No one had ever seen anything like that. It was unbelievable. This is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The Sixth Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. He pulls the gun, tells me to lie down on the ground. He identified Jermaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Jermaine was sentenced to 99 years. I'm like, Lord, this can't be real. I thought it was a mistaken identity. The best lie is partial truth. For 22 years, only two people knew the truth. Until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, it's interesting. You talk to Howie, and he wouldn't divulge anything on Jalen Hurts. But I was told during the summer by a source very close to the Eagles front office that people were pointing to A.J. Brown. And some of it's on Jalen Hurts. He is not well liked in the locker room. He's not a galvanizer. He's not one of the guys. Now, not everybody is. Brady was unique. Peyton Manning, Mahomes. Not every quarterback is. But over your course of, you know, your 48, 72 hours where everybody's drinking, everybody's talking, everybody's up, the rumors are fact and facts become rumors. What do you hear about Hertz? Because I've heard it this past summer. I also heard it from a different executive during the season. And now you see it reported that he's just Hertz is a different cat. Even the representation team. What do you hear? I would say if you went back three months and you just asked people that watch the NFL, they'd be like, oh, A.J. Brown's a problem. He's a diva. Everyone hates him in Philly. Just a casual fan. That is not the vibe I got. He's emotional, right? But he represents, I think, a lot of guys on their team, what they want to say. He's just willing to say it. And I think Jalen is a pretty polarizing player in and out of the locker room. But he's also on an enormous contract. So he's kind of a made man right now on their team in the sense that they can't really get rid of him. So it's not even an option. Like, he's their starting quarterback. They're changing their offense to the Shanahan kind of operation with Sean Mannion, who, you know, played at Oregon State, has a pro-style background, Kevin O'Connell. I think they're going to ask Jalen Hurts to play in this Brock Purdy, Sam Dillon. Like, I don't know. I don't really see it going. Yep, either do I. And I don't like they part and part of the reason they would tell you, I think, is because they want the you know, it's a great running game system and they want Saquon to shot. They want to get back to where they were two years ago where they ran for 2000 yards. I just think a lot of people go, well, Jalen's been to two Super Bowls. He's been great in those Super Bowls. It's a little like Seattle. The Richard Sherman group never embraced Russell Wilson. They never believed they believed they were one of the guys. him yeah he wasn't one of the guys and they never believed that like he's getting way more credit than he deserves and i i think you know when it comes to the eagles there's some of that and there's some of he just doesn't ingratiate himself to the group of the eagles have a lot of high level guys like they have done a good job over the last couple years minus jalen carter of just elite character you know devontae smith to uh jordan davis and obviously they had a core group of older guys like Lane Johnson and Kelsey and Fletcher Cox, if you can't get along with those guys and have them really, really think highly of you, everyone's going to say, well, if the Eagles don't win this year, Sirianni's in trouble. And maybe that's true because I think they really like Sirianni in the building, how he likes him. Jeffrey Lurie likes him. He's good with – because Nick's good with people. When no one's watching, when they're working Monday through Friday, people like that guy a lot in the building. I don't think the same can say for Jalen Hurts, which is crazy because all the good quarterbacks, I would say one of their best traits, is like extremely well-liked by the group, right? And I'm not even just talking the great Hall of Famers. You just picked the random guys. Like, go to the Cowboys locker room. Ask him about Dak Prescott. Go to the Niners locker room. Ask him about Jared Goff, Brock Purdy. I mean, these guys are extremely well-liked. Like Kirk Cousins, conservative, religious, still really well liked that could easily be a polarizing personality trait um you know kind of conservative people love Kirk Cousins he's one of the guys he's a very good supporting teammate you know obviously Mendoza is the best quarterback in this class and he's also going to go number one I do think if I was Arizona I talked about it John on the air today that Arizona has such a stink in the building that the opposite of Kyler Murray is Fernando Mendoza. Big, strong, committed, humble, grateful. He's like he'd be an air freshener in the Arizona Cardinals car because there's a stink in the building. And I do think they should call and give up three number ones for him. I mean, the first round picks matter that much. Why are the Jets and Giants awful and the Titans awful and the Browns awful? They're always drafting the top seven or eight for years. and the Rams have only had one first round pick in the last nine drafts. So like it's I would make that move. I don't think the Raiders will move off it. Did you hear anything about Mendoza that hasn't been printed? I mean, Cam Ward last year went number one. He was a zero star recruit. Fernando was a two star recruit. And I think both have a certain gratitude, you know, when you come up through the ranks and you're not Arch Manning or Peyton Manning. Did you hear anything about Mendoza? Anything about the Raiders? Well, I think it's a 100% lock Mendoza's the pick. One thing I struggle with is everyone compares him to previous drafts. You know, he wouldn't have gone above Caleb, Drake May, Jaden Daniels. He wouldn't go above Cam Ward last year, had a more physical skill set. We're not playing like universal generic football. Every team has specific offenses and things they ask the quarterback. They just hired Kubiak, who just won a Super Bowl with Sam Darnold, who came from the 49ers where they had Brock Purdy and also coached Derek Carr, where before some injuries, the Saints were actually pretty good two years ago. They look for specific skill set with the quarterback. And Fernando Mendoza checks the boxes. Accurate, smart, rhythm timing is one of his skill sets and is mobile enough. So they're not looking for him to just sit back and throw the ball 50 times a game. That's not how Kubiak is going to play. Right. So I know people struggle. Like, I hear this Jared Goff. He's compared to Jared Goff. It's almost said like it's a negative thing. Yeah. Guys, Jared Goff is going to have a 15-year career. He's going to make $400 million. He'll get several Hall of Fame votes. He'll go. I mean, there's a decent chance in the next couple of years they can keep their core together. They win a couple of playoff games in a season. And the Lions have a good. Like, he's a high-level quarterback. That is a compliment in my book. He was in the NFC Championship a couple years ago. He was a starting quarterback on a Super Bowl team. Jared Goff's career has been a raging success. So if this guy's a more athletic version of that, I'm very interested in that player. I just feel like he's kind of getting nitpicked, like he's a mid-prospect. And I just don't buy it because this gets back to the character stuff. I know the Chiefs guys really well. They swear by Mahomes' football character. Right now, the buzz is like, this guy's rehab is going great. He's attacking it. It's like he is not messing around. He's motivated. He's pissed off. He's got a chip on his shoulder. And, like, that matters in this league. Like, Josh Allen, what he takes every offseason, how pissed off he is and how driven he is, like, that's got to matter. The person matters as much as the player. Obviously, you have to have the requisite skill set, but all these guys do. So what defines Tom Brady was all the stuff that you can't quantify in PFF. So Fernando Mendoza, he's goofy or whatever. None of that matters. Players, there's a million different types of personalities in the locker room. Unlike Twitter, where everyone hates each other, you go into most locker rooms, beside the Eagles, everyone kind of gets along. These are young guys They have a lot of common interests It an easygoing group It not that polarizing in a locker room Fernando Mendoza you see the Indiana where they had a million transfer portal guys when they winning national championships Everyone's galvanized around him, defensive linemen, offensive linemen. So I think people are too low on Fernando Mendoza. I'm the same way. I feel the same way. I think the rest of the draft kind of sucks. I think he's a really impressive prospect. Is he Elway or Luck? No. Do you feel very good about drafting him number one? I know the Raiders do. I know they feel very good about it. Part of the reason they're kind of torn on Max is they go, well, what if we kind of rehab this offensive line? We already got Bowers. We're going to have a good run game. What if we could be more competitive next year? So I think that's where they're torn because I think he could be a huge upgrade over, I mean, let's face it. It's not all Geno's fault, the offense, and they had a lot of issues going, but they were an offensive disaster last year. Yeah. Okay. One thing, Colin, is before is the combine. One thing I've consistently heard, I went out a couple nights ago with a couple GMs and some other executives, and they were just floored that every meeting they go to with a guy that's going to get drafted in the first or second round, just goes, yeah, I'm not working out. And it's one thing like Fernando Mendoza, no big deal. You played a month ago. You played 16 games. Like, you don't need to throw. But a guy will be going, like, the third round. It's like, yeah, I'm not going to run or do any activity. And I think a lot of these guys, one thing that you hear is with the money getting so big and the pressure from these agents, the power they have now in these guys in college, and we're seeing it with Darren Peterson, you know, in college basketball, but this has been happening in football for a while, that this combine could be in a little trouble in terms of, like, these players just might stop going, let alone when they do go, they do nothing. And part of it is the league turned it into a made-for-TV event. And now the players are like, we're not doing it. So it's kind of in a weird spot right now. It's still important for the press conferences, the medical and some of that. But I think the on-the-field work, the Combine is coming down the home stretch, Colin. Yeah, no. And, you know, listen, I heard this story. I remember when Johnny Manziel aced the interviews at the Combine, you know, because he's a good bullshitter. And it's like, and that's not a terrible quality for a salesperson. You know, he can talk the talk or a podcaster, you know, but he fooled people. You know, let's ride. Let's go. And then he didn't want to watch film. I mean, literally, you know, they were testing him on what film he watched and how far into the film he watched. And they found he didn't even turn it on. And he acknowledged that later. So I think that my problem has always been it's like a first date. when you go on a first date. People say the right thing. People dress perfect. The hygiene's great. By the seventh or eighth date, you get a real feel for what a person is. The problem with the combine, it's got a first date feel. People are in the best shape of their life. They've been prepped by their agents and consultants how to interview. And it's kind of inauthentic. I was saying this the other day on FS1. By week six, even the fast guys aren't as fast. Everybody's dinged up. Everybody's got bad hips. You know, everybody's, everybody's dealing with a second or third injury. The four, three guys are four, four guys, the four, five guys are four, six guys. Everybody's hurt. Even quarterbacks, kickers get dinged up. And so I think it's, I think the I like, I know that I watch less of it now than I did, than I did five years ago. I just don't watch it as much. It just doesn't matter. I think the people who cover it do a good job, But I just I when I move off stuff like I moved into baseball two years ago, like I moved way back in. The games were faster. The Yankees, the Dodgers, the Cubs, the Padres, the teams I liked were better. I've moved out. I moved off college football for several years because it became too regional. I'm now way back into baseball, way back into college football. I'm kind of out on the combine. I just, I just, I think it's an inauthentic exercise, overly prepped. Yeah. And you use the dating analogy. These guys, you only have 20 minutes in a formal interview with the guys at the combine. And at this point in time, all these agents have a pretty good idea, depending on their client, what the questions are going to be veered around. And one thing I've heard is they're all so prepped and it just feels so fake. Where, when you bring them to the facility and you get 30 of those where you're able to fly them out or go meet them in their, you know, in their home or their college facility. If I spend five hours with you, it's hard to fake some stuff, right? If I only get you for 20 minutes, you could fake some stuff. If I get you all day, take you with my coordinator, take you with my PR guy, take you with my trainer. It's going to be hard for you. You're going to break character and we're going to get like, it's going to be really hard to fake. And that's where it's like, I think some of these teams, it was probably more genuine 20, 25 years ago. Now, I think with the 20 minutes, you can get some con men because they're coached up on the outside. Because there's so much more money. The difference of getting drafted 20th and 50th, you're talking millions of dollars. So there's just so much on the line. And yeah, I think the combine when it comes to, I think it's a little trouble, big picture. If I was a betting man, does it have over under 10 years is currently constructed? I don't know. Okay, finally, best rumor you heard. Doesn't have to be true. It could be four cocktails in. Did you hear anything? I mean, the J.J. McCarthy thing, people are talking about Tua. Did you hear any tasty rumors? May not come to fruition, but you heard. That's a pretty good question. I'm trying to think. There's some pretty good coaching rumors. uh there was a lot of moving parts with some of these hires and these coaching rumors you know i think joe shane a lot of people go 50 50 he survives after the draft wow giants gm john harbaugh he but then i have other people telling me that there's rumors that he got an extension i think he's one of the biggest mysteries right now in the nfl i mean the giants historically have done things for one way and one way only and then john harbaugh said But if you want to hire me, you answer to me. John Harbaugh has developed like an operation, right? This Donna Ponte, she's a former executive, now runs the contract. She answers to John. That goes up that food chain. Joe Shane, just like every Giants GM, used to do everything. The training room, the cafeteria, they were kind of in charge. The locker room. John Harbaugh is now in charge of all of that. And he's just in charge of keeping the scouts, grading players, who then he funnels to John. So that is something to keep an eye on, just that situation. I know there were some rumors about George Payton, Sean's GM in Denver because Minnesota fired their guy. I heard they have a good relationship. George likes Denver. I heard that. That is no lock for him just to jump ship and go back. No, Sean respects him. To Minnesota. I'm sure you saw the news yesterday of the Davis web now calling plays. I was with a couple coaches last night that said, understood you want to keep this young hot shot you like him a lot that is an extremely tough I don't think Davis Webb he is calling Sean's playbook that Sean has been calling plays for 30 years who knows that playbook better than anybody and then you're just gonna get to call plays in uh we are losing by 10 points to the Chargers that's a that's a tough gig Sean's an intense guy. You know, I, I think that, that opened a lot of eyes around the league that like buckle up young fella. That's going to be a difficult thing. You know, Sean's like, you call what? I mean, that's, it'd be like calling, calling plays for Kyle or McVay when they're standing right next to you. The difference is Sean's way older and been doing it way longer. That's that, that was a story I thought yesterday being talked a lot about like, what, what did Sean Payton do? Gave up play calling for this guy. I don't think many people saw that coming. I definitely did. I thought that was one of the newsier things. It's a little inside baseball, but, you know, we talk a lot of coordinators. You and I do. So that was one of those that had people talking. And honestly, people like Davis Webb, they're like, I hope you realize what you're getting yourself into because this thing is going to be intense. Yeah. And Sean's also one of the most outspoken coaches in the NFL or baseball or the NBA. Yeah, I mean, he is. Wears all of his motions. He leads with his chin. John Middlecoff. Good seeing you, buddy. Nice work. You too, Colin. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story? I've just been made to fit. The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapsed. What if the truth was disguised by a story we chose to believe? Oh, my God, I think she might be innocent. Listen to Doubt, The Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. The perpetrator was sentenced to 99 years until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Adventures of Curiosity Cove podcast, when peanut butter disappears from school, Ella, Scout, and Layla launch a full detective mission. Their search leads them back in time to meet a brilliant inventor whose curiosity changed the world. In this Black History Month adventure, asking questions, thinking creatively, can lead to amazing discoveries. Listen to Adventures of Curiosity Cove every Monday from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.