3 & Out - How will ESPN's broadcast look in the future, Does Bama need a new coach, Peyton to the Colts?

0:01 The Volume. What is going on, my people? How are we doing? John Middlecoff, Three Now Podcast. Hopefully you're doing well. Enjoying life. Enjoying... NBA started today. We got the World Series. Tampa. Milwaukee. Not exactly Dodgers-Yankees, but hey, those teams are better. No shot of it. They both beat the Dodgers and Yankees, but I'd just rather have the Dodgers and Yankees for my own entertainment. But I do appreciate this Milwaukee team, and I do appreciate Tampa as well. I mean, they spend no money and they kick ass. But today's about football, and we're going to do a mailbag. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Massive mailbag. We had a bunch of questions.

0:55 A little slower day. I'm like, you know what? Let's just bang out a ton of questions. We had a lot going on Peyton Manning rumors to Troy Aikman to, you know, there's always a question or two about the Chargers. So, yeah, we're just going to take some questions, and that'll be the show. But you guys know the drill. Make sure you subscribe to 3 and Out if you listen on Collins Feed. Make sure you check out the Netflix. You can hit the alert button. on Netflix and never miss an episode. I'm going to throw up my top five teams in the NFL on the YouTube page, so make sure you subscribe. I think we're like a couple hundred subscribers away from 100K, so you can go check that out, subscribe to that, and never miss our little side content.

1:44 Let's just dive into the bag. Question for the bag. Rams, they just cut a kicker that looks like Peter Griffin. That's a great line. For a practice squad kicker that lasted less than a week, any chance we see Justin Tucker again or is the league done with him? Well, he was not playing well, if I remember correctly. Was missing a lot of kicks at the end. And then the situation, all the allegations that came out against him.

2:16 I think it's more that as a kicker gets older, And it's like a pitcher that can't throw strikes, a golfer that has the yips. People just lost confidence in the player. And then every single year, there are a bunch of guys that come into the league that are on practice squads. I mean, you watch college football. Ole Miss has a great kicker. Oklahoma has a good kicker.

2:41 There are four or five teams in college with just excellent kickers, guys that will be in the mix to be like All-Americans. Well, a lot of those guys will just come in and be scattered on different practice squads. And then when you're on a team like the Rams and you need a kicker, again, I can't get over it.

2:58 I get it. He was in the SEC. But you can't have a coach with a six-pack and a kicker that looks like he drinks a six-pack a day. I mean, that was just an embarrassment. You can't be 5'11, 250 and be a kicker in the NFL. Like, it's just not going to happen. There is the occasional guy who's just a real, real fat baseball player. But it's still pretty rare. Like, I was watching, what game? Oh, it would have been the Brewers. They were, must have been like game two or game three. And one of their guys was coming out to talk with Jeter, Poppy, and A-Rod.

3:34 And he was just jacked. Looked like a defensive back. Look like a safety. And you're like, I need my guys to be athletes. Like, I understand you're the kicker. I'm not holding you to the same level of fitness as like Miles Garrett or Puka Nakua. But you can't weigh 250 pounds and not be six feet tall. And just be like, honestly, that's... That's a pretty big red flag from Les Snead and Sean McVay. Are you guys not even trying? Like, do you guys care that little about special teams? And Sean definitely does. I think he despises special teams. Everything about it, the kicking, the punting, the scheme that goes into it, hates it. which again, I also think it's kind of stupid. I think most people have some level of like, this is kind of dumb,

4:29 but it is part of the game. You know, I don't love putting, but you're not going to shoot a good score if you can't putt. I don't give a shit how great you are up the tee. I don't care how great of an iron player you are. It's just part of the deal, you know? So covering kicks, kicking, you know, kicking field goals, punting, covering punts. Like, I mean, it's not as important as quarterback play, but it's pretty fucking important, especially when you suck as bad as they have for years. I just think he despises it. I think he can't take it seriously no matter how hard he tries. This was just a screenshot. Record when the defense allows 30 plus points the last 10 games. Josh Allen, 9-1.

5:18 Lamar Jackson, 5-5. Patrick Mahomes, 3-7. And Joseph Burrow, 0-10. And he just said kind of nuts. I do think when it comes to Josh, like Lamar and Patrick, kind of become accustomed to have Mike McDonald, Jesse Minter, Spagnola. We're going into games. I feel pretty good about the other side of the ball. When I'm drinking Gatorade on the sideline, hanging out, we're going to be pretty good most of the time. We're going to have our bad games, but I think they go in thinking our defense is going to be good. Josh Allen has gone into war knowing that his defense can't stop me or you. that they would struggle to neutralize Georgia or Alabama. I mean, so I think his mindset is like, I just got to make plays, make plays, make plays, make plays. I

6:13 don't know what's up with that Joe Burrow stat. Interested to hear your thoughts on the rise of the peanut punch. Clearly defenses are being taught to punch the ball out. My gut reaction when it happens is that it often feels lame. Like you mentioned, what is McCaffrey supposed to do? I love the idea of stripping the ball out using brute strength, but the punch just seems cheesy. Also, my new theory is that the NFL is calling more fourth down penalties to keep these games closer and more exciting.

6:45 For example, the quote illegal contact call to keep Washington's fourth down drive going late in the second half. How many people would have tuned out if the Niners were up three scores? Not a terrible theory. Not a terrible theory at all. But the fourth down, the illegal contact that kept the ball alive, they were down a score.

7:09 So I just think the league is like obsessed with offense. I think the NFL, the league office, the messaging to the officiating, maybe the owners as well, just think that offense gets everyone to watch, which I don't know. I enjoy Fred Warner cracking skulls. But again, I grew up on football in the 90s. Like I watched football in 1995 and loved every minute of it. It's like, well, it's so much more fun. I don't know.

7:36 I just.

7:37 I watched those games and really enjoyed it. I'm the wrong person to ask, but they are obsessed with this Taylor Swift crowd, seven-on-seven football, penalties everywhere. It's like, give me a fucking break. I'm not looking for six-three final scores here, but there's got to be some middle ground. Your first question, the peanut punch. I've never even thought about it. If you make a play on the ball with your fist, it's a great play. It's hard to do.

8:08 But when you get it flush, the guy's going to fumble. Fred Warner does it a lot. Obviously, the dude last night did it perfectly. I have no issue with the play. How about the Packers, John? Didn't you say they were headed to like four and 13? I might've overreacted. I might've overreacted. It was hard to unsee what we saw.

8:32 And I will never apologize for reacting to a game. It's like, you're overreacting. No, I'm just literally reacting to what I saw. And I'm not saying you're saying that, but when people do that, it's like if a team gets their ass kicked, you're like, they got some problems. And you're like, don't say, stop over. No, this isn't baseball.

8:48 There's not 140 more of these. You know, this was already week, whatever, week three. It's like your offensive line is not going to fix itself. But they just said we're going deep. And they just go deep every single play, it feels like. With those two receivers, I think are sweet. God, I'm so happy I drafted Golden on my fantasy team.

9:09 Fucker guy just makes plays. I would say, can you see them making a playoff run? I do want to see... You know, they caught the Bears backup quarterback, throttled them. Easy kind of line in the sand game from the floor. Their coach and their team talking a bunch of shit. Okay. And then last week you're playing the Cowboys who were just in shambles. I mean, that coaching staff for the Cowboys is– I was thinking about it even more today, and I mentioned this last night in the podcast. You know, I'm not a huge fan. If I get Vic Fangio, okay, Vic Fangio, 3-4 defense, that's his baby. I will adapt my defense to him. But I get Christian Parker and it's like, let's just change our defense to what he

9:54 wants to do. Well, how do we even know he knows what he's doing? So the 49ers trade. for Osa, who is by far their best interior pass rusher now, who the Cowboys liked and had and extended, but he's like, doesn't fit the defense anymore. Well, it's like, do we even know this guy knows what he's doing? In what other industry? I mean, I guess it's happened to me in radio. You hire someone to a management position who has, I guess it's got to be pretty rare actually, who has no experience doing that role. And yet you let him determine all the personnel. Despite everyone in the building way more experienced, And I would say understanding of who can play and who can't play that are already there.

10:43 Pretty nuts. If I was a Cowboy fan, I'd be like, we changed our whole defense for this guy and we don't even think he can coach. Honestly, I red flag him going back to the training camp when he was getting mad about people, or not people, the Cowboys being so public with their training camp videos. They just post a lot of plays and stuff from training camp. It's like, bro, if they post it, if they didn't post it, none of it matters. Your DBs have no fucking clue what you want them to do. What are we talking about?

11:22 Question for the pod. Being a diehard Alabama fan my entire life, I've definitely been spoiled the Saban years. Especially after suffering the decade prior to his arrival. Although there will never be another quite like him, I do think he was smart to get the hell out before the NIL was in full force. I remember you talking up Kalen DeBoer before he was hired, and I absolutely agreed with you. I was elated we hired him. I do think he's a good coach. However, I prefer a tough SOB who will chew these kids' asses when they need it and won't put up with the nonsense. I feel like the closest thing these days are Kirby and Signetti.

12:02 albeit different personalities. I know we don't fire DeBoer unless things get really bad. However, if when we do search for another coach, who would you think would be the best fit in Titletown? That's what T-Town means, right? Titletown? I think it's extremely difficult to ever replicate what Nick brought to the table. I mean, you watch, if you want to be a successful human being, I actually think the Nick Saban documentary is an incredible watch. I've just watched it for entertainment, but you could go back and take notes during it. Because Nick actually isn't just this weirdo asshole the entire time. He's got a big personality.

12:52 He was incredible at recruiting. So he could turn on the charm. He kind of was just... Made to be successful. Like his wiring. Because he had it all. He could throw on a smile and kind of wine and dine you a little bit. And he could obviously be a royal asshole, which, let's face it, a lot of young men need. We need that. Because most people worth their salt, especially the people he's around, young coaches and definitely young players who aspire to do big things, need some ass-chewings. Hell, I got one earlier today. I told Marie the other day, I'm like, you got some Nick Saban to you. You're on my ass about some stuff. And you know what? Well, sometimes I push back. I got a little Lane Giffen

13:42 in me. I earned a lot of those. And I think most of us, deep down, want to be pushed. Want to be pushed. Big time. And I think DeBoer is really, really smart when it comes to offense. I just think you can't fake your personality. Nick's personality is very, very... Like, Cignetti. These guys aren't faking any... Kirby's not faking any of it.

14:13 I can't even imagine Kirby at practice this week. This guy gotta just be going fucking nuts. But if you can get a... I was watching... Someone asked me recently in a DM, and I never addressed it, And they said, hey, have you watched the Mike Tyson documentary? Any thoughts? And I hadn't at the time. Well, last night, after, again, I kind of needed a podcast late. The only way to chill out. I can't have a light on, you know, and like read. Not that I would, even though I wish I was more of a reader. But I threw on the Tyson documentary on my phone. I was watching it while she was sleeping. And it's just, it's pretty, the first episode's incredible. I didn't realize... Tyson in the 80s, I didn't live through it. The Tyson I remember was

15:00 the guy in jail, biting ears off. I remember kind of the sideshow version, not the rocket ship version. I just assumed this guy just had a huge knockout punch, wasn't that fundamentally sound, didn't really know what he was doing. That's always, I guess, what I assumed in the back of my mind of peak Mike, and that was not the case at all. You know, he got with Custom Auto, this trainer, and completely changed Mike's life and turned him into, and obviously Mike, you know, to be a great fighter, you have to have some physical attributes, which Mike clearly had.

15:42 But like, he was, this guy molded, I mean, one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport. And I haven't, I'm only like an episode and a half in. It's probably, it's not even to when his downfall starts. But in his prime, in his peak, I mean, it was pretty special. I mean, and I, the first thing I thought of was like, you know what? This kind of reminds me a little, it's different. This Mike grew up way tougher circumstances than Tiger Woods. But both these guys were like absolute nerds for their sport. all they thought about, all they did, their entire youth was this.

16:24 Now Mike battled, like got in trouble, but once he was like 11, 12 and started fighting and he got with this trainer guy, it just, for the next seven, eight years of his teens, it's all he did. It was like a high school dropout. He was just fighting. Tiger Woods, I mean, did Tiger Woods really go to high school? I mean, no, he was playing golf in the morning, in the afternoon. And I also had the thought of like, This is off tangent of Nick Saban, but God, it's got to be really difficult. You know, a lot of us, as we get older, you know, typically your career for normal human beings is linear, right?

17:03 You just keep growing and getting better. And, you know, financially in a perfect world keeps growing. But some of these people, they peak so early and everyone knows who they are. It's not shocking that it can really fuck up your life. And it goes for childhood actors, Michael Jackson, Tiger Woods, Mike Tyson. I can't even imagine to have that much pressure at that age. It's got to be difficult.

17:32 I just think that that's where football and guys like Nick Saban, there's a humility that comes with that. The individual sports, who was going to tell Mike Tyson and Tiger Woods at 20 years old? They didn't hear no anymore. Where if you play football... and you play for Kirby Smart, and you play for Nick Saban, you play for Cignetti, even if you're their best player, they're going to be on your ass. And I always thought there's, when you play, and I saw it when I was at Fresno State with Pat Hill, there's a humility that comes with football because you're just going to get knocked down no matter what every single day, in a healthy way, right? It just, that's the nature of the sport. The sport will humble you.

18:16 I saw Kirby say this You're a week away from getting humbled or a week away from humility. And there's a lot of truth to that. And I just think that they lost two games back-to-back for the first time since 2007. We're also in a different era. I do think if DeBoer was there... If Saban had retired before NIL and Transfer Portal, I think BAM would probably be better because the school would just recruit itself. I think it is more difficult now. And I think you notice this throughout college football. These teams aren't as good. It does feel a little bit like the NFL where everyone's got a lot of flaws because you can't stack the roster because of the salary gap. And even if you're recruiting high-end players, there's just a nature of you're going

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20:19 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur. See polymarket.com slash TOS for more information. The Polymarket US app serves as an independent software provider and affiliate of Polymarket US and Polymarket Clearing. The CFTC regulated exchange and clearing organization. Speaking of college football, I've never been fully sold on Marcus Freeman, and I think his reputation has gotten ahead of his resume. You could make a real case that he's a shinier James Franklin. Not similar hair.

21:07 Marcus be cheating. He recruits well, beats the teams he's supposed to, and comes up short when the stakes are the highest. Look at the playoff run. He beat Indiana a year before they became a real Indiana. He beat a Georgia team that was playing without a starting quarterback. He beat James Franklin, which, as we've all learned, isn't exactly a badge of honor. When he finally faced a true heavyweight in Ohio State, he lost. Outside of that run, he's had about three truly big games in two years.

21:37 I'll defend him here. It is difficult to recruit at Notre Dame. They are closer to the academic powers of the type guy. There's a reason their roster has never really felt like peak LSU, peak Georgia, even with some of the stuff Oregon's good teams. They don't get the skill guys in because of their standard academically. And then one problem for them is Indiana's good now. So as Jackson mentioned on the podcast a couple nights ago, I was like, why didn't Notre Dame go after Nick Marsh?

22:12 Because I'm watching them like, why don't you guys have some more skill guys? Nick Marsh, Michigan State, Indiana, they did. And he chose to go to Indiana. So, you know, when Stanford's down, which directly benefits Notre Dame, Vanderbilt had, they had like Diego Pavia and guys that weren't normal Vanderbilt kids. But if you look at some of the other academic powers, if UCLA gets good, Indiana's now good.

22:40 There are only so many guys with high-level GPAs to go around. I think it's a more challenging job than the way he's held against Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State. Ryan Day can get anyone he wants into school if they can play. Any single person. No matter what. Clearly, you watch Jeremiah Smith. That guy is a high-level guy.

23:07 He can play at Notre Dame academically. But, like, Ohio State gets some guys that are some wild cards. LSU, Bama, Georgia. The SEC schools don't give a fuck. Don't give a shit. Pete Carroll in his heyday didn't care. You know, that's who you're competing against. So, you know, you watch them, you go, leave a little something to be desired, I would say, skill-wise. It's like, you're missing something. Because financially, it's not going to be their issue. I mean, let's face it. You watch them against BYU. And there is no different in the talent on that field. Other elephant in the room this year, the Big 12, who is viewed like the ACC, one team, one team only, what if they're going to get a ton of teams? And

23:56 this is why Lane Kiffin's bitching and moaning right now. Nine conference games. Yeah, Lane, we want you to play real fucking games. I need the TV networks to get more involved here. If you want our money, we're going to need some real games. I'm sorry. No more complaining about playing nine conference games. Can you imagine if, like, tomorrow Mike McDonald or Sam Darnold at the press conference was like, you know, we're just playing too many NFL teams.

24:26 This is bullshit. You'd be like, what did he say? That's essentially what Lane's doing. They're making us play this extra conference game. It could be against Mercer. It's like, shut the fuck up. You paid $ 13 million, play real teams, and win the goddamn games you're at LSU. I mean, give me a break. No one wants to... I love football.

24:48 I've dedicated my life to just watching and talking about it. And hearing these guys in college complain about the schedules just makes me want to fucking jump off a bridge. Who... Can't you just put your LSU? How many teams on your schedule should be as good as you? If you play 12 regular season games, the number should probably be under three. Even if you're playing a real schedule. But God, they're complaining. In the NFL, no one complains about the schedule.

25:24 In terms of the team you're playing. They complain about the travel schedule. It's like, ah, making us go to France while they're burning the city down. That sucks. It's not like, well, we got to play, it's bullshit. We got to play Aaron Rodgers and TJ Watt. Why can't we play the Birmingham Stallions? It's just so exhausting. It's crazy how the world these college coaches live in and how jaded their perspective is than the people that pay the bills, which is us watching it. Because that's where all the money comes from. It wasn't that long ago before these TV contracts blew up. And the TV contracts have gotten big because of me and you. And everyone that watches the game on Saturday. That their salaries... I mean,

26:09 you watch the Saban documentary. In 2004 or 2005, he was making $ 2. 5 million a year. Which was a lot of money. Don't get me wrong. But by the end, he's probably making $ 15 million. Lane's complaining, making $ 13 million. won one big game his whole life against Georgia several years ago. It's like, Lane, shut up. I just can't take the schedule complaining by these coaches anymore. Just win the games. Just win the games. If Aikman's contract is not renewed, who do you think would be the best choice in the booth next year with Buck? Shane Gillis.

26:59 I'm kidding. I care less about this than I think most. I do find it fascinating, the relationship fracture. That's interesting to me. But if they replace him with Greg Olson or they replace him with, The Kelsey brothers, I'm just not going to care that much. Because I'm watching the game no matter what, and half the time I don't even have it up that loud because it's dinner time or whatever. I truly don't care as much. I do appreciate Troy because he's the last of a dying breed that will just say some stuff that a fan would say. Like, this is terrible. I have a lot of respect for Greg Olson. Definitely his playing career. And clearly he's well-liked in terms of this business. He's come on my podcast before.

27:55 I'm a fan. But he's not going to get in that booth and just be ripping coaches. And it's like us as the consumer, us as the people with a little cash on the game, when Dan Quinn is calling for the field goal and it's turnover on downs, I mean, if you have some action on Washington– you're furious and you're calling them names. And Troy would let it rip.

28:22 I don't even know if he necessarily did last night, but no one else is critical anymore. And I'm not asking you to even be critical of the players. I get it. You're friends with them all. But if you can't rip the coaches... And again, you don't have to say they need to be fired, but it's like, he didn't know it was fourth down. We got to be able to have honest conversations. And I feel like those days are just ending. And you watch JJ with Nance.

28:54 These guys are just very positive. Which is fine. I enjoy, like, build it up the game. Be a conduit for the fans. Well, yeah, being a conduit for me, the consumer, is like when Dan Quinn is saying field goal and it's turnover on downs. Like, that's a play when that audio got his mouth and Jaden throws it away. I think it's fair to assume no one had any clue what down it is. And it feels like Jaden, the offensive coordinator, Dan Quinn, they got no clue what's going on with situations anymore. It's fair to assume, whether they're practicing or not, it doesn't translate to anyone being on the same page in the game.

29:37 You've got to have that conversation during the game. It has to happen. It can't just be like, oh, Debo Samuel eating sunflower seeds on the sideline. He's excited to be back with the Diners. And I just think we get a lot of fluff now. It's okay to be fluffy if you're entertaining like Madden. Or Gruden. But a lot of these guys aren't. So it's like, what's your pitch?

30:05 That's my question. What are most of these guys? Like, Troy's pitch is like, I'll kind of be an asshole. You know? And you saw it on his face last night with Joe Buck. Those days, I just miss that Bruda guy. Everything's like, oh, the NFL, woohoo! Like, yeah. How about these officials all get fired? Because this is egregious.

30:27 You can literally insert that comment any game. What in the world needs to happen for the future of the Chargers? Realistically, Herbert is not going to get moved, and he shouldn't be. I'm sure Harbaugh won't either, and I also agree he shouldn't. But everything else is on the table. Everyone is screaming to tank for Jeremiah Smith, although that would be ideal for Herbert, finally having a true number one. But they can't even protect the quarterback over the past two years, and this year is even worse than last year, which seems impossible. If you tell me Jim Harbaugh's not fired, I don't really know what they do. I mean, are you just going to start trading guys? I think they're in a tough spot. I don't have a great answer

31:12 for you. They are, you know, Mike. Okay, you fire Mike McGinnis. Well, who's going to be your offensive coordinator? You've got to go hire one. Who's that guy? Does Greg Roman have a cousin? Like, what do you do? If you think about his offensive coordinators in the NFL, it was Greg Roman and Greg Roman. I'd have to go back and look at some of his offensive coordinators in college. Was Jed Fish one one year? He might get fired. I don't know. I don't have a good answer for you. Luckily for you, it's like the Broncos have a quarterback problem. Raiders still, I mean, a little bit away. And you don't know if Fernando can play.

31:57 And the Chiefs are Chiefs. You mentioned you don't think Peyton would want to be the GM of the Colts. Of all the things he's done, the ads, Omaha, he's proven businessman that knows how to print money. What better way to do that than to have a part ownership of a franchise, if that's on the table? Also, seeing what John Lynch built in San Francisco, what Elway did as an executive, Peyton seems to like the kind of guy who knows he can do it better. They called him, quote, the general manager. when he was a quarterback. Why not actually be in charge? Well, you know, John Elway had been removed from the game for a long time, right?

32:40 Peyton Manning retired in 16, 17 was his last year, 17 Super Bowl, right? February 17 or whatever. So about 10 years removed. Elway, I think, retired in what year was that? 98, came back in like 10, 11 range. So similar, a little over a decade out, Peyton... I watched this rant of a local radio guy in Indy on YouTube the other day. And he's like, I truly believe, and I might have mentioned this last night, that he still holds ill will against the Colts for cutting him.

33:21 You know, let's be real. Tom likes Robert Kraft like a family member, like a like a father, like a grandpa, right? Clearly that's a special relationship. But it does feel like he's got a little F you New England patriot to him. Because at the end of the day, that organization, fair or not, Bill was the guy making the decision, but said you're not good enough to stay here. And this is the Troy Aikman thing with Buck. I think in five years after he has some cocktails, he'll be fine.

33:56 But right now in the heat of it, This is a prideful SOB. This is a guy who, in the course of his career, has seen some shit, has, I mean, disastrous, he had to transfer in college, was an embarrassment early on in the NFL, became the star player, but even some of his highlights in the pros are him lighting up guys. This is just a throwback. And you watch some of these situations, like, I ain't forgetting this right now.

34:25 I'm not acting like something's not happening that is happening. You guys don't want me here. It's your prerogative out of my control. But I'll be a pro, but also I'm going to make sure everyone watching this knows, like, I'm not cool with what's going on. And this guy sitting next to me, who, again, in a couple years, we may be fine, everything will be cool, but right now, fuck this dude. Which I respect, you know? And I...

34:52 It's hard. Who knows how much money Peyton Manning actually has. But if the franchise is worth $ 6- 7 billion, 10%, let's just pick 6%. I don't know. It could be worth more. It could be worth 7%. Because of the market, it's not going to be probably the 10s and the 12s, but it's still billions upon billions of dollars. 5% of like $ 6 billion, which feels extremely conservative, no math major, but would be $ 300 million in liquid cash you'd have to come up with. And that's being conservative on the valuations. Hell, if it was $ 5 billion, you're talking $ 250 million cash, liquid.

35:39 So not all these companies you own, like stocks that you own, you have to whatever, liquidate that and have the cash to get 5%, 10% or whatever at a huge number. So I... If you're him, like, is that something you'd be interested in doing? Maybe the ownership part, But to me, the grind, like what I'd be fascinated to ask if just have a beer with Matt Ryan and be like, what have you thought about this? At this point in time, John Lynch has been a GM longer.

36:14 He's been a broadcaster. Like this is John Lynch's 10th year. So he's been hand in hand with Kyle. I also think it's easier. Some of these guys come back like Elway and he had to fire, you know, he hires John Fox, fires John Fox, gets Kubiak, If you hit on the coach, like, would John Lynch have done and been the GM for 10 years if they didn't have a star coach? If he had just hired, like, a random guy? Well, one, he wouldn't have had the job.

36:45 I mean, that was part of it. They paired them together because they were friends. He was the one that told Kyle, like, hey, man, I heard you're struggling to find a GM. I'd be interested. So I... Who would Peyton hire? And again, these would be interesting questions. Trust me, I... I'm all for Peyton Manning getting involved. But like, does he want to work 12, 14 hours a day? I don't know. I would doubt it. I just think an easier role for him to be would just be like, okay, I'll do Monday Night Football. And who knows if he'd be that good. I think he'd be pretty good. But there is a balance of being loose and fun and also doing football talk like sometimes you watch commenters like the hurl flat cover four cover six like no one

37:37 understands what you're saying that's not how john madden talked john gruden didn't talk like that you have to keep this simple you can't have go on these long scheme rants the average person sitting down has no clue what you're talking about So it's all about entertaining, which I do think Peyton could do. I actually think Tom's gotten a lot better at that. University of Wisconsin graduate. I have a prediction. Vikings trade for Saquon Barkley. I mean, doesn't he have a serious hamstring injury? Some of these guys, I thought Washington could have traded for Terry McLaurin, and then he rips his knee. It's like, yeah. It's like, should the Colts trade Sauce Gardner? You mean with a pulled calf, which he had last year? What the hell

38:23 is his value? Whatever they paid for him, it would be like a quarter of that. So part of trading for players, if you want to get value back, like if Saquon was fully healthy, maybe you could flip him for a second. But right now, like what's his value? Fifth? He's literally injured. He's not available. So I'm not shitting on your take here or your predictions. But I saw people talking about that, like, should the Colts get rid of Alec Pierce and Sauce Gardner? It's like, you're just listing a bunch of guys that literally can't play in games or are injured right now. I mean, last I checked, injured players do not typically get traded. Unless I've been paying attention to the wrong thing. I'm a Titans fan.

39:12 Rough times. Been there, bro. Well, not really. I've never been a Titans fan, but I've just been through rough times as a sports fan. The quarterbacks we've lost to this year are Snoop Huntley, Geno Smith, Jameis Winston, CJ Stroud, and Jalen Hurts. By the time you read this, we could have added Daniel Jones and Deshaun Watson. You actually beat Daniel Jones. Pretty ugly for Sala, Cam Warren, Dayball. Clearly, we need to tear it all down. I know you've said we have no trade pieces, but what do you think we'd get for Jeff Simmons? And what do you think the path forward for my team? Uh... How old is old Jeffrey Simmons? He probably could get a first-round pick, but I think the contract really complicates it, so he's

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43:14 That's W-H-A-T-N-O-T in the App Store. Download, sign up, and start finding the things you've been chasing. Terms apply. Is it time we started having a serious conversation that Kyle Hamilton is the most impactful defensive player in the league? Dude is everywhere. Seemingly do everything. We'll just change the way teams value safeties. Well, here's the problem. There aren't many 6'4, 220-pound, sweet ball skills physical players in the NFL.

43:50 I mean, that play defensive back. He's just an outlier body type. So it has a little bit of like Draymond Green. Remember forever, it was like, we're going to draft the next Draymond Green. It's like, Draymond's the biggest outlier in the history of the NBA. Can't score, yet he's an elite player, and he's 6'5, but he plays power forward center, but he has the arm length of a 7-footer, but he can dribble and pass like a point guard, and he can play defense like a guy from the 90s in his prime. It's just a... They're just some outliers. And I would say Kyle Hamilton is just an outlier. Physically, first and foremost. Broncos fan. I've watched every one of Bo Nicks start. Starts, and there is no doubt the quarterback play is not sustainable for

44:44 a playoff run. The Broncos offense faces two high safeties over 75% of the time. Highest in the league is 57%, which is an indicator that the defense doesn't respect a running game. You and Colin hit on it all the time. It's impossible to run an offense to function without the run. Could a trade for Jonathan Taylor or Tony Pollard give us some yards after contact contact, and provide a more favorable alignment for Bowe to throw against. Here would be my worry if I trade for one of these running backs.

45:17 It better work. Because last year I traded a first-round pick for Waddle. That is not working. And then if I trade for one of these, you know, Jonathan Taylor I think would cost more than Tony Pollard. But whoever, Saquon Barkley, it better work. Because if all of a sudden I'm 9-8 and I miss the playoffs, or 10-7 and I miss the playoffs as the 8th seed, or 7th seed and I'm 1-1, It's like, would we like those picks back? I'm giving it a couple more weeks to breathe. And the reality is, you know, sometimes quarterbacks, like they don't necessarily regress. Like that was last year was his peak. It's just who he is. He has some major flaws. He's not a pocket player. He's not a read the defense and slice and dice them with

46:04 his mind. He's never played like that. and you're watching him try to play like that, and it is just failing. And then on top of that, once his mind and arm are no longer connected, balls are flying all over the place. It's funny, and I was mentioning this to my guys last night. There's a loyalty, I would say, underrated in the NFL if you played for the Broncos. Like, You know, I see we hired at the volume like Leonard Fournette and Jarvis Landry and the pride those guys have in LSU. And like when Jaden did his, you know, cease and desist letter, you could just tell all the LSU guys were like, fuck you. Like Jaden, you can pack up and leave before you ever think any of us are going to say a bad word about this program.

46:54 Get over it, buddy. And it was like universal. Every guy over the last 20 plus years have played in that program. Denver Broncos sneaky like that too. That if you've noticed, every former player for the Denver Broncos kind of takes it easy on Bo Nix. And then Ryan Fitzpatrick said something that literally we all thought of. It wasn't me saying that. That was a guy that played in the NFL for 17 years at quarterback. That just knows what decent quarterback play looks like. He also wasn't ripping like Josh Allen or Mahomes. He was ripping a guy most human beings go, this guy kind of sucks.

47:30 And then they all... Aqib Tlaib comes out against them. You notice, like, from Shannon Sharps to... You name it. Just go to... They take it... Schlerus, the rare guy. And because he's a media radio guy. Like, that's his baby, right? And he'll let it rip on Bo. But it feels like the Broncos' former players are just very, very kind to the franchise. Which I understand. It's like being a...

47:59 a member at some sweet club, right? Social club, golf club, whatever. It's like, listen, there's some things about it I don't love, but you say anything publicly, you're kicked out. Because guess what? I like coming back to that club. And their owners, they built this incredible facility. They take care of their alumni.

48:17 It's a great place to watch a football game. They just, it's a cool operation. I mean, the Broncos are cool. And those guys are very, and I'm not saying there's like an edict going out from the organization. You say something, you're going to get cut off. But it clearly feels like they just treat it with kid gloves. I mean, for Akeem to leave to come out. Akeem, I watched you play live. You would fucking hate this quarterback. You guys would have, those guys, that defense that he played on, if they were playing that version of Bo Nix, the comments those guys would have made about him, you ripped off Crabtree's chain. And now you're pretending that Fitzpatrick was wrong with what he said? What are we talking about?

49:00 I messaged you back in September about how Garrett vs. Trade and the Donald addition could affect the Rams locker room. So this is not a Monday morning quarterback. Their offseason looks like a disaster. They allocated $ 100 million of their cap into Donald, Garrett, and McDuffie while trading a verse a popular player in the in the locker room also they used a first round pick on ty simpson none of it makes sense i can see why guys like kieran williams are speaking out i i i just think we underrate chemistry uh cohesion, all that type stuff in football.

49:41 College and pro. You are so dependent on just liking the other guy. I think it's an underrated part about good NFL teams. And I would say good college teams too. You like the guys you play with. I'm not saying you like everybody. I'm not saying there are some guys on the team that you can't stand. But the coaching staff, the team, there's just good vibes. Typically, bad vibe teams, you can see them a mile away. And the Rams are a terrible vibe team. They feel like last year was their year. They blew it. I mean, let's face it.

50:24 They blew it. They were killing Seattle in that Thursday night game. Killing them. And they imploded. They lost. It ended up costing them home field advantage because they also lost to the Falcons. And then they lost up in Seattle in a coin flip game. And they tried to quadruple down this offseason and it blew up in their face.

50:46 The reality is sometimes when you double down in blackjack, you don't get 21. You know, if you're showing like a 7 and a 4 and you double down. Especially if you're playing aggressive hands. And you're like, you know, I've had some late, I haven't played blackjack in years. But when I was younger, I used to love it.

51:05 And there were times when my net worth was probably like, I don't even know, $ 2, 000. My net worth as a human being in my 20s, maybe five, right, max. You would have had to really hustle on eBay. And I'd be playing. You know, if you were in the right spot in Vegas or an Indian casino somewhere in California, you could have like $ 500 a hand. Yeah. You'd have to build up to it a little bit, probably get rolling back in those financial times. But then all of a sudden, you get a 7 and a 4, and she's showing a 14 or whatever. You know, you're going to get aggressive, and you double down. And then all of a sudden, she rolls a 5. Or, I mean, she gives you a 5, and you're like, oh, that ain't good. And then she flips three other cards and

51:50 has 20. And you just lost an enormous hand. That's how life works. There is no guarantee. So everyone just, they're going to trade for Myles Garrett. It's like Myles Garrett was playing on a god-awful team the majority of his career. There are some times when you add a player, like two of the best free agent signings of all time in my life, of like guys that were already viewed as Hall of Famers, right? Drew Brees in New Orleans, he was not viewed as a Hall of Famer when he signed with New Orleans, right? And Peyton and Tom, like, were old. And Peyton coming off the neck. But, like, just true guys in their prime. You go, like, Reggie White.

52:32 When Mike Holmgren signed him to the Packers. And he was a little even older by then. But Deion Sanders. When the Niners signed him for a year. And then the Cowboys signed him. It was like, this is a plug and play. This is going to work. The Miles Garrett thing is like, well, you've got to remove Verge.

52:48 You've got to factor in the money. You've got to get rid of the picks. I. It's crazy looking back. It's like, you guys were close as it is. Plus, Seattle got worse just because of free agency. Kobe Bryant leaves, Kenneth Walker leaves. They got some question marks. You don't have to do this. This isn't like Yankees versus Red Sox. It's not like they have no salary cap and they could just add a bunch of teams. The 49ers had one big acquisition. It was Mike Evans. It wasn't like, well, they added Mike Evans, seven other defenders. It's like, no, they added one guy who, God love him and is a badass, but his body's like being taped together right now. Look at the rest of the... The Bears' defense, more than questionable. Lions have

53:37 no defense. Packers, they've had two good games, but we'll see. The Vikings have no offense. The Eagles are falling apart. The Cowboys are a joke. I mean, you didn't need to do this. Like, sometimes patience, you know, they say patience is a virtue. There's some truth to that. Like, what was the impetus of being that aggressive? And then it doesn't work when you do that. It's like using a golf analogy, you know, trying to hit the green when you got to carry water and out of bounds, like the margin, if this goes wrong, this is a problem, right?

54:14 If you do miss hit this thing, you are going in the water, going out of bounds. This isn't like, Oh, not that big a deal. You're still fine. And that, that's what has happened here. They took on so much risk that if it went perfectly, yeah, every, they would get applauded, but the path to the outcome is, that was going to be ugly was definitely there. I mean, your quarterback's like close to 40. Think about the Peyton Manning situation in Denver. It's like he gets there, MVP, he's incredible, their team, and then it was just over.

54:47 He couldn't throw. It just stopped working. Like you can age, like let's face it, Aaron Rodgers, the last couple years, his arm still is really strong, but physically he looks completely different than he once did, right? Father time. How many of you guys, if you're listening to this, as you've got into your thirties, definitely your forties, if you guys are in your fifties, you just feel in your body.

55:14 I feel like my metabolism has slowed down dramatically in the last two years. From like 38 range to 41. Like just during that stretch. It's like, geez, we've got a long, hopefully I got 40, 50 more years. I mean, am I just going to have to eat salads? But it's like, yeah, you have to change your diet. You can no longer just burgers, fries, that type of shit whenever you want. Like you did 15 years ago. It's like, well, I went to the gym today. You're good. It's like, yeah.

55:40 I've never had a six pack, but it didn't phase me. I worked out so I could eat whatever I wanted. Those days are done. And, you know, definitely if I'm holding Jack the wrong way and pull a muscle, it's like I feel it for a week. And I'm a couple years older than Matt Stafford. It's like, yeah, it's going to be hit or miss. It's what happens when you get older. You don't just dominate a league that has never been faster. So it's just difficult. And it does feel like he's off. Their team's off. Their chemistry's off.

56:11 Which at the same time, I do respect putting your chips in the middle of the table. I do respect when people double down on an uncomfortable hand. My question is, did you need to do that? You could have just rolled back last year's team, had all the assets, slow played everything, and figured out where you were. And still had a future if it backfired. How is McVay going to stay if it backfires? It's like, are you going to stay with Ty Simpson? I feel like they would have to trade Puka. Okay, we'll end with this. Watching the Falcons-Bears game made me think Stefanski is an idiot.

56:54 They were down 31-7. No thanks to his OC's pass-happy play calling. Isn't this guy supposed to be an offensive guru? Why isn't he calling the plays? Bichon had five carries for 52 yards in the first half. Why does he only have five carries when he's running like that? Give him the ball. Instead, the Falcons insisted on throwing, ended up third and long and punting to Ben Johnson, who actually can call the offense. The Falcons stormed back a bit, but it didn't matter. I would really struggle with an offensive coach that can't call the plays. For me, that would be a deal breaker. I'm hiring you to run my baby, which is going to have the highest paid player on the team, ideally in the quarterback, that potentially

57:42 if we build it right is going to have wide receivers that make $ 30 to $ 40 million, offensive tackles that make $ 30 plus million, guards make $ 20 to $ 25. The amount of capital we're spending on the offensive side of the ball and the importance of that position in this league, that should be your baby. So we can nitpick some of these other guys, but you got, and listen, not everyone, Kyle Shanahan had a terrible second half. But you never go, yeah, I wonder what Kyle's doing on the sideline. I texted someone today. I was like, why do you think Kyle didn't call the delay of game or the timeout on the delay of game? And they're like, I bet he was pretty mad about that sequence and was in his iPad,

58:25 you know, talking to the offensive coaches. Which, again, you're the head coach. You're not just the coordinator. But I can respect if you've had three straight three and outs. That's his fucking baby. What is going on here, Brock? I have no, and I mean no tolerance for Dan Quinn having that moment. Well, what else are you doing here?

58:44 Looking at the stands? Checking out some babes? Looking at the guy delivering beer down the aisles? What are you doing? So... I've never quite understood it with Stefanski. I saw today The Athletic. I click on The Athletic today because I'm, listen, automatic click when it's like, here are future candidates for the next Colts GM. The first, two of the first three names are Cleveland Brown executives. It's like, how's this possible?

59:23 This has been, and I understand they did a good job last draft. They also had like 20 picks. You know? It's like, how is the first, it's like, who is, who's Veach's right hand man? Who's working for John Lynch? Who's working for John Schneider? The Browns? Why do you think the Browns? Because whoever wrote that article, the people with the Browns, like, one is a law degree, one's a chick with like a lawyer. It's like, well, academics, they're smart. The media loves those fucking people. It's like, well, if I hire them, am I going to get the same results as the Browns? And they're having a good year right now, but We'll see how long that lasts.

1:00:01 I mean, Deshaun Watson looks terrible. One of the excerpts on one of the two executives was like, she was not there when they acquired Deshaun Watson. I was like, oh, thanks. I appreciate that nugget. It's crazy how that works. I think the agents have a lot of juice with some of these lists. I'd say the lists don't matter, but as people in the league will tell me, the owners all read those articles too, so they do kind of matter.

1:00:32 And you know Carly. She's taking notes. Do you think Peyton would allow her on the sideline if he accepted the gig? Serious question. I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. Went on that. Went on that. I'm going to go. I don't know what I'm going to go do, but adios. Have a great day. And we will talk tomorrow, getting ready for Thursday night game is actually pretty good. It's Patriots at Bears, or is it Bears at Patriots? I think the game's in Chicago, I think. But I'll know tomorrow on the podcast, and we'll talk about the game. See ya. The Volume.