Lane/LSU Back Down & a Texas-Ohio State Preview with Bruce Feldman, Plus the NFL's Continued Lack of QB Development

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Every game day, all month long, DraftKings customers can get a football profit boost. One app every sport. All 50 states. New DraftKings customers. Sign up with the code Ryan. Spend just five bucks. Get 200 in total rewards within 21 days. Includes all markets. That's code Ryan, R-Y-E-N, in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours. The crown is yours. The crown is yours. I'm kind of used to it at this point. I guess I used to have to spring training all the time, too. But of the concerns we have of, like, contenders, like, what do you believe is real? You know, like, there's a really part, like, there's a part of me I'll use for an example. Like, Mateer being healthy, if it truly was his hand with Oklahoma's defense, like, we may have to look at them entirely differently. Not based on what we saw in the opening weekend. But if Mateer's healthy, like, they're a different team. Yeah. I mean, the people I talk to inside that program feel like they aren't just a little better. On offense, they're going to be way better. And it's not just Mateer. Last year, he was playing behind a really inexperienced, young offensive line. Now, a lot of those guys who are talented are sophomores. But they also added two really experienced guys from the portal, have a lot of game reps, a lot of snaps. That bodes well. The other thing I've heard that people rave about inside the program is the impact Jason Witten has made as the tight ends coach. And I think people can look at it and go, Oh, this is only a tight ends coach. But last year, they were dreadful at that spot. Not only has Witten helped them in terms of kind of developing the room and kind of setting the tone, but also they added three really good players, really good tight ends to that room. And they're big guys. I think it gives Mateer and Ben Arbuckle, the offensive coordinator, a lot of different options. They also added Terrell Harris, who's a bigger receiver as an outside. Last year, they didn't really have that guy outside who could win. You know, they basically had Isaiah Cetania, who's a dynamic slot. They had Deion Burks, who really is a slot. They were trying to, you know, when he was healthy, trying to play him outside because he just didn't have somebody out there. And now they have that with Harris, like they said, you know, with the tight ends, that gives them a lot of versatility. And I think, you know, Mateer tore it up when he was at Washington State. And obviously last year, we didn't get to see, I think, the best of them for a variety of reasons beyond just the tight ends. I'd even add this, like, I think DeBoer's terrific, and you're also following Saban, so you're following, like, the most detail-oriented guy going. But even against ECU, I'm like, man, they still make a lot of, like, stupid mistakes where it's just kind of loose. Like, there's not a tightness to this group. And I remember the Vandy game, you know, when you had defensive players, like, yelling at each other on Bama's defense, and you go, I'm not used to ever seeing this. And granted, it's a little unfair post-Saban, but I don't know. There's just a lot of stuff with them from that first game, even in a win where they put up 40. Yeah, I mean, I think you also have to factor in post-Saban in this year is different than what Saban had when the field was really tilted towards his program and, you know, a handful of others. You know, Vandy doesn't become, you know, a 10-win team in a different, you know, 10 years ago. I mean, it's just a very dramatic change in the landscape of college football. But no doubt, I mean, I talked to coaches. We did a coaches survey a couple of weeks. And one of the coaches made the point, I like DeBoer a lot, but it feels like they're a Pac-12 kind of team. There's a little bit of a softness there. And I think what they've tried to do in the trenches is they got way bigger on the defensive line. They took one of Oregon's, you know, bigger guys who has been really good for them. They added one of USC's D-line. And I think a lot of people go, well, there's more Pac-12 guys or whatever. But they feel much bigger there. Yonze Pierre is a big-time guy. They're loaded. They're in the secondary, which, you know, they're big and long. And that should bode well. But the other part of it, as you said, isn't just the run-in game. It's like, you know, because Keelan Russell was their leading rusher last week. Now, they're really excited about EJ Crowell. He's a five-star running back. He was banged up in camp. I think they were pleasantly surprised he was able to play as much as he was last weekend. And I think as, you know, now they got Kentucky on the road. It's an SEC game. A lot more of them. You know, they changed O-line coaches. And they brought in Adrian Clem. You know, had been with the Patriots, been with the Steelers. Also, a guy who did a really good job at Oregon. And from everything I've heard, they feel like their guys are coming off the ball better. But again, I think the biggest question mark a lot of people have is not just can they run the football. It's will they run the football. You know, will Ryan grow? Who didn't have a reputation for being committed to the run, certainly when he was the O.C. of the Seahawks. And he did a good job at, you know, when he had Pennix and they almost won the national title game at Washington. But that team wasn't really a really good, you know, running team. They really didn't hang their hat on it. And I think that's a question it'll be interesting to see. Because it's one thing to run it against teams you're a lot better than. It's another thing to run it against the other heavyweights of the SEC. And that remains to be seen. But again, you know, the Crowell piece of it. And also, I really. I really think Keelan Russell is a big upgrade. Even though they just had a first-round quarterback. I think people are going to look and go, okay, now they have an RPO game. The last two guys, it wasn't just Ty Simpson. It was Milrow. They just weren't comfortable in the RPO world. Whereas Russell is. He can extend plays. I mean, he's still a really young quarterback. But there's an it factor there that everybody who's been around them points to. Your coach's poll, was it that. Did it feel like the voters were voting because they thought it was, like, collectively Oregon's turn? I mean, to have six guys vote for it means, I guess, that many people are just kind of convinced that that's where they sit in the Big Ten. Which I'll admit, throughout the entire summer, I was like, I don't know. It's a coin toss for me and those three teams. I have no idea how to separate the three. Yeah, I think some of it, Ryan, is they had a bunch of D linemen come back. That doesn't always happen. You have a really explosive group of receivers. We know they're going to be good running the football. or at least in the backfield, I get it, they have to replace some offensive linemen, more part of it i think if you're going to buy in to any quarterback um who can lead a team to a title you get into this category of like are people really all in on arch um do they think there's enough uh on offense around cj car at notre dame you know julian's saying yes that offense should be terrific but at the same time their defense lost you know three elite players in the middle of the defense right and their schedule is brutal they probably have the hardest schedule in the country so you know again i think it was a it was a sizable number who decided who said they they picked oregon they just felt like it was kind of their time and they they're probably more sold on dante more than they are on some of these other quarterbacks in the middle of it your personal opinion of those three 10 or three big 10 teams like if you had to pick the order of them uh i would go oregon oregon uh man it's hard to go against signetti um i would go oregon indiana ohio state i think at this point now um you know we're going to find out a lot more about ohio state this weekend i think the thing to keep in mind with indiana is they have a pretty uh cozy schedule it doesn't really pick up momentum until like early mid-october so that gives them a runway now hoover josh hoover looked terrific in the first time out they getting kobe martin you know who's a really talented running back who they felt like they had a good one-two punch with turbo richard the transfer from bc and him and then martin got hurt in the game with like uh i think it was either a shoulder or an arm injury before he even had a carry and you know he may be out for a month plus and so that's a that's a little bit of a concern but we know the receivers are good and i know their defense is really good i just to me it's like hard to pick against signetti at this point it'll be interesting to see what happens with ohio state perception wise like if they lose to texas and to me it'll i think to most reasonable people would be like okay well their schedule is a little different week two than everybody else and no doubt how geared up texas is for this rematch considering you know how close that game was and probably cost texas a playoff spot it's just because of the schedule alone it just if ohio state goes into austin loses and then it's like oh okay well now i really like those other big 10 teams that would be a massive mistake um i think uh lsu so temple i guess was the last team to be kicked out of a conference that was like 25 years ago but it was temple and with lane kiffin determined to add players that were on pro rosters that ended up not making the rosters to bring them back he had like three guys lined up for it and then it sounded like the rest of the sec was furious about this and then they apparently earlier this week even threatened to say hey maybe we'll kick you out of the conference which none of us necessarily believe would happen then of course after lane blast clemson he says imagine if we had pro players because he just can't help himself with this kind of stuff lsu since late last night has since like just given up like hey we're not going to do this so we're going to move forward your thoughts on kind of the timeline of what kiffin was trying to do there in baton rouge yeah i think part of lane's kind of dna is he does not think do what Lane wants to do until somebody puts his face on the, on, on the skillet kind of thing goes, no, you can't, no, this isn't going to happen. And I think his inclination and his instincts are always to ask for forgiveness as a, as opposed to, you know, asking for permission, you know, after he's done it. And if you look at his track record, you know, Saban shoved him out the door when in the playoff, when Lane had already got the FAU job, he was like, I don't want, you know, you're a distraction. We don't need this for you. And, you know, they brought Sark up or promoted him up for the, be the play call of the national title game. And obviously he got fired on the tarmac at USC, but so many other times Lane has been able to kind of squirrel his way out of, you know, a really dicey situation. And for everything we've heard is that the SEC and Greg Sankey are really disgusted. By how he's created this sideshow and LSU. And so it's also not honestly just Lane. It is the politicians in the state, you know, the governor and other, you know, political people. And it's gotten to be this soap opera and it's really, you know, kind of, I think it's embarrassing for the SEC, you know, and you know, there's people you talk to there who are like, you know, they just had a dominant performance and really embarrassed Clemson. And yet most of the headlines are about what the hell was going on with Lane Kiffin, you know? And I think there were people I talked to on Tuesday morning at LSU who are like, man, he is playing with fire. He doesn't even, he doesn't even get it. And the feeling was he may not just get suspended for six games. He may get suspended for a whole year because if Sankey really wants to send a message to him, be like, no, no, no, I'm not effing around. And I think that's the problem. The part where we don't really know how is this going to, where is this going to land? Because you can back off. But after you put at, you know, SEC, Sankey was on a, on a stand in a court for three hours getting grilled. And it was like really awkward for everything I was told. So, you know, I'm sure he's a prideful guy and they want alignment and they want people, you know, in their members to be on the same page and to be supportive of the conference, not to embarrass the conference degree i think this sideshow with lsu i mean clearly they didn't need those two guys you know was it like they already have you know as somebody i was like how good is the tight end i asked somebody on lsu and they're like well he was their trade as green trade as green is more talented than in him but and then the other defensive lineman who was like maybe he could have been back for the old miss rematch you know we're talking about guys who didn't stick on nfl rosters right so i mean they're good players and they're definitely going to help from a depth would would have helped from a depth standpoint but you know was it worth the trouble for lsu probably not um yeah i mean they might be that good uh clemson also might be that bad do you have any idea after that first game yeah i think clemson is pretty bad i think that what that game showed you know all schools miss on their evaluation from time to time i think clemson has missed more than you know in the last few years they've obviously had staff shakeups and everything else um but because they are do not have the luxury of not taking the luxury of being able to backfill their roster through the portal and fill into like gaps into position rooms um it's really come back to bite them like last year they were really disappointing offense that had a lot of experience on the o-line and obviously club naked played for three years last year they had a lot of experience on the o-line and obviously club naked played for three years and they just look like they're not ready to play they they were just overwhelmed by lsu yeah lsu is really talented and lsu by the way plays really fast and all the kind of the tempo there i think can overwhelm a team especially in death valley you and i've both been there that is the place in college football in terms of like it feels like thunderdome you know and um with a lot more booths and i think there's just a unique energy there in clemson i think it's a unique energy was not ready and i would start to pivot from on this about them as like heck they could lose at home to bill belichick's north carolina team you know in a week and i don't think anybody would have predicted that um 10 days ago even coming out of ireland but they just look so bad and it's not like they don't have some some talent they have some good receivers sammy brown is one of the best defensive players in the country not just one of the best linebackers but i think in the end of the year they are sorely lacking and um you know dabbo's buyout is is is over 50 million dollars i don't know what's going to happen at the end of the year he obviously had his press conference i think it was on monday or tuesday where he was very defiant in what people were talking to him like he doesn't tend to like admit mistakes where other people are like no that was a glaring screw-up you made and he just kind of you know maybe it's at times it's commendable but other times it's like hey your head's in the sand on this everybody else sees it but you to be dabbo you know i've i've talked about this a little bit before not specific even to dabbo and it's that you come in and by the way everybody was kind of like what are we doing here when he first got the job it was like yeah dabbo's gonna be the head coach like you know rudy down tuscaloosa and so they get off to a slow start and then he's like the only guy that's even hanging with saban you know it's it's remarkable considering during saban's thing that they get him twice the national championship game so when you do that like why would you ever think you were going to be wrong but the rules are so different i think there's also like how hungry could you possibly be but then he becomes so miserable because all the time that he was doubted he proved all of those doubters wrong i think it's very hard for a person to go through what he went through and prove that he was the man and now have this like the same collection of people now doubting him all over again i would think it's human nature that he's never really going to give into thinking that he's necessarily wrong the problem is like the results are showing you here now like the first i broke it up like last 11 years i mean they were top five seven straight years they were top three five straight years and now they had one i think in the last five years they've had one top seven finish including unranked and kind of what it looks like it's heading towards in 26 too yeah i you know i'd have fought a couple of days ago the uh in 2020 it was the you know end of the 2019 season i remember i'm in new orleans you know in my hotel room about to leave to go get on the media shuttle to go the lsu was playing clemson the title game and i think i was doing fine bong and the question somebody asked me was i think it was all i'm trying to remember who came from but was if clemson wins tonight has dabbo surpassed saban as the best coach in college football and i didn't think he was i didn't think they were going to win because just having been around lsu on that run i was like nobody's beating this team nobody's beating joe joe burrow but that was the the thought process for a lot of people was clemson dabbo's going to win the title and dabbo's going to win his third national title and you know third time over the sec and this is the best team the sec has to offer and he's going to beat them and and then all of a sudden and it's not really all of a sudden because it's like he had a stretch before last year where it's a bunch of like 10 and 3 kind of seasons which were were not bad years but compared to where they were they fell back and i think the the the obvious question was has dabbo and clemson won their last championship and i think the reality is even if he was going to win the title he's going to win the title he's going to win the title he's going to win the title he's going to win the title he's going to win the title he's going to win the title he's going to win the title he's going to win the title it was like yeah right now something's missing and it's a lot of things it was the portal it was maybe the perfect balance of the staff that he had at the time and then got to you know tony ellett leaves venable leaves jeff scott leaves it just um i think it just started to erode and then you get stubborn and coaches are the most stubborn human beings on the on the place of the earth especially football coaches because they have 120 dudes to manage it in college and everything else and i think that catches up to you you know and i i think as much as he wants to listen you know as much as the inclination maybe to listen to people in your staff room or whatever sometimes you're wondering i was like all right did did everybody get complacent here did people catch up to what we're good at and again i don't think they're going to do what you know they're going to be two and ten like florida state was a couple years ago but they can be five and seven pretty easily i mean they have issues at quarterback they're bad in the i mean and those two things if you have the strength of your offense as receivers and you can't get them the ball that doesn't do you much good would miami win the sec oh that's a good one i didn't even thought about that um right now miami i i think is more talented than even texas and because i think they have more talent in the trenches um and you know i don't know i i wouldn't bet against them it's just can they win the sec they couldn't win the acc for 20 years now all of a sudden we're going to say they're going to win a much tougher conference and and you know i joke about it but there is something to be said for you know it's more than a two-game season people can rip notre dame all they want about their schedule miami's schedule in the acc is is not good but you watch them and you're like man mensa really looks good one of the best running backs in the country malachi tony is like a generational player in terms of like the impact he has in a game because he's unguardable they have other good receivers they're huge on the o-line um and they're good in the on the back end and i think mario has put together a very good staff it's just you know like it's i feel like it's the level of consistency you need to to go 11 and 1 in the sec is a different ass than it is in the acc where they haven't done it so i think it's a good thing to do and i think it's a good thing to do and i think it's a good i'm going to say no just because they haven't won the acc yet so why should they win the sec look we all know nfl sundays are sacred and so we found the perfect way to make sure we don't miss a single snap of nfl action we're fully dialed into nfl sunday ticket youtube tv when you 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coaches who most people pick as they think is like the best team is it texas and the sec um you know it's a cop-out to say we're going to find out a lot more this weekend but like we just haven't seen it from the they're talented you know i like arch i really like cam coleman they have two really good running backs you know raheem biles is a big upgrade at linebacker in the middle in the middle of defense you have colin simmons is a really good player they're good on the back end they're getting special teams but you know i i don't know do we trust sark that's the you know that's the weird question to ask because i think for so long he was kind of the trendy answer for like one of the best offensive minds in college football and i don't know if he's going to be a good offensive player in college football and then there's times where it's like okay they're as talented as this team they're playing and then there's like some head-scratching moments in the red zone or different things where you're like okay does he get too cute what is you know where is this now i do think the the um the mobility and the playmaking ability that that arch brings is a is a much different than yours you know he's a he can be a problem for teams whereas yours was not that um i just think you have a way more dynamic athlete and that always causes people problems i think the the area that had been as sarks kryptonite for the last couple of years i felt like was georgia and this isn't the georgia team that was like back-to-back titles but it was still a georgia team that i felt like was more physical than texas and just played with like an edge and that's the part where like okay is texas gonna have that edge i mean you know like i feel like i'm almost there on texas and yet i'm like i don't know it's just there's like an edge there where would i pick them against you know in a neutral site would i pick them against miami i don't know if i would because i think miami is the tougher team i would i don't know if i would pick them against georgia because i feel like georgia is just a tougher team um but they're i mean i still think they're one of the most five most talented teams in the country and they've spent a lot of money on the portal and i think it's going to show up this week again you think texas beats ohio state i do because it's home and i feel like you know you look at the numbers with sand um saying it's dramatically different like all quarterbacks are different when you know depending on the competition but like last year miami got to him i think five times and you know he did not play well in that game and you know they scored whatever 14 points i don't think texas is is as nasty on the defense miami was last year but i think you know look i i think they will be a problem for ohio state's offensive line and ohio state one of their tackles didn't have a great week last week against a much more inferior competition so i think that is a concern for them you know sans a really accurate quarterback with a quick release he's not super mobile either though it's not like he's will howard back there or certainly like you know some of the other quarterbacks ohio state's had and i think that might be a little bit of a problem for them i think they're going to be a problem for a little bit of a concern on the road in a place that you know texas is a lot more of a home field advantage now than it was like 10 years ago like credit to like their their university they upgraded like the energy and the the way the place sounds and and it it feels more like a home field advantage than it used to and i think that could also play into you know communication issues and some of you know how ohio state handles this okay all right so more of these coaches pulled responses here um does anyone want their vote over on the biggest sleeper in the country with michigan leading the way man now they there wasn't a lot of votes for any specific team they got the most i think it was you know three it was three because i right three of the 12 yeah well three no three of 18 18 um okay yeah so but i think a lot of that was hey they trust kyle winningham and they trust kyle winningham's culture with these athletes the biggest issue right now is what do you do with the quarterback who you know you spent um low eight figures on and he's not ready to play he's just not you know he he doesn't trust his eyes you don't know what you know if he can read defenses at this point uh he he he's really um inaccurate his feet are all over the place even in the even the stuff you think he would be exceptional at in terms of in the run game just doesn't feel like he's comfortable with that at times um and i think he's feeling the pressure right now i really do because it was a you know the the mulligan on the hail mary notwithstanding they did not play well he did not play well and all eyes are on him and whittingham is now had to answer for it and was like you know he's a he's a starting quarterback for now i know they do like tommy carr cj's younger brother um i'm not sure he's gonna be much great yeah i don't know if i don't know if uh chase is ready to ready to roll for for brent benneville just putting it on everybody's radar that's all um but i i'm not sure tommy carr would be ready for this i mean again going to play oklahoma's defense when brent benneville's and it's also not like they have ohio state's talent or they have oregon's talent they don't on offense the o-line is not what it was a few years ago the receiving core has never been you know great there i mean it was great you know whatever 30 years ago but it was like it's it's really you know kind of above average but not not elite a few years ago they had really good tight ends i'm not sure it's there and they also you know the running backs are good but again the offensive line isn't you know isn't elite at this point or close to it and i think it's right now you have a program that is figuring out oh we got we're in transition it's the second year it's for for underwood in a second system it's pretty different the coaching styles are very different and um it's you know there's a lot of growing pains and i don't know how they come through the growing pains now because i would be surprised if they're a top 25 team this year i really i don't think they're um i don't think that was very fluky what happened last week against western michigan i kind of think that's what they are you know what do they hang their hat on i don't know if i said bryce underwood's at florida state next year starting week one which what would you say who's coaching them at florida state i don't know i mean um it's like i used to try to pick less miles next team if you told me bryce underwood was at rutgers and brian kelly's coaching and could you imagine the sideline interaction between the two of them um when it's going bad i i don't know where you know like because obviously dju ended up in tallahassee and he was like you know the one of the last super sized five-star quarterbacks who kind of fizzled or did fizzle he kind of um and then he ended up florida state and that didn't go good um or didn't go well and i i don't know how this plays out but i you know i would be surprised that he's going to be back next year it just like i think after a while if it keeps going in this direction there's nothing to show that we're going to get a fast change in terms of like he's gonna pull out of it and all of a sudden he is going to going to look like sam darnold or something or some other you know athletic quarterback who has toughness and and figures it out on the fly i don't know you know like i don't know how he kind of kind of stays there if it's just you know the coach is telling you i'm not i'm not going to be this patient with you i thought it was really revealing for whittingham to go yeah you know this is not infinite on this and i would say like on some of those third and thirteens where he tucks it and runs like you're not gonna you're not gonna get there like i understand some guys do it like reynolds for clemson against lsu i think he was running around on third and forever because it was like whatever we're down 40 like i'm just trying to i'm trying to make sure we don't turn it over and punt and bryce will have some of these plays where he tucks it i'm like there's no there's no way there's in a in a competitive game like you're not going to get to the sticks on this one all right you're not in high school any you're not in high school anymore now you have a 66 year old head coach who is planning on retiring and all of a sudden he got us you know a second chance at coaching it and it's at a blue blood program with a lot of fleas on it and now all of a sudden you know how patient is he going to be at 66 i don't you know i don't think he's going to expect oh yeah you know in eight we can be dangerous i don't think guy winningham looks at anything that way i want to ask you about this transfer portal gap uh which i've referenced a couple times here on the show on like longer term are acc and big 12 coaches feeling being like man you know like sure texas tech seems like they can get anybody they want in um you know there's there's talent dispersed you know houston's grabbed a few guys clearly miami can get whoever they want there's a couple guys there around the top but you know i've i've referenced it i know you follow this kind of stuff is there any concern in the world of the coaches that you talk to where it's like man we were heading on two diverging paths here between what the two top conferences are getting in the portals thing now that this thing is kind of reset um i think they're resigned to this is the reality and it it depends on what school you're at i mean because like miami and texas tech they recruit like sec programs um you know from a story i'm working on uh for next week you know i talked to a very credible source on this who said there are six schools that basically have 50 million dollar budgets um two of those are not in the big big 10 or the sec miami and texas tech are in there along with texas lsu ohio state um and i think oregon was the other one that's you know so you have you know essentially two uh you know two big 10 or three three sec and a uh and another two big 10 two big two uh sec and then the other two are you know act like that and they are such outliers compared because i think if you go back to the rest of the let's say the acc um clemson doesn't get after the people in the portal to begin with but florida state when i talked to uh somebody down there they're not going to get after the people in the portal to begin with but florida state you know about a month ago the point they made is we did not we were not aggressive financially in the portal we did not have that money to go after guys it's why you get ashton daniels as your starting quarterback and a guy who has like a 6 and 20 record you know as a starter um and the thinking this person had was yeah they're saving their money up for something else which means to to pay off mike norvell to get out of here because this is clearly not working um louisville i think had one of the you know probably a top 20 portal class according to like the 247s of the world and you see what you know they're a talented team you watched them on on on uh sunday against old miss they went toe to toe with them if they weren't so sloppy you know i think they probably win that game but there's other aspects of the acc you look at boston college you know i had people this offseason telling me like that job is one of the hardest jobs in college football now it has been left behind in the financial reality of the nil portal world and you know as you know because you grew up in new england they were consistently good bicknell had a lot of good years tom o'brien had a lot of good years even frank spaziani and steve adazio had decent years you know like adazio had like felt like he was seven and five or seven and six every year not great but also not like what phil o'brien just did last year and what it feels like he's going to do again and the point in that was and this is where i think it's the larger point do bc has some parallels with northwestern and bandy where the change really is different is northwestern in the in the big 10 and bandy obviously in the sec are getting big tv money that doesn't that's not happening in the acc for boston college and so that adds to it right and i think with the big 12 yeah you know like byu also has the crumble cookie you know fortune and everything like that but a lot of those other places they're not they're not built to be what texas and oklahoma were texas tech just got lucky that they that they're one of lisa's former offensive linemen made billions of dollars in the energy business and he's throwing it into the football program i think that's rare and you know this this is the reality everybody has when you know we talk to their shoulders at it they'd like to have a cody campbell they don't and it's just like you know this is it and a lot of coaches if they were being honest um will tell you they'd rather be in the nfl than they'd rather be in college because of how this calendar and everything else about it works but there's only so many nfl jobs i always wondered if it would be kind of a new money thing where all of a sudden all of these boosters you know that love their program and then it's kind of like oh wow we can throw some extra money and now this thing's totally legal like let's go out there and get ourselves a really good quarterback and then you're hitting people up that are really motivated to do this for the first time is is this all kind of like changed course you know four or five years ago and then you're like oh we still stink so what's what's the point and my guess would be there's a lot of programs that are making phone calls to people asking like hey do you want to get back involved in the nil thing and they may have gotten like a surge in the beginning and now there's very little interest for a ton of programs that the boosters are just like this this this is sort of pointless. Like I'm just throwing money at something that we can't compete. We can't compete with some of these other schools. There is nothing more predictable than the college basketball cycle of some source telling one of the college basketball writers, this is not sustainable. You know, like this is not sustainable. And then it happens every year. The prices keep going up. I mean, if even if the beginning you would said, Hey, some of these programs are going to in five years have $50 million budgets for just their football roster. You'd be like, well, that's ridiculous. Like that's not going to happen. But then sometimes I think, well, what is the value of the quarterback? Like if we put this much value on the NFL, if you get the right guy, like those numbers are just going to keep going up and up and up because it's like an open market and you just kind of keep bidding on these guys, which again, I think drives the top end prices, but also discourages how many of the P4 programs where their alums are like, this is pointless and they're getting less money in the next couple of years than they were at the beginning. I think it's, it's a, um, it's the drug that nobody can quit. You know, if you think about it in that, in that term now, like some of the boosters, and I think this is a big chunk of boosters struggle with the, I, the notion of, Hey, I'm going to pay this player who maybe hasn't done anything, you know, $2.5 million. That to them is a shock to the system still. And I think they're uncomfortable with that model. They're more, they're more fine with paying, you know, they're a head football coach, $12 million a year than they are with playing, paying a defensive end, you know, 800,000, you know, because it's harder for them to see the, the, you know, yeah, maybe this guy turns into Alan Bailey. Almost none of them do, but you know, it's, you're trying to thread a needle into this. And I think we'll remember the guys who turned it around. Like, like O'Nicks was a big recruited Auburn, obviously coach's kid and everybody knew who he was. And he was kind of, you know, really up and down. He got to Oregon system was really good, flourished, had a terrific, you know, second act. And obviously, you know, when as a first round pick and has done really well for the Broncos, that is the exception rather than the rule. There's more DJ use than there are bone mixes. And yeah, Dante Moore second act has been really good, but I, you know, think of it through this lens a lot where, you know, every year I go out to elite 11, it's not far from where we live. And here, and you see most of the best quarterback recruits in the country. And the year that CJ Carr and Dylan Raiola were in that class, there was 20 quarterbacks of those 20. Um, a lot of them were already transferred twice. Most, almost all of them were transferred once by the end of this class. I think the only quarterback of the 20 who may end up finishing his career with a place he signed is CJ Carr. And I'm not saying that's the only reason why CJ Carr is thriving, but I think there is so much of an instinct where I got to play now. And if I'm not playing, where should I go? You know, you have a better, I don't want to say have a better chance to find a, um, you know, Chambliss was kind of lightning in a bottle, right? He's just, he was a division two quarterback who was like not playing in division two until the latter part of his time there. And then Lane ended up with him. I don't think Lane had any idea what he had until he was playing and Austin Simmons got hurt. Right. And so you see some of those stories of the guys who break through at the third stop or at some point, and that doesn't mean they're going to turn out to be, um, Caleb Williams in the NFL or Jaden Daniels or Joe Burrow. Cause all those guys also, you know, ended up someplace else. But I just think it's like so much harder to do the evaluations now because you're it's like speed dating and you're doing all this stuff. Now you're adding money to it. I mean, I did some study, I don't know, probably like six years ago where I looked at like the previous 15 years of five-star quarterbacks. And I figured out that about 30% of those five-star quarterbacks came close to living up to the hype. I'm not saying they were, they were, you know, Heisman guys or Heisman finalists, but it came close to 30%. That was before they started getting millions. of dollars and TV deals and all this other stuff. Now I'm sure some of them were getting money under the table beforehand, but it's still like that just made it so much more complicated because now we're putting the money and the expectations and all the stuff that has come with that in this day and age. So, uh, not making excuses for football coaches, but I just think it's a lot harder to exist in this world now because, because everything else has been thrown out the window. Especially with thoughts like these last topic here with Bruce Feldman. Um, you asked the coaches who should be the highest paid player in college football. All right. Jeremiah Smith got nine votes. Coaches raved about Jeremiah Smith, except for one big 10 running backs coach who said, quote, not Jeremiah play cover two over him. And you take him out of the game. I think he's closer to DK Metcalf than Jackson Smith and Jigba end quote. What the fuck? Yeah, look, I think physically I get the, the, the DK comparison because you've got a hulking receiver who's got really good size and, and Jackson Smith and Jigba is really slick and smooth and they're different kinds of guys. I think that was kind of like the, Ooh, moment of it. Um, I, there was two other coaches who were way more effusive and why in their explanations of why Jeremiah Smith actually ran away with that poll from the coaches. But there was one coach and I was like, Ooh, this is too good not to use. Um, and again, I'm with the other nine, uh, coaches. I think he is by far the best player in college football. And I think he, he has been a remark. Like if you ask me, who's the best receiver you've ever seen in college football, I don't have to think very hard about it. I mean, he basically looked like Andre Johnson when he got to Ohio state, the way Andre Johnson looked when he went to the Houston Texans, you know, and left the team. Miami, like he just such a man among boys. And I get it. If you think this is a way to slow him down because nobody's perfect. And I think this is that, that position coach's way of being like, yeah, you guys, you know, talk him up so much and he's not, you know, he's not like infallible. Oh, right. Well, you know, hopefully your team doesn't have to play him and do that. I just think after two years, like somebody would have figured out the cover to hack. Now you could say, well, you can't play a cover too, because of the talent that they're always going to have and all that kind of stuff. But I don't know. I thought that was, that was like a, there's, there's a zag for everything. I've, I've, I'm convinced of that. No matter what position we all kind of collectively agree on, there's always someone that's like, actually it's this. Um, Hey, you spent years, you spent years working on a show with Danny, you know, you know, there's a lot of zigzagging that goes on. It, it reeks like Stanford Steve will surprise you every now and then. Like he'll, he'll just out of nowhere go. I like Robbie Ashford better. And you're like, what? He never said that. I just like Rob referencing Robbie Ashford, not on a roster this year. Um, heard he was a good baseball player back in the day. Yeah. I heard about it at every fucking broadcast and all the stops that he made that he also was an awesome baseball player. The also part, um, didn't, I mean, honestly, if there's somebody in his family, they'd be like, why is that guy still talking? I was just fascinated about his journey, fascinated about his journey. You'd always come in. People talk about his baseball career. Um, but there you go. Check out this piece up on the athletic and more importantly, check out the annual freaks list from our guy, Bruce Feldman. Thanks, man. Thanks, Ryan. Netflix is expanding its NFL coverage in 2026 from week one to the first ever Thanksgiving Eve matchup in two Christmas day games and a playoff game in January week, one of the upcoming NFL season. We'll feature the league's first ever regular season game, in Australia on September 10th between divisional rivals, the LA Rams and the San Francisco 49ers that will air on Netflix live from the Melbourne cricket ground Thursday, September 10th at 8 35 PM Eastern time, 5 35 PM Pacific. Okay. Here's the thing. All of us have been talking about the Rams for obvious reasons. They're loaded. I'd say this is the first year in a long time where I've kind of felt like, man, I just don't know if the Niners are gonna be able to hang. They're a little dinged up. They just lost a really good defensive player to injury on top of everything else. But if there's a kind of a reminder of like that Shanahan McVay thing is that you kind of feel like that matchup, especially being on Netflix and being the only game and the extra anticipation and the fact that it's being playing somewhere else. Like it just kind of feels like one of those games at the end of you'd be like, Oh, the Niners are still finding a way to be in this. Even if the course of 17 games, like I don't expect them to be in the same group whatsoever. So that's kind of the attraction about these two teams knowing each other this well, and the times you've been surprised by the outcomes whenever the Niners and Rams get together. Watch week one of the NFL on Netflix, the Los Angeles Rams versus the San Francisco 49ers live only on Netflix Thursday, September 10 at 835 p.m. Eastern and 535 p.m. Pacific. The NFL season starts tonight. It's 2026. Do you know your backup quarterback situation? I do this segment every year or the years I feel like doing it. For whatever reason, it ends up being way more work than I think. I think the original version of this, I just read every team's depth chart. At quarterback, and I had some probably some zingers in there a little bit. I don't know if I could do it. I wrote it all down. there's some math that i think is interesting on how this position is designed for the backups here um this is quite the sell this would be a tease hey i did this segment wrote a bunch of stuff down may read it to you could suck that's next i guess i could do that um i some of the stuff just kind of surprises you because like there's no way that you're keeping track of all of it i know it's kind of the job but like i rarely am keeping track of all of this depth chart stuff but you run through it all right so buffalo's got kyle allen he's on a six team i think he's in that chase daniel like good hang group of backups 19 career starts miami's get kyle mccord his third team zero starts brady cook who i forgot had actually started um four games last year i i straight up forgot that that's in the jets dolphins turf war there on that one new england's got tommy devito remember we were just talking about how he slept at home and chicken cutlets and all that kind of stuff uh eight starts in his career and then got baron morton a rookie uh we have 12 rookies on quarterback depth charts 12 rookies all right there are 16 quarterbacks on the depth charts that have never had a start in the nfl so you've got 12 rookies you've got 11 undrafted and i'll go through where their draft position is but 11 of these guys are totally undrafted that's of course some of the rookies there um morton's one of them kade klobnik's another one it looks like the jets are like we're gonna have two guys we don't want anyone to take any of klobnik's snaps these are the depth charts as of this morning there's some ir trickery that's going on as well but um maybe it's a development and also hope to be bad enough to grab one of the quarterbacks in a loaded class in 27 baltimore good friend tyler huntley um he's in the mix and then joey fayano from yukon another rookie cincinnati flacco leading the way leading all backup quarterbacks with 201 career starts uh six teams for him cleveland look out backup quarterback buffet we've got deshaun which made all the sense in the world that you knew they were going to just be like what if he has like a good month we can trade him for something which is not going to happen or the owner being like i paid this fucking guy so much money he's starting i don't care but i think all the other three guys are going to start sanders was seven last year dylan gabriel had six and then taylon green i think all three will start games so i think you're gonna have four different quarterback start games for the cleveland browns this year mason rudolph back in the mix good hang club two teams 19 starts will howard zero starts and then aller a rookie clearly no starts as well houston davis mills 29 starts and he's been an in-house guy he's been there for a while graham mertz ir zero starts colts anthony richardson a first round pick i'll get to that theme on the backups a little bit later 15 starts for him one for riley leonard jacksonville has quinn ewers three career starts and they're going carter bradley who's on the ir and undrafted and hasn't played in the game tennessee mitch trubisky on his fourth team 50 career starts that's a good number for a backup that's the other shocking thing about this exercise how many teams backups are just like yeah these guys have never played either we're good including a headliner team um mitch 50 starts for him he's only had seven starts in his last 50 not 50 years that would be a long time to play in the nfl seven starts five years denver stidham four starts three starts for sam ellinger two teams that's seven starts stidham's fascinated i never liked him in college i don't necessarily think he's that good and some of the smartest football people love jared stidham so i just assume there's something that's happened in practices that i haven't like i'm wrong i guess i'm wrong but smart teams seem to like him how about smart teams kansas city chiefs justin fields fourth team kansas city chiefs justin fields fourth team kansas city chiefs fourth team kansas city chiefs 53 career starts nussmeyer in the mix the fact that they took nussmeyer like yep i'm right and then the fact they brought in fields is like maybe all the fields that fields army's been strong and they don't know it's like world war ii they're just on an island they're like the war's been over man they're like no it isn't because if he plays if he gets one start starts dicing up everybody look out uh vegas well mendoza's the backup behind cousins this is a different kind of category altogether aiden o'connell 17 starts the chargers decide to go into the season with trey lance third team former top pick six starts i was shocked he had six starts dallas sam howell third team seems like people like sam howell 18 starts the giants one of the ogs of the backup game now the last six years jamis winston 89 career starts that number's low that guy was like jamis has only had 89 career starts the problem he's had six years of the backup game the last six years he's only had 19 starts so there's your 89 andy dalton 169 starts he's your backup in philadelphia 169 um and they've got another guy with uh tanner mckee with two starts there washington commanders mariotta another og 82 starts five teams then get a greek kid who's a rookie um bajan chicago four starts case keenum 66 starts eight teams so some some start depth there behind caleb detroit josh dobbs 15 starts seven teams that's about two starts a team green bay tie rod in the mix 62 starts that's that's a high number but it's kind of like he always ends up starting wherever he goes he'll probably start a couple games this year for them minnesota they have an interesting scenario here kyler first round pick jg mccarthy first round pick carson wentz first round pick 10 starts for jj we've covered that um six teams 99 starts for carson wentz what is carson wentz record over those 99 starts you want to take a shot at it 49 49 and one atlanta pennix 12 starts cooper rush his third team 16 starts for him carolina running it with kenny p fourth team for him 24 starts haynes king rookie no starts new orleans the rattler 14 starts zach wilson his third team 33 starts tampa bay jalen daniels rookie kansas wow i was like wow that's what they're doing i looked it up again this morning i feel like i have to be wrong about that the rams behind stafford zero starts for stetson bennett no games for ty simpson is that stupid all right san francisco mac jones 13 57 starts and um they get curtis rourke there zero games and then seattle drew lock jalen milrow 28 starts for lock zero starts for jalen milrow so to look over this again there are 10 teams that only have one backup which is kind of that feels a little lower uh the other years that i've done this but it usually ends up kind of being like half the league have that third guy then some guys try to figure out a way to keep the fourth guy on usually those teams um aren't very good but sometimes it seems they're just like figuring out a way to stash a guy that they love and like on the practice squad but 10 teams with only one backup which again feels like on the lower side but kind of in that middle half the league range because the third guy almost never plays um the other development from this is how often like how many undrafted guys it's it's like there's more undrafted guys that are backups than there are second rounders there's two second round backups there's 15 first round backups five third round backups five fourth round backups three fifth round and then the six rounds where you go for backups there's nine of them and then there's five seventh rounders so the the problem i've always had with the position and the lack of development is that there's just going to be like 12 to 13 rookies next year that are going to make rosters week one they're going to be backups on these depth charts and they're replacing a good chunk of guys that are going to be backups on these depth charts and they're never ever played and you had no idea if they were ever any good now granted in practice you probably get some read on it if somebody's like a great prospect you don't want to cut him even if he hasn't played in any games but this is kind of the bigger point that i've made for years is that i think the nfl kind of eats their quarterbacks because you just kind of you're on a roster you never play you never get any experience and then it's like yeah we're just going to replace you with the next guy that has no experience and then we'll probably cut him in three years too on top still backups that would make sense because if you're a quarterback who's good enough to go in the first round that means multiple teams probably liked you and they'll blame the other coaching staff or the offensive system or it's like man we had a high grade on that guy like let's bring him in so i'm not saying that's why mitch trubisky is still in the league mitch is probably doing really good stuff like as a backup and they like him in the room but you know zach wilson being on a roster when it's looked like an absolute disaster every time he's been back there that's probably would have had high grades on him anyway and when a mitch has 50 career starts will mitch have 50 starts because he was better than some of these other guys that flamed out no he had 50 starts because he was like with the number two pick so you had to make sure you were right which is exactly what chicago did with fields and why he had so many starts it's why zach wilson has the 33 starts because it's like we're going to make sure that we actually know that we screwed this thing up here um and then you have you know the winstons the mariotas the wences of well they've been in it they've done it for a while but i guess there's there's part of me that's surprised there aren't more from that kind of group other former first rounders 50 60 starts a case keen types or game keys was not a first round pick but it's like don't we want somebody and some of these teams just have no problem whatsoever going to the air being like we have almost zero experience at the backup quarterback position and if it ends up being a mistake then it's super easy for us to jump on and be critical of but it's not that abnormal for even some of these really good teams to be like yep we're good we don't care about having a ton of depth back there and we're talking about playoff contenders i got some pictures back from the todd gray's suite at lsu founder of raising canes i can't wait to go down for bama and some texas toast and that might also mean the texas game canes is also sponsoring pga tour golfer sam burns lsu alum louisiana native and a good friend of raising canes owner and founder todd gray's you may have seen the canes logo on his collar during tournaments this season ahead of the bmw championship sam and raising canes hosted kids from you and the boys and girls club of st louis for a meet and greet and golf lessons by sam himself at a driving range in st louis and of course canes chicken fingers and cane sauce which i want extra of when i go deep when i'm like hey why don't you just make this seven fingers is the base model i'm not going to bring that up to todd but i think all of us would appreciate it raising canes chicken fingers one love with nfl sunday ticket and youtube tv it doesn't matter who's coming over and it doesn't matter what team they love and need to see every play every game day changing moment of the nfl sunday football action is right here you won't miss anything and you'll be the best host ever it's you and your friends watching four games at once it's every sunday game regardless of where it's being played it's pure nfl bliss as it happens right in your living room every game every sunday all in one place and right now it's just eight payments of thirty dollars a month for new users sign up now new users pay 240 or eight non-cancelable payments of thirty dollars a month first charge of purchase availability varies with nfl sunday ticket for out-of-market games and youtube tv for local and national games youtube tv required digital only games excluded terms and embargoes apply device and content restrictions apply to multi-view commercial use excluded no refunds you want details bye i drive a ferrari 355 cabriolet what's up i have a ridiculous house in the south fork i have every toy you could possibly imagine and best of all kids i am liquid so now you know what's possible let me tell you what's required life advice life advice rr gmail dot com kyle and steve in the mix quick story although our thread's been on fire lately these three guys chopping it up huge smile on kyle's face he didn't even want to say anything i guess or his audio's off that explains it he's so happy right now we're taping this after we tape bruce by the way um which i guess maybe it'll be in that order but kyle chatted up bruce he gave him like a little he gave him like an inch of just like poughkeepsie and kyle took a mile just a mile i just said yeah you're right bruce took the mile so we we're sure about this that poughkeepsie has the longest suspended there's a couple of there's a couple of qualifiers elevated walking bridge elevated there's some shit that's like you know a little bit longer uh you know that's a little bit longer uh you know that's a little bit you know not raised but yeah raised we still got it i think smaller cities can get a little alabama-ish with stuff that they claim that's all right it's like one qualifier okay elevated suspended bridge so if you can't maybe maybe i made up suspended it's definitely elevated it's definitely elevated it's like over a mile i don't know you represent crossing the crown jewel this way if you're not gonna have this shit buttoned up all right we did this thing a while ago yeah no no it's fine because i'm gonna be right so you did say whatever do your intro i'm gonna do it i do feel like kyle's right uh he's he's confident i'll probably be like i think he's hurting support it's a thing now you could say they've thrown in all these adjectives and yeah exactly what does that mean the more adjectives the less definitive it probably is but i i don't deny kyle being correct here they found a way to be correct and we'll give the longest elevated pedestrian bridge so two qualifiers spans 1.28 miles two hundred twelve feet two hundred twelve feet above the water you could do some damage if you jumped off that one i harford may have to give up the harford has it tag never but kipsy has it we're never giving that up we got bourdain too that's that's all that matters yeah the radio head i can't believe how long i didn't know that the entire time my my daily commute there for a few years one of my favorite albums the same time you're driving through history you know i had no idea i had no idea that tom york was that depressed driving through through history you know i had no idea i had no idea i had no idea that tom york was that depressed driving through harford that inspired him to make an album cover so is it harford that inspired him to make an album cover so is it that'd be a billboard some people say that'd be a billboard some people say that'd be a billboard some people say inspiration a lot you know yeah inspiration a lot you know yeah inspiration a lot you know yeah one of the greatest bands of all time one of the greatest bands of all time one of the greatest bands of all time drove through our city and they were drove through our city and they were drove through our city and they were like this is so depressing we should like this is so depressing we should like this is so depressing we should recognize it later on recognize it later on recognize it later on with an album cover with an album cover with an album cover all right um all right um all right um we have some emails we can't say that just we have some emails we can't say that just we have some emails we can't say that just saying yeah great call serenity great call serenity great call serenity so we were talking about the graduation so we were talking about the graduation so we were talking about the graduation stuff um stuff um stuff um so that led to a couple so that led to a couple so that led to a couple boys from back in the day to reach out boys from back in the day to reach out boys from back in the day to reach out specifically one of my roommates and specifically one of my roommates and And he's like, hey, do you not remember? Because I'm not going to say the guy's name. He's like, do you not remember so-and-so's fake graduation story? And I was like, I do not. Feel free to spend as much time as you need on this story. So he reminded me, because I had forgotten about this. There was a guy who was not part of our friend group. So that's why I wouldn't have remembered or anything like that, because it wasn't like a core guy. He was like an associate? Yeah, he was. I would say he was associated, but disassociated in a way. He was like guys in college could all have their lanes of like, that's weird. Or you're learning about new guys, different parts of the country. It's not just a prep school in New England. All of a sudden, you're like, what the hell is that guy? That guy, that guy does what? Like Dierks Bentley freaked us out. We all loved him. We're like, what the fuck is this guy's deal? And honestly, it kind of worked out. Well, it didn't kind of work out. It absolutely worked out. But there is now something unique about him that we're like, a lot of this makes sense going back and looking at all of it. Right. So shout out to him. But there was. There was one guy who I would say eventually kind of like ran this race that nobody else was in. And he was kind of just around. I don't know that that many people even liked him, but he was kind of associated with things. So then he was he was just always around. So my roommate called me. It was like that guy. His parents sent him money for tuition, room and board. After his first two years, you know, he was in the dorms. And then the thing at UVM would be, you've got to. You've got to. You've got to live off campus. You're a junior in the dorms. Forget about it. Like, hey, I'm trying to be a virgin. Bring a bag to class. Yeah. Yeah. So this guy took his parents checks both semesters for two years. Lived off. Which were supposed to be his junior and senior year. Didn't enroll. Endorsed the checks to himself and just lived high off the hog for a couple of years. Run around and nobody like quite knew, including his parents. So apparently. Graduation rolls around because this is another thing that blew my mind. Like one of my roommates freshman year. We get started. He's like, hey, did your parents make reservations for graduation weekend four years from now? I'm like, what are going to hold off until we get some good, some good news. Like people are doing that. It wasn't even specific to me. I'm just kind of like, yeah, that's insane. And it isn't insane. It's smart. And, you know, as soon as your kid gets accepted and you're sending the first deposit check, you should probably do that. So put the pressure on him. Like, hey, just so you know, that's a non refund. Yeah. That's a refundable deposit on that reservation four years from now. We're going to need at least two credits from you every year, buddy. Need you to get them all. This guy was just operating as a civilian. Yeah. Living in an apartment. On scholarship from his parents. With other students living off of his parents checks. And if he was out of state back then, which I'm pretty sure he was, you're talking like 10 grand in September, 10 grand again in February. And I think he was even working because, I mean, he wasn't doing anything else. He was like working a little bit part time. And so then four years later, or excuse me, two years after, because I'm sure like when it's through the dorms, it's a little easier to keep track of. But like some parents are wild with this stuff where I'm sure some people listening, like there's complete independent. You go to college, it's complete independence. Meanwhile, my father would have been like, where are your bills? What's going on? Just because I was obviously the first two. And there was going to be no cutting any corners whatsoever. I think I applied for like a cash advance student loan or something. And he got flagged on it. He was like, absolutely not. I was like, I'm fucking broke. This is awful. So Rudy, you see me? You seem to want to ask my first. My first question is, dudes were just given blank checks to be like, hey, this is for college. Like, that's not how it works for me. I don't know if it's how it worked for you, Kyle. Like, you just didn't just like, no, there was no money in my hands that didn't have to be. That's for sure. Yeah. If it didn't have to be with you. But I would say that you buy your books, some of the money stories that you would hear where I'd gone to school. There were people that actually did have this kind of like whether they came from money or something. It was like, hey, this is you having to have responsibility. You're on top of it. You're going to pay your worst decision ever. So the parents have no idea. It's coming up on graduation weekend. He hasn't been in classes in two years. So guess who's not going to get his name announced? This guy. He then buys a cap and gown leading up. He's telling other dudes like it's out. I haven't been in class in two years. You know, like I'm sure his roommates finally figured it out. And they're like, man, you got a light schedule this semester, huh? So they're like, what are you going to do? He's like, I can't tell him. I've basically stolen money from him for two years. I'm a million credit. shy, like there's nothing even close i shouldn't even be here um it's been a good hang i've had fun i've enjoyed my time but i can't tell him so i guess what he did was he clearly went out the night before graduation he bought his cap and gown his mother and father were there dressed up and he had a last name where he could play it where it's like around the around the d's or e's i'm out of here and he just went to him and faked like i'm so sick i'm so sick i have to go to the hospital like something's wrong with me something like that and they were like what and his name like it wasn't just around the bend be like we're here so he had planned the whole thing out apparently and they all left because his name wasn't going to be called and that's how he tricked his parents that's worse than our guy yesterday lying about being a demon basketball player yeah yeah because now somebody's hurt that honestly is a pretty smart way to get out of it though for being honest now i understand how this guy kind of is he like a con artist like what do we know what this guy's doing today i'd have no idea is he just scamming people online i could see that yeah he was older than me and as soon as he was out of the mix there was zero chance i was ever ever running into him no one in our our core group extended group satellite group there was no one that was going to have any interactions with him whatsoever because i asked the guy that called me was like how do you remember this he was like because of this one specific reason i was like oh that's right the fake sick thing works more often than you think you know like people will just be like oh are you sick i guess we got to go you know i think that's wrong if you're the dad you go all right well uh we'll go but i just i'd like to see the official document yeah i'd ask a few questions that would just be like hey i guess we're good now man got out of a job although this guy clearly would lie on his resume that he graduated if he's capable of doing any of these things but you know you can't get a dad the market just thin i got out a dash situation the one time i ever did it and it failed so i and i'll tell you honestly i would never do it again but i was going to be the one guy it was three three guys me included at a chinese buffet and one guy was like i'm out of here i was like oh come on man me and him got to split it and then he he goes and i'm like all right well i definitely don't have three full buffet monies you know what i mean so then i go out the same door it turns out it's like a locked alley with no roof just between two buildings and like this plaza and that movie's a lot the door is locked these guys are freaking out and uh and i guess the silent alarm went off next day i know there's a there's a woman screaming we're all stuck in here my buddy just fakes throwing up immediately i'm like this guy's sick we're trying to go to the bathroom we're locked in this alley what the hell is going on and she like didn't want to believe us but she kind of was just like the bathroom's over there and we paid or whatever but like the fake sick thing i mean that could have been cops dude yeah great instincts on him to just double how did he throwing up produce any volume to convince someone else he was throwing up while fake throwing up i don't know might be a language barrier thing that she was just like all right you guys aren't leaving but you know i don't know but whatever that was a close one never wanted to do it certainly would never do it again after that you ended up paying yourself yes we all ended up paying all right then you actually didn't want to do it i didn't want to do it but i believe you at this time it feels like my back's against the wall i don't got three twenty two dollar buffet chargers or whatever it was back in the day you don't have an all-time move they came over the check and go the other two guys dine and dash i'm against it i'm gonna pay my third yeah i can pay mine and then they go wait a minute that's the hack yeah yeah three for one special he wants 66 off the high guys yeah all right let's read some emails here um all right so this guy i don't really know what he did here and that's why i actually forwarded this email to kyle and steve which doesn't happen i know very like a little heads up well kyle sorts them and then i if i feel like it's relevant because this guy included some pictures um and also some text messages so i think we already know what this guy was trying to do because i don't really understand the email 6-1-1-85 gym stats 315 bench 275 squat top heavy in a 349 marathon basketball comp would be jalen brown if you forgot how to shoot good slasher passer but can't use my left hand to save my life i write in today because i have a problem over the last eight days i've emceed two weddings super mc over here they both went well enough that numerous people left the event saying they'd never seen someone perform like that a guy who's usually quite critical of me even said i gave a solid a minus it's a great i kind of love that yeah let's just dig into that for a second just personal nemesis you crush it a's across the board he throws a little minus in there to remind you that i don't like you but he wants to still be taken seriously as an analyst so he has to give you the a yeah nice yeah i remember like when i first started like espn first few years and a buddy from college who i wouldn't call us best friends i thought we were maybe a little bit closer but there's also some nemesis moments in there as well and he was like a couple beers in pulls me aside because i gotta tell you hate to say it but you're really good at this thanks thanks you hate saying it all right anyway uh a minus guy checking in my issue is now multiple people have asked me about emceeing their weddings which i have trouble saying no to it's a lot of work and by the end of each event i definitely was way drunker than i'd be if i wasn't working if i say no i don't even imagine getting an invite to these weddings which i do enjoy not to mention my girlfriend wasn't invited to either wedding which would have been nice to have support for when you're doing this sort of stressful role do i need to agree to these opportunities but insist my girlfriend gets an invite do i say no and just miss out on the wedding fund or do i purposely bomb my next one so people quit asking but i still get to go all thoughts are appreciated photos below and uh some messages i got from my work uh as well as a pic of me and my girlfriend so this guy sends a picture of he and his girlfriend on paddle boards and she's hot and this guy's like brad pitt fight club ripped i say this he just respectfully he looks like if julian edelman like was looks maxing if he's taking that little hammer just right cheekbones i don't know yeah i guess yeah and he might even be taller so like this is not a knock on jewels right he definitely looks taller just sitting down so yeah they wouldn't call him the flying squirrel they'd find another name for him no but i i don't i don't really know okay so you're awesome at mc what next what do we need to do and then hey here's me completely ripped up next to my hot girlfriend on a paddleboard i don't really understand the picture man just want her invited you know are you guys with me here or oh i am i totally am yeah um maybe it was just a creative you know sometimes emails with attachments stand out you know maybe it's just a way of getting your resume in the door you know i mean we want to make that happen and then we're going to send it yeah you know there is there's a there's a call there's you know it's call back to the to the mention in the email maybe he's just a proud partner in a relationship and he's like uh you know what is ron all right so we're not going to use this on the show but would you can if i sent this picture to you randomly what do you mean i gotta start typing now what are you doing i just i just sent a picture of myself showing off the shark gills to and kyle is this is this in response to the reese's video are you feeling insecure after that i didn't look at one comment on the reason why what's the issue no i was just you know just you know it was a lot of the facial hair was aggressive you know people think i'm fat i'm convinced there's a lot of people out there that want to believe that i'm fat and it's okay because no matter what if i'm 175 there's a double chin and there's that roan picture going around i just look like a slob in it and i'm not photogenic i completely understand um and it's i've accepted it so i don't re but the thing that i'm fat when i just sent you the content i sent you like our emailer just did i got a record of johnny in this room i think you should i think we should make this public i don't i don't know why kyle some stuff he's right our chat has been on fire lately and this is the quickest thing which is the most on putting in the street you know we're not putting this we're not putting this one out there yeah hey you look good i will say you did mention to me what a couple days ago you're like the leanest you've ever been i was i got back i don't know what the hell was going on there were some check-ins on the scale where i'm like what is happening to you right now and traveling stuff you know yeah but i hadn't really traveled in a few weeks and then something got back i got back like i don't know if it was whatever it was a very weird light fluctuation but that's it like 224 that picture so we're back we had a really listen all right i i don't know what to do with this email is my point like what do you really want man i think you wanted to see us how how good you look uh to be to be totally honest and you do you look awesome so there you go a plus no way i'm not gonna take the cynical route here i think this is a normalized no this is like right in the crosshairs first of all a it must be awesome to do this at a wedding have like a guy's grandma be like you were amazing you know what i mean like that must be awesome to just like the the receiving line of people when you bring the house down and you know now the party starts they're married now everyone gets to like go do the thing and everyone coming up to you especially like sweet older people that's got to be amazing congratulations for that uh the other thing is i think what people want you to emcee their wedding it's because you know them it's because they don't want like like, you know, to go through somebody's priest that doesn't know the other one or however they pick these things. I feel like we're trending towards, like, let's get a friend of ours to do this, right? That's probably how this works. Because I don't think, like, doesn't the DJ just do that for the most part? Like, that's the, like, right? Well, hold on. When he's saying MC, is he talking about, like, the person who stands up there and marries them? That's not what I thought. I thought it was the guy who, like, is just getting people organized and call, you know, hey, all right, now it's time for the father-daughter dance and, you know, then here's the cake cutting. Like, he just kind of keeps things moving with a microphone. That's supposed to be the DJ's job, certainly. Right. So that's what I thought. Because the officiant is the person who marries you. Those are two very different jobs. I don't think that's what he's talking about, gang. I mean, it just sounds like this guy is good at it. He seems to like to go to weddings. You think I'm right, Ryan. But how many people, how would two people in the matter of eight days be like, hey, do you want to do the, take this job off my DJ's hands? Unless people just aren't doing DJs and they're just going Spotify playlist and it's like, this will work. You know, I don't know. I don't know. No, I think you're right, Cerruti, but to Kyle's point, like, I think it's really easy. I mean, if you're not getting invited to, like, let's put it this way, the way he explained it. He crushes, other people now want him to emcee their weddings that he wasn't originally invited to. Without payment, just a fucking plate of fish and steak and like, that'll do it. So I think you could say, if you like the wedding fun, okay, fine. Like, but I've got to bring my girlfriend. I have to bring my girlfriend. But then they're like, well, that doesn't work because you're an employee. We weren't really going to invite you anyway. So then why do you actually want to be there? Unless you're thinking like long-term, this is something you want to do. Maybe you're just a natural. Maybe you're just so good at this. You're Andy Cohen. And you can just be like, here's the deal. But he was a guest at the wedding, right? Like, that's how it works. Yeah, but now it seems like the word is out and he's just that good. Yeah. It doesn't seem like he's passionate about it either. Yeah, I think it's one of the things he may be good at, but isn't like really. He's thinking of bombing. He's going to tank. If you're this good though, at public speaking too, and just being the man and you're that good looking, like it feels like there's a higher calling for you. Like you need to be doing. Maybe you got to look inward. You need to be. Run for office, dude. I'm not saying move to Hollywood. Don't fix those bottles in your town. Or that, yeah. But like you could at least get some jobs as an extra in Hollywood, it feels like. I think this is a polite no with a light explanation. Be like, you know what? I really feel like this takes me out of the wedding. Really love to just be here and support you guys and have like. I think it's a respectful no with a small explanation why. Two words or two sentences max, you know? And then if they're like, well, then I don't want you here, then fucking good, you know? Yeah, and that'd be a good conversation, but. You're already going without your girlfriend. You're already leaving her for multiple weekends in a row, it sounds like. So come on. It is funny. He's definitely way drunker than if I wasn't working. Dude, one for courage, one for fun. You know what I mean? Like it's out of hand. That's what happens to me when we go on stage. Congrats on the hotness though, yeah. Yeah, great abs, buddy. Great, great numbers too. All right, let's see here. 6'1", 190, 31 years old, bench press, 335. Player comp, Ben Simmons with a better attitude but inferior angle craft. My left jumper looks pretty good in the driveway too. Shout out and just, you know, face of the franchise, Ben Simmons, Sacramento Kings. This time, it's personal. Writing in without necessarily an interest in changing anything in my life but gradually feeling things sliding by. Long one here too, so I appreciate the patience. Backstory, I grew up in a mid-sized Midwestern city playing all kinds of sports, eventually baseball in college. After college, I joined, so did Robbie Ashford. After college, I joined the military and moved across the country a few times. Spent time in some really fun cities having a great experience before getting out to take a corporate job in a great company. Career's going great. Promoting quickly and because of that, because of this trajectory, I won't be moving anywhere soon. Here's the catch though, I'd like to start a family and do the whole domestic thing. After spending three years here dating and meeting people, I'm struggling. Finding someone I see myself marrying, getting dates is not the issue. Well, especially with those bench numbers and you play some college ball. It's just not typically gone anywhere. I'm far enough away from any of my friends in college or high school that the friend of a friend thing is unrealistic. Dating apps aren't my thing and work is also unlikely to produce someone because I personally would like to dodge shitting where I eat. Everything about my work and fun life, here is great. I'm just in a tough environment for dating is a question. So, am I missing out on the easy win for a guy like me? Am I just warped by the typical Midwestern marriage timeline? Maybe. I don't know. I also just think like long term, like I've talked about it far too many times, but I always thought like the Midwestern girl thing. It just was, I personally have had more and more much easier times with anyone that I've spent. Like that's from the Midwest. Although actually, Midwestern girls are more. What are you? What are you saying? Less friction. There's less maintenance. Okay, yeah. Although I could argue that one drags down the overall score so bad that maybe that the numbers don't back that up anymore. Without hours or four. But yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, we'll drop the lowest quiz score. Side note of big cat knows anyone. They're early thirties from college stomping grounds. My number is below. Okay, we'll forward this to big cat. So on top of that. Yeah, yeah, I'll do it. I'll send it to him. Yeah, Kyle text him on top of all of that. Since I originally drafted this email a couple of weeks ago. Wow, so this guy's really been thinking about an ex. Reach out to me. Think similar player comp to last week's life advice with the alcohol issues. We were together back when I was in the military. We're living together with the intent to get married. She was everything I wanted. Similar family goals. Former college athlete. Really fun girl to be around. But because of her alcohol abuse, things went sideways. She's cleaned up a lot of things from what I from what took us off the rails. Running marathons. Now working as a fitness instructor, going back down her career path of her degree. Seems to have figured it all out since things went off the rails. She even acknowledges all the things that she did and what it's caused. Am I crazy for considering or letting her come visit? I started out as just a weekend of her doing the traveling, but it's hard to say I'd stop at that. Not necessarily a concise question, but interested in feedback from the panel P.S. Need more people to talk about the Pacers and Halliburton returning in 26. That Brunson ship is Mickey Mouse without the boogeyman in his way. Let's not go that far. They beat the Spurs. But yeah, Pacers in the mix as well. So I mean, this is a pretty common thing. So why don't you guys go? Because I I'd say you sound like you're on the edge of desperate and this girl's got some good signs. Not a lot of red flags. I would say absolutely do this. Even if it is a slump buster or whatever you want to call it. Like, definitely. I yeah, I just think I'm a huge believer in a second chance. All of us getting dates left and right. I'm a huge believer in a second chance for obvious reasons. So I think I think definitely explore that one. Definitely explore that one. Yeah, I don't see a downside, I guess, unless you guys disagree. Like what if it doesn't work out? You're not you're not you're not that close to her. So like you could just kind of like wean off it a little bit and it just flames out and that's fine. But but if you did used to if you loved her and you have the same values, it was the one thing that was the hang up. She has then since fixed you're both single. She's clearly interested in you if she's going to travel to see you. I don't really see the problem here. You seem lonely. And yeah, again, even if it goes nowhere, it's not really the end of the world. It's worth trying out. And you know, if it ends up being a thing, then yeah, you got something you got some decisions to make in the future. By the way, my desperate comment wasn't about desperate for a date. Like he's got he's got all these things in his head. Like I don't even have anyone in line to maybe take the next step with this one. You got some chemistry and a pass with. So maybe I would say this would this would be a kind of a bummer or I don't know if it is or not the case for him with like, you've got like the moms or the grandmas being like, what's going on here? You know, if you got your own timeline in your head that you want to keep, but if you got the, you know, the matriarchs in your, you know, in your life being like, what's going on? You haven't brought anybody home to Thanksgiving in like three years. You know, where am I going to get my grandchildren from? Like that would that's like way worse. That made me think of a different thing, though. I would. Do you soft launch this to like close family and friends that you trust who obviously knew her? Hey, like thinking about doing this and if they're just like, dude, absolutely not, you know, and it's yeah, did they all hate her and they never told you and they're right. Great. We never have to deal with her again. But maybe, maybe that tells you something. But I don't know if, if, if she was like she's, it sounds like she's kind of the one that got away a little bit. Like, would you have broken up if it wasn't for that? You know, you're obviously way younger. I just don't see a downside here a ton, right? Because it would be one thing if you live in this, like in the same town and you move out again, but you, you don't. You actually have this incredible buffer if it doesn't happen, if it doesn't work. I'm with you, Saruti. I don't really see any downside to this. I mean, the only downside would be she comes visits, you end up totally falling for her all over again. And then she's like, I don't like the new you. And then you were like, oh, cool. I just signed up to get bummed out about something that I didn't expect. So that's the only downside. It doesn't sound like that's going to happen whatsoever. I'm everything you're saying. This does not sound like, hey, I'm 31. I'm from the Midwest. I've never had to deal with that. I would have been just great at telling grandmothers to be like, what? But I never, no one ever was putting the pressure on your boy. Yeah. Moms. No one cared. No one was like, what's going on with you? So had it happened, I think I would have been good at deflecting that. But that's not even the issue here with the whole thing. So I guess, you know, I understand what you mean by the desperation thing. I want to push back in the slump bluster a little bit again because he played college ball. Also, I wasn't, I still have the Poughkeepsie Walking Bridge stats up. So, I don't know. So I, the first three sentences of the email, I just was kind of out of it because I was looking at more of this. I'm just going to close it out right now. So I just want to make sure I didn't miss a critical part of the email. Are you looking at apartments again? Sorry. I love how this, Ryan thinks, it sounds like Ryan thinks that if you played college sports, like you are just swimming in it. Left and right though. I don't know that that's necessarily accurate. Well, how about that D1 guy? He didn't even play and he's got a couple of kids. He's hosting barbecues. That guy's life is awesome. The rest of your life, you're just like, I played college hoops. You're like, all right, when do you want to go out? I gave a speech to a team once, a college team, and I was like, there's nothing worse than when you play and some people are like, did you play anywhere? And you're like, no, I didn't. I'm like, every one of you in this room today for the rest of your lives, you'll be able to say, yeah, card carry. Yeah, that's awesome. They were like, hey, this is a practice. All right. I think it's an absolute slam dunk. Yes. Try it back on for a bit. Spin around. See how it feels. Hey, I look good in this. You know, or you have confirmation of, actually, I never want to do that again. And there you go. Closure. Or an opening. Thanks, Tom. Thanks, Kevin. Thanks, Suri. Thanks to Kyle. Full episodes available on Netflix. The Ryan Russillo Show. Barstool Sports. Chill. The Ryan Russillo Show.