Hour 1: Odell Beckham Jr. makes Giants 53-man roster, NFC East predictions, ESPN College Football Analyst Josh Pate

20:12Rich Eisen:Gusto makes it simple and has options for nearly every budget. And it's all built to save you time with built in automated tools for offer letters, onboarding docs, direct deposit, and more. Plus, you get unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price. No hidden fees, no surprises. Try Gusto today at gusto.com slash rich and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free payroll at gusto.com slash rich. One more time, gusto.com slash rich. Taking a quick break to tell you how Saturday's game time can get a little messy. Your crew just came over to watch. Snacks on the table, drinks in hand, and somebody celebrating like they just won the whole season and beyond.

20:54And when that energy gets going, your walls can end up taking the hit. Whether it's a big spill or a noticeable scuff, that's where bare ultra interior paint comes in. It adds an extra durable stain blocking finish that helps your walls hold up for the whole season. It also delivers outstanding coverage and hide in fewer coats with easy application and a smooth, even finish that goes on clean from the first pass. Plus, that easy, clean finish helps walls stay looking new longer. So before the next kickoff, give your space game-ready defense and coverage that goes the distance. Bear Ultra, only at the Home Depot.

21:31The Rich Eisen Show podcast. Zero to zero to overtime. That's ACC football, son.

21:39Rich Eisen:Josh Pate is joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show, Josh Pate's college football show. and a frequent contributor to ESPN and now hanging with the bus and boys. We'll get to all of that. And also, Josh, I'm thrilled to announce that you're going to be joining this show every Tuesday for the college football season, which I'm very appreciative of. You know, I reached out to you during the summer to talk about how I love you coming on this program and you always make me smarter. So let's jump right into it. Is there something going on with LSU and the SEC that is going to actually bleed into their roster and locker room and playing season?

22:15Rich Eisen:and also their athletic department. What is going on on this whole front, Josh? Ooh, buddy, a lot. So there's a lot of newness at LSU. So you've got president, AD, head coach, a lot of it's churned. So LSU's been in the SEC for a long time, but some of the players down there, even though they've been in the SEC, they're new. I think when this whole thing first started, I think a lot of people looked at it, and maybe from 50 ,000 feet, they said, oh, it's just another legal entanglement. And in one stroke, it is. In another stroke, it's not at all because this is devolved into however anyone wants to present it.

22:55Really what it is, is individual players kind of quietly backed by LSU with the support of LSU directly challenging the league and the league saying, hey, if the NCAA can't enforce rules, will enforce league rules. And then a court down in Louisiana saying, uh-uh, no, you can't. And then the SEC saying, watch us. And that is the legal summary up to this point. And now we look towards Thursday where this is all going to play out in a courtroom. I don't know if you put this on a streaming platform that they would accept this premise because it's a little too unbelievable, but that's what it's come to.

23:33And look, Rich, my instinct would normally be to say, no, I don't think LSU is going to put this much on the line as an institution to try and add a couple of pieces. Now, they'd be good players. These are not just depth pieces. As some people have said, these would be contributors. These guys would play not Saturday because I think there's an acclimation period rule, but they would play pretty early for LSU. My instinct is to say, no, they wouldn't do that. However, LSU athletics has already done it with soccer. So there are already players playing down there just in another sport that are flying in the face of this rule.

24:07And so best I can tell, they fully intend to go through with this unless someone tells them, no, you literally cannot. And I don't really even know who that entity is right now, but I don't, I don't use the word theater a whole lot because I think sport works well enough, but this is kind of merged over into the theatrical part of college football and sports.

24:28Rich Eisen:Well, I mean, if a member school is going to notice a loophole in a ruling, reach out to players that they would consider adding if said players just, you know, hey, wanted to hire a lawyer and go and try and get the proper ruling in, say, a courthouse in, oh, Louisiana. You know, like, let's just roll that and see if, you know, we hit the point, you know. And they did. and now players from the NFL are coming as a feeder system to college and I totally understand that everybody isn't up up in arms about it and we're so close Josh to games being played for us to not talk about this right we're about to get lost in you know uh the first weekend of college football so before that happens this has to get fixed right and I don't know what the fix is and I'm sitting there over the weekend and I'm watching Coach Drinkwitz.

25:30Rich Eisen:I'm watching Eli Drinkwitz of Missouri give a very well-reasoned, impassioned statement about calling this a clown show and something needs to be done. And then he mentions this bill in Congress that doesn't get passed. And it was kind of typical where, with all due respect, he didn't know the name of the bill. He had to ask somebody for the help with the name of the bill. And then he mentioned some of the senators who were behind the bill. You mispronounced the name of the senator from Washington who's behind the bill. So it's just like, you know, who to look to to know? You know what I mean?

26:09Rich Eisen:Certainly those who are making sense, but then don't know everything. And it just drives me crazy. So I turn to you as a sense of reason. Like, what what do you think needs to be done? Josh Pate here. Every time you and I talk, we agree on two things. Yes. One, everything's messed up. Yeah. Two, something needs to be done. Then there's a third thing where we both go. But what is that thing? I don't really know what that thing is. All right. So I will tell you this. And I'm fully on board with your sentiment that I pray for the morning this Saturday where full everybody's play in and games have begun.

26:44So we don't really have to talk about this if we don't want to. Right. Anymore. There are some people out there sick enough who want to follow this. And to them, God bless them. I'm not one of them. But I will say this is still going to play out. OK, so this one thing, if we drill down on this one thing, this is a one time thing because it has to deal with that rule, that five for five NCAA rule that really only has a chance to impact the 2022 class in this way. Right. So if anyone tells you, oh, don't waste a whole bunch of time on this, it's isolated. They're technically right about this. But as you and I know, there are like 37 million other issues that do have much more shelf life that have to be dealt with.

27:23So you're right. You can either go Congress or you can go collectively bargain. And that Senate bill, I do want to tell people this as much as they don't want to hear it. It is not dead at all. It is guaranteed to come up for a vote. Rich, I'd still lean. You see me leaning like this. Right. I'd still lean more towards the side that it does get passed. in both Senate and House. Just what I'm hearing. Trust me, I'm not wasting a whole lot of time on this. But if that happens, then what we have to do is we have to dive into the language of the bill. Because as you know, in this country, what you do is you pass a bill and then you find out what's in the bill.

27:54So we have to find out in the bill if there's even language that would have prevented something like this. Because as best I could tell, with the different machinations that thing underwent before the Senate went on recess and they couldn't get it in for a vote, some of the language got taken out that would have theoretically prevented something like this. Again, I'm no legal scholar. That was just my interpretation of it. But that thing may still get passed. It just may happen a little bit later than people intended. But there are many, many experts in this field, of which I don't claim to be one, who would tell you even after it gets passed, they're going to have a million issues with it.

28:31So then you ask that person, okay, what would you do. Oh, I'd collectively bargain. And it's so funny how people just say that. And it's, well, that's how you solve it. Okay. Well, that sounds easy. I assume it's not that easy. And then there's another person who walks in, and this is a person who I have hung out with in the past. And they say, maybe the NFL ought to get involved a little bit. Yeah. Maybe, you know, they, they benefit a little bit from the current ecosystem that is college football that doesn't charge them a dime for marketing, promotion, and development, maybe they ought to get involved.

29:03I heard Albert Breer ask that recently. I've asked that for years. That is the multibillion-dollar question to me is, at what point does this mess merge over into the NFL's lane enough to where they say, okay, children, we're coming in. We've already figured this out a long time ago. Here, let's lend our hand to you.

29:25Rich Eisen:All right. Then one last question for you on this, Josh, before we turn to the games. At the end of the day, we will be lost in the games. But the only time we might bring all this stuff up is going to be when the college football playoff committee makes its decisions based on who the hell knows what, right? But at the end of the day, do you think that all 12 teams that make the college football playoffs or 10 of the 12 will be 1 through 10 or 1 through 12 in how much it costs to put a roster together? Will we see that like in baseball where we're pointing out, oh, the ones with the biggest payrolls make the playoffs or make the World Series?

30:11Rich Eisen:Do you think that that's where it's going to be? Because it's upwards of$50 million sometimes for teams to put together a team now in college football? I really don't. I do think that there will be a top 12 littered with big payrolls. I also think there will be a$30 million plus payroll or two that goes seven and five this year. And you'll look at it and you'll say, wow, that's not the determining factor there. It turns out that there's a lot still to this game of football that's always mattered. Now, the difference is the number one ingredient is talent in that equation. And anybody worth their salt will tell you that.

30:49But that's not the meal. Those are just ingredients. It is still up to really good coaching staffs and really good organizations and really, really good culture to cook with those ingredients. And there are just some chefs out there that are better than others. And dollar figures sometimes don't change that.

31:07Rich Eisen:OK, let's get to the games then. Josh Pate or the season itself. The best team in college football is Ohio State coming into the season. Josh, yeah, I got no problem with that. I think if I were to fill out a ballot, I think I may go Notre Dame, number one, but it would be splitting hairs. I think there's a lot of benefit of doubt on Ohio State's side that I think they've earned. So it's not even like I'm pushing back on this. But I think people look at Texas, maybe, and they question a lot of the things that they would just take for granted with Ohio State. But then again, there's proof of concept in one place versus still needing to do it in the other.

31:44I do think, you know, a team like Georgia is fascinating to me because they were number three in the preseason AP ballot, I believe. And yet they got zero first place votes, which is very atypical because the number six team got some first place votes. So Georgia's at number three and got none. And it's so funny how this worldview has come to be adopted by everyone in a world. I was told we couldn't agree on anything. And there's this agreement that we could put an SEC team as high as three. But don't do not rank them number one, because we all know that the time has come and gone for an SEC team to win a national championship.

32:20Nobody gave Texas a first place vote. No one gave Ole Miss one. There wasn't a single team from that league. They got a first place vote. Now, I'm not even necessarily telling you I'm pushing back on it because I don't have an SEC team winning the national title either. I just don't really recall a time where there's been this overarching concept that's been like this broadly believed and bought into in the preseason that everyone keeps telling you is going to be so uncertain and so unpredictable. So that's funny to me. But Ohio State or Notre Dame, either one would be fine with me.

32:51Rich Eisen:And they win it all or no. What do you got? No. OK, so the way I believe in ranking teams at the start of a season is I'm literally trying to rank you where I think you'll start the season. If I'm predicting towards the end, I'm trying to figure out what you could be and what you will be. So I'm actually going with Miami to win the national championship, because I think as much as people look at those pass rushers they lost and you lost Carson Beck. I don't know why I did air quotes. It is true that he's not there anymore. I think, you know, Carson Beck is no longer there. Right. The preview magazine culture that I grew up in, like a lot of people were accustomed to growing up in, they talk so much about lost production.

33:33And it doesn't concern itself nearly enough with, well, what's the backfill? Who's replacing it? And in most places, it is true. If you lose offensive linemen and pass rushers and a quarterback like Miami lost, history says you take a step back. There are exceptions to all of those rules. Miami is simply an exception to that rule right now. And while I won't argue that they have another Reuben Bain and Akeem Mesidor pairing on that team, I think there are a lot of guys. Lightfoot up front. They brought in Damon Wilson in the portal. There are a number of guys. Truthfully, it would have been starting elsewhere last year that were just contributors and depth providers and role players for them that could be stars this year.

34:12I think they upgraded a quarterback. Like, this is the key for me. I got Mensah winning the Heisman. I think he's going to have a phenomenal year. I think he is a puzzle piece, like tailor-made fit for that Shannon Dawson offense. I think they'll go back to averaging over 40 points per game for the first time in a couple of years. They've got a really workable schedule, but also I don't worry about that team not being hard-nosed and battle-tested because I've seen the way they practice every day. So I'd say Miami at Notre Dame is the game of the year in college football, if I had to call it right now.

34:41And that thing's in November instead of early in the season. So it's crisp. It's nice and cool. The leaves have changed colors. I'm so glad college football is back, Rich. So I'm going to Miami to win the national championship.

34:52Rich Eisen:I was sensing that my third bite at the rules conundrum and the mosh pit of college football's leadership was beginning to wane on you, and you were looking forward to me finally turning the page to talk about stuff like this. All right, so if you have doubts about the Ohio State, Right. I've got to circle back on that because you said they deserve it. I don't know, man. I mean, saying look pretty damn good towards the end of the year. And, you know, Jeremiah Smith could wind up actually popping his way into a top five of a quarterback heavy draft in the National Football League come next year.

35:34Rich Eisen:I mean, what's your two cents on on the Buckeyes here, Josh? Yeah, I don't have much to pick apart with them. So, like I said, it would be splitting hairs. the only thing I wonder about, because I do think that there's a potential deficiency with all these teams. There's no super team out there. So if we were to play the devil's advocate role here, it would be very simple with Ohio State. It would be either one or the other or both of these things. Offensive line still gets overpowered against elite teams. Or their defensive year-over-year attrition, back-to-back cycles finally catches up with them.

36:10Or three, it's both of those. I really have seen a lot of people circle Julian saying as being this question mark or whatever. I think he's going to be a strength of the team. I think he'll be a big time player this year. I don't worry about him. The only time I would worry about him would be in situations like they found themselves in against Miami where he's under constant duress. And at that point, there are very few quarterbacks that shine at this level or the next level, but especially this level. So it's splitting hairs, man. They could easily win the national championship. I think Miami, when I looked at them at their high end, I think they have a chance to be a little more dynamic.

36:47That's about it.

36:48Rich Eisen:And, you know, what do you think is the game of the year in the Big Ten? I mean, there's Oregon at Ohio State. There's Ohio State and Indiana as well. Like, what do you got for me on that for the Big Ten? Hey, maybe we don't need to overthink the room. Maybe it's the game. Maybe Michigan's a little better than people think. I know you have no interest in talking Michigan, but let me drag you kicking the screen. For just a second. Okay. You know, someone challenged me the other day because I spoke, it was in a low tone. I said it in passing and I was just like mildly complimentary of their wide receiver room.

37:27You know that. I mean, you know this. I don't think America knows that that wide wide receiver rooms, the best one they've had in quite a while. That's correct. I think what happens also, it happened to Arch. It happened to Bryce Underwood. In the modern era, one of the byproducts of paying players a whole lot of money is if you don't get immediate production. In other words, if their production doesn't meet your overinflated expectation right out of the gate, they're a bust and you cast them aside. That's not the way the quarterback position works. That's not the way it's ever worked. So I don't think it's the most insane thing in the world when you add more structure around a supremely talented quarterback who is entering year two, where development is supposed to have happened anyway, that I could see him just surge in performance level a little bit this year.

38:13when he's got the kind of supporting cast he has, when he's got maybe the best tailback out of high school football coming in and Savion Hyder and another one to go along with him, when you've got that Michigan offensive line that you know you'll have and you've got a much better system that he fits in, probably than he was in last year, and a much better overall environment than the chaos that was going on around him last year. I don't doubt that I'll get a really good product from Michigan defensively. So I was looking at some predictions the other day. it feels like everyone's got them nine and three.

38:43So I don't think it's a big stretch if they go 10 and two to have them, I don't know, punch a little above the weight of expectation. And if they are in that range, then that means that game's a big one. But I also think how can you overlook Ohio State going to Indiana? We've never had a game even approaching the galaxy of magnitude in Bloomington, Indiana, that that one will have. And then I'm going to go three for three with Ohio State here for a second. So every big Ohio State home game since pretty much the dawn of Fox Sports having this media rights deal has been a noon kickoff. And finally, we get news officially over these past couple of days that the Oregon-Ohio State game, because of the way the broadcast draft works, is going to be a 3-30 kickoff.

39:31And that one's going to be huge. That's Oregon coming to town. And finally, the Big Ten slate is deep enough with with premier games that Fox can't get all of the big ones on Big Noon. Now, I got no problem with Big Noon kickoff because it means I get to get home earlier. But fans hate it and they should hate it because they never get the spectacle that some of these SEC teams get to have five or six times a year. And I want to leave you with this. Yes, sir. Well, from this point, USC at Penn State is the whiteout game. So that's going to be a really big deal, too.

40:02Rich Eisen:Well, certainly since that has a new meaning in that campus. I went there. I did go there. I just want credit. All right. Before I let you go, your week, walk me through your week. I mean, your career is blowing up, Josh. So your week, you're going to have a Friday show. You've got your show. You're on the road all the time. What do you got? What you're looking like week to week. What I would call a dream job 10 years ago is what it consists of. So Sunday night, we do our show. This is all on the YouTube channel. Sunday night, 8 Eastern, 7 Central. Monday, if you want to call it a down day, is my only down day.

40:41I breathe on Monday. Tuesday, I am with you every morning slash early afternoon, and then we'll do a live show that night. Wednesday, I do something with Bustin' with the Boys that appears on both of our YouTube channels. Thursday, I do my show. We will travel to a different campus every Friday morning. We'll do an afternoon show to Eastern, one o 'clock central on ESPN, which I'm very excited about. Because I think if you if you properly capture the Friday afternoon college football vibe, which is way different than Saturday mornings, as we all know, I think we can hit a home run with that show unless we screw it up, in which case it's on us.

41:17And then Saturday is the easiest day. Rich, you just go stand on the sideline and you watch a game and keep your mouth shut and then talk about it on Sunday.

41:23Rich Eisen:Josh, you're the man. I truly appreciate you. Like I told you off air, I have no problem seeing it on the air as well. You're awesome. You make me smarter, and I just love the way that you dispense information and do it in such a style that is so easy to take in. So I appreciate you, and I look forward to this season. Truly do. I appreciate you. It's going to be an awesome year. I cannot wait to do this every week. Josh Pate, everybody. Josh Pate's college football show on YouTube, and then you just heard everything else that he's doing, including our spot every Tuesday right here on the Rich Eisen Show.

41:54Rich Eisen:Let's take a break. We're back with your phone calls. 844-204-RICH. Number to dial.

42:06Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen here. Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow. The challenge? Finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent. With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash eisen. Terms and conditions apply. It's Saturday. Kickoff's getting close, and your weekend project just hit a wall.

42:40You're short on materials, or you need one more tool for the job. Turns out that quick fix needs a quick assist. That's the perfect time to call an audible with express delivery from the Home Depot. Order in the app or online. Get what you need delivered fast and track updates along the way so you can finish your project in time for the first snap. Get what you need even faster with express delivery from the Home Depot. Subject to availability, restrictions, and fees apply.

43:08Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. back here on our radio show along with disney plus and the espn app we say hello to the espn radio audience every single day 12 to 3 eastern so appreciative of being on this radio network all the time let's go to chris and baltimore here on the rich eisen show what's up chris hi rich and friends are you an orioles fan chris

43:34Chris Brockman:uh by default i am more and more football than baseball but i i grew up in baltimore I've been in Baltimore all my life.

43:40Rich Eisen:Did you see the way Colton Couser called game in Colorado last night? That was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my entire life. I didn't.

43:48Chris Brockman:I missed it, but I'll have to catch up on it.

43:50Rich Eisen:Oh, my God. Did you see this, Chris? No. All right. Blast to center field. I looked this up now. With two outs in the ninth of a 2-1 game and one guy on base, it's a two-run shot as ticketed to end the game. To end it. and Couser leaps and makes a game-saving game-ending catch. It's the greatest home run, Rob, to walk off a game I've ever seen. Unreal. Wow. So look that one up, Chris. You weren't clearly calling in to talk about that. What do you got in your mind?

44:26Chris Brockman:Well, I know your time is valuable, so let's get right down to brass tacks. I'd like to play the win-loss game for my Baltimore Ravens.

44:32Rich Eisen:All right, here we go. All right. All right, now. The reluctant Oriole fan wants to play the win-loss game for the Baltimore Ravens. Let me get my paperwork here. All right, here we go. Music, please. I know this will sound like a generous win total,

44:45Chris Brockman:but I really think we have one of the most favorable schedules in the year this year. All right, well, let's walk through it one by one.

44:49Rich Eisen:What happens at the Colts week one?

44:52Chris Brockman:Well, it might be ancient history, but it's not water under the bridge. We still love beating the Colts. That's a win.

44:57Rich Eisen:All right. Next up, home for the Saints. Home opener.

45:02Chris Brockman:Home opener, that's a decisive win.

45:04Rich Eisen:2-0 now against the Cowboys in Rio.

45:08Chris Brockman:Bound to be a shootout, our first big challenge of the year, but I believe it'll be a hard-fought win.

45:13Rich Eisen:Sorry, TJ. You're now 3-0 coming home to take on the Titans.

45:17Chris Brockman:All due respect to the brotherhood of bald men, the Hares will win that one. Attaboy. 4-0 at the Falcons. Could be a sneaky game, trap game,

45:27Rich Eisen:but right now I'm going to say we win it. 5-0 at the Browns. Now, as you know, There's not water under the bridge there either. What happens?

45:37Chris Brockman:Yeah, well, Todd's going to be wishing he still had Garrett, and I don't mean Brad. That's a win.

45:42Rich Eisen:Ladies and gentlemen, lines and wins. That's all he's doing right now. 6-0, Bengals at Ravens.

45:50Chris Brockman:Gray's going to stick it to his former team with a big fat W. 7-0 at the Bills. I want to believe we'll get these guys this year, but in the interest of humility, I'll take these. Interest of humility.

46:04Rich Eisen:By the way, great. Is that a fantasy team? Interest of humility. That might be it. All right, 7-1 Jaguars to kick off week nine Thursday night. They got moxie, but not enough. That's another win for them. All right, you're back on the winning trails. 8-1 Jim comes to face you on a Monday night. Chargers.

46:24Chris Brockman:Minters going to know them better than they know themselves. That's a win. Oh, man.

46:28Rich Eisen:At the Panthers.

46:30Chris Brockman:Going to make Panthers look like pussycats. That's a win. 10-1 at the Texans. Wow. That'll be a dish best served cold as we get revenge for their blowout of us last year. Win. 11-1 home for the Bucs. Could be sneaky, similar to the Falcons, but we'll be rested coming off the bye, so I'll say win. 12-1 at the Steelers. Well, they almost always get us at least once a year, so I'm going to say in Pittsburgh is a loss. 12-2 home for the Browns.

46:59Rich Eisen:Flush them. That's a sweep on the Browns. 13-2 at the Bengals on Thursday night. New Year's Eve.

47:06Chris Brockman:This could easily be the game of the year, and I'm going to begrudgingly give it to Cincy. We split with them.

47:11Rich Eisen:All right, and then you're home for the Steelers.

47:15Chris Brockman:This is our redemption for the end of last season. We vanquish our rivals in front of a home crowd and send Rodgers out with a whimper.

47:22Rich Eisen:Chris, interest and humility in Baltimore. 14-3. Thanks, Rich. Thanks, buddy. That was a fun chat. That was a fun win-loss game there. 14-3. Dang. Ravens 14-3 in Jesse Minter's first year there. That would win them the one seed. They'd get the one seed. That's a win-the-conference regular season record. No doubt. Hey, man, you're going to figure Minter's going to tighten the defense. And if, again, they got this guy, Declan Doyle, new coordinator from the Ben Johnson world. And everybody in Baltimore is like, hey, Jim got himself a new coordinator. And so now let's get Jesse Minter to bring one in himself.

48:06Rich Eisen:Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast. You can watch and listen to the Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

48:23Chris Brockman:Close your eyes, exhale, feel your body relax, and let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-CONTACTS. Oh my gosh, they're so fast. And breathe. Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-CONTACTS.com today to save on your first order. 1-800-CONTACTS