Hour 1: Von Miller to Cowboys, Browns’ QB Competition, plus QB Guru Jordan Palmer

0:00In ESPN's wild world of college football, every Saturday begins with a ritual.

0:07Rich Eisen:And then, the migration turns to mayhem. Predators hunt, territories are defended, rivals clash. In this wild world, legends are unleashed on Saturdays. No one brings you closer to the wild than ESPN. College football on ESPN kicks off August 28th. Witness the wild on ABC, ESPN, and the ESPN app. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment.

0:56Rich Eisen:Now, on with the show. How about the Cowboys? This is the Rich Eisen Show. And that is the rookie that they have been talking about in camp for Dallas. Camden Brown. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Today's gasps. Quarterback consultant Jordan Palmer. Titans head coach Robert Sala. ESPN Cowboys reporter Todd Archer. And now it's Rich Eisen. Oh, hey, everybody. Welcome to this edition of The Rich Eisen Show, live on Disney +, the ESPN app, ESPN Radio, Sirius XM channel, 8844-204-RICH is the number to dial. Overreaction Monday. Chris Brockman and I have already recorded it. It's sitting right there in your RSS feed.

1:47Rich Eisen:If you want to listen to it, you can watch it also on YouTube.com slash Rich Eisen Show. It is the first Overreaction Monday since our post-Super Bowl show where we're reacting to actual football action. Now, obviously, a Super Bowl is one thing, and preseason week number one is another, but that means there's stuff to absolutely completely overreact to, and we do exactly that, and we'd love for you to join us today on this program by calling us for all three hours. Hang with us. Good to see you over there. Chris Brockman, how are you? Hey, buddy. What's up, man? DJ Mikey D is in D's nuts. Good to see Mike Del Tufo.

2:22Rich Eisen:Good to see you. And TJ Jefferson, Candleslip, what's going on over there? I mean, football is here. It is that. It is that. Listen, I've been caping for the Cowboys for a few months now. I put them in my top five in my way, way, way too soon power rankings. And in my way too soon power rankings, they stayed in the top five, moved up to number four. And they just keep me thinking that they've made the right moves on the defensive side of the ball to support an offensive side of the ball that's already championship worthy if they can protect their quarterback and keep the run game that Javante Williams had a renaissance in last year, or at least an ascension that we hadn't seen in quite some time from him or eager to see, that the defensive side of the ball that gave up the most yards on the ground and in the air last year, that if they're able to tighten the bolts on that, they have a real shot to make a run, finally get to the NFC Championship game, or heaven forbid, make it to SoFi Stadium to play in Super Bowl 61 on the Disney family of networks.

3:36Rich Eisen:Look, Rich, right now I'm like Bart Simpson. I'm at the chalkboard, and I'm writing, I will not overreact to a week preseason game. It's not that. It's not that. It's the addition of Von Miller on Sunday. Now, listen, you could sit here and say, Vaughn's long in the tooth. What does this mean? What does that mean? Last year, the Dallas Cowboys were led in sacks by Jadavian Clowney. Eight and a half. Last year, Vaughn, in a non-starting role for the Washington Commanders, had nine sacks. Vaughn would have led the Cowboys in sacks last year. And the Cowboys added Rashawn Gary. and the Cowboys have young kids all over the place that Von Miller can now walk in the locker room and be the OG for them.

4:26Rich Eisen:That's going to be his biggest contribution. Damn straight it is. Damn straight. You think how many other pass rushers can come in and have Rashawn Gary look at him and go, oh, okay. Not many because Rashawn Gary is a grown-ass man himself and Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams right up the middle. and Ezraku and Overshown and Caleb Downs now has somebody like Von Miller to show him some ropes and I know they don't do the same thing but they're professional football players and then on top of it Von is a state of Texas legend who I think in the many times that we've interviewed him has been a Cowboys fan since birth and is a Texas A &M Aggie and a first ballot Hall of Famer who now can come in, and he's older than his defensive coordinator in Christian Parker, be an avatar for the team and the coaching staff and a leader.

5:23Rich Eisen:I mean, this fits on every single possible way. And all he's got to do is do what he did last year. He started three games for Washington, that's it, but he played in all 17, nine sacks. He's got to even just do half of that, and it's still a cherry on top. For a Cowboys team that had 35 sacks total last year. What a great addition this was. I heard this and I'm like, okay, the Joneses are pushing buttons. They know exactly what the hell they're doing. You think Brian Schottenheimer and Christian Parker are sitting around thinking, can we get Von Miller? And then you get a phone call saying, you got Von Miller.

6:02Rich Eisen:They must have been doing freaking cartwheels. Yeah, I mean, the word was out that he wanted to come. But he's like, is he really going to do it? And then he did it. It's like, oh, okay. Then he did it. But Rich, it's cool. Here's the deal now, right? As a Cowboys fan, as someone who's been in this hanging on, if you're going to make this move, let's not wait. Like, if you're really going to be all in, you're really going to bust the budget, go get that dude. Who is that? The dude in Las Vegas. I don't think he's available. I don't think he wants to be available. And I think that he's not going to be available right now.

6:31Rich Eisen:And I know we keep mentioning that. And I swore I'm going to get off that train because he has said over and over again, I don't want to go anywhere. I don't think we should get off. And hey, you know, and the Raiders have got their own reasons to feel, you know, good about themselves coming off of their preseason loss. Yes, to Arizona. But I don't think they're going to be in the business of trading away or giving away any of their blue chippers right now. We'll see how everything plays out. And they could potentially add him midseason in the same way that just added Vaughn late in the summer.

7:07Rich Eisen:where moves are, it's difficult to counter those moves within your division, within your conference, because they're made so late. Who else is going to be around? Who's got nine sacks sitting around? That's why the Texans went ahead and said, you know what, we've got a ton of players here. Let's just add your Devin Clowney. Let's bring him in. Eight and a half sacks to add to Will Anderson and the rest of that team. When you can add smart, good, Hall of Fame talented players who may not be at the top of their Hall of Fame talent right now, and you could do that high character guys in the locker room let's go well done Todd Archer will be along later on in the show he covers Dallas Cowboys for ESPN he's going to be in our number two of this program he's right in the middle meanwhile preseason action week number one lots to overreact to but we're finally seeing quarterback competitions play out in preseason action.

8:04Rich Eisen:The Cleveland Browns kicked off the NFL Network triple header on Saturday against the Chicago Bears, who did not play Caleb. It was a Tyson-Bajit Saturday to start for them. Antoine Randall-Elcoll plays in the second half, so this is what they're using their preseason for, because they got Caleb Williams, and they got a roster full of young, talented players that they're ready to go into battle with come up in week number one for the Chicago Bears. When it all toe meets ball for them at Carolina. Week one game that I think will serve to be underneath the radar with two first overall drafted quarterbacks going against each other.

8:47Rich Eisen:Two division winners, right? But we're all talking about the Cleveland Browns quarterback competition. Todd Munkin, unlike the Minnesota Vikings, going full deep into the preseason season before making a decision. And the only decision Munkin made was we're going to go with Deshaun Watson first on Saturday against the Bears, Shador to follow. And then the following preseason week, we're going to go with Shador first and Deshaun Watson to follow. And Watson overall looked pretty darn good. I almost went higher register. Well, I mean, it wasn't perfect. It wasn't perfect. He did, you know, fumble on a second quarter drive.

9:32Rich Eisen:The 10 points the Browns put up were both on drives, the touchdown and the field goal on drives that Watson was quarterbacking. Casey Concepcion ran one in, giving you an idea of how Munkin can use some of his latest rookie weapons. Last year's rookie weapons are now second-year players, and all the Browns have got to do is get some quality quarterback play and they can make some hay, and I'm just rhyming now. I know, Miles Garrett's out here, but they got Jared Verse, and that young Turk, that young Squire is going to want to prove to a bunch of people that the thing that he does is sack quarterbacks, and he wants to be a leader here all we got to do Cleveland Browns fans is get some quality quarterback play and they can really be a sleeper team in 2026 for real the question is is is the quarterback play going to be average or above average and I'll say Deshaun Watson is going to have the thumb on the scale for him because of how much money they've put into him and how much capital blood sweat and have gone into waiting for him to be healthy and full, mature, and clear of all his past and his problems, and just focusing on playing quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, which he did to the tune, let me get this correct, of 11 for 14.

11:08Rich Eisen:11 for 15, 126 yards and two scoring drives. Todd Monken said it was awesome to watch. how did you think Deshaun Watson did in his half of course oh it was awesome I mean it was so cool to watch him play I mean I get all of the the frustration my fans himself but for him to come back and work like he did is a unbelievable credit to him and then to go out there he was having fun today and that is so cool and I thought he really functioned at a high level. Certainly we don't want to be taking timeouts we sure as heck can't take delay games okay but it was fun watching him play and watching us put the next step forward and see where we're at And Watson for his own right stepped to the podium and talked about his journey to get to this point and he was asked to, you know, hey, Coach said it looked like you were having fun out there.

12:15What are your, can you confirm?

12:17Rich Eisen:Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's how it's been my mentality. So I don't think that's anything that I doubt into myself. That's the reason why I work hard these last two years, you know, to get back to that. You know, I had some challenges with some injuries and suspension and, you know, now being able to, you know, get a full offseason and continue to work my way back up, you know, it takes time. But at the same time, I don't doubt myself in any way that I can't play at a high level. He turns 31 on the 14th of September. So in between weeks one and two, he will be just a 31-year-old quarterback with not a lot of gameplay from ages 27 through 31.

12:59Rich Eisen:Right. You know, and so that's the question is, can he get back to the Washington, the Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans, the one that the Browns said, we'll take you even with a suspension coming. We'll take you even with all that baggage that led to the suspension and all the negativity and all the awfulness that we read about about what he did back in the day and that he is now soon to be a 31 year old guy who's turned his life around, we hope, and playing free and playing fun. and with all that experience and with all that capital in him, Shador can't be airmailing passes, dropping footballs.

13:35Rich Eisen:He did make some good throws, as is his want, and then he showed up at the podium or his press conference afterwards in front of the media with a smile on his face because that's who he is. But he's got to kind of play perfect. He's got to practice perfectly, and his next preseason start better go gangbusters because I don't know. I always thought there was a thumb on the scale and when the Cleveland Browns are opening up their season at Jacksonville and then at Tampa you know where Baker's going to be gunning for whoever is out there. I kind of feel like they're going to want a more veteran steady hand just to see what they have and who they have in Watson.

14:25Rich Eisen:may not be popular in Cleveland, but I've always thought that, even though I cape for Shador best I can because I believe in him and obviously I love the Sanders family. Munkin had this to say afterwards about where the quarterback competition goes from here. Well, when we practice against Buffalo, we will give both of the quarterbacks opportunities with the ones against the Bills. Shador will start against the Bills. Deshaun will play in the third quarter and Dylan play in the fourth. So it just flipped. Yep, there you go. So it's going to be, you know, I guess fair. Deshaun Watson in the third quarter against maybe second stringers for the Bills is going to look good.

15:07Rich Eisen:Let's be honest. All he's got to do is just, you know, be efficient, run the offense. And Shador, that's going to be a massive first half for him. And it may not be enough. but Munkin's going to just continue this thing deep into the summer and then we'll see what happens because at some point you know I don't think they're going to Munkin's going to play this thing all the way out and leave Jacksonville guessing who's going to be the the starting quarterback I think he's going to want the reps to go specifically to somebody just like Kevin O 'Connell made that decision even before snap was made for the Vikings in New Jersey against the Giants.

15:53Rich Eisen:But that's preseason action number one. Nobody really lit up the lamp to the point where it's like, OK, that's it. But I kind of watched Deshaun Watson. I'm like, OK, that's kind of it. It's the way I thought. Because Monken hasn't made a decision yet. and he's not uh he's not showing his cards when he says we're just gonna go with the plan and then we'll see what happens in preseason week number three so much to talk about um including jackson darts day against the vikings where he wound up in the big blue tent again and he's pissed about it uh i've got some thoughts on all of that um and let's take a break though because Our friend Jordan Palmer is about to join us right here on the Rich Eisen Show, and he knows all about getting quarterbacks ready for play at every level, collegiate and professional.

16:49Rich Eisen:The founder and coach of the QB Summit and Threads Performance, coming up.

16:58Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen here for Gusto. On my shows, we talk a lot about what happens in the spotlight, the games, the highlights, and the moments that get replayed and debated. But in any successful operation, what happens behind the scenes matters just as much. Small businesses are no different. Payroll, hiring, onboarding, benefits, and all the details that keep things moving may not be the most visible part of the job, but they still have to be handled right. That's where Gusto comes in. Gusto is online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. It's all-in-one, remote-friendly, and incredibly easy to use, so you can pay, hire, onboard, and support your team from anywhere.

17:35Rich Eisen:automatic payroll tax filing simple direct deposits health benefits commuter benefits workers comp 401k you name it 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 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. Rich Eisen here. Running a small business means every hire matters.

18:16Rich Eisen: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 rich eisen here with some advice if high interest credit card debt is grinding you down it might be time to call an audible with a sofi personal loan it consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required and with as soon as the same day funding.

18:57Rich Eisen:You can make the right play fast. Call an audible on your debt today at SoFi.com slash debt play. Loans originated by SoFi Bank N.A. Member FDIC. Terms and conditions apply. NMLS 696891. Fast funds terms apply at SoFi.com slash debt play. The Rich Eisen Show podcast. Jordan Palmer, founder of QB Summit and Thread Performance, is also what he's here in support of right here on the Rich Eisen show looking at Fernando Mendoza from Thursday night and knowing the situation new coach Kirk Cousins is there what do you think suss out for me how you think Clint Kubiak's going to run the quarterback room and get Mendoza up to speed as soon as he possibly can Jordan well I don't know that my answer is specific to to Clint and how he's going to go about it i certainly don't know uh but i just think with any rookie that's drafted high particularly at one overall if that if it's close then then play him if they're ready then play him and if they're not um then you've got a great person to start the season off and kurt cousins who's done it and looks pretty good from everything that i've heard um but with fernando again i kind of my point earlier playing playing well in the preseason in my opinion he should he's a really good player.

20:20He played a much higher level in college last year. We talked about going through the Big Ten and then going through the college football playoff and winning it all, beating Miami and all that. He should play well in preseason. And even from a game planning perspective, the volume is so much lower of what you have in on offense. And so the anticipation that the player is able to play faster and whether that's get out of the huddle faster or go through progressions faster, that makes sense to me. And Fernando essentially to me just looked the part I kind of expected him to go in there, go through progressions and play well and throw with confidence and conviction.

20:55And that's what he did. And so it really is. It's just a it's just a kind of a glorified practice in terms of, yeah, there's people in the stands and there's lights and it's on TV. But not not if your context is Heisman Trophy and national champion. These lights are not very bright at all. And the expectation that I would have for players like him is to go in and play well with the part.

21:17Rich Eisen:so what is it how can somebody make an evaluation right how can Munkin make an evaluation um between his two quarterbacks and the evaluation that KOC just made without a snap being made in Minnesota and what you know uh Kubiak's looking at what also I guess Stefanski is looking at he's got one guy who's coming back from injury may not even be ready and it's Tua who did not look very good at all in his first two possessions the other night. Is there a through line of what you're looking at? Like when you say they're close, they're ready, one's not ready. Is there a specific type of play or a down and distance, a third down or something like that?

21:59Rich Eisen:A coach says, if you can't handle this, you're just not starting. Is there a through line here, Jordan? You know, I think it would be case by case. You know, Fernando, like I said, if he looks ready to run this offense and nothing's too big for him, then I personally, you know, I'd go with them. I don't think that you can play to try and protect your guy. You know, let's, let's, if he's not ready to play, then don't play him and protect him. But I don't think you can say he's our guy, but let's protect him with less volume or, you know, chipping when we wouldn't normally chip. You know, in Atlanta, I think that's a different scenario because you've got one player coming off an injury, like you said, Tua in a new situation.

22:44And you have a lot of horsepower on offense. So the expectations are high that that offense can go. So we really need a quarterback to come in and distribute. On paper, you would think that would be Tua because he's done it at the NFL level and done it at a high level. And so I don't know enough about what went into his performance. But I think that you've got an interesting situation there. And with Tua, it's going to be because he's played so much football and he's played at a high level, it's can you match that level that you played at before? If not, then let's go with the guy that we drafted.

23:18But that's going to be, honestly, out of all of them, that's probably the one that I'm paying attention to the most, even though I'm not connected to either quarterback in that room. Paying attention to how Stefanski is going to handle that. Because, like I said, it's not just the fans' expectations of that offense and the horsepower they have. It's the people in that huddle's expectations. You know, the Drake Lundons and the Bijons. that they've had a little bit of a quarterback drought there the last few years. Some of those guys haven't really played with an elite guy yet. And so usually the grace period is pretty short.

23:50The Leafs is pretty short, and the expectations are going to be really high.

23:52Rich Eisen:All right, let's talk about some of the elite guys that you have an association with. Jordan Palmer here on the Rich Eisen Show. Sam Darnold's superpower, man, is even keel, right? But he's the same kid, same guy, whether he gets traded from the Jets or he's acquired by the Vikings and crushes it and finds his new spot in Seattle and wins the Super Bowl. So I asked the question, what's he going to be like with the ring and the confidence and the knowledge? What's going to be this season in Seattle in your estimation for him? Well, there's a lot of things. I think with Sam, his superpower, the way I frame it, is just his ability to keep everything really simple.

24:36And Rich, you know, you're really good friends with a lot of these guys over the years. Being a starting quarterback in the NFL is not a simple life. There's a lot going on. You can pull in a million directions. And I think that's his superpower. And all the hard times that he went through in New York and Carolina and being a backup, the self-confidence that he had that there'll be a time and a place where all I have to do is play to the best of my abilities and I'll be in every game with a chance to make a run at the end. That held true in Minnesota. It held true last year. The thing I'm really excited about is most people, it's funny, I ask quarterbacks, I go, how many teams has Sam Darnold been on?

25:10Everybody guesses three or four. You forget this is his fifth team in nine years. And that's not because he clawed his way into the league. That's the third overall pick in the draft. But this is his first offseason, gosh, I think in five or six, where he just was on this team last year with these guys. So if you think about March, last March, not this past March, but the one before the Super Bowl, he was doing things like asking what we call this play. He was doing things like saying, hi, my name's Sam. Nice to meet you as a teammate. And the other thing is, and this is something I do have expertise on, is the volume of throws on a new team is so much higher.

25:52It's almost like a draft year where your season ends and then you immediately start throwing again. because last year when he got to Seattle, the free agency was in March. So he showed up in March. He's introducing himself to people. He's learning verbiage. He's learning the language. They're talking about entry-level things because he just entered. Now this offseason, having just one season under his belt with those guys, I would expect the floor to be how well he played at the end of last year and really throughout the entire year. I think that's the new floor when you have this type of camaraderie, You have this type of, you know, just experience of playing in games, solving problems, understanding how guys like things, understanding what we can and can't do.

26:32And so, yeah, you lose the running back and you lose the coordinator and you lose pieces. That's what happens when you win a Super Bowl. But, you know, the foundational elements of what made the Seahawks champions last year, I think, are all there. And I would expect Sam Darnold to have another fantastic season.

26:47Rich Eisen:As for Joe Burrow, Jordan, after the preseason action against the Lions, did you give him this hat? Where does he get the I work here hat, Jordan? He's got this website he shops off. I can't remember what it's called, but I went on there, and there's some way too expensive stuff on there. But he fancies himself a fashion guy, and I'm here for it. Okay. But he just works there? I mean, like, again, we're all looking about at Joe like, you know, all the Bengals. I'm just going to come through the front door. All the Bengals fans are afraid he's going to turn into your older brother, man. You know, he's going to turn into Carson and say, I don't want to be here anymore.