Hour 2: ‘Overreaction Tuesday,’ plus NFL Network Analyst Gerald McCoy Talks Aaron Donald & More

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1:00Rich Eisen: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. Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. What is happening at the University of Michigan? Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Award manual after the end of this year will step down. Are we just going to get full transparency on this?

1:44Rich Eisen:Earlier on the show, ESPN College Football Insider Pete Thamel. Coming up, six-time pro bowler Gerald McCoy. Open Championship winner Ryan Fox. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Our number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Pete Famalorti in our number one. Ryan Fox, the champion of the Open Championship, will be joining us on this show. 844-204-RICH. Number to dial a bunch of folks who want to play the win-loss game. That's awesome. We'll get to you. And then there's a way for you to follow us whenever you want. YouTube. There's also Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, at Rich Eisen Show for a lot of those.

2:30Rich Eisen:We appreciate those checking us out on Disney Plus, the ESPN app. Hello, ESPN Radio, Sirius XM Channel 80 audience. And my NFL game day morning compadre back here on the Rich Eisen Show to help kick off our number two, ladies and gentlemen, Gerald McCoy on the program. Oh, boy, look at that background. What is that? What is that, Rich? What is that behind me? That's the Rich Eisen Show logo. That is amazing. Wow, look at you. It is. Come on, man. I love you. You know I call you my fearless leader. Of course, I have to represent my fearless leader, Rich Eisen. I like it. You thought I was going to do it any other way, Rich?

3:07Rich Eisen:Actually, I didn't know what way you were going to go, but I like it. That's a first. It's a little jarring, but it doesn't match the mug. I'm great at first. I'm great at first. I was the first to give the commissioner a hug. That's true. We were the first draft on primetime, and now I'm the first to have Rich's background. You were also, for me, you were the first player I ever interviewed at the Combine asking about your underwear choice, Gerald. I'm great at first. Are you guys aware of this? I had no idea about this. Gerald, who asked you about that at the Combine? Kansas City of all teams.

3:44And what did they ask you? They asked me on game day, do I wear a G-string or a jockstrap? What? What's with the loud giggle in the background? A G-string? What was the answer? I want to know. Wow.

3:58Rich Eisen:Is the answer what you think? What do you think was the answer? I wear a girdle. I don't know. I don't wear either. What do you think they were trying to get out of you for that? Probably just a reaction. Probably just a reaction. But Rich is me. You know, I'm going to say how I feel, and I'm going to just be me. I was like, well, actually, I don't wear either. There you go. I actually wear compressions, but okay. Hey, listen, I remember that. It was a big story, and then you showed up on the NFL Network set. I'm like, you know, I got to I got to ask you this. You also wore compressions at the at the combine.

4:30Rich Eisen:Chris Jones, I think. Oh, gosh. He wore them instead of the shorts, I think. And we all know what happened. Yeah, that was a. Yeah, he let us know you was first ballot. The rest is history. How about that? Rich. See, you didn't think this was going to start this way. I didn't think you're going to have the background. Look at us. We're just going in this direction. All right, Gerald. let's just imagine this is going to happen because we feel it is. What does it look like if Aaron Donald is on the same defensive line as Miles Garrett for the Los Angeles Rams? Gerald, what does that look like? Well, for me, it's like watching a new Avengers movie.

5:19Yeah, I just, I love to see it. But for opposing offenses, it's going to suck because it's picky and poison. You know, I've been a part of teams where we have to break down their blocking scheme and their protections. And take Drew Brees in the Saints, for instance. Congratulations, Drew, going into the Hall of Fame. I'll be there, by the way. OK. They did a most dangerous. So they will always slide to me. So I always got the double team. But then some teams, they would nickel protection where they would slide to the nickel. Sometimes they would point out and identify the mic where they slide to the mic.

5:58But usually when you play a team that has a dominant pass rusher, you try and find a way to get two guys on them. Well, now, if Aaron Donald was to come back, now it's like, OK, what do we do? Because Myles Garrett, even though he broke the sack record, it wasn't just the sacks that made him him. it's everything outside of actually making the play it's determining what are we going to do speeding up the operation, sending two at them now we have to completely change how we game plan because this person is on the field well now you have two generational players on the field what are we going to do?

6:34a lot of people don't understand sometimes people are just not from earth you look at LeBron James his peak athleticism was 10 times anybody else's so now that he's gotten older his regular athleticism is still 2 times anybody else's so now you have an Aaron Donald who's been retired for the amount of years he's been retired he was already far beyond anybody else so if he is to come back which his body feels better he doesn't have all these games on his body he's been able to heal what he will be now will still be at the top of the league and when you partner those two

7:19Rich Eisen:everybody's in trouble and how will Garrett flourish in a way that maybe he did in Cleveland which is wild for me even to start a sentence that way with him playing with a lead way more than he ever has maybe since college Gerald you know like what what what will that look like yeah well he said um he sat down with micah parsons and said he's gonna break his own record i saw that and i saw micah go out i'm basically saying it's not his you know he's still he's still in the league micah you know and then he's coming for it i saw that that was typical micah it was great it was fun yeah this pot and and i believe that he can break his own record yeah i think he had 18 sacks by week 13 or something like that you know so if you were playing and that's not playing with a lead.

8:09If you're playing with a lead, if you were able to do that without a lead where teams are running the ball and now you're playing with last year's MVP that they're going to put up points. So these teams are going to have to throw the ball. This is a league now where times have changed where most of the passes, even some of the runs, have become passes. Like Andy Reid's offense, they don't run the ball a lot but he uses the quick screens and stuff as his run game. So now these teams are passing a lot So imagine what teams will have to do if they're playing from behind. It's actually kind of scary what could happen.

8:45If Aaron Donald was to come back. If Aaron Donald was to come back, you could very well see two people, even if he had a ramp up here, you could very well see two people with 15 plus sacks on the same D line. Like you can really see that with how good this Rams offense is. and the leads they'll be playing with.

9:10Rich Eisen:And, you know, this is a conversation between two people who learned from Warren Sapp. He was a player and me sitting on a set with him for a long time, front and back end play together. Trent McDuffie's back there. If he gives either one of these guys an extra beat, an extra second. That's all you need. It's tough, man, to not sit here and think this is the Rams season to lose, Gerald. But we know this is the NFL, and it's disrespectful to 31 other teams or with all due respect to some of those 31, maybe half the league that believes they've got the roster and a chance with the breaks to win it all, similar to Seattle last year when it all comes together.

9:49Rich Eisen:And Seattle has a great chance to repeat based on the roster coming back. So tell me why this isn't the Rams season to lose, Joe. Well, there are a lot of other really good teams around the league, one being the Denver Broncos. I believe the Denver Broncos, they were a quarterback injury away from getting to the Super Bowl. And if you have, you have to think, you have the Rams defensive line who have rushed well. They just haven't rushed with a Miles Garrett who he ramps up the percentage of the pressures in the QB hits. But then you look at a Broncos defense who has a Pat Sertan, who's arguably second, third best defensive player in all of football behind Miles Garrett.

10:33and then you have that defensive line up front. You've got my buddy from OU. You've got Zach Allen, who these guys are putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback, and they have a top one, two defense in the league. You partnered that with an offense. They just added Jalen Waddell, and I know what Sean Payton can do. You know, this team has just gotten better and better every year. You look at teams like the Broncos. If they run into the Rams, anything can happen. but as far as the Rams go it's yet to be seen because one thing we know about the Rams is somebody might get hurt unfortunately and health is a big issue but if this team stays healthy if 99 was to come back it would be very hard not to see them at least being in the Super Bowl but as we've seen anything can happen, we just watched the NBA championship where people were just writing off the Knicks.

11:30It was like, oh, we watching the NBA Finals with the Spurs and OKC. But then the Knicks show up and it's like, wait, hold up. We still here. That's the same thing in the NFL. Anything can happen. So it's a lot of I want to say a lot of teams that can vie for the Super Bowl. Realistically, every year it's about seven teams. The Broncos being the top of the AFC to me, they can challenge the Rams for sure, but shoot, the Rams got to beat Seattle. I don't know why people think Seattle's just going to lay down. It's not happening. The 49ers, that division alone is going to be tough to get out of. But if they can get to the Super Bowl, they got a pretty good shot at winning, especially if 99 is there.

12:12Rich Eisen:Just remind me, who won the NBA Finals just so I can write it down? Don't forget. Yeah, it's the New York. Oh, that's right, the Knicks. I'm writing that down. Yes. In five, as a matter of fact. Okay, write that down. Knicks in five. So, Joe McCoy here on the Rich Heiser Show. I do find it interesting that you turn yourself to the AFC here and chose the Broncos of all of them. Why? I mean, I know you just kind of said that. So why not others? Why do you think the Broncos are one based on the others? Joe? I just put the consistency of what they've been. You know, they made it to the playoffs. Bo Nix rookie year.

12:53They lost Buffalo Bills. then they come back the next year one of the top teams in the NFL won most of their close games definitely great on the road defended home field and then they get all the way to almost the AFC championship and they lose the quarterback so we don't even know what they would have looked like to full strength but then they added Jalen Waddell who can take the top off the defense I've seen what Sean Payne can do when he has a guy that can take the top off the defense when he had a Brandon Cooks. So you give him a guy like that with the experience of this team, which is led by the defense.

13:35The Broncos when they win, have a dominant defense. Last time we seen them win, they had a dominant defense. We've seen the team who won the last two Super Bowls dominant defense, guys up front. You need guys. Rich, we had this conversation. You need guys and the Broncos have guys but also they have people in the back end that can lock up, I believe is the best corner in all of football. And Pat Sertan, these guys can go all the way strictly on defense. But with Bo Nix growth and being another year in the Sean Payton, I believe the Broncos just right now are the AFC favorites to me, even with Josh Allen out there.

14:13I just do. We don't know the health of Patrick Mahomes or how that's going to work out. But I just believe the Broncos right now are the best team in the AFC.

14:22Rich Eisen:Gerald McCoy, a few minutes left with my colleague from NFL Network. Let's roll into sleeper teams, sir. I need one in each conference. I can tap dance a little longer for you to think of one in each one, unless you have it right now. Gerald McCoy, you have the floor. A sleeper team in each conference. Carolina was an NFC one last year, for instance, I would say, right? Yeah. You could even say the Patriots were one last year. Sleeper team? Chris, would you mind that? Yeah, we were a sleeper analogy. Yeah, for sure. I don't want to be disrespectful to you. Nobody thought the Pats were going to win the East or go to the Super Bowl.

15:03Rich Eisen:Or win as many games as they did. Yeah, right. Okay. All right, so we've now finished our tap dancing, Gerald. I need an answer. Your sleeper teams in the AFC and the NFC, go whichever one you want to go to first. In the NFC and AFC, is the Cowboys considered a sleeper team? No. TJ. Yeah, we didn't make the playoffs last. All right. The floor. We have allowed it. The judges have allowed it. The Cowboys are not considered a sleeper team. I believe they are. Okay. They should be considered a sleeper team. If y 'all don't accept the Cowboys, I go Giants. We accept the Giants. Okay. Dude, what do you think of Scadaboo flipping like that?

15:47Rich Eisen:Did you see that? Hey, man. Some people are going to beat themselves. if you're a maniac, it's hard. When have we ever seen a maniac? You know how many times somebody probably told the Joker, stop? It doesn't happen. I mean, it is what it is. He's just going to be him. Are you saying he's the Joker of Gotham right now? Is that what you're saying? He's a maniac. When have we ever seen somebody? How many times have we probably seen people tell maniacs, hey, that's enough. You probably should try this. You probably should try that. They're maniacs. And how many times have they done it? Never. Right.

16:17Rich Eisen:They're maniacs. He's just a maniac. So then go on the Giants, because I think they're definitely more of a sleeper than Dallas, Gerald. Yeah, yeah, for sure. I believe Harbaugh, he's going to bring back that Tom Coughlin type mindset. OK, it hard nose style of football that Tom Coughlin brought to the New York Giants. And if you look at how he did it at Baltimore, I went on a visit there when I left the books. and he told me about Lamar and he said, listen, y 'all seen him as a rookie but what a lot of people haven't seen is we've been building an offense to fit this kid and Jackson Dart is not Lamar Jackson, but he has the same skill set.

17:02So I believe they're going to build an offense around something that fits his skill set and then you have your receiver, you have Odell who's back. He's going to be able to be the mind in the room. I don't think you bring Odell back and say, hey be the old Dale Beckham of old but what you can do is be an added piece you can be depth and you can coach the young guys and then defensively I just believe that they drafted well and they put together a really good group that's going to be led by Harbaugh and he's going to do it the right way so I wouldn't be surprised if the Giants snuck into the playoffs.

17:39Alright. It's going to be tough but they can sneak in. Alright and the AFC sleeper is? I'm going to do it again I'm doing it again I'm going with the Raiders I know Gerald McCoy you have the floor once a Raider always a Raider I get it and if I'm them I take what they have and I really look at is it necessary to throw Mendoza out there right now a lot of people say just throw him out there throw him in the fire let him. One, Max Crosby has a point to prove. He's a little pissed off. Actually, he's a lot of pissed off. I was just with Max in Vegas. He has a point to prove. And Max is extremely upset.

18:25And he's going to have these guys on a mission. He's upset about what,

18:29Rich Eisen:Gerald? Like, give me a point. He's upset that he was the trade got taken back because they didn't believe in his knee. He's upset that he loves the Raiders for one. But he was Frustrated. Okay. But then he was giving back. So it's almost like they saying, we don't really need you, but we need you. And then the other team is saying, ah, you just kind of lost a step. We don't really trust it. So he's pissed at the world. Yes. Max is out to prove a point. I'm Max Crosby for a reason. Okay. And he's going to bring the guys with him. And he's out to prove that point for the Raiders. Yes. Quarterback wise.

19:08Okay. You got, for me, I just let Kirk Cousins rock. And if you don't have to throw out the kid, then you don't throw out the kid. But this this offense, I believe that Kirk can run it. It's in that that McVay tree. And he just knows how to run this offense. And collectively, I just believe that the Raiders can they can surprise some people. OK, everybody else wasn't really like not really sleepers. So I had to just kind of, you know, go deep in the bag and just pull somebody out of there.

19:42Rich Eisen:Yeah, I mean, the team that drafted first overall, that's a good one to choose as a sleeper. Yeah. All right, and then just cycling back on the Cowboys before I let you go. If you do consider them a sleeper, do they stay awake long enough to make the NFC Championship game? Gerald McCoy. Yeah, I believe they can. I believe they can. He's handing out candy to everybody, right? No, no, seriously, because the D tackle tandem of Kenny Clark and Quentin Williams is going to make everything go. You add Rashawn Gary, you add arguably the best defensive player in the draft with Caleb Downs. What is happening now is we're starting to see this hybrid safety linebacker.

20:26The NFL is lacking true linebackers that can cover and tackle. So what are you doing? You're going out and you're getting your Derwin Jameses or your Caleb Downs. He can be a safety, but then you can add him in the box. He can be a linebacker slash coverage guy. And you don't really need a mic in this defense because that's what Caleb will be. He'll get guys lined up and everything, but everything starts with those guys in the middle. Malachi Lawrence, you add him in the draft. I'm telling you, and the kid from Michigan.

20:56Rich Eisen:I remember he was rich. We talked about this. Remember when he didn't play versus OU in that first half? Yeah, because of that stupid targeting that he got the week before against New Mexico targeting a quarterback that he's sacking. Give me a break. He's the real thing, dude. But then what happens once he touches the field? The whole game changes. Electrified. That's the hybrid player that he is. I just believe that they're going to have the defense necessary to be able to keep up with the offense. And people are going to make fun of the Cowboys. But at the end of the year, they could be a problem.

21:34Rich Eisen:tell you look at you look at you look what you've done for tj gerald look what you've done love it what you've done you've electrified the set sir i appreciate it um great to see you gerald thanks for the background and the time yeah of course what do we what else am i promoting for you right now what's going on i i like the setup you got there i don't see the background but for your show your pod what do you got yeah i'm i'm currently working on some things personally I'll hopefully be seeing you soon in person so I can give you my Gerald hug but I'll just say this about the guy in LA who retired if he has not said no he's thinking about it no doubt he's thinking about it Aaron Donald has always anybody who knows the history of him.

22:33He's always prepared for seasons with his trainer. For two, three years, we did not see him with his trainer. There was a video put out of him with his trainer. That's it. That's it. I know nothing else.

22:51Rich Eisen:Right. All speculation. So the fact that I was not working out with a trainer since the combine but started about a month ago means I'm getting ready for the season. Is what you're saying, Joe. Yes. Okay. Yeah, I just equated myself to Aaron Donald. Yeah, of course. As you should. Do you see that running form behind me? Yeah, look at that right there. Man. Yeah, exactly. Come on, man. Exactly. And just like an Aaron Donald workout, I vomited after that run. I'm with you. I think he's doing it. All right, last one for you. Does he do it from jump? like we're going to see him training camp? Your best guess.

23:33Rich Eisen:Like he's going to do it from jump or he's going to join week four, week five, ramp up this, ramp up that, join the middle of the season or he's just going to go right from jump and be part of him. What do you think? Aaron Donald doesn't have to do anything. He doesn't have to step. That's why he's doing it at the pace he's doing it. But if I had to guess, we'll see him before week one kickoff. Will he play as much? No. But will he be assigned Los Angeles Rams? Los Angeles Rams? If I had to guess, when he comes back, if he comes back, it'll be before week one. Gerald McCoy, everybody, right here on the Rich Eisen Show.

24:12Rich Eisen:See you soon, man. Thanks for the time. All right, y 'all. Love y 'all. Gerald McCoy. Okay, Gerald. You too. Stay good, man. That's great stuff, man.