Hour 2: Raiders, Vikings, Falcons & Browns QB Competitions, plus NFL Insider Mike Garafolo

22:37Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

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24:55Tom Pelissero:welcome back to the rich eyes and show tom pillacero in for rich just said mike garofalo talked a little bit about some of the quarterback competition i want to dive a little bit deeper into some of those but first we we haven't had anyone play the raiders win loss game just yet i believe i believe ben in california wants to change that right now ben are you ready for the schedule a game, sir?

25:17Rich Eisen:I am ready for the schedule again. Hello, guys. Let's do it.

25:20Tom Pelissero:Hello, Ben. Week one. California's a big state. Where are you?

25:24Rich Eisen:I'm standing in California. Not really near or Oakland.

25:29Tom Pelissero:Got it. Week one, home against the Dolphins.

25:33Rich Eisen:I think we're going to win against the Dolphins.

25:35Tom Pelissero:Week two, at Chargers, which is basically a home game. Loss. Week three, at Saints. We lose to the Saints. Week four, home against the Chiefs.

25:50Rich Eisen:Chiefs have our number at home.

25:52Tom Pelissero:Chiefs. One and three start for the Raiders. Week five at New England.

25:58Rich Eisen:Well, we did beat them last year. Brockman, you would know about that.

26:01Tom Pelissero:That was the high point of the year for you guys. Win or loss? Loss. Loss. I was at that game. Strangest game of the entire season. Week one. I was panic. First game, Pete Carroll versus Mike Rabel. and the Pete Carroll Raiders won that game. Gino Smith had like 400 yards. He was a little up and down, but he played good in the second half. All right, week six, home against the Bills. We're losing the Bills. One and five. Week seven, home against the Rams. This is a brutal schedule. My goodness, week seven, home against the Rams.

26:32Rich Eisen:Losing against the Rams.

26:34Tom Pelissero:Wait, Ben, who's the quarterback for all these losses?

26:38Rich Eisen:I think we're letting Kirk just ride it out.

26:42Tom Pelissero:Eat those losses. It's a six-game skid. Now, finally, here we are. Week 8 at New York Jets.

26:48Rich Eisen:I think we beat the Jets. Here we go. It's the Geno Smith revenge game. There we go. That's right.

26:53Tom Pelissero:Week 9 at 49ers.

26:56Rich Eisen:We're not beating the 49ers.

26:58Tom Pelissero:Back to losing. Week 10, home against the Seahawks.

27:02Rich Eisen:Not beating the Super Bowl champs. That's no loss.

27:04Tom Pelissero:Week 11 at Denver.

27:07Rich Eisen:Not beating the Broncos.

27:09Tom Pelissero:Week 12 at Cleveland. Nope.

27:13Rich Eisen:Cleveland's had our number and their defense really good. No, I think we lose to, I guess, Deshaun Watson.

27:19Tom Pelissero:This is the most realistic schedule game of all time. Week 13 by at this point, you got him at 2-10. Yikes. Week 14, home against the Chargers. Lose to the Chargers. Week 15, home against Denver. Lose to Denver. Week 16, home against the Titans.

27:39Rich Eisen:We beat the Titans.

27:41Tom Pelissero:Week 17 at Arizona

27:44Rich Eisen:We beat the Cardinals

27:46Tom Pelissero:Winning streak Messing up that high pick right now Week 18 at the Chiefs

27:52Rich Eisen:The Chiefs are probably going to be resting their starters If it goes well I'll say we win and mess up our draft pick

27:58Tom Pelissero:So that's a three game winning streak At the end of the year Turning 2-12 into 5-12 Going from potential number one pick To probably like pick 5-6 Somewhere in there

28:09Rich Eisen:The reason why I am okay with that is I have no inclination that Raiders are going to win a Super Bowl this year. But if we can get Jeremiah Smith in next year's draft, then I think we have the booster pad of what the Raiders need. He's the number one receiver. Wait, so is that a Mendoza three-game winning streak to end the season? I think the final three games they put in Mendoza to see what he's got. Like with Drake May. They let Jacoby Percet just take him down, and then they get a high enough pick to get what they really need.

28:38Tom Pelissero:But then you run the risk of, man, appreciate the call. Then you run the risk, though, if Mendoza takes over. And all of a sudden, you get that little bump. You win a couple of games at the end of the year. Last year, they shut down half their roster for playing that game against the Jets, the number one pick on the line. I like the forward thinking right there. Yeah, Raiders win totals five and a half. I mean, that is a brutal schedule. but that's what happens when you have to face the NFC West. The AFC West and the NFC West play this year. So that's a collision course where the Cardinals and the Raiders are the teams that get caught in the wash.

29:17Tom Pelissero:One more reason that you have to think those teams are probably going to be in the running for a very high pick, along with teams like the Dolphins who are just in the early stages of a three-year build realistically here. Let's get back into that because you talk about the quarterback competitions. Raiders, certainly one of them. You have to think, based on every public comment that has been made by Clint Kubiak since he got there, based on what that schedule looks like. I mean, beyond Miami in week one, that stretch of Chargers, Saints, Chiefs, Patriots, Bills, Rams for week two to seven. They'll even throw the Saints in there because they were very competitive at the end of the year.

29:55Tom Pelissero:That is a brutal stretch for a Raiders team that has so much work to do to get things headed in the right direction. Okay, then you get the Jets in week eight, but then you're right back at San Francisco, Seattle, Denver. Cleveland defense at Cleveland. Like if you are, and I can't give gambling advice, but if you're putting the over under of wins by the buy for the Raiders, it can't be higher than three and a half. It might be two and a half. Yeah, I think two and a half. I mean, these are, and this is taking nothing away. Where are they coming from? Yeah. But I mean, you'd think Miami, the Jets, maybe Cleveland, maybe New Orleans.

30:34Tom Pelissero:everybody else, I mean, the Chiefs weren't a playoff team last year, but everyone I think would believe they're going to be back in the playoffs this year. Every other team they're facing is a playoff team. But you would think Miami, right? But you'd have a chance.

30:48Rich Eisen:Who would you give the quarterback edge to, Miami or Vegas, in week one? I would probably give it to Miami.

30:54Tom Pelissero:Don't you think Malik Willis is better than Kirk Cousins and a rookie? Kirk Cousins knows that offense, though, really well. I mean, he could coach that offense that Clint Kubiak is running. Well, maybe he should be coaching and not playing anymore. He's a coach on the field. He's the ideal mentor for Fernando Mendoza, and not just because they can pull off a stepbrother's routine in the schedule release video. Kirk's that smart in terms of knowing how everything's supposed to look, pre-snap, post-snap. He's the perfect mentor, but you hate to say it, but to flip the Jameis Winston phrase, you've got to eat those losses, eat those L's.

31:29Tom Pelissero:That's what somebody's got to do. Kirk is a good enough quarterback and is still talented enough at this point in his career that with Ashton Gentry and Brock Bowers and what they've added at wide receiver, and it can't get much worse on the offensive line, they've hired a better offensive line coach. Well, they made some moves in free agency. And they've got a good offensive coordinator who, unlike Chip Kelly a year ago, is not going to botch play calls and all the things that happened with the Raiders last year. Pete was obviously very involved in everything as well. It's a better environment.

32:01Tom Pelissero:There's no doubt about it than it was a year ago. But that is a rocky, rocky stretch until you get to probably the final few weeks of the season for the Raiders. So that, to me, leads me to believe unless Kirk gets hurt or falls on his face, you're starting the season with Kirk Cousins. You're just, that's what Clint believes in. Not every coach believes in that. Some people think that's outdated thinking and these guys need to play. That's the only way you get better. But Clint has said it publicly, and I know that he believes it. Tommy believes it, too. You're better off protecting. And Tom Brady, too, who got to sit his first year in the NFL.

32:34Tom Pelissero:And there's a lot of growth that could be had in that regard, especially when, like Fernando, you're coming from an offense that rarely, if ever, puts you under center. That was all based on RPOs and you're throwing into wide open windows. This is a different type of a scheme and giving them that time to watch a guy who for Kirk, if you're just going talent versus production, setting aside money. but you certainly could say talent versus money as well. Kirk has as high of a ratio as anybody in NFL history. Kirk physically is just, and I like him as a human, so I don't mean this as a shot. He is not that talented, but he's so smart and he processes at such a high level, the mental can overcome the physical.

33:14Tom Pelissero:So for Fernando, who does have much more physical ability, to watch a guy win with his brain the way that Kirk can, I think outweighs any like, boy, Fernando looks pretty good, let's just throw him out there week one. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. So that's one area where, yes, there's going to be competition always, but I certainly believe it's going to be Kirk Cousins who ends up as the starter. Minnesota, Garofalo said he believes it's Kyler. It's not close. That's clearly where he's going. Kyler's walking in there believing he's going to be the quarterback. He could have picked any place of the open jobs.

33:48Tom Pelissero:In another scenario, could he have gone to, for instance, Atlanta? Could he have gone to the Jets? He wants to go to Minnesota because Kevin O 'Connell is a really good coach. He wants a shot in that system. He's only 28 years old. Money was no object because the Cardinals still owe him like$36 million this year, minus the minimum salary that's being offset for Minnesota. And they gave him a no tag clause. So Kyler Murray controls his future in 2027. But job one is he's got to come out and compete and win that job over J.J. McCarthy. Contrary to popular opinion and all the memes, J.J. McCarthy's career to this point has not been an abject, unqualified failure.

34:26Tom Pelissero:He's not stayed healthy enough. He's not been available enough. He's not been consistent enough. But you can't go back and watch him play in Detroit last year after a six-week layoff because of a high ankle sprain. Watch him play against the Lions and go, this guy can't play in the NFL. He was good that day. He did not have to throw the ball a ton. I think he was under 200 yards passing. I was at that game. I've done this long enough. I can tell when a guy's able to play on time, when he's able to be accurate, when he's able to produce in the red zone. J.J. McCarthy did those things that day. You watch him play some of the games down the stretch, even though he's dealing with a hand that was messed up.

35:02Tom Pelissero:He had the baby early on in the season. There's so much going on in his life and with his body through the course of the season that it's hard to get a read. And that's not to say J.J.'s, you know, he's a success and you've got to give him the job. No, it's to say there's enough there and he's young enough that they're not just going to punt on him. If this were just it's Kyler's job and J.J.'s competing with Carson Wentz to be the two, you would have traded J.J. You would have gotten whatever you could get for him already because the longer you wait to trade a guy like J.J. McCarthy, the less his value is.

35:37Tom Pelissero:Other teams trade for untapped potential and traits. You trade something of value because your grade you had on J.J. McCarthy coming out in 2024. four and listen it was not consistent there were some people who had him a lot lower sixth or seventh qb there were people who had him the second or third qb in that draft he ends up being the fifth one off the board after caleb and jayden drake may and penix but the longer he's in the league and the more you don't see what you thought he could be the harder it is to justify trading something of value for the guy not to mention the fact that you're further into his contract and now that value on a rookie contract isn't there.

36:16Tom Pelissero:So I fully anticipate they're going to give J.J. McCarthy the opportunity here to come in and compete with Kyler. If you're Kevin O 'Connell, every quarterback wants to come to Minnesota. If Geno Smith could have had the option to come to Minnesota, I believe he would have been in Minnesota. If Tua had had the option, which was probably never an option in part because Brian Flores is the defensive coordinator in Minnesota, that was probably not going to be a fit back in the same building together. He probably would have chosen to go to Minnesota. He ends up in the second best spot in Atlanta. But the point is, Kevin O 'Connell has quarterbacks actively wanting to come and play for him because he had Kirk Cousins playing at the best level of his life until Kirk tears his Achilles early in the 2023 season.

36:57Tom Pelissero:He had Sam Darnold playing the best football of his life. Daniel Jones never saw the field in Minnesota, but he got a crash course in that offense for a month and went. And until he got hurt last year, he was probably playing the best football of his career in Indy. And I'm not giving Kevin O 'Connell full credit for that. Shane Steichen obviously works with him as well, and Jim Bob Cooter and those guys. But that time with Kevin O 'Connell, it's just proof that when players become available, they want to come. Kevin O 'Connell's got a runway here. Whatever it is, next two, three years, they still haven't hired a GM.

37:27Tom Pelissero:That's going to come. But he's got time here to find who the quarterback is going to be. You now in that room have three guys who are top ten picks. Kyler, J.J., and Carson Wentz who's later on in his career and two out of four seasons in Minnesota O 'Connell has needed that many quarterbacks because everybody's gotten hurt so I anticipate it's going to be a fair competition going in I don't know and I said this on the show last week I don't know how friendly the room's going to be with Kyler and J.J. because they both intend to go and win that job but why would you not? J.J. still has fans he was really well liked he still is well liked in the locker room just hasn't been consistent enough in his availability, in his approach, in his production.

38:08Tom Pelissero:But let's see those two guys go at it. I think that's fun. I think Atlanta's fun. I just don't know realistically how quickly we expect Michael Penix Jr. to be able to compete for the job. He's coming off another ACL surgery, a repeat ACL guy who's had a bunch of other injuries in his career. He's a similar but different style of player, I would say, from Tua Tunga-Vailoa. Obviously, the size is a lot different. they're both left-handers I don't know that the the similarities go much beyond that um two is a more accurate quarterback quite frankly he's shown that in his career and he can play a style that Kevin Stefanski wants I know Matt Ryan's made public statements that are positive about Michael Penix Jr but again what is he going to be able to do in this offseason is he even going to play in the preseason is he going to even have the opportunity to go out and compete I think it's to a week one but that's as much about the availability factor and maybe you hit on to who has been a pro bowl caliber player when he has been healthy and on the field which has been his biggest issue and oh yeah he lit up the falcons despite the fact that his eye was swollen shut because sometimes allergic reaction last year it's still in there with to a tongue of iloa he was beat up last season probably more than people realize let's see what he can do i think two is the quarterback in Atlanta at least out of the gate.

39:28Tom Pelissero:Arizona, Jacoby Brissett is currently not at OTAs. They're voluntary. He's not in the building. You had yesterday Michael Fleur, new coach of the Cardinals, talked on that situation and had this to say.

39:41Rich Eisen:How are things progressing with Jacoby's contract discussions? Same as where we were a few weeks ago. Does that impact, I guess, what is the impact of not having one of your top quarterback options here during those years? It's not mandatory. Like I've said with Jacoby and all veterans I've ever been around, they've played football. The hardest thing to do in this league is get used to the speed of the game. Not just the rookie, but the second-year, third-year guy. He's played a lot of football. He's done probably everything that we've ever done schematically. it's just a little bit different verbiage, you know?

40:22Rich Eisen:So if it's the flip stuff that, that, you know, getting used to the game, like if a rookie's not here, a second year guy's not here, you're like, oh crap. You know, cause it takes a minute. I know Jacoby Brissett produced, you know,

40:36Tom Pelissero:through the ball, like led the league, I think in completions, like put up numbers last year from an efficiency standpoint, not great. And that was a team that all kinds of challenges last season. He's throwing the ball that much because they were given up like 40 points in most games and he had to go out. It's an interesting tact by Jacoby. It's not the first time that he's kind of made clear, Hey, he's not playing unless certain things are right. They signed Gardner Minshew in the off season. My understanding has been Jacoby still QB one on the depth chart. And then they draft Carson Beck in the third round.

41:07Tom Pelissero:You look at their schedule at Chargers home against the Seahawks at San Francisco. Those are the first three games out of the gate for Arizona. But if I'm Carson Beck, and I've played like 92 college games, that's a slight exaggeration, but not by much. I've played a ton of football. He's played a lot. I'm a third-round pick, top pick in the third round. I've taken two college teams to the national title game. If you tell me that I'm going up against Gardner Minshew because Jacoby's going to hold out. 55 games for Beck. 55, which is up there. It's not the record because you've had, well, Bo Nix, I think, started 52.

41:45Tom Pelissero:I want to say there was a player this year who had 60 starts, but he's up there. Didn't Kellen Moore start out again? Up there, Mong. No, I mean, that was back in the days when he didn't have seven years of eligibility. Kellen started a lot for that era. But if I'm Carson Beck and you're telling me, wait a second, I got an opportunity. I just got to beat out Gardner Minshew. And regardless of who my opponents are, I'm going to play with Jeremiah Love, Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson, Trey McBride. Very good. I'll take my chances. What third round pick has an opportunity to start out of the gate?

42:17Tom Pelissero:I'm all over this. There's other situations. For the same reason I'm saying you protect Fernando Mendoza, you're Carson Beck. You may not get a shot. Your shot isn't like, well, eventually. No, your shot is when your shot comes. If you ever get one as a third round pick. I'm loving this. Every rep Jacoby Brissett doesn't take. I'm going, great. Yeah. Give me the opportunity. Let me go out there. We'll see where it resolves. You would think ultimately Jacoby's going to show up. But again, he's always marched to his own beat a little bit. He's never had an agent. He's not due like the minimum this year.

42:51Tom Pelissero:He's on a contract. It's not a starter contract, but it's a solid backup contract. And depending on how this goes, he could be the backup, even though he's going into this thing, his QB1, into the training camp portion of this. The other competition, real quick before we break, too, Cleveland, We mentioned it. This one has the potential to be nuclear for all kinds of reasons. You already have Dion out there saying he's going to fly in. He's got a meeting set with Todd Monken to talk about how he can best use Shadur. You got Shadur's brother Shiloh taking shots at Mary Kay Cabot because she says give the job to Deshaun.

43:26Tom Pelissero:You got Deshaun, who is a whole other story and has now been there for he's now four years into that five year, $230 million contract and has started 20-ish games, Brockman? Somewhere around there? I want to say he has started about 20 games since the 2020 season. We know what Deshaun was at his peak. Can he still be that guy? If he is, he's more talented than Shadour. That is going to be a fascinating one because whoever doesn't come out of that starting, you know they're not going to be happy still being there. All right, we got to take a break. Randy Moss is on in the final hour of the show.

43:57Tom Pelissero:Your calls. More NFL after this.

44:00Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show. the podcast.

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45:10Tom Pelissero:I'll go back to the Rich Eisen Show. Tom Pellicero in for Rich. On the quarterback competition front, there's not one in Baltimore, but we're currently getting a look at, I believe, Snoop Huntley. Yeah. Running the first team offense in OTAs. They're voluntary. Lamar Jackson, who has a$750 ,000 bonus tied to showing up to 80 % of the offseason, maybe waiving that bonus for a third straight year. He's hunting on almost a million dollars. Never been big on the voluntary prices. Now, he was there. Listen, he was there the first day of the voluntary offseason program, which was substantial. We know that because they posted a video of him in slow motion walking into the facility.

45:51Tom Pelissero:Unclear if he was there any other days since we just on NFL Network continued to loop that same video over and over. wearing an I Love Jesus hoodie, I believe. And he was also there for the extra, the bonus minicamp that they had prior to the draft. New head coach in Jesse Minter, new offensive coordinator in Declan Doyle. No reason to think this is contract related for a player who's due, I believe, 52 million again this year and that the Ravens would re-sign to an extension in a heartbeat if and when Lamar, who represents himself, is willing to engage. That has not yet taken place here. but always notable when you're talking about those new coaches in terms of the communication do certain players buy in more are they there more often in Lamar's case again more he has been part of more but not all uh to this point and so once again they put actual money into the position they did last year too I guess but it was to Cooper Rush who surprisingly couldn't run the same offense as Lamar Jackson one of the stranger signings listen like Cooper's had success in in dallas but if you're talking about what you can run with cooper rush it's like the overlap it's one of those pie charts it's just two circles side by side they're just that's not a pie chart it's a venn diagram that's it not next no intersection no over it's been a while since i took any of that my kids get those those math problems just like what it's uh i i got nothing you know i good what's the yeah what's the square root i think i can handle square roots 64 is eight Yeah.

47:22Tom Pelissero:But you do like the little line. It's confusing. Everyone's NFL questions, including from in this studio. My final hour. We're going to do that coming up right after this.

47:32Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show podcast.