From TT
I was wondering now that Patrick Mahomes is 25, which QB under 25 would you build your NFL franchise around?
TT-
Great question.
A lot of people will start with Lamar Jackson, who is the reigning MVP and all of 23.
(If you are wondering, DeShaun Watson also turned 25 this week, like Mahomes, so he’s out too.)
Am I worried about Jackson’s accuracy in the postseason? A little.
Am I worried about his ability to stay healthy long-term? Yeah, more than a little.
But he’s the starting point.
No. 2, give me Kyler Murray, who I think will be a star.
No. 3, I loved, Loved, LOVED what I saw from Joe Burrow last night.
No. 4, I’m buying all the Trevor Lawrence stock I can get, and in truth, he should get more consideration for No. 1 than I am likely giving him.
No. 5, and it’s crazy to think that Josh Allen is the best looking among those dudes drafted in that 2018 draft, right? But he is.
(And yes, until I see Tua doing Tua things, it’s a pretty big stretch to build around a guy with medium arm strength and a rebuild hip.)
Great question
From Mike
Jay,
How weird is it to have NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, US Open and US Open coverage, football and end of the season baseball, and NASCAR playoffs on at the same time?
I am watching more sports than ever before – and the SEC has not EVEN started.
What sports have you watched more of or less of during this time?
Mike-
Excellent question, and one I have wrestled with a bunch during this time.
I have watched very little NASCAR and NBA. No NHL.
I have watched a fair among of Braves baseball.
Golf is next with football the leader, and the gambling and fantasy angles of that can not be ignored friends.
Daily Readers
Jay, I love the 5-at-10. Thanks for the contests and there are a bunch of us here at work who can’t wait until 10 o’clock each day.
You used to have someone write letters called ‘Lunch Bunch’ and I always wondered if one of our group was writing in. Call us “Daily Readers” in the mailbag if that’s okay.
We could not stop talking about the SEC point you asked about (Thursday) about your favorite SEC player for your second- or third-favorite team. We went further than that and wondered who is your favorite player of every SEC team?
Thanks and thanks for your column and tell David and Wells we listen to you guys every day.
Daily Readers-
Wow, thanks for the kind words. Been a crazy week in the email.
Some overflowing praise. Some unabashed anger. Some spam. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
But, hey, we’re going to do what we do, and let the chips fall where they may. In fact, we have this conversation with David and Wells during breaks on Press Row.
I give so many opinions these days – I write eight columns a week counting online and in print, and spend 15 hours a week being a bloviated gasbag spewing hot takes on everything from BLM to Divi. II-AAA football to what’s appropriate on jerseys to which jersey changes are appropriate – that there is only one way to do it.
As honestly and directly as possible. In fact, I have had a lot of folks ask questions about how you get into talk radio or newspaper writing, and the answers are pretty easy.
To get into the business, you have to start small, be willing to work for peanuts and move whenever the next call comes, and work your tail off at every stop.
To get good at the business – and yes, the jury is still out on whether this is good or not – I followed Lewis Grizzard’s advice, “Find someone’s style you like, copy it until you develop your own style.” I started writing trying to be like Jim Murray, the famed L.A. Times sports columnist, who mixed humor and crafty phrase turns that were witty as well as very smart. I wanted to try to write like great political speeches and even the sermons of my youth, which my explain my love for alliteration because of the better flow of the syntax. Later, I mixed in some mid-1990s Sports Guy (Bill Simmons) who was the first I can remember to completely incorporate pop culture into online writing.
Wait, enough of the sidetracking. (The point of that is mainly thanks for the kind words. This business unless you go network, is more praise than pay. And the key to that praise – and often the anger – is the simply fact I am being honest, something that is tragically becoming more and more rare in these days.)
My favorite player at every SEC school. such a great question. (And I will ask Paschall around lunch and post his answers too, if he’s willing to play along.)
Alabama – Derrick Thomas. The best SEC player most people rarely discuss, and the trend-setter for this list, because other than fan favorites of your favorites, there are just some dudes you can’t help but respect because they were so good. (Hi Jules and Alejandro mumbling “Yeah, like Tebow Stupid Gators.)
Arkansas – Darren McFadden. That’s one dude I completely missed on in terms of thinking he was going to be a first-ballot NFL Gold Jacket HoFamer.
Auburn – Too many to name fighting for the spot behind Bo. I loved Reggie Slack, the former AU QB, too. (Side note: When we went to the other side of Nashville to get our all-white English Bulldog who looks a whole bunch like UGa, we agreed to name him Bo Jackson for clear reasons. Well, we almost picked Bo’s brother, who was all white until turning brindle at the back hips and all over his hind legs. If we had picked him his name was going to be ‘Slacks.’ So there’s that.)
Florida – Emmitt Smith or Spurrier. Smith played when the Gators were underachieving. And yes, Spurrier played before I was born, but that was a rough bunch – in terms of playing against and finding good guys not named Tebow – post Spurrier’s coaching days. (Side note: The biggest football what if of our generation is “What if Danny Kannell’s daddy – the Miami Dolphins medical advisor – signed off on Drew Brees rather than Dante Culpepper and Brees went to Miami and Nick Saban stayed?” Along those same lines, “What if Tebow had gone to Alabama, which was his second choice in the recruiting process, and playing for Mike Shula rather than Urban?”)
Georgia – Herschel. And it’s not close. Side note: Last jerseys I wore, a UGA 34 and a Falcons 31 (William Andrews). I was 11 years-old. Side question on the side notes: Is this the most rambling answer in the history of 5-at-10 mailbags?
Kentucky – Jared Lorenzen. Hey, heavy-set dudes who like to play QB have to stick together.
LSU – Not a lot here, because as an Auburn fan, LSU has authored a whole lot of gut-punch losses. (Yes, Alabama and Georgia are my most heated rivals, but it feels like over the last couple of decades, when Bama or the Bulldogs beat Auburn, they really beat Auburn. LSU and one-score setbacks are becoming downright painful. And somewhat expected.) I’ll probably go Barkevious Mingo simply because his name is Barkevious Mingo for Pete’s sake. Side note: Wow, there have been some killer names in Red Stick starting all the way back with Yelverton Abraham Tittle. There’s Barkevious. Don’t sleep late on Early Doucet. Tight end Joe Domingeaux. They had a Booger, a Honey Badger and a T’Bob. I can keep going.
Missouri – Derrick Chievous. Yes, he’s a basketball player. So what. (Almost went with Jon Sundvold.) When he was stroking it with the Tiger – in the Big 8 back then – he wore a band-aid under his eye and for some reason I thought that was wicked cool.
Mississippi State – Eric Moulds. Dude could really play.
Ole Miss – Deuce McAllister. This dude could really play too.
South Carolina – Marcus Lattimore. Read above.
Tennessee – Eric Berry.
Texas A&M -Heck, I’ll admit it. I loved watching Johnny Football, who gave Auburn fans the single best moment of the 2012 season.
Vanderbilt – Zach Cunningham.
Wow, that got wordy friends. Let’s pick up the pace.