Speaker 1: Joined now by Lights Out himself Shawn Merriman. We have
Speaker 1: officially reached Super Bowl week, Sean, but before we can
Speaker 1: get to the Super Bowl, everybody a light and sharing
Speaker 1: their different opinions on whether or not it is a
Speaker 1: good move or a bad move for the Rams and
Speaker 1: the Lions too, have traded first round picks the former
Speaker 1: number one picks Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford changing places.
Speaker 1: Is Matthew Stafford good enough to make a big difference
Speaker 1: for the Rams in their pursuit of a Super Bowl?
Speaker 1: Do you like the move? Sean? Absolutely? And uh, you
Speaker 1: know one thing about Matthew Stafford. I want to just,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of put this out there. He's been
Speaker 1: a great player in a really really bad organization for
Speaker 1: a long time. And though I do feel like he
Speaker 1: probably should have been on the move three or four
Speaker 1: years ago, Um, what is this level of the twelve
Speaker 1: year nowatives, Um, he probably should have been a move
Speaker 1: a lot earlier, a lot sooner. Uh. He still is
Speaker 1: a really damn good quarterback and it is upgrade from
Speaker 1: Jared Goff. So is this basically super Bowl or bust?
Speaker 1: When you look at what the Rams are giving up
Speaker 1: for Matthew Stafford. Is that a fair way to read
Speaker 1: this trade, No doubt about it, because if you look
Speaker 1: at you know some of the reasons they failed this year,
Speaker 1: it was at the quarterback position. You know, you can't
Speaker 1: talk about their defense. They had you know, top two
Speaker 1: or three defensive National Football League. Uh, they have great
Speaker 1: players and Jalen Ramsey and and Aaron Donald's. You know,
Speaker 1: they've taken care of on that side of the ball.
Speaker 1: They've they've been able to produce at the wide receiver position.
Speaker 1: But when one position they haven't been able to produce,
Speaker 1: that is the quarterback position. And you know, with Jared
Speaker 1: Goff you get a very hit or miss uh situation.
Speaker 1: It wasn't by lack of effort. It was a lack
Speaker 1: of talent. I mean, let's be honest. I mean Matthew
Speaker 1: Stafford talent wise, is a huge upgrade from Jared Goff.
Speaker 1: And I've said this before, and I've been saying that
Speaker 1: over the last few weeks. Matthew Stafford has never really
Speaker 1: got the credit he deserved because you know, the losing
Speaker 1: records in the organization, them not having very many TV games. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, the numbers are there, and he can throw
Speaker 1: the ball. I mean, look what he's done with Calvin Johnson,
Speaker 1: and he was there over his career. The problem is
Speaker 1: they never gave him enough help around as in a
Speaker 1: total team. He was always gifted one player here, one
Speaker 1: player there. He's got an offense and a defense with
Speaker 1: the Rams and he will be successful there. What do
Speaker 1: you think you mentioned the defense for the Rams. What
Speaker 1: do you think that Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey thought
Speaker 1: when they saw this news that we can finally have
Speaker 1: my opportunity to get a ring. I mean, that's what
Speaker 1: you think of as a defensive player. When you bring
Speaker 1: in a quarterback who can go out and make plays
Speaker 1: for you. Uh, it is an instant relief because you know,
Speaker 1: now those guys will go out there and know that
Speaker 1: them having a top two or three defensive National Football
Speaker 1: League is gonna mean something. Um. You know this year
Speaker 1: they played out of the out of this world. They
Speaker 1: turned the ball over and getting sacksman Aaron Donald what
Speaker 1: he did on the front line and giving those guys,
Speaker 1: uh you know, some rom back there and and Jalen
Speaker 1: Ramsey being the best cointerback in football. Uh, and just
Speaker 1: you know other players the defenseman who really stepped up
Speaker 1: the only only position on that team that they did.
Speaker 1: They struggled, in my opinion, what's the quarterback position? And
Speaker 1: they fixed that problem all right. So let's look at
Speaker 1: the Detroit Lions perspective. Do you think they believe that
Speaker 1: Jared Goff is the guy going forward for them? Or
Speaker 1: was this just about getting as many first round picks
Speaker 1: as they could and so they were willing to eat
Speaker 1: the Jared Goff salary when otherwise the Rams would have
Speaker 1: theoretically maybe had to release him and just deal with
Speaker 1: the fact that they couldn't find somebody else to take
Speaker 1: on that that salary that they signed him to. This
Speaker 1: was this was, in my opinion, this is all about
Speaker 1: the picks, um, because you know what their record this year.
Speaker 1: I don't know what they're picking that this year, but
Speaker 1: now you're talking about two two first runds. I believe
Speaker 1: they got a second in there, right or something something
Speaker 1: along those lines, um, or another picking around And so
Speaker 1: any any anybody who's ever played a liquor football, watched
Speaker 1: liquor FOOTBA or know that matt You know, Jared Goff
Speaker 1: is not an upgrade from Matthew Staffords. It's just not Um.
Speaker 1: Not mechanical wise, not athlete wise, not a quarterback position,
Speaker 1: or you know, no parts of the game. Is Jared
Speaker 1: Goff in upgrade? Um? So this is all about the
Speaker 1: draft picks. Now, I will say this, Jared Goff wanted
Speaker 1: out of the Rams organization. He wanted to be gone.
Speaker 1: He faild like he wasn't appreciated there. So sometimes sometimes
Speaker 1: a chain of scenery and the change of organization, can
Speaker 1: you know, give you that extra little spunk that you
Speaker 1: need to go out and and and feel better about
Speaker 1: actually being one of the organization that wants you there. Um.
Speaker 1: But at the at the end of the day, if
Speaker 1: you're the Rams, uh, I'm sorry. If you're the detroity line,
Speaker 1: this is the business decision. Go ahead and eat that salary.
Speaker 1: It's a big salary, no problem, will take care of it.
Speaker 1: But we're building for the next three to five years
Speaker 1: with those extra picks. So how much is DeShawn Watson
Speaker 1: worth now that you know that Jared Goff is worth
Speaker 1: two first rounders and you're willing to to take on
Speaker 1: Jared Goff's contract. I mean, if you're the Houston Texans,
Speaker 1: even if you don't want to trade Deshaun Watson. You
Speaker 1: had to see what the Rams gave up for Matthew
Speaker 1: Stafford and think to yourself, my goodness, well you're gonna
Speaker 1: get some king's ransom offers probably in the NFL, in
Speaker 1: order to move Deshaun Watson. We don't have to do it.
Speaker 1: We've got him under contract, but three first rounders probably
Speaker 1: is a minimum. Right Like, if if your thirty three
Speaker 1: year old quarterback Matthew Staffords were two, I would think
Speaker 1: that Deshaun Watson has to be worth at least three. Right. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm looking at this, it almost makes Deshaun Watson untradeable.
Speaker 1: I mean, it really does. Because if I'm Deshaun wat
Speaker 1: if I'm the Houston Texans and I have Deshaun Watson,
Speaker 1: there I am asking for three three first round pick, yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe second and maybe two players. I'm asking for the house.
Speaker 1: And there's probably only three or four teams as willing
Speaker 1: to do that. So now it takes you out of
Speaker 1: the pool of being teams. The twelve teams now down
Speaker 1: to maybe three or four even will consider or entertain
Speaker 1: that idea of of having that many guys gone out
Speaker 1: of one trade. I mean, you know, we we've we've
Speaker 1: seen big things like that happened in the past, and
Speaker 1: I don't I don't know the game of her. I
Speaker 1: think what herschel Walker was the was the craziest one
Speaker 1: in the history with praise and ticks and things like that.
Speaker 1: But we're kind of looking at the same situation when
Speaker 1: you're talking about Deshaun Watson, because um he is he
Speaker 1: he is very valuable to organization. He just needs to
Speaker 1: be somewhere where you have an organization that's going to
Speaker 1: support him UH and not gonna treat the players as
Speaker 1: if their jersey number and the CEO of of your organization,
Speaker 1: which is DeShawn Watson, should have an input on everything
Speaker 1: you do going forward. Um So, until they start respecting
Speaker 1: players down in Houston, you're not gonna have a whole
Speaker 1: lot of UH players and free ages looking at willingly
Speaker 1: could just go down there, would you rather? This? To me?
Speaker 1: One of the interesting things about the RAMS move is
Speaker 1: you mentioned the herschel Walker trade. That was the trade
Speaker 1: what you can look up for a year that herschel
Speaker 1: Walker trade happened. But I think it was like eighty
Speaker 1: nine if I'm not mistaken. That was the trade that
Speaker 1: really went a long way. Towards establishing the value of
Speaker 1: draft picks because Jimmy Johnson got all those incredible collection
Speaker 1: of draft picks that he was able to turn into
Speaker 1: that Dallas Cowboy dynasty with Troy Aigman and Michael Irvine
Speaker 1: and uh and Emmett Smith and all those guys. Uh.
Speaker 1: That was yeah, Dubbs says, it was that change that
Speaker 1: almost made everybody else nervous about trading superstars for lots
Speaker 1: of picks, right that that legacy of the Cowboys winning
Speaker 1: that trade by such a massive amount. Do you think
Speaker 1: now the Rams are spinning that back on its head
Speaker 1: a little bit because the reason I'm gonna bring it
Speaker 1: up is the last couple of years they've given up
Speaker 1: two first round picks for Jalen Ramsey, who's the best
Speaker 1: corner in the NFL. I think I'm curious if you
Speaker 1: agree with that. And now they're going to get Matthew
Speaker 1: Stafford and they're giving up two first rounders for him
Speaker 1: as well. They're basically saying, hey, if we can get
Speaker 1: a true stud at at the position right corner and quarterback,
Speaker 1: we're willing to give up two first surrounders because the
Speaker 1: odds of us getting a player of their caliber is
Speaker 1: so low. It's kind of spinning it back on its head,
Speaker 1: that move and saying, hey, maybe we're overvaluing draft picks
Speaker 1: now over talent. Does that make any sense to you
Speaker 1: at all? Is that an interesting angle for you in
Speaker 1: terms of management of a football team. It is, it is,
Speaker 1: But you know, I would kind of combat that by
Speaker 1: saying this, the Rams are pretty close, right, They're pretty
Speaker 1: close to the team. If they're sitting around and they
Speaker 1: got a six and ten record or you know, whatever
Speaker 1: the record is at the end of the season and
Speaker 1: they're not that great, you're you're in a division where
Speaker 1: you have to compete. Um, right, you got Kylin Murray,
Speaker 1: you got Russell, what you got? You know, you got
Speaker 1: a division where you gotta go out and win football
Speaker 1: games right now. And if you don't make these critical moves, um,
Speaker 1: you're gonna be second to third in that division for
Speaker 1: a very long time just because of the quarterbacks. You
Speaker 1: have to play weekend and week out, and that division
Speaker 1: so you gotta make you have to make this splash.
Speaker 1: You have to do the things that they're doing. And
Speaker 1: though you know, some people may sit back and say
Speaker 1: that's crazy, but a lot of people don't understand how
Speaker 1: good Matthew Stafford is, and a quarterback like him with
Speaker 1: that team that you already have, will take you over
Speaker 1: the hump. They will put you never one in that division,
Speaker 1: and you're gonna have to be there because you have
Speaker 1: to see Russell Wilson, you have to see Calamara. You
Speaker 1: gotta see these guys. And look, we don't even know
Speaker 1: what san Fran is gonna do just yet. So san
Speaker 1: Fran goes out and make a splash in the quarterback
Speaker 1: in the market. Now, you really uh have to do
Speaker 1: something like they're doing right now. So I give them credit.
Speaker 1: A lot of people looking at this saying that's crazy,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't give up that, and I would agree with
Speaker 1: that and said it is crazy if they wasn't so
Speaker 1: close already, and if they didn't play in that division,
Speaker 1: then I would say that that's a little mad. Sean
Speaker 1: Merriman lights Out podcast Network here on I Heart. I
Speaker 1: gotta give you a lot of credit here. I think
Speaker 1: last week you tossed out something that I've seen a
Speaker 1: lot of other people start to discuss, and you were
Speaker 1: the first person that I heard say it, which was
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson. Potentially for the number one overall pick. Would
Speaker 1: urban Meyer be interested in that move? Would you make
Speaker 1: that move if you were the Texans, would you be
Speaker 1: willing to believe enough in Trevor Lawrence that you would
Speaker 1: move on from Deshaun Watson. I'm sure the Jags would
Speaker 1: have to give you something else as well, but the
Speaker 1: primary move there would be basically Trevor Lawrence in exchange
Speaker 1: for Deshaun Watson, with the Jags likely having to give
Speaker 1: the Texans additional compensation. But is that an idea you
Speaker 1: would consider it all if you were urban Meyer? Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: but I would I would consider it even more. And
Speaker 1: I talked to to urban Meyer briefly way before he
Speaker 1: got a coaching job, and I need at some point
Speaker 1: in time he was on a coach and I know
Speaker 1: that he needs a stud quarterback to come in and
Speaker 1: really make a splash like here they're about to do now.
Speaker 1: The reason why I would do that is because Deshaun
Speaker 1: Watsons already put it out there publicly that he wants
Speaker 1: out right, so you know, so now at that point,
Speaker 1: I don't think you changes are gonna be willing to
Speaker 1: give up as much as they wanted to con state
Speaker 1: on the hush or stay quiet. I mean Matthew Stafford
Speaker 1: talked about it just recently, but that they've been a
Speaker 1: talks and behind the scenes for a very long time.
Speaker 1: We all know that Deshaun Watson is just unt We
Speaker 1: all know that he don't have any trust in the organization.
Speaker 1: There's nothing mutually respectable about the departure. There's nothing. It's
Speaker 1: the total opposite of Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford's like, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm moving all guys. I did everything I could hear
Speaker 1: you guys are going in the wrong direction. Let's shake
Speaker 1: hands and we both walk away. It's not like that
Speaker 1: with Deshaun Watson. But you know, in that case, yes,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't make a move for Deshaun Watson from Urban
Speaker 1: Meyer and and and in that way, you move up
Speaker 1: to number one for your detections and you go out
Speaker 1: and get Trevor Lawrence. It's a big win. But at
Speaker 1: that case, you're not gonna I just don't believe that
Speaker 1: they're gonna be able to get to three or four
Speaker 1: first round draft picks or whatever else they're looking for.
Speaker 1: All Right, Super Bowl is going on Sunday, final game
Speaker 1: of the year in the NFL. Uh the tam Bay
Speaker 1: Buccaneers around the three point underdog. They are at home.
Speaker 1: The Kansas City Chiefs are not gonna fly in until
Speaker 1: the day before the game. How do you break it down?
Speaker 1: Who should be favored? What do you anticipate to see
Speaker 1: in this game? Well, well, look, I'll spend a lot
Speaker 1: of time going against Tom Brady and I'm talking about
Speaker 1: picking against him, which, by the way, how much did
Speaker 1: you love before we get to that game? How much
Speaker 1: did you love that? Somebody close to Matthew Stafford or
Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford himself said that he had told the Lions,
Speaker 1: I'm fine being traded to any team except the Patriots.
Speaker 1: That that note in my heart play I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: lie to that may be very happy. I started to
Speaker 1: go and look up, but went on the NFL shop
Speaker 1: and get me a Matthew Stafford. Joy. That was my mentality.
Speaker 1: It's like, you know what, I'll play for anybody, but
Speaker 1: I ain't going there um. So that that, you know,
Speaker 1: just shows me what his mentality was about that. And
Speaker 1: then look, the second part of that is you know
Speaker 1: they're traveling there um the day before, and I can
Speaker 1: understand it because it's and it's actually smart if you
Speaker 1: think about it with COVID everything else going on, and
Speaker 1: you know, you just want to be as comfortable as possible, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, leading up to the game, so it doesn't
Speaker 1: get much more comfortable you've been at home. Um I,
Speaker 1: I it's hard for me to go against Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: But the only problem you have and facing this, you
Speaker 1: got a team with passionate Homes and Travis Kelsey and
Speaker 1: Tyreeck Hill. They can throw up twenty one points in
Speaker 1: the quarter. So you know, if they were going against
Speaker 1: anybody else, I would pick the Buck seriously, because I
Speaker 1: just I can't go against Tom Brady. He's been in
Speaker 1: this situation too many times. He's find ways to win. Um.
Speaker 1: But when you're playing the team they can put up
Speaker 1: at twenty one points at any given time, they're gonna
Speaker 1: be hard to beat because you know they're gonna have uh,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe not so great two or three quarters,
Speaker 1: but that fourth quarter they can come and strike at
Speaker 1: any point in time. So it's Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelsey.
Speaker 1: Are they the best wide receiver and tight end combo
Speaker 1: right now? And I know a big part of it
Speaker 1: is having Patrick Mahomes throwing the ball to them. But
Speaker 1: are they the best that you can think of in
Speaker 1: NFL history? To be going side by side with each
Speaker 1: other right now is a pretty unbelievable duo. Absolutely, And
Speaker 1: you know the kind of watching as a former defensive player,
Speaker 1: Uh there, it's the perfect combination along with Andy Reid
Speaker 1: because he's they find ways to hurt you. You know,
Speaker 1: Tyreek Hilling is gonna go deep and stretch and field
Speaker 1: out of Travis Kelsey is right under him and finding
Speaker 1: holes in the defense and sitting down and getting creative
Speaker 1: in the linebacker can't run with him, and he's too
Speaker 1: big for defensive back to keep erp with him. So
Speaker 1: they find these mismatches. So you know, Andy Reeves put
Speaker 1: these guys in positions to win over and over again,
Speaker 1: and I can't It's hard to fathom how creative, uh
Speaker 1: that they keep on getting weekend and week out and
Speaker 1: they're running on the same place, just out of different formations.
Speaker 1: And you look, and you know when I watched a
Speaker 1: ton of field hours and you know, tens of thousands
Speaker 1: of hours of film over my lifetime, and you sit
Speaker 1: there and watching, Okay, how can I stop these guys?
Speaker 1: How can I stop them? How can I stop him there?
Speaker 1: And they're doing different formation of running the same place
Speaker 1: and they just finding ways. Man. I think that, um,
Speaker 1: I think this is this is probably set up to
Speaker 1: be one of the best Super Bowls ever because of
Speaker 1: how these teams played, and it's gonna be a chess match.
Speaker 1: It's really gonna come down to who can turn the
Speaker 1: ball over the least amount of times. But I can
Speaker 1: tell you this, if Tom Brady throws the ball, turn
Speaker 1: the ball over two or three times like he did
Speaker 1: last game, they will not win this game because past Mahomes,
Speaker 1: they're gonna put points on the board. They couldn't cover.
Speaker 1: Last question for you, in the first matchup between these
Speaker 1: two teams, you you talked about the Chiefs just coming
Speaker 1: out and getting up on the early, getting up on
Speaker 1: him early. It seemed like, and you're what much more
Speaker 1: of a defensive expert than I am, but it seemed
Speaker 1: like they made the mistake of trying to single cover
Speaker 1: Tyreek Hill and he just lacerated them. How do you
Speaker 1: when you get whipped like that? And I know they
Speaker 1: eventually made it a three point game, but really that game,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs came out and they took control of it early?
Speaker 1: How much do you totally change what you did the
Speaker 1: first time when you're going back with a new game plan,
Speaker 1: Because it wasn't that long ago that with these two
Speaker 1: teams played in that same stadium. Uh, and that was
Speaker 1: a big game too, and the Chiefs just came out
Speaker 1: and took it to him. How defensively do you respond? There?
Speaker 1: Is it? I guess when you look at the film,
Speaker 1: you know whether it was primarily something you were doing
Speaker 1: or they were doing. But how different do you think
Speaker 1: this kind of game looks? Well? You know, for one,
Speaker 1: once you face somebody the first time, you start to
Speaker 1: get a good field for who can do, what, what
Speaker 1: their capabilities are with their strengths and what their weaknesses are. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I'll go back to the point I just
Speaker 1: made that the hard part about playing the Chiefs is
Speaker 1: they can run a lot of the same plays without
Speaker 1: a different formations, and as h a threat as Tyreek
Speaker 1: Hill is deep, then they start finding ways to do
Speaker 1: short screens with him, and he takes it for fifteen
Speaker 1: and twenty and thirty yards every time he touched the ball,
Speaker 1: So it's really hard to game plan them. You have
Speaker 1: to start going after him and and uh, keeping the
Speaker 1: ball out of past home's hand. That's what you have
Speaker 1: to do. You know, if I was if I was
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay, I would make this a running, bloody game,
Speaker 1: draw the lockout as much as possible, and and don't
Speaker 1: given an opportunity to turn the ball over. Uh. You
Speaker 1: know Leonard Fournette and Jones I would be You know,
Speaker 1: they will both touch the ball twenty times a game
Speaker 1: this game, I mean, no matter what they were, touched
Speaker 1: the ball twenty times a game. And I'll make you
Speaker 1: stop them, eat up the clock as much as possible,
Speaker 1: and don't give Patrick Mahomes enough chance another enough opportunities
Speaker 1: to put the ball in the end zone. But this
Speaker 1: game will come down to the turnover batter. Will ever
Speaker 1: turn the ball over the least amount of times will
Speaker 1: win the game. Sean appreciate it. We've loved having you
Speaker 1: on all season long. Look forward to a good Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: I hope you have a good off season, my man.
Speaker 1: Thanks man, you too,