Speaker 1: Welcome to the Solid Verbal. I'll that for me. I'm
Speaker 1: a man, I'm forty.
Speaker 2: I've heard so many players say, well, I want to
Speaker 2: be happy. You want to be happy for dake Edo State?
Speaker 1: Is that? Whoo whoo? And no, Dan and Tie Welcome
Speaker 1: back to the Solid Verbal. Boys and girls. My name
Speaker 1: is ty He'll the brand joining me as always over
Speaker 1: there in beautiful New York City. My man Dan Ruvenstein, Sir,
Speaker 1: how are you?
Speaker 2: My revised answer is a team of twenty two Tyler
Speaker 2: Maddick Cave I matt Madikaevitch Chi Madikavitch. I believe well,
Speaker 2: I know it's Matti Kaevich, but the plural of if
Speaker 2: it's twenty two of them, still by right, twenty two
Speaker 2: mattic Cave is where I'm I'm coming down. It would
Speaker 2: be a brutal, brutal game to play against twenty two
Speaker 2: of that guy. But that is my final answer.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the show. Boys and girls. I'm Tye,
Speaker 1: He's Dan. This is the Solid Verbal. Don't forget to
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Speaker 1: you're interested in one final housekeeping note before we get
Speaker 1: rolling here with our part two Alzheimer's show. A lot
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Speaker 1: I get pings on my phone even when I'm at
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Speaker 1: the phone pings. For whatever reason, I had not figured
Speaker 1: out how to undo the ping. Okay, so it does
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Speaker 1: fully subscribed and at the ready for a bunch of
Speaker 1: cool announcements that I know we're going to make over
Speaker 1: the next couple weeks. Here we've got we've got a
Speaker 1: lot going right now in the super secret Soliverbal Laboratory.
Speaker 2: We do have a lot in the works that's kind
Speaker 2: of coming together pretty quickly. But we are excited about
Speaker 2: some possibilities. And all I could think about when you
Speaker 2: were saying that is have you has your your phone
Speaker 2: or computer? I ever had to be projected on a
Speaker 2: wall for a presentation and you get in like a
Speaker 2: text or something like that, You're like, ha ha, when
Speaker 2: don't we turn that? Because now all I want to
Speaker 2: do is text you, Hey, the cream came in. It's
Speaker 2: the strongest we have for your rash. But it shouldn't
Speaker 2: do the job, and it probably won't ever be up
Speaker 2: on a wall, but you know, in the off chance
Speaker 2: it does. Hey, Ty, All right, Well, how are you
Speaker 2: everything going?
Speaker 1: Well? How's a little man?
Speaker 2: Little man's doing great? Solid baby is thriving started sleeping
Speaker 2: on his stomach because he's dreaming of our all solid
Speaker 2: verbal teams. He is, is he do? How would you
Speaker 2: describe tonight's show? Like, how would you? Because it's one
Speaker 2: thing to say, like this is our our favorite players
Speaker 2: at each position or position groups, whatever, since we started
Speaker 2: the show in two thousand and eight. But it's not
Speaker 2: our favorites. It's not who we think is necessarily the
Speaker 2: best of the best, but it's who we believe if
Speaker 2: we were given a choice, they sing to us in
Speaker 2: a in a special way. So for example, yeah, if
Speaker 2: you're when I was between Marcus Mariota and Colin Kaepernick
Speaker 2: or something, you could look at stats, you could look
Speaker 2: at awards, and something might be objectively better decision wise,
Speaker 2: but at the end the end of the day, you'll
Speaker 2: be like, you know what, I'm just I'm a mariotic
Speaker 2: guy and I'm doing it.
Speaker 1: Well. Let me let me use a different example, and
Speaker 1: I don't think I'm given too much of the game
Speaker 1: away here by throwing out Tyron Matthew. So what we
Speaker 1: did last week is we we talked about our sentimental favorites.
Speaker 1: Maybe a guy had a funny name, Maybe a guy
Speaker 1: was really good in college, didn't do much in the pros.
Speaker 1: But we're not talking about the headlining acts, just guys that,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason spoke players good player in this era
Speaker 1: to find an era, you get the drift what we're
Speaker 1: doing tonight, are I think it? When I think of
Speaker 1: our all time team, I'm looking at a guy like
Speaker 1: a Tyron Matthew as a really good example. He'll play.
Speaker 1: He's a consensus pick. He only played two seasons at
Speaker 1: LSU before we got kicked off the team. But in
Speaker 1: those two seasons, Tehran Matthew made an impact. He made
Speaker 1: an impact, he got a nickname. We're going to talk
Speaker 1: a little bit later about all the different ways that
Speaker 1: he changed the game. But it didn't take a whole lot.
Speaker 1: I've got a couple guys on here who had one
Speaker 1: remarkable season that stands out in my mind. So I'm
Speaker 1: just assembling players, in some cases seasons, putting together the
Speaker 1: bits and pieces since we started this podcast, mind you,
Speaker 1: back in two thousand and eight that have collectively made
Speaker 1: up for my own little college football reservoir.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I'm looking at your team right now
Speaker 2: and I am shocked, Color me shocked. Three Cam McDaniels
Speaker 2: at running back. That's right, you know, I just.
Speaker 1: Best looking guy in college football, right there is he?
Speaker 1: Though I know there was the most photogeneic guy I
Speaker 1: think was That.
Speaker 2: Was pretty good. I'm still partial to our guy in
Speaker 2: his fifties.
Speaker 1: So we had a lot of commentary on the show.
Speaker 2: From Mooking Sexy, Randy Atzel, come on, you gotta okay? Sorry?
Speaker 1: Did I cut you off? I apologize?
Speaker 2: No, You're good.
Speaker 1: We had a lot of commentary on the show. He
Speaker 1: did a week ago. We had a little bit more
Speaker 1: time to prepare for this one, Dane. Let's get rolling.
Speaker 1: Let's start at the quarterback. Whoa position?
Speaker 2: Headliners, tell me who you considered before your choices or choice?
Speaker 1: Well, I considered Cam Newton. Yeah, I considered Cam Newton
Speaker 1: because of that remarkable run he had with Auburn, which
Speaker 1: was incredible and he was unstoppable in that one singular season.
Speaker 1: I considered guys like Manzell because Manzell really did change
Speaker 1: the college in the SCC right like his style of play,
Speaker 1: his edge that he played with, it absolutely had an impact.
Speaker 1: But the two that I eventually settled on. One was
Speaker 1: a guy that, let's be honest, it's a sentimental though too,
Speaker 1: it can be it's a little sentimental. Had a good
Speaker 1: college career, Nick Foles had a better pro career. It
Speaker 1: has had a better pro career being so, we won
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl, was an MVP of a Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: just signed a monster contract. But Nick Foles is the
Speaker 1: guy that we had a lot of fun with on
Speaker 1: the podcast back in twenty eleven, mainly because he played
Speaker 1: on a lousy team. He was the best player, one
Speaker 1: of the best players on a really bad team, would
Speaker 1: throw for five hundred yards each and every week in
Speaker 1: a losing effort, and that nickname caught on. It's still
Speaker 1: with us. We still get tweets whenever he's playing on
Speaker 1: a Sunday. So Nick Foles is like my runner up,
Speaker 1: just purely because of sentimental value.
Speaker 2: I think you put it on the wrong show. I
Speaker 2: may have put it on the wrong show, but he
Speaker 2: was probably in the last ten years, He's probably not
Speaker 2: one of the best forty college quarterbacks. Honorable mention, Yes, okay,
Speaker 2: he's your honorable mention. You wormed sentimentality into tonight's And
Speaker 2: who is your actual pick for the quarterback who has
Speaker 2: best defined excellence? What's the Simpsons Award Outstanding Achievement in
Speaker 2: the Field of Excellence. That's right, who is that award win?
Speaker 1: It's got to be Tim Tebow.
Speaker 2: Wow, Okay, I like that pick. I think it's a
Speaker 2: good pick. It's I wouldn't have considered it, but I
Speaker 2: still think it's a good pick.
Speaker 1: Won the BCS Championship twice, one Heisman once one and
Speaker 1: forty five touchdowns accounted for over four seasons and over
Speaker 1: twelve thousand yards from scrimmage. I'm not sure why you
Speaker 1: wouldn't consider Tim Tebow. I think he goes down as
Speaker 1: one of the best college quarterbacks, one of the best
Speaker 1: college football players of all time. For me, take the
Speaker 1: stats in tandem with all the other intangibles, and the
Speaker 1: answers is clear, and it's tibo.
Speaker 2: Did you consider Sean Petty? Do you remember that name?
Speaker 2: Of course, the Maryland linebacker forced to start at quarterback
Speaker 2: against I don't know it was George Attack or Wake
Speaker 2: Forest or something cour of years ago. That had to
Speaker 2: be under consideration because all of the quarterbacks we considered
Speaker 2: knew they would be playing quarterback that season, but not
Speaker 2: necessarily Sean Petty. I considered Marcus Mariota, Heisman winner and
Speaker 2: took his team, you know, three year starter took his
Speaker 2: team to the National Championship game. Comes up short for sure,
Speaker 2: but was electric from the moment he stepped on the field.
Speaker 2: Lamar Jackson, I don't know how you don't consider Lamar
Speaker 2: Jackson for everything he did as he thrived those specific
Speaker 2: two years. I have Tibo on here now. Baker Mayfield
Speaker 2: is all all time in terms of statistics. Baker Mayfield
Speaker 2: and Kyler Murray stand out, and that's an insane thing
Speaker 2: because of this era. I have RG three here because
Speaker 2: his Heisman winning season was extraordinary. And then Colin Kaepernick
Speaker 2: what he did in Nevada. I'm not putting him in
Speaker 2: that top duo for me because it was I think
Speaker 2: he's a whack quarterback. I'm not fully keeping that against him,
Speaker 2: but at the same time, he was just so good.
Speaker 2: What was he the angry Ostrich something like that. I
Speaker 2: think it was the angry Ostrich. I have manziel and
Speaker 2: Johnny Football and Cam Newton on mine because of just
Speaker 2: how electric they were within the fish bowl that they
Speaker 2: sort of put themselves into because of trouble or attention
Speaker 2: off the field, and the fact that they were able
Speaker 2: to shine was It was just incredible TV. And that
Speaker 2: goes such a long way for me. Johnny Manziel setting
Speaker 2: all sorts of records, winning the Heisman, Cam Newton winning
Speaker 2: the Heisman, and both beating Alabama in impressive fashion. I
Speaker 2: just when I think about this past decade, I think
Speaker 2: we probably spent more words talking about both of them
Speaker 2: than any other two quarterbacks. And so that that to
Speaker 2: me is reason.
Speaker 1: Enough, fair enough, fair enough. So we're going Manzel and Tebow,
Speaker 1: not a bed, not a bad.
Speaker 2: Pretty good at pretty good as long as as long
Speaker 2: as Manzel's not playing lcu.
Speaker 1: All right, who got it? Running back?
Speaker 2: So running back was actually easier than I thought it
Speaker 2: would be. There have been a number of players who've
Speaker 2: put up huge yardage and huge games like how do
Speaker 2: we how do you like leave off melgre for instance,
Speaker 2: Well I did. I don't know if you did, but
Speaker 2: I did, which troubles me. But I went with more
Speaker 2: I would say complete talents. I have Christian McCaffrey, I
Speaker 2: love to do everything, all purpose types who also happened
Speaker 2: to be great between the tackles. So I have Christian
Speaker 2: McCaffrey for his insane all purpose ability. Leonard Fournette because
Speaker 2: physically and being able to run as fast as he
Speaker 2: did at that size, and just for that ole miss
Speaker 2: truck alone. I don't know how he's not there, And
Speaker 2: I just I felt compelled in my marrow to put
Speaker 2: Leonard Fournette there. And then the guy that almost embodied
Speaker 2: a combination of both of them, the all purpose ability
Speaker 2: but also running hard and physically. I have Dalvin Cook. Okay,
Speaker 2: it wasn't. He didn't put you know, three four years,
Speaker 2: you know, Loan Starter tonnage of yards. But Dalvin Cook
Speaker 2: at his best, and he did it over a season.
Speaker 2: I felt was it was impressive in a way that
Speaker 2: even McCaffrey and Fournette weren't. I was terrified with that thing.
Speaker 2: The thing about it, I loved it.
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook was not to say that the other guys,
Speaker 1: certainly McCaffrey and Fournette didn't fall into a similar category.
Speaker 1: But Dalvin Cook, almost to a greater degree, felt like
Speaker 1: he was taking every ball to the house. Yes, every
Speaker 1: time he touched it. You knew there was that game
Speaker 1: breaking ability. The others were outstanding in their own right.
Speaker 1: I considered, though Christian McCaffrey, I consider Dalvin Cook for
Speaker 1: that same reason. I'm gonna play this just because because
Speaker 1: you haven't played the old Milgor sound in a while. Oh,
Speaker 1: he was fantastic. Trent Richardson's another guy had a really
Speaker 1: stellar college career. We also had an awesome conversation about
Speaker 1: whether he could kill a horse if he ran full
Speaker 1: speed and shoulder charged a horse.
Speaker 2: One of our very first backup might be better might
Speaker 2: in front of him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the two names that I'm gonna throw out there,
Speaker 1: and I'm surprised you didn't mention Michael James.
Speaker 2: You know he would be under considerate. He is under consideration.
Speaker 2: For me, He's arguably the best Oregon offense, like non
Speaker 2: quarterback offensive player ever, with how productive he was in
Speaker 2: just three years.
Speaker 1: I feel like because of the Chip Kelly regime under
Speaker 1: which he saw his five thousand plus yards as a
Speaker 1: running back, that system was different. The system was fun.
Speaker 1: He seemed to kind of come into his own around
Speaker 1: the same time that that Oregon football program was really
Speaker 1: truly ramping up and becoming cool. He was kind of
Speaker 1: the face of that to some degree. And so for me,
Speaker 1: he's he's in the backfield here, Mike.
Speaker 2: Do you remember how he got his starts. Why he
Speaker 2: was thrust into the starting lineup. You know what I
Speaker 2: don't la Garrett Blunt punching. Yeah, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 2: He was the backup. He had red shirted, wanted to
Speaker 2: transfer back home, and I think it was Utah. It
Speaker 2: was his first game and he ran wild, and even
Speaker 2: though Blunt came back later on in the season, it
Speaker 2: was Michael's backfield.
Speaker 1: The other name here, and perhaps I'm biased, you know, no,
Speaker 1: this is a great name here. Gotta go Saquon Barkley.
Speaker 1: Now there's a little bit of recency bias here. I
Speaker 1: tried to avoid the younger guys as best I could,
Speaker 1: not because they haven't been outstanding, but just because he
Speaker 1: tend to remember them a little better. But along the
Speaker 1: same lines as Dalvin Cook and Christian McCaffrey, I can't
Speaker 1: think of anyone since we started doing the podcast who
Speaker 1: embodied that big game, breakaway, explosive ability the way Squon.
Speaker 1: Saquon was just fun to watch. And while Dalvin Cook,
Speaker 1: you knew, could outrun everyone if he hit a hole,
Speaker 1: one cut, boom gone, Yes, Saquon would find a way
Speaker 1: to invent a hole and then he'd be gone. The
Speaker 1: ability to distract a defense, to attract defenders so that
Speaker 1: Trace McSorley could throw it down the field to someone else.
Speaker 1: He he just changed the game in so many ways
Speaker 1: that stats can never reflect.
Speaker 2: And a huge beneficiary of the Joe Morehead era, yes,
Speaker 2: where they were able to get him the ball creatively.
Speaker 2: And I think the point is, I think you were
Speaker 2: alluding to it that the best of Saquon Barkley might
Speaker 2: be the best of what we've seen from that position.
Speaker 2: The reason I hesitated a little bit was there was
Speaker 2: some wild card element to his play where, oh, he
Speaker 2: had forty seven yards against Northwestern, huh, And I don't
Speaker 2: know if that's his fault. I don't know if it's play.
Speaker 1: Calls were fun fine seven yards though.
Speaker 2: Those were a fun forty seven. The best of Saquon
Speaker 2: I think it was the Iowa game. It was certainly
Speaker 2: the USC game in the Rose Bowl, the Michigan game
Speaker 2: at home, when I think he lined up he took
Speaker 2: a snap a sort of a wildcat type running back
Speaker 2: and ran a counter to the house with like basically
Speaker 2: not being touched. The best of Saquon Barkley was terrifying.
Speaker 2: And so that's the best thing I can say about
Speaker 2: somebody like that. So he absolutely deserves to be here.
Speaker 2: Let's move on to wide receiver. Mm hmm, I'll go first.
Speaker 1: I've got I've got four wide here, four that I
Speaker 1: feel very confident about.
Speaker 2: Your first selection on here I had. I was so
Speaker 2: angry at myself for not immediately thinking of him.
Speaker 1: Michael Crabtree. Yeah, so Crabtree was right at the very
Speaker 1: very beginning of the podcast, got to go way back
Speaker 1: in time.
Speaker 2: It was the two thousand and eight was the year
Speaker 2: of the catch, right, the.
Speaker 1: Year of the catch. Yeah, Crabtree had thirty one hundred
Speaker 1: yards and forty one touchdowns in two years at Texas Tech.
Speaker 1: Now granted different system, wide open system. They're throwing the ball.
Speaker 1: They were throwing the ball under Mike Leach pretty much
Speaker 1: every down, but his ability to change the game. He
Speaker 1: was unguardable, unguardable in the college game, and certainly to
Speaker 1: put up numbers like that in just two seasons speaks
Speaker 1: to that point. I can't remember. Well, I've got a
Speaker 1: couple other guys on here who were unguardable in their
Speaker 1: own ways, but Crabtree, to me, is probably the alpha
Speaker 1: dog in this category.
Speaker 2: I think that's right. He red shirt. I think he
Speaker 2: was a high school quarterback, so they weren't really sure
Speaker 2: what they were going to get from him. And then
Speaker 2: he was basically a receiving prodigy his red shirt freshman year,
Speaker 2: he catches whatever it was, over one hundred balls, goes
Speaker 2: to about two thousand yards, over twenty touchdowns, and was
Speaker 2: one of those receivers who it's just a handful in
Speaker 2: the last decade. I'm not going to say he stands
Speaker 2: completely alone where an opposing defensive coordinator whoever, is trying
Speaker 2: to figure out what to call him, like, they're probably
Speaker 2: going to Crabtree and you know, there's nothing you like, yeah,
Speaker 2: ok okay, and what do you want to about it?
Speaker 2: And he is just I mean, that freshman year is
Speaker 2: just something of legend. And then he makes, you know,
Speaker 2: arguably the best catch maybe outside of the game winner
Speaker 2: for Alabama the National Championship game of the past decade
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 1: So Crabtree for me is number one. Yep, number two
Speaker 1: isn't that far off. And I know, I know he
Speaker 1: sort of fell on a bad way after going to
Speaker 1: the NFL. And again we covered that a bit on
Speaker 1: our previous show. We're looking at college athletes what they
Speaker 1: did on the field. Justin Blackman in three years at
Speaker 1: Oklahoma State thirty five hundred and sixty four receiving yards,
Speaker 1: forty receiving touchdowns. He was another one who falls into
Speaker 1: that category where he was virtually unguardable. Was drafted what
Speaker 1: the top five ish, yeah, number five in the twenty
Speaker 1: twelve draft by the Jaguars. He's a guy that I
Speaker 1: remember back when I was playing fantasy football in twenty twelve,
Speaker 1: twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, I was bending over backwards because
Speaker 1: I was wholly convinced that Justin Blackman was gonna be
Speaker 1: the next big thing in the NFL. And it didn't
Speaker 1: work out for a multitude of reasons. But yeah, black
Speaker 1: men in college.
Speaker 2: Not necessarily having to do with his talent.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, not having to do with this talent, had
Speaker 1: some substance abuse things, and all that aside from a
Speaker 1: pure talent perspective, and certainly in the college game. Another
Speaker 1: one who falls in that unguardable category. I don't think
Speaker 1: quite as high as Crabtree, but he's at least he's
Speaker 1: at least in my wide receiving cores.
Speaker 2: Physically dominant unlike basically every receiver in this past decade
Speaker 2: and was the rare guy. And there's a guy on
Speaker 2: my list as well who I don't know if he
Speaker 2: was as big as black Men, where he would just
Speaker 2: run a crossing route, a drag route or something. You're like, oh,
Speaker 2: that's a smart play call. It's you know, third and
Speaker 2: eight and you're getting it to him. It's a little
Speaker 2: bit of space. He's going to get that. And then like,
Speaker 2: I think he just ran forty seven yards after the catch,
Speaker 2: which at that size.
Speaker 1: Which one of your three are you referring to.
Speaker 2: I'm referring to Marquise Lee.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: That's why I thought Marquise Lee was somebody, and he
Speaker 2: I think was a little bit more all purpose because
Speaker 2: of his ability in the return game, and that's what
Speaker 2: pushed him for me. I just remember he had a
Speaker 2: window of you know, clenching your butt, holding your breath,
Speaker 2: and that, to me, is that one of the highest
Speaker 2: compliments I can pay. Because USC wasn't always in a
Speaker 2: great place with him, and I know he had some
Speaker 2: injury issues and Robert Woods was also there, and he
Speaker 2: was again like all the next guy's even better, and
Speaker 2: at times it did seem that way for Mark eas Lee,
Speaker 2: he was just also electric with the ball, but built
Speaker 2: that solidly that he would take that six yard route
Speaker 2: and like, oh now he's that's seventy seven to the house.
Speaker 1: Cool. Yeah, I remember the Marquise Lee era he was Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm with you on that one.
Speaker 2: Twenty twelve, I think is when he peaked. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: who's next for you? I'm a little bit wishy wash
Speaker 2: you on your next pick.
Speaker 1: I've got Mike Evans here.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Good at what he did? No, No, great at
Speaker 2: what he did.
Speaker 1: I think one of the primary reasons I had Mike
Speaker 1: Evans on here. First off, he was huge, huge, almost
Speaker 1: twenty five hundred yards in two seasons seventeen receiving touchdowns
Speaker 1: at A and M before he decided to go pro.
Speaker 1: He was another one who was very difficult to guard,
Speaker 1: didn't quite have that breakaway speed, but was still pretty
Speaker 1: quick and obviously a monster coming out on the field.
Speaker 1: What I'd say about Evans, though, is there were so
Speaker 1: many games where Manzel was connecting with Evans that sort
Speaker 1: of defined an era of college football for me. Some
Speaker 1: of those really big games featuring Manziel also featured Mike
Speaker 1: Evans and taking again in totality the size, with some
Speaker 1: of the moments, and certainly the stats. I think he's
Speaker 1: in this wide receiving core For.
Speaker 2: Me, I don't know that there's a better instant deep
Speaker 2: threat go up and get it. Like in the offensive
Speaker 2: meeting rooms at Texas A and M, the conversation may
Speaker 2: have just gone, Hey, Mike, you cool if we just
Speaker 2: sort of like send you and kind of throw it
Speaker 2: up and you'll just come down with it, and like,
Speaker 2: oh yeah, totally no, that works for me, Okay, cool.
Speaker 1: Cool.
Speaker 2: That was Mike Evans and there are very few of
Speaker 2: anybody that were better phishyically at attacking a ball deep.
Speaker 2: But was he the most polished route runner. I don't know,
Speaker 2: but you know, you throw it up to him in
Speaker 2: the end zone. Yeah, on a nice fade, you're getting six,
Speaker 2: And that's crazy impressive.
Speaker 1: I'll be honest with you. If I were, if I
Speaker 1: were actually ranking these from one through four, Evans would
Speaker 1: probably be fourth behind Sammy Watkins. I had such difficulty here,
Speaker 1: but continue, Sammy Watkins had the numbers, clearly had the numbers,
Speaker 1: twenty eight touchdowns, thirty seven hundred plus receiving yards in
Speaker 1: three years at Clemson. He's another one that falls into
Speaker 1: that game breaking category where wasn't the biggest guy certainly
Speaker 1: wasn't Mike Evans, but his ability to run in space
Speaker 1: after catching the football and the acrobatics that we saw
Speaker 1: on display sometimes catching passes from Taj Boyd. Remember that
Speaker 1: was a Boyd era. Yep, he is unbelievable. Another one
Speaker 1: that I was wholly convinced was going to be a
Speaker 1: monster in the NFL, and it hasn't quite materialized to
Speaker 1: that degree, but had all the all the tools that
Speaker 1: you needed everything to really be a game breaking wide out.
Speaker 2: I'm going to read for you twenty twelve's Clemson receiving
Speaker 2: Corps and why it was difficult for me. Nuke Hopkins,
Speaker 2: Sammy Watkins, Martavis Bryant, Adam Humphries. Wow, pretty good for them,
Speaker 2: not bad, pretty good forsome. And then that's all ignoring
Speaker 2: the fact that Mike Williams comes along and is excellent.
Speaker 2: Ar Tavis Scott, Who am I missing? That's you know?
Speaker 2: Since then you have well Dion Kine, Ray Ray McLeod,
Speaker 2: Hunter Renfro, You got Hunter Renfro, Jordan Leggott at tight ends,
Speaker 2: and then Justin Ross and t Higgins, like, it's just
Speaker 2: it's been such an incredible run at receiver it was
Speaker 2: impossible to select. So I didn't take any of them.
Speaker 2: You took Watkins, and I thought that was good enough
Speaker 2: and rightfully, so.
Speaker 1: Okay, So you've got two others.
Speaker 2: On your side. Yes, So I had Mark Easley and
Speaker 2: I explained that Tavon Austin.
Speaker 1: I just I thought about Tavon Austin long and hard.
Speaker 2: He was vapors Yeah, he was just vapor in that
Speaker 2: his trail and that he made me weaken the knees
Speaker 2: and when asked to just get spot duty at running back,
Speaker 2: I want to say against Oklahoma, but maybe that was
Speaker 2: a huge receiving game that he just stepped in and
Speaker 2: Ranford three hundred yards. He was even with having another
Speaker 2: All American caliber and high round draft pick in Steedman
Speaker 2: Bailey opposite him, Tavon Austin was with the ball. Just
Speaker 2: one of four people, whether Percy Harvin, d Anthony Thomas,
Speaker 2: Tavon Austin, whoever else, that was just so fast and
Speaker 2: so just stupidly dangerous that I couldn't leave him. I
Speaker 2: just I felt too much while watching Tavon Austin and
Speaker 2: My final pick is Tyler Lockett, Kansas State. Okay, I
Speaker 2: the excellence when and this is another like everybody knows
Speaker 2: Tyler Lockett's getting the ball. He went for over five
Speaker 2: hundred combined against Oklahoma and Texas in the same season.
Speaker 2: He was so automatic on a team that at times
Speaker 2: struggled offensively that he bailed him out of so many
Speaker 2: situations and games. And just if Crabtree was unguardable, Tyler
Speaker 2: Lockett's unguardable. And the degree of difficulty I would say
Speaker 2: for Tyler Lockett within some of the confines of the
Speaker 2: Kansas State offense made it even more impressive at times.
Speaker 1: To me.
Speaker 2: I loved watching him.
Speaker 1: I want to go back for a second. Okay, Tavon Austin. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Tevon Austin is such a good pick.
Speaker 2: Here, and I was so bummed an NFL team couldn't
Speaker 2: figure out how to use him or he couldn't figure
Speaker 2: out how to be an NFL all purpose weapon. But
Speaker 2: come on, Tevon Austin doing everything for West Virginia he
Speaker 2: had looking at his stats in twenty was it twenty eleven?
Speaker 2: Was his or twenty eleven twenty twelve? He goes for
Speaker 2: one hundred and eighty seven against LSU. I remember that
Speaker 2: game that was at home. I believe the spot duty
Speaker 2: at running back was I'm loading it up right now,
Speaker 2: but it's just like, what more could he do three
Speaker 2: forty four on the ground running back against Oklahoma twenty twelve?
Speaker 2: In twenty twelve, I mean, and then iconically and changed
Speaker 2: because we just talked about Clemson and just in terms
Speaker 2: of his influence with the toss sweep in the Orange Bowl. Sure,
Speaker 2: West Virginia, Clemson gets Kevin Steele fired, who is a
Speaker 2: legitimately good defensive coordinator and still is, and Clemson turns
Speaker 2: to Venables to to sort of modernize their defense, and
Speaker 2: the rest is sort of history for them. But damn,
Speaker 2: tave On Austin, You're killing everybody.
Speaker 1: It represents so much of I think the hype, so
Speaker 1: much of the building expectations at that time around Dana Holgerson. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because he really came into his own under Holgerson. That
Speaker 1: was the Gino Smith era the reserves, So there was
Speaker 1: a lot of excitement around that West Virginia football program.
Speaker 1: Obviously in a little bit of a different place right now,
Speaker 1: but Tavon Austin's a really good pick, really good to
Speaker 1: hold to rate our pick here.
Speaker 2: I will always remember because I interviewed him and I
Speaker 2: asked him, if you didn't go to West Virginia, where
Speaker 2: did you want to go. He was like, I was
Speaker 2: dying for an Oregon offer. Just like adding twenty twelve
Speaker 2: Oregon with Tavon Austin, d' anthony Thomas and the Michael
Speaker 2: James and Kenyon Barner. I guess it'll be twenty eleven.
Speaker 2: Just run the flexbone, That's what that was my reaction
Speaker 2: when you told me that, All right, next position.
Speaker 1: So we're going to do offensive line that we're going
Speaker 1: to take a momentary pause and continue on with the defense.
Speaker 1: We haven't done a whole lot of deep diving of
Speaker 1: offensive lines over the course of I don't know, the
Speaker 1: last twelve years or so. The first name on my
Speaker 1: list is also the first name on your list, and
Speaker 1: that's Quentin Nelson. Ye, Quentin Nelson, violence of Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: Violent as an offensive lineman, clearly paying dividends as a
Speaker 1: high draft pick now in the NFL. Really the full
Speaker 1: package when it comes to an offensive lineman. He just
Speaker 1: mauled people. Dan mauled people in an era against teams
Speaker 1: that had really good, big defensive lineman. There was just
Speaker 1: never a match, never match that he couldn't handle Georgia LSU.
Speaker 2: All of these games he showed up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the first one. Also in the Notre Dame category,
Speaker 1: I'll throw Ronnie Stanley in there.
Speaker 2: Oh, that wouldn't have been my second pick for Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: I don't think it is my second pick, not even
Speaker 1: in this category. It's just the way that I grouped
Speaker 1: them mentally because they're both from Notre Dame. Ronnie Stanley
Speaker 1: had a very good college career. Shouldn't be overlooked.
Speaker 2: Stanley over Zach Martin.
Speaker 1: Zach Martin's a good one too. There have been a
Speaker 1: lot of good Notre Dame offensive linemen. Correct, Yeah, Barrett
Speaker 1: Jones should be higher on this list. Then perhaps I
Speaker 1: gave him credit for Barrett Jones when when he was
Speaker 1: playing for Alabama. I will never forget as long as
Speaker 1: I live. We were doing a podcast during Barrett jones
Speaker 1: junior senior year I forget, and I had Andy Staples on.
Speaker 1: We were talking about a bowl game of BCS or
Speaker 1: an SEC championship, a big game featuring Alabama.
Speaker 2: And Staples loves Barrett Jones.
Speaker 1: Loved Barrett Jones, and I made an offhand comment at
Speaker 1: the time saying that I forget which Alabama superstar was
Speaker 1: the best player on the field. And you could tell
Speaker 1: that he almost like Andy is the nicest guy in
Speaker 1: the world, right, Yeah, something like Andy's the nicest guy
Speaker 1: in the world. He's not looking to show anybody up.
Speaker 1: But that was probably the closest he came to sort
Speaker 1: of putting me in my place, because he said, excuse me,
Speaker 1: the best player on the field is Barrett Jones. End
Speaker 1: of starting fall stop.
Speaker 2: Hard to watch an Alabama game and hear about the
Speaker 2: Alabama offensive line without hearing about Barrett Jones. GPA difficult,
Speaker 2: difficult and that's okay. I think he's doing is he
Speaker 2: ed ESPN? Now? I think he's doing radio TV stuff
Speaker 2: for ESPN. So he's got a bright, shining career in
Speaker 2: front of him. But yes, that's a very good pick.
Speaker 2: I know he he slid around the line a little bit.
Speaker 2: He was a left tackle, he was a center. He
Speaker 2: did what was asked to him. He probably did Rubik's cubes.
Speaker 2: He was great. I can't argue with that pick at all.
Speaker 2: Who's last for you?
Speaker 1: The other name I have on here, and I don't
Speaker 1: know if I should really put him on, but he
Speaker 1: is notable because there was a movie made about him
Speaker 1: literally the year after he left college. And that's Michael
Speaker 1: Orr from O. Yes, very good, really good, very good
Speaker 1: in college. Yeah, notable, perhaps more so for other reasons,
Speaker 1: but went on to have a pretty good pro career. Yeah,
Speaker 1: certainly a good college career. Yeah, Michael wore interesting name.
Speaker 2: So I had Quentin Nelson. The only other player I
Speaker 2: had here was Brandon Shurf. Oh, because that's the other
Speaker 2: like and they run particularly well if I remember correctly
Speaker 2: when Shurf was anchoring one side of the line, but
Speaker 2: what he was able to do, especially in past protection,
Speaker 2: and I assume it was was it Mark Wiseman or
Speaker 2: Akram Wadley, I don't know whoever it was. Was damn
Speaker 2: lucky to be behind Brandon Shurf because at his best
Speaker 2: the violence was also there. And those are two guys
Speaker 2: which anybody who watched either Quenton Nelson or Brandon Shurf
Speaker 2: watching their cutups, watching their highlights of what they were
Speaker 2: doing to defensive linemen, the only correct reaction was like,
Speaker 2: how do we get a guy like that on our team.
Speaker 1: Didn't you tell me you had a bully to find
Speaker 1: that would who would pump himself up? Yes for leg
Speaker 1: day or whatever by.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's a former offensive line Yes, loved Brandon Shurf,
Speaker 2: but there was there was a lot to Brandon Shurf
Speaker 2: that was just excellent. So Nelson's my my standing alone
Speaker 2: on a hill pick for this. But yeah, both of
Speaker 2: those dudes so great. Trey Jackson also counts a little
Speaker 2: bit for me. I really liked watching him at Florida State,
Speaker 2: so I would probably slide him in there as well.
Speaker 1: So listen, speaking of that, Dan m if you decide
Speaker 1: that you want to stand alone on a hill, I
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Speaker 2: Yeah, this was before we even partnered with a Way.
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Speaker 2: Do you want to drool over more players?
Speaker 1: Let's flip over to the defensive side of the ball, Dan.
Speaker 2: Yeah, do you have a kick return or anything? Or
Speaker 2: are we going to do that later?
Speaker 1: We can do that later. Okay, defense, start me off
Speaker 1: with your defensive lineman. There is some similarity here.
Speaker 2: It was impossible. It was impossible. I know who I
Speaker 2: have as my most impressive player. That's in Dominic and
Speaker 2: Sue Yes, two thousand and nine and Dominican Sue was
Speaker 2: going to wreck you, and that is a reality that
Speaker 2: you were going to have to make peace with. I'm
Speaker 2: so sorry for what he put you through. Colt McCoy
Speaker 2: must be very harrowing. You must wake up in the
Speaker 2: middle of the night sometimes and you can see the
Speaker 2: grass underneath his cleats. I get it. He was impossible.
Speaker 2: He was next to it was Jared Crick right, yes,
Speaker 2: next to Jared Crik for Nebraska. I always get that
Speaker 2: confused with It was Owdric on Penn stage.
Speaker 1: Jareddrick. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was very very confusing for me. But in
Speaker 2: Dominican Sue was and I have other names here who
Speaker 2: were unstoppable, unguardable, terrifying. In Dominican Sue, I think, to me,
Speaker 2: still stands alone on this hill as i've as I've
Speaker 2: been saying, who else you got, I've got Jadavion Clowney. Okay,
Speaker 2: just because physically athletically from defensive end, we have not
Speaker 2: had another Jadeveon Clowney. Jadevion, excuse me, I have Aaron
Speaker 2: Donald who in terms of production inside how quickly he
Speaker 2: got off the ball. The fact that he almost athletically
Speaker 2: was a safety at defensive tackle. He was so nimble
Speaker 2: and just all over the place and disruptive. Aaron Donald
Speaker 2: is there for Pitt. It's just it is one of
Speaker 2: the great tragedies to me, and I don't care that
Speaker 2: much about the NFL or the NFL Draft, but that
Speaker 2: he fell as far as he did where it's just like,
Speaker 2: there's nothing anybody can do about Aaron Donald. Why are
Speaker 2: you not taking him in the top five? That's insane?
Speaker 2: And then the final answer is somebody who's undersized, because
Speaker 2: these are all giant dudes. My first three, I have
Speaker 2: Vic Beasley there. Yeah, the speed with which he came
Speaker 2: off the edge to me was just terrifying as well.
Speaker 2: And I know they've put Clemson has put a ton
Speaker 2: now of great defensive linemen into the NFL in all
Speaker 2: four this past year, but going back to Shackloss and
Speaker 2: Kevin Dodd whoever, there have been great ones, Vic Beasley
Speaker 2: was for me more must watch than any of them.
Speaker 2: And as runners up, and I went with TCU's defensive
Speaker 2: ends on the Sentimental Show, I kind of just wanted
Speaker 2: to go with the twenty thirteen Missoo defensive line just
Speaker 2: I don't know if they even all started but Michael
Speaker 2: sam Cony, Ealy, Shane Ray, Marcus Golden in the same
Speaker 2: room is just it's worth noting.
Speaker 1: So I've got and Domikin Sue or as you once said,
Speaker 1: Nom Dekon Sue.
Speaker 2: Dom dom de Kong.
Speaker 1: Yeah to David Clowney, both those guys are they have
Speaker 1: to be on this all time defensive line. Here's a
Speaker 1: guy that you missed.
Speaker 2: I'm ready.
Speaker 1: JJ Watt.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there are multiple Watts I missed.
Speaker 1: JJ Watt is easily the most interesting storyline here. Keep
Speaker 1: in mind remember his story. He was a two star
Speaker 1: tight end out of high school, got a scholarship with
Speaker 1: Butch Jones at Central Michigan. Yeah, and then left, had
Speaker 1: the jone is to leave so that he could walk
Speaker 1: on as a defensive end at Wisconsin. Obviously, had an
Speaker 1: outstanding college career, left after his junior year eleventh overall
Speaker 1: picked by the Texans. The rest is history. Has had
Speaker 1: a pretty good NFL career whenever he's able to stay healthy.
Speaker 1: But when I remember about what not only his ability
Speaker 1: to change the game, his ability to bat down balls
Speaker 1: has had an impact in the NFL and certainly had
Speaker 1: a bigger impact in the college game as well. Because
Speaker 1: it's just it's not the same caliber offensive line, not
Speaker 1: the same caliber quarterback opposite that, and what was really
Speaker 1: a game changer when he came in and started making
Speaker 1: his mark in Wisconsin.
Speaker 2: We haven't mentioned any Alabama defensive lineman and there are
Speaker 2: a ton. Oh yeah, I would spotlight Jonathan Allen just
Speaker 2: because of his versatility. I loved him so so much sentimentally.
Speaker 2: I would, you know, Mount Cody, I think we've brought
Speaker 2: up I was hoping to bring up I don't remember
Speaker 2: if I did last week, but Jonathan Allen to me
Speaker 2: among that very long list, and there have been you
Speaker 2: know whoever it is, Corney Upshaw or Ashawn Robinson, guys
Speaker 2: who have been drafted highly, Jonathan Allen being able to
Speaker 2: adjust to so many different styles. There's a bunch of
Speaker 2: LSU guys, Brockers, Sam Montgomery, Glenn Dorsey, was you know,
Speaker 2: somebody that we probably should be listing in these top four,
Speaker 2: but there's just not enough spots. I just man, you
Speaker 2: look at the long list of Alabama dus, You're like,
Speaker 2: I don't what. It's the same thing with the Clemson
Speaker 2: receivers formula, Like, how am I supposed to choose just one.
Speaker 1: Glenn Dorsey, by the way, was before the soliverbal So
Speaker 1: don't feel bad.
Speaker 2: Was he not eight?
Speaker 1: He was seven? Oh?
Speaker 2: Okay, so now I don't feel bad.
Speaker 1: Rest assured. Okay, okay, let's go to linebacker. There's one here.
Speaker 1: It's an obvious one. I have to say. Manti Tao Ooh,
Speaker 1: Manti Tayo will forever go down as the victim of
Speaker 1: that weird catfishing thing. But all that aside and the zoo,
Speaker 1: the circus that that was one of the most decorated
Speaker 1: college football players of all time, had one hundred or
Speaker 1: more tackles in three straight seasons, one a Defensive Impact
Speaker 1: Player of the Year Award, the Lot Trophy, the Maxwell Award,
Speaker 1: the Beeneric Award, the Bronco Newgirsky Trophy, the Bucket Award,
Speaker 1: the Lombardi Award, and the Walter Frickin Camp Award. Wow, that,
Speaker 1: my friends, is a hell of a college career. I
Speaker 1: don't care what he did at the next level. I
Speaker 1: don't care about the weird catfishing thing. Manti Tao was
Speaker 1: incredible as a college linebacker and deserves to be a
Speaker 1: top this list.
Speaker 2: Okay, I think that's and especially with what he was
Speaker 2: asked to do within the I guess this would be
Speaker 2: the challenger right to your Cam McDaniel, best looking. What
Speaker 2: was the defensive coordinator's name, Bobiaco? You're Bob Diacoah is
Speaker 2: a challenger? God, how did I forget Diaco's name? But
Speaker 2: you know, dropping into that sort of center field pseudo
Speaker 2: safety spot, he was asked to a lot within that defense.
Speaker 2: He was incredible, really had an incredible run. So that's
Speaker 2: definitely the end of Notre Dame linebackers for you. Correct.
Speaker 1: I've also got Jalen Smith on here.
Speaker 2: I know this is your like fifth Notre Dame player, Okay,
Speaker 2: I know. Jalen Smith was amazing.
Speaker 1: Jalen Smith was amazing. He was going to be, if
Speaker 1: not the top pick, probably a top three pick in
Speaker 1: the twenty sixteen draft. Before he blew his knee out
Speaker 1: against Ohio State. He was everywhere. We talked about Joe
Speaker 1: Schmidt on the last show. The contrast between Joe Schmidt
Speaker 1: and Jalen Smith, seeing them next to each other on
Speaker 1: the field really showed you how gifted this kid was.
Speaker 1: And now the fact that he has healed up from
Speaker 1: his injury took a couple of years, but was very
Speaker 1: productive for the Cowboys last season. My guess is the
Speaker 1: Cowboys got a steal. They were willing to invest and
Speaker 1: wait on him, hoping that he'd heal up, and it
Speaker 1: seems like the kind of thing now it's going to
Speaker 1: pay out dividends at the next level.
Speaker 2: I think that's right. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The other name here that I'll mention before I throw
Speaker 1: it over to I don't want to disrespect Alabama. Uh oh,
Speaker 1: so I want to talk about Rolando McLean.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was superb.
Speaker 1: He was unbelievable in the two thousand and nine season.
Speaker 1: It's the kind of thing that sticks out from the
Speaker 1: early days of our podcast. I remember talking about Alabama
Speaker 1: and just coming across his name in an article or
Speaker 1: recap or highlight as I was watching and doing the studying,
Speaker 1: the necessary studying to do this show, and it was like,
Speaker 1: holy freaking crap, this guy is so good. He is
Speaker 1: so good that nine season sticks with me now. Rolando
Speaker 1: McLean had a lot go on after he went to
Speaker 1: the Pros, and there was a bit of a downturn
Speaker 1: there that we won't talk about here. I saw he
Speaker 1: recently got a degree from Alabama, finished his degree. So
Speaker 1: that's good. Cool, that's great, But certainly in terms of
Speaker 1: athletic prowess, it was all there for Lando mclin.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah. I mean I'm in a group Orlando McClain
Speaker 2: with my first pick because I think there's a lot
Speaker 2: of similarity in just how much they were able to do,
Speaker 2: whether it was sideline to sideline, in coverage, in stuffing
Speaker 2: the run, in just diagnosing things. I mean, that's what
Speaker 2: you want from you're either inside linebacker or middle linebacker. Right,
Speaker 2: they're the quote quarterback of the defense. There is something
Speaker 2: about the best of the best at this position, going
Speaker 2: back to in the modern era of Patrick Willis, that
Speaker 2: was before our era, I believe, or else he would
Speaker 2: be on this yes, yes, where you remember you remember
Speaker 2: on Saved by the Bell, Zach would be able to
Speaker 2: freeze time be like, hey, I don't think you know
Speaker 2: she even realizes that I'm going to the dance. He
Speaker 2: breaks the fourth wall. There is something about an excellent
Speaker 2: middle linebacker who, as soon as the ball is snapped,
Speaker 2: the entire play freezes looks around in a time continuum,
Speaker 2: a space time continuum that nobody else is privy to me,
Speaker 2: Like I see what's going on here? I see what's
Speaker 2: going on here, and you just you couldn't get anything
Speaker 2: past Luke Keigley or Orlando McLain in terms of diagnostics.
Speaker 2: They would look at you and you'd be like, oh,
Speaker 2: maybe on passing, maybe we're going deep, maybe we're running
Speaker 2: a couple slants, like, you're not doing that. Maybe we're
Speaker 2: I don't know it was a screen. No, you're not
Speaker 2: running a screen. What are we doing? What are we doing?
Speaker 2: I think you're gonna run off tackle? Maybe a counter.
Speaker 2: I'm like, uh, how did you know? And that was
Speaker 2: the Luke Keegley and Rolando McClain experience, that they just
Speaker 2: had this intuition like they had hacked into the radio
Speaker 2: in the quarterback's helmet. It was so fun to watch
Speaker 2: both of those guys. So I have Keikley, who had
Speaker 2: seven hundred and forty four tackles in his three years.
Speaker 2: I have Jarvis Jones, who had a weird path going
Speaker 2: from USC where he was medically, you know, not clear
Speaker 2: to play. Then he ends up at Georgia and then
Speaker 2: he just destroys everything you want to do from the
Speaker 2: edge as an outside linebacker sort of a stand up
Speaker 2: rush end outside linebacker. He was incredible to me. And
Speaker 2: then my final pick. It's a combination of sentimental and
Speaker 2: just excellence. It's Fonteze perfect.
Speaker 1: Oh man, I still have nightmares about Vontees perfect.
Speaker 2: Vontez perfect. And I was also considering Miles Jack here
Speaker 2: just because of what he was also asked to do
Speaker 2: on offense, and this would have been sentimental Owen Marie
Speaker 2: sick plankful back and linebacker. But Vontez perfect. If you
Speaker 2: have not had a chance watches college stuff, it's all great.
Speaker 2: He's mean, he's angry, he's going to get a lot
Speaker 2: of penalties, and it's going to be kind of worth
Speaker 2: it if you're rooting for him. But if you ever
Speaker 2: have a chance to watch his high school film, oh yeah,
Speaker 2: he's just almontying everybody. He looks like he's twenty seven,
Speaker 2: he's never been kissed. Whatever comparison you want to make,
Speaker 2: he is stupid in high school and in the best
Speaker 2: possible way and makes me want to if you ever
Speaker 2: have the opportunity to come across our friend Brandon Huffman
Speaker 2: and you just end up talking about West Coast high
Speaker 2: school football, I don't know if this is true of
Speaker 2: Vontez perfect, but just reminded me of him. He will
Speaker 2: he will pull out facts like now many people know this,
Speaker 2: but Vontez Berfect's uncle is drag racing legend and knows
Speaker 2: everything about everybody. And I just love that Vontez perfect
Speaker 2: destroyed everybody in LA.
Speaker 1: It was great, Monteze perfect.
Speaker 2: Montes perfect. And the picture of him pointing Matt Barkley
Speaker 2: maybe iconic. Totally iconic. All right, Next up, defensive back.
Speaker 2: We already talked a little bit about to Ron honey Badger.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the honey Badger. In two years, he forced eleven fumbles,
Speaker 1: recovered eight of them, returned two of them for touchdowns. Yeah,
Speaker 1: had four interceptions, ran back two punts for touchdowns. I
Speaker 1: couldn't find it in the stats, but I'm certain he
Speaker 1: blocked kicks along the way and was just a special
Speaker 1: team's wizard. Dan. He changed the game. He had such
Speaker 1: a nose for the ball and his playmaking ability wherever
Speaker 1: he was on the football field. It's different than Saquon Barkley, obviously,
Speaker 1: but it's that same sort of edge where you just
Speaker 1: you know the potential is there to change the game
Speaker 1: anytime the ball is in his vicinity. And it was
Speaker 1: a shame the way things went down at at LSU
Speaker 1: that we didn't get another year from him at LSU.
Speaker 1: And you know, he's obviously moved on to the NFL
Speaker 1: now and has had a decent enough career, but his
Speaker 1: first two seasons at LSU, when he garnered that nickname
Speaker 1: Honey Badger, right, just a ton of fun to watch
Speaker 1: as a fan.
Speaker 2: There is something about value added with guys like Tyra
Speaker 2: Matthew where you're right, it's you know, the punt returning,
Speaker 2: the special teams, the ability to go from safety to
Speaker 2: nickel corner, to blitz from wherever, to know, just a
Speaker 2: standard corner, whatever. That he could occupy so many roles
Speaker 2: in the same drive, in the same game, whatever, that
Speaker 2: he was just too valuable to leave off this with
Speaker 2: as high a level and how's game changing as he was.
Speaker 2: For that same reason, I have Jalen Ramsey. When you
Speaker 2: have that all field defensive ability to make plays no
Speaker 2: matter the situation, I just those are the two people
Speaker 2: I want on my team, maybe more than anybody on
Speaker 2: this list outside of Sue is Matthew and Ramsey just
Speaker 2: because of the versatility on defense where you can task
Speaker 2: them with anything and They're not only going to be competent,
Speaker 2: but they're going to excel. So that's why I have
Speaker 2: both of them.
Speaker 1: I like it. You've also got Patrick Peterson and Eric
Speaker 1: Barry on your list.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I doubled up with LSU guys because Patrick Peterson
Speaker 2: was just smothering and Eric Barry just the intuition there,
Speaker 2: similar to what I feel about ROLANDA. McLain and Luke Keigley.
Speaker 2: But Eric Barry just game changer at safety, could come up,
Speaker 2: could play center field, diagnosed everything quickly, just a football
Speaker 2: mind in the defensive backfield that almost stands alone. Over
Speaker 2: this past decade, played for what was in football talent
Speaker 2: as well Bill Fulmer and Lane Kiffin. I want to
Speaker 2: say it's see fourteen interceptions in three years, had seven
Speaker 2: picks in his sophomore year, went on to a long
Speaker 2: and prosperous NFL career. I think he just got released
Speaker 2: by the Chiefs. Some serious hurdles too in the NFL.
Speaker 2: Has overcome a ton.
Speaker 1: Another name here that you know. I don't know if
Speaker 1: he goes as one of the greatest of all time.
Speaker 1: I was enamored with Taylor Maze from US OH.
Speaker 2: I love Taylor Mays and I don't think he was
Speaker 2: that good, but I loved.
Speaker 1: So here's the thing. Taylor Mays was a three time
Speaker 1: first team All American. M h, there aren't a whole
Speaker 1: lot of those guys, so, at least in a college sense,
Speaker 1: that's pretty damn good's that's among the very best. He
Speaker 1: was a freaking torpedo. He was coming down from that
Speaker 1: safety piece hard. He was six three two twenty six.
Speaker 1: And this was only USC timing its own players, so
Speaker 1: take it with a grain of salt, but they had
Speaker 1: timed him out like a four to three to two
Speaker 1: forty yard dash. That is a rocket coming down from
Speaker 1: the safety position, mauling guys. He was huge. Didn't work
Speaker 1: out in the NFL, but who cares Taylor Mays. I
Speaker 1: had a serious, serious, serious thing for Taylor Mays. I
Speaker 1: was very into the Taylor Mays air at USC.
Speaker 2: If you were to put together a team of player
Speaker 2: like the off the Bus team, you know a lot
Speaker 2: of sports writers and TV people would be like, well, i'
Speaker 2: let's see you. Getting off the bus is just something else.
Speaker 2: It's just different. Taylor Mays is a get off, you know,
Speaker 2: getting off the bus kind of player at that size
Speaker 2: how he was so impressive right away. Physically, he was
Speaker 2: also at times probably the least favorite defensive back of
Speaker 2: USC fans because he was.
Speaker 1: Yes, well he was going two row.
Speaker 2: You're he was gonna throw his shoulder into you and
Speaker 2: maybe decapitate you, or maybe you're the opposite the opposing
Speaker 2: player which just bounce off and keep going. He was
Speaker 2: that the wrapping up left something to be desired. His
Speaker 2: coverage skills at times left something to be desired, but
Speaker 2: physically he could deliver something unlike probably any safety or
Speaker 2: three safeties over the past decade.
Speaker 1: In hindsight, probably for the best that he didn't play
Speaker 1: during the targeting era.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd say so.
Speaker 1: So there you go. The other name here I've got
Speaker 1: is Prince Amukamara. Yeah, also excellent, very good at Nebraska.
Speaker 1: Better at Nebraska than he ended up being in the pros.
Speaker 1: Fun name, lockdown corner. I don't know, we had a
Speaker 1: lot of fun with him. Prince.
Speaker 2: I like Prince Yeah. I mean those were some seriously
Speaker 2: great defenses, those Polini defenses. Neil was like eight oh
Speaker 2: nine ten somewhere in there. Those were crazy impressive kicker
Speaker 2: and punter. You got any needs, Yeah, I just want
Speaker 2: punter here. I have JK. Scott and Michael Dixon because
Speaker 2: they're putting a hurt in on that ball and they're
Speaker 2: placing it and they're pinning it and they are it's
Speaker 2: not cute what they did. Like there's something like that
Speaker 2: we like making not making fun, but having fun with like, oh,
Speaker 2: this punter's crazy good? Like, no, they were. I don't
Speaker 2: like punting. I don't like the conservative nature of a
Speaker 2: lot of coaches and offensive coordinators at times playing for
Speaker 2: field position when mathematically it makes no sense. But if
Speaker 2: you have Michael Dixon, if you have JK. Scott and
Speaker 2: you can pin somebody inside the five pretty consistently in
Speaker 2: big games, I get it. But if you don't, let's
Speaker 2: let's be a little bit more aggressive. But those two
Speaker 2: just absolute boots and accurate, consistent, you know, forty five
Speaker 2: plus yards average, both of them. I just fall under
Speaker 2: the almost the Quenton Nelson, Like, how do we find
Speaker 2: that guy? Yeah, how do we find that? Because definitely
Speaker 2: changed the game for those teams for Bama in Texas.
Speaker 2: To be clear, JK. Scott Alabama, Michael Dixon Texas.
Speaker 1: Mine is Roberto Aguayo for Florida, Okay, Yeah, he was
Speaker 1: pretty automatic. He went one ninety eight for one ninety
Speaker 1: eight as a kicker on extra points over his career.
Speaker 1: He was one for one in field goals zero to
Speaker 1: nineteen yards, twenty eight of twenty eight from twenty to
Speaker 1: twenty nine yards, seventeen of seventeen from thirty to thirty
Speaker 1: nine yards. Again, we're talking about a college kicker here.
Speaker 1: These kinds of guys don't grow on trees. After you
Speaker 1: got beyond forty he wasn't quite as successful, but eighteen
Speaker 1: of twenty four over his career from outside forty five
Speaker 1: of eight over the span of his career from outside
Speaker 1: fifty hit fifty three yarders in the college game. That's
Speaker 1: a weapon, as a serious weapon from twenty thirteen to
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen for Jimbo Fisher, and they took full advantage
Speaker 1: of it.
Speaker 2: They did one hundred percent. Did huge.
Speaker 1: Who else we got here? You got a kick returner.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go de Anthony the Anthony Okay, yeah, because
Speaker 2: he both kicked returning and punt returning. Chris Owusu is
Speaker 2: a name that I would throw in there.
Speaker 1: What about CJ. Spiller? I think that was right at
Speaker 1: the early.
Speaker 2: That oh wait, I think that was Owait.
Speaker 1: I think that k Wait nine somewhere in there.
Speaker 2: It was very Yeah, he was OLW eight O nine.
Speaker 2: He was very difficult. I think he returned three or
Speaker 2: four either in one of those years. He was very
Speaker 2: difficult to leave off because I was going on and
Speaker 2: on about all purpose and versatility, and he had the
Speaker 2: game where I think he ran caught and threw a touchdown. C. J.
Speaker 2: Spiller is worth mentioning in any context for the best
Speaker 2: of these these teams.
Speaker 1: All right, well, there you go. We wanted to try
Speaker 1: and put together like an hour long show, and I
Speaker 1: think if I listed out everyone that I wanted to
Speaker 1: at least shout out, we'd have been here all night.
Speaker 1: But please let us know. Look us up on social
Speaker 1: silver wellgmail dot com. Let us know if there are any
Speaker 1: names and stand out to you that should have been
Speaker 1: on our list.
Speaker 2: The important thing is we included both casual address James
Speaker 2: Franklin and Nick Foles.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, I.
Speaker 2: Know, not including Nape Sudfeld kept you ump at night,
Speaker 2: but you know you've persevered. And Jake Rudock. I'm trying
Speaker 2: to think of a well, who is Okay, I have
Speaker 2: a question for you, because I have an answer.
Speaker 1: Okay, who is the.
Speaker 2: Most ultimately and I don't mean this to be super
Speaker 2: mean but inconsequential, but will hold a soft spot in
Speaker 2: your heart more for this one very specific thing. So
Speaker 2: Tim Tebow did it well. Tim Tebow his freshman year
Speaker 2: because you selected him as your quarterback. He was the
Speaker 2: change of pace, short yardage trick play. You know, does
Speaker 2: the jump pass stuff like that? Right?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: There are two players that that oldti became their role
Speaker 2: and they just it ended after that. Okay, eighteen wheeler
Speaker 2: package or the Belldozer? Who who do you have a
Speaker 2: softer spot's the eighteen wheeler package because I don't know
Speaker 2: that we I mean, is there anything more like of
Speaker 2: this era than like, yeah, he's gonna come in and
Speaker 2: he's generally gonna run it, but you know, sometimes he's
Speaker 2: gonna throw it poorly.
Speaker 1: The eighteen wheeler package for me was okay, swoops, okay,
Speaker 1: because there was so much energy that had to go
Speaker 1: into branding that and making it into like a feel
Speaker 1: good story. Yeah, and it really wasn't all that great.
Speaker 2: So and I'm trying to I don't have the list
Speaker 2: in front of me, but a special shout out if
Speaker 2: we're going to talk about this past era of two
Speaker 2: thousand and eight two modern times of that opening weekend game,
Speaker 2: we were like, oh, buddy, this is set in the
Speaker 2: tone for this year. And then Notre Dame in Texas.
Speaker 2: Both weren't good. That was great. If I'm getting my
Speaker 2: years correct, all.
Speaker 1: Right, Well again, you know how to find us. If
Speaker 1: you haven't already, please subscribe to the show. You can
Speaker 1: find all of our links out at solidverbal dot com.
Speaker 1: We will be back with you a week from tonight.
Speaker 1: Talk more college football. In the meantime, enjoy the rest
Speaker 1: of your week, enjoy all of your weekend. Please do
Speaker 1: reach out one more time, let us know what's on
Speaker 1: your mind, and by all means, stay solid.
Speaker 2: Peace.