FiredUp Network
Wednesday, July 17: Time out KC
>> Welcome into Timeout, Kansas City. On the fired up network, you can see us on True TV plus on sports.tv. Best way to watch the channels, just download that True TV plus app. It's available anywhere you get your apps. This week, we're looking at both types of football, the national football. We kicked off training camp here in Kansas City today, as the quarterbacks and rookies reported up to Missouri, Western, and it's age out. So we're joined by a recurring guest, Ian Valentino from NFL Draft Study, the 33rd team in A disease sports. Ian, thanks for joining us here tonight. >> Thanks, guys. Yeah, super excited. It's been a nice little break, had a little dead period, and then we get a nice little trade request today, and now I'm starting to feel the juice again. It's like, "All right, we're going to have some football, and going to have some of these trade discussions, I'm sure, throughout summer, and then we'll be in the preseason before you know it, so really excited. >> Yeah, here we go. And then Steve, a huge week in soccer, especially here in Kansas City. I had a chance to go to two of the three games, four being played, and stayed up late to join the press conference for the game on Saturday, as they end three matches in one week stretch, winning all three, maybe the best week of the year for sporting, and we got Steve from the Paint the Wall podcast, and you can see here on the fired up network as well. Steve, thanks for joining us. >> Yeah, of course, thanks for having me. >> But hey, let's kick it off, because the Chiefs took to the field in St. Joe, Missouri today, and Ian, I know we talked with you back at the NFL draft, both before and after the draft, and just wondering, what are your just initial surface takeaways from the additions the Chiefs added during the offseason? >> Yeah, I thought they did well. I think looking at like holistically the roster, the big question was gonna be, how do you continue to reload? How do you continue to be aggressive with the immediate needs, but then also balance the long-term needs? And so looking at left tackle, looking at how do you shore up the offensive line that's gonna be dealing with some contract situations in the short, after this season? And then also in the short term, 'cause you potentially need a starter at left tackle, you need some receiving help, obviously with what's going on with her she writes, and obviously with what happened last year. And I thought they did a nice job of being very focused with their additions. They obviously couldn't spend a lot of money, and that's just gonna be a natural limitation for the Patrick Mahomes era at this point. Even though he's on a pretty great deal for the team, this is just what happens when you continue to win Super Bowls. So how they maneuvered through the luxurious needs situation, I thought they did pretty well, all things considered, that going that route of, do you trade 'em, franchise 'em and trade 'em? Do you, how do you maneuver that? I thought they did pretty well to get a decent pick back, and then of course they're adding guys in the draft, maybe not, you know, first rounders, but they added guy like Kamal Haddon, who basically profiles is a very similar type of replacement player. So I thought that they were tasked with an impossible thing, because when you win a Super Bowl, you're gonna have the drain. When you win three Super Bowls in a short amount of time, this is really when it gets hard, and this is, I did like a ranking not long ago of the biggest, the best dynasties in NFL history. I already have the Chiefs number five, and I think they're at debates with their five or six. Yeah, I think, you know, is it the Dallas early 90s, or is it the Chiefs? And then, you know, you start, you know, you look at number one, and like the question is, for the Chiefs, can you get to the Patriots? Because what the Patriots did was so unprecedented, doing what they did over, you know, 15 years, it should be impossible. And really looking at what the Chiefs are doing right now, it should be impossible. So for me, at the high level, it's saying, how do you continue to just even reload on a year-to-year basis without overemphasizing those ridiculous contracts that we've kind of seen, like the Eagles, and the Browns, and some of these other teams that have really-- Oh, the Lions, New Year. Yeah, the Lions, yeah, same thing. It's impressive. It's great that they're doing it. I think it's smart football, but at the same time too, it will leave you pretty high and dry down the line at some point, like the Saints, right? Like we've seen it with the Saints multiple times. It's like, yeah, they get out of it, but like look where their team is now. So I like that Kansas City has avoided that. Well, let's get Stephen here too, because I was thinking about parallels between the two teams, and I think we're living in the after effect with sporting Kansas City. They had a great run from about 2012 to 2017. And, you know, is there a risk to running back the roster, like the Chiefs are right now, and like Sporting KC did, because I mean, Steve, a recurring theme is that Sporting KC, the whole team got old at once, and then there wasn't the high-end talent to come in and replace them. Yeah, I think the difference is though, the Chiefs won the Super Bowl last year. So, you know, we're running back a roster that's won two Super Bowls in a row. So I think that's different. We're, you know, where a sporting is running back, there ran back a roster that, you know, didn't win for three months, and then figured it out and managed to eke into the playoffs, and then went on a decent run on the playoffs, yeah. But, so I think we are kind of talking about two different things there too, but. Sure. So I would say from the perspective of, is it a risk for the Chiefs to do like Sporting did? No, because the Chiefs roster is more complete, I think. I guarantee you I don't study the roster as much as Ian does, but I definitely don't study it as much, but I would say it's probably not that much of a risk. I think our rosters was pretty solid, and we've made some additions to fill some holes that were definitely there. And, but, you know, the roster that they kept is all guys that are very capable, so. Yeah. Well, and I guess really the biggest piece that's gone is, is Lederius need. And he wasn't a highly regarded player when they brought him in. I mean, he just wasn't, he developed into it. And he got to give that Chiefs defense credit for developing defensive backs, because really, I think Tamari Connor can have a breakout here this year, because he's gonna have to play a bigger role now. Yeah, I think that's- Do you see Connor stepping in a lot to the slot? Yeah, yeah. I think that's like you're looking at those positions, right? Like you're looking at Christian Roland Wallace, who out of USC, he's an undrafted guy, but he profiled as a really nice slot player. He's a competitive guy. He's gonna help in the run game. He's physical. So he's gonna push a guy like Connor, right? And this is where like the young competition is really exciting. I think that they, you know, I mentioned Hadden as like an outside type of threat. He definitely fits that same type of mold of Sneed where, yeah, he might've been slept on a little bit. Like he looked at his film, maybe kind of, he's pretty similar play style, but like you just have to improve the small things. And so looking at the slot then, it's like, all right, if you have a similar type of archetype, but we can just plug and play these type of guys. And maybe it's not gonna be at a, you know, a pro bowl or all pro level, but if it's a serviceable level, you know, like Jalen Watson, Jalen Watson's been a nice player for them. Yeah. You know, Connor, I think obviously McDuffie is able to play anywhere. And so it's just almost like a pecking order. And when you have a guy like McDuffie, you have a solid guy with Watson. Obviously he's coming off like the pup, but you know, you get these guys back a little bit over the course of the year. You're really looking for that third, that fourth guy. And it's just been remarkable to be able to unearth these guys to say, okay, we've got Spagnolo and he's, you know, hall of fame level defensive coordinator, but we gotta just give him what he needs to kind of cook. And I'm interested in Connor too. Like I think he's gonna be one of the guys looking at this roster like him and Leo Chanal, like those are probably the two guys that on the defensive side of the ball, I wanna see even more from because they have the traits, they've got the college, you know, pedigree to be able to say, okay, like they have the draft pick investment in them, like a fourth round pick is still not insignificant. And it's definitely not insignificant when you're a Super Bowl caliber team. So to me that says that they expect him to play if not in like a starters role, at least like a very high level when he does play. - But for the Chiefs, these draft picks, I mean, they need to come and play because that's the other part of keeping the dynasty going. You gotta build some guys from within because you can't go right checks to get starters. - Yeah, and that's where like a lot of these teams fail. I mean, it's so easy to miss in the draft. Like it's unbelievably, we've seen it so many times, even the Patriots, it's like they somehow survived, even though they weren't great drafting. And I think that just speaks to like the brilliance of Bill Belichick and then Tom Brady. And they had just enough to keep it going. But that's really not been the Chiefs. Like the Chiefs are like legitimately really good drafting team. And then they're also a very good developmental team. And I think Steve kind of mentioned it. It's like, you didn't have to change a lot. You just had to continue to augment here and there and then don't become bad. So to me that you don't have to lose guys. Yeah, exactly. Don't create that creator of a weakness that just tanks the entire team. And that's, you know, looking at like left tackle, pass rush, cornerback. If you have one of those positions that's just absolutely awful, well, you're gonna, you might change the expectations for the season a little bit. I think that they threw enough assets at those positions and they have over the last couple of years. Like they've been pretty aggressive in addressing future needs to be able to avoid that. Steve, what scares you the most going into the Chiefs season? Is there a spot on the field that you're worried about? You know, ironically, I was just gonna ask Ian that same question 'cause I was kind of curious from his perspective. I would say the thing that worries me the most is probably still receiver. And that's just because like the guys that we're trusting now other than Rishi Rice is are kind of unproven. So, you know, it's like, did we fill the hole or did we not? We really won't know until, you know, camp starts and then really until the season starts. So that's kind of the first one that I think of, but I would be curious if there's a deeper hole that just my uneducated brain doesn't know about. Yeah, I think receiver makes a lot of sense to be concerned about. Like, I think you get a fairly high floor with Hollywood Brown. I like the addition. I don't know that he's gonna be like an explosive and he's gonna give some explosive plays, but like he hasn't been that guy throughout his career. He's more of a possession guy, which is weird for his speed and his lack of hand consistency. Like he's gonna have some frustrating drops. Now, he does it at a better level than like Sky Moore. He's much better than like Khadari's Tony. It's not, that's not the conversation. But he's also been banged up at times throughout his career too, because he does, he's a smaller body and he's played that way. Maybe that changes. Maybe this is finally, when he can settle into that role, we all thought he was gonna be coming out of college because he's finally with the right system and with the right quarterback. But I think it's better. I like he's a if you're worthy. I thought it was a good pick for where they were. I also don't think he's Tyreek Hill. So like, there's just expectations in place there to say he's probably gonna be solid. He's gonna be better than what they had. So if I think that's fine, if there's injuries or suspensions or anything like that, did they really do enough to solidify what's behind them? I'm still surprised that some of these guys are back. Like, I'm surprised they didn't churn the roster a little bit more. I'm surprised Skye Moore is, you know, you bring him to camp, that's fine. He's under rookie contract. But like Khadari's Tony, same thing. It's like you bring him to camp. But I actually thought that they would have probably added maybe some more reliable veterans behind these guys. And maybe they'll be able to, like in fairness receivers, the deepest position in the league, they're gonna go and look at the preseason film and they're gonna see guys that are cut that they might like more than some of the guys that we're really not sure about. So I think receiver, it's a question mark for me. It's not a big one. I look at the tackles and say, I wanna know what's gonna happen here. Obviously, we know Jwan Taylor's gonna start. Is he gonna play better? Like, that's the question. He can't play as poorly as he did last year. I thought he really struggled last year, even though he was a good player for Jacksonville. At left tackle, who starts between Wanya Morris or Kingsley Suo Mataya? I really like Suo Mataya. I think Morris is probably a little bit more limited. He has a longer way to go from where he was at Oklahoma to now. But you're still relying on a young guy and you're relying on a rookie, potentially, who I like. But, you know, Donovan Smith last year wasn't great, but he was fine as he has been throughout most of his career as a stopgap. And one of these guys be fine. And then if he is fine, what does that mean? So it's tough when you have these assets. It's like, I understand why they took worthy in the first round and they got a great value of Suo Mataya in the second round. I thought he was a first round type of guy. But at the same time, it's still a lower first round pick. And so that you expect an adjustment, you expect it to take time for their bodies to get ready for the NFL. And it's just hard to have questions at tackle. Like, they just did it and it didn't matter. So it's, they're not, you know, they're question marks that might crush other teams. But for some reason, well, for a lot of reasons, it's not some, but for multiple reasons, this team is able to compensate. But I do think that the tackle position, like if Suo Mataya is not ready and Morris just isn't that guy, there's a couple veterans that they could potentially explore, but they, I know they don't want to go that direction, right? Like they didn't go to Tyrant Smith for a reason. They didn't go back to Dom and that Smith for, for, you know, several reasons. So I am interested to see how these young guys develop. - What do you think ends up getting the spot? I mean, that's way early, right? There hasn't been a full practice yet, but do you think it's wanting it? Or do we go with the bloodline and acknowledge Kingsley? - I think, I'll lean Kingsley, 'cause I think he was a better prospect. And I think coming out, he has a better body to be able to play. You know, when, Wanya, I think he's, I just always kind of viewed him more as like a right tackle. So we'll see. He might be fine though. Like I don't know that he's gonna be a huge drop from Smith. So that would be the nice part. But, you know, you invest a second rounder in a guy when you don't have a clear opening on the offensive line, unless if they view him as a right guard in 2025, then it would be, it would surprise me a little bit that they would invest that heavily into a position that wasn't necessarily, if they don't consider a left tackle a need, it would surprise me that they would take a guy like that there. - Well, 'cause looking ahead, which the Chiefs have been very good at, they've been drafting people a year before they make a move. You're not gonna be able to keep both Creed Humphrey's and Traits Smith probably. One of those guys is gonna have to go. You're the GM of the 33rd team. Which one of those guys do you pick? - You know, that's tough. I didn't think Creed had a great year last year. He's a really good center who somehow forgot how to snap for a chunk last year. - I rolled back. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if they let him both go. - Really? Wow, wow. - Because like the Joe Toonie deal is so big and the Joe John Taylor deal is so big. Do you pay a third guard? Now the question would be, does one of those guys' deal basically replace Toonie's deal? Or does it replace John Taylor's deal in 2026? So the way you can structure it is that those guys don't get their huge money until a year later. That's how a lot of these teams kind of get around it and then they'll keep the court as your other an extra year. But I would think that if Humphrey doesn't bounce back, I'm gonna guess that they signed Creed of the two. But I think if he repeats last year, I think he really has to think about it's Hunter Norzade gonna be ready. And if he is, you know, you might just keep wanting to just replace guys, be very patriot desk, be kind of cold hard, take the third round picks and just keep replenishing. And then that might allow you to invest a little bit more somewhere else. - Well, I wanted to ask this because I've been looking at some of these decisions that teams across the league are making and decisions that are being prefaced, like deck press pocket in a $60 million a year contract to get in 60 million a year. That's crazy, but that's the going market now, right? Patrick Mahomes took an undermarket contract. It was even mentioned by Jalen Bronson when he signed his undermarket contract for the Knicks. And Steve actively cover, really deeply cover Major League Soccer. I've been wondering, is it time for the NFL to add a designated player category and do what the MLS does? Hey, you got these three designated players, they're on their own cap. And then you got everybody else because you're seeing it in the NFL now, running backs are getting squeezed down. It's gonna be linebackers, inside linebackers. If you want to make a lot of money, you don't want to play inside linebacker, they're getting squeezed. DSC, maybe a designated player model coming in and do you feel it's worked in the MLS? - That's an interesting thought. I've actually never thought about that. But yeah, I think that would totally, that could absolutely translate to the NFL and might actually be a great idea in a way to... I was gonna say, I think it would be a way to kind of help level some teams, but I don't know that NFL necessarily has that problem, like MLB and stuff like that does. So I don't know if there's really a leveling problem that needs to be done. - Well, but to keep the quarterbacks. - Sorry? - Just to keep the quarterbacks and-- - Oh yeah. - To keep the players' associations happy because if you're gonna pay the quarterback, you could justify him homes is worth $90 a year. - Yeah, for sure. - He's worth whatever, basically, he's worth whatever number you want to slap on him. But then everybody else in the team's gonna make minimum. - Yeah. - Yeah, that's true. - This is good for the league. - That could be a really interesting way to do it. Will they ever do it? I don't know, probably not. I'm sure there's money that the league gets from that they're not gonna be willing to give up. That's kind of what I always assume with most leagues, but yeah, I think it absolutely could be something that would be cool that could help with some of those problems about, like, well, we can't really pay our quarterback because we have this left tackle and a quarterback that we signed, and then we took this draft pick on a quarterback who turned out to be, I don't wanna say Patrick Mahomes like 'cause that'll never happen. But the next really good quarterback and now up we can't pay this guy 'cause we didn't expect him to be this good. Like that would kind of eliminate that problem and could really help a lot of teams for sure. Yeah, because, I mean, over the last, this current era of the NFL, the best time to win a Super Bowl is you nail the first round quarterback and you win it on his rookie contract. Allah, the Niners, they're running up against the clock now because they're gonna have to start paying Brock Purdy and you're not gonna be able to shower huge bonuses to positions across the field to boost him up. I mean, the Bears trying to do that, right? They said, "Yeah, Justin feels, man, "this isn't gonna work. "We're hitting the reset button. "We're gonna go with Caleb Williams "and we'll try to load the team up "and see if we can win it." I mean, yeah, puts such a unique timeframe. Yeah, it is. It puts such a unique timeframe on these guys and it's so interesting to see some of these franchises just never figured it out. Like, I have a piece that I just wrote yesterday. I went through every single franchise's best quarterback in franchise history and it was just like you know, these things like the Bears are a great example, right? Like I had to go back to Sid Luckman way back in the '50s and it's like it wasn't even close. Like it's like Jay Cutler, it's like that's it. And it's like, how do you mess it up like that? It's like, well, there's a lot of reasons, right? But it's because like you just don't kind of get lucky sometimes and then you look at the Chiefs, you could pick several Chiefs. It's like, I didn't pick Len Dawson, I pick Patrick Mahomes. It's like, well, Len Dawson would have been the top guy for 20 teams. And so it's just, it's really, really interesting to go through that experiment. And like now in the salary cap area, and you guys are kind of mentioning this, it's like NBA kind of has like the same issue with these like these max contracts where it's like, it just takes up so much money. And Mahomes did such a favor too, not only was it below market, but it was a 10 year deal. So you can continue to restructure that contract and move that money around in ways that plays with it. And it's like, it gives you so much more flexibility. And even saying on that, like, you've got to Chris Jones. You've got, you know, some of these other guys getting huge money and they deserve it. But like that creates this stress. And so I don't know that the NFL ever gets there. And I wonder if it's just because of an optics, there's going to be like an optic to it too, because like the money's getting so crazy in all these sports where, especially NBA, these guys are going to be making a million dollars a game in the regular season of the year, you know, over the next 10 years, if not sooner. And like the NFL, the money's silly, but it feels like it's not as silly, maybe because like it's such a physical game and guys don't sit out games, but. - Yeah. - And you're right though, like a team could literally give every dollar they could afford to Mahomes. And it's worth it. Like what's the cap out? Like one, I don't know, whatever it's at. If you gave them every dollar, except for like 50 spots of minimum salaries, like. - You could jump, I would take my chance. - I would take my chance with that average team. - Players will sign up for that. Yeah, right. So it's a fascinating discussion. And like I do give them a lot of credit because like the Tyreak moment was such a pivotal moment. And I think it was justified and I was critical of it in the moment. Obviously they've made the most of it. I would love to see Tyreak kill on this team still, but like I understood it, but it was so like Patriots ask and other teams have tried that and emulated it and whiffed so badly that it was just kind of cool to see if franchise actually hit on it. - Yeah, they've done an amazing job because here a local connection is family and Andrew, they own Summit Grill and the 3rd Street Social Club. Drew Locke gonna be the backup and I'm pretty confident he's gonna start a few games this year for the New York football Giants because I'm not a big Daniel Jones fan. I think Drew is probably a better player. But looking what the Broncos did, I mean, they buried themselves capwise by trading Drew Locke, a bunch of draftics and a good tight end, no a fan to get Russell Wilson and buried themselves giving him a huge extension. And now they have to go double down and try to take Bo Nix and I don't know, is Bo Nix that much better than Drew Locke? - I think he is, I think he avoids those boneheaded plays but in a vacuum you wouldn't want that because look at where the Broncos were when they added Wilson, right? Like look back at that conversation, the conversation was well, now they're Super Bowl contenders because they have a strong roster, they've got everything in place and a lot of it just kind of fell apart. And some of that's injuries, some of that's poor coaching, some of that's just Russell Wilson being potato and just not being what he was. And you deal with those things because time really hits athletes very quickly, but like I thought about Shane with like the Brandon, now you've trade request, I was almost like, I thought about Denver and I was like, Denver makes a lot of sense. They don't really have like a number one, Cortland Sutton's nice, but like he's not that kind of guy. But then it's like, what is that due to the rest of their roster? Like they're not really the Denver that I'm thinking of. Like it was like three years ago where they could use a guy to kind of take them over the top. They're kind of in like this weird rebuild, you know, who's gonna line up at running back even for them? It's like, that's not the most important position on the field, Blake Jabonti Williams is kind of old news and he was drafted just a couple of years ago. So it's these things happen so quickly. And I think that's kind of like you're getting to it where it's like these things change so fast that yeah, like you look at it seems like the Denver, I think is usually projected to be one of the worst teams in the league. They have a good defense. They have a good offensive line, but they've dealt with a lot of injuries. They got pretty unproven playmakers. So, and then the quarterback base, but they have a lot of, you know, assets wrapped up into this year's quarterback position, which it is what it is because they're still dealing with the Wilson money and then the assets that they gave up for them. So it really hamstrings your team when that happens. - Yeah, I mean, you can make that bad for agents signing and it just, it varies for years. And I just wanted to ask one more chief's newcomer question, Jared Wiley, the tight end from TCU. Are we going to see him? Do you think he's going to be a big factor because, man, he kind of fills in for that Jody Fortson role as the big play make in tight end. - I think we'll see a lot of them. I do, I don't know that he's going to be something that catches more than 40 passes this year. But I think when he catches the ball, he's going to be impactful. I really loved him in college. He was one of my favorite tight ends in the class. He's so, so big. Like, he is just absolutely massive. It's fun to see him. He's super athletic for his size. And he just makes routine plays very easy. And like, they're not, you don't stress like when the ball is going to him. You're excited because he's so big and he's so powerful that he can move. And the only thing is, it's like it's Andy Reid and you've got a veteran team. So how much opportunity are they going to give to the young guy? That's always my question with a team like this because sometimes these guys get buried, especially tight end. Now, on one hand, it's the most creative coach for top three or four in the league. And he's been around so long that he's obviously made do with a lot of different guys. But so maybe he's different. Maybe Andy Reid will prove me different. I don't want to have two high of expectations on Wiley, but like if he caught like 35 balls this year and like seven, eight touchdowns, it wouldn't shock me just because it tells me, okay, they really took his strengths. They bottled him up and they maximize them. And I think that's a great thing. But I think long term, I look at him as a major asset for the team at least as like a high end tight end to, if not a potential starter when it's time. - Well, and showing the importance of a coach, putting players in positions to win, Bill Belichick back when I covered the Browns. He hated doing press conferences back then even more than he did with the Patriots. And his answer every week when somebody would ask him, and inevitably somebody did. What's the game plan going into this game? I'm going to put the players in the best position to win the game and over and over again. But that is truly the coach's job and sagging sports because we had the game happen here in Kansas City. And my bold and daring prediction last week was that if the US national team loses their comeback game in September to the Canadian team at Children's Mercy ballpark, that'll be the end of the Greg Berhalter era of the US national team. Well, Steve, it wasn't a terribly bold and daring prediction, he's already gone. - Yeah. Do you agree that Greg Berhalter, unlike Andy Reed, wasn't putting players in the best position to win, and maybe he is the problem and there's enough talent on the US national team to get it done? - Yeah, 1,000%. That was probably my biggest critique of Berhalter. I think he'd probably do well in club football, but being an international coach, I just don't, I don't think he is properly prepared to coach an entire team of incredibly talented people. So I think go to club where you have like two or three, like really, really high level players, and then you kind of got to fill everything else out. I think he'd probably be pretty good at that, but just being able to manage where it's the best player in the country at every single position. You know, that's hard for anybody to do, but I don't think he did a good job ever, let alone just recently, so. - Yeah, the World Cup was a major disappointment and the Copa and we lost to the Canalman. And then, you know, the Canadian team ended up coming in, you know, they placed him into the Final Four. - Yep, who would be a good candidate? Who do you see replacing him? - I mean, if you had asked me last week, I was big on hoping we would go after Jurgen Klopp, but you know, he recently has said he doesn't, he has no interest. You know, the fan in me wants us to try to convince Pep Guardiola to leave Man City. I don't think that's gonna happen, but you know, the fan in me wants that to happen, but realistically, Chirondolo has been a name that's been tossed around a bunch. He's currently coaching LAFC. I think that would be a good fit. That's probably, yeah, that's probably my top choice now, or I can't remember the guy's name, I'm spacing on his name right now, but he was the coach in the World Cup of Saudi Arabia team. He's also been rumored that we might be going after him. He would be a really good choice too. I can't remember his name, I'm spacing on it right now, but that would be a good choice, I think. - That's okay, we don't know it either. - Fair enough. Will we see the new coach for that game, September 7th, when they kick off at the Legends? - I'm gonna say no, I think we'll have an interim coach for that game, because I don't think they wanna rush, man, I don't know, I think it'll be very close to that game when we sign whoever it is, because we wanna give him optimal time to be able to play, or to be able to get prepared for the World Cup. But I would say no, it'll probably be an interim coach. For that game. - Okay, fair. Say back to football just a little bit, because while the NFL is kicking off their training camp, it was also big 12th media days, and unusually it was held in Las Vegas, not exactly big 12th country, but hack Arizona's in the big 12 now, so it's close to Nevada, why not? Is the big 12 better off now, adding the former PAC 12 schools, and the additions from last year with BYU coming in, with Central Florida coming in, and Texas and Oklahoma leaving, because Texas never seemed to fit, they wanted out for years. What do you think, yeah? - Yeah, I mean, it's hard to imagine that they're not better off without those cash cows and those blue bloods, but at the same time, I think, there's almost self-destructive things that I felt like Texas was doing, and they're just now a power, right? So like they weren't really, they were relevant, but like they weren't what they are now. And so it feels especially bad right now, because they don't have them, and they're in a really good spot, they're healthy right now. But in a couple years, they may not be where they're currently at. You know, once Arch Manning leaves, they may not be as relevant. So we've seen that, it's kind of like the ebb and flows, they're not an indestructible program. I think from a big 12 perspective, it's because the money matters so much, it's hard to say that they're better off, but I think from a health of the depth perspective, I guess from their depth perspective, they might be stronger. You know, I think they are in a better spot, but they have that national title contender. So it's two different conversations. I think like their peak is probably not as good, but maybe the middle and the bottom part might be a little bit more sustainable now. The question is, can they, you know, can they poach anybody? Can they get anybody that's maybe a big draw? Can they say Clemson? Can they say Florida State? Can we get enough to get you guys here to make you guys our flagship, you know, program? I don't know. I mean, I don't know. The financial part of that stuff is so tough because it's just changing every year. Yeah. I mean, and you got the playoff starting this year, 12 team playoff, which Missouri would have been part of last year. So the flip side of the question is Texas and Oklahoma now go to the SCC. And to paraphrase Mike Gundy. They're men now. It's the FCC. It's the SEC. It's the SEC. I mean, it's a different ball game because you can ask Arkansas. I think if Arkansas had a moment of honesty, they would say, yeah, we'd rather be in the big 12 because outside of baseball. And basketball, they've had a few good runs, but they get hammered. They haven't had a relevant football team in years and SEC is a different ball game. Even a program like Missouri, you wonder if they would want to go. Like, if they could go back, no strings attached just from an aspect of program success and they were great last year. Yeah. And they have been better in the big 12. Sure. It's an odd thing that like they go into the SEC and it's like, yeah, I mean, you guys are never going to beat Alabama on a consistent basis, even even now without Nick Saban. I don't think you're ever going to be a, you're never going to be a bigger program than Alabama. You're never going to be a bigger program. Then Georgia. So it's like, it's always that uphill swing and that uphill drive. And now it's like, and I think everyone kind of knew the tea leaves, at least with Texas, maybe not Oklahoma as much, but like it felt like if they would have stuck it out a little bit more, they would have been rewarded for that patience. Now, the program's in a great place. I mean, they're, you know, where they're at right now is very, very impressive and doesn't, doesn't mean that they can't win the conference, but it's interesting how things change. You know, two, three year windows is more of the case, whereas it used to be. Okay, you're in the, you're in the conference now. So you'll be there for a decade plus. It's like, yeah, we don't know that now. Yeah, it's all, it's all up for grabs. Now let's, let's go ahead and dig in here. The MLS transfer windows open. See, it's time. They can make a move. Sportings already kind of prefaced that this probably isn't the window they're going to do anything in, but there's going to be a ton of roster turnover. Do you think they do anything in this transfer window? Boy, I hope so. I'm disappointed they already haven't, honestly. It's been days. I don't know what they're waiting for. I hope they will do something. We need a defender, real bad, I think. We need a center back and with our injuries and our suspensions and stuff that keep happening. I just think they need to at least sign a defender. So I'm expecting them to sign at least, not at least. Sorry, I'm expecting them to sign one player in this window. Okay. I don't know if it'll be huge. If it'll be a big signing, I would be kind of surprised. But I expect they will sign one player. It'll either be, I think, a defender or an attacking midfielder. Right. Definitely. Yeah, for sure. Now, something they have done and it's probably a move up to necessity more than anything, but they've moved a couple of guys position wise. They've seen Kyrie Shelton playing right back and Jake Davis moving into the midfield. Jake Davis has been a key piece of actually some scoring opportunities from the midfield. Is that where he should be long term? I mean, he's here for a while. They signed him to a four year contract home grown player. Do you think the midfields where he belongs? That's where he came up. I don't think there's a wrong answer to that question. Truthfully, I think Jake is one of those players that can play anywhere. And probably will he'll be utilized in a lot of different positions, I think. I still think ultimately he ends up at right back because he's that's a more sparse position for us. And I think he'll end up back there and we will eventually bolster our midfield a little bit more. But I wouldn't be surprised if he's just a player that plays right back sometimes. Sometimes he plays admit it just depends on, you know, where we need him and where where he's needed the most. I wouldn't be surprised if that ends up being his his MO for his entire career is just, you know, he plays where he needs to need it. Just kind of moves around a little bit and it's a unique sport because, you know, it would be like, it would be really weird to be probably unimaginable for the NFL to ever have an incision tournament. But Major League Soccer, they're part of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. That was the never ending game with the Thunderstorms game kicked off at 8 10 and ended up someone after midnight. The delay was so long. I was able to wait for 20 minutes. Look at the radar and realize man, this is going to be a 90 minute delay. Walk to my park, drive home, dry off, sit down and then watch the second half. But they win. They advanced to the semifinal. They're going to play the India 11. Yep. I know it's different sports because if you were looking at college football and you're saying, hey, KU, they advance. They need to play Emporia State. Okay, they're going to be watching them game. In soccer, a USL team can win. I mean, the India 11 beat Atlanta United, which is a decent MLS side. Does sporting have anything to worry about with the India 11 or is it US Open Cup or bust right now and they're going to go all out and make sure they want it. I think both things that you just said are true. I think they definitely need to worry about India 11. Now, I know as much about India 11, as you probably do, and that's that they're called India 11. That's about, I know about them. But they're a USL team that is in the semifinal. So, you know, we lost a Sacramento last year, which is another USL team that knocked us off. And I think it was in the semifinal. I don't remember off top of my head, but so it definitely happens. And I think we definitely need to be worried that that could happen. Because if we don't, if we're not worried that that could happen, then it will happen for sure. So we have to be thinking like, this team's in the semifinal for a reason. They've already beat some MLS sides and made it this far. You know, we're not, we're not safe, you know, at this point in the, in the bracket. So, but I do think we'll be able to, we'll be able to handle handle business and, and find ourselves in the final. And as far as if this is, you know, US Open or bust. I mean, it might as well be we're in 12th place. So we're, of course, I think we're seven point off the playoff line now, thanks to the expanded playoffs. But still, yeah, I mean, I think US Open Cup has always been immensely important to Kansas City because of who it's named after. And this year we would be, you know, we're going for five, which is the most of any, any club. So if we can, I think, I think it's always, we always want to win the US Open Cup, especially if we make a good run. Once we get to the quarterfinals, then I think it always becomes, yeah, we want to win this thing. So. Yeah, well, and we knocked off Clark's other team. FC Dallas. Yeah, true. That's true. Which we, every time we've won the US Open Cup, we have beat Dallas somewhere in the run of play. Yeah, I didn't realize that until they were talking about it when we played them and I was like kind of thinking back to some of the other years that I was falling and I'm like, we did play Dallas every time. So every time we've won, we beat them at some point during the run of play. So. Could be a good omen. Yeah, we'll hit back on the royals and the Kansas City current coming up next week because it's the all star break for the royals and. Man, they're, they are vastly improved. They only need to win. I think it's five more games to match last year's total. And you got the second half of the season to go, which is just crazy. Kansas City current, they go into the Olympic break. They got a long international break with a couple of friendlies in the middle. I got one loss and it was a two one loss and you could argue the referees lost control of the game and they get a chance to get a free match against Orlando and the players were all taken it personally so. So they're, they're good, but I really wanted to hit on the two teams that are really ramping it up now sporting and the Chiefs. And just as we're winding it down and what is your storyline for people that are going to go out to St Joe. And, and if you haven't gone out there, if you're a Chiefs fan, absolutely take the opportunity. Take a morning off. It's an easy drive from Kansas City to St Joe just straight down I 29 and watch the training camp. You get a, you get a really good look at how organized and how meticulous the, the Chiefs coaches are. If you're thinking it's the old as a football coach, you're going to be screaming at guys and there's a lot of screaming. There's a lot of swearing. There's a lot of shoving around. No, highly organized, extremely professional and it really is fun. You get to see a lot of drills, but what would be your one thing to watch and she's training camp. I think the how the young guys are being incorporated. So, recent draft picks, you know, Felix, you know, 23 first round pick. Is he going to be on the field a little bit more? Is he going to be more involved? You know, you're, you're looking for that the second year, maybe even third year guys. I mean, obviously, we know the rookies, right? Like, but we kind of forget about those second and third year guys sometimes like, sure, are they because they're going to have to step up. And at some point, whether it's this year right away or whether it's midway through the year or even next year. So I'd be looking for maybe those, those faces that you were excited about a year ago that maybe didn't, you know, overtake a huge role. But I'd be looking for those. And you mentioned that we talked about the corners earlier. It's like who's, who's earning those early reps and then who's keeping those reps. I think that's going to be, you're going to see glimpses of the guys who are going to really shape this season. And then Steve, I want to give you a similar question, but for sporting, because they're ramping it up. I mean, they got a game against Vancouver. And then they come back home to take on a team that's also had a disappointing season in St. Louis, that's a what's your one thing to watch for sporting, especially as they have to go for a month without a guy who's become a foundational piece. And Jake Davis. I think the rotation of a lineup is going to be the thing to watch. As it has been this whole week, we've had to have a lot of rotation because of injury and suspension, and, you know, 120 minute playtime slash four hour game that we had in the middle of a week like there's just been so much rotation that we have to it. It's still going to be a key this week. When it comes to the St. Louis game on Saturday. I mean, I throw records out the window when it comes to watching the St. Louis games. That's a big rivalry and it's like when the Chiefs play the Raiders. It doesn't matter where both teams are. It's going to be a good game. You know, it's going to be intense because of who you're playing. And I think that rivalry between sporting and St. Louis has taken off so quickly. Of a lot of big games obviously with the playoffs last year. We've had so many big games against them already so early into a rivalry that it just doesn't matter that that game is going to be electric no matter what. So, but I think rotation is definitely something we got to keep an eye on and who ends up playing where and who fills in for who kind of thing. That's a good point. It's something Peter Vermey has mentioned in the post game against San Jose that this is the first time they've really rotated through lineups extensively and he's really used the roster. So maybe it's going to be a change in the philosophy of her sporting because he just talked about it. I usually had my starters and just went and they did. But for years you had that core of Biesler, Zuci and Espinosa and not quite there right now. Right. Yeah, that'll be interesting to see what Peter does I guess. Yeah, well hey, let's go ahead and wrap it up. We've got our sister channel, the Wrestling Spotlight Championship here and we'll, let's get a quick, quick mention in for wrestling spotlight as we go to our weekly champion. Hey, what's up guys, this is Taya Valcula with Aloka and you are watching Wrestling Spotlight. Taya introducing us. Got the wrestling spotlight title here. Champion of the week Steve who's your champion of the week. Well, I'm going to, I know you said you're going to talk about the Royals next week, but the home run derby happened last night. So my champion goes to Bobby Whit. Just an incredible performance. We still have not had a royal win the home run derby, but that was the best performance by a royal ever. And man, I kid so much fun to watch. It's just, he's so good at everything he does. So that it's got to go to box. What a performance by the, by the kid. And Ian your champion of the week. Yeah, I mean, I'll have to second that. And I mean, I'm not even like a Kansas City fan, but like I know exactly what you're talking about there. And with sports dying down a little bit over the summer part, I am a baseball fan. I'm a Cleveland fan. So I'm from from Ohio. So, but I do come at it from a little bit of a different angle. Yeah. So, so, so you get it. So, but hey, I have a huge appreciation for what I think he's fantastic. And it's, this is a fun time of the year, man. Like we kind of get to focus in a little bit on baseball and then you get to see like the all star events. And this is like more of like a special time. And then we start hitting the fall. So yeah, huge shout to him. He's one of the few guys that I think baseball is kind of hurting for stars, but he's one of the guys that when you tell people to go watch, he's one of them for sure. Absolutely. When I'll stick with the royals, I'm going to go with our general manager, JJ Pakala, because the knock when he was hired is that, Hey, why are we just promoting Dayton Moore's guy? It's going to be more of the same. And a knock on the royals that kept them down is that they love their prospects too much, that they wouldn't trade anybody. They wouldn't make the moves to get better. Well, JJ kicked off the trade deadline season. We get Hunter Harvey from the Washington Nationals. A high end setup man fills a need on the team, puts them in a position to be a little bit more aggressive. And we did it by trading our sandwich pick and a pick from a previous draft that they just said, Hey, this guy's not going to make it. Let's go. And so they moved on and traded somebody when they still had some value. He killed it last year was probably the single most successful general manager in the trade deadline, getting coal Reagan's for around this Chapman and getting Nelson Velasquez, who I think we'll see back here at some point this year. So huge moves for the royals, and it sets up the team to play its first competitive baseball in the second absence 2017. So JJ Piccolo and Royals fans in general champions of the week, but it was a huge week in Kansas City sports the Chiefs kick it off, sporting their best week of the year easily. Jake Davis going to the Olympics, a couple of current players making the Olympics for current players in the top 11 for the month. So, everywhere you look, it's winning in Kansas City. And I want to thank Ian Valentino from NFL draft study the 30, 30 team and a disease sports for kicking off the national football league season with us. And Steve from the paint the wall podcast, which you can see here as well on the fired up network for giving us some insight on what's that huge weekend soccer and a big week ahead for sporting Kansas City. You can always tune in and watch us on the fired up network, you can download the app anywhere you get your apps, the true TV plus app or feature channel there. I'm also tuna on sports TV. And we'll see you here next week on time out Kansas City for Ian and Steve. I'm Darrell Bentley. Have a great night. Bye.