Grant and Danny
Booger McFarland On Jayden Daniels & The Expectations For Rookie QB's
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We're fired up to talk to you. Actually, there's a ton of different places we can go to start here, but I want to begin with locally Washington, Jayden Daniels, and the commanders and your expectations for them this year, Boog. Well, obviously, anytime you start a rookie quarterback, they're going to be ups and downs. I think of all the rookie quarterbacks. I think he is in not maybe not the best position, but I think he'll play the best. I think his demeanor, his poise, his maturity, he's got some decent weapons up there, as you guys know, led by Terry McLaurin. Overall, I think he's going to bring a different dynamic to that team, and from everything that I can hear, the leadership, how guys are already following him. I truly think the commanders are going to be pretty good. I want to see how those defensive tackles play though. That's my position. When you've got Allen and Payne and Johnny Newton, those three guys have got to be dominant because of where they were picked and how much money they're making. Those three guys have got to be dominant for that defense, but overall, I think there's a reason for optimism in DC. What's your view on the Cliff Kingsbury and Jayden Daniels kind of marriage? Is that a good fit in your opinion? Well, the fit is really simple. If you're an officer coordinator, your job is to find out what your guy does best and put him in positions to do it. If that's what Cliff does, then the marriage will be fine. It's no different than any relationship. I don't know if you guys are married or not, but it's the same thing. When you go home and your wife wants to eat sushi and you bring home Popeyes, things not going to work too good. Things are not going to be right. You got to find out what she wants and you got to cater to it. It's no different with Kingsbury and Jayden Daniels. Based on what I saw in the preseason, I think they're going to do that. The key for me will be when Jayden goes through a little bit of a growing spell, what does Cliff do to kind of get him out of it quickly? What's going to be their go-to bread and butter? Every team develops an identity. What's going to be the identity? I think they got a major in empty formation or spread because Jayden needs to be able to see the feel and it's easier to see the feel when it's spread out. Also, that gives him running lanes, whatever he needs to get out of the pocket. There's a difference because you still got to be able to run the football and be physical. How does Cliff marry the two? Being able to be physical while also having the feel open enough where his young quarterback can see the feel and get out and use his legs, I think that'll be key. Booker McFarland with us on Grant and Danny. Like Jayden Daniels, Baton Rouge LSU guy with ties to that program. I'm curious. I mean, you must know Jayden a little bit I would think or have crossed paths with him at some point. If not, I'm sure you watched him closer than just about anybody. How much do you think he should and will run early on in his career? Well, here's a little fun fact. Like he doesn't really look to run. His eyes are always down the field. He's looking through the football. It just so happens that he probably runs 4-3 when he takes off. He's got to be smart because this is not college football and he doesn't want to get hit and you got to play this game for the next 10-12 years at a high level. So he's got to be smart, but he's also got to use what God gave him. I think there's a fine line between running and making plays and being reckless. He's got to learn the difference. I followed him closely, and I'll tell you this, guys. His first game at LSU was against Florida State. That was what, three years ago, two years ago, however, my mouth is working. And when I saw him play, I was like, I don't know. But to see where he went from that game until the end of his career was as much improvement as I've seen from anybody. And I think this guy's the limit because he's starting to understand how to play the position. That position has really little to do with how fast you are or how far you can throw a ball. That position is all about the guy that controls the football, his demeanor, his decision-making, his accuracy. That's what that position is about. Like I can name 10 guys that have been bigger, faster, can throw it 90 yards, but they all fail because that position is not about that. It's good to have it, but that's not what that position is about. Follow our guest at ESPN, Booger, Burger McFarland joins us here on GND. Let's stay in the division with the Eagles. That swoon last year was something. We all saw it, right? That collapsed. I think there were 11 and 1 or so to start, maybe 10 and 1 to start the season. And they just fell apart. A lot of turnover, a lot of change in now. How are you viewing the Eagles this year? I think it's the most important opener of any team in the National Football League based on what you guys have said. They were 10 and 1. They lost six out of our last seven. The offensive coordinator is gone. The defensive coordinator is gone. There's a riff, allegedly, between the head coach and the quarterback. Now you bring in new personnel. You bring in St. Juan Barkley, new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator, and you open up in Sao Paulo, Brazil against a team that a lot of people think is up and coming. They're the youngest football team, maybe in the National Football League degree, made Packers. They got a quarterback that just got the bag. And here come the Eagles with all the questions that they have. I think it's the most important opener of the weekend, because they could go one or two ways. If they don't start, you know, two and one, three and old, then we're going to start back and we're going to talk about last year. And I think if you're an Eagle friend, you want to forget about last year as quick as you can. Booker, on the flip side of that matchup, you mentioned Jordan love getting paid for Green Bay. Can they push Detroit in the north? Do you think the Bears ultimately have anything to say about that with Caleb Williams in his debut season? How do you see Green Bay figuring into a division? Everybody seems to be handing to the Lions. Well, I think it's going to be Detroit and Green Bay. I think it would be unfair to Caleb Williams to put him in a position to do something that not a lot of people have done in the history of the game. And that's a rookie quarterback leading a team to the playoffs. Like it just doesn't happen a lot. So I think it'd be really unfair to ask that of him. And so I think we turn our attention into Detroit, Green Bay. And I think those two teams based on how they finished, based on their trajectory, based on their roster, I think those two teams are going to be looked at as probably the favorites in that division, I would lean toward Detroit just because I just like their makeup. But if you told me at the end of the season that Green Bay won the division and was the number one seed, I wouldn't say that I would be really shocked. I think they're young. I think but they're really, really close to being ready. I know you spent a lot of time in that NFC South as a player. How do you see that division going this year? I talked to myself into a different team pretty much every day. Well, it's a two team division. It's Tampa and Atlanta. I think in the end, I don't know if New Orleans will have enough. They're offensive line. I don't know if it's good enough. And so I think it's ultimately going to come down to Tampa and Atlanta. And does Atlanta have enough defense? I don't know. They got to show me I would lean toward Tampa based on the makeup of their team. Baker Mayfield had a really good season last year. That defense led by Todd Bowles is really, really good year and a year out. And if you just look at kind of where they've been, like for Baker to come in and follow Tom Brady and for that team to go to the postseason, I think this I think this guy's the limit for them from from the standpoint of winning the winning the division, getting into the postseason, hosting a playoff game. And once you get into the dance, then it's about matchups. Booker McFarland of ESPN with us on Grant and Danny love talking ball with one of the great football analysts in the country. But what about tomorrow's game? We kick off the season with a classic rematch of the AFC Championship game with the Chiefs and the Ravens. Kansas City is trying to do something unprecedented and three Pete. In fact, only two other teams ever. I three, I guess it is. I have ever been to three straight Super Bowls and none of the other ones, one all three. And then you got Baltimore with a two time MVP and Lamar Jackson, who are one of the top teams in the AFC. Otherwise, how do you like their chances this year? Both of those two teams in that conference? Yeah, regardless of what happens tomorrow night, I think these are two of their best teams, not only in AFC, but in entire league. I think both of them are going to be right there when it ends. Tomorrow night is not going to be, I don't think a microcosm of where they're going to be when the season is over. I think it's a good matchup. I think this matchup tomorrow night could draw 30 to 40 million viewers because of everything that's going to be going on. You got the Kansas City side, Mahomes and Kelsey and Xavier Worthy also Taylor Swift. And what she's going to bring, you got Baltimore, Derek Henry's going to be there. Tomorrow's going to be a star-studied affair. And so it wouldn't surprise me if it breaks records for an opening game at National Football League. It's a standalone game. It's the only game on. It's what you get when the championship is in your building and you raise a banner. It's going to be a fun night. And with that being said, I think the pressure is on Kansas City because do they really want to lose two openers at home two years, two years in a row? I don't think they want to do that. And so I think the pressure is on them because if you're Baltimore, you got to look at it this way. Baltimore had a death on the coaching staff. They got a new defensive coordinator. They got some chains at front, incorporate Derek Henry into the offense. It's going to take some time for those things to take effect. But if you're Kansas City, same team, except you added Xavier Worthy. Okay, you got your Juice Smith-Shuster. You got Travis Kelsey. You got that big offensive line. You got Chris Jones and you got McDuffie and you got all the things that they have. So Kansas City really brings in more answers to the questions tomorrow night than Baltimore does, but it still should be a really good game. So if we agree that Kansas City's, and they should be, the favorite in the AFC West, who finishes second in that division, Bug? Second in the West, wow, counterwise, you would say the charges, but I'm not really sure the Raiders, if you don't have a quarterback, eventually that's going to catch up with you. Denver is intriguing. I'm not a bow and neck span. I got to see it on this level. Sean Payton loves him, but we'll see. Probably the charges. Before I hit on college with you, just the transition of that level, we've talked about Jaden Daniels and Caleb Williams. You just mentioned maybe not being as high on Nick's. I don't know where your hat on Drake May. You might play this year as well. What's your take on what we should expect from this rookie quarterback class in general? Well, I think Drake May is, he's probably got the farthest to go. Caleb is going to start, seems like he's ready to go, but he's still going to go through growing pains. Drake May is just not ready yet, nor is the offensive line. So there's really no need to put him out there. J.J. McCarthy, he's going to miss the entire season with the knee, Michael Pinnox. If we see Michael Pinnox, that probably means something is drastically wrong with either the Falcons offense or Kirk Cousins, because they gave him 100 million to play. I don't think they're going to set a guy that's making 100 million guaranteed on the bench. Those are the guys that you're probably looking forward to seeing. Bo Nix, again, the jury's still out. I know everybody says he's a bigger version of Drew Brees, but I'm not going to disrespect Drew Brees and compare him to a guy who spent five years in college and through the ball, you know, zero to 15 yards down the field a lot. I'm not going to compare Drew Brees to that just yet. Bo, before we let you go, I want to hop down to college for a second, because you do a great job covering that level for ESPN as well. You tweeted something while I was watching that Florida state, Shabingus the other night, that was so good. You asked about a quarterback in Florida state, DJ Oyeongalole, you said, if you were a head coach and you hand pick a portal quarterback and he struggles this bad, what do you do? And your point was you don't really have equity with your team or what teammates know of his to just let him keep playing. But then also that it's complicated because you just paid a guy a lot of money. What's the answer to that question? Because I view it almost like Florida state gave a contract out in free agency. And it's already a terrible contract. You were just referencing like what you paid cousins, you got to play him. This is kind of what we're talking about with NIL and a guy like DJU, isn't it? Yeah, it's very similar, man. And if you're if you're Mike Novel, you got to figure it out, man, because to the point about equity, you know, when you've been through the fire with teammates, those teammates will know like they know you're going to bounce out of it. They know, you know, you got their bag, they got your bag. But when you have a guy who just showed up on campus six months ago, like you don't really know him. Like he's a hard hand. And he's proven through the first couple of games that he's not it right now. And he may get better, but I think DJU is who he is and who he is. It's not very good. And I think if you're Florida state, you got to figure out what's next. I think Mike owes it to the team. And it's no different than the NFL. Sometimes you, you know, pass out a bad contract. Remember Seattle gave Matt Flynn three years and 45 million, but they started Russell Wilson. Sometimes you sometimes it happens. And in those rare cases, you got to bite the bullet and tell the GM I made a mistake. In this case, if you're a Florida state, you got to go to the collective and say, Hey, I know we're paying DJ, whatever the number is, five, 600,000, but I'm going to put him on the bench. We made a mistake. And that's where we are in college football. But it's a tough predicament to be in, especially when you bring the money because the GM going to look at you like, well, you told me he was X. And that's kind of where Mike Norville and Florida state are. Is Cam Ward, the quarterback at Miami, as good as he played this weekend, he blew me away. And are there any other college quarterbacks on a short list that you would say also had kind of elite outings this weekend? Cam Ward is as good. Niko Iamabiala at Tennessee is the real deal. Those two really stood out to me because they not only put up big numbers, but they played the game at a high level. Cam Ward went in the swamp amongst 90,000 and played like he was, you know, over there outside of the old FedEx stadium in the parking lot, just going around. Like he just really looked cool, calm, and collected. And Niko, Niko is handpicked by Josh Highpool. They paid him a lot of money. And so far, so good. So those were the two that really stood out to me. Just wanted to get your thoughts in general, though, a book real quick about the Lansing of college football. He referenced it a little bit. I'm happy for individual players, obviously, and get what you can get. I mean, the market says, get it, go get it. No, no, you know, quibble there. But with all the conference realignment, with sort of the depth, maybe some of these rivalries and kind of this wild, wild West, you know, no CBA, you know, just sort of, I don't recall crazy this, but I'll have a better word for it. Where is college football at right now to you? And how can it get better if it needs to? I think college football is more and more like the NFL from the standpoint of money and general managers and rosters and performance and the length of the season. Where, you know, we're going to get better. I think the one thing that you got to do right now is there are two transfer windows, one in the spring. I think there only needs to be one. And most likely it probably needs to be at the end of the spring, you know, don't let a guy transfer as soon as the season is over and he's super emotional. I think, you know, there's got to be one window. And if you say that one window's in the fall, okay, then fine. I just think there's the only need to be one right now having two windows to transfer is not very good. Booker, tell me you're doing a prime time again with Berman. Sunday night, baby. I'm telling you, this is not an exaggeration. I got ESPN plus a few years ago, a couple of years back for that show. I grew up watching TJ and boom, do that. And I still think it's just as good a football show as there is you and him are so good. And I would tell all of our listeners to check it out. So you're going to do it every Sunday night. Sunday night, every only ESPN plus, baby. Love it. So good. Well, we appreciate you, man. It's awesome having you on the show. Always thrilled to talk to you and we'll catch up soon. All right. Later. Have a good one, fellow. Thanks, bud. Got it. There's booger McFarland of ESPN on Grant and Danny talks about both the pro and the college game. Protect your vehicle's engine with a full synthetic oil change and save with mobile one at O'Reilly Auto Parts. 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