Speaker 1: Star to Yoda presents Off the Bench with Jacob Hester
and Matt Flynn.
Speaker 2: Let's go.
Speaker 1: Let's go from a championship backfield to your morning drive.
Speaker 3: Hansday, Hester and Hester got it five out.
Speaker 1: Of five your locks in to Off the Bench control
the Live from the Mercedes Benz of Baton Rouge Studio.
Here's Jacob Hester and Matt Flynn.
Speaker 4: Yo.
Speaker 3: I'm not doing that, all right, It's not no, no,
I'm not.
Speaker 5: Yo, right, pibes are high this morning here on O TV. Guys,
Taylor sharpy with you one more time, Jacob Hester, Matt
Flynn not back quite yet.
Speaker 4: They needed one more day off.
Speaker 5: They will I have been told almost ninety percent certain
at this point they will be back tomorrow. We will
find out probably sometime this afternoon. But Taylor Sharp here
with you, hanging out the rest of the morning with you,
and we got a lot to talk about.
Speaker 4: I mean, we got New Orleans Saints.
Speaker 5: They got a new contract done over the weekend, a
big time contract that had to get done before the
start of training camp, which will occur on Wednesday. We're
gonna talk to Melochu Football News as SEC media or
the media that was out there at SEC media days,
I should say, put out their list of first team,
second team, third team. Like all SEC teams. I have
a lot of issues with it. We'll discuss that a
little bit later on. We got Devin Snow in his
normal spot at nine am. We had a big weekend
out there in New Orleans. And then we'll have Rolster
Jackson at eight point thirty hopping on to preview a
little bit of Saints training camp, which of course I
just mentioned is starting on this Wednesday.
Speaker 4: You heard a launder there a little bit.
Speaker 5: Earlier, my guy Paul O'Neill over here the video board,
having to pull a double. Paul's gonna be here till
about seven o'clock tonight. How we feeling vibes high, vibes low,
be somewhere in the middle.
Speaker 4: How are we doing? You got a long one today?
We're somewhere in the middle as of right now. Okay,
ask me that at like four right, right, right, Yeah.
Speaker 5: When you got one hour to go in AFR, it's
like you got one hour left, but you've been here
for like twelve hours at that point.
Speaker 4: It's it's it's bad vibes.
Speaker 5: When I saw you send that text, when Matt was like, Hey,
I need somebody to fill in on video because Taylor
has the host and you were the one to respond
be like I can do it. I was like, oh man,
I got Paul in for a long one. Look, we've
all been there. As I mentioned, we got a jam
packed show today. So right now, let's get this show started.
Speaker 1: It's time to get glowing courtesy of go Flow ivy
spa where hydration vitamins and a summer ready glow are
always on tap now for starters.
Speaker 5: Okay, so it was the big story of the weekend
here in the state of Louisiana. Look, when rookies are
finalizing their deals, traditionally only first round picks get a
fully guaranteed deal. Well, earlier in the offseason, Jaydon Higgins,
the Texans wide receiver, he got a fully guaranteed deal.
Carson Swezinger, the linebacker at a UCLA, he got a
fully guaranteed deal as well. Now they were the top
two picks of the second round, so it led to
a little bit of a holdout from a lot of
second round rookies. And Tyler Schuck didn't have a contract
as of this weekend. Well that is all changed the
New Orleans Saints and rookie quarterback Tyler Schuck have agreed
to terms on a four year contract worth ten point
seven nine to five million dollars fully guaranteed, of course.
Adam Schefter reported this on Saturday. He said they agreed
to the full contract got pick number forty Shuck as
the last player selected in the twenty twenty five draft
to secure a fully guaranteed deal. So, as I just mentioned,
normally it's the first round pick, right, it's the top
thirty two. Maybe this sets a president to where, hey,
that top forty Caudshuck was at forty, Maybe that top
forty going forward, we'll get that guaranteed money. Of course
they did this year. The contract also includes an annual
roster bonus structure where Shark will receive the majority of
his compensation each year up front during the first week
of training camp. So it's nothing new here. The Saints
are kind of team cream with a contact trying to
find the best way to get the player of the
money that they believe they deserve and to help them
out in the cap situation. I got roster Jackson actually
onluisianasports dot Net put out a really interesting article. Obviously
he linked at them Schefter's tweet, but he mentioned, look,
typically a roster bonus the guaranteed amount of money that
is contingent upon a player being on the roster at
a designated time. No details on what it's going to
look like, what amount of money they're going to get.
But uh Ross said, in those circumstances, bonuses kick in
during the same year, and even put an example like
if a player is on the roster at a date
ahead of the twenty twenty six training camp and their
twenty twenty six bonus kicks in. Otherwise teams work ahead,
that would mean guarantee in a twenty twenty seven bonus
won a date later in twenty twenty six. So a
lot of jargon there, But look, it doesn't matter how
this deal got done. It doesn't matter fully guaranteed, not
fully guaranteed. Like what matters is that it did get done,
because training camp is starting up in just a few
days and you're not gonna want to have Spencer Ratler
out there taken all the first team reps by default.
Now at the end of training camp, if Rattler separates himself,
then that's fine. Let him take all the first team reps.
But I want Shock and Rattler out there both battling
for that quarterback one spot because it's good for all involved.
Speaker 4: Competition makes you better.
Speaker 5: But look again, if Rattler indeed wins this job, I
don't want to to be by default. I don't want
him to say, oh well, shucks a camp hold out,
the contract, disputes going online. He's behind the eight ball
a little bit. He has some catching up to do
being a rookie. Anyways, we're gonna have to wait, you know,
and maybe starting week four, week five, week six of
the season because he's not up to speed.
Speaker 4: Well, that's no longer the case. Like you want to
see and.
Speaker 5: You need to see how the Saints offense flows with
both guys.
Speaker 4: The more options the better.
Speaker 5: Is how I've always looked at like you look at
it camps across the country right now, like there's a
lot of rookie quarterbacks battling for jobs, but all of
them were scheduled to be at camp. The one we
were wondering about was Tyler Shuck. He's going to be there.
Spencer Rattler is going to be there. Obviously, those are
the top two guys. But look, Jay Cayner's in the mix.
You see Hunter Decker's right here on the picture behind me.
There are four guys out there. You want as many
guys as possible because this is a revamp. Like you
brought in Kellen Moore to build the offense the way
he wanted to. He felt comfortable enough spending a top
forty overall pick one Tyler Shuck. Clearly that's the guy
that he would like to run his offense. Now, Shuck's
still gonna have to earn the job. He's not gonna
come in and say, hey, I drafted you high. You're
the guy I want to go with. Go out there,
even though you've struggled in camp. He's still us to
earn the job. But the fact that he's going to
be out there with the contract negotiations behind him, fully
bought in, ready to go in camp, that tells me
that he's fully bought in. I'm excited about this. As
far as who wins the battle, I don't know. I mean, look,
I just laid out that Chuck was the guy that
that Kellen Moore drafted, right, that Dougnsemeyer wanted in the
building as well.
Speaker 4: That's the guy that they targeted.
Speaker 5: And I know what you're saying, Oh, well, you know,
they could have drafted to Jackson Dart in the first
round or anything like this. There were reports early on,
like two months before the draft, that Tyler Shuck was
a name to keep an eye on for the New
Orleans Saints. So it's not one of those things where, oh,
the top guys on our board were taken. We kind
of waited until forty and kind of took whatever was left.
Shuck was a guy that was really really high on
the Saints board. This is a guy that they like,
and I think that gives him an advantage. Now, obviously,
Spencer Ratler has the experience in the league because he
had been there a year before, but he wasn't a
full time starter. Now he got a lot of starts
and he played a lot just because Derek Carr was
injured for the entire year. That held the entire offense
was injured for the entire year. Again, Ratler has the
advantage being in his second year. But I mean, Tyler
Shuck's now your normal rookie. Everyone loves to point out, Oh, man,
Tyler Shuck's old. He's twenty five years old, which I've
always thought is stupid, Like, yeah, he's a quarterback, he's
not a running back. Like if Tyler Shuck comes in
works out, becomes your starting quarterback for the next decade, Wan,
he's only thirty five years old at that point in
quarterbacks are playing well into their forties now. And secondly,
no one's going to care how old the guy was
when he drafted him. If he's your starting quarterback for
the next decade, if you're starting quarterback for the next
ten years, well then it worked out wonderfully. Being there
at the fortieth overall pick, you grabbed your future franchise quarterback.
A Lave appears to be healthy right now. We'll see
the health of Rashiji, But right now the Saints are
about as healthy as they can be going into camp,
and I understand they don't have a lot of top
tier guys. There's not any guys out there. You're like, hey,
these guys are going to be all pro. The Saints
rosters loaded. You have a Lave, you Rashid jh. You
have Brandon Cooks that's a decent three. Now I'm not
sure you have a bona fide number one, but all
three of those guys can play. Cooks a little bit older.
Rashid and Alave have had some injury issues, but when
they're all three fully healthy and ready to go, they're
talented players.
Speaker 4: And last year you had no depth behind Alvin kam.
Speaker 5: When Kamara needed a breather, you had Kendre Miller who
was hurt and wasn't playing. You had Jordan Mems who
just didn't give you a whole lot of production.
Speaker 4: Anyways.
Speaker 5: Now behind Alvin Kamara you have Devin Neil, who by
all accounts of this staff loves, They drafted in the
sixth round out of Kansas. You still have Kendre Miller.
If he can stay healthy. A lot of people are
still high on him. You signed Clyde Edwards and Layer
halfway through the year last year because you were so injured.
He's still out there at camp. You just brought in
Cam Akers. Now that's two Achilles injuries, but he's a
year and a half removed from that second.
Speaker 4: When can he get back into four.
Speaker 5: He's a guy that meant a lot to a Los
Angeles Rams team that won the Super Bowl. During that
playoff run, you saw a lot of camp acers. He's
been in some big time moments. He's produced in big
time moments. The offensive line is another like. The offensive
line was a straight up liability last year. That's why
Carr was hurt. That's why all your running backs behind
Alvin Kamara were hurt. The offensive line was shaky. You
bring in Kelvin Banks, it looks like he's going to
slide right in there to left tackle. Eric McCoy, in
my opinion, one of the best sinners in all the
football Tyley sa Fuaga likely sliding over to right tackle.
Then you move Trevor Penning to guard. You still have
Caesar Ruiz, who has been shaky at times, but that's
still a guy who you spent a first round pick
on just a few years ago. Can you finally get
him some protection between McCoy and the tackle on the
other side of him. Maybe try to get as much
as you can out of a Caesar So between Banks, Ruez, McCoy,
Trevor Penning, who I hope can work out at that
guard spot, and then Tally saf Well get right tackle.
I'm not saying this offensive line is gonna be best
in the league. I'm not saying they're gonna be a
top five.
Speaker 4: Unit in the league.
Speaker 5: Can they be serviceable, can they be stable? Can they
stay healthy and a whole play together. If you can
get any of that, you're in a lot better shape
than you were a year ago. But we'll see how
the quarterback battle shakes out. But with Tyler Shark's contract
in the rear view mirror, you got him, you got
Spencer Rattler battling it out for QB one and as
a whole, you're pretty healthy overall heading into training camp.
All right, we're going to take a quick time out
when we get back SEC media to wrap up media days.
This broke about noon on Friday. Put out there all
SEC team and projected order of finish. We're breaking it
down next here on Off the bench, Off the bench.
Speaker 2: All right, go to Boudroxelectrical dot Com Boudros Electrical Services,
More Power, more Protection, Get your free generact quote right
their top right corner of the website. They'll come out
and they will kind of look at your space, tell
you exactly where they can put your whole home generator
that's going to give you the ultimate peace of mind.
Hurricane season is a coming. We know it's going to
happen here in South Louisiana. But you have that protection
that we talk about when you have a whole home generator,
because you will never have a power outage. Right, You'll
have your AC, you'll have your lights, you'll have your refrigerator,
everything will be okay, you'll have your TV. But if
you don't call them, you won't have that ultimate peace
of mind. Go to Budo's Electrical dot Com.
Speaker 6: Yeah, we already have some name storm name storms popping
up right now. So you know, the Gulf of America
is going to be heating up here pretty soon in
the next couple of weeks. So get protected, be stress free.
Give them a call to day that Generac generator. Budros
Electrical dot Com.
Speaker 1: From Players to Legends, Hester and Flynn breakdown LSU football
like only champions can.
Speaker 5: Welcome back in Monday edition of Off the Bench, Taylor
Sharp sitting in for Jacob Hester and Matt Flynn. The
guys will be back tomorrow for sure. We do have
confirmation on that. Mentioned it a little bit there going
into break. On Friday to wrap up SEC Media Days,
a list came out that all the media that was
out there at SEC Media Days put out there all
SEC team and the projected order of finish Right now,
I want to look at the All SEC team because
I have some major issues with it. When you look
at the defense, will start there first. LSU has one guy,
It's Wit Weeks on the first team at linebacker.
Speaker 4: Makes a lot of sense. Weeks was excellent last year.
Speaker 5: If he's fully recovered from that ankle injury that he
suffered in the Bowl game, then I have no reason
to believe the Wod Weeks is not gonna be awesome
this year.
Speaker 4: As well.
Speaker 5: The second team, you have one guy as well, linebacker
Harold Perkins.
Speaker 4: Again makes sense.
Speaker 5: You can't put him first team because of the injuries
we've seen the last couple of years. But where it is,
they're moving him to the star position full time. I
think he's going to thrive there. That's a chance for
him to move around. He can cover receivers out of
the backfield, he can still rush the passer off the edge.
He can still play inside if you need him too.
That star position allows Harold Perkins to be very versatile.
It frees him up in the Blake Baker defense.
Speaker 4: I like that with your specialist.
Speaker 5: Barrion Brown makes second team returner Xavi and Thomas makes
second team All purpose.
Speaker 4: Good with that until you see who's.
Speaker 5: In front of them, Like Zachariah Branch from Georgia made
first team in both of those categories, so he's first
team returner and first team All purpose. I gotta be honest,
I don't know where the hype around Zachariah Branch is
coming from. I know how it started, I don't know
why it's continued. So if you remember two years ago
opening game at time twenty twenty three USC and I
forget who they were playing, but Zacharia Branch, true freshman,
first college game, had a punt return for a touchdown
and caught a long pass for a touchdown, and people
lost their minds.
Speaker 4: The hype train has not slowed down since.
Speaker 5: Okay, but during that twenty twenty three season, he had
three hundred and twenty receiving yards, two touchdowns, and then
in the return game he had three hundred yards of
punt return just one return touchdown.
Speaker 4: That's his only return touchdown in two years.
Speaker 5: People talk about Zacharia Branch all the time being this
dynamic playmaker. He has one return touchdown in punts one
on kickoff, Like, that's pretty good but I mean, we
had heard about Barryon Brown and the records that he had.
Speaker 4: Set at Kentucky.
Speaker 5: He has so many returns in big time moments, like
Barryon Brown has to be first team on this list.
And then when you look at the receiving numbers, a
two year total for Zacharia Branch eight hundred and twenty
three yards and three touchdowns.
Speaker 4: That's in two full seasons.
Speaker 5: I get that we saw Zacharia Branch on a big
stage early in his career and he performed well. He
hadn't done a whole heck of a lot since then,
and it's been two years. We got to slow down
on the Zacharia Branch hype train. So if any of
you listen to our station after AFR, the Chuck Oliver
ship normally comes on. I love the Chuck Oliver Show
because I'm a football nerd, but I understand, you know,
everybody's gonna have certain opinions. This was about two weeks ago.
Whoever was filling in for Chuck Oliver. I don't remember
the guy's name, but the point of it was he
had a Georgia Beat reporter on and they were chatting
back and forth about the Bulldogs and whoever the guy
was filling in for Chuck Oliver goes. Look, you know,
Georgia hadn't had a thousand yard receivers and brock Bauers
like two or three years ago. I think that's gonna change.
I think Zacharia Branch is gonna be one thousand yard receiver.
Why you have a first year starting quarterback in Gunner Stockton,
you don't have a ton of weapons around him your
running game?
Speaker 4: What's that gonna look like?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 5: How is Zacharia Branch gonna get to a thousand yards?
He would have to double his production from a year
ago five hundred and three yards exactly a year ago.
That's his best season in college football. How is Zacharya
Branch going to get to a thousand yards? I don't
see it. It's hype because you've seen the flashes in
big moments, but the consistency has not been there for
two years now. Going back to Barrion Browns, Davion Thomas,
second team and returner and all purpose charge respectfully. On
the offensive side of the ball, Aaron Anderson, Cayden Durham,
and Garrett no Smyer all made second team. Anderson Durham.
I'm good with Anderson over eight hundred yards last season.
He wound up being your leading receiver in terms of yards.
And then Caden Durham exploded after about week three or four,
like he wound up being your running game. He kind
of carrying you through the rest of the season. I
expect him to take a leap for I'm good with
both of those guys being second team all less easy.
Why is Garrett no Smyer on the second team. I'm
gonna continue to bring this up until it changes. Garrett
no Smyer is the leading returning passer in all of
college football, meaning nobody starting a quarterback this year in
college football threw from more yards than Garrett Nosemeyer did
a year ago.
Speaker 4: Nobody. And it's funny.
Speaker 5: Matt Musso came up to me Friday afternoon because it's
when the list came out. He goes, hey, guess who's
first team ll SEC quarterback. I'm all right, you came
up to him and you're asking me this. It means
it's not Garrett Nosmeyer, which is already ridiculous. I was like,
I don't know, is the arch hype train exploding. He's like, no, No,
it's not arch. I was like a lot of people
like DJ Lagway. I still need to see a lot,
but there's a lot of hype around DJ Lagway. No,
it's Lenora Sellers from South Carolina. Okay, Lenora Sellers did
some nice things last year. But when you look at
Sellers versus Nuss, by the numbers, Lenora Sellers sixty twenty
five hundred yards, eighteen touchdown passes, seven interceptions, Garrett Nosemeyer
four thousand yards passing, twenty nine touchdown passes, but he
did have twelve interceptions. Menuss almost doubled his yardage.
Speaker 4: Jode.
Speaker 5: Everybody's going to say, okay, well, you got to take
it into consideration Lenora Sellers' ability to run. Sure, that's fine,
I did that. Leonora Sellers passing and rushing combined thirty
two hundred yards twenty five touchdowns. Garrett and Osmeyer still
has him beat by almost one thousand total yards of
offense and seven touchdowns. When you're take into consideration the
three touchdowns and thus had on the grounds, it's not
really close. And then everybody's going to say, like, I
don't remember who it was, but Matt Moscow at SEC
Media days had interviewed one of the SEC media guys
out there and they said, oh, well, Lenora Sellers is
going to be my first team All SECQB. And when
Matt asked why, he said, I can't get the Clemson
game out of my head.
Speaker 4: He went on the road.
Speaker 5: He beat Clemson late in the year. He was excellent.
That game was seventeen to fourteen. Leonora's Sellers did not
throw a touchdown pass. Like again, that game was seventeen
to thirteen. It's it's not like he went out there
and let up the scoreboard. Now, in Seller's defense, before
that game, I mean he had a really good four
game stretch. So before the game against Clemson he threw
for a two forty four, two thirty eight, three fifty three,
and three zero seven multiple touchdown passes.
Speaker 4: About those games that was great. A and m Vandy
Missouri were three of those games.
Speaker 5: Now, the last one was Wafford, but it doesn't matter
that that's still a good sample size. But against Clemson,
one hundred and sixty four yards passing, no touchdowns on
a pick. Now he ran for one hundred and sixty
six yards and two touchdowns. But I have major question
marks on Lenora's Seller's ability to throw the football. Go
back and watch the South Carolina Alabama gain in the
fourth quarter. South Carolina is going down the field to
win the game. If Leonora's Sellers hits a wide open
man in the back of the end zone and then
he wound up air mailing, South Carolina beats Alabama and
they should have won that game. But he missed the
easy throat. So you look at the Clemson game. Okay,
one to sixty four through the air, no touchdowns and
a pick. They lose the bowl game to Illinois. No,
that was a good Illinois team, but two hundred and
sixty yards a touchdown, and then they shut him down
on the ground, which is why they ultimately lost that game.
Eleven carries for nineteen yards. You're kind of starting to
see the picture when you shut him down and he
no longer has the ability to run. He's limited as
a passer. So the numbers from last season aren't even close.
But I was like, Okay, let's give him the benefit
of the doubt. Maybe they're projecting to next season. When
you project to next season, like it's almost worse. And
then also going back to the end of last season,
throw those numbers out the window, because if you look
at Garrett no Smyer, when Chris Hilton was fully healthy,
last three games of the year Vanderbilt Oklahoma, the bowl
game against Baylor, Garrett Nelsmeyer seventy two percent completion, seven touchdowns,
one pick, when you finally had that deep threat to
open up the offense. Lenora Sellers did not have that.
But if you're projecting to this year, I think the
gap gets even larger. L shoes loaded with weapons. Yes,
they lose Kyraen Lacy. He made some big plays for
you last year. Yes, you lose Mason Taylor, the best
tight end in program history. Trade has agreed in Bower
Sharp the combination of those two might actually give you
more versatility than you had with Mason Taylor. You bring
him Barry and Brown, Nick Anderson, you get Aaron Anderson backs.
Avion Thomas is there, Chris Hilton's there. You just went
to SEC media days. They're obviously expecting big things from him.
Jelannie Watkins has more speed than anybody out there, if
he could ever get on the field. Tron Francis was
a high four star, Philip Right was a four star receiver,
and these are guys that hadn't even stepp foot on
the field yet. Kylum Billy oots out there, Kyle Parker
can bounce back from his injury.
Speaker 4: You get the point. LSU has a lot of weapons.
Speaker 5: And then most of those guys I just mentioned have
already made big plays for you. Who's South Carolina's top weapon? Like,
if I, as the average football fan, maybe South Carolina's
number one receiver, They're not gonna be able to do it.
And everyone wants to say Nicholas Harbor, but I'm not
sure that's true. Like Nick Harbor is a six foot four,
two hundred and thirty five pound freak that runs a
four to three forty yard dash and he hasn't done
anything in college football. He has a lot of potential,
he has a lot of athleticism, he has done nothing.
He's enterdew as a junior season. So he said two
full years of football that he's already played. His best
year was last season where he had three hundred and
seventy six receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Speaker 4: That's it.
Speaker 5: You have Rocket Sanders in the backfield, you have Lenora
Sellers and their ability to run. That's fine, but I
mean the weapons that are going to help out Lenora's sellers.
Not only is Garrett Nosmyri much better and much more
polished passer than Sellers, I personally don't think it's close.
The weapons and the guys around them that can help
out their quarterback and make that guy better, it's not
even close. So Nesmeyer has the number advantage from a
season ago, buy a lot. He has a lot more
weapons in my opinion heading into the season. What am
I missing? Because again, if you go by row numbers,
it's Garrett Nosmarck. If you go by what you're projecting
in next season, I don't know how it's not Garrett Nosemeyer.
Speaker 4: There as well.
Speaker 5: To me, the screams laziness by the media. I mentioned
when Matt had I can't remember who it was. Matt
had the guy on at SEC media Days and he said,
I can't get the end of the season out.
Speaker 4: Of my head.
Speaker 5: Garrett no Smyer into his season better than lenora Sellers,
So throw that out the window. And I understand Lenora's
Sellers got hurt right before half time in the LSU game,
and if he doesn't, South Carolina likely wins that game.
I understand that but the fact of the matter is
he did leave that game and LSU did win that game.
So LSU had the head to head of South Carolina
eight year ago. Whether they should have won it or
not doesn't matter at this point. Now Smart went on
the route and beat South Carolina. He had seven touchdowns
and one pick through the last three games of the year.
He has a ton of weapons coming in. Leonora's Sellers
doesn't have any of those things. You lost the bowl
game to Illinois, and then everyone wants to talk about
how you dominated Clemson. It was seventeen fourteen. It was
a defensive game. You ran for one hundred and sixty
six yards. That's great. You threw for less than one
seventy through a pick and no touchdown passes Like, I
don't understand what I'm missing here with Lenora Sellers. I
think this is laziness about the media. I think it's
recency bias because everyone wants to talk about Sellers late
in the season. However, if you actually do your research
and dig into the numbers, it shouldn't even be recenty, yes,
and thus was better at the end of the year.
All right, we're going to take a time out.
Speaker 4: We get back. We're gonna continue to break this down.
Speaker 5: The sec projected order of finish came out as well.
I'll give you the top three. Give you my thoughts
on that next year on Off the Bench.
Speaker 2: Off the Bench Pelican Roofing on the OTB Squad. Pelicanroof
dot com is the website. Get that instant roof quote
right there on the homepage of the website. It's gonna
pull up type in your dress home business gives you
an outline of your roof and a great idea of
what it would cost right there on the site. See
the five star reviews on the homepage of pelicanroof dot com.
So many five star reviews, Yelp, Facebook, Google, The Internet
hates everything. They love Pelican Roofing. Go check out those
financing options as well pelicanroof dot com.
Speaker 6: Yeah, the Internet does love pelicroove and for good reason too.
Quality work, customer service is second to absolutely nobody, and
yet we get it.
Speaker 4: Roof is a big deal.
Speaker 6: You might be a little bit nervous about calling it
having to go through that, but give them a call.
Zero present fine dancing for up to twenty one months
for qualified buyers. Check them out today in Lafayette in
Baton rougepelicanroof dot Com.
Speaker 4: Look, you don't messie, she loves me. Maybe you understand.
Speaker 1: Why up this swist Tigers turn talkers. This is off
the bench, all right?
Speaker 2: Go to go Tommy's dot Com g E A U
X thommas with why dot Com Tommy's Windows, Doors and Siding.
You will clearly see the difference when you go to
the website and no matter what you're trying to get done,
now you can find a gallery of work testimonials of
past clients and so you're gonna see what they've done
in the greater Baton Rouge area. But the thing I
always encourage you have Tommy and the team come out,
because about six eight months ago I had them come
out and like, hey, here's what I got going on.
I really don't know what to do. I hadn't seen
a lot of this. I'm like, oh, we'll come up
with the plan. That's always said like, we'll come up
with the plan. They'll take care, but they will customize
your job to whatever your needs are at your home,
at your business. Go Tommies dot Com.
Speaker 6: Yeah, Tommy's Windows, Sidings and Doors. The championship company ever
since twenty sixteen on the Ajie's Award List twenty sixteen
all the way to right now twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4: Go check them out. See what they can do.
Speaker 6: Integrity, dependable, professional the most importantly when you're doing a job,
you want somebody efficient. You want to get them in
and out of your house and doing a great job.
Go tommies dot com.
Speaker 4: All right, welcome back in No, we're number one.
Speaker 5: Here on a Monday edition of Off the Bench, Taylor
Sharp sitting in one more time for Jacob Estro and
Matt Flynn. They are both out today obviously, but they
will be back tomorrow.
Speaker 4: Okay.
Speaker 5: The SEC projected order of finish voted on by the
media that was out there in Atlanta last week has
been revealed, and the Texas Longhorns get the most votes
that they are pre projected to finish first coming up
in the twenty twenty five colleg football season. They are
followed by Georgia, Alabama, LSU, then a big gap, i
mean like five hundred votes all the way down to
South Carolina at number five.
Speaker 4: For what it's worth.
Speaker 5: So funny, we were talking on Friday about the teams
we thought were gonna be the worst. I picked Arkansas, Kentucky,
Mississippi State. Well, apparently that wasn't a hot take. Bottom
three Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State in that order, Vanderbilt right
above them. I don't necessarily have a huge issue with Georgia, Texas,
Alabama all being ahead of LSU, but I do want
to point out that there are obvious issues with all
three of these teams. It's almost refreshing looking at it
and saying, hey, there's not one dominant team coming into
the season where you look and you say, man, that
team's gonna steamroll everyone. All the other teams are fighting
for second. You don't really have that because when you
look at Georgia, Gunner Stocked it their starting quarterback this year,
started one game last year. Now, he played in the
SEC Championship against Texas and he played well. I mean,
they didn't ask him to do what Tony went ten
of sixteen for about seventy yards, but he played well.
He I mean he almost got it done for him.
And then he plays Notre Dame in the College Football
Playoff and he performed well. Was there despite the fact
that they got the laws. So that's two defenses that
were ranked in the top five a year ago, and
Gunnar Stockton wasn't a disaster going in when he didn't
have a ton of experience. He looked like he belonged.
He has a full offseason as the starter in this program.
I think he'll be fine, but there's still question marks
there as well. And again going back to the weapons
on the offensive side for Georgia, they didn't have a
ton last year. I mean, there's always a guy that's
gonna break out that we're not talking about preseas. I
understand that it happens for every team, but right now
everyone believes it's going to be Zachary A.
Speaker 4: Branch.
Speaker 5: I don't just because we haven't seen him for two
years out there usc Maybe it is maybe a change
of scenery for Branch. He's going to play with his brothers,
Zion Branch, who's also at Georgia. Like maybe the comfortability
fact Drill Hilp elevate his game.
Speaker 4: We'll see. Now when you look at George's schedule, I
don't hate it.
Speaker 5: I mean they open the season with Marshall at home
in August thirtieth.
Speaker 4: That's a win.
Speaker 5: You're gonna play Austin p the next week, that's a win.
You got two layups weeks one and two. Then you
go to Knoxville against Tennessee September thirteenth. We've talked a
lot about Tennessee. The other day I listed them as
probably my biggest disappointing team. It'll finish the season in
twenty twenty five less than what people think. But Knoxville
is still a tough place to play. You have to
go to Kneeland Stadium. That defense is still going to
be really good, house gunners stocked and going to perform
in that environment. Georgia probably gets that win just because
I trust Kirby smart have a heck of a lot
more than I do Josh Heipel. But that's not an
easy game. So you start with two easy ones. Then
you have Tennessee. You have Alabama at home. I think
there's question marks around them. We'll get to Alabama here
in a second. So let's say you go three and one.
You lose to either Tennessee or la Obama. You take
care of business in the first two games. Kentucky, that's
a win. I think they're gonna be terrible. You have
to go to Auburn. I think they're gonna be better
than they were a year ago. But that's a win.
You're sitting at five and one Ole miss at home.
I think you win that game. You're six and one
at this point playing Florida in Jacksonville. That's gonna be
a tough game. That's a toss up game for me.
Even if you lose that game, you win with Mississippi State,
that's a win that puts you at seven too. Now
Texas comes to Athens. That's the game that's gonna define
because if Georgia has two losses bout that point, they
have to beat Texas to get into the playoff. If
they only have one and they beat Florida, you can
lose this game, no sweats, still hopefully make the playoffs,
and then you close the season Charlotte Georgia Tech. There's
some tough games on the back end, but you start
with two easy ones Marshall and Austin p and then
there's a little wiggle room in there as well.
Speaker 4: As far as Texas goes the schedules.
Speaker 5: A hole is not that bad, but you may have
the toughest opening game out of anybody in the SEC,
maybe outside of LSU. You have to go to Columbus
Ohio on the road and play Ohio State week one
of the season. I have said time and time again,
I'm gonna continue to say it. I think Ohio State
wins a game. I think Texas starts the season oh
and one. Not necessarily say you know, arch Manion is
going to be a disaster on the road. I think
Julian Sayan is gonna be really good. He has a
lot of weapons to throw to that defense for Ohio
State's still gonna be good. And it's so hard to
win in Columbus, especially when like it's your first start
knowing you're the guy, it's your first a big time start,
like Arch May two starts a year ago.
Speaker 4: They weren't elite teams.
Speaker 5: I think Texas loses that game, but San Jose State, UTEP,
SAM Houston All wins. You're three to one going to
the Swamp. Take care of that. You're four and one
heading into the Red River rivalry. I think you're a
better team than Oklahoma. See but if you get that,
you're five and one, then you got Kentucky, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt.
I mean, you you're winning all three of those. You
have to play Georgia late in the season. Again, even
if you lose that, you finish with Arkansas and Texas
A and M. I think you're better than both of
those teams.
Speaker 4: I don't.
Speaker 5: I don't hate Texas's schedule, same with Alabama. Like you
open with Florida State. It's tough on paper, but Florida
State was awful a year ago. I don't know they're
gonna have to be significantly better to win that game
that what is in Tallahassee. But I think the Crimson
Tide win that you'll beat ULM. I think you beat
Wisconsin at home. George is a tough one, but then
you have Vandy Missouri. How good are they going to be? Tennessee?
But then South Carolina, LSU, Oklahoma, like Alabama by far,
out of the East three, in my opinion, has the
toughest schedule. You're playing Georgia on the road, and then
you're you're sectioned there with with three really tough teams,
South Carolina and LSUB and two of them that's tough
with Texas. Look, arch Manning first years is a starting quarterback.
Speaker 4: That's tough.
Speaker 5: You lose gunner Helm Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, those are
your top three receivers from a year ago. You did
a good job in recruiting Kalik Lockett five star freshmen,
Jamie Frinch five star freshmen. Both of those guys this
staff here and Baton Rudge wanted badly. They choose the
Texas Longhorns. Those guys could emerge. Could We'll have to
see it now. Quinn Travian Wise, they're they're running back.
He's a stud. Love what I saw from him a
year ago, but you lose a little bit of depth
in that room as well. Jayden Blue, he plays for
the Cowboys now. He was solid for you a year ago.
I think Archie is going to be a good quarterback.
I think he's talented enough, but he's stepping in ersyear.
Is the full time starter, losing a lot of weapons,
and you have to play Ohio State on the road
week one. I think it's a tough ass to hat
ask them to win that game. But the next three
after that you should win comfortably for Alabama. I still
got to get there with him. Ty Simpson was unable
to beat out Jaylen Milroe for three years, and I
personally did not think Jaylan Milroy was a very good quarterback.
I think it was a very good runner. I think
he struggled mightily in the passing game. And we saw
Ty Sampson a little bit two years ago against South
Florida when they pulled Milroe. It wasn't pretty and he
really hasn't played much since then. Stud wide receiver in
Ryan Williams. Outside of him, there's a little bit of
a question mark. Jam Miller's in the backfield, but he's
a good sez back. He hasn't shown the ability yet
to be elite. Maybe he does, but that's not an
elite Alabama weapon like you're.
Speaker 4: Used to seeing. Look, there's a lot of question marks
around all these teams.
Speaker 5: And I'm not sitting here saying LSU is some juggernaut,
but having an elite, proven talent at the quarterback position
gives you an incredible advantage every single week.
Speaker 4: Now, well LHU win the SEC.
Speaker 5: I'm not gonna sit here and say, yeah, it's like maybe,
maybe not, who knows at this point, but what they
did do they did a great job of filling their
needs in the offseason. O line is a huge question mark,
there's no question about. But you got a lot better
better at receiver. You got way better at dB like
AJ Halsey and Tamarcus Cooley were two big time pickups
at the safety position. You brought in DJ pick at
the number one corner in America, as well as two
transfers Jackson and man tour Delane. I think you're a
lot deeper depth wise on the defensive line. Now we'll
see you know who overperform who underperforms on that line,
but at least body wise, you're a lot deeper than
you were a year ago. And I think you're really
good at lineback. I mean, linebacker is a position on
this team we don't talk about enough. You have Weeks,
you have West Weeks, who's done some solid things. I
von Keyes looked like a stud at the end of
the year. I think he's going to slide in there,
and you have some talented young guys behind him, including
the third Weeks brother, Zach Weeks.
Speaker 4: I think you're good at linebacker.
Speaker 5: Like outside of offensive line, to me, there's not a
ton of question marks. Even at the running back position.
You have Durham. Now you lose Josh Williams, Caleb Jackson's back.
You had at Harlem Berry the number one running back
in the country.
Speaker 2: J T.
Speaker 5: Lindsay was a recruit as well. People kind of forget
about him. That's four really really talented running backs. Three
of them can all spell Caden Durham who. I think it's
gonna get a lot better this year. Not saying LSHU
is gonna win the SEC. I'm not saying that Texas,
Alabama and Georgia are gonna be disasters, because I think
the litill have good seasons, but those question marks against
around all of these teams, including LSU. We'll see which
team advances coming up this upcoming season. All Right, we're
going to take a quick time out when we get
back UFC three eighteen out there in New Orleans.
Speaker 4: It was a classic, a heck of a fight.
Speaker 5: We'll breaking it down next to close out our number
one here on off the bench.
Speaker 1: Off the bench.
Speaker 2: Thing that I am most excited about seeing in the
office is our brand new interactive whiteboard thanks to Gulf
Coast Office Products. I cannot wait to break it down,
watch a little tape, watch a little film, and we
cannot thank them enough for donating that to us. Very
excited for that. But there's so many different things that
Gulf Coast Office products can do for you. I mean
we always talk about it. I mean the number one
in the print game, it's not even close. Leader in
the state of Louisiana. You're gonna get a human being
as well, Matt and I know, look at you've got
a business. Do you deal with this all the time.
The ease of having one bill no matter how many
different machines you have. With gcop that is just another
luxury when you partner with them gcop net dot Com.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's a good thing about them being a local company,
but a big company. Now that do you get that
personal service, You get that personal touch. Everything they do
is absolutely top knot. Why not choose Golf Coast Office products.
Go see how they can help you. Gcop net dot Com.
Speaker 1: Two thousand and seven, Shamps Purple and Gold to the core.
This is off the bench with Hester and Flynn, Matt
and Rouge's go to for all things Louisiana sports.
Speaker 5: Yes, well it's not off the bench Hester and Flynn today.
They are both out there. We'll be back tomorrow. Table
Sharp sitting in the host chair for the next a
little bit over two hours right now, hanging out with
you here on this Monday morning. We got a Lada
Villa Reale and Paul O'Neill here as well. Okay, the
big event of the weekend on Saturday night UFC three
eighteen out there in New Orleans. Look, it was the
final fight for Dustin Pourier. He comes back to his
home state, and my goodness, did they put on a
heck of a show him Max Holloway. I mean, just
beating the crap out of each other. It goes to
the full distance. Ultimately, Max Holloway, not Dustin Pourier, does
get the victory by unanimous decision. We were both kind
of wrong show on Friday. I picked unanimous decision by
Dustin Poorier. So what the hell do I know? But
excellent fight all the way around. I mean, the two
guys beat each other up. Alandra, you were actually in
attendance at this fight. So we'll set the scene in
just a second. But right now, was it the right choice?
Should Holloway have won this fight?
Speaker 4: Actually?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know I sent like that text in the
group chat, but I was just joking. And also whenever
we were talking about it, I was like, I want
Dustin to win, but also I didn't really give a
pig because I kind of figured it.
Speaker 5: Was like I said it himself, right, Like yeah were
saying he was like, oh three times, it's almost impossible
against this guy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so he had already beat him twice.
Speaker 4: It is hard.
Speaker 3: I mean they're both really good fighters, and yeah, I
think it was the right decision. I Max looked better
than him in almost every single round, so it it was. Yeah,
it sucked that he didn't win, but despite that, the
sendoff was great. Yeah, Like the vibes were so high
at the Smoothie King Center. I was getting chills, like
the entire time I was there. That kept playing like
these video montages of him and like his career in
the UFC and his friend and families sending him like
video messages and stuff, and then everybody would just be
like cheering super loud. The vibes were super high inside
the Smoothe King Center. So even though he lost, it
was still a great way for him to go out.
His last two fights just really solidified him, even though
he did lose the last two, like it just really
solidified him as a great a great fighter, and he
had a great career in the UFC, So great send
off for him, and it was also a really good
way to end his career too, like fighting Max Holloway.
Speaker 5: We we talked about it Friday, right, like a lot
of a lot of these fighters like they'll have their
big fight and then their last two or three fights,
you know, they'll they'll fight up middle tier, lower tier
UFC fighter like were we were giving credit the dust
and on Friday, like, hey, you're not going out quietly,
like you're fighting a guy who's a legit fighter. And
then you know in terms of like because there's so
many people like, oh, do'st the port was robbed? Like
I agree with you, probably.
Speaker 4: What he catched.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think it was actually that close.
Speaker 5: It's one of those fights though that like you could
watch three different times and see something you missed the
time before, Like it went the full distance, Like there
was so much time in the octagon. There were so
many things that were occurring, Like there was one round
I think it was the second where I'm like, oh,
Portia is about to finish him, and then I'm like yeah, always.
Speaker 3: And then he jumped the gilly like oh my.
Speaker 4: Gosh, she like they almost finished each other.
Speaker 3: My guy lives and yeah, my guy lives and dies
by the gilly.
Speaker 5: But set me, set set the scene force. What was
the overall this was your first UFC fight. Yeah, it
was vies.
Speaker 3: The vibes were so high and this was so I
was telling y'all like, I don't know where they put
the media for UFC fights.
Speaker 4: I could be anywhere. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3: And then I go up so the girl whenever she
gives me my credential, she was like, okay, just go
up there and you can go to the press ledge.
So I was like, okay, I'm gonna be like in
the press box whatever. So then I go up there
and the stuff that's like all my credential isn't anywhere
to be found, to be found.
Speaker 4: Like where you're, where you're where I'm at.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know why, just like so little more work.
So I asked for help and they were like, oh,
you're on the floor, and I was like, shut your mouth.
And then I go down there and it was freaking awesome,
Like I could even the prelims. So I got there
like when the prelim started and it was just great,
Like I can see they're sweat flying off of each
other when they were getting hit, and like I said,
everybody was there to support Dustin and like a Louisiana
boy ending his career in his home state, and you know,
people in Louisiana, just like everywhere else, love Louisiana. So
it was it was awesome and it was probably one
of like the best experience. So I think, are you
playing it right now, Paul. There's a video Paul's playing
right now of Dustin like when he's leaving. I took
that video, like that's how close to him and like
all the action that I was. So it was awesome
and a great experience. And I think that in Omaha
are like in my top two life experiences ever.
Speaker 5: Like I imagine, like, okay, people say this about hockey,
and it's true, Like the TV viewing to in person
viewing is such a drastic change. I imagine UFC's that
times ten. Like, yeah, watching UFCLTV great, Like it's entertaining.
You can sit there on your couch and cheer and everything.
Being there in person, like you're hearing the walkout, you're
seeing the atmosphere.
Speaker 4: The lights and everything like that.
Speaker 5: Like I imagine that's gotta be one of the biggest
differences between like watching on TV and being there in person,
and like, you know, the send off for Dustin Poorier though,
is kind of where I want to focus right here
with the last minute before we go to break, Like
I don't know if anybody out there listening, like saw
these videos, like Max holloway Son went up to dust
and Poia to fight, taking pictures with him, congratulate him
on a career.
Speaker 4: Like holloway was waiting for Poorier.
Speaker 5: Outside of his dresser room when he came out, He's like, dude,
how they hell did we not win Fight of the night,
Like we almost finished each other in the second round,
and they're chatting about the Fight of the Night over us,
Like you could tell that there's mutual respect between these
two guys.
Speaker 4: Like to your point, yes'.
Speaker 5: Like in a perfect world, the result the fight is different,
but it doesn't matter.
Speaker 4: Yeah, in the end of it, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 5: This doesn't taint the resume or the reputation of Dustin Pourier.
Speaker 4: He's done enough up to this point.
Speaker 5: It doesn't elevate Max holloway He's done enough to this
point anyways. Like both of these guys were so established
that like this was a fight to put on a
show and New Orleans showed up. It showed out by
the way highest gate, highest number of money at the
gate ever in the history of the Smoothie King Center,
regardless of event. Concert Pelicans game is not going to
be in that number. Let's point that out right now.
But anything that was the highest total gait of any
event in the Smoothe King Center. Like, you know, we
talk about it all the time. Hey, it's great that
they're doing this, but they do enough to bring other
fights in the future.
Speaker 4: I think they did. All right, that's going to do
it for our number one of off the Bench, We're
coming back. We got two hours left. You're on a
TV off the bench, it's not go.
Speaker 2: When the old intronet is spinning and you're like, oh,
we got to get that world clock going. Yeah, we
switched to the phone and we got to work.
Speaker 4: It's okay.
Speaker 2: Just like k Z is gonna get you working into
your xterior. It does not matter. Kto Z Blinds dot
com is the website. Have Brandon Barton and his whole
team come out to your space. It is one of
the cool things about k to Z, Like Brandon Barton,
who is the owner, he'll be there like he's gonna
be one of the guys oftentimes that is on the
project saying, yeah, this is what you need. Let's go
with this. Color's gonna get like a booklet. It's gonna
like open it up to the perfect page. Here's what
you need. Incredible service kt z blinds dot com.
Speaker 6: Yeah, functionality, but also like make your house just look
more beautiful, look better financing options.
Speaker 4: Go to their brand new website.
Speaker 6: Kto z Interior is an outdoor living ktz blinds dot com.