Speaker 1: Our good friend Max Chadwick is on the line here.
Speaker 1: We'll get him in just a second. Want to remind
Speaker 1: you he does a great job at Pro Football Focus
Speaker 1: covering all things college football, and he's done a hell
Speaker 1: of a job this week breaking down, in particular the
Speaker 1: Big Ten. We're going to so kind of focus in
Speaker 1: on that with him. You can find him on Twitter
Speaker 1: at Max Chadwick CFB. Max. Welcome back, my friend. How
Speaker 1: you been I've been great on again. Good man. Hey,
Speaker 1: I know you took a little trip last week. We
Speaker 1: missed you. Have you finally had a chance to done
Speaker 1: box and play EA College Football twenty five? Come on,
Speaker 1: let's hear it.
Speaker 2: I actually no joke. I actually flew in yesterday and
Speaker 2: the first thing I got back was start my career
Speaker 2: as a coach. I'm the offensive coordinator currently Tennesa Stage owls.
Speaker 2: Our owls are now st right now. Owl that's the
Speaker 2: losses I threw niners a Middle Tennessee. But we bounced
Speaker 2: back from that though. But yeah, I'm we're kind of
Speaker 2: building up right now, the owls right now, so let's
Speaker 2: see how that goes.
Speaker 1: I respect it, though he started from the bottom, that's right,
Speaker 1: My son went straight to Clemson. I'm like, dude, come on,
Speaker 1: come on, yeah.
Speaker 2: Right, you got to earn that job.
Speaker 1: You got to earn that job. Absolutely, I'm with you there, Max,
Speaker 1: You've done a great job over the course of the
Speaker 1: week here breaking down the Big Ten. I want to
Speaker 1: focus in on that for a few minutes with you
Speaker 1: here if you don't mind, and just kind of go
Speaker 1: team by team here Michigan and you can follow Max
Speaker 1: again on Twitter, Max Chadwick CFP. He's got a great
Speaker 1: thread going with a lot of YouTube videos linked to that. Michigan.
Speaker 1: With their defense, we know they might have the best
Speaker 1: defense in the country. No more Jim Harball at Sharon
Speaker 1: Moore's time now new quarterback. What's your overall assessment of
Speaker 1: this team after that historic run they made last year?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know you talk about that defense. The defense
Speaker 2: is still a national Chaffs of caliber defense, right, I
Speaker 2: mean they have maybe you get a argument that they
Speaker 2: might have the two best defensive players in college football,
Speaker 2: and Mason Grant the defensive tackle and Will Johnson the cornerback.
Speaker 2: I mean, those two guys, you can argue your top
Speaker 2: five players in college football, and not only them. You
Speaker 2: bring back a guy in Kenneth Grant, who's one of
Speaker 2: the best tackles in the country alongside Mason Graham. Desion
Speaker 2: Stewart one of the best as defenders in the country
Speaker 2: as well. In that defensive line, Jayshawn Barham, the transfer
Speaker 2: from Maryland, I think, is one of the best linebackers
Speaker 2: in college football. And then Rod Moore, who tours atl
Speaker 2: a few months ago so hopefully gets back soon. But
Speaker 2: he's one of the best stasties in the country when
Speaker 2: he's healthy as well. So Michigan's defense is still on
Speaker 2: National Champions of Caliber defense. The problem is offensively, your
Speaker 2: place basically everything right. Jajon McCarthy has gone. Your first
Speaker 2: round quarterback, one of the greatest running backs in program
Speaker 2: history has gone in Blake Corum. You lose your top
Speaker 2: six offensive lineman, so all five starters and your top
Speaker 2: backup are all gone as well, and you lose your
Speaker 2: top two wide receivers. Now, they do have the best
Speaker 2: height end in college football in Colston Loveland and a
Speaker 2: really good running back in Donovan Edwards and a terrific
Speaker 2: offensive coach in Sharon Moore, but there's a lot of
Speaker 2: questions offensively, especially a quarterback as to what Michigan's going
Speaker 2: to do next year. So again, still a defense is
Speaker 2: capable of winning a national title, but as a matter
Speaker 2: of whether or not the offense can come close to
Speaker 2: that for Michigan to even make the playoff next year
Speaker 2: in a twelve team.
Speaker 1: Them Max, Let's talk about what could be the best
Speaker 1: team in the country by many measures, in that's Ohio State.
Speaker 1: But then the compounding pressure on Ryan Day. What an
Speaker 1: interesting juxtaposition. Now as Jim Harball moves away from the conference,
Speaker 1: Day is still there. What's the overall outlook you have
Speaker 1: on this Ohio State team.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm gonna spoiler right now. I'm taking Ohio State
Speaker 2: to win the national title next year. I think they
Speaker 2: have the best team in college football. I think the
Speaker 2: only question I have is whether or not Will Howard,
Speaker 2: who I really like. He's a really good quarterback, but
Speaker 2: whether or not he's the quarterback capable of winning a
Speaker 2: national title. Now, we have seen this before. We have seen,
Speaker 2: you know, Jake Koker lead Alabama to the national not
Speaker 2: even leads use the quarterback for Alabama during during their
Speaker 2: national championship season. So we've seen guys that aren't you know,
Speaker 2: stars win a national title before. But when you talk
Speaker 2: about a team like Georgia, for example, that has an
Speaker 2: elite roster like Ohio State but also as the best
Speaker 2: quarterback in the country in Carson Beck, isn't a difference, right,
Speaker 2: But I think Ohio State defensively is loaded on all
Speaker 2: three levels. Offense is really good with a running game
Speaker 2: that can be maybe the best in the country is
Speaker 2: quench On Judkins and trey Von Henderson. A really good
Speaker 2: offensive line, still really good receiving corps with a mechanic BUCA.
Speaker 2: Jeremiah Smith a true freshman who was the number one
Speaker 2: overall crew coming out of high school, and all signs
Speaker 2: indicate he's going to be an immediate impact player as
Speaker 2: a true freshman. So I am buying Ohio State. But
Speaker 2: if there is one question mark for me, it's whether
Speaker 2: or not Will Howard is a guy capable of winning
Speaker 2: a national championship as a starting quarterback.
Speaker 1: Move on to Oregon, a team that's getting a lot
Speaker 1: of attention right now for a lot of reasons. They
Speaker 1: move into the conference and Dan Lanning one of the
Speaker 1: coaches I respect the most in the game. Right now,
Speaker 1: you got Dylan Gabriel now and that is a huge
Speaker 1: addition because I loved his tape over the past couple
Speaker 1: of years. Could be the best offense in the country
Speaker 1: right here, and they're possibly a national title contender. What's
Speaker 1: the ceiling on this team and what's the overall vibe
Speaker 1: you have on this Oregon team moving into this conference?
Speaker 2: The ceiling is a national championship. Honestly, I think they're
Speaker 2: one of the three best teams in college football, alongside
Speaker 2: Georgia and Ohio State. Right And I just mentioned before,
Speaker 2: like Dylan Gabriel, I think he's gonna be my Huism
Speaker 2: pick this year. I think that offense is gonna be humming,
Speaker 2: and Dylan Gabriel is one of the best quarterbacks in America.
Speaker 2: Is gonna be putting up huge numbers, kind of in
Speaker 2: that bow Knicks role and both Knicks. Let's face it,
Speaker 2: if he won that Pac twelve playal game in Washington,
Speaker 2: he would have won the Heisman Trophy. Right, So, I
Speaker 2: think Dylan Gabriel certainly as a chance to win the
Speaker 2: Heisman next year. And Oregon's offense is absolutely elite. They
Speaker 2: have maybe not only maybe, I think the best receiving
Speaker 2: core in college football, one of the five best offensive
Speaker 2: lines in college football and a really good run game
Speaker 2: as well, with Jordan James Lea leading it. So in
Speaker 2: the defense is also still really good. Right. They brought
Speaker 2: in Jabar Mohammad from Washington. He's a really good player.
Speaker 2: I like the defensive line. I think it's a top
Speaker 2: ten d line in the country. I think it's the
Speaker 2: top ten secondary in the country. And Dan Lanning is
Speaker 2: a defensive minded head coach. Right, So the offensive lead
Speaker 2: the defense is really good. I really think this Oregon
Speaker 2: team is yeah, a national title contender next year. And
Speaker 2: mentioned before I will high I stay with Will Howard
Speaker 2: did the quarterback of winning a capable of winning a
Speaker 2: national title? I think Oregon definitely does with Dylan Gabrie,
Speaker 2: who I think is one of the three best quarterbacks
Speaker 2: we have in college football right now.
Speaker 1: Max Chadwick PFF dot Com is our guest talking a
Speaker 1: little big ten football right now. And look, here's a
Speaker 1: coach that I covered for a couple of years down here,
Speaker 1: Matt Rule. Now goes back to the college game in Nebraska.
Speaker 1: You've talked about Dylan Roylo, the freshman quarterback, true freshman,
Speaker 1: and the pressure he's under and the defense being what
Speaker 1: it has been since rule got there, A very strong unit.
Speaker 1: What's the outlook there? Do you think they're trending in
Speaker 1: the right direction? You think they're going to get that
Speaker 1: first winning season? And what's it been eight years now?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been eight years. It's been a rough eight
Speaker 2: years for Nebraska. It used to be, you know, one
Speaker 2: of the big programs we had in college football. It
Speaker 2: has been a really, really rough stress ever since they
Speaker 2: really fired Bo Pollini. It has been rough for them.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I think listen, I think they are certainly
Speaker 2: in the running. In last year, they had a really
Speaker 2: good defense, like, in fact, one of the ten best
Speaker 2: defenses in the Power five last year, and they brought
Speaker 2: back basically everything from that defense. They just still have
Speaker 2: a really good unit on that side of the ball,
Speaker 2: and I think, yeah, some improvement should be expected. And
Speaker 2: that's why. You know, again you said they haven't had
Speaker 2: a winning season in eight years. Well, their win total
Speaker 2: right now is at seven and a half. So clearly
Speaker 2: the sports books are second has to change this year.
Speaker 2: And I think the big reason for that is Dylan Roola.
Speaker 2: You know, he's a five star quarterback coming in the
Speaker 2: number three quarterback in the country, the highest rated quarterback
Speaker 2: Nebraska's ever brought it into that program, their first five
Speaker 2: star recruit they've ever brought in in like nineteen years.
Speaker 2: As well. He's got a lot of pressure on his shoulders,
Speaker 2: but he is a cap He's a really capable quarterback.
Speaker 2: And now he looks really good in that spring games.
Speaker 2: That developed guy as well. He's like six three two
Speaker 2: twenty already as an NFL body. You look poised in
Speaker 2: that spring game. And let's face it, last year, Nebraska
Speaker 2: was five and seven, so one win away from making
Speaker 2: a bowl game, and they had one of the worst
Speaker 2: passing games in the country. If Dylan Raiola is any
Speaker 2: improvement on that passing game, they could absolutely win seven
Speaker 2: eight games next year. So I think Nebraska is kind
Speaker 2: of a little bit of a sleeper in a Big ten.
Speaker 2: But it's tough because it's a nineteen year old kid
Speaker 2: who went to a senior problem what two months ago.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of pressure on a kid heading into
Speaker 2: his first year of college.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can tell you rule coaches those guys hard.
Speaker 1: We saw it down here. So this is a big
Speaker 1: year for him as well to give the people down
Speaker 1: there in beautiful Nebraska some hope that hey, for the
Speaker 1: first time in almost a decade, we can be winners again.
Speaker 1: That's a hard thing to go through, but rule in
Speaker 1: the college game has proven. Give him three years, he
Speaker 1: can do it. We'll see if can get it done
Speaker 1: here earlier than that. Max Chadwick is our guest from
Speaker 1: PFF dot com. Let's pivot to the NFL for a minute.
Speaker 1: All indications are at Minnesota that Sam Darnold. I mean, look,
Speaker 1: take it with a grain of salt. It's training campus
Speaker 1: day two, but boy, he's got the hot hand. It
Speaker 1: looks like I don't think you read too much into that,
Speaker 1: but it's clear they want him to have the majority
Speaker 1: of the reps right now. Does that eventually change? Do
Speaker 1: you think during camp? But do you think Sam will
Speaker 1: get the starting job for at least a month or
Speaker 1: two and then we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2: I think it's always been the plan. I would be
Speaker 2: pretty surprised at this point of vision McCarthy is the
Speaker 2: starting quarterback Week one. I think Sam Donald will be
Speaker 2: the guy. And obviously, listen, Donald's had a rough career
Speaker 2: so far. We'll see how he does, though, I will
Speaker 2: say he's in a great environment right, I hate and
Speaker 2: JJ are both in great environments. They got a really
Speaker 2: great offensive minded head coach and Kevin O'Connell I'm really
Speaker 2: high on. They have a good run game as well,
Speaker 2: and with Aaron Jones now and they're obviously the best
Speaker 2: receiver in the world, and Justin Jefferson, a really good
Speaker 2: young number two receiver in Jordan Addison, really one of
Speaker 2: the best tight ends in the league in TJ. Howkinson,
Speaker 2: and a really good offensive line I think too, with
Speaker 2: guys like Christian darriso just got a big contract and
Speaker 2: Brian O'Neil as your two bookends that tackle. So it's
Speaker 2: a great situation for any quarterback to walk into. So
Speaker 2: I think Donald will be the guy for a little bit,
Speaker 2: and they just want stability at quarterback, and I think
Speaker 2: it's always smart, you know, not to have your rookie
Speaker 2: quarterback start Week one for you unless you absolutely need
Speaker 2: him to, and I don't think they absolutely need him
Speaker 2: to right now. Now. Of course, Donald is not the
Speaker 2: long term answer, and I'd be pretty surprised if JJ
Speaker 2: isn't the starter at some point in the season, but
Speaker 2: I do think that plan is for them to open
Speaker 2: the season at least with Sam Garnold as a starting quarterback.
Speaker 3: Max, it's training camp season, so obviously everything that we
Speaker 3: see take it with a grain of salt. Nothing, nothing
Speaker 3: means anything right now. But Russell Wilson wakes up this
Speaker 3: morning something wrong with his calf. It's feeling kind of funny.
Speaker 3: Justin Fields gets to take the you know, the first
Speaker 3: team snaps. How does this bode well for that quarterback
Speaker 3: competition right now going on in Pittsburgh? Does that kind
Speaker 3: of give I guess Justin Fields a bit of a
Speaker 3: leg up? Does it look better for Justin Fields? Or
Speaker 3: are we just kind of reading too much into this
Speaker 3: and it's gonna be Russ's team come week one?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really interesting, right and he's all I think
Speaker 2: you probably saw the video, the same one as I did,
Speaker 2: where feels through a beautiful deep ball in practice.
Speaker 1: Steelers twitters made the verdict is in Max he's the guy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, trust me. I've tried to convince myself the
Speaker 2: same thing. I I don't think as much as I
Speaker 2: like Justin Fields, and I think I hope that he
Speaker 2: is a long term answer. I don't think Russ is.
Speaker 2: I do think Russ will be the guy and I
Speaker 2: think Tomlin has as repeatedly said that before that Russ
Speaker 2: is a starter. I would be pretty surprised if Rustin
Speaker 2: Fields opens the season as the starter. Again, it's a
Speaker 2: fluid situation though, right it's okay, Okay, Russe Wilson's a starter,
Speaker 2: He's gonna start it for all seventeen weeks of the season. No,
Speaker 2: that's not the case. I think Justin Fields will certainly
Speaker 2: be right on his heels. Right if Russell Wilson does
Speaker 2: not look good, if he looks kind of similar to
Speaker 2: what he looked like in Denver, then yeah, Fields could
Speaker 2: absolutely get a shot to start. But again, like the
Speaker 2: Sam Darnold situation, I think Russ will be the starter
Speaker 2: to open the year. But like the Minnesota situation, I
Speaker 2: think the Pittsburgh was also very fluid. It could change
Speaker 2: throughout the year.
Speaker 3: And then one more question.
Speaker 1: I guess it's a question.
Speaker 3: You've been seeing all the I'm sure the videos and
Speaker 3: stuff going on in training camp. Have you seen the
Speaker 3: motor on Peyton Wilson. Have you seen the one where
Speaker 3: he breaks in and people are like, man, I had
Speaker 3: to do a double check. I thought this was TJ.
Speaker 3: Watt for a second that guy gets after it.
Speaker 2: I love it as I just see that video. I
Speaker 2: love it, man, And I know the biggest reason why
Speaker 2: he fell in the draft was due to medicals. I
Speaker 2: think the report actually was that he doesn't even have
Speaker 2: an ACL in one of his needs, which is like,
Speaker 2: I don't know how that's possibly right, but it's a
Speaker 2: little little el is a little concerning. But listen, if
Speaker 2: he was fully healthy, and that's really the biggest week
Speaker 2: to sign counting report was that it was health. If
Speaker 2: he was fully healthy, you could make an argument this
Speaker 2: guy was a first round pick in the NFL draft.
Speaker 2: He was the best linebacker in college football last year,
Speaker 2: and he's an elite athlete as well, so I think
Speaker 2: he would have been at least a top fifty pick
Speaker 2: in the NFL draft if he was healthy. So if
Speaker 2: he ends up staying healthy throughout his career, the Steers
Speaker 2: got an absolute steal at the end of the third
Speaker 2: round in Peyton Wilson, who I thought, even with the
Speaker 2: health concerns, was still the best linebacker in last year's
Speaker 2: draft and I would have taken him as the first
Speaker 2: linebacker in the draft. So I'm very high on him.
Speaker 2: The Stewers need to help at linebacker. You certainly got it,
Speaker 2: and they got him at Patrick Queen raised a really
Speaker 2: good player. They got it in Peyton Wilson. Two freak athletes. Again,
Speaker 2: Peyton with the health is the biggest question mark for
Speaker 2: Peyton Wilson. We still don't know how healthy he can be.
Speaker 2: But if he says health though, I think it could
Speaker 2: be absolute steal for Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: Great stuff as always from Max Chadwick. Hey, just back
Speaker 1: to college football for a minute. A couple of SEC teams.
Speaker 1: I've seen you chronicle here over the last few days
Speaker 1: or so. You're high on Ole Miss and look, I
Speaker 1: see the reasons. Yeah, you feel a lot like the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three Fourida State team. Rivals this a little
Speaker 1: bit in terms of the fact that portal was very
Speaker 1: good to them. They went out and took care of business.
Speaker 1: They've got their quarterback and a lot of other players
Speaker 1: coming back. What about this Ole Miss team.
Speaker 2: I'm all in, man, I'm all in on the Rebels
Speaker 2: next year. I think there I said before, I think
Speaker 2: there's a clear top three of college football Georgia, Ohio State,
Speaker 2: and Oregon. I would put All Miss fourth in that ranking. Honestly,
Speaker 2: I think They have maybe the second best offense in
Speaker 2: the country, an elite quarterback in Jackson dark who is
Speaker 2: a top heising center in my opinion, with how how
Speaker 2: much numbers is gonna put up a really good running game.
Speaker 2: Even though quichjhn Jucks has gone the still bring back
Speaker 2: with Lusie Bentley, and they did really good in the
Speaker 2: portal of getting it into a few running backs. Honestly,
Speaker 2: we're really talented players in the portal. I think the
Speaker 2: second best receiving corps in college football is there as well.
Speaker 2: The one question I have offensively is the offensive line,
Speaker 2: but everywhere else is the Leaite and also link Kiffin
Speaker 2: is one of the best play callers in the sport.
Speaker 2: Right defensively has always been the problem for Ole Miss,
Speaker 2: but they killed the portal on that side of the ball.
Speaker 2: They brought in Prisby Montiellen, who could be a first
Speaker 2: round pick at edge defender from Florida. They brought in
Speaker 2: Walter Noland, who could be a first round pick at
Speaker 2: the tackle from Texas A and M. They brought they
Speaker 2: brought in other guys in linebacker, at corner, at safety
Speaker 2: who are really talented players too. I like Pete Golding
Speaker 2: at defensive coordinator. He's got a lot to work with now,
Speaker 2: and I think if that defense improves, is gonna be
Speaker 2: one of the best offenses in the country. I think
Speaker 2: this is the biggest threat to Georgia and the SEC,
Speaker 2: and I think the Ole miss in my opinion at least,
Speaker 2: is the second best team in that conference next year.
Speaker 1: Game Cox, let's take a quick peek at them as
Speaker 1: we host all of their games here on Fox Sports Upstate.
Speaker 1: We're an affiliate for the game Cock Athletic Network. And
Speaker 1: you wrote about them too, and you had a video
Speaker 1: about them, just featuring a couple of their key players,
Speaker 1: Leonora Sellers and of course Rocket Sanders, the transfer running back.
Speaker 1: What does this season look like do you think for
Speaker 1: South Carolina? I know they're in a competitive conference here,
Speaker 1: a lot of new additions. What does this season look
Speaker 1: like do you think ultimately for this team?
Speaker 2: Sure, yeah, obviously got a new quarterback, you know, losing
Speaker 2: Spencer rather to the NFL. Leonora Sellers is a really
Speaker 2: intriguing guy. But he's a runner. He's got really intriguing
Speaker 2: physical tools. He's got to see more as a passer
Speaker 2: as of right now. I like the run game. He
Speaker 2: mentioned before Rocket Sanders, he was really banged up last
Speaker 2: year at Arkansas, did not look like himself at all
Speaker 2: even when he was on the field. The year before, though,
Speaker 2: he was one of the best running backs in college football.
Speaker 2: So I'm really looking a huge bounce back year for
Speaker 2: him this year. I like the Oscar Adaway to the
Speaker 2: other running back and got in the transfer wort. I
Speaker 2: think he's'n be a good player for them as well.
Speaker 2: So that run game with Sellers, who could really run
Speaker 2: at quarterback, with Rocket Sanders, with Adaway, that's really good.
Speaker 2: The issue I have, though, is the offensive line last
Speaker 2: year was horrible, yes, and it kind of remains the
Speaker 2: same this year. I'm a little nervous about that with
Speaker 2: a new quarterback and Lenora Sellers, and even the run game. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you can have great run running backs and a great
Speaker 2: quarterback running the ball, but if you can't block, it's
Speaker 2: gonna be tough for them to really make a lot
Speaker 2: of things happen on the ground, right, So I like
Speaker 2: some of the things I have Defensively, I think t J.
Speaker 2: Sanders and Tonka Hemingway are really really good dtackles they have,
Speaker 2: but I it's tough for me to really project South
Speaker 2: Carolina as a bowl team as of right now, They're
Speaker 2: gonna be really really close to it, and maybe they
Speaker 2: do get to the six win mark, but I don't know.
Speaker 2: With a new quarterback that we don't know much as
Speaker 2: a passer, and that offensive line still looks like a
Speaker 2: major weakness. I have some issues with South Carolina and
Speaker 2: maybe not enough for me to say, oh yeah, they'll
Speaker 2: make a bowl game next year.
Speaker 1: On your next visit, will break down the ACC and
Speaker 1: of course Clemson of local interest here because we know
Speaker 1: you have your hands full not only at PFF but
Speaker 1: with your new role on EA Sports College Football as
Speaker 1: the Tennesaw State. Hey, promote what's coming up? Man? What
Speaker 1: can we look forward to over the next couple of
Speaker 1: weeks here from you?
Speaker 2: Well, what's coming up as a conference U with a
Speaker 2: championship first for Kennesaw State. That would be tonight. So
Speaker 2: I'll make sure I fill you guys in with what
Speaker 2: happens with that tonight. But we're dropping all our videos.
Speaker 2: We're actually in the middle of recording our Big twelve
Speaker 2: previews right now. Tomorrow morning we'll be recording our ACC
Speaker 2: previews as well. All seventy Power Five teams are getting
Speaker 2: their own previews, so a lot happening at the PFF
Speaker 2: College Football Show you could find on YouTube and anywhere.
Speaker 1: Your podcast too, Max, It's always a pleasure, man, Go
Speaker 1: enjoy your time in front of the Xbox, my friend.
Speaker 2: Thanks guys,