00:00But if there was an argument, and this is the side that I am on,
00:05because I know we are still here, as I've said,
00:08I think maybe I wanted some time off if people will at some point
00:15be able to move past last week.
00:17I know it's not there.
00:19It was tough.
00:20As Brandon Scott, who I know is listening, I think said,
00:24the performance against the Colts by CJ may have been the lowest moment
00:29in the history of the franchise.
00:31And so that's going to take some time to heal through.
00:34It felt like it ripped my nuts off.
00:36But if there's an argument for not to just punt and give up on CJ Stroud,
00:46I think what we watched from Sam Darnold was a great example of it.
00:53Sam Darnold was seeing Ghost with the Jets.
00:56And, you know, under Adam Gaze and Jeremy Bates and those coordinators,
01:04then he, you know, there was a struggle there.
01:06He just looked like at times even, like we thought CJ looked rough mentally
01:12the last couple of games he played.
01:16Sam Darnold was even worse in that situation.
01:19Then he went to the Panthers, and Joe Brady was there, got fired midseason,
01:24started dealing with Ben McAdoo, who is now a defensive specialist now
01:28around the league.
01:29I saw that the other day with him and that weird mustache that he used to have.
01:35But then he started to get around Kyle Shanahan, Clint Kubiak with the Niners,
01:40and started to turn around, and then obviously with Kevin O'Connell,
01:44and then Clint Kubiak again with the Seahawks.
01:47Back-to-back seasons of 14-3 records are now going to the Super Bowl.
01:51And as we are hearing a lot from yesterday, he has kind of silenced the ghost.
01:59And so to me, like when you see Sam Darnold, and, you know,
02:03I think CJ's at least is that talented.
02:06And Sam before these last two years hadn't shown to have one of those great seasons.
02:12We've seen that from CJ.
02:13To me, watching the Sam Darnold story, when you start to kind of see him move
02:21and especially get with better coaching, I think that is one reason to maybe pump
02:27the brakes on kind of writing him off.
02:31I think a lot of people, you know, kind of look at him and think that maybe it's over
02:34with CJ.
02:35But I think that Sam Darnold story is at least an example of maybe why you look at it
02:41and think that maybe CJ Stroud can get back to potentially being the guy we've seen him be.
02:47Well, it definitely takes the right formula.
02:49I think one of the popular phrases going around all the different talk shows is more top-rated,
02:56more highly talented quarterbacks have been ruined than have failed.
03:01And so I think that's kind of how it goes, the phrase.
03:05But there's no doubt that Sam has obviously came into the league, you know,
03:14under some awful circumstances.
03:17It was one of those quarterbacks that I always was a really good talent,
03:21but just was the dysfunction in the organizations that the first two organizations
03:26that he landed with were just no quarterback was going to overcome that.
03:30And so, you know, that's the one part of this thing where CJ was really lucky
03:34to come into an organization where immediately D'Amico was the guy, you know,
03:38the roster, the culture was set in a way that, you know,
03:43he didn't necessarily have to move mountains to play quarterback.
03:47And so, yeah, look, I mean, he's a talented, CJ's a talented dude,
03:52just like Sam Darnold's obviously a talented passer of the football.
03:56But to me then the next two years after year one where it seemed like everything
04:01went right, there does seem to be something odd going on.
04:07And not just odd going on, but clearly, you know,
04:12I don't know that he's getting the best around him,
04:16especially from a coaching perspective in the last year, especially maybe even more.
04:22And I don't just mean that from the OC, like it's probably everything, right?
04:29It is their entire offensive staff.
04:32Like this year, I don't know, maybe they were more on the same page.
04:35The year before, it just appears that a lot of people were off in his second season
04:42that we saw the first kind of level of regression.
04:45So I just think like Sam came in really, really young too, like CJ did.
04:52And I look at that and I'm just like, now I know potentially it won't happen this year
04:58or maybe Nick Kaley, you know, really, really grows from year one.
05:03But it is just not a coincidence to me, Clint,
05:08that Sam Darnold completely shifted his play once he got around.
05:13Kyle Shanahan, Clint Kubiak, and Kevin O'Connell.
05:16Yeah.
05:16That's who he's been with since 2020.
05:18Well, I mean, there was definitely a hard reset where he backed up in San Francisco.
05:24And to your point, he gets around a certain system that he obviously is a really good fit in.
05:30He learns that system in a backup role.
05:34And then he moves to Minnesota and wins 14 games.
05:40That ain't good enough for them.
05:41They want to go a different route.
05:43So he goes to Seattle and he wins 14 more games.
05:45Now, I guess it's more like 16 games this year now that he's won two in the playoffs.
05:51So, yeah, I mean, look, he's a good fit in the system.
05:54Obviously, that is a really good group of guys to be around.
05:57Yeah.
05:59And, you know, sometimes you need that hard reset to make it happen.
06:03Yeah.
06:03My man said, does that mean he's going to have to go to three teams?
06:05No, I like for me, the reason that Sam had to go to three teams, I think it's because he just didn't find those coaches soon enough.
06:16Right.
06:17Like, I don't know about you.
06:18I look at it.
06:19It is clear to me, like, he got – because I'll just say this.
06:22I thought first that CJ was somebody that could come in and, like, all right, he's one of those guys that can – even when you ain't got everything set up for him, like, he can make it work because he did year one.
06:36And I think it's a step back of, like, well, maybe CJ is not somebody who could just come in and just – all right, like Joe Burrow, I'm going to come in and take over a Cincinnati organization and drag it to the – maybe he's not that.
06:50Like, I don't think Sam is.
06:51But, you know, I think it's clear to me Sam all of a sudden found his potential when he started to get with guys that would use him.
07:02Now, that's the other part is how quickly does CJ get to that.
07:05Again, does Nick Caley spin and turn into that?
07:09Coming up, someone just texted and said, the key to everything you just said was he needs different coaching and they're not changing the coaching, so he's screwed.
07:16And maybe Nick Caley learns and grows and becomes one of those guys.
07:20I don't know how to believe that.
07:21Look, I think – here's the deal.
07:23I don't think it's any coincidence that all three of the guys that we mentioned are all offensive-minded coaches that he's in bed with, the system that he's in bed with.
07:30Yeah.
07:31Right?
07:31Now, look, I'll say this again, and I said it during training camp.
07:38D'Amico Ryan's got to be better in that department.
07:40Absolutely.
07:41I'm going to tell you, man, one of the things that just falls by the wayside, and it doesn't here because I brought it up over and over again,
07:49that training camp last year, that was a joke.
07:53I'm going to tell you, man, that was – if I were CJ Stroud, I don't know how – this is, again, and I've complained about this multiple times,
07:59where CJ Stroud's good guy image and his good guy approach to everything, it's detrimental to him.
08:06Real quick, what do you mean about the camp so people know what you're talking about?
08:10I mean, they just unleashed – they did a lot of ones versus ones, right, which meant the number one offense versus the number one defense.
08:17And you saw what our defense was.
08:19Everybody knew they were going to be one of the best defenses in the league.
08:21And this was a growing line that you're trying to put together.
08:24Well, you had a bunch of new faces on the offensive line that never played together.
08:28You had a new offensive line coach.
08:29You had a new play caller.
08:30You had all new terminology.
08:31You had a new number two receiver.
08:32You had two rookie receivers.
08:34You had a brand new back who you brought in late to training camp in Chubb, and you had Woody Marks, a rookie.
08:40I just went in a different position.
08:41Yeah, I mean, and you just unleashed the hound.
08:43That was a Bush League approach, and I believe it stunted the growth of the offense,
08:49and I believe that it wasn't doing right by CJ Stroud.
08:52Now, to hear Nick Casario say, hey, you ain't – it ain't about one guy anyway, so who gives a rip?
08:56But if we're going to really analyze what the Texans did offensively and kind of the whys –
09:05why and how they struggled this year, I believe it started in training camp.
09:10If we go back far enough, I believe CJ Stroud didn't like to hire, if I'm being honest.
09:13But I think the way that they handled training camp from an install perspective was Bush League.
09:20And the – like, to go back to Sam, the comfort level that he shows the last two years
09:24and the offense he's in, all of that, we haven't seen that from CJ since year one.
09:29I guarantee you, which it doesn't matter because they're all really good –
09:33they're all really good offenses, so if you go ones versus ones in San Francisco, then you're fine.
09:38If you go ones versus ones in Minnesota when you had – you'd have been fine.
09:41If you go ones versus ones in Seattle, they were good on both sides of the ball,
09:44so it doesn't matter.
09:44But I guarantee you this, in New York, when Sam was seeing ghosts,
09:48I bet he was getting his ass whooped at practice every day.
09:52Sounds like Adam Gale.
09:53Carolina, I bet he was getting his ass whooped at practice every day.
09:56Matt Rule?
09:56That sounds – Matt Rule.
09:57One way or another, I bet it was – I bet it was – I bet it was chaos.
10:02And I ain't talking about organized chaos either.
10:03One way or another, I bet it was chaos.
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