00:00Zach Gelb's longtime national radio host.
00:02He can be heard at times on WFAN in New York and WEEI in Boston.
00:07This Friday, he will be filling in for Brendan Tobin right here on 104.3 FM WQAM.
00:16And this weekend, Gelby can be heard nationally on Compass Media Network's studio host for
00:22the Auburn-Georgia game and also the Cowboys-Packers game.
00:27Very busy time of year for Zach Gelb.
00:31He's all over the place.
00:33Someone put on the message app, we were talking about, I think, Michael Taft earlier, and
00:42I'm just looking through it now.
00:44And it said, are Miami fans happy with Caden Proctor over Reuben Bain, which is a conversation
00:50that, you know, we should have amongst ourselves.
00:53But Gelb, I mean, you watch it also because we were all kind of outraged that Reuben Bain
00:57was there and the Dolphins ended up picking Caden Proctor, but Reuben Bain has not done
01:01much for Tampa.
01:03That whole Tampa team has been pretty much an unmitigated disaster, even when Baker Mayfield
01:08was healthy.
01:09Too early, though, to make that assessment.
01:12Yeah, Gelb?
01:13Yeah, well, way too early.
01:14Like, could we get through a whole season before we start slamming Caden Proctor, who's playing
01:20guard?
01:21I know he could do both guard and tackle, but I would assume at some point he will be
01:26a tackle for this team.
01:28But yeah, like, no surprise.
01:30There's not a lot of positive things to be said about the Dolphins right now.
01:33But with the same thing, if you go to Tampa, you know, outside of the performance up against
01:37the Cowboys, because the Cowboys defense is allergic to actually playing defense, even
01:42with the brand new coordinator that everyone was like, oh, Matt Eber loses out, Christian
01:45Parker in, Parker's going to be innovative.
01:48If he's going to be phenomenal, that defense is absolutely stinks.
01:51I had that game for Compass.
01:52So I'm sure those same Dolphins fans that are freaking out while in Tampa, they're probably
01:57freaking out as well.
01:57I'm like, man, shouldn't we draft somebody else?
01:59Well, let me let me ask you something real quick, though, because we read a tweet from
02:03Greg Rosenthal after the Dolphins game, you know, game on Sunday.
02:09We read it on Monday and he essentially tweeted that Dolphins fans should be very happy because
02:14this is a perfect tank.
02:16You're seeing you're seeing rookies who were drafted.
02:20They can play in the NFL.
02:22Jacob Rodriguez, Michael Taft, Caden Proctor, Caleb Douglas.
02:27You're seeing that the draft seems to have worked out well for them.
02:32And you're seeing that the coaching staff.
02:35This is Greg Rosenthal's opinion.
02:37You're seeing that the coaching staff doesn't look like they're confused, doesn't look like
02:42this is beyond them.
02:43And yet your record is still 0 and 5, which is actually what you want in a season like
02:51this.
02:52Yeah, two things.
02:53We all know Jacob Rodriguez is already the MVP of this team.
02:57But like as long as he's healthy, he's going to be the MVP of this team this year.
03:02I've said this, though, numerous times, though, already this season.
03:05And I'll say it again.
03:07Tanking for what, though?
03:08Well, like the quarterbacks around college football, Dante Moore is now hurt.
03:14Arch Manning, ooh, that was an ugly pick six that he had in Boomer Sooner.
03:18Like, we'll see what happens when CJ Carr and Darian Mensah have the competition picked
03:22up.
03:23And I'm a huge Mensah fan, and I do like Carr.
03:26Julian saying these Ohio State quarterbacks never translate in the NFL.
03:30Mess the Maker is good at Oklahoma State.
03:32So this could be a two-year tank where it's Jeremiah Smith coming up this year, and they
03:39go get him.
03:40Maybe they trade back a few spots.
03:42They'll get Jeremiah Smith.
03:43And then they wait another year to get the quarterback.
03:45Because I said it last week, and some Dolphins fans got annoyed at me.
03:49Like, I know Malik Willis is not the answer.
03:51But with what they're paying him, they could throw him to the Wolves once again next year
03:56and have another bad season and go get your quarterback a year from now.
04:00And I think you answered it.
04:02Your question, who they tank it for, it'd be Jeremiah Smith, who I 100% believe can
04:06be a Jamar Chase, day one in the NFL.
04:09That would be the tank.
04:10You actually talking about the quarterback, you've been saying it for a while.
04:13He's better at receiver than any quarterback is a quarterback.
04:17He may be better than Jamar Chase.
04:19Like, this guy, I watch him play.
04:22Like, remember when Megatron would line up and there would be three corners around him?
04:26You see him go up against these defensive backs in college.
04:29In college, it looks like he's on the varsity and he's like, I'm going to go scrimmage against
04:33the JV.
04:34He is playing a different game than everybody else right now in college.
04:37Like, think about how we view Malachi Tony.
04:40And Malachi Tony, I said, going into the season, him and Jeremiah Smith, the two best players
04:43in college football.
04:44As good as Tony has been, Jeremiah Smith has been on a different planet.
04:48And to ask about the quarterback.
04:50By the way, Florida's not back, by the way, if you missed that, Channing.
04:53Oh my God.
04:54What the heck is happening last year?
04:55They're back.
04:56They're way back.
04:57Way back behind all the competition.
04:59They're back somewhere.
05:00They're looking at somebody's damn back.
05:02Goodness gracious.
05:03It got me high.
05:05Another conversation we had, Gil.
05:07Malik Willis.
05:08Like, he played, that was the first time I saw him look incompetent in the first half
05:11last week.
05:12But like, what do you do moving forward?
05:15It's Kyle McCord behind him.
05:17Like, if he has, if he has a couple more bad, bad games, you throw out his backup that was
05:22already his backup at Green Bay.
05:23Like, what's the answer?
05:24You let him, you let him just ride.
05:26This is your quarterback.
05:28Let it ride.
05:29Like, does it matter?
05:30The ship is sinking.
05:33It's probably already at the bottom of the ocean.
05:36They paid this guy.
05:37It was the move that they made that, okay, it's one of your quarterback moves.
05:42You get another one.
05:44You can't mess the other one up.
05:46This one, we all kind of knew when it happened that it's a guy that was just going to be
05:50a
05:50placeholder and he's holding a spot until they end up making that decision on a future
05:54franchise quarterback.
05:55Like, I get it.
05:56This offseason, everyone was like, oh, well, this regime knows him better than anybody.
06:00So they really know the real answer.
06:02This was a guy that's supposed to be in the first round.
06:04He fell way out of the first round at a moment or two last year with the Packers.
06:08But for the most part, there's a reason why he's not been a starting quarterback in this
06:13league.
06:13And sometimes guys catch lightning in the bottle later on in their career and they end
06:17up having a good, solid career.
06:19But this is just a guy that got paid, what, 45 million guaranteed to be here for the tank.
06:25Going back to Jeremiah Smith, I'm down for it.
06:28I like the idea of bringing in the for sure electrifying player.
06:33But are the Dolphins doing themselves a disservice when you consider the amount of holes that they
06:38have to fill up, Gelb?
06:40I mean, we've heard Chris Perkins talk about go out and get an edge rusher.
06:44You're going to have to build up that defense.
06:46Yeah, Jacob Rodriguez is good.
06:48Chris Johnson, the corners look good as well.
06:50But there's just so many other holes that they have to fill up on top of quarterback.
06:55Like, are you doing your franchise a disservice by bringing in maybe the best wide receiver
06:59talent we've seen in 20 years?
07:01But is that going to make your team significantly better when you have so many other holes that
07:06you have to fill?
07:07So I get your point.
07:09At this rate, you just need talent.
07:12And he's the most talented player in the draft in Jeremiah Smith.
07:15So I think you go get him.
07:16But something they're going to have to weigh is how many teams need a quarterback at the
07:20top of the draft.
07:21Like, if it's the Dolphins are one and then it's quarterbacks two, three, four, can you
07:25trade back to, you know, a few spots and then maybe like four jumps, you know, or three
07:30jumps to one and then you get some draft capital so you could get Smith and then also get future
07:37draft capital.
07:38But if there's a team, like, let's say if the Raiders are at two and I know the Raiders,
07:41you know, have come back down to earth.
07:43They're not technically lined up in the two spot.
07:44But if the Raiders are at two, they're definitely taking Jeremiah Smith.
07:47So if it's like Dolphins one and Raiders two, like you can't trade back because then you're
07:53going to lose Jeremiah Smith.
07:54So the question then is, do they trade back and go get like a Colin Simmons, like you're
07:57saying, an edge rusher, and they get a ton of capital and they go back to like the fifth
08:02or sixth pick in the draft.
08:04And talking about these quarterbacks, Gale, let me just, just, just hear me out.
08:08The thing with Arch Manning over Dante Moore, over Mensa, over those guys where, like you're
08:13saying, I don't, no one has jumped off the screen to me, but Arch Manning cannot fail because
08:19he has Peyton Manning.
08:20He has Eli Manning.
08:21He has his granddaddy, Arch Manning.
08:23He has so many people that are, want him to succeed.
08:26He has the best chance of being a franchise quarterback because there's no going off the
08:31road.
08:31He's been on the Manning road his whole life.
08:34Would you put that in consideration when you're picking a quarterback?
08:37Well, like, here's the thing.
08:38I don't think he's bad.
08:39I don't think he's great.
08:41And I workshopped this take the other day.
08:43So now I will throw it out there to you.
08:45He's a poor man's Eli Manning.
08:47Like that's what he is.
08:49He's not Peyton in the regular season.
08:51It's not anything like, oh, you got to have any, and I know he hasn't played in the postseason
08:55that that's where Eli really became a hall of famer.
08:58Those two runs up against the Patriots, but there's been some moments this year.
09:02He was terrible.
09:02The first three quarters up against Ohio State comes alive in the fourth quarter, gets it done.
09:06Two years ago, while the world was caving in, he got the job done up against Red River.
09:10And then you just see some throws like the pick six up against Oklahoma this past weekend.
09:16You're like, oh, those are like kind of Eli throws.
09:18You're like, what the heck?
09:19And then it has that photo of Eli on the sidelines looking like he's elucidating or something
09:23like that, that we've seen go throughout the years.
09:25But that's what he is.
09:26He's not Peyton.
09:27He's not Eli.
09:28He's a poor man's Eli.
09:29Speaking of quarterbacks, what do you make of Cam Ward in Tennessee?
09:34Insufferable.
09:35Like, I get it that and I loved I talked to Cam at Washington State.
09:41Like, I've been a big Cam Ward fan.
09:43But when you stink, it is not a good idea to start like having your circle or you pick
09:50fights with the media because no one cares that you're a Heisman Trophy finalist or the
09:54things that you did at Miami or zero star recruit incarnate word to Washington.
09:59No one cares about that when you're the quarterback of the Tennessee Titans, your number one overall
10:02pick and your team is just terrible.
10:04Like, it's a bad organization.
10:06Could he go somewhere else and have success?
10:07I'm not going to say no.
10:09But right now, he is becoming unlikable for a kid that was so likable just two to three
10:15years ago.
10:16And why is like, I guess the negative or the struggles of the Titans go on Cam Ward, but
10:22the struggles of San Diego or the struggles of the Chargers, L.A. Chargers, it goes on
10:27McDaniel and Harbaugh.
10:28Why isn't Sala and Dayball getting killed like the coaching staff of the Chargers?
10:33Um, I think like people are starting to realize that like Sala is a good defensive coordinator
10:39when he becomes a head coach.
10:41It just he says all the right things, but it just doesn't work out.
10:44I think, though, people are crushing McDaniel.
10:48You're right.
10:48I think there's been criticism for Tennessee, but it's like the Titans are just there.
10:53The Chargers, I thought they were the fact that they don't have a win is crazy.
10:58And the quarterback is starting to get some criticism.
11:01There's no doubt about it.
11:01But you look at that roster now, the line has always hurt.
11:05It's like outside of McConkie, they don't have another wide receiver.
11:10And Herbert's got to wear and own some of that as well.
11:13But I feel like some franchises are just curse.
11:17And as I think Philip Rivers, a Hall of Famer, let me be clear.
11:20But what did he ever do in the postseason?
11:22I think that could be the same thing here with Justin Herbert, where he's Philip Rivers
11:27just kind of reincarnated with the Chargers, and they just went from San Diego to L.A.
11:32But where in the pantheon of NFL quarterbacks is Justin Herbert?
11:37And where is Cam Ward?
11:39Because you said Cam Ward, hey, when you stink, you stink.
11:42Does he stink?
11:43Well, yeah, he stinks.
11:45Like Herbert, at least, has had good statistical seasons in this league.
11:48I know it's only a year and a half for Cam Ward.
11:52But right now, he looks brutal.
11:53So he looks brutal.
11:55And it's weird because the grind and the journey that he went on to have that success, you would
12:00think he'd be able to overcome this adversity.
12:02But I think he forgot about that adversity like real quick.
12:05And he was just living in the Miami days because he does not know like what hit him in Tennessee.
12:12And I'm not putting it.
12:13It's not all on him.
12:14Let me be clear.
12:15That organization is a dumpster fire that gave birth to a dumpster fire.
12:20But for Herbert, where he ranks in the NFL, like, oh, I don't know how to like he's he's he's
12:29playing bad this year.
12:31I do think he's a good quarterback.
12:34He has all the tools.
12:35But eventually, you got to do something.
12:38And we've seen them make the postseason here or there, but never get a postseason win.
12:42And remember, they blamed and he deserved to blame Mr. Yoga Boy Staley all those years ago when they they
12:50choked and gagged that game away up against the Chargers.
12:53Harbaugh comes in.
12:53Yeah, they've they've had nice wins the last two years, but and a good record.
12:57But in terms of accomplishing, they haven't accomplished anything.
13:00It seems like Herbert feels like it's going to be rivers all over again, where maybe at the end of
13:07his career, you're like, yeah, good statistical career.
13:09But any memorable wins?
13:11Not really.
13:12We got to go, Gelby.
13:14We'll be listening to you Friday as you fill in for Brendan Tobin on this radio station.
13:18Make sure you follow Zach Gelb on social media.
13:21Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B.
13:24Cam Ward needs some Pella Larson in him.
13:27He needs that Pella Larson mentality.
13:30You woke him up.
13:31I mean, look at Zalata.
13:33I'm all in on Pella Larson, baby.
13:34He's beaming.
13:35He's beaming.
