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NFL analyst Brian Baldinger joins Joe Rose to break down a wild trade deadline, the Kirk Cousins deal, and what Carson Wentz's struggles mean for his career. Baldy also shares his raw assessment of the Eagles' rebuild, Jalen Hurts, why Fernando Mendoza and Carson Beck are stepping into the spotlight, and the truth behind Justin Herbert's regression with the Chargers.
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00:00We had a very serious yesterday trade deadline, and boy, was it ever.
00:05Kirk Cousins, you know, I heard it, and I didn't know,
00:09and their quarterback play has just been awful with a really good football team
00:13with defense and special teams at Kyler Murray,
00:15and then Carson Wentz just had an absolute stinker,
00:19and they went out and gave up a third-round pick.
00:22To me, that's a hell of a deal.
00:24They got a chance to jump right back in this thing
00:27in the most competitive division in football.
00:31I agree, Joe, and I was just out in San Francisco
00:33doing the Raiders and the 49ers on Sunday,
00:37so I saw Kirk, I saw he played actually, he threw some interceptions,
00:40but he actually played pretty good.
00:42They had a couple of fumbles that were pretty weird,
00:45but he moved the team.
00:46He made some good throws to the game.
00:48He's going to help him out.
00:49I mean, watching Carson, I mean, I live in Philly.
00:52I saw Carson Wentz just, like, literally go downhill
00:55after a really great second year, but he's just, he was uncoachable.
00:59He has bad fundamentals, and it catches up to him,
01:01and it was awful.
01:03They couldn't complete a pass.
01:04You can just see, I'm not getting into that controversy about body language, Joe,
01:09but you can just see, you know, I mean,
01:11Justin Jefferson can be Jamar Chase in this league,
01:14but he can't if somebody can't, you know, complete a pass.
01:17Hey, it's funny you said that because I was thinking,
01:20besides the fan base in Minnesota,
01:21Justin Jefferson might be the president of the club,
01:24but thank you so much to get Kirk Cousins back here
01:28and get him playing with us again.
01:30No question about that.
01:31Hey, by the way, in that division, who do you like the most?
01:34We just saw the Lions down here,
01:36and they obviously have a very good team.
01:39What do you think?
01:40Who wins that division?
01:43Well, Micah Parsons is coming back in Green Bay here probably this week.
01:47He's going to make a difference.
01:48They were 9-2-1 last year when he was in the lineup,
01:51and he was playing, and then he collapsed without him.
01:54But they're a good team right now,
01:56and then, you know, you can't –
01:57you have to look at what Chicago is doing week in, week out,
02:00and how they play and how you can win a game
02:03when you turn the ball over five times.
02:05Amazing.
02:05That never happens in this league,
02:09yet they did that this past weekend.
02:11Right now – and Chicago went up to Green Bay
02:14and spanked them pretty good.
02:16I kind of like Chicago.
02:17I like that Jeffrey Simmons deal.
02:19They look really good defensively to me right now.
02:23I'll take Chicago right now because of the coach and the quarterback, I think.
02:27Yeah.
02:27Hey, so Colts, the Dolphins getting set to take on the Colts.
02:31Yeah.
02:32They give – four players, but they keep Jonathan Taylor.
02:35I thought he'd be gone.
02:36Daniel Jones still with the Colts as well.
02:40You get rid of four guys, including one of their better defensive linemen inside
02:44and maybe one of the two or three best guards in football.
02:48What's that do to that team going forward,
02:51or is it just they're all pros and everybody plays hard
02:54and let's try to win games?
02:57It's a good question, Joe, because we haven't seen this before.
03:00You know, the receiver won it out, you know,
03:03and so I see him this time for a long time.
03:33They beat Dallas for sure.
03:35And they played very – they actually played pretty good defensively.
03:38The guy that was disappointing is the guy that they traded for last year
03:42is Sauce Gardner.
03:43He couldn't stay on his feet and gave up one big play after another.
03:46But other than that, I thought everybody played hard.
03:49You couldn't tell that they were – you know, if they were tanking
03:52or whatever else you want to call it.
03:54You couldn't tell by how they played in the game.
03:56Hey, Baldy, I want to ask you about Philadelphia.
03:58I know, speaking of your backyard and a team you know really well.
04:01So, they obviously pretty much looked and said,
04:06we got big problems with this team we have.
04:09They made some moves, but they got a ton of draft picks coming up.
04:13And I know they've been pretty good at that.
04:16Do you like what they've done going for a quick fix,
04:19or how do you look at the Eagles right now?
04:22Well, it's kind of like this, Joe.
04:24Like, they won a Super Bowl 10 years ago.
04:26And, you know, a couple years later after that,
04:28they kind of blew it all up with Doug Peterson and Carson Wentz.
04:32They blew it up, and then they brought in Sirianni,
04:34and Jalen Hurts took over, and they won a Super Bowl with that group.
04:38And I feel like they're going to blow this whole thing up.
04:40And what better way to do it than – or to entice a coach, you know,
04:44an offensive-minded coach that might end up working with the new quarterback.
04:48Who knows what's going to happen there.
04:49But, you know, what better way to entice a coach than to say,
04:52we have all kinds of first-round or second-round picks right here.
04:56We could build this thing from the ground, you know, the grassroots up.
04:59And we got some pretty good players that are already here.
05:01Like, they got a foundation in place.
05:03They do.
05:04They know how to, you know, work the cap.
05:05And now we got all this capital.
05:07Like, I think it's going to make a pretty attractive place for some coach
05:10to come in here and take over.
05:11Hey, so everybody's all over the board with Jalen Hurts.
05:15And I'm sitting down here going, that guy took you to a Super Bowl, two Super Bowls.
05:19You won one.
05:21How do you look at Jalen Hurts?
05:22And now he's injured and it's a terrible time to do it when the guy's hurt
05:25and he's not playing at all.
05:26But what's your take on Jalen Hurts or with the blood clot, I should say?
05:29I'll be honest with you, Joe.
05:30I love the guy.
05:31Yeah.
05:32Like, I got to know him a little bit.
05:33I'm going to pretend to, like, hang out with him or anything.
05:35But I got to know him early on in his career.
05:37I love everything about him.
05:39Like, he'll never, ever publicly say anything against the organization,
05:43the coach, or the players.
05:44Number one.
05:46Number two, he hears all the noise out there about this, that.
05:49All he does is win.
05:50His record, Joe, is like 65 and, like, 31 as a starter.
05:54Wow.
05:55And two trips to a Super Bowl.
05:56And as a starter, they went to the playoffs every single year.
06:00So, I mean, all that guy done.
06:02And that's all he did at Alabama.
06:04That's what he did at Oklahoma.
06:05All he's ever done his whole life.
06:08And his dad was a coach at Channelview High School in Texas.
06:11Comes from a football family.
06:13His dad was a coach.
06:13Like, I don't know.
06:15There's nothing not to like about that guy.
06:16He's a complete pro.
06:20Odyssey NFL insider.
06:21Brian Baldinger here with us on QAM.
06:23Baldy's call brought to you by Nationwide.
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06:32All right, Baldy.
06:33Fernando Mendoza takes over.
06:36I always wonder, because Kirk Cousins was playing so well, how those veteran guys take this as now the number
06:43one overall pick takes over.
06:45Because I didn't expect Kirk Cousins to sit here with 20 touchdowns halfway through the season.
06:50How do you think all the veteran players took the news that they were trading their number one guy for
06:56their number one pick?
06:58I think, you know, from the moment that they drafted Fernando with the number one pick, that most veterans thought
07:04at some point he's going to take over.
07:06Now, they're four and five.
07:08They're still in it.
07:09Technically, they're still in the race.
07:11Nobody wants to give up on the season.
07:12I just saw Fernando warming up the other day.
07:15I just talked to his quarterback coach, Mike Sullivan.
07:18He's a good friend of mine.
07:19Like, everybody says, you know, it's just, you know, it could be coach to speak, Joe.
07:24We know how that goes.
07:25But, like, everybody says unbelievable things about him.
07:28You know, he's in there all day.
07:30He's studying.
07:31He's like, he's asking all the right questions.
07:33Like, he's a natural leader.
07:36They say all the right things.
07:37Now he's got to go produce.
07:39And it's not a great team around them.
07:41They don't run the ball particularly well.
07:42They don't really have great receivers.
07:43They've got two good tight ends.
07:46But nobody's going to make any excuses for them.
07:48Defensively, they're not playing well.
07:49But I think they're ready to turn it over to him.
07:53You've got to see what this guy looks like.
07:55He's the first pick in the draft.
07:57At some point, all right, it's the 10th week of the season.
07:59Let's throw him in there.
08:01He's had a good chance to learn under Kurt for half a season, offseason with him,
08:06see how things are done.
08:07I think he's ready for it.
08:09I think if I was a player, it wouldn't bother me right now seeing what they did.
08:14Arizona going, it's ironic, right?
08:16Mendoza and Beck get their first start the same week.
08:19Carson Beck in Arizona.
08:22He had a nice little preseason, but preseason, a little different animal.
08:25What he's going to see now, what do you think?
08:28Look, I like Carson Beck.
08:30I liked him at Miami last year, Joe.
08:32He came down to the final drive against Indiana to win the national championship.
08:36He played good in the postseason.
08:37He's got a good arm.
08:39He's been highly touted.
08:40I think two springs ago at this time, or a year and a half ago, his shoulder was falling off.
08:47He had surgery, and he missed a lot of time going into that year in Miami.
08:50But I thought he played well.
08:53And I think he's ready for duty.
08:55I didn't have any problem with him going to Gardner Minshew, but I've seen Gardner Minshew for a decade.
09:00I know he can play a good game here or there.
09:02And it's unfortunate he got hurt.
09:04But they've got to see what they've got in Carson Beck.
09:07Is he a legitimate prospect where he can lead a team, or is he just a product of a good
09:13situation in Miami last year
09:14and playing at Georgia and some other places he was at?
09:18Or can he really play the position?
09:20They've got to find it out.
09:22The other thing is it always pops up, and you hear about it, Baldy, and you see it yourself as
09:26the old quarterback position.
09:28Have you seen enough, and I don't know how much you've seen Drew Mestemaker play or C.J. Carr or
09:34Darian Mensah,
09:35but I did want to ask you, there are going to be a lot of teams looking for quarterbacks, man.
09:39And the only way to do it, to get a new fresh guys out of college,
09:43we've got some guys that people are already saying need to go back and spend another year because of injury.
09:49Dante Moore, or maybe just haven't looked the way we thought Manning was going to look.
09:54Look, I'm just curious what your thought is on this quarterback class that originally we thought was going to be
10:00loaded this year.
10:03Yeah, I agree, Joe, and we don't know what it's going to be.
10:08We never know because there was a time six years ago when the 49ers took Trey Lance and made two
10:14Trey's to go get him.
10:16That's right.
10:16And in the same draft, they drafted Brock Purdy, and within two weeks of camp,
10:22Kyle Shanahan knew Brock Purdy was a better prospect, and he was going to be a better player.
10:27And he's a great player, a great player.
10:29And they're going to be one of the favorites to win it all this year, especially with the way he's
10:33playing.
10:34But none of us will know.
10:36We thought at this time, two years ago, Garrett Neusmeyer was going to be a star.
10:41And then he had a bad senior year.
10:43Or Clay Kubnick at Clemson was going to be a star, and he had a bad year.
10:47And so we don't know what any of these guys are going to be like, Joe.
10:51We can look at all the college stats.
10:52Like, how many bubble screens do you throw in these college games?
10:56And how many, you know what I mean?
10:58Like, it's just such a different game than what you have to play in the NFL.
11:02And so we honestly don't know what Fernando Mendoza is going to be like.
11:06And he was as touted as any quarterback that we've seen coming out since maybe Joe Burrow.
11:10So we can all project, but none of us really know until they get thrown into right now.
11:17Paul, do you know what's amazing?
11:18And it's not your job, and it's not my job for sure, is all these people, we pay all this
11:24money for the front office to go out and study
11:26and spend time and get to know their background and see how they throw it and their IQ and how
11:33smart is he
11:34and is he like his mom and dad and all this stuff, and we still whiff on half of them.
11:40I mean, it's like...
11:42Well, I mean, just look at the decision that Miami made when they took Tua.
11:46And everybody said, oh, they should have taken Justin Herbert to pick behind him.
11:50And look at both guys right now.
11:51Both guys are terrible.
11:53You know?
11:53And so, like, why is that?
11:56Like, it's just...
11:56I mean, but that's what it is in this league.
12:00It's very few guys are going to succeed, no matter where they get drafted, Joe.
12:04I mean, look, our friend, your friend, you know, best friend, Dan Marino, he was the sixth quarterback taken that
12:10year.
12:11And, you know, he was the best of all of them.
12:13And so, like, none of us know until they get out there and they've got to actually go do it.
12:19And then you go, oh, how do we miss them?
12:22How do we not know that, you know, Dan was going to be the best of all?
12:26You know, until you go out there and play, it's just a projection.
12:30Yeah, so the mystery of this season is, you just mentioned,
12:34is the Chargers and how bad.
12:36They haven't won a game.
12:37And they went some record amount of drives without scoring a touchdown.
12:42How do you explain Herbert has just gotten worse and worse and worse?
12:47To the point, I don't even know.
12:49And I used to be a cheerleader for him here, too.
12:51I was on the cheerleading team of Take Herbert.
12:54And now I'm like, I don't know.
12:57Well, I mean, he's definitely gone backwards, okay?
12:59I mean, they did win 11 games two years in a row with him as the quarterback.
13:02And he went through, you know, rib injuries and, you know, toughed it out and, you know,
13:07got up off the mat a couple of times with some serious injuries and gutted it out.
13:10But he's definitely gone backwards.
13:12But the team around him is terrible.
13:14And anybody that thinks, like, these guys can just go out there and do it with, you know,
13:18four rookie offensive linemen at one point this year.
13:21Now some of them, you know, some of the veterans have gotten healthy and Joe Walt and whatnot.
13:25But they have four rookie offensive linemen out there.
13:28They have no running game.
13:29No quarterback's going to be good in this league without a good running game.
13:33Outside of Joe Burrow, he's the only one that seems to be able to do it without a great running
13:36game.
13:37But, I mean, very few – the receivers, the tight ends, they're not very good.
13:42And I'm not so sure Mike McDaniel's a good fit for him, you know,
13:46with the way that he plays the game and what he's used to coaching.
13:50I don't think it's a good fit.
13:52Hey, it's hard for me, my eyeballs, watching college football.
13:55And I know you see a lot that – I know not everybody needs a number one wide receiver,
14:00but it's going to be really hard to pass on Jeremiah Smith, whatever you need.
14:06But have you seen anything like this?
14:08You've been watching this game a long time.
14:106'4", 225, jumps over tall buildings, just everything.
14:16Tough as can be.
14:17His high school coach comes on and he says, hey, man, they don't make him like this guy.
14:22He's got a great mom and dad.
14:23He's going to pass all the tests of greatness.
14:27How do you pass on that guy as number one?
14:29I don't know.
14:30I don't know.
14:31Like, you know, we saw Keyshawn Johnson, the first pick of the draft.
14:33It wasn't worth it.
14:34But, you know, Larry Fitzgerald was the third pick and he was worth every bit of it.
14:38And so, you know, he's going to be somewhere in between what Keyshawn was
14:43and what a Hall of Famer, Larry Fitzgerald, became after 15 years type of person he was.
14:48It's going to be a large part, Joe, it's going to depend on where he goes
14:51and what the offense looks like and who's the quarterback.
14:54Good point.
14:54I mean, if you've got a quarterback situation in Minnesota, what good does it do
14:59to have Justin Jefferson out there, you know, if you can't get the ball to him?
15:02And so, a large part is going to be where he goes, how the organization is.
15:08You know, you're not going to build around a wide receiver,
15:10but you better have a damn good offensive line and quarterback, you know, that can feed him.
15:14And so, a lot of it is just going to depend on the team he goes to.
15:19Baldy, thank you, man.
15:20Really appreciate you coming on, spending some time with us.
15:23Man, we had a lot.
15:23We had a little build up there.
15:24So, that was good stuff, man.