Raiders got Geno? Jalen Hurts Top 5? Lakers and Luka are a problem!

Welcome to another episode of AwkwardlyCool! Raiders traded for Geno Smith and Seahawks no longer have a quarterback. Who won out on this  out on this trade (0:59)? Jalen Hurts just helped lead his team to win the Super Bowl with a Super Bowl MVP performance. Is it fair to even consider him top five (12:23)? My thoughts on Luka on the Lakers and how far he and Lebron can take this team (40:30). Hope you enjoy the show!

Transcript

Seahawks-Raiders Trade Analysis

Speaker 1 0:14

Yo yo yo. Welcome to another episode of Awkwardly Cool. And we are back Glad to be back in the podcasting game after not being here for a while. And let's get straight to business, because there is some sporting news that I've wanted to discuss and we have the opportunity to discuss today. So in the first order of business, let's talk about the trade between the Seattle Seahawks and Las Vegas Raiders.

Speaker 1 0:58

Trading Seahawks trading Geno Smith to the Raiders for a third round pick from the Raiders end makes sense. The Raiders are looking for a quarterback. Though they have, I believe, the seventh pick in the draft, it's still a question whether or not they would have the quarterback they want. At that point, and while Geno Smith is an older quarterback and is not as young as he used to be, and if I'm being honest as far as how I think of Geno Smith honest as far as how I think of Geno Smith I think he is a more average to above average level level quarterback at his peak, more so than a franchise changing quarterback. Him and Pete Carroll had some great years together. Geno Smith has talked about how Pete Carroll has helped his overall level of confidence. So from that standpoint, I think it's a good fit for the Raiders and apparently Tom Brady signed off on it as well. While he may be a minority owner because I mean it's Tom Brady what else are you going to say? I mean this, tom Brady, what else are you going to say? He has some fairly large input as far as players who joined the team, especially at quarterback, so I see it working for the Raiders.

Speaker 1 2:30

They still have a lot of holes in their roster that they're going to need to work on filling, but there's still time to do that with free agency as well as the nfl draft and, speaking of philly, a lot of holes to fill. The seahawks seem to be in that position. They've released tyler lockett, dk metcalf has requested a trade and they currently do not have a viable starting quarterback on their roster. So the team, at least on offense, almost looks like they're in rebuild mode. There has been discussions or rumors as far as them being pursuing Sam Darnold as a potential replacement, which, I'll be honest, I 10 level this past year.

Speaker 1 3:50

Despite how young he is what, being 27 years old, I still have questions on whether or not he is a great player. He does a good job when he has the right pieces around him to be a great player, but in situations that similar to how his experience was with the jets, where there are quite a few holes to fill and especially when the offensive line isn't great, he's been questionable. His final couple of games against the regular season against the Lions, and how he looked in the playoffs against the Rams it wasn't a good look. He seemed to regress into looking like the player we always thought he was, which is unfortunate because you had many people turning their or shifting their mindsets on who sam darnold is as a player and then he ended up having the performance he had, which showed that okay as well, as he played throughout the year. May not sure if he is a franchise changing quarterback and, to be fair, there may not be too many franchise changing quarterbacks in the league and, excuse me, I had to sneeze and it may be a thing where the and it may just be a case where he's one of those quarterbacks where, if he has decent roundings and it's not the dumpster fire that it was with the Jets, he'll have seasons like he did with the vikings and, who knows, he may have a potential similar impact to geno smith on the seahawks.

Speaker 1 6:08

Because another thing to consider that I didn't mention earlier was that news has been coming out that the Seahawks did want Geno Smith back, but they just didn't want Geno Smith back at the price he thought he was worth, which is understandable as far as he Geno Smith is an older player I believe he'll be about 34. And I don't think Geno's in their long-term plan. So while they were comfortable giving him a contract to be a short-term fill-in, I understand why they don't think that he was worth the type of commitment money-wise that he thought he was worth. And if you could get someone potentially cheaper in a sam darnold for about the same level of play as you search for your franchise level quarterback, I get it from the seahawks point of view. And another thing another option too is to lean into the rebuild because while they may pursue sam darno, there are potential options like a kirk cousins out there and aaron rogers, a justin fields players that aren't going to turn the franchise around at this point in their career but can keep the ship going until the Seahawks find a quarterback that they want. And even in the draft there are still some options that they have.

Speaker 1 7:58

With the 18th pick, many people are saying Jackson Dart is the third quarterback in this draft as far as third best quarterback, behind Cam Ward and Shador. So he could potentially be available at the 18th pick if the Seahawks potentially fall in love with him. Other quarterbacks that may be more developmental options could be a Jalen Milrow, a Will Howard, a Quinn Ewers. That again, no one's going to say that they're a franchise-level quarterback at that point, but there are developmental options that, with the right coaching, could turn into something. I get it from the Seahawks' point of view because— and they also get an extra third-round pick out of it because, as much as some people view Gino Smith as an underrated quarterback, I think, uh, one popular person that in NFL media that dislikes the trade for the Seahawks is one of the most famous Seahawks fans in, mina Kimes, who has always espoused how well Geno Smith has played, considering the circumstances around him.

Speaker 1 9:26

And while I do get that point of view, I think she wouldn't argue with the fact that, as the team is currently constructed and as they're likely to be constructed going into next year, the team wasn't going anywhere. They weren't going to be making an impact as far as being a serious contender in the NFL, despite them being 10 and 7 this past year. Despite them being 10-7 this past year, they just weren't considered a serious contender and they weren't going to be a serious contender going into next year. So it makes sense that the Seahawks are in the position where, as far as I, have two choices I can either pay my quarter. I can either pay a quarterback who is a good quarterback let's say he's a good quarterback but not necessarily capable of taking us to the promised land with this team or I can sign another quarterback, maybe to a more short-term deal, get an extra draft pick out of it that helps us do a slight, either a rebuild or, at best, maybe a restructure, so that we're in better position to succeed in the future. I think most people are going to go with option two. So from the Seahawks' point of view, I completely get it. I completely get it. And I get it from the Raiders' point of view as well, where they may feel like with what they have on defense, they just need a quality quarterback to be a better team, because I don't think the raiders view themselves as a super bowl contender at this point, but I think they see gino helping them get to the next step. So honestly, I view this as a good trade for both teams. I think it's a slightly better trade for the Seahawks when I think about it, but I see the value in it for both teams and I think both teams. I've gotten a fairly good return out of it from my viewpoint. We'll see how it looks, especially going into next season, but those are my initial thoughts on it.

Speaker 1 12:09

Okay, so moving on to let's talk a little bit about the Eagles and, more specifically, let's talk about Jalen Hurts. Rankings are always fun to talk about and I think that the Eagles winning the Super Bowl makes for an interesting conversation on where you place their quarterback. Some people may think it's unwarranted Now. The Eagles won. They won in dominant fashion and most people would primarily point to the defense of the Eagles being the primary reason for the team winning in dominant fashion, which I think is fair enough in that game. But I also think it's inarguable that Jalen Hurts played well in the Super Bowl. He played well in the NFC Championship game and he played well in the Super Bowl two years ago that if he had a defense that performed half as well as the defense did in this game against the Chiefs, he would likely have two Super Bowl MVPs at this point and I think as much of the season was considered up and down for the Eagles, which is a bit ridiculous when you think about the fact that they ended up being the number two seed in the NFC or the second best team in the NFC record wise. I think it brings interesting conversation on where Jalen Hurts belongs in this hierarchy of quarterbacks that we consider top level, and quarterback rankings are always interesting because there are so many different statistics that you can point to and call to. Quarterback rankings ultimately come down to preferences as well, where you get a bit of a hint on who the on a person's mindset and how they view the world when you see how they rank quarterbacks. So it's going to vary widely and all anyone can do is to make their case. So I'm going to make my case.

Speaker 1 14:55

As a fairly recent Eagles fan, I'll be honest. I became more of an Eagles fan a couple of years ago, before they got into the Superbowl in 2022. And I just thought they were a fun team to watch. I thought Jalen Hurts had an interesting story and it was cool that they were doing well. I didn't cool that they were doing well. I didn't know that they were going to make it all the way to the super bowl, but I thought they were a fun story and I've been a fan ever since I'm primarily an nfl fan, I'll say, but I do follow the eagles fairly closely. I'm one of those people watching those Eagles team video, their team YouTube channel and watching their mic up clips and no things even as far as some of their locker room staff with how often I've watched them. That's the definition, the type of fanhood that I have for the eagles, which I think is fair to call me a fan at this point, and moving on to and getting to the crux of why jalen hurts, is a top five quarterback is.

Speaker 1 16:13

I think it's fair to look at who we view in the top four and I don't think too many people are going to argue with me on this where the top four and this is any order you want to rank them. I'll say my ranking in order, but again, this is the top of the top level. It's, it's. This is the top of the top level. And Patrick Mahomes, number one, I think. Josh Allen, number two. Lamar Jackson, number three. Joe Borrell, number four. Those guys are elite quarterbacks who were elite this past year and or have been so elite in the past that you can't take away from them, especially when you look at their past three seasons. There is no question that those four guys deserve to be on the top four and I don't think anyone is. And I don't think anyone is. I think they're, I think they're fairly high above everyone at this point. That's the, that's what I would say.

Speaker 1 17:49

Now, if we talk about number five number five that's where the conversation gets a bit tougher and I think not being the most talented, I think there is no question that Justin Herbert is a top-level quarterback. You could say the situation he is he's currently in with the chargers well, maybe not as much with harbaugh in the picture, but in his prior teams he's played for he's been a situation similar situation to matt stafford was with the Lions, where everybody knew he was a decent quarterback but unfortunately he just didn't have the team around him that allowed him to showcase as much of the talent that he possessed, because the environment around him wasn't great. And he has better coaching this year, a better team, definitely a better defense that he's playing with this year. That is going to help progress and will help us to have a better picture of who Justin Herbert is and how far he is capable of leading his team. Because physical talent there's no issues. Intelligence there's no issues. Processing no issues. Accuracy no issues. So I understand why the default position is to put justin herbert as that fifth quarterback.

Speaker 1 19:44

For me, my issue is as well as he has played relative to his circumstances. I don't think it's enough to for him to overtake quarterbacks that have not only played better than him this year, but have played better than him the past two to three years. As much as we want to say that he hasn't played as well due to the circumstances around him he has, at the end of the day, it's about who performs, because, like I mentioned earlier with sam darnold, where it's possible that if he was drafted by the vikings with the kevin o'connell at head coach, he probably would have been a lot better and would still be, would have been a starting level quarterback for years, rather than being relegated to a backup quarterback as he was before this past season. Regardless, even if that was the case, you can't then say that if he was put in a better situation he would be better. So because of that, I'm going to rank him higher than people who have performed because he has the requisite physical tools and gifts to be better than how he's played. That's a cool hypothetical but at the end of the day it's hypothetical and it's hard for us to 100% determine that. And based on that, I don't think Justin Herbert and I'll say let me.

Speaker 1 21:53

Let me make another point. I think there is a point where your performance and your tools does put you above someone, even if they perform better. For example, I think I would say that Justin Herbert is better than Tua Tungvaluwa. Tua has been one of the top quarterbacks in EPA for a while, especially when he's been healthy. He wasn't as healthy this past year, but last season I believe he was what a top five quarterback in EPA has led his team to 70 points in scoring. He has weaknesses in his arm strength and ability to create outside of structure. That has gotten him in trouble in the playoffs, but in the regular season he has been a good quarterback, capable of leading a top level offense, despite those limitations that show up against better teams and in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 23:01

All that being said, even though Tua has probably performed better or has definitely performed better than Justin Herbert the last couple years, I don't think I'd put him ahead of Justin Herbert, because I think Justin Herbert has performed decently enough and just has the additional tools that I don't. I wouldn't put a two ahead of him at this point. Maybe if it's another year or two, and especially if you can perform in the playoffs, then that would make an impact. But at this point, when looking at physical skill set and performance, I believe combining both those aspects still puts justin herbert above tour. Okay, let's compare justin herbert to another physically limited quarterback in Brock Purdy.

Speaker 1 23:57

You would probably put Justin Herbert above Brock Purdy, right? Not necessarily I would not, because I think what Brock Purdy has not only done in the regular season, but what he's done in the playoffs, has been much more than what Tua has shown and what Justin Herbert has shown, where he has had great performances in the playoffs, in which teams have the opportunity to game plan against you like they don't normally have. And when you take that into consideration, you're going up against better teams and you're going up against teams that are studying you, studying your weaknesses, because they know you're coming up and the further you get in the playoffs, the more film that these teams have on you and the harder it is for you to play well in those later playoff games because teams have film on you. And Brock Purdy has played decent. He has played decent. He was able to lead his team to the Super Bowl. They ended up losing to Patrick Mahomes, but he played well to that point and I give huge credit to that point and I give huge credit to that probably a big hint into why I'm going to break Jalen Hurts top five.

Speaker 1 25:23

But going back to this comparison between Purdy and Justin Herbert, justin Herbert hasn't had great playoff games. He lost a 30 point lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the playoffs before this past season. In this past season, in the playoff game against the Texans, he has his worst game of the season where he throws more interceptions with four interceptions in one game than he did the entire regular season in one game than he did the entire regular season. I rather give huge credit to quarterbacks for what they do in the playoffs than detract them for what they don't do. But when you have performances that bad, I'm looking at you a little bit funny where it's like I can't put this guy number five when just this past season, when in a big game that he was favored in and, despite being on the road, he had his worst performance of the season.

Speaker 1 26:32

Playoff games, and how you perform in the playoffs move you up, regardless of what anyone wants to say, and for most people's quarterback rankings, it's the only reason why someone like Patrick Mahomes, whose career stats are still nowhere near a Tom Brady or even a Peyton Manning, are comfortable putting Patrick Mahomes as potentially the second best quarterback of all time, because he's performed so well in the playoffs and he's performed well enough in the postseason that the only one coming close to him consistently is someone like a Tom Brady or potentially a Joe Montana. It's the reason why I have Josh Allen above Lamar Jackson, because Josh Allen has had better games in the playoffs than Lamar Jackson has had. Even though Lamar Jackson has shown improvement in the playoffs and I think he took a big step this past year and I'm looking forward to seeing where he gets to next year, where I think Lamar Jackson, all those quarterbacks in the top four, are capable of being considered the best quarterback in the league, but it's hard to take the crown away from Patrick Mahomes because barely anyone has beaten him. It's only been a few. Go and go and go into that. Go into that, but at a later time.

Speaker 1 28:04

It's why I can't put someone like justin herbert above a brock purdy I I know he has a better physical tool set and I know there is a good case to be made that if Justin Herbert was on the 49ers and they traded places, potentially Justin Herbert would be able to take the team to greater heights, but I don't know that for sure. I could assume that, but I don't know that for sure. So as good and as talented as Justin Herbert is, I wouldn't have him above a Brock Purdy. I don't even I'm not even sure if I would have him above a Dak Prescott. But maybe then you're taking injury durability into account and maybe then you put Justin Herbert above Dak Prescott, but I don't know if I would. Yeah, um, so I wouldn't put him above doug prescott.

Speaker 1 29:04

I don't think I'd put justin herbert and I think we should move on from justin herbert. But the reason I mentioned him is because the mike sandow has something every year where he interviews uh league executives and coaches on quarterback tiers and justin herbert is consistently uh one of ranked as one of the top quarterbacks and who's been ranked at tier one, and I don't think that's he dropped the tier two last year and there's no way he's gonna be at tier one again this year after the season he had. But I could still see him being placed as that fifth best quarterback, which I just don't think is fair when you consider the performances of other guys. Think of even someone like a Baker Mayfield and what he was able to do throwing 40 plus touchdowns this year in the playoff game against Washington and Jaden Daniels more on him in a second. He's still performing. He's performed really well the past two years where he was actually able to lead his team to a victory against the Eagles in last season's playoff. Understandably, the Eagles were collapsing with everything going on, but still he was able to lead his team to a playoff win and he's performed really well in the regular season. That's someone that I think is more deserving of being in that spot than a Justin Herbert and looking at the quarterback against the team he lost to in that game against Washington Jaden Daniels.

The Case for Jalen Hurts at #5

Speaker 1 30:58

Jaden Daniels has an argument to be at the fit spot. I personally wouldn't put him there, but I think he is really, really close when you if especially if he has a year anywhere close to what he did this past season. I just got to see one more year of it. But if I just look at, looked at this past season, he played on an elite level and it honestly would be hard for me to not put him as that for the best quarterback. What he was able to do with on that Washington roster was ridiculous. That Washington roster did not have high expectations when you looked at those four teams left in the final, four teams left in the postseason between the Chiefs, the Bills, the Eagles and the commanders. The commanders looked sorely out of place when you looked at their overall talent level. But because they have have such a game changer at quarterback, it didn't even matter. And while jayden showed a lot this year, I got to see another year of it, which is why, moving on to Jalen, I would put Jalen as a top five quarterback.

Speaker 1 32:27

Jalen has had different people question his ability, question his talent, question whether or not. I've even heard people question whether or not he's even the best quarterback on the roster. Ridiculous enough, but some people are big fans of Tanner McKee. No one thought that Kenny Pickett was better. No one thinks that there's no mystery in who Kenny Pickett is. He is who he is. He's a high-level backup at best. There were questions from Jalen Hurts by potentially his teammates throughout the season. As far as is this passing game good enough to win a Super Bowl with?

Speaker 1 33:20

And what Jalen has done is been one of the best quarterbacks in the league record wise the past few years and have his best performances in the biggest postseason games, in the Superbowl and in the NFC championship game, as he did against Washington this past season, as he did against the chiefs in the Superbowl. And again, look at what we, what we talked about. It's about your performance in the playoffs, which have higher weight because coaches are preparing you like they haven't prepared before, and in the Super Bowl, where they have a whole extra week to look at your weaknesses, and you on the other side is someone like a Steve Spagnola who makes quarterbacks play at some of their worst levels. And in two games against Steve Spagnola in the Super Bowl, where Steve Spagnola had extra time to look at Jalen Hurts and see his weaknesses and he performed well in both instances, where in that first super bowl, many people would argue that jalen hurts outplayed patrick mahomes. And in this second super bowl, there was absolutely no question that jalen hurts outplayed patrick mahomes and led his team and was on the way to a Super Bowl winning performance.

Speaker 1 34:45

What are we talking about? I like Justin Herbert, I like Baker Mayfield, I like Jaden Daniels, I like Jordan Love, I like Jared Goff, I like Dak Prescott. I like Dak Prescott, I like all those players as high-level quarterbacks that deserve to be paid franchise quarterback changing money. All those quarterbacks I just named deserve to be franchise paid quarterbacks in which you can't find too much much better. Every single one of those guys but none of them have the resume near the resume of jalen hurts in the postseason as far as how far he's been able to lead his team and what he's been able to do. I mean, the closest, the closest one is brock purdy, and brock purdy is is a bit more limited from a physical tool set standpoint that you wonder how he's going to play, especially going into next season, when the team just may not be as talented and as well as jayden daniels played this past year, going all the way to the nfc championship game. We gotta see him do it another year.

Speaker 1 36:15

Played really well in the postseason, really well, and I think I want to do another podcast segment on that, and I know it's offseason, which is where you can have time to do stuff like this actually. So let me not prematurely apologize, but I think there's a lot to be said about Jayden Daniels and how he played in this postseason how he reduced his sacks and how he made the plays to win his sacks and how he made the plays to win. But Jalen Hurts has consistently done that, made plays to put his team in the best position to win, and when he's had a decent coaching staff with him, he's performed. And I don't think there is a question on how well he is going to play when the lights are brightest, because he's done it once before and he's done it again, most recently on the biggest stage on his way to a super bowl mvp.

Speaker 1 37:23

And when you take all of that into consideration and putting one more thing into it, the Eagles are going to be good again next year. Aj Brown's coming back, devontae Smith is coming back, dallas Goddard may be coming back. Saquon Barkley is coming back. Dallas Goddard may be coming back. Saquon Barkley is coming back. And while Kellen Moore is no longer going to be the offensive coordinator and we're going to see how it's going to work with their new offensive coordinator, whose name escapes me at this point. Looking it up right now, the Eagles are going to be good next year and if Kevin Petullo that's his name is able to do at least a decent job as an offensive coordinator, I have no question that they'll be good. And even then I think they've learned what works. Jalen and the offense has learned what works for them. And Kevin Patulo he's been around the team long enough where he knows what works and what doesn't, where I think he'd be decent enough for them to be good. And oh, the eagles defense isn't going anywhere either. So you put all that into consideration.

Speaker 1 38:57

As far as who jalen hurts is, as an individual player, what he's been able to do this past year and in previous years and how the team overall is expected to look next year. Yeah, I am putting him as the fifth best quarterback in the league. There is nobody more deserving. There is nobody with as much as a resume and there is nobody who has. Who has done what he's done in the super, in super bowl games, as often as he's done or as recently as he's done. Matt stafford he had that one, one super bowl run, but it was just that one. Jo Burrow he had a run making it to the Super Bowl. It didn't win the game, but winning against Patrick Mahomes was one of the big reasons we put Joe Burrow in that air. Jalen Zerori outperformed Patrick Mahomes twice, lost once in the biggest of games. No question he's a top five quarterback and I'm looking forward to seeing what they do next year as a fan. It's going to be really exciting. All right.

Speaker 1 40:16

Final topic, just going to discuss this a little bit Lakers acquiring Luka Doncic. They have been on an eight game winning streak at the time of this recording and by the time this is posted, this is going to be posted before their game against the Celtics. That is going to be a really interesting game seeing how they match up against a top contender in the East and the reigning NBA champion, boston Celtics. But Lakers have been good. Don't know what Nico was thinking handing Luka to the Lakers, but it has been a blessing. It has rejuvenated LeBron and the rest of the team. The defense continues to play really well. Jj Redick has done an excellent job at coaching. The team continues to perform and they look like a legit contender. They have a game coming up against the Celtics. They're going to play the Nuggets again really soon and a Nuggets team that they've actually already beat since acquiring Luka, when they've had trouble beating them any time before. I think this team is a serious contender and when especially when you look at how they've looked the past few games, where either Rui's been out, austin Reeves has been out or just not himself Austin Reeves was not himself in that Knicks game yet they were still able to pull out the win. This is a really good team and I think they've made basketball fun again for me.

Speaker 1 42:05

Where basketball at times has been my number one sport, it's usually between basketball and football, specifically the NBA and NFL, where the NBA has been number one for many years, and sometimes it's the NFL. The NFL has overtaken it the past couple years, and when the NFL season's going on, I just am not as into the NBA as I wish I was. I'd like to be, but I'm just not into it. And even after the NFL season ended, I still found myself and by the way, I should just clarify that I'm a LeBron fan, so that probably plays into things I wasn't as excited for the NBA season as I wanted to be, and it may have been because I didn't have a belief that the Lakers were really capable of being true contenders in the NBA season, where they're obviously a bit behind a team like the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Speaker 1 43:01

The Nuggets had their number and you just have questions as far as are they really a team capable of making it to the NBA Finals? But with this Luka charade and how they've been playing recently, I have little doubt that they are a contender, a serious contender, and I think after vote proclamation after this, after this week, we're going to be talking even more about whoa. This team is going to be a serious threat to win the championship when healthy Don't forget Luka just was in the finals last year and that Mavericks team was not as good as this Lakers team is constructed currently. He's their best player and I don't think it's just crazy that LeBron, as well as he's playing, is still the second best player on the team because Luka's there and when you have a rejuvenated LeBron, a LeBron who is the second option and teams are less focused on stopping him. Oh my goodness, because even if people want to make the argument that maybe anthony davis was a better overall player than lebron, there was no question that on offense, lebron was the number one option and it really wasn't close. It was LeBron won Austin Reeves to Anthony Davis three, and now it's Luka one, lebron two and Austin Reeves three and LeBron the number two.

Speaker 1 44:54

Optional offense offense has not happened before. And it's happening now and it's leading to glorious results. And I don't even think their offense is playing quite at the level of their potential. And it's happening now and it's leading to glorious results, and I don't even think their offense is playing quite at the level of their potential just yet. They've mainly been winning games by their defense. So when their offense starts catching up with how their defense has already played, especially when this team is healthy, when Rui is out on the court and Austin Reeves is playing like himself, rui is going to be exciting. It's going to be exciting. So those are my thoughts on Lakers Looking forward to the Celtics game tonight and glad you guys were able to join me to listen to this podcast, and looking forward to discussing other sporting news to come. With that being said, you all, you guys, take care.