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we’re going to dive into at the end of the hour but Michael I want to start with a topic that has been top of mind for you over the last couple days the Miami Dolphins you wrote a full article about them this morning what inspired the article and what’s the road that we’re going down here with Miami well I what inspired it was when I saw Tua like I mean Tua played last year he played in all 18 games and you know you know at the end of the year they did not play well two years I mean they are since week 13 of the season the Miami Dolphins under Mike McDaniel’s direction is 4- 10 since week 13 in both years and so they faded and I and they faded because they got a lot of guys hurt on defense Bradley chub Phillips all their I mean they were a shell of them themselves when they played Kansas City but when you look at the end of the year their offense wasn’t very good and then I saw the picture of Tua and I just thought you know why would a guy who stayed healthy for the first time in his career change what he was doing like what is he up to and and I’ve heard a lot of different reasons I can’t prove any of them I didn’t include any of them in the article you know off the field what’s going none of that right so but there’s something there and then when you peel back the layer about Miami and you say okay where can they can they duplicate the success that they had last year are they going to be able to dominate teams like they did last year and you start looking at it knowing they’re going to pay Tua in the mid-50s per year you you realize that this team may be having the arrow pointed down and and I wanted to get I wanted to really get into why Vic fanio left because I think there’s a couple things here that are going on right I think when you’re the head coach of the Miami Dolphins it’s hard it’s a challenging job because Miami is a fun place for a young guy with a lot of money to live like to do and if you read the quotes by the players about Vic leaving and if you read what I included in the article what Ron jorski said who’s very close friends with Vic is it was hard to have accountability under the Mike McDaniels scheme Mike McDaniels is not really the head coach he’s the offensive coordinator who’s in charge of the coaches but he has no real involvement in special teams of the kicking game or actually defense none actually this will be his third defensive coordinator in 3 years so things are changing so I wanted to kind of peel back that and the twoa Pitcher really sparked as I said in the article a thousand words so let’s go deeper in on Tua here real quickly because for anybody who hasn’t seen it yet he showed up to uh a media event recently at at mini camp yesterday as well talking to reporters and he is noticeably like significantly thinner than we saw him last year he was listed as 61 227 he looks sub 200 and it’s not something that we’re just noticing his teammates are calling it out as well here’s Tyreek Hill on tua’s New Look hey I ain’t goingon to lie when I see Tu at a pro bowl I was kind of scared dude was he was fat it was chubby I was like hold on now bro hold on bro like Ryan Clark said you were kind of thick now he wasn’t lying but um seeing him now and where he’s come from and how skinny he has gotten what what’s that uh stuff with everybody taking OIC he had to be taking that bro and Jaylen wad today said I missed chubby Tua I didn’t like it when I seen it I told him I’m not bleeping with it eat some more or something so I think what happened was it got maybe a little too out of hand right like last year he really focused on the durability being bigger being stockier being able to take some of those hits that he was taking because he had so many injury issues and concussions in the past I think now he’s turned the dial a little bit too far and I understand wanting to be more agile and being able to be quicker and evade some of those tackles but have we I think that it’s just it’s gone too far it’s gone a little bit it’s a little bit much whereas Lamar Jackson losing weight you’re like man this guy’s already so fast and he’s shown that he can he can hold up a lot better now and he can avoid those hits I’m not sure it’s the same situation for Tua losing this weight no and we know this last year everybody thought one more concussion Tua was going to retire I didn’t include it in the article but there was a whole offse where if Tua got hit early in the year he was he was contemplating retirement as it was now we haven’t heard that retirement talk course $50 million per year can keep you away from talking about retirement there’s no question but I think the Tua pitcher started me down a road of investigating this team and the fact that McDaniels is 4- 10 over since week 13 two years in a row the fact that the players embraced and celebrated Vic fangio’s departure the fact that Anthony Weaver comes in with no real experience coaching the back end they hired Joe Barry to help that they named him run game coordinator intering but if you look at what Anthony Weaver did in his first year as defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans now they weren’t very good they were 30th in yards 27th in points 32nd in creating interceptions not good at all the work’s going to be challenging you know you can laugh about Vic being old school you can laugh about Vic working him too hard but Vic understands what it takes to be a good defense and you can make fun of him all you want but he’s more right than the players are going to be right and I just think to me that this is a situation why they’re 4- 10 is because their head coach is kind of going to be what we call a player’s coach this let them do what they need to do we’ll outscore people and then let’s go back and look at it right so let’s visit week 13 of this year and you go back and see where they have they start with the with the Packers cold weather game Green Bay November come home and play the Jets all right they go to Houston the Dome will be closed no big deal play San Francisco at home they end up with Cleveland cold I can promise you that the Jets cold I can promise you that and has anybody looked at Tua numbers when it’s 40 degrees or below he’s not good he’s not good like they know it in Miami he’s not good when this schedule came out everybody in Miami they’ll never admit this was worried because if they’re in a race to go to Cleveland and to go to the Jets and they need both those wins you could forget about it yeah lost four of their last six games down the stretch last year and again these are against good teams too that that final however handful of weeks from week 13 on and I’ve said this stat on the show before I’m probably going to say it a number of other times before we get into the season against good teams so we’re talking teams 500 win percentage or better I think that’s fair to say Tua had 22 touchdowns um uh win percentage or Worse excuse me against Bad teams bad teams Tua had 22 touchdowns eight interceptions the team as a whole average 35 and a half points per game against uh teams that are over 500 win percentage they were one in six in those games to had eight touchdowns seven interceptions and the offense averaged just 16 points per game so not only do you have as you’re talking about cold weather teams but good opponents that you’re going to have down the stretch as well that stretch is why they missed out on winning the division last year I mean the the Packers the Jets twice the 49ers the Texans who we anticipate being really good the Browns who yes are a question mark but on the road in prime time on Sunday Night Football in a tough place like these are a lot of things that are important to keep in mind so Miami’s win total n and a half it is juice to the over so people are believing and buying in on this team that won 11 games last season but just keep that in mind uh another thing I want to touch on here real quickly Michael because the Browns who I just referenced they evidently have given extensions to their head coach Kevin stefansky and general manager Andrew Barry I don’t know the terms or the length or the extent of it but I find that a little bit interesting given that Andrew Barry was there and responsible for the deshun Watson deal that could go down as one of the worst ever so just give me your initial thoughts on this well I think the hlam family is intimately involved and so is Paul D podesto and I don’t think that Andrew Barry drove that that Deshawn Watson train all by himself I think there were he was maybe the conductor but he might have been a subc conductor I think there was more people on that than meets the eye Paul D podesto Jimmy Haslam D Haslam you know uh all the other people involved in the family and I think look Kevin stansky is one coach of the year two of the three years he’s been a head coach in Cleveland I don’t know what they were he’s done a good job they stripped him of his offensive play calling because they wanted to bring in a new play caller they wanted him to go become a head coach so I think what’s happened is the ham family is very comfortable with the arrangement they have because they’re involved you know they’re involved in everything and they want somebody to run their team deep podesto runs the football with Barry and stansky runs the team and they can still be involved without really making them aware that they’re involved so it’s the perfect setup and when you have the perfect setup usually extensions happen obviously won 11 games last year and went to the postseason where they they lost to Houston in that first game used five different quarterbacks throughout the course of the season but I just keep coming back to two things about the Browns last year that throw me for a loop is the way their defense played at home vers the road and how dramatic of a difference that genuinely was and the fact that they won all these games despite Desa Watson like they actually were winning more games with him not on the field than with him on it which is something that would concern me like what version of deshun Watson are we going to be because you if you’re doing this you’re saying that hey deshun Watson this is working out this is a good thing and you and you owe him 120 million more guaranteed money stormmy I mean you’re not getting away from them you’re not getting away from them this isn’t like okay we’re this is our last year you you know you owe them the money it isn’t that Russell Wilson we don’t want to keep paying the money this is you’re paying the money no doubt about it um okay I didn’t I didn’t leave us enough time for what’s on Michael’s mind so if it’s okay with you or you can we push that after the break because I want to get your full thoughts on it sure that’s no problem whatever we need to do you know that I mean I think the other thing on the I want to go back to Miami for quick second I I I think really when you look at the good coordinators I mean last year against Philadelphia I mean this was blew me away they had 12 first downs against Philly right they couldn’t block Philly they gained they had they gained no yards they had 10 penalties in the game and they gained 244 yards like at some point when are we going to talk about the non- physicality of the Miami Dolphins offense I have a lot of questions about Miami but quite frankly I have a lot of questions about everybody in the AFC East I feel like Buffalo what what like what are we going to see from that team what are we going to see from the Jets what are we see from Miami I don’t know uh we got to hit the [Music] [Music] break this is the Lombardi line with former NFL executive Michael Lombardi now here is your host stormmy batony on V the sports betting Network act now and save big for a limited time here at B you can get our annual subscription for an unbeatable price usually 240 bucks you can now subscribe for just $199 and when you use our promo code Lombardi we’re throwing in an extra month for free that’s 13 months of vsin pro access for less than 50 cents a day with vsin Pro you’ll gain instant access to our daily Best Bets from all of our show hosts and guests real time betting splits exclusive betting systems premium analysis and 247 video content don’t miss out though this offer will end soon von.com subscribe use that promo code Lombardi to claim your discount and bonus month do you disagree with these takes no way uh-uh no way or do you approve oh no doubts no doubt no doubt my mind no diggity no doubt it’s time to ask Michael ardy no way or no doubt this is one of my favorite segments that we do each every week so let’s get into it and believe it or not Michael we’re going to start with hockey but with a little bit of NFL flare here because the Florida Panthers played in the Stanley Cup Final a year ago they lost in five games to the Vegas golden knights and they are back with a vengeance Oilers head coach Chris noblock was asked about the experience that the Florida Panthers have take a listen yeah experience is good um I don’t know I don’t know how much experience is you know beneficial you can ask the uh Buffalo Bills how how important Super Bowl experience is um but I think the biggest thing is just having confidence to play and you know when our guys are playing their best they should have a lot of confidence the Buffalo Bills catching Strays Michael no way or no doubt though Championship experience is overrated in professional sports what do you think I think it is a little bit over overrated I mean look these kids and certainly in hockey at a very young age handle the pressure they’re in a lot of pressure situations and it’s the job of the coach to remove that pressure it’s the job of the coach to basically do what they did in the movie hooers and measure the court and make sure everybody knows it’s 10 ft High and the Court’s this wide and it’s this long and really it’s about the moment it’s staying in the moment the biggest thing about Championship Games is your team gets ahead of itself we want to win all everybody talks about is winning when you and I both know it’s not who’s going to win it’s how we play when you watch the Bills play the Chiefs you get the feeling the bills are going to win the game all throughout the game and yet they don’t so I think that’s the job of the coach is to is to keep the players in the moment and that’s the hardest challenge he has or she has because they just want to get they want to win they want to win the first quarter they want the game to be over they want it to be the path of least it’s not it’s hard that’s why we’re here it’s challenging there’s going to be ups there’s going to be Downs it’s going to be really difficult they’re going to score they’re good we’re going to score we’re good it’s about who has the resiliency and I think he’s right don’t overrate it just stay in the moment and I think what’s even more important for the Florida Panthers than experience is just the fact that they’re healthy last year in the Stanley Cup Final they could hardly ice a team and now they’ve got everybody back better than ever uh also Michael because You’ know better than I I just think about that stretch for Buffalo where you get to the hardest game to get to and you lose in a heartbreaker you claw all the way back the next year and you get torched all the way back one more time you fall again one more time oh so it just unbelievable unbelievable okay we’ll stick with the theme of the NFL though because we have seen so many players as mandatory mini camps get underway not showing up they’re taking the fines now and a lot of people like myself are wondering is this a good tactic or not no way or no doubt mini camp and training camp hold out are an effective negotiating tactic for players no no way squared it’s the dumbest thing of all it’s so stupid you’re just giving away money you’re trying to become something bigger than you’re not look let’s just analyze what holdouts do if I withhold my services and you don’t have my services you lose money or you’ll lose a game or the trash won’t get picked up or the grass doesn’t and get cut you know there’s cause and effect there’s no effect here it’s just all cause you’re holding out with no effect on the team and yet the only effect is on you because you’re giving away $100,000 how is that smart it’s like when I said and of course everybody on the worldwide leader defended it when Le’Veon Bell gave away a whole year of salary oh it’s a smart thing to do he’ll make it up of course he never made it up he even admitted it was a dumb thing this is a dumb thing trust me when these kids are when CD Lamb’s 60 I’ll be long gone but he’s going to wish he had that 100K back look I know one thing about players they value the per Dum as much as they value the signing bonus per Dum might be $100 a day the signing bonus might be 10 million it’s the same and for them to just give away money with no effect it’s the dumbest thing in the world oh you know they love they get getting that little plastic baggie on the charter plane with their cash in it of course and as somebody who by the way made 23,00 for my first job out of college when you can tell when you get to make these big contracts that you just forget about the value of a dollar completely cuz $100,000 is a lot of money ladies and gentlemen now one player that didn’t show up to Camp is CD lamb Michael Parsons did Dak Prescott there as well but the trio of top players for the Dallas Cowboys eligible for new contracts here no way or no doubt Dak Prescott should be the lowest priority signing of these Trio of pending contracts no doubt I agree with that look dak’s making good money dax’s contract shouldn’t be that hard to do but you got to get these other two guys to be on the roster and to be effective I I think Dax should be she should wait in line he’s already had a taste at the at at the at the Apple he you know these other guys are young I don’t think the CD Lamb’s contract’s hard to do you take Jefferson’s steel you know you maybe you add 135 million over four as opposed to 140 and you say okay here you go I’ll give you 135 plus the 7 year old I’ll give you1 million in guaranteed money you’re going to earn it anyway off we go it’s not that hard it should not be that hard of a contract to do the daak one becomes a little bit more complicated because you need to figure out how to spread the money you need to look at your team and how the cap numbers are going to affect your team going up see I I think to me what you don’t want to do is do daak and then try to fit everybody else in around that what you want to do is set your team up get everybody’s contract done okay now that comes in we need low cap numbers in years one two we need it this and three we think the cap and so it’s got to be strategic around that and then you work the contract in that form okay while on quarterback contracts how about this one no way or no doubt to a Tong of ioa Trevor Lawrence and Jordan love will all have New Deals before training camp I I think there’s no doubt they will and it makes sense too because the one thing that that training camp signals is there will be contact and the potential for injury is always one of the great negotiating tools you have right now nobody thinks they’re going to get hurt look T Higgins isn’t even sign in his contract and it’s fully guaranteed he’s got 22 million out there on the street all he’s got to do is walk and pick it up and it puts it in his pocket but he he didn’t sign it I mean if he gets God forbid if something happens to him he loses out on that money it’s not fair and so sometimes you know when you have a contract you pick up the money but but when you get into football and you start having contact and there’s actually hitting going on and it’s not a seven on seven drill where everybody’s great and you know and this guy’s completing passes and the ball never touch the ground you know then for me I think it’s it’s pretty clear that uh you know the contracts get done remember this I believe this fear does the work of Reason fear of getting injured fear of not having the money there fear of waiting does the work of Reason well one guy who has already secured the bag Justin Jefferson he’s on site and he was asked about some of the quarterback changes with Kirt cousins on his way out you get JJ McCarthy in the draft and bring in Sam darnold he said all the quarterback changes that happened didn’t really affect me that much I have talked to JJ as soon as he got drafted I told him confidence is key and added he’ll definitely be that main person JJ can lean on and help throughout the way but I’m curious your thoughts on Justin Jefferson’s production now with this new situation no way or no doubt his production will take a step back with McCarthy and darnold at quarterback well there’s no doubt it will because I mean look we know McCarthy is not going to be as good as Kurt Cousins but you know we saw last year that whether it’s Joshua dobs Nick Mullins you know they were able to get the ball to him and I think Kevin oconnell will do a good job of getting him the football but look the reality of it is quarterbacks are going to change they’re going to go through some of this and it happens all the time and you just have to be adaptive to it and I think Jeff Jefferson’s right you know you know look I give Jefferson credit he got in touch with JJ McCarthy as soon as they drafted him meanwhile Robert Salah he couldn’t get in touch with Hassan rck as soon as they made the trade how is this possible how is this maybe Jefferson should be the head coach of the net of the of the Jets at least he had enough common sense to get in touch with his quarterback meanwhile Salah I don’t have time to talk to Hassan R even though we traded a third round pick for I don’t want to talk to him what would I talk to him for come on give me a break oh It’s Not Unusual when reporters ask oh no it’s not unusual totally normal totally normal Robert Salah yeah okay um speaking of Justin Jefferson he is getting 19.3% of our vote right now in who’s the most valuable non-quarterback in the NFL the vote is going to close soon make sure you get in there head to at emard NFL on X who do you think is the most valuable non-quarterback will read some comments we’ll give an update on the list [Music] [Music] [Music] this is the Lombardi line with former NFL executive Michael Lombardi now here is your host stormmy baton on BN the sports betting Network welcome back to the Lombardi line if you like watching and listening to VN don’t forget about all of our great betting tools and content at von.com Best Bets from hosts and guests betting splits Pro tips and Trends and right now on the homepage indepth betting previews for both the NBA and Stanley Cup finals whether you’re looking for series plays props or game by game breakdowns we’ve got you covered head to vn.com today welcome back to the Lombardi line alongside Michael Lombardi stormy Bond Tony with you as we welcome in on a on a week where we’re having all the wide receiver talk our wide receiver one here at Von Mike Pritchard joins the program on the Progressive guest line former NFL wide out college football national champion at Colorado prit how much are you and your friends just talking about this week man I was born in the wrong generation with how much these wide receivers are getting paid right now I mean stormmy Michael great to be with you yeah you you you said it I mean uh wanting to be born in 1999 instead of 1969 right but I’m okay I think we’re okay you know we have Google stock we have Microsoft we have McDonald’s so we’re all right but um no it’s it’s fantastic no I think what uh Justin Jefferson is doing and uh with all these Elite Playmakers are doing really Christian mcaffrey and everybody I uh it’s outstanding I mean I I remember my days in the very beginning of all this right when I got to the league it was uh free agency was just becoming a thing with the Reggie White uh situation and and so to see what free agency or or Revenue sharing or expansion or certainly growth in Revenue can do for you uh it’s incredible what’s going on in the National Football League right now M Mike let me ask you something when you go through it and you played the position right so you know that there’s you know Tyreek Hill changes the game Jeff Jefferson changes the game but there’s just a lot of other guys are good but the good guys are now making Elite money at what point do you say wait a minute wait a minute that this isn’t going to work I mean Jordan Addison got a as a first round pick does he get paid does Drake London get paid even though they really haven’t tilted the field in their favor the other guys do it’s a great question Michael but I’m going to throw it back to you in this regard because uh like I just mentioned earlier we’re seeing unprecedented growth in the National Football League the stated goal by these owners is 25 billion annually all right uh and they’re on a fast track of achieving that goal too so um I looked at the salary cap by what is it 255 million now uh and so if you add in 7% growth in salary cap like we’ve seen uh next year the salary cap goes up to 273 and then in 2026 is it’s 292 by the time we get to 2030 uh and the CBA is is over we’re going to see a new CBA uh the salary cap is going to be 380 3 million how do you manage that uh as a as a club how do you manage a salary cap upwards of almost $400 million we’re going to see so many astronomical contracts it’s going to blow our minds uh uh in the next few years I was about to say if that was the salary C last year what would Daniel Jones have gotten paid Michael well that’s the thing stormmy you’re GNA pay for mediocrity that’s what you’re doing I mean is Dak Prescott worth 60 million a year no and and you have to take yourself and say no wait a minute that’s the market he’s not worth it but he’s the market says this is what he gets paid and so you got to make decisions and you you only can pay certain positions you can’t pay everybody so you have to cheat in some other areas and that’s really where it gets a little iffy right I mean and I think to me I was talking to a coach in the league you know who’s an offensive coordinator is like look you know we couldn’t we had three really good receivers where I was we couldn’t throw the ball because we didn’t have a quarterback and we and we couldn’t protect yeah you know and so to me it’s still football’s a game that comes back to that go ahead Mike I’m sorry no no I was just going to say I mean it’s it’s fascinating to just think about managing a salary cap of 400 million one but then two what you said um you know there there’s there’s a handful of of franchise quarterbacks like I I think I can count up to about 12 franchise quarterbacks and there’s unique situations with Aaron roggers and and Dak Prescott I think is in a unique situation and certainly I’m not adding in the guys that are recently drafted uh but in terms of quarterbacks that elevate players around them in my estimation there’s only one I mean I don’t know where Aaron Rogers is going to be yet with that injury but it’s Patrick Mahomes I mean Josh Allen to an extent but but certain extent um but the majority quarterbacks in the National Football League right now they need a surrounding cast around them to elevate the quarterback play uh so that justifies Justin Jefferson because they have a rookie quarterback and you know Devonte Adams because who knows who’s going to be quarterback out here with the Raiders and you know Brock pie uh getting elevated with all the the weapons that he has I mean that is what the league is turned into right now and and the Vikings of course in a unique situation where they are on the rookie deal for their quarterback and so they can afford to pay the big Talent wide receiver who does make the quarterback better with the 49ers and the deal they get done earlier today with Christian mcaffrey adding to what was already the most lucrative running back deal that ‘ve seen in NFL history now naturally all the questions and the eyes turned back to Brandon iuk who’s not there for mandatory mini camp who’s trying to get a deal done when you have guys like Justin Jefferson who gets the big contract cidd lamb who’s expected to be next Jamar Chase who’s eligible for an extension as well where does Brandon iuk stack up in this mix to you because he’s coming off of a career season best that we’ve seen from him he can be that Deep Field threat but in some of the the category in Upper Echelon that he wants to be and where does he stack up with those other white outs well I feel for him I I think he’s an exceptional route Runner um I I don’t know if he’s a a true number one Elite playmaker like like a Justin Jefferson you know like like AJ Brown all these guys but he is a really really good player right um and so I feel for him because I know the family uh the Shanahan family do not want to pay two wide receivers they just don’t um and so that is is the Crux of the matter here with Brandon auk and you know they can exercise him and and certainly they can kind of control him with the franchise tag and do all kinds of things and and really as a player that’s what frustrates you um I I think if you’re on a fast track of being Elite you have to get upstairs and knock on the door of Michael ardi prior to that fifth year option if you were drafted in the first round uh and try to get something done because that’s how you’re going to escape the control of the franchise and uh knowing that Shanahan family uh knowing how they work I it’s going to be difficult to see Brandon iuk get the money that he wants or or feels like he deserves yeah the problem with this contract Mike is you have it’s one of those you want to grow into he wants to get paid elitely which free agency would do it we saw Christian Kirk get an elite contract a couple years ago without a lot of great numbers behind it but you have to build a contract around okay here’s where really your number says you should be but if you continue to play like this here’s where your numbers will be and it’s hard to get players to take that kind of deal because they want it right now understandable and he they know if I get the free agency somebody will pay me that number without a doubt so it’s that’s a hard negotiation to go through as you look we we had Simon Hunter on yesterday and we talked about week one and I know you’re you’re considered a professional when it comes to betting is there a game in the week one rotation that has just caught your eye that you think is going to be a perfect play you know Michael the only one I focused in on so far because we are so far away um is is that Pittsburgh Atlanta game I think we talked about that before uh right um and you know if you’re a Pittsburg you’re catching what two and a half points I think at the time I haven’t looked at the line recently but you know so many things uh are are going on you know Atlanta are they really going to hit the ground running uh withee Morris uh with Kirk Cousins yeah I think continuity has to speak volumes uh at least it does to me when I’m come when it comes to betting uh and knowing uh how teams would love to have those fast starts and uh certainly don’t have to iron out uh wrinkles or anything like that so uh to me there’s a lot of wrinkles down there in Atlanta all right hot Atlanta right now whereas Pittsburgh yeah Pittsburgh I I think they’re recharged right and they have this quarterback and Russell Wilson that thinks that he’s legendary and and then you got Justin Fields I think who’s going to push him but then you have a really really talented roster uh with continuity and if they and when they’re healthy on defense they’re as good as it gets out there so uh I just think that’s an opportunity if we’re looking at lons right now in early month of June how important is it at some point in your mind if you’re Justin fields to get on the field this season I mean both Russell Wilson infields are playing essentially for their careers and their next contracts right to see what they’re going to be but Fields being the younger player how important is that for him you know I I I like this so stormy because I think Russell is playing for legacy and and Hall of Fame right um I I think Justin’s trying to become that guy yeah uh so uh every man for themsel I I think that’s going to be an interesting watch right there to see how these guys coexist and certainly push each other uh but you know I I think Justin’s got a ways to go uh but this is the offense and certainly the philosophy that is conducive for his type of game he’s a Pop Warner quarterback meaning he’s the best athlete on the field with the ball in his hands uh but as far as throwing it and winning from the pocket I think Pittsburgh wants to rely on Russell in that regard so uh I I I think they’ll push each other ultimately Russell will win it uh but but Justin should be better off for it just from The Experience standpoint FR always uh oh my gosh always appreciate I’m having so such a hard time today speaking and it’s literally my job pr appreciate your Insight we’ll talk to you next week appreciate you as well thank you Mike Pritchard on the Lombardi line we will be right [Music] [Music] back this is the Lombardi line with former NFL executive Michael Lombardi now here is your host stormy baton on VN the sports betting Network act now and save big for limited time here at VN you can get our annual Von Pro subscription for $199 it’s usually 240 bucks a year now you can subscribe at this discounted price and when you do so today we’re throwing in an extra month for free that’s 13 months of Von Pro for less than 50 cents a day with v Pro you’ll gain instant access to our daily Best Bets realtime betting splits exclusive betting systems premium anal and 24/7 video content don’t miss out this offer will not last long head to von.com subscribe and use our promo code Lombardi to claim your discount and bonus month vn.com subsscribe promo code [Music] Lombardi I love it here’s my favorite segment of the week I got Billy Joel playing Stormfront in the background it’s perfect all right I got some things we got to to cover stormy you have you always ask me questions I get to ask you in this segment you cover a lot of colleges every week you’re there you see a lot of college coaches you spend time around a lot of coaches you see the Rah and the strategist type coaches tell me why you think that Dan Campbell even though he’s a Rah coach is still effective yeah so my my warning here Michael is like I don’t know if you know this but the NFL has cheerleaders right like they have really cool outfits they’re very talented dancers the NFL has fans players have tons of friends I don’t need my head coach to be a cheerleader a fan or a friend right like I want my head coach to be a head coach I want him to be a manager I want him to be a CEO and there are a couple coaches out there Robert Salah Antonio Pierce that I need to see if that flip is going to switch like in a world of Nathaniel hacket raw raw coaches be the Dan Campbell be the Dan Campbell who yes he’s emotional he’s passionate he is the biting kneecaps eat a g drink a gallon of coffee type guy but he is also somebody who has gotten so much buying and proven to Be an Effective head coach Robert Salah was hired a day before Dan Campbell and what does he have to show for it he has 18 wins we have a continuation of the longest active playoff drought in major American professional sports right now yet the expectations are Super Bowl and watching Hard Knocks last year my big takeaway was you are a humongous fan of your quarterback in Aaron Rogers and the minute that the quarterback went down everything fell apart everything crumbled because you put all of your eggs in this basket if the Jets exceed expectations they go over their n and a half win total they make the playoffs give Aaron Rogers coach of the year not Robert Salah for Antonio Pierce I love that he got players to say yes let’s dig into this mentality of bringing the Raider way back the momes rules we’ve got the recipe right that’s all fun and games but are you a really a master motivator and are you a manager or are you somebody who well uh the the former head coach wasn’t very liked and he was on his way out and guys like me like I need to know I’m not sure yet so I would beware buying in on these coaches that have yet to prove to me they’re more than a good speech great advice I agree completely and look if you’re Mr Raider we know Jim OT was Mr Raider I think somebody from the Raiders should have attended funeral which no one did which was shocking to me considering they talk about the Raider way so much uh Mark Davis’s air plane got canceled because of a pilot his wife his mom and he couldn’t go but no one else attended Jim ‘s funeral from the Raider organization which to me if that’s your Mantra I don’t understand how Mr Raider had no one there all right let’s shift to the NHL your favorite subject the Stanley Cup begins on Saturday we’ve waited a long time they give this guy as much they give the guys in St in the hockey as much a break between series as they do between years I mean this has been remarkable and there’s a lot to like about Conor McDavid but what is your concern about backing Edmonton yeah I think I mean I’ve made it clear already I like the Florida Panthers in the series and I think a lot of casual betters are going to look and say oh what I can get the Edmonton Oilers and the best player in the world at a plus money price lock it in let’s go and like Fair valid point if that is your perspective then you should be betting Conor McDavid to win K SM because it’s a better and effectively the same bet but when I look at this series I think about it more from the goal tending perspective than I do the highend talent steuart Skinner is coming off the best game of his career he and the Oilers D were Nails against the stars 1 195 goals against average in that series but that was the best game of his career and if you want to beat Florida you have to be even better let us not forget as Mike smich mentioned he got pulled the previous Ser he he lost his job not too long ago and I feel bad saying this but for Florida and the road that they have gone to get here Stuart Skinner’s probably goalie number four of four in terms of toughness that they have faced along the way they opened up with Andre vasileski they have Jeremy swan in the Boston Bruins they have the door himself in Igor shurkin in the New York Rangers I think this series will likely be good evidence for people that just because you have the best player doesn’t mean you have the best team and like I said in the last segment I give the Florida Panthers the EDG in in net the edge in depth the edge in health the edge in Balance the edge in just about everything except special teams so give me Florida baby that’s that’s all I’m say Beware of the Conor McDavid effect in this set I I love it but what I love most is those Russian names that just rolled off your tongue in hockey so well like I would have been stumbled on the ranger goalie for like about an hour Sergey baby let’s go let’s go there you go there you go I mean I mean Bill Burman would have given me a look like you can’t even say that name anyway all right let’s go back into my comfort zone and your comfort zone on every single weekend cuz you’ve been traveling doing UFL games on ESPN so what’s your storm warning for betters this weekend when they’re betting the conference Championship games I don’t doubt the Birmingham stallions I found it very interesting how quickly we saw a line move this week in the conference final where Birmingham opened to 6 and a half Point favorite almost immediately went down to five similarly similarly the stallions have been a favorite to win the championship all year long they’ve been odds on since week seven we saw that Peak atus 165 but has steadily come down to minus 125 and I think a lot of this is scoreboard and box score watching less than it is actually watching and listening to the games and it’s Spring football I don’t blame you that’s fine me however I’m coming at this from a very different perspective from the market because I am watching and listening to all these games Birmingham got out to such a far lead this season they were 7-0 to start the year they knew they were going to make the playoff they knew they were going to get home field in the playoffs the last couple weeks they’ve been skating by they’ve been coasting they have not been playing as hard they haven’t been utilizing their quarterback Adrian Martinez to his full potential so yeah the scores have shown that they had a close game with Houston they lost their first game of the year last week because they’re playing the same opponent they’re playing this week it was an extremely vanilla game plan they were they they were not the better team on the field for the majority of the game and they still won like to me this five is a gift on the Birmingham Style that minus 125 to win the championship is a gift on the Birmingham stallions right now so I’m just warning people against the initial move because people are betting these based on box scores and not on the reality of the situation because they haven’t been following it I love it and I is Adrien Martinez still playing at Nebraska I’m confused is he still there because I felt like he was there for 40 years I covered him in Nebraska cover at Kansas State man I just like me and this kid go way back now I love all right so let’s stay with college football you have a sleeper in the Southeast Conference and I love it and I just want to know before you start Eli Dinko wit’s team drinko witch’s team it Elliot didn’t coax you into this is that correct so he did Inspire this so here’s the thing I every week I do these things called Von 60s here on the network they air in other shows or in commercial breaks and it’s about Futures markets usually in football and I did one on the SEC and I didn’t mention Missouri in it and Elliot goes come on give mou some love so I said you know what I’ll do my research I I’ll give them their due diligence here right off the top Brady cook coming back third-year starter um they got one of the top white outs in college football Luther burden I’m like okay good good lots of returning production on offense defense probably going to have a little regression lost a handful of players in the draft but still enough pieces to feel good about where you’re at coming off an 11 and two season in a cotton bow win over Ohio State first real test isn’t until week five at Texas A&M and so Michael I’m looking at their schedule and I had to do a double take I had to do triple take this thing is so set up for them to potentially make an SEC title game it’s more about who they don’t play in the conference than who they do they avoid Georgia they avoid Texas they avoid Old Miss they avoid LSU Tennessee they have a realistic chance of being 7-0 when they roll into Tuscaloosa on October 26th where and I love Kaylin dor this ain’t your Nick Sabin Alabama anymore so two of their toughest Road games at A&M and at Alabama you’re facing new head coaches they win that game they’re 8-0 they’re top three in the country final four games after that U at South Carolina at Mississippi State Arkansas at home extremely manageable you know Georgia and Texas face each other um so at least one of them is going to have a loss ug also is at Alabama at Old Miss they’ve got some tough games so I was just looking at Missouri Futures over n and a half wins is plus 125 plus 175 to make the new expanded 12 team playoff 15 to1 in the AFC if you’re looking for some pizza money fun put it on missou we got got a sleeper on our hands I love that I think it’s great logic and it was great exactly because look they have a talented team he’s done a good job recruiting and you know with a quarterback and receiver it can go a long long way and if they’re improved on defense real quick before we go and you lead us to break you want to warn people about taking the Celtics oh we’ll we’ll talk plenty more NBA Finals Michael I can get into that on the other side of the break [Music] [Music] the Mavs and Celtics are battling it out for the NBA title and the best way to bet the final
