As Mike Golic Jr. astutely pointed out, the more things change, the more they stay the same. That’s especially true for Colin Cowherd.
On Thursday’s edition of The Herd, Cowherd set himself up for criticism of The Time Colin Was Wrong by making an absolutely bonkers claim. In lamenting rookie quarterback Drake Maye’s apparent quarterback struggles, Cowherd suggested that rather than Jacoby Brissett —or the No. 3 overall pick— we may see a sixth-round pick under center.
Seriously.
“Drake Maye sounds like it’s not going well in New England, according to Michael Holley, someone I know, trust and respect,” he says. “He said, ‘I went to recent practices. I wanted him to be Justin Herbert and Josh Allen, ’cause those are the comps, but what I saw was the ghost of Mac Jones; he couldn’t do anything right.’ There’s another story that Joe Milton (III), he was the quarterback — fun to watch — from Tennessee… But Milton has a wow factor, big, stronger arm than Maye, more athletic Maye and everybody’s looking, thinking, ‘Is the sixth-round guy better than the first-round guy.'”
Not only is that preposterous, but if Joe Milton III was as good as Cowherd is making him out to be, he wouldn’t have lasted until the sixth round, certainly not with the premium the NFL places on the position. It’s not like we’re that far removed from the Atlanta Falcons stiff-arming logic right in the face, and selecting Michael Penix Jr.
“Take out the Randy Moss years — three years — even with Brady, Gronk and Edelman, and no Moss, New England was never an offensive culture,” adds Cowherd. “It was briefly with Randy Moss, but it was ‘Do your job, make sacrifices for the team, earn your paycheck.’ It was never an organization of offensive creativity, abundance, joy. That’s Kansas City; that’s San Francisco; that’s the Rams. Sometimes, it’s Philadelphia; it’s not New England.
“Here’s a prime example: with the greatest quarterback in the history of the sport, they went to nine Super Bowls in New England. Do you know how many touchdowns they scored in nine first quarters? None. In fact, in nine Super Bowls with Tom Brady, they scored total three points in the first quarter. Why? Because they were always a ‘Play it safe. Don’t make mistakes. Hyper efficient. We’ll outsmart and outcoach them.’ Again, the Randy Moss years, briefly, were different.
“So, Drake Maye comes into an organization — they don’t know the offense. It’s a defensive culture. And they hired Jerod Mayo, who’s Belichick. Mantras, terms, belief systems. So, this was always going to be the toughest lift for any of these quarterbacks… I mean, PFF ranks New England’s wide receiving core — all Belichick drafted — as 32nd…”
Belichick notably did not draft Ja’Lynn Polk (Washington) or Javon Baker (UCF), but that’s neither here nor there.
“What does that tell you?” continued Cowherd. “That the sixth-round quarterback Joe Milton is going to probably win the job because he’s the athlete. He’s the bigger, stronger, faster, more dynamic athlete. And they don’t have any at wide receiver, tight end or running back. So, when I read this story, my take is, yeah, Joe Milton will make plays. Listen, Kirk Cousins and RGIII back in 2012 got drafted by Washington, and they figured out by Year 2, Cousins is the guy. I think that’s what we’re looking at now.”
Did Cowherd forget that Jacoby Brissett existed?
Also, Robert Griffin III won the 2012 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year despite having significant damage to his right knee’s ACL and LCL ligaments. Let’s not rewrite history here.
“I don’t think I’m overreacting,” he adds. “I think when you look at the historical culture of New England, and then they basically hire Belichick’s favorite guy and Belichick’s guy is a defensive guy… that kind of mantra could work with a Josh Allen-level player, but Josh is a playmaker. He can overcome some of that conservative coaching. C.J. Stroud’s got a conservative coach (Demeco Ryans). C.J. Stroud’s talented enough to overcome that.
“But Drake Maye at his best was a project — everybody knew that. Bad feet, not refined, miss easy throws. He’s got some Herbert qualities, there’s no question. I leaned on my NFL execs… they said, ‘There’s a little Herbert. Big, tall, good arm, pretty smart kid.’ But when you enter a defensive culture, where they just hired another defensive coach, they have no playmakers, don’t be shocked if Joe Milton wins this job or gets a lot of snaps this year.”
“Don’t be shocked if Joe Milton wins [the Patriots QB] job or gets a lot of snaps this year.” – Colin Cowherdpic.twitter.com/r1MMQkZWNg
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 1, 2024
the more things change, the more they stay the same. https://t.co/A33bxCCM72
— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr) August 1, 2024
