LIVE: Steph Curry's New Deal & Patriots Name QB1 | GSMC Sports Podcast

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hello and welcome into the gsmc sports podcast brought to you by the gsmc sports network I'm your host TJ maardi we are coming to you live on Thursday afternoon today is August 29th and just about an hour ago we got some breaking news that the Golden State Warriors and Superstar Steph Curry have agreed on a new contract extension that marks a big mile stone for Curry's overall career earnings so we will be discussing that and what the future of this organization looks like moving forward and how I think that some of the offseason moves from the Warriors are even more interesting now knowing that they plan to have Steph Curry seems like definitively for the remainder of his career so we will talk about that we will also react to the news that the New England Patriots have named a starting quarterback so we'll talk about whether or not they got that decision right and what the long-term future looks like for the Patriots here between jacobe brassette and Drake may we will then be we will then be pre continuing on our season previews we are on team number 32 we've been doing this exercise for over a month now at this point we are closing out the NFC West today with the Seattle SE Hawks and discussing what they will look like under new head coach Mike McDonald after giving him a six-year contract this off season we will be talking college football and some of the biggest games and headlines that are coming as week one kicks off tonight which is very exciting and then we will wrap up the show by circling back to the NBA and just doing a little bit of a fun activity of handing out out way too early season awards for the upcoming NBA season for from MVP to Rookie of the Year and everything in between we will be breaking that down but before we get into everything just a reminder to like follow subscribe wherever you keep up with us be sure to use the comment section to give us your thoughts on the latest happenings in sports whether it be a quick take a burning question or anything else we here at the gsmc sports network Thrive off of interaction with our fans so definitely be sure to give us your takes in the comment section and additionally if you would like to even more get get your comments even more recognition in priority you can use the Super Chat button that is now available on YouTube where you can leave a tip or donation and your comment will pop up on screen for everyone to see helps us here at the gsmc sports network you can also additionally go to the link that is streaming across the bottom ticker that is gsmc podcast. net anything would be very greatly appreciated there this afternoon we got the news that Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors have agreed to a new contract extension the news broke from ESPN's Adrien wowski just over an hour ago and it it and it was announced that the Warriors and Steph Curry have agreed on a one-year 62.6 million contract extension that will keep him under contract through 2026 27 season so this is a little bit strange timing here considering the fact that Curry is already under contract through 2026 so for this to come out now of all times is a little bit peculiar but I'm sure we're going to get more details as to what the reasoning there was but that being said you know there's been a lot of conversation this off seon about what the future of the Warriors looks like because they're coming off of a few disappointing Seasons now did win a playoff series against the kings in 2023 but other than that they have been a playin team in each of the past few years including even that season where they were ultimately able to knock off the Kings before losing to the Lakers in the second round that it seems like there is a little bit of an impass because Steph Curry is still one of the best basketball players in the world we already knew that but then especially so coming off of the Olympics that we just saw and him having those masterful closeout performances in the in in the final two games 14 USA the pressure's on for the Warriors a little bit to build a contender around him Curry this past season averaged 26 points per game we know that he can still shoot with the best of them efficiency was down a tick but at the same time you're still getting 45 41 % shooting splits from a lead guard on very high efficiency so very hard to complain about that and ultimately the issue for the Warriors is not whether or not Steph Curry has the legs to carry a team forwards it's more so about this idea of does he have the teammates that he can consistently rely upon and the answer this past season was he does not now this is for a couple different issues obviously Klay Thompson very well documented that he struggled this past season and he ends up uh going to Dallas so a little bit of a new era already in Golden State but on that same term of New Era they have a lot of young players that are getting heavy minutes for them now we've seen these past few years really since the turn I would say of 2020 or so especially following the departure of Kevin Durant the Warriors have been trying to run a little bit of a two timelines sequence where they have all of their older players their established vets while also bringing up the younger core and ultimately they were able to win a championship in 2022 it was very clear though during that year that it was far more about the veterans than the young players and they haven't been able to develop and contribute to winning basketball out of the gates the way that the warriors were hoping James wisman ultimately ended up being a bust for them they've had some other players as well that have gotten you know marginal minutes we've seen especially so these past couple Seasons guys like Jonathan kaminga and Moses Moody getting more minutes this past year Brandon psky and Trace Jackson Davis took on significantly larger roles for them and I think that ultimately you got pretty good production for from them all things considered and you would think that they are going to be able to continue to take the next steps which is great but that being said you now have have Steph Curry locked up for another three full seasons and I think that ultimately they're going to need to kind of do Steph Justice where to some degree I mean it's possible we've seen in the past most recently the exact argument I would sort of look to is with the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant during his last handful of years it was almost more of a retirement tour than anything else that they were trying to just make sure that they could you know establish his legacy with the Lakers give him his proper goodbye but it wasn't a healthy couple seasons for the Lakers during that time so not a strategy I would be looking to replicate maybe you look at the Dallas years as well with Dirk Nowitzki and sort of how he was going out there but the difference between those situations and I feel like what's going on right now with the Warriors is that Steph Curry is actually healthy Kobe had his Tor Achilles I believe it was and was really NE in 2012-ish 2013 and really wasn't the same after that dark nitzky was was just sort of running on fumes at that point Steph Curry just showed the entire world just about a month ago how dominant of a basketball player he still is when he is feeling himself and that's not something I think the Warriors can I mean technically they can afford to just let it play out and have Steph be the ultimate warrior for all time but that being said kind of feels like they need to be a little bit more aggressive than that in order to actually give this team a chance to win because while I definitely have said multiple times throughout this show that I'm not very confident in the Warriors being able to flip everything around in one off season and become Championship contenders once again the fact of the matter is when you have Steph Curry the window and when he's playing healthy it doesn't feel like the window is ever fully closed so I again talking a little bit out of both sides of my mouth here in terms of do I have high expectations for them competing for finals throughout the remainder of Curry's contract no but maybe if the Warriors got a little bit more aggressive you could talk start to talk yourself into It ultimately it's going to come down to how do they want to manage their young assets because the Warriors are one of the few franchises I would say in recent history that has Championship expectations that is hoping to be among the best in the league and yet have somehow managed to do so without giving up any of their future draft capital and that comes from them drafting of course very well hitting on the picks of Steph Curry Klay Thompson Draymond Green and doing enough stuff along the margins but at this point the Warriors have to make a decision on whether or not they want to play out this two timelines thing and it also takes evaluation from within if they legitimately think that Jonathan kaminga can develop into an All-Star caliber player or if Brandon psky I don't know about Allstar just yet at least but somebody who could he might have even made an all defensive team last year I can double check on that feel like that's probably pretty aggressive for year one I I'm pretty definitive that he didn't but Brandon psky is somebody that could definitely be in the conversation of all defense moving forward here I believe he led the league in charges drawn last season so and Trace Jackson Davis you know kind of came into the season with a chip on his shoulder after dropping all the way into the 50s on draft day in 2023 but a very active rebounder and solid touch in the paint that you know he's a positive impact player I would argue and again you can like all of these young players but liking them and liking what they could be is a different conversation than will they be able to contribute to finals and playoff minutes in the now and that's where I start to have a little bit more doubts about where the Warriors are currently at and I think that they have a lot of room to grow in that department one of the biggest concerns for me and again I like Trace Jackson Davis I think he's a very promising young player was one of the top guys going into Indiana played a sophomore season again maybe a little bit disappointing But ultimately lands in a very nice situation and that's awesome that the Warriors Got This steal but is Trace Jackson Davis going to be a starter on a championship competitor in these next couple Seasons I would very highly doubt that so I think he's somebody that is expendable I know he's a position of need but you kind of need to upgrade there you got to figure out what you're going to do with Andrew Wiggins is he some type of a Reclamation project where he's had some off thec court stuff these past couple years you know more personal matters not legal wise know that off the court can be a pretty broad statement there but Wiggins if he can just sort of get to the point mentally where he was in 2022 I mean he was unbelievable for them that season and sort of finally seemed like he was becoming the player that everybody was hoping he was when he went number one overall a decade ago but at this point it's just been so hit or miss with him I'm not sure how much trust you can instill into him maybe it's possible the Warriors have a better read than anybody at this point considering he's in their building but he's got a big contract attached to his name and I know that he is a negative a asset at this point but one thing that he definitely is is a contract that can match up with some other really impactful players that if the Warriors ever wanted to and I don't think this is a deal that makes sense for them but actually scratch that let's go to the Lori marinan trade that ultimately didn't pan out marinan is no longer eligible to be traded but I'm just saying for example a player like that you could probably trade Wiggins and a couple of their young pieces I also really like Moses Moody somebody that I I just really enjoyed watching him play in college and I I'm not ready to give up on him he's had some moments in the NBA but trading Wiggins and some of those younger pieces to get an established star I think that again Lori is no longer available I wouldn't go the Brandon Ingram route myself but I'm just saying players that something that could be interesting a team that I've constantly been talking about the idea of I would love to see these two teams make a trade are the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers I really like Jared Allen and Evan Mobley as individual players I don't love their fits next to one another though and I think that Jared Allen does not get enough credit from the Casual NBA fan as to how impactful he can be especially on that defensive side of the ball add to that the fact that he's on you know the upper echelon of screeners in the game he's a good lob threat he's someone that I think could really be fun to watch play alongside Steph Curry issue with that that I always come back to as well is how would his spacing with Draymond Green be any better than what Cleveland has right now I know it's not perfect but I'm just talking this out here and and by the way in this trade as well I'd love it as as well cuz the Cavaliers could get somebody forward maybe like a Jonathan kaminga that would definitely help them as they've been searching for a three for years but again not a perfect trade I'm just saying that I think there are moves that are on the table for the Warriors and I'm just curious how they are going to choose to play this because again you lock down Curry through his age 38 season at that point can't imagine a smaller guard I mean who knows again Steph Curry definitely don't want to put any limitations on him but somebody that I could see him probably hanging it up around 38 years old so I don't know we will have to see but let me know what your thoughts are in the comment section what your initial reactions were because this was a bit of a surprise news story that broke again just an hour or so ago but we are now going to be moving on here and diving into the New England Patriots officially naming a starting quarterback in jacobe brassette so we'll talk about what that sort of means in the short term as well as balancing that with the long-term outlook for New England as they had just drafted Drake May third overall we'll talk about sort of what factors led into this decision and its impact but before we do so got we have to take a quick break do not go anywhere we will be right [Music] backbody in the world Lord me [Music] a everybody world please Lord give me a I want to be the greatest everybody on the f I look around I feel like everybody is the fakest I'm make this every day and I'm intient hoping one day I blow up in the basement St the top is so vacant I don't need [ __ ] that I think is amazing waiting for my day when I'm playing sold down shows are a thousand faces hey give me that Crown getting my way you'll be put down it ain't your place all this my town if I want that [ __ ] then I'll get it right now I'm losing it the new fit some loose [ __ ] a stupid me you choose to live or choose to dip you choose to fight or lose your grip and lose a gift oh I feel like I'm Los my everybody in the world Lord give me I feel like I'm welcome back into the gsmc sports podcast as we are now going to dive into the news that was announced yesterday that the New England Patriots are naming quarterback jacobe brassette as their starter for week one the Patriots it seemed like this was always sort of going to be the case of brassette being the starter to open the season but head coach Gerard Mayo talked about how it was a competition and right around that same time is when we saw Drake May really start to emerge and flash his potential it was around that Philadelphia game after a pretty disastrous practice midweek against the Eagles from that point on it really seems like the reporting has shifted that Drake May has looked like the better quarterback at as of the last few weeks which is why this became a little bit more of a quarterback controversy than initially anticipated especially because of the fact that jacobe brassette on the other side hasn't not looked good and we've talked about we T looked at the statistics from the first three games combined of the preseason ultimately it was a it frankly it was a poor showing for Jacobi brassett and ultimately not all that promising in terms of he won the starting job for himself I think it was more so about the fact that where the Patriots are currently at the job was anticipated to be brassett and Drake may just made it closer than it was initially thought out to be but I do even though I think that Drake May has a chance to be a better quarterback than jacobe brassette this upcoming season and specifically could be better tailored to handle the overall situation with the Patriots this season isn't about wins and losses it's about what may looks like long term and like I mentioned I think May might be better suited to help the Patriots offense stay competitive this year because of the fact that he has athletic ability which is good because whoever is playing quarterback for the Patriots is probably going to have to be running for their lives a little bit with how bad their offensive line play is starts on the offensive line I really think that that's the main thing it doesn't help that the receiving core is also pretty subp Park Kendrick Bourne their number one wide receiver is starting the season on the physically unable to perform list so he won't even be available until at least week five when the team will face off against the Dolphins so there those first four games at Cincinnati verse Seattle at New York Jets and at San Francisco that is a very tough stretch to begin the season the Patriots as a whole have one of the most difficult schedules in the NFL this upcoming season they are I can double check check here according to Sharp football analysis they have the second hardest in the league only behind the Pittsburgh Steelers so the Patriots and on that same note the Patriots over under wind line is at 4 and a half so again sort of reiterating the idea that this season isn't about winning for the Patriots but what can go wrong for New England is if they throw Drake May in there too early and may was already seen as more of a raw Prospect coming into the NFL that this idea that mechanically he could be screwed up by facing tons of pressure taking tons of hits and also runs the risk a little bit of getting injured I don't think that the idea is to be quite as worried about injuries obviously yes they're always concerning but at the same time I think it's more about the performance itself people still generally speaking think that Anthony Richardson had a promising rookie season despite playing in just four games because when he played he flashed and obviously it's it's very unfortunate that injuries occur like that but ultimately you know the grade can still be positive even if you are dealing with injuries that's obviously not what you're hoping for if you're throwing out your Young quarterback there but injuries are also just part of the game so it's less so about the physical standpoint like that to me more so than it is we just saw ma Jones deteriorate for year after year after a very promising rookie season in 2021 things just only got worse is the offensive line got worse the receivers were unreliable and by the end of it he was seeing ghosts and I just feel like at the end of the day the Patriots have to be so conservative with how they go about this now you can't coach scare that's one of the number one rules in the NFL that it's not that you're coaching out of fear it's more so just thinking about the idea you know risk to benefit ratio here there's a good chance you can do more harm to the Patriots by throwing May in there a little bit prematurely rather than even if you end up waiting a handful of weeks we've talked about this in the past and sort of tried to evaluate when it is that we could see Drake may I mean Jacobi brassette was just knocked out of the game against Washington on Sunday night now mayo and brassette both said that if he needed to continue playing that it would have been no problem he could have kept going but preseason they just weren't trying to take any risks that's fine but jacobe brassette got absolutely Bodied because of a botched offensive line play the Patriots offense was facing off against the backup Washington Defenders and at the line of scrimmage they just got absolutely lit up and in Edge rusher just came flying in and ultimately laid the hit stick on jacobe brassette which again he was able to finish out that drive but he did not return because of that shoulder injury and those are the types of hits that you are probably putting any quarterback in if they are playing behind this offensive line and again it's not just the o line I am very down on the overall process there doesn't help that the receiving core is also pretty young and unexperienced as well the fact that taquon thoron is now a starting wide receiver for the Patriots definitely came as a surprise to me given that he hasn't really proven anything in game or in preseason games to earn that spot just yet but like I me mention Kendrick Bourne is going to be out for at least the first four weeks of the season and you're left with a lot of mediocre I like Demario Douglas I like the upside of Jaylen pulk their rookie that they drafted in the second round out of Washington but there's obviously an adjustment period that is necessary there that I don't think you can chalk pen as you know one of their definitive top three receivers at this point and it's just again there's a number of players there Jaylen pulk tawon Thorton as well who was picked in 2022 and Javon Baker another Draft pick from 2024 that maybe you can talk yourself into the long-term upside and that Drake May in these next few seasons will have guys to throw to but it's not like it is a very inspiring group up to this point either so my my entire thought process was that the Patriots just need to sort of begin building what the vision in the future looks like I don't think that that's really been clear these past couple Seasons where it just was seeming to get worse and worse under Bill bich and I think that the coach Bill bich was able to sort of overcome the roster flaws to some degree 2023 was a bit disastrous but even then they won some games that they probably shouldn't have and going you know going back it's just every the draft the drafting has been abysmal belich didn't seem like he was doing a very good job now M Jones may have never been the guy anyways but he did M Jones zero favors himself in terms of being able to instill confidence and put comp and put competent Talent around him either to the point where it was always sort of bound to flame out for both Mack and Bill bellich and now they're headed into this new era with gerro mayo I don't think that Mayo has done a great job navigating the media up to this point um I was talking to my cousin actually who is another Patriots fan and he made an interesting point about how Gerard Mayo played under Bill bich when he was a player coached under Bill bich when he became sort of a figurehead of the defense even prior to being the def defense coordinator which was his promotion in 2023 so he played under him coached under him bich obviously notorious for not speaking to the media whatsoever giving them nothing and I there's a chance that Mayo's just never really seen you know what an actual coaching staff that speaks to the media looks like so I feel like he was a little bit in over his head espe spefic specifically referring to this whole quarterback debate and competition as to you know ultimately what he was saying to the media how him and his offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt didn't necessarily seem to be on the same page with some of the things that they said that Mayo was contradicting himself he was contradicting Van Pelt that it was a little bit messy but ultimately I do believe that they got to the right point of starting jacobe brassette at the beginning of the Season he has started I can double check here but I believe it's over 70 games that he started so it's not like you're throwing somebody in there who's just been I mean jacobe brasset to some degree has been a backup over the past few seasons but um I was so he's played in over 70 games 48 career starts so big big difference there but I mean even still I think that we saw in 2022 where he was able to at least be a passable option for the Cleveland Browns while deshun Watson was serving his suspension last season towards the end of the year kind of seemed like the commanders prefer jacobe brassett and the stability and lack of recklessness I suppose in comparison to Sam Howell who definitely was a little bit of a wild card that they were more comfortable able having brasset in to just provide some more stability three touchdowns zero interceptions again didn't even start any of those games just came in as a relief guy for Sam Howell in those instances but brassette he has not looked great in preseason but I think that ultimately once they get in the full groove of things once he starts to get more than two drives on any given game maybe he can start to iron out some of those issues get his feet let again and this is not going to be a good Patriots offense but I am optimistic about what their defense can provide in terms of yes you lose Matthew judon who was one of your Premier players on that side of the ball but I still don't think it's a bad defensive core as a whole and gerod Mayo his entire background is defense and again it's Bill bellich defense so not that he's going to be bill bellich as a defensive strategist but he I'm sure has learned so much from belich over the past decade or so plus that he has been not just a coach but also a player under his staff Mayo can uh double check here but he was drafted in 2008 to the Patriots one Defensive Rookie of the Year and was with New England his entire career so I think he should be familiar with sort of what a functional offense looks like and I think he'll be able to come through and deliver a good enough defense it's just a matter of can that offense even be passable any form of reliable that's going to be the case jacobe brasset has more experience and again I'm just okay with the idea of easing Drake May into this entire experiment because the Pats have a lot of holes to fill over the coming Seasons but let me know whether or not you think the Patriots got it right in the comment section and why but we are now going to be moving on here as we close out our previews for all 32 NFL teams today we have our last team of the NFC West and of the NFL as a whole and we are going to be diving into the upcoming season for the Seattle Seahawks who just are headed into new era is maybe a little bit dramatic but I mean Pete Carroll also like that was an ERA for the Seahawks box and now that he's out of town they bring in one of the great young defensive Minds in Mike McDonald to take over the franchise and try and help build up a little bit more of maybe a tough-nosed program so we're going to talk about whether or not they have what it takes this season to make it back to the playoffs after falling just short in 2023 so we'll dive into that and more but first a quick break do not go anywhere we will be right back looking for your daily fix of sports talk without having to pay for it gsmc Sports network is available on YouTube just search gsmc sports network get your fix of daily Sports talk shows on YouTube absolutely free 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into this new direction under firsttime head coach Mike McDonald and McDonald has been one of the great young defensive Minds in the NFL coming from Baltimore and was able to lead the Ravens to being number one or number two uh I can double check that in scor defense in 2023 and the hope is that he can sort of add some new life and rejuvenate a little bit this Seattle Seahawks franchise that has been good and in the mix these past few years but really hasn't seen a championship competitive year in or team in years now at this point so interesting to note we talked about this with Dave Canales and the Carolina Panthers both he and McDonald were the two coaches this off seon to get six-year deals which is pretty uncommon especially when you're talking about firsttime head coaches to give them that much time on the contract which typically indicates that the franchise might see themselves as a little bit far away and they are giving their new head coach a bit of a leash to be able to experiment maybe you know work out the finer details before having a true Championship competitive team but I do think that Mike McDonald can also provide a spark to really help a defense that has not been great these past couple years but first we're going to start on the offensive side of the ball where ultimately pretty mediocre season in 2023 Gino Smith was the comeback Player of the Year in 2022 and he was a legendary story at the time and yet in 2023 some of his flaws sort of became a bit more prominent and I don't know quite how confident I am in the overall Outlook of Gino Smith at this point somebody that just from a storyline perspective I'm definitely rooting for I just I don't know how much confidence I currently have in him he can definitely lose you games as a quarterback and I'm not sure if on the other side of the ball he has the ability to heighten your overall team's floor to the next level and uh we have a comment here from Christopher Shepard do you think that Jackson Smith and jiga will have an increased Target share in this offense I do really hope so because jsn was one of my favorite players to watch at the college level during the 2022 season and I thought it was a very interesting fit for ja Jackson Smith and jiga going to Seattle where DK metf and Tyler Lockett sort already take up so much of the target share that it's even this season I think it could be tough to see him fully emerge now that being said they were using him a little bit more down the second half of the season and I feel like there's also very much a real chance that McDonald could try and prioritize some of their younger players a little bit more and you know the players that are going to fit more so into his personal timeline ultimately Seahawks are coaching to win right now of course that's what every team in the NFL does but I do think that there's probably something to especially if this season does go off the rails a little bit and they find themselves behind the sticks that Mike McDonald could sort of Pi it and try and prioritize some of their younger players they br they bring in Ryan grub as their offensive coordinator and truthfully I don't know too much about his overall style but grub was once described as a genius at the University of Washington for having a high-powered offense and now at this point it's going to take the sort of the next step for both grub and players such as Jack Jackson Smith and jiga to really break out at the next level and again ultimately to answer your question I wouldn't be banking on him being a really all too close to 100 targets in the season but he's a player that I think has a ton of potential and I do buy into him having an impact on this Seahawks team one way or another But ultimately this is an offense that has been really struggling in the Run game these past couple Seasons I think that losing Damen Lewis their offensive guard from last season he ends up signing with Carolina Seahawks were just not going to be able to match the contract that Carolina handed out there that hurts to some degree overall it's a fine offensive line but I think that the backfield in Seattle is very talented between Kenneth Walker and Zack shanet is a name that I think more people need to be aware of because shanet especially when Walker was hurt last year I thought sort of flashed some big positives for them and ultimately I could see this being a team that especially under McDonald he's defensive so you know not quite as much influence on the offense but as a defensive guy I feel like his mindset is going to be that they have to get tougher at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and that's something that I feel like the Seahawks are probably going to set out to do more so following this season I mean ultimately they have some fine players they bring in lak and Tomlinson and Nick Harris in free agency to try and Shore up that offensive line a little bit more Charles cross seems to have been a really nice draft pick for them they took him ninth overall in 2022 that he's shown a ton of promise and can probably be their Blindside tackle for the next handful of years but even more so than that just in general here I'm looking at can the Seahawks make strides in the running game because I don't know if leaning on Gino Smith is much of a recipe for success in 2024 defensively like I mentioned this is really what I think that Mike McDonald was brought in for because this is a Seahawks defense that has been bottom of the barrel these past couple seasons and I think that ultimately that's kind of where Pete Carroll lost his footing a little bit in terms of standings with this organization that just didn't seem it was a pretty soft defense to some degree and last year they were definitely underperforming now some of that has to do with personnel as well for our video viewers here the two players you'll see on the screen is reek Woolen and Devin Witherspoon two very promising young cornerbacks reek Woolen was supposed to be you know rivaling to some degree and I'm not making this up real conversations during 2022 reek Willen really wasn't far off from the overall level of production relative to S Gardner and I think that a step back last year definitely becomes disappointing but somebody that's still just 25 years old definitely has some potential there I love Devin with spoon just a Do-it all guy playing at the nickel back I almost like him at the nickel more for the sole purpose that he can be a little bit closer to the line of scrimmage to the quarterback that he just provides a threat in the run and pass game but overall I mean the Seahawks defense they made they made some moves this offseason to shake things up a little bit they addressed the front seven they added the likes of Jonathan henkins on that front line they also drafted Byron Murphy in the first round two players that they're hoping can you know start to take on especially Byron Murphy as he comes along can take on a big role for them decided to resign Leonard Williams this off season interesting that they actually they made the deal last year I believe they traded a second or a third round pick for Leonard Williams didn't sign him right away waited until after the season which can be a risky move but ultimately liked what they saw out of him think that he can be a leader in the locker room and a pivotal part of their defense these next few years so a little bit on the older side but I think that it's a promising sign that they were willing to you know reup with him there reworked linebacker core and to some degree secondary as well they we see Bobby Wagner and Jordan Brooks see their way out of Seattle and they choose to replace them with Tyrell Dodson and Jerome Baker where ultimately not an extremely promising linebacking core to be honest I do like Dodson from what I saw from him with Buffalo I think it's I don't think it's that strong now that being said Bobby Wagner at this point is more name recognition than actual production and I know he gets the tackles but it goes a little bit beyond that as well that I like them getting probably a little bit more athletic in that front seven but I still don't know I mean last year they were 30 first in Rush defense in terms of yards allowed per game that I do think they'll take a step forward this upcoming season but I don't know by how much quite yet in the secondary like I mentioned a little bit of changes made as well where they decided to release their starting safeties quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams Julian love has been a very nice pickup for them where brought him in for his first season last year and ended up making the Pro Bowl for whatever that's worth and then they also added ran Jenkins a safety that was previously with the Jacksonville Jaguars to try and help that back end yet their Corners are very young between reek Willen Devon Witherspoon and Trey brown but overall a core that I do think is very intriguing and has some upside also before we move off the defense as well I do want to give a little bit of a highlight here to boy maof who I think could definitely be due for a breakout season especially that I'm not too sold on these linebackers that I think boy MAF has continued to improve as a pass rusher these past couple years definitely some things that he needs to iron out but MAF is somebody that I think we could definitely see Mike McDonald get the most out of and you know up and down this defense do I think they're the most talented defense right now absolutely not but some intriguing young pieces that I think that Mike McDonald's is going to try and make the most of looking at the upcoming season for the Seahawks they're very middle of the pack in terms of strength of schedule according to Sharp football analysis they are 15th so again very much in the middle there a manageable schedule but not one that it feels like they should be able to have a stretch where where they can rattle off a handful of Wis ultimately the way that I'm looking at this I think they're going to be hovering around 500 for a lot of the year Seattle is a very nice home field advantage and I think that again Mike McDonald is going to inspire this defense and this team as a whole to be more physical and try and take it to opposing teams that I think that's an energy the city can really rally upon but I have a hard time again with Gino Smith as as much as I'm rooting for him I don't see him as somebody who can have sustained success especially if the Run game does not take the step forward that I'm hoping for from them again think it's possible there with a talented backfield but questions about the offensive line for sure have me hesitant to commit to that the take that they will definitively be getting better and that sort of leads me to I think they're going to be one of those teams in the mix once again but are going to fall short I have them with an 8-9 record in Mike McDonald's first season which ultimately not not a bad record they're going to be in it sort of again I think this is more so about just establishing what the culture is going to look like under McDonald they have a long ways to go in terms of filling up some of those holes the offensive line some some parts of their front seven maybe a little bit on the back end with the safeties but eight and nine I don't think if you're a Seahawks fan you should be mad at that type of season obviously based off of you know them being a prominent franchise in the the 2010s you are expecting championships but it's going to take a little bit of a moment for retool it's not a rebuild that being said long term I'm not sure what they're going to do at that quarterback position they did trade for Sam Howell for whatever it's worth where Sam Howell is somebody that I understand all the dangers that come with him but not somebody I can entirely quit on either so we'll see I kind of thought they were going to move off of Gino Smith this upcoming season but they choose not to and ultimately I think they're going to be a little bit of a middling team but looking at them in comparison to the remainder of the NFC West for my predictions I think that they are going to be neck and neck the Cardinals talked about this earlier in the week I think they're going to be a surprise team this year an eight and nine could even be low for them I could see the Cardinals making the playoffs I could also see the Seahawks making the playoffs a lot of people are very high on Seattle their over underline according to Sharp football analysis is 7even and a half so I do have them going over but again I think real limitations at some key positions are ultimately what's going to be what holds them back from making the playoffs but let me know what your thoughts are in the comments section we are now now going to be moving on here and we will be discussing the upcoming week in college football as we break down some of the key matchups that start tonight and carry through the weekend we H should have a very good week of action in college football so we will be diving into all of that but first we're going to be taking a quick break do not go anywhere we will be right back for the best and latest podcasts available anywhere go to the podcast app on your cell phone and type in gsmc to access free content-rich podcasts on health and wellness book reviews Sports entertainment relationships social media movies technology finance and even weird news subscribe and download the gsmc podcast Network's family of shows available everywhere podcasts are [Music] found welcome back into the gsmc sports podcast as we are now going to be looking at the upcoming slate this week in college football week one is upon us the games kick off tonight so a whole lot of things to dive into I want to start off by just a pretty quick quick overview of tonight's games it's not the most impressive slate necessarily but should be interesting to sort of key on on a couple things we're we got a few ranked teams tonight that will be playing so you can keep an eye out for couple bigname programs at least number 11 Missouri number 12 Utah number 22 Kansas and number 24 NC State none of the games should be all that competitive but I am definitely curious to see what Utah looks like considering the fact that I think that they have an excellent chance to win the Big 12 this year in large part predicated on the play of quarterback cam Rising headed into his seventh season of college football very anticipated missing all of last season the hope is that he can bounce back and you know we've seen different iterations of this Utah team throughout cam risings experience at Utah a lot of turnover from last year losing some key leaders especially on the defensive side of the ball but Utah always a physical group and they are going to be definitely at the top of my watch list for teams in general this upcoming season but again I don't know how much stock you can take out of any one of those games in particular there are a couple very intriguing matchups though Colorado makes their season debut tonight against against North Dakota state where I believe this is the most bet game of the night and Colorado they are 10 and a half Point favorites at home against North Dakota State sure North Dakota state is an FCS team but they are one of the best programs just with how they are run relative to their POs to their competition of course but North Dakota state is no joke in terms of you're going to play any sort of FCS team this is the one in North Dakota state that could be a real test and it becomes an even more interesting matchup given that Colorado has just had so much noise surrounding them these past two seasons and this is a situation where last year a little bit of a hotter start winning their first two games TCU obviously didn't end up turning out to be the team that people were anticipating so that ranked win doesn't really mean all that much and things turned South for Colorado pretty quickly down the stretch of the season they have to get out out on a right start in this game and this is one that sure there's all the nerves and anticipation just from the idea of your playing football again but this isn't a game that Colorado can just sort of sit back and expect a win because North Dakota state is going to be pretty good I believe along the trenches that's an area that Colorado really struggled with last year specifically on the offensive side of the ball that their line just got pushed around and I think on the flip side I feel like you can run on this Colorado team and North Dakota State they got some big guys on that offensive line so you know they've been a juggernaut at the FCS level not not a perfect transition obviously to FBS but a game that is going to definitely be a big one for the overall Outlook of Colorado especially with the noise that has been taking place there and then a couple other games that I am curious in tonight terms of finding a competitive power four matchup in this week's slate for tonight UNC versus Minnesota has a chance to be a really good game believe uh UNC is a two-point favorite in this game I'll double check here on the fly but obviously you know not the UN program that we're used to where it seems like they've had a number of different quarterback prospects these past handful of years from trabis to Howell to Drake May that it's not a program in the same standing but both UNCC and Minnesota could be in the middle of their respective conferences and I think it should be just a good little teaser for us of what this season has to come I think that's going to be an excellent game and then also I want to shout out to Tommy breaze of the gsmc college football podcast where he has expressed some optimism in Rutgers I've been hearing a little bit of Buzz as well for Rutgers so that's going to be a team that I'm going to keep my eye on as well playing Howard I don't know how much you're going to be able to get out of them necessarily for this game in particular but should be an exciting night of college football even if we don't have necessarily all of these big time heavy hitter highlighters Friday night's even a little bit worse than that get to see Oklahoma play so that'll be cool they come into the season rank number 16 but ultimately you know Friday night not going to be all that enticing to me but then comes Saturday and we have a few really good games starting at the noon window Clemson versus Georgia two teams that have honestly a little bit more similarities than people really give them credit for these have been two of the Premiere programs over the past decade or so and especially during this whole nil era and the transfers and everything neither one of them are extremely active in that front both priority both Dabo Sweeney and Kirby Smart prioritize High School recruiting and development from within the difference is that Georgia does sort of plug those other holes with transfers Clems in the only non-service based College in the FBS to have zero transfers on their roster so or at least zero zero transfers starting um that is a a very interesting strategy of course at this point in the college football you know nil era but also this this isn't the game obviously where you know it's make or break for Clemson I would argue at least especially considering the fact fact that Florida State just lost last week that the ACC does feel like it's pretty up for grabs losing in Georgia I'm not going to you know dump all over Clemson if they end up losing this game I think it's you know this isn't the game where they really need to establish themselves but it would be a great time for dabos Sweeney to sort of remind everyone that there is a reason why he was one of the prominent coaches in college football and also I think it would be a great opportunity for Cade Club Nick their quarterback if they if he is ever going to take that next step would be interesting there very quickly on the other side of the ball one of the key matchups is the fact that Clemson's defense blitzed the second most in the country last year on opposing quarterbacks dropbacks so you know they're probably going to be trying to bring the heat Carson Beck this is according to ESPN's Greg mmore or M Roy sorry um that Carson Beck was one of three quarterbacks in 2023 to have an average release time of less than 2.4 seconds so this is a defense that likes to bring the Heat this is a quarterback that likes to get the ball out quick how will that Dynamic play out something that I am very curious in at that same noon window we have number eight Penn State at West Virginia this is a little bit of a must-win game in week one for Penn State given the fact that people are sort of waiting for Penn State I feel like this is at least the general perception here that if you're not a Penn State fan a lot of people are just sort of waiting for Penn State to be exposed that they have that number eight next to their name they've been one of the better one of the better programs in the country these past few years years but the lack of ability to win the big games is really what is held against James Franklin and by the big games I of course mean Michigan and Ohio State this is a game going to West Virginia in morgant town not an easy place to play West Virginia has a lot of starters returning especially on the offensive side of the ball that they're going to have some continuity the big thing with Penn State their defense needs to be able to continue to produce for them that's that's really been their calling card they've been an excellent defense can the offense ever be unlocked here can Drew Aller be the quarterback coming out of high school that had five stars and was anticipated to potentially be a guy that could make the jump to the NFL instead last year we saw Michigan run the ball 30 or so straight times against them and end up winning the game because Penn State's offense was just unable to get anything done against Michigan's defense that that's going to be a very big point for Penn State this offense this season is can their offense sort of emerge couple other good games we only have so much time here so we can only hit on so much but Miami at Florida definitely a good game Miami was my pick headed into the season to win the ACC couple fun new toys for them on the offensive side of the ball where they should be able to you know really take a step up and hopefully for the sake of Miami stop turning the ball over so dang much but you know that Interstate rivalry going to be taking place that should be very interesting now I'm more so looking at the night cap here where one of the big games maybe the biggest game of the weekend is number seven Notre Dame at number 20 Texas A&M we've talked about this before there's positives and benefits to the fact that Notre Dame doesn't have any incredibly difficult schedule but one of the negatives is that it could be really hard for Notre Dame to make it into the playoffs if they have multiple losses and not many signature wins this feels like a game for Notre Dame that they sort of have to win at College Station against Texas A&M the pressure is 100% going to be on here Texas A&M is favored so it's not like the sky is falling if Notre Dame can't pull home this win but with you know everything being considered here Notre Dame they're going to have limited opportunities I feel like to really prove themselves to the country that they deserve in the playoffs and this is one of those games even if they lose cannot get pushed around by Texas A&M and a lot of people are thinking obviously that that is the way that this will play out I think the Notre Dame's defense deserves a little bit more credit than that than they are going to be able to stand up but um it's going to be very interesting to see how this all plays out and then finally last game we want to highlight here is number 23 USC at number 13 LSU two programs and two coaches that are facing a lot of pressure with Lincoln Riley at USC and Brian Kelly at LSU both sort of heading into little little bit new forms of themselves heis they have hosted each of the past two Heisman W winners of Caleb Williams in 20122 and Jaden Daniels in 2023 I think that the succession plan for LSU feels a little bit better to me where they have I would argue a little bit more of a better backup plan and Garrett nus who could be somebody that we're maybe talking about in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft but they still have a number of weapons especially receivers the question for them is defense which also happens to be the question at USC so we don't give out gambling advice here all that much we'll we'll look at lines and such but I am most certainly not a professional gambler but this this line between these two programs on Sunday night gonna double check here uh for the over underline but could definitely be a high-scoring game line is 64 and a half points so take with that what you will two two teams that defense has been the cryp the night to some degree as of these past couple Seasons both teams looking to have a little bit more of an identity and it's gonna be a really interesting match up that game taking place Sunday night that is also one of the main Headliners but let me know what games you guys are looking forward to what your picks are for these headliner matchups but we are now going to be taking our final break of the show and when we come back on the other side we're going to circle back around to the NBA started the show with Steph Curry news but ultimately speaking here I think we're headed into a long stretch where we're not going to be talk Talking much basketball at all so that being said I want to give a way too early NBA awards prediction here on each of the main player awards that are handed out so we will be diving into that but first a quick break do not go anywhere we will be right back [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome back into the gsmc sports podcast as we head into our final segment of the day where I'm going to be handing out way too early NBA award predictions we're about to head into the heart of football season and it's probably going to be unless something drastic happens probably going to be a while since we really started talking NBA once again this past weekend I was with one of my friends who doesn't really watch football quite as much he asked me who I had for MVP my response to him was I have no idea I haven't been paying attention so I looked into it a little bit deeper and I have my picks for each of the main player awards for this upcoming season again way too early to be doing this but thought it would be a fun little activity here so we're going to be starting out with rookie of the year which obviously coming off of what was deemed as one of the worst rookie classes in some time I do think that there is a pretty good amount of potential with a couple of these players in particular not potential in the Superstar light but potential in terms of these could be real rotation players early on in their careers so looking across the board here Zack is the favorite headed into the season at plus 600 the fact that there really aren't all that many centers that are going to be taking up playing time from Edy in Memphis definitely opens the door from him number two in odds is Reed Shephard of the Houston Rockets he is plus 700 and Zachary reash the number one overall pick at plus 750 Alexander SAR by the way number two overall ction he comes in right behind there at plus 900 and ultimately again way too early here thinking about fits and everything I worry a little bit about my pick here because of the amount of touches that he may be able to receive this upcoming season in an offense with a lot of different prominent players I do have Reed Shepard winning the Rookie of the Year again I understand Jaylen green Fred Van vet there's a lot of players that already do a lot with the ball in their hands but that's why I think Reed Shepard is going to be able to make a name for himself this year because he's somebody that I view as a player who can create for himself with the ball or he can create without the ball and mainly by that it's just finding open space and being one of the best three-point Shooters in college basketball that I expect is going to translate into the NBA we we saw how skilled he was during the summer league when he actually had more opportunities to play a little bit more lead ball handler I think it's going to be limited but I also feel like coming off of the bench probably to start the season at least he is going to have opportunities to show out for himself while also being flexible enough to potentially take up some minutes with the star as well so Reed Shepard is my pick here somebody else I definitely gave consideration to as well uh Stefan Castle plus 1,000 odds with the San Antonio Spurs I think that he especially with this Spurs team that doesn't have all too many ball handlers Stefon Castle he's still hoping to develop as a point guard but he's going to have opportunities all eyes are going to be on the Spurs to look at how they're able to build around Victor wanyama I think Castle will have some choices and then another long shot as well modus buellis on a Bulls team that is rebuilding I think he's going to get a chance to flash some of his potential as well now looking at Defensive Player of the Year top three in odds we can talk about we don't I don't think we're g to have to talk about this one all too long Rudy goar is on this list again as a top three in odds but he is plus 1100 to win the award bamama bio plus 12200 Victor wanyama is a minus 18 180 favorite in August for defensive player of the year that is kind of insanity considering there are so many things that could change the Spurs also last year pretty much the main reason other then yeah a little bit of a slow start for wanyama as well but one of the biggest Knocks against wanyama in terms of being defensive player of the year is that Spurs weren't that good defensively so I don't know I do expect them to take a step forward this season especially when you talk about we just mentioned Stefan castle that's really where he brings a lot of his value is being an extremely hard worker on the defensive end I think having Chris Paul there as well not that he's known as a Defender but this idea of building up a little bit more team chemistry and cohesion I think it's going to be ultimately Victor wanyama hard to pit against him but that being said I think that you know there's some great value you never want to speculate on injuries but I'm just saying for anybody other than Victor wanyama being over plus 1100 odds that's pretty tempting to me but again not not an expert Gambler here so I'm not going to tell you to do anything looking at most improved player here's what want to say about this award is the fact that the top three odds are Victor wanyama Evan Mobley and Jonathan Kena now kamenga I think it's fair for him to be in this but wemi and Evan Mobley being in this just sort of plays into the fact that I think we've totally lost the plot with this award wanyama and Evan Mobley are already established players in the NBA Jonathan kaminga maybe not quite on that same level but if we're talking about last year headed into you know we're talking about two seasons ago heading into last year Jonathan Kingo was greatly improved then I think it would take a very substantial jump this year to have him win it this season I just don't like the way that we've been trending here I think that last year was sort of Bogus the way that Kobe white didn't end up winning there because of be because of whatever reason I don't even really understand what the purpose of handing out the most improved player award to somebody that is already you know a a very good player what the point of that is and Tyrese Maxi ends up winning it I mean we already knew he was really good so I just don't like where the most improved player award is headed and that's why a little bit to spite them but also because this is how I think the award should come to play Jaylen Johnson is my pick and according to DraftKings Jaylen Johnson is plus 2200 he is eighth on the odds list I think Jaylen Johnson already improved a lot last season but injuries didn't even make him eligible for this award this season I think there's going to be more opportunities in Atlanta with de jonte Murray out of the door Trey M Trey young could definitely just sort of take over and have it be the Trey show would not be surprised whatsoever but I think Jaylen Johnson's going to get his chance the Hawks aren't going to be a great team and he's going to take a big jump in scoring as long as he's fully healthy so that's my pick for most improved player is Jaylen Johnson Sixth Man of the Year um looking across the board here again a POS a I think that another this was another pick last year that I think was robbed a little bit Nas Reed was able to steal it from leik monk because of the fact that monk ended up getting hurt down the stretch of the season but Nas Reed on the other hand ended up getting a bigger role because of the fact that Carl Anthony towns was hurt and that is ultimately where he was able to steal the show there Malik monk is the favorite for this award and that's where I'm going in this direction I think that he has an elite ability now to be the still the athletic good shooting player that can be a little bit more of a role player when he needs to but that being said that's more so when he's playing with the starters coming off the bench he is greatly improv ball handling and playmaking to the point where again I think he was robbed a little bit last season I love me some Naas Reed as well so it's not like I'm offended or anything by that pick but I think this is the time for Malik monk to take advantage one other long shot though that I would also keep in the back of my mind is Dante div chenzo at plus 1200 with a little bit of Nick's media bias I think that he is going to have being more you know and with the addition of male Bridges as well more definitively off of the bench having his role in particular I think he could shine there so I do have Malik monk Dante Devon chenzo at plus 1200 is a little bit interesting and then finally Most Valuable Player look at the top three guys in odds you're looking at the top three finalists for last season jic plus 350 as the favorite Luca donic plus 370 and sheay gilis Alexander plus 600 all of them obviously are going to probably be all NBA first team players once again and I think that they are all very interesting across the board I am going to say this though I feel like joic at this point the voters fatigue is really going to catch up to him three MVPs in four years I hate the idea of Voters fatigue but it's also kind of the way it goes the Nuggets I think could struggle at times during the regular season when it comes to the playoffs there's nobody I'm taking over yic but I could see them dropping in the standings slightly to the point where it opens up the door for somebody else the Mavs and Luca I think that the Mavs are going to struggle a little bit more in the regular season people are anticipating they were on a heater from the trade deadline on last year and through the playoffs a bit of a surprise run there everybody was talking about them as a dark horse to be fair but that being said the Mavericks are a very fun team I don't see them being a top three regular season team in the west this year and I I just never really took them all that serious as a threat to the Celtics now maybe that's more so about the Celtics being as good as they were but I think the Mavericks got a a bit of an excessive amount of love in terms of how good of a team they actually are they're very fun I'm definitely going to be tuning into their games and they're going to probably be you know one of the top teams in the Western Conference but I don't and Luca's stats are always obviously going to be good enough to have him in consideration I think that Luca is a pretty good option here team success though is where I think he's going to get dinged sheay gilis Alexander also another great candidate for this award nuggets or the Thunder were the one seed last season they have a chance to you know pull off a similar type of Team success season but I'm actually going outside of the top three we know this award is about narratives and I think sort of everybody has decided to write off the Milwaukee Bucks and this is where I think Giannis is Gonna Come Back with a full season second year with Damen Lillard Doc Rivers from the jump as the as the head coach Doc Rivers every time he talks to the media especially when I've listened to him on the Bill Simmons podcast he can't stop raving about giannis's playmaking as well and I think he's going to have even more so of an enhanced role this upcoming season I think that they were really struggling to figure out the jelling between Damen Lillard and Giannis an DMO that this year they are going to sort of lean more so into Giannis and have Dame still take over individual moments but not try and play through him quite as much as they did last year Giannis I think is going to have an excellent opportunity this upcoming season again everybody's off the Bucks I think they have a real chance to be a top two seed in the Eastern Conference and ultimately that's where my pick is at Plus 650 some other candidates here you have embid at plus 600 Anthony Edwards at plus 1200 is a little bit interesting and Jason Tatum especially considering how much slander and all of the messiness of this off season against Jason Tatum that he's going to be fired up I just ultimately think the Celtics have too much talent and that he's not going to be able to have the counting stats to make it work there but ianis here let me know what your thoughts are on these picks again I understand way too early for these but just a little bit of a fun exercise to run through but that is all the time we have for today thank you very much for tuning in to the gsmc sports podcast thank you to the gsmc sports network for allowing us to host this show remember to like follow subscribe wherever you keep up with us be sure to check us out on social media as well for more exclusive short content and we will be back tomorrow afternoon same time as always at 2:00 p.m. Eastern enjoy your foot your college football tonight and we will see you then take care let's go I wake up to a little bit of Drool on my pill feel like it's going to be a bad day I'm tired of [ __ ] and the coffee ain't hit yet damn ain't that great