Best of The Herd

It’s a Tuesday in Chicago and, wild as it sounds, the Raiders look buttoned‑up at last: this league lets you flip the switch fast, and they’re following the blueprint with culture guys, a top center in Tyler Linderbaum, depth adds, and the Crosby haul that leaves them holding the Mendoza pick up top and another at fourteen.

Get a sharp play caller, anchor the line, add real targets, and suddenly Mendoza doesn’t feel like a cautionary tale but a plan that can work.

I’m also in on Miami spending twenty‑two million on Malik Willis because the coach and GM saw him up close in Green Bay; he’s athletic, accurate, durable, and you don’t always need years of tape to spot a quarterback who belongs.

Environment matters; in the right system with real coaching, Malik’s tools turn into weekly problems for defenses.

This market says teams don’t love the incoming class at quarterback, running back, or tight end, which is why the Chiefs bought Kenneth Walker, will hunt right tackle, edge, and corner, and kept Travis Kelsey because he’s still the steady heartbeat.

I feel the shift with teams cutting earlier, but I can’t ride with you on Malik, and I’m not sure record guarantees for a back and another Kelsey run solve a Chiefs roster that looks thin and old in spots.

Fit beats star power in hoops; the Lakers looked fresher and cleaner without LeBron against the Knicks, and a catch‑and‑shoot wing who defends can lift them more than another headliner.

Same idea in Kansas City: leaning on Kelsey papers over wideout misses, but it also shows how boxed in they are until they find true perimeter answers.

Let’s hit a few with Matt Hasselbeck: how much does a veteran center like Linderbaum steady a rookie like Mendoza, was the Ravens’ price for Max Crosby worth it for a team that plays with leads, is Miami’s Malik bet smart, does Mike Evans fit an older Niners core, and would you sit Mendoza a year behind a vet like Flacco?

Centers run protections, set the huddle, and buy a rookie time to think, which is why a leader like Linderbaum is gold, and why a complete edge like Crosby who owns the run and closes late is worth the haul for Baltimore.

Defensive coaches watched Malik daily and love his humility and juice, Evans fits Shanahan’s red‑zone vision while chasing a ring, and there’s nothing wrong with letting Mendoza learn behind a pro for a season — it helped me and plenty of greats.

I love this stuff; Diana Russini and Matt Hasselbeck dropped in as we sort a weird Eagles stretch and a Jets story that maybe does let you come home again.