How will Jimmy Garoppolo fit with the Raiders? | You Pod to Win the Game
Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson, Charles McDonald and Frank Schwab discuss the Las Vegas Raiders signing Jimmy Garoppolo and how he will fit with Josh McDaniels and the Raiders.
Video transcript
[AUDIO LOGO]
CHARLES ROBINSON: Jimmy G is going to murder it in Las Vegas off the field. On the field, I think people are asking the wrong question about this. I think the Raiders pick him up, and the first thing you kind of hear that echoed through social media was they just had Derek Carr. Player for player, this seems to be a lesser player.
But I think the question is, who's the better player with Josh McDaniels? That's it. Who is the better quarterback paired with Josh McDaniels.
FRANK SCHWAB: Don't defend your boy here. No, no, no.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I'm just saying I think Josh--
CHARLES MCDONALD: Neither.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Josh knows this guy. I think Josh is just like, all right, this is the commodity I know. This is the offense I run. I know he can run this offense. I know how he fits in it. And I think it's all about fit with Josh, not necessarily whether or not Carr is a better player, which I think Carr is a better player. Flat out, I think Carr is absolutely a better player and by far, leaps and bounds, a more durable player than Jimmy Garoppolo.
So if Jimmy Garoppolo somehow stays healthy-- which he's never done, so that would be miraculous in and of itself-- I think the fit with Josh makes some sense here. I don't know that he's going to be--
FRANK SCHWAB: Stop.
CHARLES ROBINSON: --an all-world player.
FRANK SCHWAB: This is nonsense.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I mean, Frank, it doesn't matter.
FRANK SCHWAB: This is Josh McDaniels.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Frank, Frank--
FRANK SCHWAB: He's doing the same stuff he did 15 years ago when I was covering him.
CHARLES ROBINSON: OK, look, let's just go ahead and let's just say it at the top. No matter what we say about the Raiders and Josh McDaniels, Frank's gonna [BLEEP] on it, OK, because he can't--
FRANK SCHWAB: I should rip this.
CHARLES ROBINSON: --stand McDaniels.
FRANK SCHWAB: He voluntarily downgraded at quarterback--
CHARLES ROBINSON: Never been a--
FRANK SCHWAB: --for one reason. He needed to get a former Patriots player. That's the only thing. If Jimmy Garoppolo had been drafted by the Miami Dolphins, he would not be the Las Vegas Raiders quarterback today. It is insane how all these Patriots assistants have this fetish for former Patriots players. Jimmy Garoppolo knows the Patriot way.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Frank--
FRANK SCHWAB: Who cares?
CHARLES ROBINSON: --he signed him to a bridge deal, OK? So you can't even sit here and be like, he went all in with Jimmy. It doesn't even take them off the board in the first round with the quarterback. He signed a bridge deal with a familiar player. How many times does that happen?
FRANK SCHWAB: I was covering the Broncos when Josh McDaniels looked at Jay Cutler, former top-10 pick who was coming off a Pro Bowl season at age 24, I believe, and said, how can I get Matt Cassel? He knows the Patriots way.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah, because Cutler, man, he really had a lot of success and a lot--
FRANK SCHWAB: At the time, at the moment.
CHARLES ROBINSON: A lot of people--
FRANK SCHWAB: That's how insane--
CHARLES ROBINSON: --really loved him.
FRANK SCHWAB: --Josh was then, OK?
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah, how many--
FRANK SCHWAB: Josh needs--
CHARLES ROBINSON: --opportunities did Cutler get--
FRANK SCHWAB: --a former Patriots player.
CHARLES ROBINSON: --over the course of his career?
FRANK SCHWAB: This is Josh McDaniels--
CHARLES ROBINSON: And he was the same guy.
FRANK SCHWAB: --trading a mid-round pick for Laurence Maroney because he happened to be on the Patriots' roster. He cannot get over this infatuation with guys who know the, quote, unquote, "Patriot way." This is not a good football move. They downgraded at quarterback. They voluntarily downgraded at quarterback.
CHARLES ROBINSON: This is the same guy who, at one point last season when Jimmy G was starting and winning games in San Francisco, he was like, oh, they might be just fine with Jimmy.
FRANK SCHWAB: Because they had a great team around him. The Raiders stink, OK? The Raiders are garbage right now. And bringing in Jimmy Garoppolo because he knows the Patriot way does not help that at all. This is Josh McDaniels showing I have learned nothing from my first mistakes as Broncos head coach. I'm just going to over-rely on Patriots players, like Matt Patricia did, like all these other-- like every other former Patriots assistant.
I thought this was a horrible move for the Raiders. I really do. I just think you got rid of Derek Carr, who's a better quarterback. We've all agreed. I think we'd all agree Derek Carr is better than Jimmy Garoppolo. You were like, I'm getting rid of Derek Carr because I need a former Patriots player.
That's it. That's the only reason that he's there. It makes no sense. I just think this is Josh showing he has learned nothing from his mistakes at all. Nothing.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I can't wait, dude.
CHARLES MCDONALD: It's bad.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I can't--
CHARLES MCDONALD: I think-- well, I think it's bad because it's just you're still not competitive, to me, with this move. Is Jimmy G going to be the guy that goes out and plays hero ball with this Raiders defense? This is about to be the worst defense that Jimmy has ever played with in his entire career. And I know they have some nice weapons on the outside, but--
CHARLES ROBINSON: That's definitely true.
CHARLES MCDONALD: I just don't-- I don't think this is a needle mover for them in a meaningful way. The only plus to me is, well, you're going to look like a football team, at least, on offense. You're not going to be one of these teams that is just clearly just [BLEEP] around for a year and not getting anything done. But you're still pretty far away from Mahomes and I think the Chargers too.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Let me pose this to both of you then. Do you feel differently if the draft comes and they take Richardson with their first-round pick or they take Levis? One of the top four gets to them. They take that guy. And Jimmy G is the bridge quarterback who's not going to bitch and complain about a young guy coming in, who sat through all the Trey Lance shit and didn't say anything, kept his mouth shut, was a good team guy, hung around after they cast him out, came back, signed another deal to stay there, and was reliable for them until he got hurt, of course.
Do you look at this differently if they're sitting there-- and the contract really is what speaks volumes. It's a bridge quarterback deal. And they draft a quarterback in the first round, and Jimmy's the bridge. Jimmy's the guy who lets Richardson have an entire year without having to step on the field and get murdered. He can go ahead and develop properly. Is this different then in your mind?
FRANK SCHWAB: Sure. Yeah, sure. But you can't count on that right now. You don't have a top-four pick. The quarterbacks might go one, two, three, four. I mean, I don't know that it would-- almost like you stumbled into this plan, right? Like, oh, Richardson fell. Sure, let's take him.
I don't think that could be your plan right now because you're not guaranteed one of those guys. Do you think they are? I don't know for sure we can sit here and say what percentage chance the Raiders will have to draft one of those four guys.
CHARLES MCDONALD: Well, no, and I think that's why you have to sign someone like Jimmy G. Because I mean, you got Davante Adams, Hunter Renfrow, Darren Waller for now. It's not like those guys are getting any younger. So I think it's good to have a little just baseline stabilizer at quarterback. But to me, I just look at this and go, eh, it doesn't really matter.
FRANK SCHWAB: You know who you need? When I think about the Raiders, what the perfect quarterback would have been for them, Derek Carr. Derek Carr would have been a pretty good bridge quarterback. But no, he didn't play for the Patriots ever, so he had to hit the bricks.
