A little national flair on The Sports Junkies Wednesday morning, as NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico joined the crew to talk about the 149th Kentucky Derby, which will be run on Saturday and will determine who comes into Pimlico Downs later in the month looking for the Triple Crown.
Can Tirico himself ride a horse, though? We got the answer to that, as well as Tirico’s thoughts on covering the Derby, this year’s race, and, of course, a little bit about the Commanders, as Tirico is also the voice of Sunday Night Football on NBC.
So what does he think of Sam Howell?
“I think Sam is a guy they really targeted in the middle of last year as the guy,” Tirico said. “We got the second Giants game flexed last year, and as we were there, we kept hearing from multiple people about him, so I was not surprised to see him play, and play well, against Dallas. I’m not saying he’s Patrick Mahomes, but that was the Mahomes model: sit him until the last week, play him once, and go from there.”
And, Tirico seems to like where the Commanders are going, but it’s all up to Howell, ultimately.
“The receiving corps and running back group is there, and I like what they did in the Draft,” Tirico said, “so overall, I like the approach – but can Sam play at that level? There are not a ton of great QBs in the NFC right now, so why not be in a position right now to see if you have one who could do a really good job – and if you have a guy who can do a really good job, on a rookie contract, you can do well in the NFC.”
Tirico also thinks the ownership change will be a great thing for one of the NFL’s “flagship franchises that has spent two decades in a dark place” – take a listen to it all above!
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