Overreaction Monday: Rich Talks Skubal, Lions, Dolphis, Bears, Falcons & More

The first weekend of training camp did not produce many huge stories, so Chris led with the one still hanging over everything. Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs are both holding in, and his take was that they should be paid like the top wide receivers in football.

Rich did not need convincing. He has been making this argument for years and said so, calling the topic a piece of red meat thrown to open the segment.

"Why is it the number one running back gets half as much as the number one wide receiver?" Rich asked.

The room pushed back with the standard defenses. Injury risk. Wear and tear. Receivers run crisp routes, and the talent pool at running back runs deeper. Rich rejected the premise on volume and on mechanics.

A receiver needs another human being to decide to throw him the ball. A running back has the guy responsible for handing it to him standing right there, and roughly half the offense is designed to give it to him. On a great day, Rich argued, a top receiver gets targeted five fewer times than a back touches it on a good one. Then, when a team is actually closing out a win, it grinds the clock rather than airing it out.

T.J. offered the one distinction he thought held up. Backs take their hits between the tackles far more often, and that wear and tear is what keeps a long-term deal from ever matching the production.

Rich noted where this all started. The league spent years refusing to pay a position it depends on to win games, to the point that Christian McCaffrey is making about $12 million this year.

Chris moved to the quarterback competitions and argued the Raiders got it right by simply naming Kirk Cousins QB1 and moving on. The Browns and Vikings, he said, should do the same today. Deshaun Watson has more interceptions than practices, Shedeur is clearly the number one in Cleveland, and Chris has yet to see a J.J. McCarthy highlight clip.

Rich called that one an overreaction, and his reasoning was about process rather than depth charts. Both situations have two players with a real claim, and Fernando Mendoza's claim happens to include being the first overall pick and a Heisman Trophy winner.

Naming a starter now only to flip to the other guy later is a bad way to walk into a season. Rich has no problem with Todd Monken or Kevin O'Connell keeping everyone guessing.

Then came the fantasy hype trains, and Chris found the quote of the weekend. Ben Johnson, talking about Luther Burden, reached for two names.

"I've been around guys like Jarvis Landry who's a tremendous competitor, had played with a little chip on his shoulder, was physical in the running game, not afraid of contact," Johnson said. "St. Brown in Detroit, who I have a strong affinity for, he plays the game the same way. I feel that from Luther."

Chris declared that no player enters this season with more hype than Burden. Rich raised him one, predicting that Cole Kmet and Loveland will combine for more touchdowns than Trey McBride, who had 11 last year.

Devon Achane got a vote too. Chris put him top three in rushing yards, and Rich could not call it an overreaction, pointing out that James Cook led the league last year at roughly 1,600, which is not a mind-boggling number.

On Skubal, Chris zagged entirely. Trading him to the Dodgers is good for baseball, he argued, because leagues need villains, and 29 other fan bases now have one to unite against.

Rich could buy it, while circling back to the number that keeps nagging him. For 2026, the Dodgers spent nine million dollars and three prospects that the rest of baseball either refused or declined to give up.

Which left the segment on the only conclusion available. The other owners should stop being so cheap and spend their money.