Andy & Ari On3 - Why did Shedeur Sanders SLIDE?

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

We’re excited to announce we’ll be hosting Andy & Ari On3 LIVE from the Draft in Green Bay on Thursday, April 24 and Friday, April 25! We’ll be set up right outside the famous Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field at the Culver’s Great Wisconsin Tailgate. Born in Wisconsin, Culver’s is the home of the legendary ButterBurger, Fresh Frozen Custard and Wisconsin Cheese Curds—there’s no better representation of America’s Dairyland than that. We’ll have some very special guests throughout the Draft that you won’t want to miss, so stay tuned for more details and get ready for a weekend of fun, made fresh with our friends at Culver’s: https://go.culvers.com/culvers/sAkHC (0:00-2:18) Intro(2:19-5:53) Recap of the first round(5:54-13:11) Shedeur Sanders discussion(13:12-13:46) Culver’s(13:47-18:24) Anonymous Sources?(18:25-23:49) “Character Issues”(23:50-29:21) SEC & Big Ten Dominance in Draft(29:22-38:28) Culver’s CEO joins(38:29-54:56) Top QBs for next year draft(54:57-55:33) Conclusion Welcome to a very special edition of Andy & Ari On3, LIVE from Green Bay, Wisconsin. As we get started on today's show, we recap the first round of the draft, discuss why Shedeur Sanders didn't get selected, and who the top QBs of next year's draft will be. Later, Julie Fussner, Culver's CEO, joins us to discuss the brand of Culver's and how the phenomenal restaurant intends to expand its footprint in the country. Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey

Welcome to Annie and Ariane 3 from the great Wisconsin tailgate in the shadow of the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field which is getting closer to frozen right now. I can't feel my fingers Lloyd, they're numb. You had an extra pair of gloves this whole time? I'm gonna kill you. It is, it is a little wet and cold in Green Bay, but look it's April in Green Bay What did you expect? You know what I feel like this is kind of tough on us personally but I also feel like I'm a warrior and

Bro, we're like the Postal Service neither rain nor sweet nor dark of night and also too like who comes to Lambeau in the summer? losers like this is Yeah, exactly And how many fans have have been out here in conditions that are way worse than this so I're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here.

This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here.

This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. This is what you're supposed to be here. He brought tears to our eyes talking about grandma's house,

fell out of the family, got bought out from under them. He plans to buy it back with part of his signing bonus. And he becomes the first receiver, picked in the first round by the Packers since 2002, comes out to 125,000 people cheering him. It was a really, really funny moment because Packers fans started cheering before they announced which receiver it was going to be because they were just sarcastically so happy that they finally went out and got a wide out.

But yeah, I mean, he slipped a little bit further than I think a lot of people were, you know, maybe right around where he was supposed to go. But I thought there was some chatter about him going to Dallas at 12. But you know, both guys that to Dallas. Yeah, but you know Both guys that we had on the show I was I was really happy for max because if you watched max he was basically the last guy in the green room and Every time somebody got picked the first thing they showed was them getting hugged by max and it was genuine too. It wasn't like, I mean he was just genuinely happy for his friends and you know I think he knew in the back of his head that his time would come that evening and.

And he gets to go to a really good team. Yeah. So I don't know if you want to talk about this, we have to talk about it for three minutes. Yes. Because it's the story of the draft. Absolutely. Chidor Sanders falling to the second round. We have other rants and things that we want to get off our chests too about stuff. Like for one, we haven't even talked about this yet. I'm just going to

spring it on you. How surprised are you that Colston Loveland went before Tyler Warren? I'm not surprised because there were schools of differing schools of thought of some people wanted Colston Loveland, some people wanted Tyler Warren. Both were viewed as elite tight ends. So it was one of those things where I Don't know that in a draft that was as deep as say last year's with quarterbacks and with some other premium positions That they would have both gone as high as they did But I think I think both of them were viewed kind of in the same vein You know, they are both elite our buddy David Ubbin tweeted this after that pick last night

and I thought it was funny and kind of interesting and true is that like when somebody drafts Tyler or Colston Loveland before Tyler Warren it makes you question how much you actually really know about football because Tyler Warren made you say wow three times a game. Yeah. Like and like we're having it and it's the same deal. Can we talk about how bad Michigan's passing game was last year? Because Colston Loveland might have been capable of saying making you say wow three times a game drew Howard been throwing in the ball That's true. But Colston Loveland was also very productive the year before I'm not saying he's bad Yeah, like I'm not acting like but like it's the same discussion in the Cleveland Browns

Situation for trading out of the two spot, which is the most dramatic move of the night, right? And people are like well the Browns got a bunch of awesome picks because they did they got a haul of picks but it's just like in the NFL there's an absolute need for dynamic play making game-changing talents and like there's a chance that Travis Hunter might be that guy for the next ten years yeah both sides of the ball and said like the Jags put him on the phone with the offensive and defensive coordinator right after they picked him. But in that same vein, doesn't Tyler Warren also like the closest thing to a tight end

to making you say wow as anybody else? Like, I don't know. Ari, you know where I live, right? I do. There was a tight end that made you say wow a lot in college. Has he made you say wow a ton in the NFL and vets it a lot in his rookie cards I'm gonna be a savage is it over for him I don't think so, but we kept blaming Arthur Smith and the offense, but they've got new coaches now

I want to hear a cool story sure it's 30 seconds Kyle Pitts had in his rookie season I've drafted him every year for my fantasy team 30 seconds Kyle Pitts had in his rookie season. I've drafted him every year for my fantasy team League and Kyle Pitts had like an 80 yard touchdown pass that would have been if he would have caught it would have been 80 yard touchdown pass and I would have won my league and like a few grand and hit him in the face mask and he Dropped it and I lost my league because of it and I've like been holding on to that for the last three years and if you Know the play there's a lot of people that that were in that position, but Yeah, I mean, I guess like, if you wanna play that game of like,

it's not a sure thing, he's a tight end, maybe you don't think that way, it's a different position, I could buy that. But like at the same time too, it's like Tyler Warren single-handedly carried Penn State to almost the edge of the entire game. Tyler Warren will play center for you if you ask him to. I mean, it's like,

we were talking about Heisman stuff there. And like, I know that Heisman in college and all that stuff is different than what you're looking for for a professional roster like I get that But I was just surprised to see that myself because I'm like obsessed with Tyler Warhol. I wasn't surprised by that I just think he went a few picks later It's it's more of a what flavor do you want in your elite tight end than anything else is and I want spice I want I want I want I think we saw that with the corners Drafted in the in the first round. It was kind of what flavor do you want? And that's that's how they went but

Let's talk chador because that was the thing on it We were you and I at first were watching different feeds on the draft you were watching the ABC, you know Laura Rutledge interview the families one I was watching the ESPN one that had Mike Greenberg and Mel Kuiper Jr. But I've seen the tweets. Yes. Mel Kuiper Jr. was all in on Shador Sanders, possibly more all in on Shador Sanders than Deion Sanders himself.

And the funniest tweets throughout the night were just like people making fun of Mel Kuiper for having a meltdown and I don't know. Ari, they're talking about the Titans being on the clock, they put the Titans on the clock which was silly because we already knew who they were picking. And so Mike Greenberg and Louis Riddick and Booger McFarlane are trying to talk about Cam Ward who's about to be the number one pick in the draft. And Mel just goes in on Shadoor. I do that to you on the show all one pick in the draft. And Mel just goes in on Shador. And like you get-

I do that to you on the show all the time, by the way. I know. And I try to hide my irritation. I don't think the other guys on the desk could hide their irritation at that point. I like- You wanna have a conversation about Shador Sanders and I wanna know how far do you think

there's like life out there? Exactly. But I'm just envisioning the production truck at ESPN like there's 12 guys sitting in there and they're ready to fire up 8 different Cam Ward highlight packages because he's about to be the first pick of the freaking NFL draft. Yeah and it also is like the setting of it too. And now it just starts talking about Shador and it's like you know there's some guy in the truck just going he's going keep doing this for two minutes we may as well run the chador

package and the chador highlights come on and you just I guarantee you I know what it looks like on the desk. I know we're laughing about it but like what do you think the deal is there like why do you think I don't understand I mean can we be real here sure like Mel was really good at this Mel kind of invented this but I Don't think Mel's is plugged in as the rest of the like day in Bruegler Daniel Jeremiah those guys and so he stole he's he will he will grab on to four or five prospects a year and proselytize them

Into the ground and that's what happened. Yeah. Uh, Dane Bruehler is an animal, uh, and he, he- Yeah, you can take it to the bank when, when Dane says- But I just like, but I thought it was weird that, I don't know if it was just like lack of context for everybody else or what, but how much he was clinging to that discussion point throughout the entire draft. It's funny because I think there's probably people that, you know,

you know how people feel about ESPN. They always see a conspiracy even when there's not one. I'm sure there were people who were thinking, oh, they're just trying to drum up drama. They've got somebody in their ear saying, talk about Shador, talk about Shador, talk about Shador. I mean, I guarantee you that wasn't happening. Yeah.

Just because I was watching the reaction of the other guys on the desk But okay, so let's talk about Chador though We don't have anybody here saying let's talk about sure either but it is very interesting Yeah, first of all quarterbacks at the most interesting position and you have one of the most and I think that this is going to Maybe bleed over into like a real Conversation about you know character and the way people are perceived, right? And like, I don't, it's delicate, so I'm going to try to be very careful. But there is a perception that Shadoor Sanders slipped, not because he isn't a first round

grade, but because of the tweet that you were saying circulated, there are character issues, right? Or people that didn't say that he interviewed well or that people, he rubbed people the wrong way. Or maybe there's even an underlying resentment towards who his dad is and the wealth that he had possessed before he even got to college. But I'm wondering how much of the off-the-field nonsense do you think is the reason for that and how much? None of it. You do? None of it. So you think like the whole like this is just a punishment for him being who he is? It's he is. If they thought that he could come in and start for them right away like and be really really Brown's thought he could come in and start for them right away they would

have picked him second they wouldn't have traded to pick like because that's the thing about life in general right like and I know that things like racism and anti-semitism and all these types of things are real life issues. But the one thing that I found in my life and even my father would tell me when I was a kid is when it comes to money and when it comes to success, if you can produce for somebody, you're hired. All of a sudden, you're like what color you are.

So I understand that. But I do think that there is a certain thing about Shadoor Sanders' background, his father, everything that he is that makes him a very hot button. Well, and part of it is we are very guilty of this too. We're talking about it now. He's probably going to be in the headline of this video. Shador Sanders gets clicks because he's Dion's son. That is an irrefutable fact. And I felt worse about it like a year ago because or even two years ago when we were talking about him because I didn't know if we were just like,

you know, using his name because he's just interesting. But like the one thing that is unequivocally true about Shidwar Xander's is that the man went to Colorado and he produced and not only produced- Bro record they had level yeah so I don't know you know you if you know anything about me like predicting a good NFL quarterback I think is the biggest crap shoot that exists in all of and what if I said to the two guys in this class that I would be that I would trust the most cam ward I trust the most I know like holding the watch thing up. Yeah

I mean all that stuff That doesn't bother my point is is that I do think that whether or not you think he's gonna be a great NFL quarterback that He's unequivocally proven through his play that he's worthy of a pick in this range So I don't know that he's worth a first-round pick and I think the reason he didn't get picked in the first round is the NFL teams didn't think he was worth a first round pick I don't know but in this range is what I mean, like 24 to 40 I think is where he belongs. He may be the first pick in the second round. Right. He may be the first or second guy off the board in the second round.

And here's the other piece of that. With the anonymous quotes, because the draft industrial complex thrives on these anonymous NFL scout, anonymous NFL assistant coach. And look. And there's hundreds of these people that all have varying difficulties. Yeah. There are people who like Shador. You don't hear their anonymous quotes because those don't play. Those don't click. But that's true for the entire anonymous sourcing draft. Correct. Because nobody runs the nice stuff about anyone. Well like our guy Bruce Feldmanman, he put out something the other day

where he had a draft confidential and had a quarterback section, and there were very nice things and very mean things about Shador. But nobody remembers the nice things. Yeah, and also too, if they're, when you have like NFL scout or NFL staffer or NFL assistant, that is a group of 400 people who may not be connected

to him at all. And one person might like, you know how it is like me, you, River, all of our, we all have varying opinions about everything. Like you and I think that, I mean, you, you think that there are certain food that's good that I think is terrible. Like everybody has a different opinion. And if you find the right person, Mexican food is, okay the Mexican food discussion today. Mexican food is the most, okay. It's the most overrated food category.

They're all the same. The greatest food in the world is Culver's and that's all there is to it. That's why we're here, you know? Great Butterburgers, frozen custard. You know what's a real shame? Cheese curds. I wore this like shirt that I had.

Fish sandwiches fire to show off my Culver's loyalty. This like, cause this is a Culver's shirt. Yeah? Cause it's kind of like a flannel, but also in Culver's loyalty this like because this is a Culver shirt yeah because it's kind of like a flannel but also in Culver's colors and I'm freezing this is even show it off well see I because you know I'm a company man yeah I'm wearing my Culver's oh yeah use it today so I'm gonna toss it it is fantastic it is warm it is spectacular but the point and he just told me that I want to say is that like, I think the entire anonymous source pre-draft information well is all all Bush League.

Like I think it's all crap. Listen, I have a hard time saying that because we use it too. Like we do it too in recruiting, we do it in covering college football. We give people license to speak anonymously so that they'll tell us what they really think and they don't sugarcoat it. But I'm like, but, but I've never been a fan. And how if you look at my career and you look at stories I've written where I've used anonymous sources, I don't think you'll see a lot of I'm just using this anonymous source to trash somebody else.

And also too, in any time I've ever quoted anonymous sources throughout my journalism career i've always only used quotes that i thought mirrored the general sentiment that i got i'd never like you know there are times where you like you want to be completely in one time you want to be true that's what you're reporting people say there've been times i've left amazing quotes out of stories because they didn't fit to what even if it was really juicy and interesting but if you're really eighth person but it's an outlier and it's clearly somebody who had

an agenda exactly yeah like listen I know that I'm not for everybody okay and I and I've struggled in my life sometimes with first impressions with people because you know I don't have a filter. And like there are probably varying opinions about me from a lot of people that I've met in my days. And like I don't know if they would all be true. I mean I'm brash and I'm out there a little bit. But I think I'm a nice guy. But like I don't think everybody thinks I'm nice. I've said some mean things to people on accident. My wife gets mad at me because I used to say when I was younger and I realized now this was a stupid thing to say but I used to say I don't

want anybody to have a lukewarm opinion of me I'd rather them love me or hate me but nothing in the middle. That's good because you're hot. That's not a great way to live your life. I've learned. Something I thought when I was 21 is not true but with the draft stuff. If somebody wrote an anonymous story about me it would be very it would be oh There would be the quotes would be all over the map for sure Somebody talked to River about me. I cannot producer rivers anonymous quotes about Ari would be spectacular just

The level of just harassment that goes on when these two get together Yeah, he's my guy though. You know. For now. But like I- While he's on your good side. The thing that's interesting- You have a very dark side.

That like I have gotten to know River now over the course of the last few months, but I started treating River like that before I knew him. So that doesn't always go- It could have gone very wrong. It could have gone poorly. Yeah. But I'm- hey hey River I love you but- See that's the thing about Ari and I think- actually I feel like we can use you as a stand-in-

I'm the perfect example because I think they're all- Yeah. Yeah you just- you just don't run as fast as these NFL guys but- Yeah. You are not for everyone but if- if you take things in the spirit in which Ari intends them, Not bad. You will like Ari. Yeah.

If you take them the wrong way, or you assume things about how he feels about you based on your 30 second conversation, or a five minute conversation, which a lot of times that's just what these NFL guys get early in the process. And also too, like, should Orr Sanders not allowed to have a bad few moments? Like, does he have to be perfect? And I know it's the pre-draft process, but like, if, even if I went on 32 job interviews myself in journalism, like there are people in journalism that I get along with and there are people that I don't like everybody.

Is Shadr Sanders is the second pick of the second round? He could still be a good NFL quarterback. It's still a hell of an investment from an NFL franchise into their future so and I don't know I'm sure he'll go in the first 10 picks right someone's gonna probably I would think so he's gonna be a second round by the way you know who I like even more after last night yeah Shiloh Sanders oh yes there's a video of Shiloh Sanders at the draft party with Chador standing next to Shador and going man if they do this to you, what are they gonna do to me? Like it's like this is about you. Hyper self-awareness from Shiloh. I'm not kidding like he's he's legitimately funny

Yeah, and I think that he was actually trying to be funny, which is the best part about it So, um, but I want to I want to kind of take it and the thing I like about the show right now It's we're ebbing and flowing between serious and not so serious But I want to go back to the serious discussion because there are certain players. Oh the character issue character issue. Yes And it's like you and I can I make a plea to the to the draft industrial complex to our friends Daniel Jeremiah Jane Dane Bruegel or all those guys your draft guys Please stop using character issues as one bucket.

Because character issues is a broad spectrum. So you don't really have a different way of saying different things. So like I need to know when you say a guy has character issues I need to know if he's kind of a jerk or I need to know if he's running a right it was he running a multinational drug cartel out of his dorm room yeah there's no in between with you guys there's a wide gap between not tipping your waitress and vehicular homicide like no you know it just like but like that's what it is and it's like there's one player specifically that has been Throughout the draft. Yeah, I don't even know if you want me to say his name

James Pierce has already been drafted, but James Pierce jr I even read even in his profile in the pre-draft of like severe character issues, and I keep asking people Yeah, when did he get arrested? Oh, he didn't what did he do? Yeah, so and Did he get arrested? Oh, he didn't? What did he do? Yeah. So, and producer River, as we know, used to work at Tennessee. And so we were peppering him with questions.

We're like, what did he do? Did he get arrested? Were the police at his house every night? What happened? He just kept saying, no, no. And it's like, okay, well, it sounds like he's not that bad of a guy there. Right.

And it's like, maybe he's a little immature. And I'm immature. I'm immature, I show up for work, I work hard. I don't know. But like's a little immature. And I'm immature. I'm immature. I show up for work. I work hard. I don't know. But like that's the thing too. Maybe we're going to find out that there was something else going on. There have been prospects. But also character issues also falls into like doesn't work hard. Right. Exactly.

Like it's a very wide spectrum. When somebody says somebody has character issues, it could be anything. Yeah. Doesn't like to practice. It's not the same thing as Rob's liquor stores in his spare time if I didn't like to report cop podcast Do you think Shannon would think I have character issues? Absolutely competitive character Your competitive character as Nick Saban would say would be Pretty pretty deficient. Yeah But I do wish there were some more context in terms of like what you're dealing with with people too because also Sometimes people show up differently in different environments, too

But you know When you also talk to Mad Max Hairston, you know, that's the exact opposite of your issues So I guess it kind of like there is some there's a scale there But it's it's interesting to me because I do think there's the NIL era has helped the NFL folks gauge guys and figure things out because it used to be the do you love football question, which we always make fun of them for asking that question. But what they're asking is when we give you millions of dollars, are you going to be like, I have millions of dollars. I don't know about that. That's a really good point Andy so like the fact that these people have the money yeah they could change way earlier you know you are yeah you already know

who's still gonna play hard even though he's getting paid yeah or you know how people behave once they get the money yeah because when you get money entitlement comes with that you know your responsibility comes with that you know all these different things Travis Hunter who just wanted to fish for bass and do Twitch streams from home. He may have been maybe that most compensated player in the entire sport last year. Exactly. That's who you want. Like, he's going to beg to play every snap.

You could give him a billion dollars and he'll still beg to play every snap. And all he wants is a place to fish By the way how happy is Travis Hunter today? He did oh listen Cleveland's a nice city. I think it gets a bad rap I like it like fishing his favorite thing to do in the world this man just now now he's got fresh water It's all water. Did they not have sea bass and Lake Erie? I don't know, but he's got it all now Yeah, cuz he can go off the coast anytime that you can But he's got it all now. Yeah, cuz he can go off the coast anytime that you can Avoid going to a place that plays half their games in the bitter cold

To go live in a place with palm trees and ocean then you've upgraded Yes, but that's my general opinion in life. Like I got in trouble about Norman in LA It's like well one place has an ocean and palm trees and one doesn't and it's like that's just my preference Maybe some people like Cleveland, but I would rather live in Jacksonville than Cleveland just for the this the look at me You know one thing that I did not realize Andy. Mm-hmm when I was a kid. I was portly Okay, and I don't say yeah But everybody always goes well, you don't you don't get you don't get cold because you got so much fat I'm like, that's the dumbest thing my skin still. Oh, no, it's it's a biological fact legitimately real I've lost a bunch of weight and still doing it

But I am freezing in an environment that I would oh what I was pushing three bills out of been sitting here like oh This is nothing. Yeah, like I'm so I Do think that sixty degrees or fifty eight degrees and sunny is the perfect weather and i'm sure that that's what it's like in jacksonville eight right now uh... now when the when camp starts is going to be ninety four with a hundred percent humidity but that's fine the the other side of the spectrum is absolutely wishing he was matthew golden riding his

bike you know through the neighborhood to camp here in Green Bay. Surface of Hell is like a good counterpoint to that, but it also it's not like it's not hot in Cleveland in September. Yeah. So well, all right, before we talk to Culver C, I'm really excited to talk about, we've got some Culver's treats. I'm talking to her. I'm not saying anything. We're gonna be taste testing. Yes, but let's let us talk about. We've got some Culver's treats. I'm talking to her. I'm not saying anything. We're going to be taste testing. Yes. But let's, let us talk about one other thing that fits into our normal run of show here.

Obviously we're a college football show. 26 of the 32 first round draft picks came from the big 10 in the SEC. Yeesh. Yeah. 26. So can you, can 10 in the SEC. Yeesh. Yeah. 26. So can you name the six that didn't? Yeah. We tried this off the top of our heads. We're gonna try it again. Omari and Hampton. Ashley Chanty. Cam Ward. Travis Hunter. Travis Hunter. Graze Able from North Dakota State. North Dakota State kid. Yeah. Who's the last one? Uh oh. Now we've lost it. We've lost the thread.

kid yeah who's the last one oh now we've lost it we've lost the thread there's the six right there is a sixth um they were bad at this producer rivers gonna put it on screen when we forget the six who are the six guys that weren't from Oh Timak yes thank you not Tet if you see somebody calling Ted Roy McMillan as Tet, they're a cop. They don't know. Yeah. T-Mac. Noah Fafito went on Twitter last night and said it. I was so happy when he said that. His name's not Tet. Yes. Ugh. I mean, in fairness, I've known that guy since he was 16 years old and I've never been able to pronounce his first name, so I can't imagine how difficult that would be. But you could pronounce... I still don't know if I you can pronounce T Mac though, right? Yeah, okay, it sounds like it. He should be like a Sponsor for like yeah, so he's a Carolina Panther. He's gonna have Bryce Young thrown him passes, but 26 32

We've talked about this consolidation At the top in the in the two power like the real two power conferences I asked you this the other day and you proved me and i think you're still right i said are we now going to hit the point where s e c does not have this that the top number of people drafted every year like will will the the talent because we talked about the big ten getting more

talented well the talent flow so hard into the big ten that that number evens up i I'm going to guess no based on what we saw last night. It's going to be a little while before that happens. And you said it'll be a long time. Yeah. So 1611, right? Was that the number? I believe so. Yeah. It was 15 or 16 to 11. 1511, 26 total. The other thing too is that Ohio State had four. Right. So like when you start, when you take away Ohio State and Michigan had a few too. They could have had another one. Michigan had three, right, River?

Kenneth Grant going 13 to the Dolphins, man. That did my heart good. Because I felt like he was projected too low, most of the mock drafts. Loved it. Michigan won, went over 500 last year with a non-functional offense because of two interior defensive linemen.

Yes, and they got paid, and rightfully so. But yeah, so that's the thing that's so interesting to me. It's like the consolidation of talent has been the number one discussion point in general as it pertains to like the sport and the competitive balance and who can win the national title. And then you look at that, it at it's like well it's not that that consolidated you know in terms of where they are consolidated in these two

conferences which we knew was going to happen as the as the money got bigger and the gap got wider in the money and it's not gonna narrow any time the breakdown of because I saw a crazy stat too of like Georgia has more draft picks than Kirby Smart has losses. More first-rounders. First-rounders. Yeah and that's also true for Ryan Day who has 10 losses in his tenure and 14 first-round picks now so like it is those two guys are still kind of are hoarding a little bit and I don't know it's still getting out of the system because a lot of the guys that

were drafted this year were pre-NIL freshmen. But yes, I do think that it's going to take some time. And I do think that eventually, like the question that I have is, do you think it's going to be six non-Big Ten SEC first rounders every year moving forward? Or is this an anonymous? Or does it close even more where there's more Big Ten and SEC? Because even if it spreads out in like Mississippi State and Purdue pop in here more, does that still doesn't mean that like Virginia Tech and I think there's I Think there's oh, there will always be some

Who shine elsewhere cuz like yeah, but do you think it's gonna be the other side of the lot Travis Hunter to Colorado? But do you think it's gonna be this lopsided? Yes, like the big 12 is not gonna have six in one year or in like what will be interesting to me is next year Cuz I think I think we're about to see Clemson have a bunch of Really good players. So Clemson could have a couple first-rounders next year Miami could have a couple of first-rounders Yeah, so Clemson's gonna have a like four next year, right? I don't know if they're gonna have four but they should they should have a few club Nick Peter Woods That's the other those show for sure. Yeah

well yeah, we're gonna talk about later in the show who we think the first round quarterbacks in the class that's 2026 are because we made a long list because basically candidates we started asking ourselves like Would we have said this about cam ward this time last year and the answer is no we just said he'll get drafted But we don't we don't think he'll get drafted first overall. Yeah, and so who's that gonna be next year? So we're gonna talk about that. But first, we're gonna have some Culver's. I need to warm up. That's gonna be perfect. Julie, the Culver CEO, one half of a CEO

power couple. Yeah. It's gonna join us. You're not gonna believe the CEO, the husband. So much power in this house. It's incredible. And I'm already cooking up ideas, guys. I got news for you. We're gonna- Crossover events. I always knew when I was born

that I was gonna change the world, and I'm changing it one mouth at a time. So I can't wait to get into the interview. That sounded really bad, but you get what I'm saying. We'll be right back. We are honored to be joined by Julie Fussner, the newly minted CEO of Culver's. You were the chief marketing officer,

now the CEO is the power flowing through you. Can you feel it? No, we're not gonna let that happen. I am honored to have been appointed. It's been a whole week and it is still not sinking in just yet. Now you have worked on a lot of these menu items and making them well known throughout the country. But you're also helping expand Culver's

throughout the country. And as a Floridian, thank you for coming. I was telling you, I had to wait at a car dealership the other day. They're like, we're sitting out for Culver's. And I've got a cookies in one of these, a cookies and cream concrete mixer right there. So what are the challenges when you've got a brand that is really associated with one part of the country, bringing it everywhere?

Yeah, the biggest challenge really is that our brand is relatively complex and confusing in our space. If you think about it, just the breadth of the menu, the fact that you can get a burger or chicken or seafood that's just like a supper club, cheese curds, it's kind of crazy. And then if you look at the outside of our restaurants too, they don't always look like a fast food restaurant. And so driving the awareness of the brand in those new markets is a big challenge. But the way that we overcome it is we put amazing owner-operators into those restaurants that get out in their

community and explain to everybody what the concept is, and they do an amazing job. The thing that I've always been so impressed with Culver's is that the expansive menu, everything is done right. It's not just a bunch of stuff and some things are good. Everything is really good, including including the seafood which I am a purveyor of the fish. But I'm wondering outside of being you know freezing outside what makes Culver's in your opinion the quintessential Wisconsin? Yeah it really is what the way that we say it is that Culver's couldn't have

started anywhere else other than Sauk City, Wisconsin. And that's because that place in Wisconsin is what has inspired everything from the menu items. The seafood is because of our supper club roots. Cheese curds are obviously a well-known Wisconsin food. The Butter Burger, we believe that burgers were actually sort of started in Wisconsin. Fresh frozen custard's from Milwaukee originally. So Wisconsin was the inspiration for the food, but it also is the inspiration for the people. The fact that people from

Wisconsin are just nicer than nice. We believe everyone is our neighbor, should be welcome in a Culver's. That's the other part of the brand that we want to expand across the country. Minnesota nice is a bit of a sarcastic term. Wisconsin nice is real. It's real. And look, the state that brought us the cheese curd, there's no better thing in the world. There's no better thing in the world.

Someone who grew up in the South and it was not exposed to cheese curds until his late 20s, what was I missing my entire life? Well, the first half of your 20s are on you, pal. I don't know what you were doing. I was waiting to get a job that let me go all these places. Yeah, the thing that is interesting too, is just like the innovation too of this brand

and the way that you guys do things and in terms of ideas and stuff and all that, how hard is that to just? Yeah, well, thankfully we actually have a chef that is brilliant in innovation and so she is coming up with amazing ideas yet we we really take inspiration from all kinds of places uh... and right now we have a limited time offering of the colby jack pop burger which is a and all-time favorite so colby jack cheese

a one pepper sauce crispy onions on an everything bun it's a pretty great product I had one of these yesterday yeah it is spectacular yeah I'm gonna have one now you talk yeah yeah okay I'm gonna have to vamp while he's eating and hopefully he'll return the favor the everything bun is really really good because I actually think that that's just like such a difference in the flavor. I totally agree. Yeah.

We love it when we can introduce a new bun. The Pretzel bun is another one that does really well for us. Again, Milwaukee Roots with things like pretzels works really well for the brand. Is it like just difficult to be so good at everything? I mean, like, because also too, part of the is making sure that everybody prepares the food in all your restaurants. That is the challenge as we expand, obviously, is keeping the is making sure that everybody prepares the food in all your restaurants. That is the challenge as we expand obviously is keeping the quality as consistently great as it is everywhere, but what we do different as

a brand is every restaurant has a present and engaged owner-operator and so they're overseeing their team that they treat like family and so those people come to work wanting to make this great food for you. And so... A little less challenging for us to maintain that quality than maybe... Because your restaurants actually feel like familial when you come in. You guys are doing great, by the way. Yeah, I know. You know, it's cool. I don't want to eat anything.

It's fine. I'm not freezing to death. It's fine. But when I go into the restaurants, it doesn't feel like a fast food restaurant. It almost feels like a sit down restaurant where you just go up to the counter and get your food. And I think that's a really important part of it too. Yeah, we actually think it's really important that we're one of the places that still remains

where you can come and gather and feel really welcomed and belong. A lot of those places have gone away over the last few years. And so Culver's is a really safe place to go after the high school football game or the chorus concert or whatever. And it's just a great place to gather. So we're very proud of that. I have a very important question though. When is the Curd or Burger coming back?

It comes back this October until it'll be around for about two weeks. Okay. And until it doesn't do great, it will come back every October. Oh, so this is a burger with cheese curds on it. A big cheese curd. It's one, exactly one giant, and it's a cheese curd patty essentially. It is spectacular.

So two weeks. So I basically need to set the calendar notification. The alarm's going off a week before. So I know when to show up. If you follow us on social, we will tell you when it is coming back. So you won't even have to remember. I know that Wisconsin cheese is the thing, but they're actually really well seasoned too. Like the way that they're seasoned, there's a flavor pop with those.

I had 1200 of them yesterday. They actually come from a really great dairy right in Wisconsin called La Grandeur. It's also a family-owned dairy and we get all of our cheese curds from there. So. Wow. That's tremendous. Absolutely tremendous. Now, for those who don't know, we had a chance to talk to you and your husband yesterday.

This is the ultimate food power couple. Your husband Don is the CEO of Johnsonville. Yes, correct. So what do two CEOs talk about when they get home? Work, more work. Yeah, what bad things happened at work that day. Maybe what good things happened. Yeah, it's actually really beneficial for me

because he's been doing it for quite a bit longer and so now I can lean on his expertise, which is great. Well, and he's gonna be stealing ideas from you too. So when we see a cheese curd wrapped around a bra, we're gonna know what happened. The one thing that you need to know about indian eyes that we are arrogant enough to think that were the masters of the fast food innovation and like i do think that when you say

when you come home you talk to your husband about work yeah should be talking about putting some of the sausages on these but doing a like a key to or something that i want to do sausage burgers like what it could be just give me even like a little hope that could 100% I'll take it back to our chef see what you can do. Who loses? I mean week one on the job give me a couple more weeks. Alright one more thing we are a college football show you are a proud University of Illinois

grad. Big year coming for the Illini. Do we think college football playoff is that possible? You know I get my hopes up every single year so let's hope they don't break my heart. I tell you what, we're gonna send Brett Bielma some of these, the pub burger, the Colby Jack. I think it will inspire the boys. Let's hope. I think it will. They're actually gonna be really good this year. I'm gonna put myself out there and Brett Bielma was a friend of the program he's been on. And you know, but let's let's go Badgers too. Yeah 100% let's go Badgers for sure. Well that's the thing you got you got Gators who are eating Culver's now. You got you got people all over the

country doing this so as as much as we love the Badgers we got to make sure we we hug all those college football programs because you want them eating cheese curds you want them eating yeah the cookie dough. Yeah. Oh my. You know, the last thing I want to say too is I grew up in Phoenix. Okay. And I know you guys are out in Arizona and are expanding and have expanded out to the West coast. But I do think that there's like a general lack of understanding or knowing of Midwestern cuisine from people who grew up on the West coast. As somebody like me, I was fortunate enough to get to live in the, in the Midwest for a large portion of my young adult life. But like, they're missing out

if they think that there's certain chains out there that are better. This is this is legit. So, you know, and I'm excited to see your guys this continue expansion. And I'm just also thankful that they're in Texas, too. That's great. Thank you. We're very excited to take taking the kids for custard. Yeah, when I get home. But Julie, this is awesome. And thank you so much for having us here. Thank you for having me here. This was great. Appreciate it.

Thanks so much. We really, really enjoyed ourselves. Awesome. Thanks guys. We are back full of butterburgers and cheese curds. Got Curtis here. Curtis is feeling me up here, man. Sorry, let's.

Curtis is Ari's emotional support man. Sorry. This is already some emotional support curd It's beautiful You bring it you bring curse on the plane aren't you I'm bringing yeah, I'm allowed to I've got a three-year-old daughter Who would really love that? Oh, she would hug the hell out of curse Alright, so speaking of hugs. We're gonna figure out who's gonna hug Roger Goodell next year because it's a good transition Yeah, that was my best transition ever I think. But we do need to figure out who's gonna hug Roger Goodell really hard next year because again we talked mostly college football and the thing Ari and I could not stop

talking about last night was we didn't if you'd asked us this last year is Cam Ward gonna be the number one overall pick in the NFL draft like the last year this time are you insane and I'd say probably well we were at the Miami Florida game week one I think we were pretty pretty solidly in on cam ward is a high first round prospect after that but we wouldn't have said that guy we were talking about Carson Beck at this time last year who is in college again the number one battle when you have this conversation Andy isn't do you think somebody is good because that's not the conversation because like last year we would have known that Cam Ward was gonna be good we

thought it was good and that cam ward would get trashed a huge separation between being good college player and being Viewed as the number one draft prospect, right? There are a lot of quarterbacks that I think you can make a case were every bit as effective or as good Players in college that weren't drafted already that are still on the board Dylan Gabriel Dylan Gabriel you could make a case was a better college quarterback than Shudor Sandin. And we don't know where he's gonna get drafted. Like, if he-

Who do you think was a better college quarterback? Jackson Dart or Dylan Gabriel? I mean, total body of work, probably Dylan Gabriel. But if I were running an NFL team, of course I'm taking Jackson Dart. So that's the conversation here. It's like, we're gonna name all, I think we came up with a list, Andy has the list.

It's an extensive, exhaustive list. And you're gonna laugh at some of these names. Like why are you naming? But there's always somebody who has just an incredible year and winds up in the NFL. Do you know who that person is? And I'm gonna start it off right now. Go for it. The person that could be in this conversation a year from now that'll make you laugh right now is Miller Moss. Like, like, like it's the same thing with Tyler Chook. Tyler Chook, yes. Is in the conversation right now and it's like Miller Moss goes out, has a good year, he's got a big arm, he's a big kid, like that's somebody who can be in this conversation that you're not even thinking about as a player right now. Yeah, because Miller Moss lost his starting job at USC in the middle of last season. He's

gone to Louisville, he's going to work with Jeff Brom. Jeff Brom is a quarterback whisperer, now Lincoln Riley is too, but look at what Jeff Brom did for Tyler shook Could he do the same thing for Miller Moss now? I'm not talking about first round But Miller Moss going, you know into the NFL in the second or third round after a good year at Louisville is entirely Possible. But yeah, we're talking about first round though. What if he has a great year? Yeah. Like, I mean, there was a conversation.

I'll throw another name at you that like, I think people will laugh at when I throw this name out there. Let's do the funny ones. Ty Simpson. Yeah. Ty Simpson has not started for Alabama yet, but he's in the inside track to win the job and he's been in college. This is fourth year in

college here's another if he has a great year he's got because he has the measurables that you'd want oh yeah and so if he has a great year then he's he's probably got a quarterback I don't know if you want to hear a funny one I'll see you're funny and I'll raise you funny you know who's eligible for the draft a year from now who's that Jackson Arnold You think that's funny? I think most Oklahoma fans would say you're insane. I think most Auburn fans would say, wait a second, uh, wait, that means he'd be really good and we'd be really good. So yeah, but wait, he'd be gone? Yeah. But you're right. If Jackson Arnold balls out at Auburn,

if he has a great year at Auburn He could go to the NFL next year and like also to the way that they're set up with deuce night and the way that They I mean like it you could make it might actually work out we work out that way, but but like the thing that is and like again, that's not a prediction of Yeah, he's going to be a first-round pick so don't take it that way But I think that you have to start viewing this and you know what it kind of let's throw out the guy that we both think there's a couple of guys but the one we both think will be a very high draft pick next year even though he doesn't have to leave college next year

is Arch Manning heavy heavy favorite yeah be heavy favorite probably the the I mean listen with him he's big he's got a big arm. He can move He plays for Texas and his last name is Manning like he is like a yeah The number one overall pick like like built up producer river play the Matthew Golden clip about our yeah, here's what Matthew Golden said Tell us about arch People are dying to know and and you would know. That's a true dog, man. I'm excited to see what he's going to do this year. The ball is in his court, and he's going to take over.

He's a leader on and off the field, man. And he's the same guy every day. The sky is the limit for him. I mean, he could do whatever he wants to do if he put his mind to it. So I'm really excited for him Did you have those same questions he was already there when you got there Yeah, did you wonder like oh, who is this guy the most high prospect of all time? Yeah. Yeah I asked him like I heard about him, you know, but once I got up there, you know me and our we talked a lot and

I started to watch him at practice man, and I knew he was special, you know He don't act like a regular freshman. You know, he act like he been in college for three years. And for me, you know, that's somebody you can put your trust in definitely and build behind. So I feel like for him, man, it's going to be a ride for him. It's going to be cool. That's Matthew Golden on Arch Manning.

He's a dog. See, there you go. Matthew Golden, the newest Green Bay Packer,'ll be playing back here at Lambeau Field. But he probably won't be catching passes from Arch Manning because Arch Manning not gonna be going to the Packers. They got Jordan Love. But here's the list. So Arch Manning is an easy one, even though he doesn't have to go pro. True Aller from Penn State, obviously. That's he, the measurables, they're gonna love that.

He needs to have a better year. Wonder if he'll move a lot more, run a lot more this year. Maybe play the way he did in the Big Ten title game in the regular season. Like he has a shot. South Carolina QB Lenora Sellers will be draft eligible. Obviously won't have to go anywhere. But I feel like we only saw a little bit of what he can do last year. And his ceiling is much higher and

This is this guy's a freak. He's 6 3 2 40. Yeah huge arm. So he'll test off the charts. Yes. Yeah Cade club Nick at Clemson I actually think Kate club Nick can play his way into a pretty high traffic now I don't know he's he's not as big as some of these other guys that we're talking about but he runs really well and he has developed as a quarterback over the course of his career where you see him doing things now that he couldn't do when he first became a starter and sometimes sometimes these guys do need time and so I could see Kate Clubnick

playing his way into that that level and then and then one more kind of obvious one is Garrett Nussmeyer. Garrett Nussmeyer is an obvious one that somehow gets forgotten every single time we talk about this, and I'm happy that we didn't forget. I mean, his dad's an NFL QB coach, for goodness sake, but that's not why it's there. Garrett Nussmeyer does not get his fair share

of off-season quarterback discourse. Like, it's a fact. Yeah, Garrett Nussmeyer is a really good quarterback for LSU. He waited his turn. He has developed over the years. Now a lot of it was he had to spend that time behind Jaden Daniels. But you saw him playing last year and he should have better talent around him this year we think because of what LSU's done in the portal.

Now obviously we don't know about the offensive line because they do lose Will Campbell, who was a first-round draft pick last night at offensive tackle. But yeah, Nussmeyer is another obvious one but let's let's go to fun ones this list is we we just we we went nuts so we're not saying that these guys are going to be first-round draft picks or even draft picks in the NFL it's just that you do not know going into a college football season who's going to blow up and who's not. So Sam Leavitt from Arizona State.

John Matier from Oklahoma. And we've said, you and I have said, we're big John Matier believers. And if he comes in and saves Oklahoma and they turn into a really competitive program in the SEC, there's a really good chance John Matier is a high draft hit because everything you liked about Cam Ward, who went from Washington State to Miami, John Matier played in that same offense at Washington State.

John Matier was like high flying throw off platform. Yeah. Like crazy arm angles, move the chain with his legs kind of player. I don't think people realize that. Learned a little bit sitting behind Cam Ward for a year. Things you could learn anyway. Exactly, exactly. Gunnar Stockton will be draft eligible. What if he has a huge year at Georgia? And I also think too that people like Ty Simpson and Gunnar Stockton start three or

four steps down the path because they're already like living in an inherent advantage with the talent around them and the teams are playing for. Speaking of Georgia quarterbacks, he's no longer a Georgia quarterback but he's still in college. Carson Beck, the guy we talked about as a potential QB one in this draft this time last year, he's at Miami coming off elbow surgery but if he has a great ear then all of the things that we said last year can still be true. Yep absolutely and you And critical season, obviously, for him, final year, coming off of a major injury.

But I think Miami always has the ability to put up some points. They should have a pretty good offensive line. And they've got some good skill position players. Yeah, and so in the vein of people who will be surrounded by a lot of talent, who will be draft eligible after this season. This is another one you're gonna go,

wait a second, we've barely seen him. Dante Moore at Oregon. And you don't think that if Dante Moore goes out and shows, you know, incredible production, but also has, because Dante Moore is better measurable in terms of like physicality than Dylan Gabriel does. Oh, of course. Like he's just a bigger stronger kid and like I think people view like Oregon as a stat Like a stat factory where yeah, the production doesn't necessarily indicative of what you would project to as an NFL player But I think that Dante Moore, you know has a different background. Obviously a five-star prospect with a big body and a big arm How about Avery Johnson at Kansas State? You know, I was listening to a clip, Andy, and this is maybe a segment for another day, but you know, my guys at Kings of the North, they thought that, or they think that the

Northern quarterbacks in the conversation nationally are like being disrespectful obviously But that Avery Johnson belonged in top 10 lists cuz like me you Tom Fornelli some other guys I think my projection of what Avery Johnson could be before last season would have put him on those lists Yeah, but what the production we saw out of it was not what we said Avery Johnson is a freak of nature physically, too Yes, so like he's another one. He'll test really well have somebody who's gonna test well saw it and it was not what we expected. But Avery Johnson is a freak of nature physically too. Yes. So like, whenever you have somebody who's going to test well, like it made me wonder, like, hey, did we not give him a fair share? But that's the thing.

And it might just be that sometimes guys need to experience it for a year. And then between year one and year two as a starter, they make that big jump. If Avery Johnson does that at Kansas State this year, and Kansas State dominates in the big 12 absolutely unlock it a little bit you know yeah let me give you one you ready you ready you ready yeah we cannot we could not make it through a show without mentioning

this person's name Nico Yamale other yeah I mean it's not like he's got short or lost his length in the last two or his arm guys are yeah he does not a throat his arm is very strong still yeah I don't even think that UCLA has to be particularly good I think he has to be productive and he has to lift his team But if he has a really good year and makes them exciting then you know I think that he is the perfect type of prospect that an NFL person will talk themselves into I do I do think what happened at Tennessee is going to hurt him in the draft I was going back to the character issues like where does that

fall under character issues? Well and I wonder if because the NFL people know what happened like it's one thing for us to say it if some NFL GM like John Lynch or so you know whoever I don't know the 49ers we need to call both sides. Called Nico up and said hey tell your dad to shut up, we're not talking to him, get a real agent, and we'll look at you differently. I think that may work. Yeah.

Well, I mean, also too, like, we don't know what Nico feels in terms of, does he feel like he's in a worse position? Like, you know how kids are, like, oh yeah, you know what the craziest thing is, is that like, even if you just picture a non-athlet non athlete who like for me, like after my sophomore year at Arizona, if like my dad did something that caused me to have to transfer to UCLA, like that would have ruined my life.

I'm imagining, I'm imagining Bob Lawstrom enforcing Ariadne. But you know, if Nico wasn't a hundred percent bought in on the opt out and he's out in California, like he probably like from a by all accounts everything I've ever read about him in terms of his experience and in Knoxville and how he got along with his teammates and everything is positive good relationship yeah yeah a bad dude or having a bad time so and you know how there's still 19 18 year old kids who are like well and that's making their best for all my best friends are from my dorm room dorm hall but, GMs and NFL coaches

probably get a different response. Yeah. But it's like now you want to get paid and you want to be a pro or do you want to be a, you want to be a, yeah, you want to do this or not. And I think you're going to get a different response when those people are saying it. So look, we, we said this all along. We think the plan for Nico has always been three years and out and I would bet it would take a pretty bad year at UCLA to sidetrack that man. I think if he's pretty good at UCLA, that we're talking about him in the draft process next year. But I love that the, let us know what you guys think too of some of the names that we brought up. I didn't,

maybe we're missing one because we did get a little bit off the rails here oh I wasn't even done with oh you're not done okay go keep hailing green yeah Taylor green Noah for feet a Noah for feet a Haynes King Haynes King like that Calzada yes by the way if you didn't know Zach Cal Calzada, who was at A&M, then was at Auburn, has been at Incarnate Word where Cam Word started. He's going to be Kentucky's quarterback this year. That was kind of a joke. I just wanted to say it because I wanted to remind you that Zach Calzada is Kentucky's

quarterback this year. Which I had memory hold that from the December transfer portal. And then last week was going through some stuff What about Luke Altmeyer? We didn't put him on God look I make sure yes I was running through my brain. So guys just a little inside baseball here. It's raining. It's freezing. My fingers are blue We don't have lists like work. This is all like From memory. So sorry Luke Altmeyer, but Luke Yeah, definitely a potential first rounder

if you play really well this year. And you heard Brett Bielma say that he was asked how worried he had been during the transfer portal if Luke Altmeyer would leave. 0.0%. He went Dean Wormer on it. That's good.

0.0. He always knew he had his guy. Yeah, but Luke Altmeyer is somebody who a lot of eyeballs are going to be on this year and I wanted to make sure that we had. I'm just, I mean, if we forgot somebody else that's like Luke, it's unintentional, it's freezing. For good purpose. All right, here's the deal.

The transfer portal closes on Friday. None of these people we talked about are going in. Well, Nico already went in and came out. He could go back in. He could not. I don't like the kitty You know, I gotta check the rulebook on it We don't think anyone's gonna go in from that list between now and then but it's college football

You never know that would be incredible if Nico entered the portal again Ari Green Bay has been a blast It is currently a blast of cold air, but it's been a blast. Thanks to everyone at Culver's for having us. You guys are wonderful, incredible hosts. We are so glad that you're bringing the taste of Wisconsin throughout the entire country. I cannot wait to get back to the warmth of Florida and enjoy some frozen custard during hot weather. The taste of Wisconsin can be enjoyed in all climates. That's exactly right. Thank you for bringing us out here. It's been a good time. We had an incredible time and we will talk to you again on Monday.