Andy & Ari On3 - Will Shedeur Sanders join Cam Ward in the first round?

Episode Date: April 23, 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 (0:00-3:29) Intro: Presented by Culver's(3:30-7:12) CFP Dates and Times revealed(7:13-19:22) Dear Andy & Ari: Cam Ward only QB in 1st Round?(19:23-29:04) Deepest Position Groups in Draft(29:05-36:15) Why did Quinn Ewers leave CFB and Declare?(36:16-47:32) Best QB & WR duos(47:33-50:54) Story Time(50:55-56:30) Indiana's 2025 Outlook(56:31-57:15) Conclusion It's a Dear Andy & Ari episode but first we have some news out of the CFP regarding dates and times of the games As we start the mailbag, Andy has a question for Ari: Will Cam Ward be the only quarterback taken in the first round? Continuing, we dive deep into the position groups that will take over this year's draft and discuss Quinn Ewers out of Texas. To close, we look at the best QB & WR duos in the game with a few years of eligibility left. Finally, a fan asked about Indiana's 2025 outlook. Will the Hoosiers make it back to the CFP? Want to watch the show instead? Join us LIVE, M-F at 9:30 am et! https://www.youtube.com/@On3sports Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey 

Welcome to Annie and Ariane 3 presented by Culver's. We are winging our way to Green Bay right now. To be there for the Culver's break with Tailgate will be across the street from the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. We will have giveaways, we will have Tailgate games, and of course, special guests and we talk in NFL draft saying goodbye to our favorite college players as they move on to the NFL complaining about the NFL teams that undervalued our favorite players and overvalued guys that have really long arms and ran fast but did not produce in college. Cannot wait to get there Ari. We got the text. What's everybody's favorite cement mixer? I was gonna say it's a heck of a text to get in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon of what your favorite cement mixer is. I was just like

I don't know all of them. Well they got a new Skittles one that I really, really want to try. But the Oreo one is pretty spectacular. Like it's really hard to go against the just vanilla with Oreo pieces in there. This may be the dumbest question anyone's ever asked you. I say that to you a lot. Are Oreos sweet? Are they sweets or is that a savory snack?

They're sweets. They're like a thousand percent pure sugar. No, I know, but there's like the wafer part of it, the crunch part of it, like there's a distinction between like cookies to me and candy, right? And like, I'm not- It's and candy, right? And like, I'm not- It's not candy, it's cookie, it's a baked sweet as opposed to a just confection.

What I'm trying to say though is, I'm already not a sweets person, just in general, you know that about me? So I usually don't like to put candy in my sweets. Like I like the closest thing to carbohydrates like bread form that I can get. So like wafer, cookie dough. I feel like you'd be more of a butter finger guy or like a peanut butter cup guy because you get some savory there. I like cookie dough and Oreo in my sweets. Nothing wrong with that. but nothing wrong with that. But contraption with with candy and ice cream a while back

that I would never have ordered in million years and I tried and it was really good. So I'm ready to open my horizons. And let's remember there's also butterburgers and cheese curds, which are right up your alley. Yeah. And fish sandwiches. You just didn't bring fish to the draft. I mean, like, can I put a special request? I think, listen, we're going to Yes bring fish to the draft. I mean like I put a special request I

Think listen, we're gonna meet the CEO of Culver. So yeah, I think you make all the requests you want Yeah, okay. We're gonna be with the big shots. So good Join us Lambo field You can actually come by and see us say hi if you're in town for the draft or if you just live in Green Bay But we'll be doing shows from there. So of course, watch on the On3 Sports YouTube channel, listen on all your favorite podcast platforms.

We'll be there. Ari, before we get to our mailbag segment, dear Andy, dear Ari, which leads off with a question for me, cause I've just been really interested in it. Little bit of news to cover. We have dates, dates and times. For playoff games. This coming season.

The college football playoff and ESPN announced the dates and the times. So are you ready? This is for the quarterfinals, the semifinals and the national championship game. Obviously the first round games because we don't know where they're going to be yet. We don't know which games are on Saturday. for the quarterfinals, the semifinals, and the national championship game, obviously the first round games,

because we don't know where they're gonna be yet. We don't know which games are on Saturday. We don't know which one's gonna be on Friday. But we got some dates and times. So here we go. Playoff quarterfinals. New Year's Eve. Guess who's spending New Year's Eve at your house?

Is there one in Cotton Bowl? Cotton Bowl, 7.30 PM Eastern time, 6.30 PM local time at Jerry World. I'm hanging out with Ari on New Year's Eve. All right. You know, my wife, when she married me or when we were dating and then got married goes, so I'm never gonna get to see you on New Year's Eve ever.

And I'm like, nope. This year you will. But I will be able to, I guess this year, but I haven't spent New Year's with my wife, I think since we met. I don't know if we've ever had New Year's Eve. The question is, which direction are we flying the next day? Because we're doubling up.

If we're spending New Year's Eve at your house, we're saving the company's money. So we're doubling up. We're either flying to Miami or flying to Pasadena, LAX or, you know, maybe Burbank or going to New Orleans. It might be New Orleans. Cause New Orleans is a drive. Well, in New Orleans is also a night game. So that makes it a little easier.

So the orange bowl will be noon Eastern on January 1st, the Rose bowl four o'clock Eastern on January 1st, sugar bowl eight Eastern on January 1st, the semi-finals, semi-finals Thursday, January 8th, 730 PM Eastern Time. The Fiesta Bowl. Friday January 9th, 730 PM Eastern Time.

The Peach Bowl. So easy. Will be at both of those. I would assume and then the National Championship game Monday, January 19th in my Emma will in South South Florida. Be lovely Miami Gardens for Yeah, so it looks like we're gonna be doing cotton bowl

Sugar bowl because that will make sense logistically And that's a that's a rough wake up and and hope your flight arrives on time if we're flying to Miami for a noon kick up and hope your flight arrives on time if we're flying to Miami for a noon kick. Yeah, that's gonna happen. Yeah, because we'll be up till two in the morning the night before. I don't know. I mean, I guess we could let the matchups decide. Probably. And remember, this year and only this year, the bowl, the old bowl alliances with the conferences still matter in terms of matchups. So the Sugar Bowl is gonna have your sec champ. The Rose bowl is going to have your big 10 champ.

You're the orange bowl is going to have your ACC champ. So we can kind of figure that out already. If those, if those guys have buys. So there you go. Wow. It's never too early to talk about that. It's never too early. I mean, like it is real.

I mean, listen, we're almost to May. Okay. I mean, we're all we're blazing through this off season pretty quickly. And this past week went by pretty quick. We had a pretty good week and now we're going to the draft. And the next thing you know, it's going to be May. And you know, we're going to be right around the corner. Isn't that what Nsync said? It's going up. Hey, hey. All right. Pop culture reference I understood.

Time for Dear Andy and Dear Ari. I'm gonna start with Dear Ari question because I'm the one asking it. Because I've been thinking a lot about this in terms of the NFL draft. And some of the discourse has been interesting to me because it's weird. In one way it confirms my previous thinking,

but in another way, I think I may be wrong and I wonder if the NFL is wrong. But we don't actually know if this is what the NFL thinks. It's just, we'll get into it. Okay, Ari, here is my dear Ari question. Will cam ward be the only quarterback taken in the first round? No. Okay. You were very sure about that. And I am glad you said it that way because I, I, I'm not so sure about that because I'm not sure. Like everybody I listen to that I trust like your Daniel Jeremiah's and your Dane Brugler's they say that Cam Ward's the only guy with a

first round grade among the quarterbacks and what they mean by that is they sort of do it independent of each draft. It's like. If it's if it was an average draft, which of these guys would you have a first round great on? Which is the right way to do it by the way. Yeah, yes. So Cam Ward is going to be the pick of the Tennessee Titans.

Adam Schaft reported that on Tuesday morning, so like Kim Ward's going number one. The question is. Will one of the other guys should or Sanders Jackson Dart Jalen Milro. I missing one. Might sneak in to the first round. Yeah. I don't think so. I don't think I'm missing one. No, this is

the problem here. Yeah, I mean. Will Cam Ward be the only quarterback taken in the first round means that you're anticipating there's a possibility that should do or falls pretty far right like Ryan and and and my thing was and I've said this most of the draft season is Cam Ward's the only one I would I would take in the first round, but the more I think about should do or I think there's either a smoke screen going on here.

Or somebody is going gonna get a bargain because either somebody wants to jump up and take Chedure, like the Steelers who need a quarterback, they pick at 21 and they wanna jump up or it's somebody like that. So the reason why, like, here's the thing, like I. Got talked into Chador. OK, I talked myself into him today and I'll tell you why. Do you know who led the FBS, like the entire country?

In completion percentage this year, I think I can probably guess based on the framework of this question. Yeah. It should or Sanders. He completed 74% of his passes despite the fact that he was getting blasted on a bunch of plays blasted and they didn't play an offense where he was throwing horizontally every single time. Yeah. The thing that made me buy into him was the dirty pocket thing. Exactly. That's what I've been saying. And you know, it's interesting because I've said I don't trust any of these guys other than Cam Ward. But I keep coming back to that.

Like he's probably going to be the one of these guys, of all of these guys who plays behind a better offensive line in the pros than he did in college. Yeah, like I like relative to the defense. That Shador could have been incredibly efficient despite the fact that he didn't have great offensive lines during his time there. That said, I also wonder how much having one of the best

players we've ever seen on his team in a conference that isn't loaded helped. Not to mention that some of the other receivers that they had on their team were also really, really, really good. Very good. And I heard Daniel Geremaia say he thinks that, that Travis Hunter,

LeBron's are probably taking Travis Hunter. Daniel Geremaia say he thinks that that Travis Hunter. The Browns are probably taking Travis Hunter. Daniel, my I said he thinks Travis Hunter is going to be primarily receiver. With like a nickel corner package and everybody else is thinking the other way that he starts at corner and plays occasionally at receiver. But it's yeah, it's didn't want to go anywhere that won't let them play both.

Am I making that up? I thought he said that he said he'd rather quit football. I don't think there's any chance that he's not going to get to play both in some way, shape or form, but it'll be majoring in one and minoring in another. Yeah, but I just assumed it was major

in corner and minor in receiver. I thought too, but if there's anybody on Earth that could mess it up, it would be Cleveland. So you know, they'll probably put him at left tackle if they if they draft him. I I think that's what I thought too. But if there's anybody on Earth that could mess it up, it would be Cleveland. So, you know, probably put them at left tackle if they if they draft them. I do think the answer to this question is a definitive yes,

not because I'm 100% bought in on Shidur Sanders' value. I am 100% convinced that NFL teams will act and do irrational things in order to secure a quarterback when they're desperate for one. So even if, like, if he like falls out of the top 20 somehow, like you'll have 1012 picks, where every every team that comes up on the clock is probably going to get phone calls about trading up to get them. Like, I'm sure that somebody will will take him in the 20s if it gets to that. Well, let me let me throw out another warning to people to NFL teams, if you don't have a first round grade

on these guys. So we've talked about where you can find quarterbacks and I think you've said it's really not a great idea to go bargain hunting. So I just did the numbers on it, Ari. So there are 27 teams that have definitive starters going into this season. Like I left the Browns off

because I don't know who the starter is gonna be. But they actually, whether it's Kenny Pickett or Joe Flacco or they take somebody in the first round, it's gonna be a first rounder. But so of the 27 teams that have defined starters, how many of them do you think have a starter who was selected in the first round? Wow, that's a good question.

I would say 12. 22. Whoa, really? Over 80%. So your non-first round starters who are established, Dak Prescott, Jalen Hurts, Brock Purdy, Geno Smith, and Russell Wills. And the thing is that the Jets start Jamis instead of Russell,

take one more away, because Jamis was first rounder. That is a really fascinating thing that I should have known the answer to and didn't because I got like the the I have the uh you know Brock Purdy brain where everybody thinks that like everybody's like that but it is like we remember all the guys who weren't and we think there's more of them that's right um and there and it is like to me, like just like as a person who's followed the Browns their whole life. Okay, go draft Travis Hunter. He's an incredible player.

But if you do not have a quarterback in the NFL, you don't have anything. I think the Browns definitively proved that last year because they were a pretty good team. But if there's not a quarterback that you feel is worth a first round draft pick, pun it to next year. They've been punting it to next year for 25 years. So let me just say this, though. I agree with you. I don't think that missing on your top five pick is as terrible financially as it's been in the past. And I think that you recover from that quicker. But at the same time, too, in a year like this

where only one quarterback has a first round grade in that metric, do you have to alter the way that you draft as a result of the scarcity or do you just go, like if you're a GM or do you just go by the grades? I think you just go by the grades because what I just said, 22 of the 27 established starters were first round draft picks. But how many of those 22 players were taken in the first round out of necessity? How many of them were top seven picks and how many were in the back half of the first

round? Well, we can look at that. So one of them was in the back half Lamar Jackson. And I think we can argue that they just blew it with him. Like he should have been picked much, much sooner. But Kyler Murray, Michael Kyler Murray's the number one overall pick. Michael Pennex Jr.'s top ten. Bryce Young number one overall. Caleb Williams number one overall. Jared Goff number one overall. Okay here's your other one. I love how like I'm the first one.

We're in last year's draft by the way. That's hilarious. Jordan Love is the other one from the back the back half? That's it. Everybody else was in the in the Jordan, Lovin Lamar Jackson were in the back half. Everybody else was in the first part. First 22 quarterbacks who are established. I don't know if established is the right word who we know going into the season are the starting quarterbacks. How many of them were taken in the last two or three

drafts? It's it's it's it's quite a bit. So Bryce Young, Caleb Williams, JJ McCarthy, Jaden Daniels, up in fields. Bownicks, CJ Stroud. Yeah, I'm not including Justin Fields here because I think Steelers are going to take a quarterback. I don't I don't have the Steelers on here

because I don't know. We're starting quarterback for the Jets. Oh, for the Jets, I had Russell Wilson is what? What? And Russell is on the giants. You're right. Justin Fields. Sorry, Justin Fields.

But that's also now five years ago too. So I don't know if that counts, but like. How many of the players who we know are really good, like being the starter going into the year doesn't mean that you're good, but I, I guess that's besides the point, because a lot of times you have a two or three year window of teams who take players in the top 15 are married to starting him for a few years before giving up too. So like I don't know if we're definitively sure that Michael. Exactly like JJ McCarthy. We have no idea if he's going to be any good, but we know that they've decided to go with him. Like how many of the players from last year's draft are even established at this point? Like is Bo Nix the long term starter in Denver. Did you see enough last year? I think they're very happy with him. He was awesome. Yeah, yeah, I think

they're really happy. The only one to your starter like he looks like he's going to be the franchise QB for the Texans for a long, long time. Yeah, but but yes, I think somebody who put a bow on the question will will trade into the late first round if it comes to that. Yeah, it it is. Oh, Tyler shook is the other guy we need to talk about as a potential first runner, so it would be. Camwards gonna go number one.

Shadoor Jackson Dart, Jalen Milro Tyler shook those are the those the other ones that we think probably get drafted in the first couple of rounds. There's a 0% chance Tyler Shooks the first round draft pick, right? It's non-zero. It's non-zero? It's close to zero, but it's non-zero.

I will eat every Culver's flavor of cake, of ice cream. Don't threaten me with a good time, Murray. of cake, of ice cream. Don't threaten me with a good time, Larry. That would be miserable for me. There's nothing miserable about Culver's fresh frozen custard. It's pleasurable every time. You know what you should do? You should try to eat all of them.

You're big on eating challenges. Again, don't threaten me with a good time. Yeah, you're big on eating challenges. I'm test writing is a good time. Yeah, you're big on eating challenges. I'm well, I'm happy to do it. So what's the strategy tomorrow night, by the way? Speaking of this, since we're getting in tomorrow night, like are we just going to not eat dinner tomorrow and make sure that we're primed for Thursday or what?

It's not a bad idea. I've been seeing a lot on Instagram that like controlled fasting for three days every six months is really good for killing cancer cells. Is that true? I don't know. I am not a cancer doctor, but. All right.

So, we go next. All right, like you always do that. Like when I like take it off to an uncomfortable place. Moving along. Now we got to Justin's question. Which position group is the deepest in this year's NFL draft? Justin feels like running back is pretty deep and Justin's right. Running back is pretty deep, but it is not the deepest.

The deepest is edge rusher. Yeah, we're going to talk about this before the show. It's insane how far down you can go and still get somebody who could sack the quarterback. Yeah, I'm like looking at the list that you were looking at because I hadn't looked at it yet. And you start getting into like the low teens, high twenties and you have players who are very productive in college.

Like you said, Jack Sawyer at Ohio State is 17 and he made one. This is the PFF list. Yeah. Jordan Birch is number 19. Jordan Birch is 19. I don't know. Cayman Rucker, who is, who is very good at North Carolina. 26, uh, Ty Ingram Dawkins at Georgia, number 28, Antoine

Powell Rylan, who was really productive at Dawkin is at Georgia, number 28, Antoine Powell Rylan who was really productive at Virginia Tech is at 27. Yeah, and then obviously the top of the list is really good. So, Abdul Carter's gonna be the first non-QB off. Well, I don't know, Travis Hunter might be the first non-QB off the board, but Abdul Carter be the first edge off the board. Mike Green from Marshall, when we were at the Senior Bowl,

that dude was awesome. I felt, we were at the senior bowl. Are that that dude was awesome. Like, yeah, I felt so bad for the offensive tackles had to go against him. You got James Pierce, Jr. From Tennessee, Nick Scorton from Texas A&M. So an interesting thing on Nick Scorton. And if you watch Nick Scorton play at A&M last year, he was huge. That's not the Nick Scorton is going to play in the NFL. The next one is going to play in the NFL will look a lot more like the one who played at Purdue because I think he played in the

two eighties for A&M last year. I think he's going to play the two fifties in the NFL. Yeah. Which, which makes me wonder because a lot of people have Shamar Stewart Yeah, which which makes me wonder because a lot of people have Shamar Stewart. Going ahead of him in these mock drafts and I always have a real problem with that as someone who follows college football like they played on the same team. They play not exactly the same position, but they both do the similar things. Why wouldn't you take the one that is much more productive? Yeah, against the same competition on the same team. Yeah, you're you're big on that. But I and I'm with you on that.

I'm just like, like looking at the list here and like Josiah Stewart from Michigan. Yeah, exactly. It's like if there's one thing I know for sure is I'm drafting a Michigan defensive lineman. But yeah, that guy in the fourth round or whatever. I don't know. Edge rushers are a premium position. So listen, listen to eight, nine, 10 on the PFF rankings.

Actually, well, eight, nine, 10, 11. Landon Jackson from Arkansas. Dog. Also incredibly productive edge rusher. Braden Swenson from LSU. Dog. Prince Lee Manmeelen from Ole Miss. Dog.

And JT Tui Malau. Dog. Yeah. Wait, 12's Jared Ivy from Ole Miss and JT Tui Malau. Dog. Wait 12 is Jared Ivy from Ole Miss. It is and I've like I've seen NFL draft analysts say that this is one of the deeper edge draft classes of recent memory. So you know I didn't even look this up I just knew it was edge and then when I looked at the list I was just like, wow, that's insane. But also too, like when you think about

some of the position groups that in college football are really stacked, and this will kind of bleed into another question that we have later on in the show, but like, can you imagine like the receiver draft in two years? Oh, it'll be incredible. It's weird because I thought every receiver draft, just because the rise of seven on seven,

everybody having just so many more reps playing receiver, I thought that we're gonna have like a never ending, everything just gets better at receiver. But this is actually a pretty thin draft at receiver. The other position group I'd say that is really loaded is tailback because obviously Ash and Gentie is super special, but I will warn teams, don't spend a first round pick on Ash and Gentie is super special, but I will warn teams, don't spend a first round pick on Ash and Gentie

unless you've already got a good offensive line. Like running back is a luxury item. You have to have a good offensive line first. Like, yes, it worked out great for the Lions when they took Jameer Gibbs. They already had a great offensive line. The Eagles spent money on Saquon Barkley last year cause they already had a great offensive line. The Eagles spent money on Saquon Barkley last year because they already had a great offensive line.

Like Saquon Barkley would not have been nearly as good if he stayed with the Giants. But they didn't have a good offensive line. I do love the return of the Mac when it comes to like the running back position being a big, you know, a big position again. Like I do think that there should be like a regression back to the mean in terms of like value to those players. And like Saquon Barkley is

one of the biggest freaks that the NFL has ever seen at the running back position. But like, I think that we've seen teams that run the ball very well and have very reliable quarterback. I mean, our running backs have been better offensively lately. So I think he's a worthy pick, but you don't want them to run into the center's ass either. Exactly. And you've got Omarion Hampton but you don't want him to run into the centers ass either. Exactly, and you've got Omarion Hampton that you can take probably near the bottom of the first or early in the second.

Cam Scadaboo, our guy Dylan Sampson from Tennessee like Dylan Sampson was awesome. Yeah, Caleb Johnson, Trey Henderson, Quinchon Judkins. I mean, these are guys that you can probably get near the bottom of the second round RJ Harvey from UCF. Damien Martinez can probably get near the bottom of the second round. RJ Harvey from UCF, Damian Martinez from Miami.

We saw him at the senior bowl. DJ Giddens from Kansas State, who was just awesome. Devin Neal, every video game player's favorite running back. Like, Jarqus Hunter. The question that I do have is, of all the best running backs in the NFL, if the draft mirrors like the draft positioning, and I know it's been harder lately to get,

I mean, rarer lately for running backs to go in the first round, Bijan was kind of a unicorn in that regard, but how many of the most productive running backs in the NFL were amongst the first three running backs taken in their specific draft? I think would be an interesting case study too. I'm sure. Yeah, it's now Saquon is helping that one because Saquon was the first back off the

board in his draft. But it's a lot more scatter shot than that quarterback question. Because they're guys that are starting fifth round running backs. But it's like also to like a guy like Giddens from Kansas State. Like if he turned out to be an awesome player at the at the NFL level, like would anybody be surprised by that? And he probably wouldn't know, you know, like anybody who watched him play. He's a hard runner, he's athletic, he's got some

good burst, like I mean, that he that's the thing that's so crazy to me about the NFL in general, Andy, and I'm sure I'll say this nine more times in Wisconsin this week, but the amount of players who are truly special or really great players in college who don't even sniff playing time in the league just blows my mind. Yeah. Yeah, it is. I mean, because everybody's a freak, but not only is everybody a freak, everybody has just insane work ethic, because if you don't, you will lose your job tomorrow. And it's different. Now, I'll be curious to see how much the NIL era changes this

because we always wondered, like, there were certain guys who were like, well, if they start getting paid, they're going to take this a little more seriously. Well, they already started getting paid now. And in a lot of cases, they're making really good money in college. So does that kind of expose the ones who aren't willing to work as hard or who don't? We always joke about the do you love football question that the GMs ask every player in the draft. But there's a reason they're asking that they're asking, would you do this for free?

Because if we pay you a lot of money, there's a chance that you may just check out because you got a lot of money, but we don't want that to happen. Yeah. The running back position is really interesting too, because on the heels of what happened with Nico this week, if running backs never get taken in the first round,

which I think is gonna start changing, as we go more and more back to the mean, but if running back should and could demand more NIL compensation while they're putting the mileage on their bodies. Because they're also do they make a bigger difference in college than they make in the NFL because that's something and we'll talk about this as the off season goes on because I've got a couple stories that I'm working on about like how to moneyball things in college football in this era.

And I am curious because there's one I'm working on specifically right now where you, there's a, it has to do with a software tool. You have to decide how you want to weight different aspects but you you have to decide how you want to wait different aspects, but you also have to decide how you want to split your budget up. And you can just do it the way the NFL teams do it, but I'm not sure that's the best way,

because I think a running back in the NFL might not be as valuable as a great running back in college. Right. So it might be that they are worth, because like in the NFL, you may devote 8% of your salary cap to running backs. I'm just pulling these numbers out of thin air. In college, you may want to devote 12% of your budget to running backs. It just depends on how big of a difference they make. Like we know how big of a difference quarterbacks make. We know how big of a difference edge rushers, offensive tackles make. But running backs may be a little bit different between the two leagues.

Right. I'm glad you brought that up, though, because it does lead into our next question, which comes from Sean, which is an NIL era, like one of those that you never thought you'd be asking 10 years ago. Hey guys, something I can't make sense of that I'm hoping you guys can bring clarity to. Why did Quinn Ures declare for the NFL instead of spending another year in college?

Based on all the mock drafts, the earliest Ures would go is the fourth round. The first pick in last year's fourth round is making a little over a million a year. Yours would make between three and five million in college next year. Is this decision driven by the fear of further injuring himself or something else?

Thank you. That's such a great question. Is it bad? And I think- Is the podcast gonna be like, I don't know? We don't know and I think Quinn'd cast it to be like, I I don't know. Like we don't know. And I think when yours would have to answer that question and I know he's been asked it, I don't know that he's he's given like the full full on answer. I think maybe once he gets drafted,

he probably will give a little more introspective answer on that. I think. This could be a bet on yourself situation. Because look, the real money in sports, whether this is your, you know, whether it's football, basketball, whatever, the real money is the second contract in the pro league. basketball, whatever, the real money is the second contract in the pro league. So

you go one year faster to the second contract by leaving college now. Ewers was asked about that on the Gruden's QB class, you know, John Gruden's doing the QB school thing again, except with Barstool and- In CalSports. Ewers said it was time for something new and he made good money in college so he's made some money playing quarterback. I think he probably just believes in himself and believes that that he can stick in the league and here's the thing Ari I think we all look at it like you're the starting quarterback at Texas so anything less than being a 10-year starter in the NFL is a failure after that.

Well, no, if Quinn yours is in the NFL drawing a paycheck for the next 15 years, whether he's a starter or not, that's a success. The who's the the the where back his name is escaping me. We're back. Texas quarterback. He's also Sam Ellinger. Sam Ellinger. the the the where back got his names escaping me where back Texas quarterback. He's also Sam Ellinger. Sam Ellinger. He's in the league still isn't he? Yeah, he's with the Colts. Yeah, he was with the Colts. Right. Yeah. So you know, the thing that I think is interesting though is that he is been he has been somebody who's

been injured every year. Okay. I don't know if he has one of those bodies that just not durable enough to play this game. Some people just have them at a high level. So for me, if I were him personally knowing that about myself, I probably would take the guaranteed money. Now the question here is, he wasn't coming back to Texas, right? We have to acknowledge that the time that he spent at Texas had come to an end. Right, because Art was taking over. So it was going to be like, not the same as Carson Beck's situation, because Carson Beck actually was going to go to the draft. And then when the Miami thing popped up, he's like, I think I'll do this. Oh, by the way, Sam Ellinger now backing up Bo Nix at the Broncos. Okay, got it. But still in the league, seven years later.

Now, the secondary question is, if Quinn would have said, I'm entering the portal and not at the draft, would Miami have paid him Carson Beck money? Would that have lined up correctly? And if they wouldn't have, then the options at that point are pretty limited in terms of which programs are probably

even in the market to pay. Like when you think about the highest profile quarterback transfer moves, the one the biggest one that comes to mind is Oklahoma. And I don't think that was an option. Right. Off for obvious reason. No, I think they wanted John material because they hired Ben Arbuckle as the OC from Washington State. He was like that.

It might not have officially been a package deal or it was a package deal. This is a. Funny way of saying is the market is strong for Quinn, yours in the NIL space as we think it is just based on what other people are paying. A funny way of saying is the market is strong for Quinn Ewers in the NIL space as we think it is, just based on what other people are paying. Could be. Like at the time,

because he would have had to made the decision before the spring portal, right? He wouldn't have had the benefit of knowing. We just heard that Joey Aguiar got slightly over a million from Tennessee, which is what he would, I believe what he was supposed to get from UCLA. Quinn Ewers would have commanded that at least, which is more than he would make as a fourth round draft pick.

The question asserts that he would be making three to four million. I don't know if that's a fact. That's the only thing. Right. Yeah, we don't either. Yeah. So I do think though, Ari, that if he'd stayed in college for one more year somebody would have paid him more than he would make as a fourth round draft pick.

Agreed and I think that he would have had a chance to maybe improve his draft stock but at the same time too he probably you know how much that man loves Texas? A lot. I don't know that he'd want to go be the starting quarterback of Georgia Tech or something like I that man loves Texas. A lot. I don't know that he'd want to go be the starting quarterback at Georgia Tech or something. Like I just, you know. But it's weird, cause he was at Ohio State for a year.

So that's where I kind of. That would have been crazy. He would have gone to Ohio State if they wanted, if they felt like they needed an extra year. Yeah, brought it back. Yeah. Cause that, well, that was like the rumor, right? People thought that Quinn Ubers was considering Ohio State at the end of the year.

Like if you go back to January, that was a discussion point behind the scenes. And I think it's interesting because now we're seeing, we're finally seeing all the COVID year guys are almost out of college football. So because the NFL said, like the NFL people were saying the drafts were not as deep because you had these COVID year guys who were gonna be late round draft picks who were staying in college because they could make more money in college than they could as late round draft picks. Now they're out. And so we're seeing decisions like this.

And it does make you kind of wonder. Cause I do think Quinn Uris could have made more, but I also think if he's doing the math on it, if he probably thinks he's gonna be a starting quarterback in the NFL, and if he is a starting quarterback in the NFL, which given the trivia question I asked you about first rounders and not first rounders, is highly unlikely, but if he was,

then being a year earlier to that second contract is still worth more than staying in school another year. Yeah. Yeah. But I think it's a good question and definitely probably something that he was internally battling. I don't think.

Yeah. You know, and I think we're going to see this every year. I think I think we're going to see this. There's going to be one or two quarterbacks every year who are right on that line of I can make more in college, but if it works in the NFL, if I leave now, I still make more there. Under any circumstance, normal circumstance to Quinn, you were just wouldn't be backed up by Arch Manning.

Like this is a very interesting. He would have had the option to stay at Texas. He did not have the option to stay. There aren't a lot of people that have been as productive as Quinn has in his career. Who would not have been welcomed back for their final year. Yeah, it's just a strange situation. Strange situation, right. All right, this question is from Josh Gaddis, but not that Josh Gaddis.

It's not? No, it is not the former offensive coordinator, but it's also not someone named Josh Gaddis. They named their account Josh Gaddis Speed in Space, like the offensive coordinator. So it's sort of a parody account, but they ask serious questions all the time. They're usually really good questions. Yeah. So here's this one. Do a snake draft for quarterback plus receiver combos who both not only have two plus years of eligibility left their schools,

but will definitely both be in college football in 2026 can do it for either three or four combos each. I disagree. Fake Josh Gaddis. I only think we can do this for two, for, for two each. Well, I can think of four here total. Four that I think we would be on the same page with. But the question is, Four here total. Four that I think we would be on the same page with, but the question is, could you buy stock in players who may not play this year just to have them in two years?

Yeah, and I think you kind of have to, but let's just start. Do you wanna have the first pick or do you want me to have the first pick? I'll have the first pick. Okay, you go ahead. Dallas Wilson and DJ Lague. Okay, I figured that's who your first pick would be.

So DJ Lagway is gonna be sophomore at Florida. Dallas Wilson's an incoming freshman. They're very excited about him, five star guy. So they will definitely be playing together for at least two years. All right, so I get two picks, right? Yes. So I will take Julian Sayen and Jeremiah Smith.

Yeah. Because I don't care who's throwing to Jeremiah Smith. I have Jeremiah Smith. I will also take Keelan Russell and Ryan Williams because I get Ryan Williams, who I know is great. And then Keelan Russell, I may not get him as the starter this year, but I might get him as a starter this year and next year. And the thing is I can't take Ty Simpson because if Ty Simpson wins the Alabama job,

but balls out this season, he's already been in college four years, he's going pro. And this is where things really start to fall apart because you are drafting players that haven't played yet now, right? Yeah, yeah, because Keyla Russell, I don't know if he'll win the Alabama job. you are drafting players that haven't played yet now, right? Yeah. Yeah. She's Keeley Russell.

I don't know if he'll win the Alabama job. We think it's going to be Ty Simpson. But the problem is Ty Simpson might be in the NFL after a year, in which case Keeley Russell might be their starter in 26. Right. So what you have to do is you have to draft a quarterback receiver combination.

Where you know the receivers awesome at the quarterback might not have played at this point because quarterbacks are one year and done like for instance, like even Jackson Arnold because my next pick is Cam Coleman. Okay, so like my, my, that was mine, but I did do snipe cam call me because I know just like I would have gone Jackson Arnold cam colman but Arnold could go to the draft if he has a great year this year right so my next pick would be deuce night cam colman and then my if I go back back now I'm going to take two players that aren't playing much this year and that'd be Mylon Graham and Tavian St. Clair which are the two young Ohio

State players at Ohio State like it's that we had two Ohio State ones. Yeah, honestly, you have to go with Ohio State receivers at this point, and they'll most certainly be, they might have one great year in 26. But like, I mean, it kind of falls apart after that in terms of like, I mean, who are your next two? Do you have another two? I don't have them. Like, the four I came up with were Julian Say and Jeremiah Smith, Keela Russell, Ryan Williams,

DJ Lagway, Dallas Wilson, Deuce Night, Cam Coleman. Those were the four. Yeah, so it was, that was a tougher scenario than you would have thought. I love that question though. It was a great thought exercise. But here's the one That you might be able to take Ryan Wingo and D abel. Oh

Like if you want to start going into like high school seniors But then might not be the starting might not be the starting quarterback his freshman year, and then it was a worthless pick Yeah quarterback his freshman year and then it was a worthless pick. Yeah, it is. It's so hard to do because I have to put her in the back Mercklinger and in Mike Matthews. My Matthews might be the one at all. Like I think in order to be draftable one of the duo has to have already been approved an entity right like because Ryan Wingo has two more years and here's another one like Josiah

Trader, but I don't know what I don't know what Miami quarterback you take. And then also too in the, in, in, uh, in, um, college football, the freshmen that you're taking will probably get like portaled over. Like it's, this would be a lot easier to do in 2019 than it is now. Oh, no doubt, no doubt. So by the way, and I've gone down the rabbit hole because now I've got a kid who, you know,

he's in high school. So I'm looking at the recruits in his graduating class because we're starting to evaluate and rank those guys. And like, I'm sure you've heard of Trey Wright, living in Texas. He's a class of 28 quarterback slash basketball player. Like his Instagram videos are insane. Just the athleticism.

I don't know how good of a quarterback he is yet, but the athleticism is insane. And it's, it's weird to me knowing that these are these guys the same age as my kid. Yeah. Well, they're so I had a parent of a friend call parent of a friend call and call me the other day. And his kid is, I'm not gonna tell you who it is, but is a kid who's a three-star prospect, borderline three-star, who has a offer from everybody in the Mac. Okay, and he was basically calling and asking, what can my kid do to get power five, power four interest?

And my advice to him would be the same advice to everybody, which is get your kid to as many camps as possible in order to get- Yeah, pick the ones you want to be interested in your kid and go to that camp. Cause if they come in with offers from all the Mac schools, the coaches at the camp, the coaches at the school you're going to,

will know that and will pay attention. Like they're going to look at that at your kid closely. And here's what he said, because I thought it was an actually an interesting scenario, which is going to wrap around to what you were saying about kids in your son's class. He said his son is a very productive high school football player. He's a he's a defender and really, really good. I'll even tell you, he's a lineback. And tackles as a flies all over the field, has really good ball recognition,

can get in space and arrive at the ball handler. But he said he didn't want to enroll him in any camps because he is a kid that doesn't have a ton of natural athleticism and might test poorly. He's a much better football player. Oh, I had that conversation with my son the other day. He came back because we're going to do some camps this summer. And he said, are we sure we want to do this?

I don't know how good my 40s going to be. I'm like, I don't care. Like, because you're a freshman in high school this year, like your 40 and all that, all of the testing stuff will get better. But if your tape's good and your tape's good enough to get offers, it doesn't matter. And I have no idea if my son's gonna get recruited or not.

Like we'll see, he's not of freakish size already. So we don't know how big he's gonna wanna be. But like this guy that you're talking about, he's already got Mac offers. Yes. Cause he's a good- It doesn't matter what he runs. But it brings me back to the of like, yeah, my kid

is a good lineman or my kid's a good edge rusher, but he's not, you know, the important thing should be realistic about it because there are parents who get way out over their skis, don't understand the recruiting process and go into their son's senior year and don't understand why North Carolina and, you know Arkansas aren't recruiting their kid like because they were never going to recruit your kid like you would have known two years ago if schools like that were going to be recruiting your kid. Yeah. Like my advice to you and you already know it because you've been around this game as

many as many way more years than I have been is just like don't beat yourself up over the great tape from a kid in your son's class because it's like those freaks are gonna be there and that's what I tell him because like I don't care if he plays college football I don't know if he even wants to play college football but he really likes playing football and he likes working at it so I was like look you know you do the best you can at this and we'll see how it goes. And now this is probably a situation where the world has changed. But my end of my freshman year, I had not even played organized football yet.

So the thought of being recruited, being on a college football roster had not even crossed my mind. And to be honest, it didn't become something I even thought about until after my junior season, when a coach from Air Force showed up at my school to talk to me and I asked my head coach, I'm like, why are they talking to me? Yeah. And he's like,

cause they might want you to play with them. I was like, why? Cause you're devils. Have they seen my tape? Yeah. But you know, I think you're going to be very seasoned and you know how this world works, so you'll you'll figure it out. But it's but it's it's interesting to see because like the pressure

I I I'm empathizing more with the parents that we deal with in the recruiting space because the pressure is pretty tough. And it's interesting because of all these, football is the most democratic of these sports. It's way worse in lacrosse and volleyball and all of those where it's very club-based. And holy crap, it's political and expensive and everything else.

At least with football, you kind of have an idea. Like you put some good tape out there, you pick and choose your camps, like go show out and they're gonna figure it out. But it is tough. And so parents out there who are, you know, got kids in the recruiting process right now, I feel you. Like I can sense where that pressure comes from.

And I, you know, because it's hard, like, and we've talked about this with the Nico stuff. This is where I don't, as much as I have criticized Nico's dad, it's hard to not believe your kid is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's really hard. Everybody thinks that, I feel like that. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So it's-

I actually became an overbearing parent at a gymnastics class. Really? Yeah. We have one more question, but I need to hear this first. Okay, yeah. Go ahead. So we have her in gymnastics on Friday night and she's three and she's very eccentric and my daughter is very athletic for her age, very fast and agile and if you've seen my wife,

you know she's got the perfect body for gymnastics. She's got a pretty thick lower core while also remaining light and small. And she is clearly, and I'm not just being a parent that thinks that their daughter's better at everything. Like I think she's got like a tension span problems. Like I can see where her weaknesses are. But the thing that was difficult was that they won't advance her to the next level with the older kids where she belongs clearly

based on her ability, because she doesn't listen well enough during the classes, like she runs off and does it. And like the natural athletic ability comes from your wife, the not listening comes from you. Yeah, so she's the perfect combination of me and my wife. And I was like, What do you mean she doesn't listen while she's three? She doesn't know what planet she's on. What are you talking about?

I love it. Yeah. But that is. And new parents don't get this like. They don't understand like this. This comes at you quick. You assume like it's not going to happen till your kids are teenagers. This stuff comes at you when they're three, four years old. I'm sitting there on the edge like and I'm watching her go through their routines and she's

doing her cartwheels and all that stuff and like I found myself like sitting on the edge of my seat like stick that landing baby. Like I was like into it. Like I don't know if that means I'm going to be a gymnastics dad but like I wanted her to do well, and I want her to succeed, you know, but I don't know. Producer River has a question for dear Andy Dura, is it easier with two kids with kid two compared to kid one? No. Because kid two brings a different flavor of chat, like, you don't worry about as many things with kid two, because you

went like you don't, you don't worry about as many things with kid two because you went like you don't they don't wrap them in bubble wrap but especially when they get into their whatever their thing is you get just as competitive because so I am just as interested and you know devoted to whatever my daughter is doing in ballet is what my son is doing in football. Like both are equally important to that kid. So you got to make sure that you're supporting them in the way you have to support them. And like you said, Ari, like there are times when you get frustrated because, you know, why are they not moving along or advancing that they're clearly better than these kids? Why are they being stuck? It's tough, it's tough and you gotta have those conversations with the kid

and you have to figure out, do we have them in the right place? Like, do we have our kid at the right ballet studio? Is our kid playing in the right football program? Like, these are all questions you have to ask. And acquiring property because of the school district that you think they might thrive in even though you have no idea what that means.

Yeah, exactly, exactly. One more question. It is a pure college football question. Also, if you'd asked me this five years ago, I would have laughed. But this is a legitimate question now. It's from Andrea. After Indiana's meteoric rise last season, what do you think happens this year? It's crazy to think a three lost season Would be disappointing to the fan base. Okay, can get I don't think That Indiana fans have gotten that spoiled with one good year. Like if they went nine and three this year Nobody's really disappointed right Ari

No, I don't think they're disappointed I think that if they were to regress to eight and four, nine and three, that would be a pretty good place to regress to because I think that would be like a sign of growth and movement, right? You know, a program that was the, you know, glorified by week for everybody every single weekend, you know, four or five years ago now is a team that is a tough out. And you know, the thing that is interesting about the transfer portal era is that teams and

coaches can do a magnificent job of turning around programs very quickly. If you hit the right three or four guys in the portal, you're in a position where you're you're moving it a little bit, right. But the the difference between flipping a team and flipping a program is very different. And I think we lose sight of that. Because just because Indiana made the playoff last year doesn't mean that everything's fixed and they're a power now. You change a program through years of consistency.

Like, you know, Indiana will have made it when they, eight and four is a bad year. You know, eight and four is a relatively successful year for them. So no, I don't think that they, I don't like speaking for fan bases and maybe I'm off on this, but I don't think that nine and three would be disappointing. What I think it would be is a reminder of how sweet winning is.

Because you're dormant for so long, you forget what feeling a part of the deal is like, and then you finally get a taste of that playoff run, and then you realize how crappy purgatory is. You know, like that's. Well, listen, they've scheduled for success here.

So ODU, Kennesaw State, Indiana State, to kick things off. They should start three and oh, but the big 10 gets real very quickly because they open with Illinois and the following week they're at Iowa. Then they get a bi-week and then they're at Oregon. So if they can be one and two in Big Ten play. So let's say you start start four and two in the first half of the season. I think eight wins is very, very realistic.

Nine wins is realistic. Fascinated by that US UCLA game, because obviously we've talked a ton about UCLA with Niko going there, but for Indiana's purposes, UCLA is going to be running Indiana's offense. So Mike Shanahan is the offensive coordinator in Indiana. He's still there calling the plays. He called the plays last year, but their quarterback's coach, Tino Sunsiri, has gone to UCLA as the offensive coordinator and is bringing that offense to UCLA. So like will Indiana's defense

be better prepared for UCLA because they're essentially playing their own offense that they see all the time. I don't know. Yeah, but I think it's a good sign that we are talking about this and my yeah, and I don't want to lose track of Indiana. I don't want him to just like, if they start off, you know, one and four or two, and that probably won't happen with their schedule. Well, they ain't starting off one and four.

They're not scheduled like that. They're not. If they got off to a less than expected start, you know, we should still. Yeah. But the meat of their big 10 schedule is the first three games. They do have to play Penn State after that

later in the season, but the Iowa, of their Big 10 schedule is the first three games. They do have to play Penn State after that later in the season, but the Iowa or the Illinois, Iowa, Oregon, three games in a row. You got the bi-week between Iowa and Oregon, but they're both on the road. You got to win one of those. Well, the good news for Indiana is that if they somehow pull off, like what if, you know, SIG's transfers are all awesome again and we're underestimating them again. The news is is that Indiana won't have to hear about how easy their schedule was this year if they actually get to the finish line here they'll be in a position where they'll be you know not questioned from a legitimacy standpoint but yeah no I think that this is a a fun program and I'm hoping that you know as we continue to you see the results, whether or not they actually

have something sustainable will be interesting to analyze. Fernando Mendoza, your new starting quarterback at Indiana coming from Cal loved watching this guy at Cal. He replaces Curtis Rourke. So we'll see how well he does in that offense. But yeah, I think I'm excited to see what Curtis is now he does in year offense. But yeah, I think I'm excited to see what Kurtz did that he does in year two. If we look at his history, those teams have stayed good. So I don't think Indiana is going to be a flash in the pan. It will be interesting to see if

they ever get spoiled. I always talk about Ari might, you know, growing up as a South Carolina fan, then watching Steve Spurrier have some really good seasons there, beat Clemson multiple times in a row. And all of a sudden, South Carolina fan than watching Steve Spurrier have some really good seasons there, beat Clemson multiple times in a row. And all of a sudden South Carolina fans start thinking 10 wins and beating Clemson as a birthright. And it ain't, it's tough. And so Kentucky fans are going through that now after Mark Stoops raised the floor of the program and now they're like, wait a second.

And then coaches ultimately get hung out to dry later on in their careers based on the standard that they created, which is kind of how it happens. So, cause it's a winning nectar. Yeah, coach Sig's still in the honeymoon phase, but I do think he's going to keep them at a pretty high level. So I'm really excited to see what they do that.

They were the story of college football last year. And I hope they're one of the stories of college football again this year, because they were certainly fun to watch last year. So I'm very excited. When next we see each other, we'll be in Green Bay. Well, actually we'll be in the Milwaukee airport, headed to Green Bay.

We're going to have to talk about that logistically, because I don't know when you land. I am not telling you. You just sounded a guess. I'll figure it out. I'll run a car. I'll show up in the rental car. Beep, beep, beep. All right.

Great Wisconsin Tailgate presented by Culver's. We will be there. Cross the street from Lambeau Field. We talk and draft. Butterburgers will be there. Fresh frozen custard will be there. Wisconsin cheese curds will be there. There's nothing better. Nothing better.

We will see you in Green Bay.