Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - NFL Draft Predictions, Diggs on the Move, and Prospects Ceilings and Floors

Episode Date: April 10, 2024

Geoff is back alongside Gabe Goodwin to talk through the latest rumors ahead of the NFL draft, and what can we learn from the Bills trading Stefon Diggs to the Texans? Plus, Geoff corrects Gabe's unrealistic expectations for some major NFL prospects.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

it's Tuesday April 9th I'm Jeff Schwartz as Jeff Schwartz is smarter than you alongside Gabe Goodwin we are back after a little hiatus I was on vacation enjoying some time with my family Gabe was writing his Curb Your Enthusiasm fan blog and we'll talk about all of it football talk a little Curb that's now officially over we'll talk some basketball as well Gabe how you doing buddy it's been a while. I'm doing fine. Thank you, Jeff. I observed your vacation. And the question I have, I think, and probably people who watch this show, follow you on social and have the same question. Where do you get these outfits? Because it's a lot of fabric. And it's a lot of, you know, beautifully constructed stuff. But you're a very big man. That doesn't seem like

something you can go by at the gap. Okay. So the outfits I wear on the trip with my wife was like a month ago. The Hawaiian outfits are at the top and bottom of matching Amazon, buddy, like $27, three XL. Oh yeah. Out of here. It's yeah.

I'll send you guys a link. Just search big and tall Hawaiian, like dress sets or whatever it was. Hawaii. it's like 27 bucks I got like a 3x I just I get in the package I get four of them I put them in the suitcase I get there I earn it before before before I go to dinner people love them they think it's like that's the weirdest thing of all time and then when I when the other thing I wear on trips almost exclusively is the

fishing shirt right like the Columbia fishing shirt. Oh, yeah, those are nice. Yeah, super comfortable. You can rock those. It really helps with sweat, too, because it wicks pretty fast. You bring four or five of them. It's a little gross, but you maybe let one dry out and wear it in three or four days, like at the end of the trip.

It's not the most sanitary thing, but it is what it is. So we don't have fun. We're at Nickelodeon Resort. It's exactly what you sanitary thing, but it is what it is. So we had a lot of fun. We were at Nickelodeon Resort. It's exactly what you expect it to be. Like it's just – it's a bunch of screaming kids on water slides for five hours that get sunburned. I mean, I don't know. There's no way to keep lotion on kids for five, six hours

as much as you try to reapply it. And it was great. The kids would ride slides for three or four times in a row and then get a cup of ice cream and then do it again and do it again and do it again. And I just sat there and watched women's college basketball on my cell phone with a VPN from the – well, there wasn't much to do. I'm not like going to spend a lot of time in the water park.

It's like not my thing. I went down a slide with my wife. I did the Lazy River, big Lazy River fan. Yeah, Lazy River is great. But the women's tournament was on at great times. It was like Monday at 2 p.m. Eastern or whatever. It ended up being technically Eastern time zone, but they don't celebrate daylight savings

so they're central time, whatever. I'm sitting there just at the thing watching the basketball. I'll tell you what, man. Legalized sports wagering helps a lot with this because I put some shekels down on some of these women's games I was watching just to have something to feel alive about during these games. And we just finished college basketball for the season game.

We'll get to football in just a second. I know that's why you guys are here, but some college basketball thoughts. UConn, incredible. It's so funny to me how, like, social media brain rots people into giving some just some weird takes about stuff like and you know we saw the women's tournament was was fabulous right and and but people wanted to clear it was better than the men's okay maybe it was maybe it wasn't but like who cares man the women's tournament was great we by the way I feel like we have been ahead of the women's basketball. Very ahead. Because you

are a USC... Do you still own season tickets for USC? Football, yeah. You did. I went to several women's games, but... I thought you had tickets. I went to a few home games. Yeah, but because of my Pac-12 radio job, and the Pac-12

has been so good at women's college basketball, Stanford won the championship in 2021, I believe, against Arizona. It's a sport that, Gabe, I didn't want to like. I'll be honest. I was one of those people that was probably like, you know, it's too slow. It's not the men's game. There's no dunking. And then you start watching the high-level basketball.

Again, I had to watch for my job. And it started with mostly Stanford and what Tara Vanderveer has done. And then it spread through the rest of the Pac-level basketball that I – again, I had to watch for my job, and it started with mostly Stanford and what Tara Vanderveer has done, and then it spread through the rest of the Pac-12. Plus, Oregon, by the way, was number one in the country when the pandemic happened with Sabrina and Ruthie and all the players they had. And, like, you start realizing it's some really good basketball. The high-level women's college basketball is fantastic.

And it's funny that people that don't like it are the ones that are upset the nba is not fundamental enough and yet you're like go watch the women's game like everything that you want in basketball that you complain about i don't want to watch a women's game because it's not you know watch the women's game it has everything you want it has it's yeah they don't duck it's only they shoot threes they pass the ball they screen they pick and roll they go down low there's a post part of it which obviously in the men's game last night we saw happen. But I'm glad to be ahead of the women's basketball renaissance. It's great for the sport. And I think it will continue post-Kaitlyn Clark.

I don't know if we'll get 20 million people to watch a national championship game again like we had. But I think it's here to stay, man. I think people are in on women's college basketball now. I think so too. The short reason why my kids who are six, your kids who are just a bit older, I think we've never had a discussion about guys. What if we watched women's basketball? It's just basketball. They've been to more women's games than men's games. They root for their favorite team. It happens to be women on the team. It's never been a discussion about how that's novel or different or something I wasn't into before. They just like it. So assuming the teams stay good, they'll just keep on watching it. And

perhaps they'll grow up knowing as many women in college basketball as they know men in college basketball. We'll see. But let's talk about the names in college football who are about to be in the nfl is that a nice segue look at you radio guy i like it it's professional right there yeah all right listen so all the fun takes and this show is all about you know poking fun at some takes or maybe actually giving some credit to good takes uh a lot of the takes right now are like you know what they're gonna do they're're gonna trade down. Well, how many teams are trading down guys? And who's trading up? I don't think I can keep track of it all though. The number one cool take is the Pats are obviously going to trade

down. They don't want to be at three, they're going to get their quarterback later in the first. Maybe that's true. But like, how is this working? Jeff makes sense of this take for me not everyone can trade down. How is this working, Jeff? Make sense of this take for me. Not everyone can trade down. So Bill Barnwell from ESPN has a thing he says about all pro teams or pro bowl teams, people complain about the teams. He says, if you complain to me about what I write or what was voted on, you have to tell me who replaces the person you want off the team, right? So if you say, well, I don't think Joshosh allen should be there then give me the

quarterback that should be in for josh allen right like so when i have a rule on my social media now at jeff schwartz that if you say i think x team is going to trade down you have to tell me who's trading up and for who because yeah every every team should trade down like that that is the ideal draft strategy trade back get as many picks as you can, and do it every season. If you have the capability to trade back every year, Gabe, you should do it. Look what the Bears are about to do. They're going to get Caleb Williams and maybe the third-best wideout, who might be the first wideout to play on your board,

plus DJ Moore last year, plus whatever right last year. And they're loading this team up because they traded back last season. Trading back is almost always a positive, but you have to have someone who's willing to trade up. And you look at New England at three, they are probably the first candidate to trade back. I'm with everyone on that game. I agree with that idea because the Patriots have so many roster holes that I'm not sure getting a quarterback now is going to help them get to where they want to be. But I can make the counterpoint of, like, you're not going to draft third next season, right?

You have Jacoby Brissett. You're going to have a better team. You might draft 10th next season. And you might have to package your picks and move back up to three. But, again, I don't see Drake May and Jaden Daniels or J.J. McCarthy as guys that are guaranteed. I think Caleb Williams is going to be in the NFL. He's a good football player.

I'd be shocked if he wasn't. The other guys, to me, again, situation matters a lot. Where you go, who you play with, who's your coach. That's all important. I think Drake May and Daniels and McCarthy, Bo Nix, Michael Penix, all fit into that category. I think Caleb is good no matter what. I think he's just that type of player.

So the Patriots say, look, let's trade out of three. We don't love Jaden Daniels or Drake May. I think it will be Drake May, honestly. I think Daniels goes too. And let's get ourselves a out of three. We don't love Jaden Daniels or Drake May. I think it'll be Drake May, honestly. I think Daniels goes two. And let's get ourselves a bunch of picks. And we have another first-round pick next year. We'll have two. We can move up if we want to do like Minnesota might do in this draft, right?

They're the candidate to move up to three, most likely. Maybe the Broncos want someone at three. They're desperate to get a quarterback. They want to move up. So it's certainly possible. But then again, the Patriots might say, look, man, we want a quarterback now. We love Drake May. He's available.

We love McCarthy. He's available. Let's do it. To me, the surefire candidate trade back is the Cardinals. I think at four, if we go one, two, three quarterbacks at four, if McCarthy is as light as NFL teams claim to like him that feels like the spot where Arizona again they could use a wide receiver but they could use other players too and trading back to the middle of first round they could get a wide receiver too Brian Thomas

will be there there's a bunch of guys there but they can also get offensive linemen there in the middle of the first round pass rusher court I mean so many options for for that team Arizona trades back out of four and and someone trades up for McCarthy. Gabe, the McCarthy thing is interesting to me because it always fascinates me this time of year who we choose. Not we. I don't choose this. But who the media chooses or scouts choose, the film doesn't matter.

The upside matters. And for other guys, the upside doesn't matter. It's just watch the film, guys. Like McCarthy, to me, again, very limited amount of film. I actually think that having less film helps prospects because you get to this point where you say with McCarthy, right? Like there's not a lot of film of him doing NFL things over and over again. But when he's asked to do third down, he's fine, right?

But is he as good as other quarterbacks in this class? No. Michael Penix has a ton of more film of doing better things, NFL things, than McCarthy does. But McCarthy is the upside. We've determined that he's the upside guy in this draft. And I'm trying to think back, man. When do upside guys win Super Bowls like that?

I mean, Mahomes wasn't McCarthy, right, obviously? A big upside guy, but different type of player. I give you one. He's become a punchline. It's Joe Flacco. Joe Flacco was an upside guy who did pay off as much as we do. But he went to Delaware. I think that's different than a Michigan quarterback, right?

I mean, a lot of the guys who are from lower-level schools, they are, quote-unquote, like upside guys. Josh Allen's one of them, right? But McCarthy went to Michigan. He played a lot of the a lot of the guys who are from lower level schools they are quote-unquote like upside guys josh allen's one of them right but mccarthy went to michigan he played a lot of football and they didn't ask him to do a lot now he's determined whether that's his fault like okay i'll give you another example so justin herbert or oregon wasn't asked to do a lot just what the offense was that was a knock on him but for mcc McCarthy it's a positive like oh it wasn't let's do a lot it's fine like that he could have done it if they wanted to do it but yet Herbert we decided bad what why didn't work and do that why didn't they trust him or why was the offense run through him and it's just funny how we these narratives form in the draft process I think it's

because they hear from teams like hey we like And they've got to figure out a reason why they should like said player. So, look, McCarthy's probably going four, I feel like. I feel like that's where we get our first trade. Okay, so I'm going to throw something out there. It's a little bit meta inside baseball here, inside football, as it were. I don't know who reps J.J. McCarthy. I don't know who his quote-unquote team is. reps, JJ McCarthy, I don't know who his quote unquote team is. But he's to me for a couple years now, but especially in the last several weeks, it has felt like he's the guy that

had the team breathing him into existence as a top five pick. And all of us media who want something to talk about every day are excited to talk about him because he's a Michigan kid. And all the reasons you just said in this stupid headspace before the game, which it turns out is Bob Marley songs. It's another conversation. We just want the story. But the reality is that the people who are paid to watch the tape and paid to actually put this guy on a field are like, yeah, I don't want that guy as my quarterback. and paid to actually put this guy on a field are like, yeah, I don't want that guy as my quarterback.

And he looks to me like the guy who's going to be sitting there the same way Brady Quinn and Johnny Manziel and a few other guys famously have, Aaron Rodgers famously have, in the green room, where we talked all this noise from February to June, and then nobody actually wants them in the top five pick, right? I think it's Rosenhaus. Is it? Okay, perfect. I didn't even know that.

I'm looking right now. Maybe he did his NIL and didn't do – I would imagine if he did your NIL – yeah, they did their NIL, but I would imagine that probably means he's his agent for the NFL. It's probably that tradeoff you have right there. Well, he's very good at getting people to talk about his clients. Well, he is too, but that's also a good point you made

because the last couple of weeks we've seen, in my opinion, sort of a Michael Penn-X, Bo Nix media blitz, and their agents are getting them on these shows and we're talking about them in ways that we haven't before. I mean, I've seen people talk about, well, Michael Penn. I'm like, we've had this film for two years now. Bo Nix, the same thing. And now all of a sudden our opinion changed

because they go on your podcast or because they're on NFL media. And I get how that game works. Trust me. I understand how that works. But it's so interesting how opinions change when the guys do the media tour and to your point about mccarthy it does feel like there has been a blitz from his his representatives to get him the stock and you're right look he very well could fall

i you know it's funny everyone you talk to like his highest grade on a big board is like 20 you know like and the quarterback obviously is a position where you know you you overdraft obviously at times but no one's willing to be like yep that's that's that's the guy like it's just it it's everything is always someone else's interest by the way politics works the same way every time we have presidential primary, you're told that a lot of people are really interested in so-and-so candidate. And then people show up to vote and it's like, no, no, everybody liked this other guy. That's just, it's the same thing.

We get these things spun at us. And you're right. The fact that they're willing to go on, I'm sure guys have a ton of fun when they go on, pardon my take, right? It seems like it'd be a blast if you're a young guy and you get invited on that show. Of course you want to do that. That's not something that happens spontaneously until you've been on a few times and they build a relationship and they get your cell phone number.

The first time you go on, there's like a hundred people working on that behind the scenes, trying to make it happen at the right time. And they have an agenda. The guys just want to talk to a football player. That's all're trying to do but the booking process includes pr people that's what's happening with a lot of these guys so i i let's go back to the original football point though you said there has to be someone who's willing to trade up if there's a team that wants to trade down that's natural marketing economics right you mentioned the broncos i see a lot from credible people about the Raiders.

Daniel Jeremiah is a good person to listen to this time of year. Traditionally, he thinks the Raiders might be in play at the three. Do you buy that? I do. They need a quarterback. I don't know if their roster is good enough to trade future assets for a quarterback. You know, like it's – Mahomes to trade up went well, obviously. We know that.

But the Chiefs had a very special situation where that ended up being a reason why it was good. But again, please check me if you want a new one. But teams trading up for quarterbacks, Gabe, like moving up 10 spots, 15, 20 spots, has that produced a lot of like franchise winning quarterbacks over? Like, I feel like if you're trading up to three or four for McCarthy or Drake May, you're given a lot of assets that you need to have in future years because your roster is not

in the shape to beat the Chiefs, right? Like it's just, and now you're giving up a first round pick next year, second round pick this year, second-round pick next year, to move up to get Drake May McCarthy. To me, the Raiders are in a prime spot for maybe a Michael Penix. They're right in the middle of that first round. Bo Nix, one of those two guys. I would take Michael Penix and just keep your assets for next year. That's the way I would do it with the Raiders.

So I've heard Daniel Jeremiah talk about them, but I haven't heard him talk about them in a trade-up situation. I've heard him say like, hey, at 13, I think they're 13. At 13, you know, that would be a spot where they could get Michael Penix. All right, real quick then on that point. Pettis. All right, real quick then on that point. Mayo in New England, Pierce officially in Vegas, new coaches, do they have more say, less say, same amount of say in these picks? Being the new guy, like obviously it was Belichick's call because contractually it was his call call his responsibility was to make these picks. Well, the new coach presumably doesn't get a whole

lot of say he just is one voice in a room with the front office, right? Well, this is the fight coaches have when they hire when they get hired is what personnel control will they get? I am someone that believes in like a separation of power where you have the front office chooses players with of course the help of the coaching staff giving this guy but you have to know i remember when i was with the lions i was talking with the offensive line coach and he said that like i give the front office my profile of what i like in offensive linemen like this is the guys i would draft because they fit what I want to do. They choose the players in the end, but there's a collaboration in the process, right? And especially if you get in lower rounds, Gabe, like the seventh round, they're going to call the offensive line

coach. Hey man, who do you like of these guys? So if a head coach is choosing the quarterback over the front office, probably not great. But I think in collaboration, if they do it together, then that's the best way to do it, right? Like if you say, okay, Antonio Pierce, we're trading up for McCarthy, let's just say, or Drake May. He goes, I don't like that guy. You shouldn't do it, you know?

But if he says to you, I want to trade up for Drake May, and the front office is like, ah, you know, we got to think about the future, and they don't do it, right? You sort of have to be in that situation together and make it happen. So I don't think those guys are going to have – I don't see Pierce or who do you – or Mayo having a ton of, like, you know, personnel control over the roster. I think that decision will be made jointly. I mean, Pierce is not a quarterback, right?

The Mayos, they're both not – that's not their background. I'm not saying you can't pick players on offense that it's not your background, but that's why you hire front office personnel, right? It's why you hire scouts, let them do their job. Yeah, totally. Last question on this. If you aren't sure about quarterback, let's say you're like, I don't know, Pennix or Nix. I'm not really sure. Isn't that a telltale sign in this draft at least? Just go get one of these no-brainer offensive linemen. I mean, there's like eight obvious starting caliber tackles available.

I think it depends on where you are as a franchise. I mean, that's an easy cop-out answer, right? Like where you are as a franchise. But it really does, right, Gabe? Because if you're sort of close, okay, I can make the argument to drafting a quarterback every year until you get one. Right? Arizona did this famously, right? Josh Rosen did not work out.

Okay, fine. We're going and getting Colin Murray. But if you're not there as a franchise, then take the offensive lineman. Like, you know, like, wait for the quarterback. And I'm not saying it's easy to get a franchise, then take the offensive lineman. Like, you know, like wait for the quarterback. And I'm not saying it's easy to get a quarterback, but you can package enough picks if you think the guy's good enough to move up in drafts to get the guy that maybe you want. And so if you are wavering, like, I don't know, you know,

if you're the Broncos, you're like, I don't really know. Maybe taking the best corner is better than taking Bo Nix at 12, right? And so – or an offensive lineman. I mean, I think that, to your point, it's where you are as a roster. is better than taking Bo Nix at 12, right? Or an offensive lineman. I think that, to your point, it's where you are as a roster. That's why the New England, again, I'm not sure they trade out of three. I'm not sure someone trades up to three. But I think they would love to trade out of three, man.

They have so many holes, Gabe. Just go to the middle of the first round. Get yourself an offensive lineman. And then use your second round pick on someone else to fill out your roster. And then you have two firsts next year. Maybe another second next year. So, so no i'm with you on that if you don't love the guy and you're in a situation where you're not in win now mode uh you're not close to that then just take the better player on your board which is you know the idea of what of the uh you know the best pick available

right take best player available but in this this year's draft it seems like there's eight very, very viable tackles, like NFL body, high rated tackles, and then a few edge rushers. And we've seen over the last decade, like, those are the guys that win you Super Bowls. Okay. One team that I think has the chance to go from like, cute, fun story. Wow, they're on the rise to, okay, do they actually become a contender now? Are the Houston Texans? So the biggest, I think the biggest off season move of the last, at least the last couple of weeks is obviously Stefan Diggs kind of complaining his way out of Buffalo and ultimately getting traded to the Texans. Now I'm the dumb guy on this show. You're supposed to be

the smart guy, or at least the guy who makes us smarter. From where I sit, the Texans front office is just having a masterclass the last couple of years. From the draft, to free agency, to obviously the decisions they've made with their coaching staff. These guys are building a great team that's set up for the future, I think. How did they school the Bills? Or is this just the Bills had no leverage because Diggs wanted out? I think a couple things. One is, what do you want to start? The Texans or the Bills in this situation?

Take it whichever way you want to take it. I think Buffalo is sort of more fascinating than Texans right now. We all agree Texans are going to be good, right? Sure. Is Buffalo, Sauce, Diggs have less production at the end of the season than at the beginning of the season? He's past 30 years old, I believe, right?

He's on the backside of 30 now. And if you look at their roster moves this year, they sort of realized, again, the cap is a real thing, which is funny to people. The cap is not real. No, it's very real, guys. It affects the way teams build their roster. And they realize it's time to have a mini pullback.

We're going to pull back a little bit and reload with Josh Allen, right? And we'll get in a year or two, we'll have new players and we'll reload. And part of that is getting rid of the older wide receiver who costs a lot of money. That's part of the rebuild situation. And there seems to be a fractured relationship with diggs and the front office i mean it's very very digs front office digs and whoever teammates and they got rid of them and they got whatever they could and they're going to find a way to draft the wide receiver in the first round and restack that

roster for josh on over the next one or two off seasons as far as the texans it's interesting what they did they traded for Diggs and then voided the rest of his contract so he'll be a phraging after the season and people say well why'd you do that to me it's just straight motivation right like the the Texans window right now is this is this right it's this small that's an NFL window right it's this big um and you have year two of Stroud and year three of Stroud on a rookie contract you have to pay him in year and year three of Stroud on a rookie contract. You have to pay him in year four. That's where things get expensive. Now, obviously, you can push the cap number out and whatnot,

but you have to strike right now in year two and three. We've seen over the years Mahomes, Russell Wilson, the big Ben's. Like, even Carson Wentz in year two. Now, he didn't win the Super Bowl that year, but he was the MVP. Like, year two and three, man, is Strike With Iron's hot with these quarterbacks that are cheap. And I love what the Texans are doing. They say, look, we're going for it.

And now they have Diggs who is going to be motivated to play well because he wants another contract. And it might not be with the Texans. It might be. And I think if he plays well, the Texans will re-sign him to a contract. But to me, this is about motivating Diggs. It's about making sure that digs has the best season he can because the texans need that from them this year

to get they were to get to where they want to go and cj stroud is example of what happens to your franchise when you hit on your quarterback at this time last year gabe we were laughing at the texans about how horribly run they are now we're looking at them as like, are they going to play the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game? After one season of CJ Stroud, that's what happens when you hit him with a quarterback. They're lucky, obviously, that Carolina took Bryce Young, but they've surrounded him with talent. Had the Stroud.

D'Amico Ryan seems like a great coach. They kept their offensive coordinator. He'll probably leave after the season, so that'll be someone they have to replace, but they look like they're going to be good. Now, to me, are they good enough to go into Kansas City and win a playoff game? Probably not yet. It takes time to learn how to do that.

But they're good enough to get to that game, Gabe. They're good enough to get to that game in Kansas City, you know, the last weekend of January. So I'm excited to see them play this year. I'll just say this from a gambling perspective. I wouldn't take any of their futures right now. Just like the price is not good enough. Everyone's on the Texans right now.

Like lay off of those futures. Maybe find a better price at some point. But they're going to be good in a division where you have Anthony Richardson coming back off an injury. What are the Jacksonville Jaguars right now? The Texans have, you know, Titans, I should say, really don't have a solidified quarterback. So I like what Houston did, man just they're going for it do you think that there's more moves coming they aren't going to be you know quite as big a name and for you know quite as sexy a set of picks but they're extremely deep at least in name at the wide receiver position because a couple guys we

didn't expect played very very well last year and remember John Mechie is on that roster he was supposed to be the guy and you know some health stuff and it's taken him longer to get to where we wanted him to be and he may never get there but they've got a lot of dudes including like old veteran guys like Robert Woods who are good for 60 catches a year you know like but Tank is going to be back um nico collins like that fantasy players know all the guys on the texans and now you just added the most fantasy friendly receiver in the game do they move one of these guys and try to get value somewhere else probably god they probably just they probably just just took on them and just have a deep i mean

to me game you can never have enough good football players. Okay. Right? Like you can never have enough and just keep them and keep stacking them. That's what I would do, just have as many good football players as you can because it takes all of them. Injuries happen. I think you just – you have to keep as many good players as you can. Are they – it's funny that they get digs as Stroud is at this point in his career

because the Bills kind of had the same thing a few years ago. Are we going to be talking about these Texans the same way we now talk about the Bills in three years when as much as we want them to be challengers, Pat Mahomes and company just gut them every year. Is that what you think probably happens here? Probably. It's funny. Some of the, for me, we haven't done much preview of the NFL season yet

because we haven't had a draft yet, but it does feel kind of boring in the AFC. Who's picking against Kansas City? I mean, right now the Chiefs obviously have a whole, I think, left tackle, which might be Wanya Morris. Obviously, they need a wide receiver, and Rasheed Rice's legal problems probably put him out for a month at some point during the season.

Maybe they can push that another. I mean, just all-time dumb, man. Like, I just, I just just it blows my mind man like you have this short windows nfl player to maximize your talents game it's think about in in like in your lifespan i played eight years that's it like eight years that was my career i retired at 30 and obviously i have a second career but like i did everything i could in those eight years to maximize the time I had in the NFL. And I wish players did the same thing. You know, like, racing on the highway, just for what?

For what? And I think that part of it is NFL players feel invincible. We've talked about this before, just the mindset of NFL players. You feel invincible. You're the best athlete, the best player. There's a mindset of, no, I'm not going to get in trouble. But it's so dumb. If he could have injured

someone, we saw what Ruggs did, obviously, very tragically. Just don't, man. He'll be out a month, probably. Six weeks at some point this season, I would imagine. But the Chiefs are gonna be in the same spot they were last year because of patrick mahomes yeah all right well let's talk about some uh we'll do a whole draft mock draft soon we keep talking about that you know we all

love doing that that'll be fun hopefully for for everyone to listen to our madness as you get frustrated with ding dongs making bad picks so let get it. I want to play a little game of ceiling and floor. Okay. I don't think you've really previewed this, so you're going to have to correct a few notions here. Brock Bowers, to me, the most exciting playmaker in this draft, just from what I've seen of him in college and the way that the NFL has trended, thanks to Travis Kelsey.

So I'm going to say Brock Bowers' ceiling, unlikely, but his ceiling is Travis Kelsey. He I'm going to say Brock Bauer's ceiling, unlikely, but his ceiling is Travis Kelsey. He might be that good one day. Athletically, he looks like he could do it. He's got the body. He comes from a great program. The floor, I'm going to say, is like Tyler Higbee, one of these guys who you're like, yeah, I think he's pretty good.

In the right offense, he can get you some numbers, but he's not the number one option. Is that about right for ceiling and floor? That's right. Yeah, i think that's about right um what do you think the most likely outcome is somewhere in between i mean no one's i you know me man i'm not gonna call anyone a hall of famer so i wouldn't say he's travis kelsey i think he's probably closer to high end than midland right like i think he's sort of in you know the the above average type of player. I will say, the one thing is Travis Kelsey used to be a really good blocker when he was young.

I think people forget that. Brock Bowers is not that guy. He's more of a weapon that he is sort of going to be a blocker for any team. Your Jets at 10 are going to choose between Brock Bowers and offensive lineman. Who are you taking if you're the just general manager?

Roger's going to want Brock Bowers. Oh, yeah. Well, let me ask you this, guys. You have offensive linemen for one year, right? You have Smith and you have Moses. So you can make it in your head and say, hey, look, let's just take the tight end. Hope we hit in year one and he helps us win a championship.

Yeah, I mean, if you're the Jets, whether you should be or not, you're in the play it for now mode also. So Brock Bowers could get you 90 catches as a rookie. I don't know how long you want to wait for an offensive lineman to learn how to play in the NFL. I think you you probably go with Bowers, but it's not actually the right call because the Jets aren't actually going anywhere because they're stupid franchise who can't win. And I don't even believe the quarterback's going to play but whatever. Okay, let me ask you this Marvin Harrison Jr. Another really exciting

playmaker. I'm going ceiling you might even debate me on the ceiling. I'm going ceiling Mike Evans, which is a damn high ceiling in my book. Oh, you go higher maybe floor is more like Mike Williams, like a pretty athletic big body good receiver, but maybe not anybody's number one. Yeah, Mike Williams is not the same type of player as him. Well, okay. That's why you're here to make me smart. Marvin Harris is just a better athlete, I think.

Mike Evans would be a good comp for him. Mike Evans would be one of those guys where you're like, oh, he's in the Hall of Fame? He's easily a Hall of Famer. I think people don't understand. He's had a- If you retire right now, he's a first ballot Hall of Famer. No, he's not a first ballot.

We have to stop at the first ballot. No, he is. No, I don't think he is. He's never not had a thousand yard season. He has a Super Bowl ring. He has insane stats. Do you notice, like I looked this up, like first ballot Hall of Famers, there's like 60

in NFL history. It's not a thing that happens quite often. It takes some time to get into the NFL Hall of Fame. So he will be a Hall of Famer. I mean, he's... It's...

Again, there's not a lot of... First-ball Hall of Famers, there's not... 89. 89 of 375-ish. there's not again there's not a lot of first ball hall of famers there's not um let's start 89 89 of 300 and what 75 ish they're the last wide receiver to our first ballot marvin harrison no i think it was uh i think it was uh here i'll look it up right here i think it was um uh here we go first ballot hall of famers calvin johnson randy moss uh jerry rice It's Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss, Jerry Rice, Steve Largent. So that's 1995. That's only four in the last.

Mike Evans compares favorably to Calvin Johnson. I'm not saying he was better than Calvin Johnson. Calvin comparison compares favorably because these voters are obsessed with the rings and he's got one. He's also played with, for the most part, crap quarterbacks and still put up numbers. Calvin Johnson had Matt Stafford his whole career. So there's a thing about, um, that's interesting. They have this thing called a legend score, which I think pro football focus,

I mean, pro football reference has it. Where's Mike Evans at? It's kind of weird. I don't even know. He's not even like on this list. It's kind of weird. He should be very high on this list. Look, I think he's obviously incredible,

but I don't know if he's a first bout, but this is a done, let's move on. Okay, great. I triggered you. If I get a let's move on from Jeff, I've done my job. Roma dunze. I'm gonna go. I don't have any idea if these are the right comps as far as playing style. But here's where I'm going with ceiling floor. CD lamb ceiling. Great, great, great, arguably best receiver in the game.

Obviously headed for a very nice career. gabe davis like sure that guy's kind of good i guess i don't every now and then he has a great game but like i don't know if i see the consistency i think rome's gonna be incredible in the nfl um he's just he's so he woke up from a nap to just to just throw up on my carpet in my office he hates the romadunze take buddy he literally puked from your romadunze take go back to sleep please i would oh jeez i gotta get that foamy carpet stuff now. No, I have a carpet cleaner. It's a tiny bit of – he's just going to lick it up and move it along. Oh, geez, buddy. What are we doing?

Fo, just stop. Stop. Stop. Just lay back. Go back to bed. He was dead asleep, Gabe. I'm telling you. Lay back down.

He didn't like what you said about Rome. Try to get this back on track here. I think Romo DJ is going to be really good. And I think he's going to be fantastic. All right. Well, then let's get to the next one. Two LSU wide receivers, both of whom, sure, I'm sure they're great players they did have a Heisman winner throwing them the ball I think people are going to get a little bit over their skis here

and start to make the you know Justin Jefferson comps and forget the fact that Justin Jefferson was no sure thing most people didn't even think he was one of the top receivers that year. Famously, a couple guys went ahead of him that shouldn't have. Are we sure we know where the ceiling and floor is for LSU wide receivers now, or did Justin Jefferson just blow it all up? Well, Jefferson wasn't the first guy taken, right? Wasn't he famously taken fourth in his draft? A bunch of wide receivers went ahead of him, and Jalenalen reager always eats crap because he was right before him but

but neighbors and thomas that's those are the guys do we believe in them i think so wide receivers again it's it's so trait based right like these guys have these incredible traits they They can run. They play in these advanced, not advanced college offenses, but they do so much more now than they used to, right? Like there's just so much more film of the players running NFL route concepts and running against, especially in the SEC, playing against defenders you're going to see in the NFL.

I think they're both going to be good. you're going to see in the NFL, I think they're both going to be good. Most of the bust tend to be guys, I'm sure I'll be corrected by someone on this, that just are fast, but we don't see production in college. It's just like, well, they can maybe do the NFL. And you're like, yeah, but where's the – these one receivers had production in college. We've seen them have success at doing the job in college.

And so that's why I think this year's class is just – there's not a lot of guys that are like, well, they're really fast. We don't have the film on them, but they can be good if they get in the right place. We have guys that have a lot of good film. There are a couple of guys from Texas who fall into that category that category sorry hank but hank here comes some good news i like a couple suggestions you made here we'll do these ones real quickly uh oregon center jpj stealing jason kelsey floor well tyler linderbaum my guy so the best so the best the best the best the hall of famer and the best young uh center in the nfl he's more like he's built more like creed humphrey though that's like that's how he's built rather than like linderbaum or uh or kelsey same beard as creed or regular

beard uh no beard it was uh it's pretty much kelsey man guys just living the dream how the wrestlemania appearance i'm not a wrestling guy i don't know if you have i don't have time to watch wrestling it's not like i'm anti-wrestling but wrestlemania looked fun buddy i'll tell you that when the video the undertaker coming back yeah good childhood memories they threw everything at it this year it looked like a ton of fun i also didn't except stone cold watching other stuff we need stone cold to show up next time maybe Well, they got the rock back. Maybe he's next. If the glass would have broken and he would have run in like a –

I don't know how much running he can do nowadays, but running in like an ATV, oh, I'd be sucked back in. He's got a brewery right down the road here from our little studio. He does? I might bump into him one day. Yeah, come visit next time we come. The taco place we took you to instead of turning right turn left there's a stone colds brewery wow a brewery in california i didn't i didn't think that would be his style hard to believe uh all right quick one here i don't even know how to say this guy's name matt gencalvis pit ceiling jeff schwartz floor jeff schwartz yeah so

land zero line land zero line of nfl.com uh comped him to me and called him a beefy lineman so that's now on my profile on social media i'm a beefy lineman um so good for good good for matt you have a long illustrious career hopefully you break your ankle less times than i did um but uh i think it's the first time i've had i think calvin throckmorton was the other guy comp to me uh from organ guy kid um that i thought was a good comp i think matt's a little bit more athletic than i was so uh but yeah man you know seventh round pick that gotta unite all right well we'll root for him late in the draft. Let's do a quick over-under game here just to cover a few things that aren't directly tied to football, but I'll start with an easy football one.

QB's taken in the first round, over-under 5.5. We touched on this earlier. What do you decide? So the actual line, I think, is 4.5, and it's like juiced to minus 200, 250, over. Making it harder for you. Put one more in the first round. I would take the under, but this will be – I think it's like juiced to minus 200, 250 and over. Making it harder for you. Put one more in the first round. I would take the under, but this will be, I think it's five. I think actually Michael Penix goes in the first round

and Bo Nix might not. Okay. I like Penix a lot. I said last night, this will get us to a couple other topics. I said that Penix is ed, ed is Penix. People are overthinking this and trying to sound cool. It's right there in front of you. The guy's very good.

Just take him. Whatever. Trades in the first five picks. 0.5, over, under. Trades in the first five picks? I would say over. I think there's one trade in the first five picks. All right, great.

That'll be fun. Cam Spencer from UConn. Receptions if the Pats and Bill Belichick were still a unit over under 145.5 a season what do you think he did feel like a Belichick guy last night didn't he um over yeah yeah he played well man he was probably second in line for MVP last night but behind Newton so um he played really well yeah I don't understand something. Why is it that everyone, every, this happens every March. We identify a guy like that. Everyone agrees he's great.

He's doing the job. Like he could be the tourney MVP, whatever. And then nobody learns a lesson and just plays that way. Well, imagine if you were actually more athletic and bigger and could jump high, like could do all the things he can't do. And you just tried that hard. Imagine how damn good you'd be at basketball. Yeah. I mean, look, it's he, he, it's same as I think in, in, you know, college football, sometimes there's just some guys that are just better in college and, you know, than NBA, just sort of the way it doesn't make them worse college basketball players, but it's just the way it is sometimes with these guys. Great. Segway,

Zach Eady points per game in the NBA next season over under 14.5. Um, I would say under for his first year in the NBA, but doesn't he have a role in the NBA? I don't know. I don't know why people are just misses his role in the NBA. He'll just learn how to shoot better. He'll,

he won't back to the basket as much he'll just he'll just go to the wing and take a take a 15 foot shot which is not much of the nba now but he's 7'4 can move fairly well he's gonna be you'll have a spot in the nba for 10 to 12 years i was watching i went to a hornets game another day and there was a player that just made a weird looking three and and i was like oh who's this guy give me an nba like eight years never heard of him my entire life you can play an nba forever if you're just a decent football a decent football basketball player zach needy will play an nba for a long time he doesn't move like these goofy looking seven foot four guys of the past correct he moves like an actual athlete he likes to use his body he has post moves the fact that like at moments he looked pretty well contained yeah that clinging guy is also seven feet tall

and he worked his ass off trying to defend him like they i don't understand people trying to talk themselves out of guys like zach edie like that's guaranteed decent career in the nba like That's guaranteed decent career in the NBA. He's not Chris Stapp's Porzingis level. How many people last night watching that game were like, he won't work in the NBA, guys. How many dudes are watching that game? I'm on a text thread with at least one person was like, he stinks.

What are you talking about? Ever since 25 a game, he's 7'4". He doesn't have major injuries. He's been the best player in college basketball two years in a row. He also shoots foul shots at over 70%, which is really good for a guy. He will learn how to shoot in the NBA, and he will not be so much back-to-the-basket offense. Yes, not to mention, I got a little bit of a surprise for people. They don't play defense in the NBA.

Well, until the postseason, and then all of a sudden for people they don't play defense in the NBA well until the place and then all of a sudden defense comes back okay fine well I asked how many points per game he'll average 14.5 he'll have 14.5 on uncontested shots he'll have to work hard to get to 20. it's certainly possible yeah it's a silly silly League All right. Bad Caitlin Clark takes this week. Over under one million. She broke... This is how you know the Women's College Basketball has made it to

is she just broke the brains of like veteran women's basketball players. They do not seem to like her. I don't know why, Gabe. I don't know what she did, but... Or she represents new, but they just... they, yeah,

yeah. She might struggle her first year in the WNBA. Most rookies, Gabe struggle the first year in pro sports. That's not anything new, but by year two, she's going to probably average 30 points. Like, come on. Oh boy. Oh geez. Oh God. The dog is pouncing on you.

Is he going to puke on you? No. Be careful with this next take by the way your dog looks like a past uh character in the show i want to talk about have you caught up have you seen that kirby enthusiasm finale no but i i have realized the more i watch curb the more i'm i'm just lar Larry David, like at 37 years old. Like disgruntled, that's me. Like it just is. And my takes, like my solar eclipse takes,

like I just, I'm just Larry David. What did you just say? Your what takes? I put up with this yesterday on our call, the solar eclipse. Like I walked outside, I was like, oh, okay. It's a tad bit darker than it should be. Cool. I just went back inside and finished the rest of my day.

I feel like Larry David would not care about the solar eclipse. He would mock people for caring about the solar eclipse so much. And so, yeah, there's my dog's snout. I have to give him attention now to finish up the show. So, yeah, I'm turning to Larry David. Incredible show. I saw there was a clip they showed of when they, when they cut the final scene and everyone was thanking Larry and he just

didn't want to be part of it at all. Like you tell it was Richard Lewis and it was, it was Cheryl Hines. Like they just Cheryl, by the way, and the RFK thing, it makes no sense to me, but it is, it is what it is. But it, by the way, and the RFK thing, it makes no sense to me, but it is what it is.

But it – they just – like Larry was either uncomfortable or didn't want to like get the praise, but incredible show, man. Really, really good. All right. So over under odds of a comeback one day, over under 1%. I think over. I know he said it's done, but like, yeah. I mean, the money involved in one day they'll be like well there's more money

like you don't think they'll do one more no I mean it went away for how many years 10 12 years he took some breaks along the way I would like to see them just do a movie but maybe without Richard Lewis they don't do it I don't know you know they've lost they lost Richard and they

lost Funkhauser you know and a few of the other guys Yeah, they've lost, they lost Richard and they lost Funkhauser, you know. Yeah. And a few of the other guys are getting kind of old. And they're all rich now, so. But it seems like they just enjoy doing it though. Like, I think that's why they do it, right? Like, they just enjoy the, the sketch comedy.

It does. Right? Like. It does seem like they all enjoy it. All right. My favorite, well, last thing too, I like, I like when they break sometimes in the show. Like, it's just, you can totally tell and jeff does it a lot he just it's just it's very very funny it's very funny it's just so well you're gonna love the last episode some great cameos uh the number one cameo

you would hope for that's all i'll say and some good breaks and uh it was an hour instead of 30 minutes so it was well worth everyone's time last one and this sets you up to be larry and then say goodbye um minutes your wife watches of movies she chooses to watch but instead watches uh her phone over under 17 and a half minutes oh it's under it's it's crazy did Sorry, I'm being attacked by a land shark. She just like doesn't... Just either falls asleep, is in her phone. I don't even know why we bother to watch shows together. It's really pointless.

It doesn't make any sense. And we don't get anything accomplished by watching stuff together. It takes us months to finish like a... You know, like a... Nay, stop it. It takes months to finish any sort of show we watch yeah well uh curb was a joint show for me and my wife so uh we'll have to find something

else to watch on sunday nights uh jeff we've got many many many sundays to fill before we get nfl football back but we have the draft to talk about next week uh your dog's pukey mouth is all over your mouth now it's grossing me out he's just like licking you with his puke tongue stop buddy stop okay i'm gonna goodbye everyone we'll talk to you next week i'm gonna go handle my dog and have a good week everybody bye everybody Thank you. Bye.