Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Sens Might Be Cooked

Episode Date: April 24, 2026

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports including a busy night of NHL playoff action (3:00), plus they talk the NFL Draft with NFL.com's Nick Shook (29:55). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to Halford and Brough. Are a shot healer. Tom, are there any names I've missed that have been reported already? No. Okay, thanks, Tom. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Good morning, Vancouver, 6-1 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody.

Sweet, sweet Friday. It is Alfred, it is Brough, and is Sportsnet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios. In beautiful Mount Pleasant in Vancouver, Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adaw, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you.

Hello, hello. And for the final time this week, intern Jordan. Good morning to you as well. Good morning. Halford in Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Are you drowning in tax debt? Oh, my. Sands and Associates can often reduce your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees.

Visit them today at Sands dash trustee.com. We are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal North Star Metal Recycling they recycle you get paid visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver We're coming to you live from the Kintech studio steps strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech if you want to text into the show today and please do because it's Ask Us Anything Friday on the Halford and Brough show text in to the Dunbar Lumber Text Line 650 650 trusted by contractors and DIY champions across Metrovan Vancouver for generations.

Find them at three convenient locations or visit Dunbar Lumber online today. Okay, we got a big show ahead. We got a lot of guests. Let's do the guest list. It's our Duick Morning Drive brought you by the Duick Auto Group. It begins at 630. Nick Shook from NFL.com. One of our favorites is going to join the program.

Round one of the NFL is in the books. Two big stories from the draft yesterday. One, Fernando Mendoza, of course, going first overall to the Raiders. And the second was the Mike Vrable, Diana Rusini, controversy taking center stage. and taking up a lot of oxygen in Pittsburgh where the draft is being held. That story was drafted second overall. I think it was drafted first overall.

He actually had its own press conference prior to the draft. Oh, my God. Nick's going to join us at 630 to talk about all that. 7 o'clock, AJ from AJ's Pizza is going to join the program. A reminder, as Jason mentioned, it's Ask Us Anything Friday. $100 gift card to AJ's for the best AUA. Send them in 650, 650 is the text line. Pizza is the emoji.

and ask us anything is the challenge. 7.30. Kurt Moloski's going to join the program. GM and head coach of the Vancouver Warriors. We're going all local in the 730 slot today. Kicking off with the Warriors. Playoff lacrosse is back at Rogers Arena,

the number one seat of Warriors, take on the eighth seated and the hated Halifax T-birds. I know you hate them, Laddie. Yeah. All right. Yeah, I say I hate them. Tonight seven o'clock, Rogers Arena. So fired up.

Around one of the LL playoffs. Let's go. Kurt Maloski's going to join us at 730, 745. Stephanie Labet is going to join the program. Olympic gold medalist. You'll all remember her backstop Canada to a gold medal in the Olympics. Vancouver Rise Sporting Director. The Rise begin their title defense also tonight, as they will take on hated AFC Toronto at Swan Guard Stadium. 7 o'clock from beautiful Swan Guard Stadium, Jason, the crown jewel of Burnaby. stepla bay is going to join us at 745 to preview the nsl season and the rise season when was the last time you were at swangard

oh good question we drove by the other day and my kid asked me if i had ever played there and i was like yes we played a commonwealth cup final u11 nice back in 1991 now i played there since right we actually trained there because um our regular field at burdby lake was undergoing construction so they're like hey do you old guys want to run around on swan guard did we ever how's the pitch it's amazing nice It's a great facility, actually. So we'll talk Vancouver Rise at 7.45. 8 o'clock, Rick Dolly Wall is going to join the program. I won't say everything that Dolly's going to talk about today,

but of course we will discuss the GM search, Ryan Johnson, and some other tidbits as well with Dolly as we get into all things Kinnocks at 8 o'clock. I'm not going to run it in reverse on the guest list. We have too many things to do. So without further ado, Laddy, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened?

the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online

at BCCSA.ca.ca. Laddie, we're going to flip the script here. I want you to get that 32 thoughts audio that you pulled from earlier in the intro. Yeah, you like that clip? We weren't going to... Yeah, I did like that clip. That was very good. Imagine Dom not bringing anything to the table. Anyway, we were going to just start with the Stanley Cup playoffs and everything

that happened at the NFL draft. But then the most recent 32 thoughts pod did include something of an update regarding the Vancouver Canucks general manager search, which is, as far as I can tell, very thorough, still ongoing, no resolution in the near future, kind of starting to mimic what the Nashville Predators' GM searches look like. So, Frege gave us some stuff to chew on. We thought, hey, let's lead the show with it here now. Elliot Freeman on the latest with the Vancouver Canucks GM search from the most recent 32 Thoughts podcast.

Vancouver, who are the names that have been reported so far, Don, Ray Whitney, I think that's true. I believe they've done a formal interview with Ryan Johnson, Kevin Adams. Dom, are there any names I've missed that have been reported already? No. Okay, thanks, Tom. I think it's going to be a long list, and I will spend most, I think they have spent most of this week and a good chunk of next week. I think it's going to be like the Nashville process, introductory conversations with a lot of people and then cut it down.

And I don't think we're at a point yet where they're cutting it down. I think they're going to talk to a lot of people. And what I'm curious about here in the end is how the structure is, all going to work. But we'll get to that another time. I made a mistake already, Dom. I made that comment about three different lists on Oilers Now with Stafer.

I should have known better. I did not intend for that to turn into a tire fire, but of course it did. One thing I wanted to mention about Seattle, Patrick Alvin, the former Canucks GM, I wonder if he ends up there.

I know a lot of people have suggested Minnesota because he's got a history with Bill Garon. He also has a history with Jason Bauderil. So I think Seattle could be possible for Alvin too. Okay, so lots to unpack there. We may as well go chronologically from the start to the end of the clip. So mimicking what the Nashville search has looked like. And I'm assuming he means the duration

of the search that if you're going to accuse Nashville of anything in their GM search, they're certainly not rushing it because it was announced in February that Barry Trots was going to step down as general manager and the search for his successor would be underway right away and now we are checks notes April 24th and they are still without a general manager so they've certainly taken their time it's been a very thorough search in Nashville yeah and I mean the the one thing that I'll take from Friege's comments is I have I'm wondering the same thing that he's wondering is just how it's all going to work when all is said and done, right? When they've, when they've hired everyone, how is it going to work? And

is it going to work better or more fluidly than the last time the Canucks had a regime change? And they bring in Bruce Boudreau. And then they bring in Jim Rutherford. And it turns out that Jim Rutherford doesn't really want Bruce Boudreau as the coach. And that was kind of, it wasn't pretty, that whole thing. And I'm sure the Canucks have. learned from that. Well, I hope the Canucks have learned from that. And it's, you know, if they just bring in a GM and Jim Rutherford stays on for this season, that becomes problematic, I think, because everyone will wonder, well, okay, who's in charge, right? The same thing we wondered when Patrick Alvin was the GM. And even if Jim says, this new person is making all the hockey

decisions will still be like, so like you're not going to, you're not going to have any input? Like, are you his boss then? Like, who does he report to? Because if he reports to you, then you still have influence. Now, let's say there's a new GM hired and Jim Rutherford doesn't stick around. Okay. So is there a new president of hockey ops or is there a new executive? And what's the reporting there?

And is the executive who's hired in the quote unquote higher position? position than the GM, is that guy okay with the new GM that's hired and everything? Like, I just want for this all, you know, my preference really is that there's a new executive that loves the new GM and that Jim Rutherford moves on from the Canucks because I think it's time for that to happen. And I think as long as if Jim stays on, people will always wonder like, okay, what's your influence in this? Like he joked and it was a good nature joke.

I thought, you know, it was funny when he said it. Like I'll, you know, go to Canadian tire and help build the practice facility or whatever, right? I mean, but I don't think anyone will believe that if Jim Rutherford sticks around, that he's just going to focus on the practice facility and he's going to stay out of hockey related decisions. And it's also like, what's the point then? Yeah. you know what why you know and so but if he's and if he stays on you're kind of like all right so you're having influence on this team then yeah and you know the longer he stays the more

questions it will be asked about when he's leaving because he's already opened that door and i think everyone is fully cognizant of the fact that Rutherford is definitely not long for this job although who knows they don't prove us wrong jim Rutherford but um the the uncertainty with him in that position is twofold, like you said. Is he still a position and figure of authority? And then whether he is or isn't, the question is like, when does he leave and when do you get a replacement

in place? By the way, the name Ray Whitney came up in that clip. And I do want to just very briefly discuss this because this sort of came about yesterday and the day prior and it started I'm not sure everything actually started with, but it got a lot of oxygen

courtesy that spit in chicklets ecosystem, because Whitney's pretty tight with Bizz and Keith Yandel from their time together in the Coyotes organization. He's extremely close with Shane Done. Right. Also, there are ties to Jim Rutherford from their time together in the Carolina Hurricanes organization. Whitney and Rutherford won a Stanley Cup together in 2006. Whitney's got a long and decorated NHL career.

He played over 1,300 games. He played for almost two decades. His role as an executive is pretty minimal. He spent some time in the Cain's organization as a scout. Sometime in the Coyotes organization also as a scout. And then he was a coach of one of their junior teams. Yeah, the Whitney and Donne thing is kind of odd. They just seem like their buddies.

They're like, it would be cool if we like, should we go run the Canucks? I think they did that what you're talking about at the Spangler. I think Donne was the head GM and Whitney was the assistant GM. But I think it was like, wouldn't it be cool if we ran a team? Yeah, let's do it. So it was pretty fun at the Spengler Cup. Yeah, which lasts four days. think this might be more challenging to run an NHL team,

but his name is obviously out there. And when you start to connect the dots, you understand why. I think he's got a lot of connections to people within the organization and people interviewing for spots with the Kinnock's organization. Okay. So let's park the Kinnock stuff a little bit and move on to what happened last night in the NHL.

My main focus was on the Ottawa, Carolina game, Ottawa, hanging on for dear life. And certainly hanging on now. They're hanging on now. It was Logan Stankovin, the Stank of an open scoring for the third straight game in this series. Cains take a commanding

three-nothing lead against the sons, the senators, with a 2-1 win in game three. Your boy, Jason Blake, who you really like, that line. Jackson Blake. They call him Jason Blake? That's his dad. Jackson Blake. That line with the Stankoven, Blake and Hall.

has actually been the best line in that series. It's really given Ottawa fits the entire time, and they haven't really had an answer for it. I didn't know much about Jackson Blake at all. He is a really good player. He's a good player. You know when I first watched him was late in the regular season? Remember, Carolina had that game against Philly?

Yes. I think they won it in the shootout. That's how Philly clinched their playoff spot. But Jackson Blake was unbelievable in the overtime and just down the stretch, I was like, who is this guy? I really,

I really didn't know who he was. Like, I kind of heard his name, but I'm watching him and like, this guy has a ton of talent. At any rate, the Sends, man,

you know, the conversations around this team, assuming they go out to Carolina and don't have a miracle comeback are going to be really interesting because, Brady Kachuk and Tim Stutzla have been, in the words of Travis Green,

average in this series. And the Sends had a five-on-three power play yesterday against Carolina, which might have been a top five worst five-on-three power play I've ever seen. It's terrible. And it was horrible. It was passes to nobody.

It was lost battles. It was losing races to the puck. in a five on three. At home. Getting out, manned? How does that work? At home, those are like momentum killing, energy sapping power plays. And, you know, I think the Sends off season,

the most obvious guys that people are going to talk about are Brady Kachuk. Because there's, let's, I mean, let's face it, there's always these trade rumors with these American players now. And he's got two years left on his contract before he can, become an unrestricted free agent. This is when the Quinn Hughes chatter really started to pick up in Vancouver because this is when Jim Rutherford made his comments about, I know everyone thinks that Quinn wants to go play with his brother in New Jersey.

And I was like, yeah, we think it. We didn't say it out loud, though. And, you know, there's always going to be these rumors. I mean, his Brady's brother, Matthew, was one of the trendsetters. And, you know, they're going to have to figure out, number one, if he really wants to stay. And number two, if they got the right mix of guys here,

the other guy that's going to get a lot of conversation is Linus Allmark and whether or not they can rely on him down the stretch. He's been good in the playoffs, but I think there's going to be a conversation there. And then another guy that's interesting to me is Tim Stutzler. You watch him play and you can see the obvious talent that made him the third overall pick in 2020, and that was the draft that Lafranier went first

and Bifil went second. Stutzla is a really fun player to watch, but I bet he drives Travis Green nuts at times. And I think it's fair to ask the question, is he the kind of center that can lead you to a cup? It's like the Dillon Larkin situation in Detroit. Stutzla doesn't have a point in this series. He could have many points.

He had chances to score in that game two against. Cends have three goals and three games in the series. Yeah. And Stutzla and Cichuk are taking a lot of heat from the fan base. I'm not suggesting the Sends are going to trade Stutzl or that they should. But the Sins, to me, are a bit stuck in that mushy middle. So what do you do if your management? Most of the time in the NHL, they just kind of shrug their shoulders and try again the following season, right? You know, at least the Sends have made the playoffs the last couple of years.

They went a long time without doing that. And while they were bad, they drafted all sorts of talent. I'm just not sure they drafted a true game changer. And this is a really tough situation to be in if you're Ottawa. You know, you've got good players. You could even say you've got very good players with Stutzla and Kachuk and Jake Sanderson and Thomas Shabbat. But is that good enough?

Is that going to get you a cup? And are you either going to play the conservative route and be happy to be a playoff team, but kind of know that if you, you know, ever made just the Stanley Cup finals, people would be surprised to put it nicely? Or are you going to, are you going to reach for something higher? and maybe make some risky moves. Well, this is a good time to reintroduce the Kachuk conversation because on that podcast that Brady and Matthew do

where they had their dad on and it got a lot of smoke over the last couple weeks of the regular season for the remarks that Keith made about player injuries and players not playing hurt. There was also a clip in there, a line where Keith jokingly asked Brady, how much time you got left on your contract there in Ottawa? To that effect.

And you're right. this is the season going into this offseason where they're going to have to look at it because you'll say, well, it's a good young team and they're on the rise that made the playoffs two years in a row. They've also fallen behind 3-0 and 2 consecutive playoff series. And there's a sense of frustration with that organization right now. And you can feel it. Like you can feel like they know that they should be better and they're not. I actually want to play the audio from Travis Green yesterday.

Now, this is Greener's frustration with the officiating because Taylor, Hall hit Jake Sanderson with a headshot yesterday. He probably should have got five in the game. I mean, it's pretty, it was pretty clear cut. I have no idea how they didn't. I think the reason that he didn't is because they didn't call it a major on the ice so they couldn't reverse the call or they couldn't at least take a look at it. Yeah.

Well, I mean, speaking of doing that, they did that with Brady Kachuk. Yeah, Greener Brins up in the clip. On, I think it was Jordan Marknook. The Kachuk skated by him and Martinuk went down like he'd been, you know, stabbed by Brady Kachuck and you can actually hear him yelling. Yes. On the ice.

And they stopped the play. And they stopped the play. And I mean, I'm watching him like, what did he do to him? Like what happened there? And I'm still not exactly sure. They called it a spear on the ice. And then they downgraded it to their parents. They didn't call it a spear.

They just said a five minute major. Oh, I thought it was sparing. There were allegations from the Carolina bench, I think, that it was a spear. But they just said, he's been assessed a five minute major. now we're going to go. So we can look at it. Look at it. And then they looked at it

at it at home and we're like, I don't think that's like anything. So they're, but if they call it a five-minute major, do they have to call one penalty? That's what I was wondering. Yeah. And I'm sorry to the listeners.

I don't know the answer to that because, you know, I watch that. I was like, I don't think there is a penalty. And they were like, how about interference? Green, I mean interference, right? So Green mentions is this in the clip. This is a very frustrated Travis Green following a two-on loss, Ottawa had to Carolina last night,

which put them on the break of elimination down 3-0 in the series. Here's Travis Green. I just don't understand how there's not a five-minute major called on the hit to the head. It's blatant hit to the head. Kind of hits you don't want to see. I think it's ridiculous. There wasn't a review. They call a review on Brady on the penalty that I don't even know what the

penalty was and then they totally miss a review that I mean I'd be shocked if there isn't some kind of review and you know from the league on that and something done uh laddie

yes you can rescind the penalty entirely entirely they are able to do that it felt like they gave them too because they were like well he needs something on this play but there wasn't real I when they called interference I was like he barely clipped his shoulder to be honest hey, there have been a couple instances now of guys getting hurt during the play and they're being really quick whistles

and then the guys getting up and skating away which I think is a horrible look. Look, no disrespect to Vladar because he's been great for Philly and I know goalie's a little bit of a different position but it happened twice in that game against Pittsburgh in the third period. One where he lost a skate blade

and I think you were texting us. You're not even supposed to blow the whistle on that. Yeah, well, in the past I guess they've blown it down when the goalie loses their skate blade, but they've since changed the ruling and you're supposed to just let the play go and I think they blew it one time for Vladar and they're like, you better get the training staff out here

because we weren't supposed to do that. So like I know that there's, you know, I know with replay and everything else that they're supposed to take their time and when it looks like there's a big collision on the ice because of like potential head injuries, they stopped the play and everything. But like if I'm watching that game and I was,

my first thought was like, Martin took a dive. Like that was embellishment. By the way, there was another embellishment call last night on a star player Nathan McKinnon got one in the LA Kings Colorado Avalanche game So that's in solidarity with Sid I don't know what's going on

There's such good buddies like I'll support you said Well I wonder if there's been a message your mandate sent down being like look We've got a lot of embellishment going on right now And refs are getting in these situations where they're blowing plays dead Because they think guys are seriously hurt And then they pop back to their feet So Brandon and Vancouver text him with a with a very, very good question.

And it was about my comments on Tim Stutzla being a very good player, but a bit like the Dylan Larkin situation in Detroit where you're like, yeah, he's good. Is he a good enough number one center to win the Stanley Cup? And Brandon said, there's only like eight of those centers in the league and two of them are in Edmonton. What do you want them to do? That's my question. Like, I don't know.

I think it's a very tough situation to be in. and it is similar to, and we're going to talk about the NFL draft coming up, it's similar to when you have a very good quarterback, but he's not a great quarterback. Right. And he's prime for the hall of very good. Yeah.

And I mean, the Seahawks were a perfect example of that this season. I certainly didn't ever think they'd win a Super Bowl with Sam Donald as quarterback. Did you? No, but they did. But they did. Now I'm like, they're going to win more Super Bowls from San Donald at quarterback.

And that's funny though. No, but just because they had such a great defense and they had game changers in other areas of the roster, right? And. Well, let's see answer your question then. You can win a cup with Tim Stozyl.

Hold on, though. Surround him by complimentary players. We're talking about a different sport here. But is Sam Darnold now? Because, I mean, he was unbelievable in the NFC championship. They don't wait. They don't go to the Super Bowl.

he's not as good as he was. And Stutzler has the potential to have an unbelievable playoffs. But he has the potential. But until he does it, those questions remain. That's kind of, and unfortunately, it's not fair. It doesn't make any sense in a lot of ways. No, it isn't because you're almost blaming a guy for being not great. And then when you're like, you're very good.

But the problem with this team is you're not Connor McDavid. You're not Nathan McKinnon. You're not Sidney Crosby. It shouldn't matter, though. That doesn't matter. But it does. But it does. But it does matter.

You're trying to win a Stanley Cup. If you have enough good players on the team, you don't have to have a Carmen David to win the cup. Like Brian said, there's only eight of those guys or whatever, even less maybe. In the NHL that you would say like, yeah, this guy is like bona fide superstar, one C. You do have to have one of those to one. You have to have a very good centerman,

but if you have other excellent players around him, it's not like that'll limit you from winning championships. This is the conversation that they're going to have in Ottawa, but I do wonder if they're going to make some changes. I don't think it's going to start with Stutzelah. I think Brady Kachuk is the one where they have to it's Kich. They have to make a decision on

And if you were to, like, first of all, like, I think Brady's a little overrated. I know who else is? Matthew. They're big names, and I do, I do enjoy what they bring to the NHL because they bring some personality and sometimes they're willing to play the villains. And that, that's great, right? It's good for us. It's good for the sport. Sure.

You don't have to like them to appreciate what, what they bring to the league. But, you know, he's got two years left on his deal. And if you were to trade him, like, I keep on thinking about a, trade where Brady goes to St. Louis where the Kachuk and you know like St. Louis would be like yes like we can

we can sell that Robert Thomas and Robert Thomas goes the other way there's your center or very at the deeper at center and then you've got two really good centers as opposed to Tim Stutzla and then like Dylan cousins or whatever right? I'm so glad

you brought this stuff about the Kichucks too like coming out of the Olympics there were no two guys that were leaning into the celebration and the pride and the confidence of winning gold than Matthew and Brady Kachuk. And it was kind of like, at the end of it, they were like, and I helped because there was eight other guys on that team that were more important to the U.S. success than Brady and Matthew Kachuk.

They didn't do anything in the metal rounds, right? It was Connor Halebuck, the Hughes brothers, take your pick. There was about five or six other individuals. But at the front of the line, they're the Kachukes who haven't seen a camera. They haven't loved, right? But I would add Ottawa to the teams that could have a very interesting offseason or at least a lot of noise around them. Let's do a little NFL talk on the other side. Yeah, Nick Shook's going to join us from NFL.com.

A day one, night one of the NFL draft is in the books. There's a lot to get into both with the draft itself and all of the noise surrounding the draft. We'll talk to Nick about that coming up on the other side. Before we go to break, though, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. Not satisfied with your current cleaning service. JanPro delivers consistent results and responsive customer service. Start clean, stay clean. Visit them online at janpro.com.

You're listening to the Halfford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. It's Canucks Central on SportsNet 650. From exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all. Tune in weekdays 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 634 on a Friday. Fiesta Friday here on the Halford. Breft Show on SportsNet 650.

Halford and breath of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Got debt? If you do, reach out to Sands and Associates during regular business hours, and they'll get back to you within 20 minutes. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in our one of the program. Nick Shook from NFL.com is going to join us in just a moment to talk about everything that happened in round one of last night's NFL draft.

Hour one of this program is brought to by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's Premier Metal Recycler pays the highest price on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling. They recycle. You get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. So Fernando Mendoza has had a good last few months. He led the Indiana Hoosiers to their first national championship and program history. Perfect 16 and 0 record. Named AP Press Player of the year won the Davey O'Brien Award for the nation's top quarterback, got drafted first overall by the Raiders, having a far better time lately than

Mike Vrable. Let's go now to the ABLE Auctions hotline. Nick Shook from NFL.com joins us now on the Halford and Breff Show on SportsNet 650. What up, Nick? That was quite a set up, guys. How are you guys doing? Yeah, we're good, man.

Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. Look, I'm not going to make you go too deep into the weeds on the Vrable Rossini thing. I think everybody knows what happened. Or maybe there's some more news still to come out. I don't know. It feels like every day the page 6 in the New York Post has something new

something exciting. New pictures from six years ago. Oh, boy. It's been going on for a while, hasn't it? I got to ask you, though, like, you know, the draft usually takes up all the oxygen in the room because there's so much hype around it and pomp and circumstance. But yesterday was a rarity in that going into that thing, a lot more people, I think, were intrigued by what was going to happen before the first overall pick with Mike Grable, media with the media, then what was actually going to happen with the first overall pick? Because everybody knew Mendoza was going to the Raiders.

Yeah, I mean, that is the case. case. I, for one, don't typically graphic in the tabwoods very much. So that kind of has not been of much interest to me except for the fact of, you know, what does this look like for Mike Frable's coaching status in the, you know, the next year, you know, how is that going to be affected? If it's going to be affected, that sort of thing. But I think that, you know, part of that is because, yeah, we did know who was going to

be number one. We had a pretty good idea of who was going to be number two. And then I believe, and maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I believe that by the time Jeremy Love got drafted by the Cardinals at number three, which I take a moment to dunk on everybody. Do it. I mocked to the Cardinals at number three. Everybody called me crazy.

They said, and they added Tyler L. Geard, Connor's coming back. They got Trey Benson. There's no way they're drafting him. And I'm saying, we'll keep an eye on them. And I think that they're going to.

And then they did. I think once that moment arrived, people probably moved on largely because you're not going to really get much in the way of information. I don't know. We live in this internet-focused world now, where, you know, the salacious stories tend to, you know, continue to live and live and live, especially even as the cycle turns over every 24 hours or less.

And, yeah, I think people are going to gravitate toward that. But when it comes to football and watching, you know, what's going to look ahead? What's, you know, the new news that we're looking forward to the new season. I think that does take over in a lot of the football, you know, conscious people's minds. I know it did for me last night. Maybe that's because I'm covering it, but, you know, I think that's, that the draft leaves a lot to entertain and, you know, get a lot of fans excited for how this team

where their team is going to be building to the new season. So I think that's when I took over probably about pick three last night. I believe that's going to be the case going forward. Okay, I do want to get into everything else intriguing that happened in the first round, but I want to ask you about Mendoza as the author of the QB index, of course. And, you know, everything that you read, and everyone's watching in college, but everything that you read right now says a lot of that stuff really projects to him being good NFL quarterback because of the frame of he's six foot four.

He's got good throwing mechanics. He didn't turn the ball over really at all in Indiana, which is always important, ball security and protection and everything else. How do you project him in the early days, maybe even just this rookie season, transitioning to the NFL because he does have a tall task ahead of him, joining a Raiders team, which was pretty dysfunctional last season? Yeah, that's the thing. It's, it's, it's, it's, Mendoza's been a weird, and a experiment.

I don't know if I'd say exercise for me. Just because, you know, he's a little unorthodox in a lot of ways. First off, yes, he's, he's, he's the part when it comes to height. I mean, he's big, he's big kid. The kind of his throwing motion is kind of spurnames if you think about it. And there's, it's just, there's some, there's some traits to him where I'm like, I don't know who he tops to. I don't know how to project him necessarily.

But I think that person. personality-wise, they paired him with the perfect quarterback with the Raiders in Kirk Cousins. And I believe that, you know, not only did the Raiders lock out by the fact that Cousins was available, but I also think they were very wise in the idea that, hey, let's sign him, let's put him at the front of the room to start. And we'll allow Fernando to kind of get acclimated at his speed and not have the pressure of putting this entire franchise on his shoulders and on his back and carrying them forward. And so I think that, you know, projection-wise, I think he helped kids have made a lot of great plays.

He's mobile, more mobile than you realize. He's tough as nails. I think about that stretch that began essentially with the Big Ten title game and finished the national championship game as all the tape that you really needed to see when it comes to, you know, just explaining his strengths. I had this thought last night before the draft began and everyone's got their best available boards and they're scrolling on the ticker on the bottom and everyone's got Mendoza and number one

and I was thinking to myself to be honest with you if a team that did need a quarterback was drafted in number one I don't know if that I mean I don't think he would go number one I mean that's easy to say but like is he really the best player available in this draft? I'm not sure.

That's the thing that I still need to figure out with him. He's got the physical traits, the physical, you know, at least the size and we've seen what he's done in college. But I think that some of the book is yet to be written on him in terms of an evaluation. I'm excited to see what he looks like at the NFL level because I think that's going to give me some clarity. But I also know that he's not in the worst situation in the world because they have Kirk cousins. Well, speaking of quarterbacks, what did you think about Alabama quarterback, Ty Simpson, going 13th overall to the Rams?

This is actually hilarious because I still don't think he's worth the first round pick. But there's, I think two things can be true. I don't think he was worth the first round pick, but I also don't think it was a bad decision on the part of the Rams. And this is where situation matters so much as quarterback. Because if I was, say, the Browns making that pick at 13, it would be an idiotic decision and he would be doomed to fail. But because he's going to the Rams,

a team that, you know, does that has Matthew Stafford right now, that has a coach that's been there a while now in Sean McVeigh, who is good at developing talent like him, who has a pretty strong offensive line that, you know, they aim to strengthen further. Yes, they lost Rob Havenstein, but I think they'll be okay in the overall picture. And, you know, an overall situation that seems to be pretty strong, you know, it's not the flimsy one that a lot of teams that are drafting quarterbacks in the first round usually have. And the fact that he doesn't have to play for the first year or two or however long Matthew Stafford wants to play,

they've essentially given themselves the Brett Farb to Aaron Rogers transition, at least in theory. Now, is Cincinnati never going to be the player, you know, skills-wise that Aaron Rodriguez was? Probably not. And that's where, you know, I think there's some disconnecting that a lot of people don't see him as a first round pick because, you know, they think about the consistency and does he have all the tools and that sort of thing because he was very up and down in Alabama. But he also didn't play a ton of football at Alabama. He was stuck behind Jalen Milro, you know, in the season prior to this last one. And so I think the jury's still out. And I think he's walking into a situation where he can be given time to develop.

and the Rams being in the situation that there are, which is that, you know, Jimmy Garoppolo considering retirement, they don't have a plan B. And I think that they realize, you know what, at this moment in time, this is going to, you know, not only is it going to behoove us for this upcoming season, but it's going to finally answer the question that we've been dodging for the last couple of years,

which is what are you going to do after Matthew Stafford retires? And they help doubt that they can put that plan into action and get the result of the intent. So you mentioned the FAR to Rogers transition in Green, Bay. But we got to mention the Rogers to love transition in Green Bay because there are some similarities here, not necessarily in the sense that, you know, Stafford might be upset that they drafted his replacement. It sounds like he's on board and everything. But the other part of why Aaron Rogers was upset that year was because they could have used that pick that they used on

love to give him a weapon right away to try and compete and play. And I know that there's a lot of people saying right now, how could the Rams pass up on adding a guy, like Lemon, for example, at the wide receiver position. As a Seahawks fan, I was happy to see that pick. Okay, so I'm glad he mentioned this thing. So, Nick, I don't know if you've seen it or now, but Brock Heward who does ESPN Radio in Seattle, there's a clip going around. It kind of went viral overnight.

And he is openly cheering and celebrating when the Rams take Simpson. Because he said, that's the best thing that could have happened to the Seahawks for this season. And a couple of people pointed out, like, the Rams talked all, you know, after they lost the NFC championship going into this year about how it was all about winning now and getting another one and while Stafford's still playing at this level trying to get back to the Super Bowl it feels like this pick is

like counterintuitive to that thinking and I mean I think everyone saw Sean McVe's response yesterday in his body language a lot was made of it. I know it's dangerous to read body language but what about that you know idea that the Rams started drafting for the future when the present is still

very much priority number one I like that that we're all looking between the lines here because I think that there's some validity to all of what you said. I also believe that this is a team that has kind of acted, you know, you're right, as if they're in a win-down mode. You know, trading for Trent McDuffie felt a lot like when they traded for Jalen Ramsey before they won that first Super Bowl under McVeigh and less need.

But I don't think it's as all in as it was back then in some ways. And that is, they would have traded a first-round pick for somebody if that was the case. And they wouldn't have even spent this pick because that's not who they were. in that previous area. And I think they're trying to kind of straddle the line between the two right now while still owning and maintaining the win-now appearance from the outside. Now, there's a reason that there's seven rounds in the draft. It's not like they can't address receiver in the second round.

And there's still a number of guys that are going to be available. So it's not like all that is lost, but I understand the focus on the first round. I think that they found themselves in a situation where once Jordan Tyson and Cardinal Tate were off the board where they were like, ah, you know what? I think this is what we now have to do. I think we now have to go get our quarterback of the future because they had to believe,

first off, they'd have to believe that strongly in him that they would make him then their number one overall pick, but also the fact that, you know, this is going to be a question they're going to have to answer maybe as soon as next year. And if they don't win it this year and they truly go all in and don't have a quarterback to throw to anybody that they would draft at 13,

then they'd really be screwed. So this is maybe the best compromise that they could find between the two. And also, frankly, once Tate and Tyson were off the board, I mean, Levin flipped past them. Like, he continued to slide. Yeah. Maybe they didn't see as think of him as highly as others. I personally, I think that's going to be a good player. But personally, I like his teammate Jacoby Lane is a nice fit for them in, you know, day two, potentially.

So we're on day two, so we'll see what happens. We're speaking to Nick Shook from NFL.com here talking about last night's round one of the NFL draft here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. the Seahawks capped off round one by finding their running back replacement for Kenneth Walker the third. Judarian Price, the 32nd overall pick out of Notre Dame. What an interesting

first round for running backs. Only two of them taken, both of them from the same school. You mentioned Love out of Notre Dame who went third overall to the cards. Price goes 32nd overall from Notre Dame to the Seahawks. Tell us about Judarian Price. First off,

you know, this was, this essentially followed what we expected with the running back class. We knew that Notre Dame probably had the best too in this group. And, you know, we already talked about love and everything else. But this first came to mind as a potential fit. I think we were doing mock draft live a few weeks ago. I think it was Lance Zerline, who I think had projected Jedari in Price to go to Seattle at 32. And it was the first time where I thought, oh, God, that makes so much sense, almost too much sense.

Because, yes, they lost Kenneth Walker, which is going to be a. a pretty big void for them, right? Going to Kansas City Chiefs, Super Bowl, 60 MVP, everything else that's fine and dandy. But they were really a team that was built on, you know, strength of their totality, like all of these different players. It wasn't that Kenneth Walker was a Saquan of Berkeley for them, for example.

And what really helped them was the fact that they get bounced between him and Zach Charbonnet. And Judaritan Price is very much like Zach Charvade, except, I think, a little bit more explosive. I think he'd get a little bit of a blend between the two. He's a rugged runner. He's a guy who didn't see a ton of, of time at Notre Dame because he was always, you know, the backup and the side pick to Jeremiah

Love, but he's a guy that, you know, runs with a low pad level and we'll run you over, whereas, you know, Love is the more athletic, springy home run hitter. Price is not afraid of contact. And I think that he's going to be a nice little blend between what you have in Charbonne and what you had in Walker. And especially since you don't have, you know, you don't know when Charbonne is going back from that injury. It made a ton of sense to make that pick.

And you kind of fill out what I thought was their biggest question mark remaining going in this season. You know, you have defensive departures with this team. Every Super Bowl winner does, especially a defensive-laden team like the Seahawks. But this is really the ideal scenario for you to come out of the first round is now you've filled that need at running back. You got Emmanuel Wilson behind you as a guy you had in the offseason. And you hope Sharbonnet can come back before long, but it's not as much of a glaring need as it was before. And it's a good take of a good player. Price is a really good kick return of two, right? I know the guys from Seahawks radio were drooling over the idea of having him and Shaheed back there.

so that you can't avoid kicking either one and it could really cause some headaches on special teams. Yeah, we're in, they're in this world down too where it kind of upsets me. That upsets me. It leaves me a little unsettled in that we throw running back back as kick returners again. I felt like we hadn't done that for decades

because of the way that the kickoff is now set up. And like Sean Tucker returns kicks for the Buccaneers like at some point last year. I'm totally down with giving one of your best players an opportunity to return kicks, but I'm also like, do I really want my number one running back to take five to seven more hits a game. So, yeah, he's got in town.

I'm sure he'll get thrown back there and get tested out. We'll see how long that those tests last. We're speaking to Nick Shook from NFL.com here. Okay, real quick, we'll do a quick winner and loser. Who is, and team-wise? Let's go team-wise here. Who emerged yesterday as the biggest winner, either the biggest haul or the best pick from the first round of the NFL draft?

This is a good question. And I thought long and hard about this. And I still haven't really come up with a very firm answer. I like what the Giants did. You know, trading, trained extra long as to get the 10th overall pick. I love it when a team reinforces the trenches and getting Malanoa from Miami at 10. Seemed like the right move,

Setsarthe Browns, Spenceerfano at 9. But I love that they got R.V. Reese, you know, I think that's one of the players that's going to end up being one of the best in this draft when we look back on it three to five years straight out. Just because he's a player that, you know,

I think is just scratching the service of his potential. He didn't really stand out and make a huge difference at Ohio State until his final season, which was this past season, So I think that their haul was good. Interesting that the Jets got aggressive in the way that they went through this. And obviously they started with David Bailey, but then we ended up in the teens. And next thing you know, they're going Kenyon Sadiq taking another side end,

which I don't know if it's the wisest move, given what they've done in the past, you know, selecting Mason Taylor, for example, but they can't pass up on a guy like Sadiq, that's fine. And then they end up getting involved in the back end of the first round. Again, they get Omar Cooper, which I really liked that pick as well. I actually thought he would go to the Rams or to the charge. at 22 in my mock draft. I think the AFC North, generally speaking, did a good job.

I did like what the Browns did. I'm not sure if Browns fans are going to end up loving Casey Concepcion because he does have a bit of an issue with his hands, and that's an easy way to put yourself on the naughty list with any fan base. But I do think that selecting Fanon and trading back, getting an additional two picks, trading back from six to nine was smart. And I love the picks that the Ravens made, the pick that the Ravens made, Van Gaione.

He had guys a mauler. Guard. Basically, the Ravens and the Steelers both took two of my favorite linemen in the first round. So I give my tip of the cap to the FC North for reinforcing the trenches as well. And I thought it was interesting about the Eagles, you know, taking McIlland. That gives us some fresh fuel to the fire that we have on this AJ Brown situation. And I can't, I guess I can't skip the Cowboys either, taking Caleb down to 11. That's a phenomenal pick in terms of value.

I don't know why he was still available at 11. I think he's one of the best defensive players in his draft. And then they go get an edge rush that they believe in, who I believe has really strong hands in Malachi Lawrence continuing to reinforce the defense. They had a good first round too. Was there any team that stood out as not having a great first round? Hmm.

I think Dolphins fans are upset right now. I think they're upset that they traded with the Cowboys and gifted them Caleb Downs because this is a team. It just moved on from, you know, they basically did the back and forth with Mega Fitzpatrick, right? And they felt like they needed a reinforcement that secondary, which they

continued to need a reinforcement in that secondary. And they thought that Downs would be a game, you know, a significantly franchise altering players, especially with the way that they're trying to build from the inside out. That was the guy that would make sense back there. And I thought the same. But I do think they're going to like Caden Proctor. The offensive

linemen picks are never, you know, the sexy pick to a fan base, and that's fine. I'm fine with that, and I think the Alphids fans should be fine with that as well. Plus, they did jump back in and got a corner in Chris Johnson, so it's fine. I think that their fans are just generally speaking not happy with what they did. And Steelers fans

are actually upset that they got scooped on McKay-Lennon. I know that. And they took a right tackle and they didn't need a right tackle. But you're not sure. I like that kid from Arizona State. I think he's got a lot of potential. And you can never have enough, you know, promising strong tackles in the NFL.

Nick, you're the best, buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do this this morning. We're really appreciate it. Enjoy round two and then this weekend the rest of the NFL draft should be a lot of fun. Yeah, definitely. I'll be there for it all weekend. Thanks for having me guys. Thanks, buddy. That's Nick Shook from NFL.com here on the

Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. A reminder, this segment of the show was brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal and why nobody has since 1926. Visit Duke Jamon Marine Drive. Visit them downtown. Visit them in Richmond. Visit them online at the duikato group.com. I wanted to

quickly shout out Josh Elliott Wolf The long walk. The long walk is underway. Who is probably rethinking his loyalty

to Elias Pedersen. Explain, Jason. Well, why don't we let Josh Elliott Wolf explain? And this is from around 5 a.m. This morning.

And Josh posted this clip. to social media. All right. I just started. The long walk left my house at 5 a.m. Right by the King George Skytrain station, going to my work, Sportsnet 650, right around Olympic Village at West Sacken.

I'm doing this because before the season, I bet that Elise Pedersen would outscore J.T. Miller. He did not. So now I'm doing this. It should take hopefully about eight hours. I don't know. I haven't done it before because it's kind of a dumb walk. But yeah.

So I will check in in an hour. I woke up on time. That's a good step one. I'll be walking. So that's a tough way to start your day. He's updated. Walking. Oh, he updated it?

Yeah. How is he doing? Did he get mugged? No. It was really dark. He did like the Michael Scott. He had his pants and distraughts and his pants and distraught. shorts with scissors. He was

very surprised by the amount of cars, the difference in cars at 6 and 7 a.m. compared to 5 a.m. Yeah. Yeah. It's called rush hour, Josh. So 33 kilometers total. It's roughly between an 8 and 10

hour walk from King George to our lovely studio in Mount Pleasant. He's on a 6 hour pace I think on the latest video, so that's pretty good. Yeah. I mean, I assume he'll slow down when he has to dodge like, you know, grifters. And the fatigue levels are they're going to reach.

Drifters. So it's going to trick them on the way. There could be some of those too. You never know what you're going to encounter. A wallet inspector. Yeah. Also, it's been tagged the long walk, right? But he did put forth that we call it

the Marathon of Cope is the other one. I like it. Yeah, that's not bad. That's not bad at all. Okay, we got to go to break. When we come back, we got a big 7 o'clock hour. We got an open segment coming up next so we can do ask us anything Fridays. A reminder to get yours in. Dunbar Lumber text line is 650, 650.

At 7.30, Kurt Molloski is going to join us. Vancouver Warriors playoff action tonight. 7 o'clock Rogers Arena at 7.45. Stephanie LaBea is going to join us. Sporting director for Vancouver Rise. Vancouver Rise begin their season tonight. Also 7 o'clock from beautiful Swan Guard Stadium in Burnaby. So a lot of local content in the 7 o'clock hour and uninterrupted Halbro.

It's all coming up next. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.