Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Ryan Poles addresses looming decision on Jaquan Brisker (Hour 2)

Episode Date: February 24, 2026

In the second hour, Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote listened and reacted to the highlights of Bears general manager Ryan Poles’ press conference at the NFL Combine on Tuesday, with a focus on safety Jaquan Brisker’s future. After that, they listened and reacted to the highlights of Bears head coach Ben Johnson’s press conference.

This hour is brought to you by Menards. Save big money at Menards. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotty on 104-3 The Score, and we are listening and reacting, not reading and reacting, but listening and reacting to Ryan Poles, who spoke today at the NFL Combine as it gets underway in Indianapolis. Our coverage of this is brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. And here's just a, a... recap briefly of what he's talked about so far. At 25, he's drafting the best player available,

he says. He says he knows a lot of people don't like it. Maybe one of her names is Leila. But he is going to stick with his board, that at least according to Ryan Bulls today. He acknowledged Caleb Williams' rookie contract, and I think you said it the best. No extension talk yet because they still have steps. And I wanted to get into that a little bit before we get to the rest of this, because you were right to point it out, Mark Grody. I think a another piece of this that's really big is, I love that it's a direct contradiction to what he had to say at this time last year,

which was, steps were skipped. Embrace the steps. Steps were skipped, and although steps were not that we know of skipped this year, there are still steps that Caleb Williams must go through and get better at to be the complete quarterback we would all like him to be. Well, and that's it.

And I like that Ryan Poles is saying, hey, nothing is guaranteed here yet. If you want an extension, if you want to be the quarterback, and Jason Leisure was the one who posed the question about the certainty that he thinks the bears have in their quarterback. I feel that way. But I also like that the boss says, I don't think you're there yet. I think that that's a perfect reaction when you consider this is year one of what he hopes

as many things. Not that it's his rookie year, because we know that was before. But that you're one of a Ben Johnson offense and you're one of trying to set a standard here that's different. That's an important line to be able to draw. I think he's sending a message the same way that Caleb Williams has been sending messages, whether he's tweeting, trolling on social media, going on Max Crosby's podcast and talking for more than an hour. Messages are being sent. Lines are being drawn in the sand.

I think this line that's being drawn in the sand, specifically by Ryan Poles, is emblematic. of an organization that wants to see the franchise quarterback be a franchise quarterback not just in the second half of the games, not just in the last two minutes of games, but to show a level of consistency that befits what they paid, which was the number one overall pick. And he's looking for a franchise contract. Let's be honest. And when you talk about the amount of money that's going to be invested into him as a franchise quarterback, there's certain things he has not done yet that he still needs to do. But he's still going to be doing whatever he's doing for the next 10 years in a bear's uniform, Mark.

Yeah, Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson, let's put it very simply, saw the season pretty similarly to the way we saw the season for Caleb Williams. In terms of there was some moments in the first seven or eight games. We're like, is he the guy? Is he going to get there? And then second half of the season and the final fourth of the season, he looked elite at times. Well, you know what else?

I think we hear when we hear Ryan Poles say that. Ben Johnson's opinion. We're going to get it here in a couple of minutes, but when Ryan Pohl says that, it's asking the question, you know, did you do everything your head coach wanted you to do? Did you follow the steps that your head coach wanted you to follow?

When Ben Johnson said, strip it down to the studs last year, what did that entail? And, yeah, I think you bring up a really good point, Mark. Like, there were several games against lesser opponents where we found ourselves asking the question, did QB1 do enough?

Did those, I think, lessen over time, especially toward the end of the season and the playoffs? Yes. But you want that beginning of the season to start a lot stronger than it did for five or six games last year. And I think it will because the man adjusted to playing quarterback first year in a new system. You could just tell, Mark, we talked about this, training camp, what was going on, what was transpiring before our very eyes? We were like, just a rough start. Well, I remember doing a report with you guys being like, ah, the deep ball doesn't look very good. from Caleb. And of course I got

crushed for it, but that's what I saw. That's what we saw in the first part of the season, too. But also... Put your receivers in position to make plays. He was not doing that early in the season. Rudder is false, green game. Yeah, I think the other thing is comprehensively, we can now look back at those moments and understand everything that he was trying to learn

to master Ben Johnson's offense. I'm not saying he's mastered it, but the steps that he took to just looking like a quarterback who knew what he was doing, what was going on, was expected and being able to execute at so much higher of a level at the end of the season compared to training camp. And again, I get it. It's a basic step one versus step 10 or whatever you want to call it at the end. But I feel much better. And I told you, somewhere along the Eagles, Pittsburgh, like somewhere in there in the schedule, you realize, oh, he knows what he's doing.

Now it's just a matter of everybody doing their jobs, including him, and getting what Ben Johnson and wants to get done. There's a reason why they were a top, what, seven offense and not a top three offense. And now you heard what he said to Max Crosby, number one offense. I love the overall theme of your point, too, that we now know that Caleb Williams can't improve things. So while it's not, it can't be assumed that Caleb Williams would be better in the first halves of games or that his completion percentage will go up. And it'll just be more consistent. there is evidence to show us exactly that, yes, Caleb Williams can take coaching, he can get better, and that's why we all love this pairing so far between coaching quarterback.

I agree. I think a big part of it, too, is it's kind of like what you talked about, Mark, when the Bears got away a little bit from scoring on the opening drive, you know, when you get in these tough situations, late in games, great that you came back, but I think that that would be something that if I'm Ryan Poles, I'm probably, looking at in upcoming games and seeing how often the offense hits on those opening drives. And you brought that up too. Yeah, well, George McCasky, I think it was in the interview with our guy, Jared Payton, said he doesn't need the, I don't remember exactly how we put it.

He doesn't need the drama at the ends of games. Like, while we all had a blast with it and there were some epic elite franchise changing throws that Caleb Williams made, yeah, maybe it doesn't have, maybe we go to the initial Ben Johnson plan, which was to embarrass teams. Let's go to that program this year. Just win normal. How about that? Okay. 312 makes an excellent point here on the text line.

Completion percentage. Yeah. And those are the only words in that text. Now, were they able to overcome it to the point where they almost got to the NFC championship game? Yes, they were. But at the same time, that is something they have to work on. It doesn't have to be a roller coaster every game.

Yeah, I don't think it has to be 70%. Yeah, no, 65%. would take. Yeah. Let's face it, you'd take 60. 60 would be an improvement. Yeah, and understanding that dirt balls are dirt balls for a reason and sometimes, you know, just the play is over and you can't get anything on that play.

And that's what I'm okay with the incompletion, excuse me. I think the other thing is Caleb Williams to me strikes me as the type of guy who is also hearing every single piece of criticism that has been lobbed his way on the way to what was an NFC North championship or excuse me, division title, I guess. And now he's like, I'm going to take that fuel and fire and I'm going to have my footwork where no one's going to be talking about me missing wide open receivers next year.

That's goal number one. 815 asks, are they going to contest with the league for the picks from Cunningham leaving? It sounds like it. Yeah, that seems to be the indication. Ryan Poles talked about it. Ian Cunningham earlier today said that he hopes that the bears get those picks as well.

Conversations in regards to an appeal is the way polls phrased it. Also, 309 in the vein of your completion percentage. Tell Rome to catch the ball. Yeah, yeah. Yes, 309. Yeah, people, yes, I don't disagree with that hot day. Rome knows

it, man. Rome was depressed at the end of the season. That drop, man, and I remember asking about it, and he gave zero excuses, even though the reporter, me, allowed for one saying, was it a ball tipped? Was it a little bit? Nope. Nope. Nope. I need to

make that catch. That sucked, basically, was what Rome said to me. You know what's really funny, too, is like, for you saying that, and then Rome's saying that, well, we'll also hear what his coach has to say, because Ben Johnson is speaking at the Combine as well. Let's get back and listen to the rest of the Ryan Poles Press conference. It is brought

to you by your local Hyundai dealers. Yeah, you know, when we first got done us in, it's really for all the coaches, position coaches, coordinators. They came in and talked about what they need. Like, what's the prototype? I knew from what Dennis was bringing scheme change over the last few years, it was going to take a little bit of time to get exactly what we needed.

But as you go through that season, you ask more questions, you're sitting in the weekly e-vails of our roster, all the way to last week here and then go through their UFA stacks and inserting where our players line up in there, both guys under contract and not. You get more and more clarity as you go through. So I feel pretty good about that. Yeah, I think it paints a clear picture in terms of makeup.

I like to follow the whole journey. I don't hold it against the 18-year-old that gets a million bucks to go to school and maybe didn't have his priority straight. I think most of us here, if that happened to us, you know, we might be doing some crazy things too or maybe not focused where we should be focused. But I want to see the learning lessons that come from that. I want to understand their structure of the people. they put around them. I want to understand how they battle through adversity. I think the toughest

thing is when there's an out to transfer when things get hard. We hurt the resilience of our young players. So I want to learn through that and understand how they grew throughout their whole deal. And that doesn't mean we would eliminate everybody, but we know what's coming in the building and what we need to lean into because I think we have to pick up some of that education on our side more than back in the day where colleges were kind of doing that education along the way. And I don't blame the college coach. It's like, that's a really tough position. You got to compete.

You got to get the best rosters together, knowing that guy's going to be in and out. So you're going to have band-aids and bridges to install an offense. It may not be as complex as ours because the guys are coming in for a year and then they're out. So there's a lot there in terms of the impact that it has in the NFL. Right. He's got to talk about how tough some of the decisions in this all season. Yeah.

Bringing guys back, Jadwin Brisker, how he played, definitely raised his price point. Yep. Yeah. How one of the biggest draft takes. Yeah.

Plus, you've also got to realize. How something has that decision? It's really tough, and I know I've talked about those tough decisions in the past. I think what changes is when you win, bonds and relationships get deeper. And knowing that, Right now we sit over the cap.

We've got to make some decisions if that's cuts, if that's trades. There's real relationships of people that gave it up for the Chicago Bears to advance our organization, and they may not be able to stay. And that sucks, to be honest with you. But it's what makes this league beautiful. It's why we're all here. It constantly gets shuffled up and moved around, and it's a challenge of putting together the best puzzle you can with different pieces.

So really difficult, but that's what we signed up for. you got to make those tough decisions, and they are business decisions. You kind of try to take your emotions out of it and do what's best for the organization. My goodness. I'm thinking about Brisker. Yep. Like his, that, he was, was he not right on time with that game he had against the Rams, man? I mean, like, that, that sticks, like that, for the world to see, his price tag went way up.

And do you want to give a 33-year-old Kevin Byer, 10, million dollars a year. What we know is that recency bias is real. We also know that the most powerful of punctuation is an exclamation point. That's certainly what Jaquan Brisker did to his tenure, maybe as a bear, but definitely

his season. And he had a good year all year. He stayed healthy. But the way he finished it. Oh, that sticks with guys. Yeah, like, okay, that is, that was maximum the best version of Jaquan Bristler we saw in the playoffs. He timed that perfectly.

But also keep in mind, guys, Ryan Poles didn't back off from his position that he had the last time he was asked the question. And that was in the end of season press conference. You know, the question about Jaquan Brisker, the decisions he has to make. You know, he talked about how like sometimes it sucks because you have to get rid of somebody you might not want to or you might have to part ways with somebody. You might not want to, ideally. He didn't make any commitment to anybody when it came to that part of the discussion. I did not get any different opinion on Jaquan Briskers' future with the team in those statements that I did previously. Ryan Paul has given us a little bit of a poker face, but something that he did say, which was telling,

which made me want to ask a follow-up question as if I was in Indianapolis, I was not. I'm right here with you in studio here on 104-3, the score, Rahimi Harrison Grotie. When he was asked about Dennis Allen and the input and understanding what he needs and saying it was going to take time to figure out what fit, the way he phrased it almost had me calling back to last off-season. It's like, well, did he not sign off on Dio Dengbo? Like some of the decisions that were made last off-season now as we headed to a new season, I wonder how much Dennis Allen is giving him the shopping list, like, go get these guys. Well, that's it.

It's not like he was apprehensive and didn't spend money. Right. He spent an absolute ton of money when it came to Dio Dengbo and Grady Jarrett. And, you know, T.J. Edwards, I think that was that was, that was, but he deserved his extension. There's no question after the performance he had the year before. T.J. Edwards at times was the only guy who I think, not that anybody was loafing,

but that there were times where he was still just giving everything 110%. You saw that on the field. When you thought a drive was good as good as done, T.J. was getting an interception. He was being disruptive. But I say all of that knowing they've spent a ton of money on the defense. We talked about it yesterday. When I checked on the defensive spending,

and this is before a couple guys got extensions. The Bears were still 10th in defensive spinning in the NFL, and that was at week two of the season last year. Were they getting 10th in production at the time? No. Turnovers, yes, but everything else, I think we can all confidently say we want an improvement. All of that said, guys, one of my conclusions from this again, and I've been thinking about this, too, as far as the starting safeties are concerned,

I don't know if either of those guys is going to be back at this point. And there is a decent crop of free agent safeties. And I'm just looking at a few of the names, Cam Curl, Reed Blankenship, Nick Cross, Brian Cook. As always, there's a bunch. So do you look at that position? That's not traditionally a premium position. I think there is a chance that neither of those guys will return. And if one is to return, at least from the way they've talked,

They're more high on the idea of keeping Kevin Byard. Which he kind of acknowledged too when he said publicly, Ryan Poles mentioned me by name. He did name check him. He named checked him. 240. I'm with him on the text line. Kevin Byer can be someone considered as progressing the organization that might have to leave. That's just the reality of the situation.

It's true. The cool part about this discussion and listening to this like this is that everybody gets to put the GM hat on. You get to put the GM hat on. You, the listener gets to put the GM hat on. everybody who's chatting on our Twitch stream. The Score Chicago, we changed addresses, guys. So we're at the score Chicago. You guys have your GM hats on.

And the good news is, is we get to talk about this in such a good way. The fact that I get, my first combine, we get to talk about after a Bears playoff win. They didn't end the season like they wanted, as most playoff teams don't. There's only one who does. But at the same time, this is a much more valuable discussion.

Like you mentioned Cam Curl, Mark, Roney. well, he also had a really well-time playoff game, didn't he did? That's how it's like who are the actual cheaper options? There are those. I don't know. With everything that the Bears have money-wise on defense, how do you? I guess one of the two you could justify, but it's tough. 33, man.

You just talked about all the restructure possibilities. Yeah. You are. That's true, too. It could add up to something that they could manage, but I do expect to see a lot of new faces, especially on that defense and then that secondary next year. I'd still rather they had somebody could get to the quarterback

than keeping either of the safeties, to be honest with you. You would like that? You would like that? Yeah, I know. That's a crazy hot take. I'll wait on that for a very long time. Forever, ever, ever, ever, ever. Is Janik and Gakwe still available? He's always the answer.

Janik and Gakwe, come on down in your 8 to 10 sacks per year. He's always unanswered, but he shouldn't probably not be the answer. That's the problem. I actually think of a lot of the Bears' rando sightings are like the ones that were you actually expect your GM to kind of like, not the scouting as much, but your GM to kind of come through. That was a good one. I thought Unique and Gokwey when they acquired him.

Oh, yeah. I was fall for. I mean, they signed him for a price that was expected. He gave them an output that was expected. Everybody happy. Right. Right.

And you know what name came up in our conversation backstage just to let our audience in a little bit? A guy by the name of Larry Ogunjobi came up. He was one of the, he was a three techniques. signing by Ryan Poles and the Bears that didn't work out because he ultimately fails as physical. And then we were blessed with. And I don't necessarily say that sarcastically because I like Justin Jones quite a bit. I did too. He's still probably the best three technique that the Bears have had on Ryan Poles' watch.

Am I wrong? I don't think you're wrong. I don't think I'm wrong. Also, also just sidebar like Justin Jones was a hell of an interview. Relevant interview. But if you take that away, still I think production wise, like do I want Justin Jones in past coverage? No. but when he's actually hired for the job he was doing, he was good.

This will shock you. I love talking to him about the Green Bay Packers because he was easily antagonized to say bad things by the Green Bay Packers. And you guys know me. I am just the one to do that. Next, I think we're going to get into this a little bit more here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Ben Johnson also spoke. So there's a lot of questions on our text land that I feel like are pretty valid to.

Don't forget, Ben Johnson was a game changer and a lot of who the Bears decided. to acquire from a talent standpoint, why their shift in personnel may be happening in real time. So this is Combined Tuesday here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, The Score. We'll listen and react with you as a lot of you have your GM hats on. Keep them on next. Rahimi Harrison Grody Midday's tidal two on Chicago Sports Radio. 143, the score. Let me tell you something. The city of Chicago is hungry too. Oh yeah, remember that time? Ben Johnson took his shirt off and we all got free hot dogs from the Wiener Circle.

And then on Sunday, the Wiener Circle served John Shire and the Duke team and said, welcome back white mic on the marquee. This is Rahimi Harrison Brody on 1043, the score. It is Combined Tuesday. So we are listening to Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson talk. Ben Johnson took the mic in Indianapolis. So because the questions were a little bit hard to hear, we're going to break this up a little differently. it's been it's been clipped into sound bites for you.

It is brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers and we're going to start with the first question he was asked. Number one on here says, does Ben Johnson feel like he has expendable receivers? Well, you can never have too much talent. I mean, that's, I know what you're getting at there, Courtney, but I feel really good about the players that we have. And like I said, we've got such a better feel as a staff now

than what we did. when we started a year ago. And so each guy brings something different to the table. And that's really what we're looking to generate from all of our skill positions. How can we best complement each other? Who's got the speed? We need versatility, guys that can line up all over the place. Certainly guys that have great hands.

But, yeah, I think when you look at a 17-game season or 17-game plus, when you make the post-season, you need all hands on deck because the truth of the matter is not everybody is going to be. going to stay available throughout that duration. Did you hear that part about the hands, Spark, after you talked to Romitune, you mentioned that conversation earlier? The hands? Yeah, when he said, you know, they need good hands.

Oh, yeah. By the way, was he, when we're talking about the question, the expendable talent, is that a DJ Moore reference? That's why he said to Courtney Cronin, like, yeah, I know we're going with this because Ben Johnson's not dumb. He knows what's going on. He knows what people are things. thinking he understands the different routes that the bears could take this off season.

And one of them is, of course, moving DJ Moore. So that tells me, and maybe I'm just projecting and reading way too deeply into it, they have not ruled out doing something with DJ Moore. Am I, am I like just grasping at straws here from that? Can we hear like that again? Is that possible just to hear the way he put that in terms of the expendable talent and in terms of good, too? in terms of good.

In terms of good. I just think it's time. I think it's time to bring it back. Yeah. The face you're making. Terms of good. I don't know. Where we're at in terms of good.

It's, for a long time, it's been time to put Mander Iber Fluss away, but we never put X Bears coaches away. No, we don't. We never put them away for good. Here it is. Well, you can never have too much talent.

I mean, that's, I know what you're getting at there, Courtney, but I feel really good about the players that we have. And like I said, we've got such a better feel as a staff now than what we did when we started a year ago. And so each guy brings something different to the table. And that's really what we're looking to generate from all of our skill positions. How can we best complement each other? Who's got the speed?

We need versatility guys that can line up all over the place. Certainly guys that have great hands. But, yeah, I think when you look at a 17-game season or 17-game plus, when you make the postseason, you need all hands on deck because the truth of the matter is not everybody is going to stay available throughout that duration. Top texter trade, Rome. I mean, nothing should be ruled out. He does talk, as Layla said, the hands reference is there, and I don't think that was necessarily pointed. Maybe it was, but I think there's a little room to believe that they haven't ruled anything out.

Ben Johnson's pretty intentional on everything, and he's pretty careful in everything that he does, and especially everything that he says and especially everything that he says in an open media session when he hasn't talked to the media in how long? So I take everything he says at face value but also looking for a deeper meaning perhaps. Ben Johnson said he wanted receivers to catch the ball better

and work on it in the offseason in the press conference back in January. You know what it is right now? He remained on time with his comments. He did not waver from that fact at all. It is the off season. We are here. And that goes for you, too, Colston Loveland.

Ben Johnson was pretty clear. He wanted his receivers to work on catching the ball. And he reiterated that. What up, OZ? Let's listen to more from Ben Johnson on how they're going to evaluate. Oh, maybe they should look into the left tackle thing, you guys think? Like, maybe that should be something that we learn more about. So here's Ben Johnson talking about what's going on at left tackle.

We've got some opportunities there, whether it's free agency. or the draft and certainly some of our own in the building as well that we're looking to continue to develop and so we look at all the all the opportunities out there and we've got a lot of conversations going on for what that's going to look like and it's not just that one position it's it's really a lot of them we have a lot of guys currently that are free agents that we've got to make some tough decisions on and if we can't bring them back and like I told them at the last meeting I wish we'd could bring everyone back, but that's just not how it works. And so if we can't bring them back, then we certainly have to look to fill that void somehow.

Free agency, he said as a possibility. That was the first thing he mentioned. Where are they going to find the money when they're already dealing with this? Yeah, well, he didn't rule out from within. I mean, it didn't sound like over-the-top confident about that, but I still wonder what are their thoughts on? What do they really think about Theo Benedet. We kind of knew on and off during the season, but like, did they look at him as somebody

who they can get away with until Tripilogans back? What do they think about Braxton Jones? That's a good question, too. Also, the thing I'm interested in is we, you're, talked about the Kirk Cousin news, him being cut. Like, there's going to be more roster shakeup and moves around the league as

offensive minds and defensive minds. Remember all the coaches that were hired just now? Remember all the coordinators that changed from last year to this upcoming year. I think it was at last count 21 who had been hired. That's a lot. So I'm really curious to see if they're waiting to see if there's some runoff from another team that they can apply to their situation because it's not a fit for a specific guy or that guy's just too expensive. We'll see.

Here's another note from around the NFL. It's actually from literally the account around the NFL, the NFL network shows. What about that? Brett Veach, who is the Kansas City General Manager, hopes. Travis Kelsey returns to the Chiefs in 2286, but the GM is prepared for either scenario. So there's some big names where we may learn the faiths of some people like Kirk Cousins, as you mentioned. More from Ben Johnson here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3, the score.

It was brought up by Ryan Poles that they had received calls on Tyson Baygent. So what does Ben have to say about it? No. No. No. No. I love Tyson. He loves this guy. And that's one that kind of pulls its heartstrings a little bit. Start that over.

Yeah, I'm so sorry. It takes a second for our machine. He answered exactly the way we would have parodied him. I know. It sounded like a parody. Wait, is he? I thought that was like a sound effect. I didn't think that was a real person.

Is that the strongest we've heard Ben Johnson react about any player and it was Tyson Well, two years in a row now, Layla, do you guys remember it? It is a problem. That's a problem. It's a problem. It's a problem because of what it fuels out there from the people listening to this show right now. Oh, yeah. We're clipping that, right?

We have to keep it. Do you guys remember? What the hell? Do you guys remember last year when Ben Johnson was asked about Tyson Bayesian and how at that moment we're like, he likes the backup quarterback more than he likes the starting quarterback. Well, he spoke more glowingly about a guy who I think in his eyes had exceeded his undrafted rookie status to a level, whereas you have a number one overall pick who maybe wasn't at number one overall pick playing levels just yet.

But let's also remember that a young Ben Johnson also played quarterback and that, you know, he probably busted his tail to be able to get his opportunities. Are you saying he may have seen a little bit of himself in Tyson Bejant? Yes. He's like doing, he's like doing it. They are intense. They are similar. Hey, Ben, are you to trade Tyson Bejant?

No. No. It sounds like a devil sound from like the exercise. I thought it was a special effect. Don't do it. But I also love that he just like us speaks in sound effects. Do you love him? Yes.

No. No. I think he's the greatest quarterback ever. Okay. I just, I, I, I, that caught me off guard. Honestly. No. I think he's the greatest quarterback.

Now I're just imagining Mark Grady. creating a whole character out of this voice. It's happening. I'm thinking I'm the best coach in America. So what do we call it passionate about Tyson, Bage, and Ben Johnson? I call it the conjuring. You can call it whatever you want.

It does sound like. He's got an exorcist's vibe. Right? He's going to go crawling down the steps on his back like a scorpion. Also, I am crab walking. Get out of the house. It's like Amniville horror. Get out of the house.

No. I expect somebody to show up in the reflection to this window right now and tell me no. Like, what? If this is a sneak peek at offseason fun, want to playoff game, Ben Johnson, I have 100% into it. So let's hear the thrilling conclusion

of the Tyson-Bajun comment. No. It's totally the exorcist. Get out of the house. I love Tyson. And that's one that kind of pulls at your heartstrings a little bit because because he's someone that you care about so deep,

and he's a hell of a football player that at some point you want to see him have a chance to do it himself. And so, you know, we'll always do what's best for our team and our organization. I do think there's a lot of merit to having a strong number two quarterback, which he certainly fits that bill on, I'm of the mind that he's probably one of the best 32 in the NFL. his preseason tape over the last few years has probably confirmed that in my opinion. But self, you know, if I took myself out of the equation, you know, I want what's best for him. If he would like an opportunity to start, I certainly hope he can get that somewhere. No, you don't.

Took myself out of the equation. Do he just call him one of the best 32 in the NFL? I think he said he wants to be, thinks of himself as, wants to be. Did he say that? Maybe I heard wrong. I need to examine this again. Because I thought he said he's one of the 30. Maybe he did say one and I just misheard it.

Maybe, I don't know. Guys, what did you guys hear? Did you, what was it? I think everybody's still distracted by the no. Yeah, we're just getting over the laughter. I'm sorry, I'm just like Ben Johnson suddenly has talked about heartstrings and if I took myself out of it. Like note to self, be careful what you say about Tyson Bayesian around Ben Johnson.

I love Tyson. if you let up go, you will die with the rest of the non-believers. Also, everybody on the text line saying Bain Johnson. That's what they're in. Yes. I could see it. So good. Guys, we have so much to get to.

I'm going to seriously ask that we reconsider our scheduling. We'll have a show meeting during the commercial break. We can't get. Why? This is only... Why, Tyson? I truly believe this about. Ben Johnson. He knows that Caleb Williams is the guy. He knows that there's no chance that

but he really love a game or two with Tite's invasion. You know what I mean? Like just a couple regular season games. But Caleb, I'm not saying I do. I'm saying that he does. No. I remember what it's like seeing Tyson Bajun throw into a tight window more than 10 yards down the field. Yeah, that's it. It's the arm strength. Oh, the arm strength is everything with him. Like some of the throws down the middle of the field. scary. It's like a horror film. It's like, who's going to catch you? No, war hands, wrong team.

I can't. We've handled so far as a team. Three sound bites from Ben Johnson at the Combine. We are going to bring you a whole lot more. We want to bring you everything he had to say. So we will chip away at that now that we know, now that we know what is kryptonite. Careful what you say. Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi Harris and Grody on 1043 The Score.

This is Rahimi Harris and Grody on 1043 The Score, as we've now decided we live in a post-Ben Johnson-Bain-Impression life. Grody's still trying to collect himself from what he heard. Ben Johnson speaking, what would you guys call it? Is it glowingly, obsessively? Something about Tyson-Bagent? I just called Bain Johnson speaking on what he knows. He knows Tyson Bajent. You know what it is?

It's just burpee talk, man. It's just, you know what it is? It's burpee. I'm going to make that a word. I'm going to get that out of a lot. Burphe's already a word. My friend Margaret Burpee, her great grandfather invented the burpee. It was named after him.

And it's an exercise movie that most people hate. No, but like, use it like, oh, yo, man, that is so burpee. So, B-U-R-P-Y. Burpee. Oh, really? That's what you're saying. Yeah, right, right. Well, because Tyson-Bagent is known, famously known, known, for his burpee prowess, the exercise, yes.

Your friend's grandfather invented the burpee? He was in the military. That's who they named. He invented an exercise and we'll just call it the burpee. What was his first name? I don't know his first name. Terry? I'll come up with that.

I know you like names. I know you like Doug and Carl and all the names. I'll get back to you on that. Do you do burpees to honor your friend's grandfather? I love burpees. It's my favorite exercise because it doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt.

It's the respiratory system. It doesn't hurt my shoulders. It doesn't hurt anything. You just fall to the floor and pitch your stuff. yourself back up. What is? I can't believe that happened. That's Ben Johnson's voice.

Does he know that he basically memed himself when he did that? Like that's going to go. Does he care? No. He does not care. He probably doesn't care. Like he took a shirt off in front of the crowd of how many people at the, you know, locker room for the Wiener Circle hot dogs?

Well, he knew he was doing it for the world. I mean, there's only the team in there and Kevin Warren in him. But then. But then. All right. We're in a post-Bain Johnson. Johnson. Can you imagine like in the private meeting with Ryan Poles as they discuss?

You know, we're thinking about maybe entertainment. No, no, you're not going to do it, Ryan. No. I don't think so. And they're all like, okay, guys, like we got to be sensitive. Like, Ben Johnson is a very rational man, but when you start to talk about Bayton, he loses it and just becomes a total meatball. Like this really cerebral guy.

The only Tyson you're allowed to talk about are the Tyson's chicken nuggets. That's it. He has one weakness, and it's. Tyson v. I, yes, yes, that's how I feel. I feel we have found his cryptonite. I love you. You have to code it.

Be like, hey, guys, you want to switch Nintendo cartridges? How about I give you this Mike Tyson's punchout? No. Poor Sean Sears. He's the one who's helping us out with all of this audio from the combine. He just walks by the studio and is just smiling from ear to ear. Sears. When he heard that Ben Johnson sound bite, I wonder what he was thinking.

Okay. So let's get back to non-Tyson, Ben Johnson. Satan Larvie. Someone says at the top. Satan Larry. Get your dagger. I'll give you a dagger.

Tyson. Get out of the house. You know, there are some days in this job where the show just produces itself. It does. This is one of those days. All right, let's listen to Ben Johnson. Talk about the draft processes here. Does he break character?

Is there anything else that you can take from last year's draft process? to go into this year? No, we got a vision. Ryan does a great job of stacking that board, him and his crew, and was able to sit in with some of the scouts earlier. And I think they do a great job bringing the information at the table, and we'll proceed business as usual. How is his nose so much more measured that time?

He answered the question the same way, with the same two-letter word. I am going to, especially during training camp this year. I'm going to somehow, some way I will try to fit in tight-to-all-old. Jason Baden questions, at least one for press conference, especially in training camp, where it's truly relevant. So there are some people giving Ben Johnson the benefit of the doubt. They're like, isn't Ben Johnson doing that thing where you pretend to cover up a word with a cough?

He might be, but it was just so emphatic as all. I don't believe he is, but keep going. What about that Tyson-Bajun interception? Wasn't he cropped? How did he switch back? And he's like, well, here's what we think about the draft process. I love Tyson. You know what that is?

You let the demon out, man. The demon is the bob inside Ben Johnson that wants to truly start Tyson's a inner bomb. The inner bomb is coming out. If he says the word bloodline, so help me. Oh, man. And otherwise rational, reasonable man. Except for when the Packers are here. It now makes more sense.

He is like the Packers and Tyson Bayesian set him off. We've got to start getting a list together here. Wasn't that a show that Mark Grody had a pop-up show? Oh, my God, I did. That was one of my, yeah, we did a, what did we call that podcast? Let me make a list with my buddy Brian Mitchell. All right, there it is. So we've got to get a list together.

Malik Willis is probably moving on. We can agree on that. So what if Tyson Bejie became the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers? How would he react then, Grody? Oh, no. It would be slow motion, though. No. Oh my God.

I love Tyson. What? I love Tyson. Oh, my goodness. Now they're manipulating this man's voice to match his no. Sounds like a gangster on 60 minutes. I killed lots of people. I can't tell you how many people I killed, but I killed a lot of people.

Do you know, if Alice Hall gets a hold of this segment, we're not sorry. But. Oh, they're enjoying this. They know Ben Johnson, too. I am so sorry that we have derailed ourselves with this discovery. We love Tyson Bagin, sir. That's what happens with the rank and file out of hell. We love him.

He's the best. He's great. He does burpees. That's right. I do think there is some fellow meatheadedness there, you know, the love to work out, crossfit your face off, whatever else. Absolutely. With the legend of Ben Johnson's weightlifting and Tyson Bajent's background from a familial,

and this is not a bloodline thing, it's, well, it's literally a bloodline. thing. But not in a coded way. Yeah, not in a coded way. Do you think they've arm wrestled? That's my next question. Wow. You've thought about Tyson and Ben? Yeah. Or Mr. Bajent? No, no, no, no. Tyson and Ben Johnson, have they ever arm wrestled? These are the questions that come to me in a moment like this. This is a bold ask. And I know it's probably not going to happen. But in the spirit of Shooter Shoot, I think we need to try to talk more to Ben Johnson on a show like this.

I think it's time. I bet he has some Cubs thoughts. You think he'd like us? If he doesn't, he would at least laugh at us doing this segment today. This microphone here I'm pointing to in our Circa Studios here, right? That is for Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. Let's keep the dream alive. Let's get those two guys. They would love hanging out with us.

I bet Ben Johnson would be on time. We are the best show in this town to have the coach and or quarterback sit right here. Because we're here for a good time. We are here for a good time. We're fun. We're funny. We're serious sometimes. Sometimes we cry.

sometimes we laugh. Like this is perfect. If you wanted a high chance of a drink spilled all over the studio, we are definitely your people. We do that. I'm the guy who does that. That's my responsibility. Grotie has.

And also I opened this kombucha and it went everywhere. So, you know, if you like those sort of things, then maybe we're the show for you. We have decided today we are going to postpone five on it because we as a society can't seem to handle Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson had more to say. And apparently Ryan Poles had a lot. to say in his side session that he did.

So we're going to bring it all to you. This is real live Combine Talk brought to you by your local Hyundai Dealers, coverage. Mitch is now in the office. Uh-oh. Mitch. That's it. Uh-oh.

Why does Grody keep yelling in the mic? It's a dump it. Dump it. Grotie just keeps yelling the whole time. I don't know what's going on. Should we go to commercial now? Yes or no. On the score.

We have to.