The Kevin Sheehan Show - A Few Moves + SVP

Episode Date: March 3, 2026

Kevin opened with the Commanders' news of the day which included the expected release of CB Marshon Lattimore and OL Nick Allegretti getting a contract extension. ESPN's Scott Van Pelt jumped on to ta...lk Indy Combine, NFL Draft, NFL Free Agency, Terps' Hoops, his list of college basketball teams that can win it all in March, and the incredible all-time versatility and talent of NBC's Mike Tirico.   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match For all your garden needs: fastgrowingtrees.com/sheehan To ship iconic foods from across the country, use: https://www.goldbelly.com/ For everyday daily wear, use: http://quince.com/Sheehan   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:02 You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Scott Van Pelt will be on the show with me today. A show presented, as always, by Window Nation 86690 Nation, WindowNation.com if you need new windows.
Starting point is 00:00:23 Three pieces of news today regarding our football team. I'll give them to you in the order in which they came during the course of late, morning into the afternoon. First up was that offensive lineman Nick Allegretti is getting a contract extension through 2027. So he had one more year on his deal. They added a year and with a lowered cap number for this year. Where does Allegrety fit in? Well, I think we knew they were going to keep him when they released Tyler Beaudish last week. Maybe Allegrety is the plan to start at center next year. that Steve Suter's not a big fan of that.
Starting point is 00:01:05 Suter was on the show with us on Friday, and he thinks that would be a downgrade from Tyler Biotish. But with Chris Paul a possibility to leave in free agency, it could be that Allegretti is being kept to start at left guard. If it's none of the above, he's a versatile backup, and given that he can play center, in particular, if they don't add a new center, in free agency or in the draft,
Starting point is 00:01:34 they at least have an option. You know, they won't be under pressure to go out and overpay or overdraft, a center. Allegredy gives them that versatility, that option. So that was the first piece of news. Allegrety extended by a year and a lowered cap number in 2026. The second piece of news, and it's barely news, because we've known this was coming for months now,
Starting point is 00:02:02 But Marshawn Latimore has been informed he'll be released. The cap savings huge with Latimore. We've been talking about this since he got injured against Seattle in early November. $18.5 million in cap savings by releasing Marshawn Latimore before the final year of his deal. This puts an end to, I don't think there's any debate about this, the worst mistake of the Adam Peters era so far. I'm sure he's going to make more mistakes, but let's hope that future mistakes don't cost them three draft picks. If you recall, Washington sent New Orleans, a third rounder, a fourth rounder, and a sixth rounder at the trade deadline in 2024 for Latimore. They did get a fifth rounder back from New Orleans in that deal.
Starting point is 00:02:53 When they traded for him, he was not healthy. He did end up playing a few regular season games down the stretch in 2020. and then played in all three playoff games in 2024. But he struggled. You know, he struggled in part because he wasn't completely healthy. He wasn't adjusted yet to his new scheme, his new surroundings. But there were higher hopes heading into this past season that a healthy, acclimated to the team, Marshawn Latimore, would be a guy that might return to his Pro Bowl Cal
Starting point is 00:03:31 days. And he started and played for the team for the first eight games of this past season. And then he got injured, tearing his ACL in week nine against Seattle. The game before he got injured, I had to remind myself as I went back and just kind of looked at Marshawn Latimore's 20-25 season. But the game before the Seattle game was the Monday night game late October at Arrowhead against the Chiefs. And that was by far in a way. way, his best game here in D.C. He was outstanding that night. We were like, okay, well, maybe, maybe he's starting to get the hang of it next week, tears his ACL and he's done. Bottom line is, it just didn't work out. And beyond him not being good, there were another 18.5 million reasons
Starting point is 00:04:27 to move on from Marshawn Latimore. So that was the second piece of news today. By the way, with the Allegretti extension and with the release of Marshawn Latimore, Washington's available cap space now, just over 86 million, according to Spottrack. That's the third most in the league behind the Jets and Tennessee. And more's likely coming in the form of an extension for Laramie Tunsell. No news on that, not now, but it if that happens sooner rather than later, the new deal would likely be structured so that the first few years are lighter on taking up cap space. As long as the cap keeps going up every year by big chunks, there's no reason to think that it won't. But as long as it does, you know, the big
Starting point is 00:05:20 cap-filled years of a new deal come later in the deal, not early in the deal. That's been a normal practice around the league now for many, many years. So there could still be another big jump. And in fact, they're close enough to the Jets at number two to pass them by and become the second best cap, available cap situation in the NFL. The third piece of news just broke a little while ago. The team announced its completed overhaul of a coaching staff. There were no additions from the last time we spoke on Friday. On Friday, I had mentioned that they had promoted David Rye from tight ends coach to pass game coordinator, replacing Brian Johnson, and they hired Ben Steele to be the new tight ends coach.
Starting point is 00:06:15 So nothing new on the final, you know, formal announcement of the coaching staff. No addition in terms of an assistant head coach. You know, Ben Standing and a few others had. mention that to us over the last couple of months. Maybe a guy like Daryl Bevel, some real offensive experience, somebody like that could get added to the coaching staff, but that did not happen. The news is going to get busier this week as we head towards the beginning of free agency next week. Yeah, remember all of their own free agents. There's still some, I think, pretty good bets on players returning, whether or not that happens.
Starting point is 00:06:58 happens between now and the beginning of free agency next week. Who knows? But I would imagine things are going to happen every other day on average this week. I got this from Frank SB 17, Frank Super Bowl 17, I'm assuming. Kevin, I heard you say that you think the offensive players in free agency are better than the defensive players. Shouldn't Adam Peters and his money be spent on the best players rather than just abled bodies, even if the best players are on offense. Thank you for that, Frank. I actually didn't say that the better players in free agency
Starting point is 00:07:40 were offensive players compared to defensive players, even though that may be the case. What I said is I think that the offensive players in free agency this year, at least based on what I think on the lists that are out there, I feel like the risk level is lower on many of the offensive players. The upside may be the same, but I think that there are some players on offense that are high floor contributors. Like I'd feel like that's a reliable guy that they signed. I'll give you a couple of them in a few minutes.
Starting point is 00:08:18 But, you know, the offseason, Frank, is, you know, it's an impression. and more often than not, an incomplete, you know, imperfect and incomplete puzzle. You know, you're trying to find every piece, but you're probably not going to find every piece to complete the puzzle. You hope to find most of them, but you really aren't sure where you're going to find them. You know, you might find some in free agency. You may find some in the draft. You may find some after the draft because you're not really sure. if the piece that fits best actually wants to be in your puzzle, you know, in free agency in particular. They may not want to play for your team.
Starting point is 00:09:04 They may want to play for somebody else. In the draft, the piece that fits best may not be available when you're on the clock. So now you have to address, you know, a different corner of the puzzle with a different player. Look, I'm sure they have a master plan heading into this offseason. but obviously given how many needs and positions they have to fill, there are plenty of contingencies because, again, they don't control this. Even with all the cap space in the world, they don't control this. It's not like you can force a player to accept your deal.
Starting point is 00:09:40 It's not like you can force the player that you want to be available when you pick in the draft to be available, to be picked. But, Frank, to your point, yeah, they could use some offensive additions for sure. Now, I think this offense, or offense, I think this offseason has to be about more than anything else, first and foremost, defense, defense, defense. I think they need three new starters on defense, and then another two to three, you know, meaningful contributors on defense. like that's five to six new names and faces on defense.
Starting point is 00:10:23 But I also think the risk is higher on defense in free agency. I do. So maybe they feel the same way and they're not able to add what they need. You know, there's no guarantee that if they believe that, let's just say my numbers are right, three new starters on defense, another two to three guys that are rotational guys and contributors, worst case. It doesn't mean that those players, even if they've got. you know, their picture on the master plan wall are going to be available.
Starting point is 00:10:52 But you hope to hit on several of those. But if you don't, you can use some of the money that you were going to spend on defense by upgrading your offense where you need some upgrading. You know, a new receiver for sure, a new tight end, maybe a new running back. Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, when I look at the free agents that are there, there are offensive players at running back, at receiver, at tight end that I think are high floor, high ceiling players. And I actually think they're really good fits for Washington's new offensive scheme. It's odd because I'm a person right now as a fan of this team and as an
Starting point is 00:11:38 observer of this team that believes their defense was so bad, it needs a major overhaul. Well, they've started it with a new defensive coordinator and changing up the defensive staff a little bit as well. But now you need additional players. But here are the players that I actually feel best about in free agency. We'll get into some of the defensive players later in the week because I do think that a guy like Trey Hendrickson, if they decide to pursue him, is worthy of, you know, a $25 to $30 million a year deal. It is a position that age as well. He's going to be 31 to start this season.
Starting point is 00:12:19 I think 32 to end it. He's coming off an injury. But they have to find pass rushers. I mean, it's the number one need in this offseason. They have to find pass rushers. They've got to find edge setters. The defensive coordinator in the scheme hopefully will be one that gets more out of less because it's not what they've gotten in two years.
Starting point is 00:12:43 You know, with Joe Witt Jr. and Dan Quinn, it was really more a less out of more in some situations, certainly in 2024, 2025. They were missing a lot of pieces, especially as the season went on. But they need a pass rusher. And there are some players. I mean, you know, Maffa, Oway, there are players that I like even after Hendrickson in the next tier or two tiers down. But I don't think that they're as low risk as some of the players on offense. Like, I think, Joanne Jennings would be a great ad for this team. Joanne Jennings is the best blocking wide receiver in the NFL, and I think he's an underrated receiver in the NFL. He's played his career with the 49ers. He's high character, highly competitive, physical player.
Starting point is 00:13:35 They're going to go to more under center, probably more zone run. Terry's already a good blocker. Jennings would be another terrific blocker and a very good number two wide receiver. I think Juan Jennings, the floor is just so high. You know you're going to get a player that can play and more likely than not fits what you're trying to accomplish. And the GM knows him well. I've mentioned this name and talked to Steve Souter about this guy on Friday, but I'm a big fan and have been since he got drafted of Chig O'Quanquo.
Starting point is 00:14:12 the tight end out of Maryland that's played in Tennessee without a quarterback for his first few years in the NFL. He is a versatile, wide receiver, excellent route runner, great hands, and very good after the catch. And he's decent as a blocker. You know, he's not, I don't think, going to be a lot of money. He's certainly not in the Kyle Pitts territory or maybe not even in the Isaiah likely territory. I'd be fine with likely. I think he's a great route runner. He's also been hurt.
Starting point is 00:14:42 A con quo, I think, is under, you know, rated. And I've watched him play and I have followed his career. He can play. I'd be surprised if he doesn't get a nice deal in free agency. And then one of my favorite running backs in the NFL, if they decided to add a running back, Tyler Algier out of Atlanta has been one of my favorites since they drafted him. I loved him in college. I talked about him coming out.
Starting point is 00:15:12 he'd be a starter on half the teams in the NFL. I think if he were your lead back, he's a 1,500,500 yard back. I think he's got that kind of potential. Now, I'm not suggesting that they go out and sign Tyler Alger, if they really think, you know, Kroski Merritt can be that guy along with, you know, Chris Rodriguez. And I think they want to bring back Jeremy McNichols as well. I don't think they have to upgrade the running back room.
Starting point is 00:15:41 but if they did, somebody like Tyler Algier, super high floor, in my opinion. And like O'Concoe would get the opportunity to shine in an offense as the lead guy, and I think they have a chance to really hit a very high ceiling. It's interesting, as much as I'm focused on defense, defense, defense, I feel better about some of the offensive players in free agency. and that list is just the beginning. I like a lot of other players, especially some of the backs. Like if they were looking at a back in free agency, there are a lot of options.
Starting point is 00:16:20 There really are a ton of options in free agency at running back. And I think at wide receiver, I just think Alec Pierce is going to get a lot of money. I think he's going to get a hell of a lot of money. And so your next, you know, tier down in wide receiver are guys. like Joanne Jennings, Romeo Dobbs. I like Dobbs. I like Juan Dale Robinson a lot from the giants. Like if you told me that they got Jennings and Juan Dale Robinson, now you might say, well, what about Berks? What about McCaffrey? I mean, I like what Berks showed me, but that's, you know, Burks is not going to be a lot of money. He was on the street. Let's not forget. Juan Jennings comes in. He's
Starting point is 00:17:09 an elite blocker. He's a very good receiver. And then Wondale Robinson is underrated. I didn't even realize this when I looked at this earlier, but his last two years in New York with no quarterbacks, 92 receptions this past year for 1,014 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 93 receptions in 2024. He's shifty. He's 5'8, 17, 580 pounds soaking wet. He's just 25 years old. I think that kind of, you know, and then you figure out the tight end piece and everybody's healthy, look out, offense. So back to Frank's point, you know, if the players that you want defensively are just able bodies but not significant contributors or you don't get everything and you've got money to spend, you can still upgrade the offense, and they can do both. They can do both. I did want to mention two other things before we get to Scott.
Starting point is 00:18:13 I believe, and I know that we've kind of, I think we've kind of hinted at this, but I believe right now, as of today, Debo's not going to be a player that comes back here. Is there a chance he could hit free agency, not get what he wants, and then he comes back after the fact if Washington didn't find, you know, a replacement for him? Maybe, but I think Debo's going to land somewhere else. and I do think one of the pieces of news between now and free agency, and there will be a couple of players like McNichols and others that I think want to be here and won't have a lot of options anyway.
Starting point is 00:18:48 But I think Souter's favorite player, Jacob Martin's going to be re-signed. I hope it happens before he hits the market. I don't think he's got the same kind of market that Chris Paul has. I think there's a chance they're going to lose Chris Paul. But I don't think Debo's back. but I think, you know, Jacob Martin is a good bet to come back. The NFL, you know, Indy Combine is over. I mean, I'm just going to tell you, honestly, if I didn't tell you this last week,
Starting point is 00:19:20 I didn't watch any of it. I saw some of the headlines. I know Sonny Stiles absolutely killed it. I know Carnell Tate didn't run a good 40 time. We know about Ruben Bain's hand size. This, I went back before my radio show this morning and just found from, you know, recent years because there's always this big winners, big, big losers out of the Indy Combine. I don't even know if teams, every team, you know, even looks at these lists or cares.
Starting point is 00:19:48 I think the interviews are important. I do think that. But this is the one that I found that I thought was perfect, although I'm not saying that he doesn't have a career, you know, down the road. He just hasn't had one yet. By the way, I was a big fan of this player coming out in terms of his potential the way he played at Florida. But in 2023, the consensus, overwhelming, big winner out of the 2023 Indy Combine, quarterback Florida, Anthony Richardson. And I took one little write-up, and they were all basically the same. I mean, he just tested off the charts. You know, 64, 24, 24 pounds. He was in the 99th percentile in almost everything that he tested. in, ran the 40 and 4-4-3, had a 1.5-3 second 10-yard split, which was 99th percentile,
Starting point is 00:20:43 jumped 40.5 inches vertically, because that's so important for quarterbacks. Broad jumped nearly 11 feet, because that's so important with quarterbacks. And, you know, one analysis wrote up, just a terrific athlete with ample space to grow as a passer because he looked really good during all throwing portions of the workout. At the same time, the big loser was Jordan Addison, who's been pretty good in Minnesota, because he just came in as small and slight and ran 4, 4, 5, you know, not what they thought he'd run.
Starting point is 00:21:25 You know, the 2022 loser, big loser, was Kyron Williams, the running back who's been so outstanding for the Rams. Why? Because he posted the slowest, 40-yard dash among running backs, and he had poor jumping metrics. He ran a 4-6-5 at the Combine, Kyron Williams. You can just go back and J.J. McCarthy was the big winner in 2024 because he weighed in at 219 and people were afraid he was going to weigh in at 205 last year, and it's way too early
Starting point is 00:21:55 on some of these guys. I get it. But the big winners were Shamar Stewart, the defensive end from Texas A&M. He did not play very well. Matthew Golden, the receiver, remember he ran a 4-2-9 last year at the combine. He came on a little bit at the end in the playoff game, but he was not what everybody was expecting in Green Bay's rookie year. Meantime, the big loser, one of them, Luther Bird and the third, one of my favorite players in the draft last year, because he had small hands. They measured in at eight and a half inches, put him in the bottom fifth percentile of hand size for receivers. And one of the write-ups said, does it mean he's a bust?
Starting point is 00:22:34 but in general, a lot to be concerned about. Luther Burden III by the end of the year was a major threat as part of Chicago's offensive repertoire. Roma Dunes, I remember, missed some of those games, and Burden ended up playing very well. It's just this past weekend is really a gathering place for news, for trade talks, the whole thing. The interviews are the most important part
Starting point is 00:23:04 the weekend and we as fans, we don't find out much at all about any of that. I'll tell you one thing, and Ben and I talked about this on radio today. Washington is one of the most buttoned up franchises in the league now. They really are. Nothing gets out about anything. That's been impressive about them. Now, you may say, well, she and you had some stuff about how they felt about Terry McLaurin last summer. I think that there have been some times when they, it's less about leaks on players they like or players they don't like or interviews that they had. I think that they were legitimately frustrated and just wanted the narrative to at least include last summer that their offer was more than representative of a team that wanted Terry McCorn to play for them,
Starting point is 00:23:59 which they felt it was right from the jump, especially given that they didn't have to make the offer in the first place. All right, let's get to Scott Van Pelt. We'll do that after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, I'm addicted to Goldbelly. I've been telling you about it now for a year, maybe a little bit longer. It's this amazing site that I order from all the time where you can get the most iconic famous foods from restaurants all across the U.S.
Starting point is 00:24:29 They'll ship it anywhere across the country. Johns of Bleaker Street Pizza in New York. It is the best. I get that delivered. It tastes like I'm getting it right there in one of the booths at Johns on Bleaker in the village. How about Grater's ice cream from Cincinnati? They're Buckeye Blitz. It is a chocolate peanut butter ice cream, peanut butter cookie dough, dark chocolate chocolate chips.
Starting point is 00:24:56 Graters is an institution in Cincinnati. If you haven't had Grater's ice cream, I probably. you, you will absolutely love it. So if you're looking for that perfect meal, if you're looking for that perfect gift, if you want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal the next time you host, go to goldbelly.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code Sheehan. That's goldbelly.com code sheen for 20% off your first order. This segment of the show is brought you by Window Nation. We are into March and this second day of March has produced some snow in the DMV. If you're not listening
Starting point is 00:25:40 from the DMV, we've had snow pretty much all day long, not a lot of accumulation, an inch, inch and a half in spots. It feels like the last gasp of winter because we're going to warm up at the end of the week, but you can never be sure in March. Early spring weather is unpredictable. And adjusting your thermostat can be a guessing game. you've got the right windows. New windows from Window Nation are the right windows. They're customizable, they're energy efficient,
Starting point is 00:26:12 which guarantees a comfortable home during the ups and downs of March weather. Window Nation's expert installers promise to take a day or less to install your windows. The windows themselves are backed by a lifetime warranty. During this month of March, Windonation is offering up to 50% off on all window styles, and they've got 1,500 to choose from.
Starting point is 00:26:37 All I ask is give them a chance to come out and give you a free in-home estimate. You can schedule your free in-home estimate today at 86690 Nation, or you can go to windownation.com. All right, joining me right now, my good friend Scott Van Pelt. We'll cover a number of topics. I want to start with, does anything from the Indy Combine weekend change the way you feel about a player after watching him all season long. No, it's funny.
Starting point is 00:27:09 Stanford, Steve, and I were just talking about that. And, I mean, the human context of things, the moments where the running back from Arkansas that had been at Buffalo and New Mexico State who ran like a four, three, three, and was in tears. And you think about what that could potentially mean, right? does that change the trajectory of somebody because that's a pretty eye-opening speed
Starting point is 00:27:36 for a running back. You know, those types of things are, I don't know what's the word, cool. I always hate that word. It feels like a catch-all, but I appreciate seeing those moments for somebody. But like, for instance, Carnell Tate ran slower than I think
Starting point is 00:27:53 Reese, the defensive end slash linebacker from Ohio State. But every time I watch Tate, I thought this is a great route runner, a great wide receiver, and it doesn't, I don't worry that, let's say Washington was able to get Tate at some point. Would I be worried that he couldn't play because he didn't run a great time? No, I just put the tape on, you know what I mean? I feel like, especially players like that that have played a ton of high-level games in college football, the body of work matters a whole lot more than, you know, 4.4 seconds of their life on a field in Indianapolis.
Starting point is 00:28:27 Why do you think this past weekend so popular with fans? Because the NFL has done an incredible job of taking their product and making it a buffet for ESPN, NBC, Fox, CBS, Amazon, Netflix, etc., etc. and they just are able to take their content and turn it into this thing that people just can't get enough of, whether it's this, whether it's the draft, whether it's the schedule release party. You and I've talked about this forever. You know, you know everyone you're playing. It's just a matter of what windows are you playing in that are the big ones, which as Washington fans would have been, you know, kind of a fool there, and that turned out to be right.
Starting point is 00:29:21 You get like eight, you get eight windows that are these prime windows, and then the season kind of falls apart, and it didn't matter. I'm not answering your specific question to the combine. I think it's mostly just that it's content that revolves around the National Football League, and anything that has to do with that has become prime real estate. I don't know. Do you have a difference? No, no, no.
Starting point is 00:29:42 I mean, that's it. I just, I kind of opened with this idea that, you know, if you just go back, and look at the favorite column post combine, which is winners and losers of Indy Combine Week. And you look at the list of winners and you look at the list of losers. I mean, it's like, what are we doing here? Why would we be interested in this? I mean, it's the same with the NFL draft, except at least there you know, hey, that player's going to that team and is going to play against this team or play with
Starting point is 00:30:17 these other players, you know, even though one out of three actually, turn out to be good players, and it's usually not the one that you're guessing will be the great player. Right. Well, yeah. So fine. Basically, the winners and losers just becomes who ran fast. I mean, that's, that's all you're essentially saying. I mean, unless it's something like, I don't know, the receiver from U.S.D. Lemon that was really good in college, and then gave some interviews that kind of went viral, and then, like, you know, the posts I saw or that he bombed the interviews. Well, I don't know what that means. I mean, it just takes one team that thinks he's actually really good at football.
Starting point is 00:30:54 Let's put the tape on. I'm not worried about how an afternoon or a weekend in Indianapolis went necessarily. So, I don't know. I do think, though, Kevin, again, just to go back to the humans that are the ones doing it, for someone that trains his whole life
Starting point is 00:31:10 for 4.33 seconds, and then that's the number you put up there. That's just a really, really a wow moment for these young people that maybe changes when they hear their name call, you know, and then to the point you're making and you're right, that doesn't mean anything either. Then you have to go out and actually put it on tape in the NFL.
Starting point is 00:31:31 So anything that's content that surrounds the NFL, as we know, is just ravenously consumed by people. Yeah. So do you, based on, you know, being a massive college football fan, let's just talk about a couple of these players. Let's just talk about quarterback for a moment. Are you a believer in Fernando Mendoza that he's going to be a great quarterback in the NFL worthy of the number one overall? I wouldn't say great.
Starting point is 00:31:58 I'd be really hesitant to say great simply because the NFL's failed so often at identifying anyone that's great at the next level, right? I'm impressed by what he showed this year at Indiana, Indiana, and in high leverage moments, he was always really good. And I was on the field for a number of those games, Atlanta, Miami, and the ball went exactly where it was meant to. go, impressive, an impressive guy. But the Vegas situation, I mean, if there are lines as bad as it was last year, I don't care who it is. There's Josh Allen would suck on that line. Okay? I mean, I'm overstating it, but they're all right that bad. So, so you have no chance if your O line is horrendous. But I was impressed by what Mendoza showed in the biggest moments that you could possibly have in college. But I wouldn't say great just because I wouldn't say that about any quarterback in this draft. I would hesitate to say that about really anybody coming out a couple years ago when it was Caleb and Jaden and... And Drake May and the guy from Carolina. Drake, May, I'm sorry.
Starting point is 00:33:07 Well, those three. The trio, the one, one, two, three. Like, I would say it about them. I thought they could be these guys. I don't know. Mendoza, his situation feels really, really, really. really challenging because the Raiders have just been that bad. How good do you think Jeremiah Love is going to be?
Starting point is 00:33:26 Excellent. Excellent. I think his combination of size and speed is exactly what you'd hope for. At that position, they went and ran sub-4-4. He showed an amazing toughness two years ago when Notre Dame made the playoff, and he was injured. But he fought through that one like Abdul Carter hit on the goal line for Penn State. if you remember, just willed his way into the end zone.
Starting point is 00:33:52 And then he's got real-life straight-line speed that's obvious. And I think he'll be excellent. I mean, the question is, do you take a guy at that position, top five, top ten? I mean, the returns we've seen for guys that are taken in the fourth and fifth round that are huge producers at that position always make me really hesitant to want to do that. But, I mean, you know, if you were Washington, you got there and you had a choice of, say, say, Bain or Bailey or one of these D-Ns or Love, what would you want? I'd want Bailey of, I mean, I hope he's the guy that's there at 7 or Caleb Downs.
Starting point is 00:34:35 I mean, I think those are the two things that I've seen on the field produce. And Bain, too, Reese, I'm hesitant on it. I just wouldn't take Jeremiah Love there only because. because I don't view him as Beijon or Gibbs or Maccafrey. But you're, you're, okay, but you just talked about like arguably the three most dynamic running backs in the national football. I know that. That's like when people do this. Okay, I interrupted you.
Starting point is 00:35:05 No, go ahead. But I mean, I think when people do that, do that thing about quarterbacks. They're like, well, he's not Allen or Mahomes or, you know, you're like, well, no shit. You just mentioned, you know, an MVP and a multiple Super Bowl winner. I mean, there's levels to this where you could be a really good quarterback, but you know you're not that. And so I think Gibbs McCaffrey and Bejohn are truly special difference-making type backs. And that's what I would take that high. That's all I'm saying.
Starting point is 00:35:36 Okay, right. You said. I'm with you. I'm with you. Yeah. I mean, when you can get. You have to know that. Yeah, when you can get backs like, you know, DeAndre Swift.
Starting point is 00:35:47 or Kiron Williams or, I mean, we've just seen backs, second, third, fourth, fifth, day three picks turn into great backs. If I'm going to take a back in the top ten, I want to know that I'm getting Bijon, McCaffrey, Gibbs, or Sequin. And I view him as a faster version of Josh Jacobs, which, by the way, would be great. I mean, phenomenal. That'd be a hell of a player. Be a hell of a player. Yeah, that'd be a whole lot. Not worth number seven overall.
Starting point is 00:36:17 That'd be a home run. Yeah. That's fair. That's fair. I mean, look, and specific to Washington, I think your needs are probably greater along the Bailey-Bain-type deal. I mean, Bain's the one all-season long that I would joke around with Dusty Dvorchek in particular when he'd come on with me. I love when he comes on with you. He's really good.
Starting point is 00:36:38 But he's still, you're exactly right. And he's got this amazing want-to, like this work ethic. killed he's flying from all over just to be part of our show which we really appreciate uh but we would laugh i mean we'd show bain wrecking wrecking the film and i'd say no no no you you don't understand dust he his arms are short you know he're not going to want him right because he's got he's got short arms and he'd love it and he'd laugh and yeah i guess i guess i don't know how he's able to sack him with these tiny little arms of his you know i and of course it comes up because he doesn't have long arms but i somehow miraculously in spite of that he's able to
Starting point is 00:37:14 That's what I guess I mean about the whole thing as it relates to the combine. Ultimately, if you've got several years' worth of productive tape, I don't understand why, you know, one cone drill or whatever is going to suddenly talk you out of somebody. It doesn't make any damn sense. Well, from 2023, and I did this in the open, the biggest winner out of the Indy Combine, by far, consensus big winner was Anthony Richardson, because of, of course, at quarterback, Scott, you really want your quarterback to be able to broad jump 11 feet or vertical jump 41 and a half inches. And he was an athletic freak. He ran 4-4-3 and look, maybe there's another act
Starting point is 00:38:00 to Anthony Richardson. We've seen it with quarterbacks all the time. But, you know, last year it was Shamar Stewart and Matthew Golden. And the guy that got panned, loser, loser, loser from the Indy Combine was Luther Bird and the third, who I loved watching. play at Missouri, and he fell into the second round, and look, why did he fall? Because his hands were small. He had eight and a half inch hands. And it wasn't like he was great this year, but you could see it coming at the end of the year. Sure, he was a productive part of an offense that took a giant step forward in Chicago. I love the point you make, Dylan Richardson, because this was a guy of Florida who was compelling athletic, but just,
Starting point is 00:38:44 hadn't played a lot of football. And look at that position more than any other, people will squint to see what it is they want to believe they see. And nothing was a clearer illustration than Richardson of that. And, you know, he comes in and he's had some moments where he threw some absolutely breathtaking, like, 65-yard-in-the-air passes to, like, Alec Pierce, I want to say is the one I remember. And, okay, cool, and then what?
Starting point is 00:39:13 You know, I mean, it's, you know, now he's going to, as you say, a second act, and perhaps he's still a very young man who hasn't played a ton of football. So maybe there's another chapter or multiple chapters for him, but you're right. He comes out of India and he went forth in the draft despite the fact that he hadn't played a lot. Right. It's wild to me how smart people seemingly all for the dumbest tricks when it comes to, you know, the draft. Yeah, I mean, it's funny because. I was going to ask you, what do you think the teams say about this past weekend?
Starting point is 00:39:49 It's been, what do you think the teams get out of this weekend? Because you say they fall for the dumbest tricks. Do they? I guess they do occasionally. But what do you think they get out of it? Because look, the attendance is lighter. More and more players are going to their individual pro day and individual workouts. I mean, I wonder whether or not we'll have an Indy combine in 10 years.
Starting point is 00:40:11 But of course, we will if it's getting television ratings. Yeah, I think it's, the importance of it, I think is dependent upon teams that have an approach that, you know, if you like how you do it, you probably just go there just to do industry grab ass and hang out and go to St. Elmo's and eat steak, you know, and shrimp cocktail and see and be seen. I mean, it seems like that's as much of a part of it as anything as everybody just goes to hang out. But I think you, you, you definitely. Definitely, I would guess, I'm not part of a front office. I would think you want to go and spend time if you like a guy, but you haven't sat with him.
Starting point is 00:40:53 Exactly. Let's go sit with you in a room and have an interview and have a conversation. You know, how do you react? And I'm not talking about these bullshit, gotcha questions where I'm trying to see how you react and you say ridiculous things to people to see if they react negatively. I'm talking about just talking to a human being and finding out. Like, do you really love this? Do you love the work?
Starting point is 00:41:11 Do you love what it's going to be required to be great? at this because we think you we think you could be great at this but we want to know how invested you are in the process of becoming you know the best version of you that you can be and you know what can you what can you really gather from somebody in that i i would think there's value in it and that's the part that's worthwhile not so much do you run four three five or do you run four four seven you know that i think the human element would be would be have value who's the player that you really like in this draft is there one i mean we can focus in on Washington at 7.
Starting point is 00:41:48 So do why. Have we talked about this before? The other day, Steve, Stephen, no, Steve, the other day, it's funny. The other night, Stephen and I were talking about, I think it was Reese Bain and Bailey. I said, if you like the best of that, it's real. I said, give me Bailey.
Starting point is 00:42:01 And he said, that's funny. I think I might like him third. And, I mean, I have great respect for what Steve sees through his eyes is very different because his eyes have been the guy on the field. He gets it better. I just felt like every time I watch Texas Tech, I felt like Bailey was destroying something. 100%. And I just think he's got elite speed off the edge.
Starting point is 00:42:23 And I don't think his arms are as short. Those short arms. Yeah, he's got long arms. He's got long arms. Yeah, yeah, longer. I mean, Bain would be a winner as well. I think that's a position where if you're truly elite, your impact is almost immeasurable and how you can change games.
Starting point is 00:42:43 So that's something that I would love for Washington to be able to land on. Yeah, that's my guy too. It's because every time I turned on Texas Tech, he and that guy Rodriguez number 10 were just ruining games. Yep, yep. Over and over again. The combination of those two.
Starting point is 00:43:00 Yeah, exactly right. They seemed to have a, well, let's meet at the quarterback plan, and it often was pulled off. Yeah. Well, I mean, there's a chance. There's also a chance all of those defensive teams. players and Sunny Stiles after the weekend he had because look, it's really important with Sonny Stiles broad jump. There's no doubt about that. I mean, he killed it. He did kill it,
Starting point is 00:43:23 though. I mean, in terms of what you can do to elevate your stature before the draft, I think he did it. Like, I think he, even the teams that go there to play grab ass and go to St. Elmo's and just yuck it up and maybe, you know, discuss a trade or two, they probably were, I think paying attention to what Sunny Stiles did athletically. Sure, I mean, well, of course, because look, having elite athleticism and all those traits, there's no downside to that, obviously. But as you and I think it's probably said 100 times,
Starting point is 00:43:59 like we're not ever going to get to fourth and two and set up cones and do the shuttle time, and whoever has the best shuttle time gets to either possess the ball or you have to surrender it. like, you know, ultimately, can you play or can't you? And that's why I just don't get talked out of guys based on, you know, poor tests as opposed to buying into someone that hasn't shown it, but tests well. So I think we're probably, I'm probably being redundant at this point.
Starting point is 00:44:25 We're a week away from free agency. I mean, does anything interest you more than anything else? I mean, I suppose, let's speak of Richardson, right? Here's the guy that got drafted high. It didn't work out. Well, Malik Willis was drafted in Tennessee, and a terrible situation had no chance. And then now, it would appear, played himself into an opportunity to go be a highly compensated starter somewhere based on a small sample size of solid, solid play.
Starting point is 00:44:57 But more than anything, Kevin, it's just the market that's just starving for anything that passes for being competent play and him being, it would appear more than just competent, but maybe having a chance to be good, where's he land? You know, I mean, there's a bunch of teams that clearly needs some help.
Starting point is 00:45:17 And so I think his next team is interesting to me, because if you're Miami or Pittsburgh or some teams that, I mean, Pittsburgh, we don't know what Rogers will do, but there's, you know, wherever he doesn't go,
Starting point is 00:45:31 now they, do they get desperate, you know, and then you start, swinging at something else, right? I mean, a year ago I thought I couldn't have been more wrong last year. I thought, Gino going to the Raiders, I thought, okay, yeah, Pete Carroll, Gino, that'll be good. They were a disaster.
Starting point is 00:45:46 Yeah. You know? So what I'm interested in often could be, you know, I could be looking in the wrong direction, but it starts with Willis at quarterback. Yeah, that's a good comp, too, in terms of Richardson. Could he land in a place in which he, because I think Willis landing in Green Bay with Matt Lafleur was obviously big for him. Not that Shane Steichen doesn't know what he's doing because he does.
Starting point is 00:46:09 All right, let's talk some college basketball. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. A well-built wardrobe is about pieces that work together and hold up over time. That's what Quince does best. Premium materials, thoughtful design, and everyday staples that feel easy to wear and easy to rely on, even as the weather shifts. Quince has the everyday essentials I love with quality that lasts.
Starting point is 00:46:38 Organic cotton sweaters, polos for every occasion, lighter jackets that keep you warm in the changing seasons. The list goes on. Quince works directly with top factories and cuts out the middlemen so you're not paying for brand markup. Just quality clothing. Quality clothing like that cashmere sweater that I got from Quince, it's already been a great addition into my wife. wardrobe. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to quince.com slash Sheen for free shipping on your order
Starting point is 00:47:10 and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's QI-N-C-E dot com slash Sheean. Free shipping and 365-day returns. Quince.com slash sheen. This segment of the show brought you by My Booky. They're offering all of my listeners, whether a new customer or an existing customer. Right now, a 50% cash bonus. We're into the month of March, they will have plenty of March Madness contests and every game that you want to consider wagering on. My bookie will have it, and they'll have every prop bet imaginable for each of those March Madness games. We're just a few weeks away from that, but down the stretch, we've got regular season games, and we've got conference tournaments coming up as well. Use my promo code, DC Reload, and My Bookie will give you a 50% cash bonus.
Starting point is 00:48:13 So if you deposit $500, they'll put another $250 into your account. Deposit $1,000, you get an extra $500. Deposit $100, you get an extra $50. You get the point. 50% cash bonus for you to use on your own to wager with. It's your money in the account. go to mybooky.com or mybooky.ag and use my promo code. DC reload.
Starting point is 00:48:43 Continuing with Scott, how much has this Maryland basketball season hurt you? Oh, man. I mean, it's awful. Awful. I can't recall being this sort of detached from a season ever in my life. So, I mean, it's just, it's been painful. And, yeah, I've tried my best to not say a whole lot because, you know, it doesn't really serve any useful purpose. But I think everybody that's associated with it, supporting it, hopefully within it, understands it like this, what this is, it cannot be repeated.
Starting point is 00:49:27 Who do you want back next year off of this year's team? Oh, in this mercenary era. I mean, obviously, Mills has taken a big step forward. He's shown the ability to be a high-level score and has gotten better. I mean, the pain thing's fascinating because clearly he was the big-ticket guy and he got injured. And then, you know, I don't know if he's his injury situation. I don't know. It's none of our business other than the curiosity of, is he okay?
Starting point is 00:49:58 And could he have played? and is he sitting with the idea that you can get a red shirt? Well, if that's the case, well, I sure hope that that redshirt year would be here. But given the way the portal works, I don't know, does his group suddenly market him? Well, that would really not be well received by anyone, I would think, if you went to market again. But the way the way this works, I mean, there's no loyalty to anybody. I do think that he has a relationship with Buzz that would be something that hopefully would give Marilyn the first chance to keep him if he got another year. But clearly you would want him if he would want to stay.
Starting point is 00:50:40 I mean, I think you start with that just because he's such a foundational building block. But then, you know, I don't know. I mean, there's just so much that has not really – things haven't gone together. very well, you know? I mean, Adams is a talented freshman, you know? I mean, I just don't know how much does it cost. I have no idea. So I'm blind on a lot of this stuff, you know what I mean? But it feels like largely you might be looking at an entirely or a significantly different group again for the second year. And that, I just, I hate that that's what this sport now is. No, it is.
Starting point is 00:51:24 And looking back, one more about our team, and looking back at this year, which is basically over, it'll be the worst season of our lifetime, not counting maybe one or two of those Bob Wade years, because I went back and sort of compared to this year, a couple of those Bob Wade years were probably worse. But this is the worst, certainly in this century and since the late 80s or the probation years. But if you think about, like, in retrospect, where did it go wrong heading into this year? I know that everybody wants to say 15 new players got here late, everything that happened last year with Kevin, but there are lots of teams that turned it around with a couple of key additions.
Starting point is 00:52:11 So why didn't he, you know, create a more competitive team in his first year? Well, I mean, the injury to pain is number one. But, I mean, Payne played on the team that played Gonzagin, Alabama on back-to-back nights and got beat by, I think, about 70 combined. So you had him for that. I mean, I guess there was a significant outlay for Rice from Indiana who really struggled. I don't know if he's what his health spent I know he got injured
Starting point is 00:52:47 early before the year started a lot of guys get injured before the year started but I mean just struggled to shoot it and I mean he said it himself I mean Buzz said he didn't
Starting point is 00:52:59 a poor need to do a better job I believe how he said it as related to the portal and he's right I mean it's because the I think the rep
Starting point is 00:53:09 that got labeled on Maryland there, like, did they have any money? I wasn't true. Buzz had money to spend. It wasn't spent efficiently in terms of, you know, shopmakers. And I don't know, man, this year's just been just really, really difficult. And I'm really hopeful that it's a one-off.
Starting point is 00:53:33 And, you know, you can keep the people that can be foundational moving forward. And the class that comes in is good, and you've got to hit a home run on the portal. There's a lot of work to do, a lot of work to do. How many teams can win the national championship? My man, Stanford, Steve, puts together his list every spring. And I want to say he's got a dozen. I don't think it's that one. I don't think it's that many.
Starting point is 00:54:04 I think, you know, I'll tell you the team I love at the moment is Florida. I don't know how much you've watched them play. So saw him the other night. Holy crap. against Arkansas? Yeah. I mean, they haven't had a close game in,
Starting point is 00:54:18 by 34? Yeah, they haven't had a close game in a month and a half, basically. You know what's interesting about them? And it's different,
Starting point is 00:54:27 but hear me out. Hold on, I just took a bite of peanuts. I apologize. It's typical. No one used to hear me chewing planters, peanuts in their ears.
Starting point is 00:54:34 Very professional. When Maryland won the title, we had, we, Maryland had a bunch of depth at, a bunch of size and a bunch of depth. Why didn't you say we?
Starting point is 00:54:49 What's wrong with saying we? It's just kind of funny because I didn't wear the uniform. So what? God, this is, it's so, hold, but let me just tell you. So yesterday, you remember Zabe, who was a part of the radio station for years, Zab had me on his weekend show. and he started to say we and he said, oh, I can't say that because
Starting point is 00:55:14 Andy Poland would, you know, would lecture me and I said, well, who cares? This is your team. You've been a fan. Forever, it is we. I never ever think about the, well, you know, the people that would say, well, you didn't play for them or you're a journalist, which I'm not.
Starting point is 00:55:31 Yeah. And I'm not saying it from the journalist perspective. I just, I think I'm an old man that didn't play. We, what would we had? when in 2002 was the depth up front where you could rotate in size. And the big that Florida has, and you saw it the other night when they out rebounded Arkansas by 20, is just relentless.
Starting point is 00:55:56 And yeah, they won a title last year because of their guard play and they're exceptional in the back court. Well, if they went it this year, I think it'll be because their bigs, you're just relentless. And you get one shot, and then the ball's theirs. I really like them. Obviously, Michigan's fantastic. Arizona is as well. Yukon's got a toughness to them, and, you know,
Starting point is 00:56:20 an excellent coach in Hurley who I really like a lot and have come to really like a lot, I guess I should say. Houston's on my list. They had that stretch where they lost three in a row, and there's times that I wonder about them. Like, they're designed to win rock fights for sure, but can they win, like, high-level hoop where the balls going in a lot?
Starting point is 00:56:38 Can they win a game like that? I'm sure they can. Can they win six? Yeah, I think Houston's on that list, but then, like, you know, we get into the, is Iowa State a list? I don't know. They don't shoot free throws well. That's a problem. Like, look at Texas Tech last year. That's why they lost to Florida.
Starting point is 00:56:55 They missed free throws. I like Illinois. Can they win six? Like, you and I both know that, rooting for a team that finally did it one time, you realize in retrospect how, friggin difficult it is to win six. You know what I mean? So really, it's like how many people do you think could win six? I don't think it's 12. I think it's probably, you know, maybe, I think
Starting point is 00:57:17 less than 10 that, like, realistically could do it. You didn't mention Duke. They're on your list, right? Oh, for, no, no, sure, for sure. Because this may be one of the best defensive teams we've seen in a long time. I'm not just talking about for Duke. I'm talking about just college basketball in general. They're impossible to score against. Yeah, they really put it on Virginia over the weekend. That's a good Virginia team that that would have been by far their best win if they could have gotten it, but they had no chance. They just got jumped early and never really competed. But you're right. They're long and connected, and they really guard.
Starting point is 00:58:00 And yeah, that's a really good team. I thought what they did to Michigan, no one else has done that to Michigan. Nobody has. Made them look bad, made them look ordinary. Also, you know, Marra got in foul trouble, as did Johnson. Like the match-up problem that Duke had against Michigan was sort of mitigated by the fact that those bigs got into some foul trouble. But absolutely Duke is on that list.
Starting point is 00:58:27 And, you know, I worry about them because their guard plays a little inconsistent. You know, like Foster has moments, Evans has moments. but like ultimately you're going to probably want your guards to be able to have a little bit more consistency scoring-wise, I think, to win six. But absolutely, that's a team that could do it for Shire. What have you been saying about Darren Peterson? That, I know it's frustrating for Kansas because, you know, they're trying their best to do right by the young man. I liked with Boogh Shambi, who along with Framford-Chilla, I think, does a great job call on the Big 12, where he was all in the after one of the games, and he's like, you know, he's a young man, but he's, you know, he's 18, like he could, at some point he could talk and tell you what is going on, and he really hadn't done that. But I agree with that.
Starting point is 00:59:25 Like, when all that anyone can do is fill in the blanks for you with, well, I wonder if it's his people that are saying, like, who are his people? and why would they be load managing in college? But I think it's not unreasonable, Kevin, to be concerned about someone who at least creates the perception that maybe they don't have an appetite to be competitive if they're tapping out of games, you know, and don't play games. Particularly if you're, you know, you're an NBA GM
Starting point is 01:00:01 and you're going to commit to however many million committed, over the years of a rookie contract. If I'm taking new one, I need to know that you are into this. He's really talented. But I can't recall seeing someone who at the age of 18 was already seemingly like load managing. And I keep saying seemingly because I don't know exactly what it is. But my understanding from the Kansas folks is that there's certainly frustration about how it got to this point where Bill is the ones say, look, there's a way to change this narrative, and that's finished games.
Starting point is 01:00:36 And that's what he said after they went to Oklahoma State, and he played 18 minutes. And he's played more since then. But I think it's a bit of a conundrum, right? If you just don't play a lot. Yeah. I mean, I've seen a lot of mock drafts flip DeBonsonza to one and Peterson to two in recent weeks because of that very thing. I'm sure. DeBonza, we followed them against, I want to say it was,
Starting point is 01:01:03 Iowa State were, you know, DeBosso played 40 minutes. And I thought it was very pointed when, you know, Cal Perry after Arkansas lost in overtime to Alabama in that wild game, double over time. He's like, look, you know, A-Cup played, he played, he was in a boot a week ago. And he, you know, played basically every minute, you know. And Cal Perry was making a point to say, this guy's out here playing. when it reaches the point where everyone in the sport is kind of muttering about it, you know, it's not a positive thing for the young man. So he's excellent when you watch him.
Starting point is 01:01:43 Like his skill sets obvious. All right. I have one more for you, actually. I want you to tell my audience what you said about Mike Tariko the other day. We'll finish up with that after these words from a few of our sponsors. Did you know fast-growing trees is America's largest and most trusted online nursery with thousands of trees and plants and over 2 million happy customers? They have all the plants your yard or home needs, including fruit trees, privacy trees, flowering trees, shrubs, and house plants all grown with care and guaranteed to arrive healthy. It's like your local nursery, but anywhere you live with more plants than you'll find anywhere else.
Starting point is 01:02:26 Whatever you're looking for, fast-growing trees helps you find options that actually work for your climate, space, and lifestyle. Fast-growing trees makes it easy to get your dream yard. Just click, order, grow, and get healthy thriving plants delivered to your door. They're a live and thrive guarantee promises that your plants arrive happy and healthy, no green thumb required, just quality plants you can count on. Plus, get ongoing support from trained plant experts who can help you plan your landscape, choose the right plants, and learn how to care for them every step of the way. We got an indoor ficus tree from fast-growing trees, and it looks great inside of our home. You don't need a big yard or a lot of space.
Starting point is 01:03:12 You can grow lemon, avocado, olive, fig trees indoors, along with a wide variety of houseplants all grown with care and hand-selected to thrive in your home. Right now, they've got great deals on spring planting essentials up to half off on select plants. And listeners to this show get 20% off their first purchase when they use the code Sheehan at checkout. That's an additional 20% off better plants and better growing at fastgrowingtrees.com using the code Sheehan at checkout. Fastgrowingtrees.com code Sheean. Now's the perfect time to plant. Let's grow together. Use Sheehan to save today. Offer is valid for limited time. Terms and conditions may apply.
Starting point is 01:04:04 For all of you that have not done it, if you don't mind doing it, rate and review this podcast. It's huge for us. Apple and Spotify give you a chance to give the show up to five stars. If you think the show deserves it, that's best case for us, obviously. We'll take your five stars. That really works out well for us. It takes all of five to ten seconds to rate this show. on Apple and Spotify. It's just a clicking of the star count. Apple gives you a chance to write a quick review. If you decide to do that, it just has to be a sentence or two about how much you like the podcast and how you've loved Scott Van Pelt being on this show today. But rating and reviewing this show is big for us.
Starting point is 01:04:46 Following this show is a big deal as well. Just hit the plus button or the follow button to do that. I saw something over the weekend that I had not seen. And I knew you felt this way. But one of my boys sent me the thing that you did about Mike Tariko off of the Olympics, you know, coming from a Super Bowl to the Olympics. And I'll just let you tell everybody that didn't see it what you said about Mike Tariko as a broadcaster. I just think he's reached a place that he's singular. I think he's the best broadcaster on television.
Starting point is 01:05:21 and the ability to call a Super Bowl and then go call the Olympic Games as the host. And to do, I thought, to close out that remarkable gold medal game with a succinct and brilliant off the cuff on the fly essay, it just puts him in a place that is singular in this profession. And what I said with Steve, and I'd say the same to you. You're one of my best friends forever. You've known me forever. Like, I don't want this to sound arrogant. And it sounds that when I say it, that having hosted as long as I have,
Starting point is 01:06:01 I'm very confident about my ability. I don't overrated because, and Mike and I laugh. Like, we don't view what we do as being very important at all. We just talk about something somebody else does. I think I'm pretty good at that. But I don't think anyone's close to as good as Mike Dorico at that. that. And I rarely look at anyone else and think, geez, I don't have that shot. Maybe it's like walking up and down the range, you know, and you're a pro and you've won some tournaments or whatever.
Starting point is 01:06:28 I just keep this analogy going. And then you get up to, like, Woods, and you see a shot, and you go, well, shit, I can't hit that one. And I just think Therico's ability, as a broadcaster now, is singular. And, you know, Bob Costas was brilliant. Jim McKay was brilliant. But I don't think anyone was as gifted in both lanes as Mike currently is. And, you know, he used the line, Kevin, that this was a generational build for the United States team. And I think for Mike, I know for a fact, this was a career that was all pointed towards these three weeks that he had and the opportunity to call a Super Bowl and then host an Olympiad. And to get it exactly right, in my opinion, all across the board is just an amazing.
Starting point is 01:07:15 thing. And, you know, we've been very close friends. He and I did a radio show together, and we've been very good friends through the years. And so he eye rolls at me and gets, you know, gets upset that I make a big fuss about him because he doesn't overrate himself. But my God, what a run the man had doing his job, in my opinion. Yeah, I actually think the thing that he's best at is play-by-play. And I think he's a very good host. Don't get me wrong. But I think he's a very good host. Don't get me wrong. he's become the best football play-by-play guy we have. Of all the number ones in the NFL in particular, I think he's the best. I think he understands the game the best from a play-by-play standpoint. I think he's incredibly, you know, smooth, just as flawless, doesn't make any mistakes,
Starting point is 01:08:06 works so well with basically anybody that you'd put with him. But I think that's his best thing. What do you think his best thing is? The point you make regarding the play-by-play that I would add to is that his grasp of time, timeouts. Yes. What coaches should be doing. No doubt. Explaining it to the viewer telling you, well, actually, you know, they're going to, if they get this exactly right, they're only going to be able to milk the clock down to about 28 seconds.
Starting point is 01:08:42 He's got the math in his head. His grasp of rules and applying the rules in real time in a way that isn't suffocating. It's actually making the broadcast better. I just don't think anyone's close to that. Not even close to that. Nobody is. And having done golf with him for a while, Kevin, there'd be situations where we'd be calling the Open Championship.
Starting point is 01:09:06 And there'd be a rule situation. and I'd be thinking I walked it with the RNA and I'm not positive is this stroke and is this drop is this like I don't know and I'm kind of laying out
Starting point is 01:09:25 to wait for somebody from the RNA to get involved and give me some clarity and Mike inevitably Kevin would say well this is actually a situation I think where but he would tell you
Starting point is 01:09:38 exactly what it was, but he wasn't bogarting you. He wasn't rules McJohnny. He wasn't trying to make anyone look bad for not knowing what he knew. So I guess I guess I don't do play by play, so it's hard for me to I mean, but I consume it, obviously. I watch games.
Starting point is 01:10:00 All I do is watch games. I think he's the best there is at that the administrative adjudicating all these things. that can really be cumbersome and get in the way, but he does it in a way that makes the broadcast better. I think he's the best at that, for sure. But then just as a guy who is a host to watch him be, you know, just I think he does some I admire where he's able to talk with a smile
Starting point is 01:10:30 where he's smiling and it sounds like, you know how you can hear a smile and somebody's, like, does that make sense? Yeah. When you're smiling and talking, it sounds, different than if you're not. And he does it in a way that doesn't feel forced. I'm not great at that, and I admire his ability to do it. And as somebody that I joke with him, you know, I've been nominated for an Emmy all these years, and I'm like, I see him do like the end of the,
Starting point is 01:10:56 end of the gold medal game, and I think, well, shit, I'm not winning this year. You see the ability and just, I just marvel at it across the board. So, I mean, either or, I don't think there's a wrong. Well, you're, per usual, you're selling yourself short on the hosting side, because I think you're every bit the host that he is. No, I'm not. I said, I think I'm really good at it. I'm just not that good. I think, honestly, I think as a host you are.
Starting point is 01:11:25 In fact, I think there's a certain, what's that word, gravitas. I think there's a certain authority in gravitas that you have as a host. sometimes it's just tone and voice, sometimes it's personality that I think that you have that I don't think he has. I don't think that's his thing necessarily. He makes up for it and everything else
Starting point is 01:11:50 being, you know, not only incredibly knowledgeable, but like you said, not only when he knows what the answer is, he's not telling you what he knows the answer to be. He's acting like, I'm pretty sure it's this, but he doesn't want to act like Like you said, you know, rules McJohnny.
Starting point is 01:12:11 He does a great job with that. But play-by-play-wise, in terms of knowing the game, that's what I meant when I said. In terms of really having a feel for the game, I don't think anybody's even close to him. And he's great at it. I agree. Yeah, no, well, I just, I marveled at it. And I saw someone put it kind of the way you were describing that he doesn't have amazing job of he knows everything, but he doesn't talk like he knows everything. And there's a,
Starting point is 01:12:41 there's a gift in that, because you can come off, it can be off-putting to be an authority on everything, but you want everyone to know you know everything. You never like showy about it. It's just, it's additive. It's never derivative in how he does it. So, I don't know. It's, again, he would be mortified to have this level of praise being given to him. because he just doesn't, he's not great at accepting it. I just said, please do me a favor and just let, just let people say this stuff about you because everyone means it. And I would think to get this kind of praise from your peers,
Starting point is 01:13:18 hopefully is, you know, is more validating, that's not the right word, more rewarding than anything else. When your peers have this much love for what you do, you know, that's when you know you nailed it. Talk to you later, thanks. Always enjoy it. Scott Van Pelt. everybody from ESPN, of course.
Starting point is 01:13:38 There were two things, actually, that I had on my list that I didn't get to with him. And I wasn't going to go back to it after the Torrico stuff. But I wanted to ask him about Shane Lowry's meltdown yesterday in Florida. I don't know if you golf fans watched it. He had a three-shot lead when he got to 16, hit it in the water on 16, hit it in the water on 17, and ended up losing by two shots. That's hard. a five-shot swing over the final three holes, especially with him.
Starting point is 01:14:09 You don't expect him to gag one up, but he did. But the other thing that I had on my list to talk to Scott about as it relates to college basketball is what I talked about on Friday show. At the end of the show, I spent, I don't know, 10 minutes talking about the incredible season that Miami of Ohio is having in college basketball. They are 28 and O. They're now 29 and no. What was interesting is after I recorded the podcast on Friday, I got done, I got it out, I turn on the game, and they're down by nine with about five minutes to go in regulation. So I basically was the kiss of death, not really, but I was like, you got to be kidding me,
Starting point is 01:14:54 because they were huge favorites over Western Michigan. They ended up coming back and winning that game in overtime to get to 29 and 0. and they are ranked high right now for a Mac team anyway. At 29 and 0, they are up to 19 in the Associated Press. People still think there's a chance if they were to lose one of their final two regular season games and then another in their conference tournament that they wouldn't make it. I think that's absurd. At this point, even though three of their wins were against D3 teams,
Starting point is 01:15:28 there's still 26 and O against Division I teams, have not. faced one quad one team. Now, everybody that faces them in that mid-American conference is facing a quad one team, but they didn't have one game this year against a quad one net ranking team. And that's why people are saying it's fraudulent and they shouldn't deserve in that large bit if they don't win their conference tournament. I mean, if they were to lose their final two regular season games and lose in the first round of the Mac tournament, maybe, other than that, I think they're in. They're trying to become the ninth team in the last 50 years to go undefeated,
Starting point is 01:16:08 heading into the NCAA tournament. If they do so, they'll be 34 and 0. But yeah, they almost lost on Friday night right after I put that out. They are a university known for the cradle of coaches, the incredible alums that have gone on to be great football coaches. Paul Brown, Jim Harbaugh, John Harbaugh. Sean McVey in recent years, Ere Parcetian from back in the day,
Starting point is 01:16:36 Beauchembeckler and the list goes on. They're like 11 of them. Anyway, one other quick news item. The Wizards are going to play Trey Young this week on Thursday at home against the Utah Jazz. So if you didn't think that Trey Young was going to play at all this year,
Starting point is 01:17:01 and I didn't, He is going to make his Wizards debut Thursday night at home against a team that they're vying with for a bottom four record. You know, it doesn't hurt that I'm sure the Utah Jazz at home on Thursday night is a game that is struggling from a ticket standpoint. But he hasn't played yet since being, you know, traded for back in early January. he hasn't played overall since late December when he had the quad injury and the MCL injury in his right leg and knee. So we'll get to see some Trey Young this year in a wizard's uniform. Count me as surprised. But, you know, look, the Wizards did a nice job over the weekend.
Starting point is 01:17:51 They've lost four in a row after they beat the Pacers in back-to-back games. and they are currently in a pretty good spot record-wise, two games clear of the Utah Jazz for the fourth worst record in the league. All right, I think that's it. Back tomorrow with Tommy.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.