The Kevin Sheehan Show - Any Interest In Jalen Ramsey?

Episode Date: April 15, 2025

Kevin opened with the Dolphins and 7-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey agreeing to seek a trade and whether or not Washington should be interested. Nick Akridge/Pro Football Focus jumped on to discuss his Commanders' draft thoughts and more. Kevin finished with what Alex Ovechkin said about hisGo to zbiotics.com/SHEEHAN and use SHEEHAN at checkout for 15% off any first time orders of ZBiotics probiotics. Go to zbiotics.com/SHEEHAN and use SHEEHAN at checkout for 15% off any first time orders of ZBiotics probiotics.Try hims.com/SHEEHAN for your personalized hair loss treatment options.Shop SKIMS Mens at SKIMS.com and SKIMS stores.Go To WindowNation.com. Buy 4 windows, get 4 free!If you want to bet on sports, go to mybookie.ag. Use code KEVINDC for a bonus! relationship with Sidney Crosby and his NBA Playoff predictions.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Window Nation is the presenting sponsor of this podcast, 86690 Nation or windonation.com if you need new windows. No Tommy today. He'll be back with me on Thursday.

We are nine evenings away from the NFL draft. Pro Football Focus is Nick Ackridge will jump on with me in the next second. He did a Washington mock draft. He also had the responsibility for pro football focus to evaluate all of the quarterbacks in the draft. Not that we're as interested this year as we were last year, but we'll talk to Nick about where the quarterbacks in this year's draft, you know, we're the best one in this year's draft. Cam Ward would have landed in last year's draft. Nick Ackridge next segment. And for those of you, and I know it's a limited amount of.

of you, but for those of you who, like me, care about the NBA playoffs, they start tonight. I'll actually explain the NBA playoffs and then have a finals matchup prediction and a champion prediction in the final segment of what should be a pretty quick show today. There was some decent-sized NFL news today. Jalen Ramsey is being shopped by the Dolphins. They mutually agreed to seek out a trade partner. This a year after he signed a pretty hefty three-year contract extension worth over $72 million. Jalen Ramsey's a seven-time pro bowler.

He's a three-time first-team all-pro player. He's certainly one of the best corners of his generation. Miami seems to be heading in a new direction. The question is, should Washington be interested? I don't think so. You know, maybe interested enough to check on things like health and what Miami's looking for. But unless they have concerns about Marshawn Latimore that they have not expressed in this offseason, but if they do have some concerns about Latimore, I think they should have already moved on.

They haven't suggested that they are concerned at all. Adam Peters said, look, we feel just as good about Marshawn Latimore today as we did when we made the trade. Obviously, he wasn't healthy. It took a while to acclimate to the new situation. An offseason of getting healthy and getting comfortable with the system, hopefully will produce Marshawn Latimore at his best for Washington next year. But as far as Jalen Ramsey goes, unless I have been less. as the general manager to the public about Marshawn Latimore.

And there is deep down concern. I don't think I'm really interested in Ramsey. This draft has cornerback possibilities as early as number 29. They had Max Harrison from Kentucky and Quincy Riley from Louisville in today for top 30 visits. Ben Standing, I think was the first to report it this morning that they had 20 or so players in for top 30 visits. By the way, remember last year the top 30 visits and the trip to top golf? I don't know, maybe they're heading to top golf tonight, but God, that was a fiasco.

It was, if you recall, it was Jaden's agent, Ron Butler, who really created the stir over the top golf trip. It was unorthodox what Adam Peters decided to do. he and Dan Quinn, remember, organized a top golf outing for Jaden Daniels, Drake May, J.J. McCarthy, and Michael Penix Jr. Now, Peters had done something, I think, similarly in San Francisco, but remember, he wanted, you know, to see how these guys interacted with each other. And it drew criticism from various media outlets, including pro football. talk and Mike Florio, I mean, he hates everything, especially when it comes to this franchise. But he tweeted out some things that Ron Butler, Jaden's agent, liked. You know, he essentially liked a couple of critical posts on Washington's top golf trip.

And he made one of his remarks with, you know, a thinking face emoji. And so everybody took that to mean the agent and maybe Jaden didn't like it and thought it was ridiculous. It turns out that, you know, I don't know if they learned anything from the Top Golf visit. I'm pretty sure that long before the Top Golf visit, if you believe Adam Peters, you know, in sort of retrospect, talking about the first time he turned on the tape, he knew that it was going to be Jaden Daniels. and the top golf visit in trip came long after that. I don't know that he could have done anything to have turned him around in a negative way. But anyway, it turned out to be pretty much a benign overall event.

And I'm sure I can't remember, but I am sure we probably spent a day or two discussing it. You know, the one thing that I said, I do remember specifically what I said. I said, you know, it's possible that one of the players that went to Top Golf was uncomfortable because they're not a golfer. And as a supreme athlete, golf can make you look silly. You know, even people who play it a lot. And there could have been some hesitation from some of the players, you know, taking them to a place like Top Golf where they could embarrass themselves.

You know, maybe not embarrass themselves in a major way like, you know, most of you and I would be somewhat self-deprecating about. But for young people who are at the top of their sport coming out in a draft to kind of, you know, look silly and maybe embarrass themselves and maybe look unathletic, swinging a golf club, which isn't really, it's not necessarily an athletic feat. It's more of a skill than an athlete. endeavor. But anyway, I remember saying that, that the only part of it is if somebody didn't want to go or if somebody was uncomfortable, it could have been because of that. Anyway, back to Jalen Ramsey. The price is likely,

I would say at least a second rounder. You know, that's hefty. And the only reason I say it's a second rounder is he's 30 years old. You know, if he were a little bit younger, maybe, you know, it's a first. It certainly he was a couple of first when he first, you know, went to L.A. He's got a bunch of years left on his contract. He's very expensive moving forward in terms of cap hits. He's got two straight years in 26 and 27 of $25 million plus cap hits. He's an older player. He's had hamstring issues. Does that ring a bell? Marshawn Lattimore. And there's always been something about Jalen Ramsey that, I don't know, irks me a little bit. Great player. He just never seen. to be fully happy where he is.

So I think the cost is probably too high. What you have to take in terms of a cap hit is significant. The age, the health, and maybe the fit culturally. And then I would add that there are some corners in the draft. A guy like Max Harrison, he ran 4-28 at the combine, and he's been skyrocketing. And I think Washington's got interest in him. And Quincy Riley from Louisville as well. These top 30 visits don't always equate to guys they pick,

and a lot of times the guys they pick don't come in for top 30 visits. But I think there are corners there, rather than spending what you'd have to spend. The window of opportunity to leverage this opportunity of a rookie quarterback who is top five in the league on a rookie deal, you know, I would be thinking this way. I would check in, but I think ultimately that's not a deal. Washington would be interested in doing and shouldn't do if they feel really good about Marshawn Latimore. Although Latimore and Ramsey outside, Sanra's still inside, you know, get me a pass

rusher and let's lock up 12 wins. I was thinking, though, about Philadelphia for Jalen Ramsey. Now, you know, even for them, it may be too costly in terms of, of some of the cap hits moving forward. But don't forget, Darius Slay and C.J. Gardner Johnson, both gone. They've got Quignan Mitchell and Cooper Dijin, who both of them played outstanding last year. But their other outside corner as of now, because Cooper Dijin's more of an inside slot guy, is Keeley Ringo. So I don't know if they're going to be looking for another corner or not.

Ramsey kind of feels like a Howie Roseman deal. and after a Super Bowl, you know, they've got leeway to take some chances. He's an excellent player. He is. And by the way, he tackles. I just don't think he's for Washington right now. As long as they feel good, you know, great about Marshawn Latimore. And I think they're going to have a chance to draft a corner in the upcoming draft.

I got this from Jordan. Jordan wrote, Kevin, I was listening. today, and he was talking about the radio show, about potentially taking a running back early in the draft as a best player available selection. And you added how our offense would be even more unstoppable than it was last year with an elite running back. That reminded me of an offseason hope of mine that our offense next year would operate in a way that didn't rely so heavily on fourth down. I don't want to stop weaponizing the fourth down. I don't want to stop weaponizing the fourth down, the way we have. But I would like to see an improvement on more scoring drives that don't have to

utilize them. Thoughts, yeah, of course. You know, fourth downs, Washington has, you know, had great success, but they have a quarterback that allows you to take, you know, those chances. And, you know, you saw with Buffalo and Baltimore the same kind of thing. Washington's, you know, fourth down percentage last year of 87% was all time for the number of attempts. They were 20 of 23, and it was 15% basically better than Buffalo who finished second. But their overall attempts on fourth down were more in the middle of the league. You know, it wasn't that they went for more fourth downs than any team in the league. Their attempts were in the middle of the pack. It was the fact that they converted so many of them that became the conversation. As an example, now,

a lot of times you see teams that trailed more often in games that have a high number of attempts, like the number one team in the league in fourth down attempts last year, Cleveland. Number two, Chicago. Number three, the Giants. Then you got, by the way, Detroit, remember, they started going, you know, Dan Campbell wants to go for every fourth down. Then it was Atlanta, Miami, Carolina, Dallas, Indy. You know, the conversion percentage numbers were good teams. Washington 1, Buffalo 2, Kansas City, 3, Philly 4, Denver 5, playoff team. And, you know, we know that fourth down success does correspond more often to winning games. I'd like to see them, you know, have to convert fewer fourth downs to stay on the field, having a first and second down offense and a third

down offense that ends up being elite. Washington's third down defense was still good. They were sixth in the league on third downs. But, you know, one of the things that Washington, the down that actually was their least productive down last year was actually second down. First down was a productive down, second down not as much, but third and fourth down is pretty productive. Yeah, I mean, that question, by the way, stemmed from an email that I got last night that I read on the radio show and I'm looking for it. It came from, here it is, Sam J. He wrote,

why on earth, Kevin, would you want the skins to take a running back in the first round? This draft is apparently filled with running backs that you can get on the last day of the draft. Why would you spend a first round pick on one? Make it make sense. Yeah, I've never said that they should take a running back in the first round. What I've suggested is, what if a running back, at 29 is the best player available on their board. Well, if a running back is the best player available on their board and they believe that that running back is going to be elite, you know, Sequin Barkley-esque, then you take them because you put a Sequin Berkeley or a Bejan Robinson, let's just say a Traveon Henderson, they believe from Ohio State, that they believe Treveon

Henderson is going to be an elite back. Gentie, Hampton, and then Henderson is on the board at 29, and they've got him as the best player available, and they believe he is going to be a massive impact player at that position. You take him. That's what I have suggested. The issue that's more interesting is what if the best player available at 29 is a running back on their board,

but they don't think the running back is great. They just think he's going to be very good, he's the best player available on their board. I think, you know, even though the biggest mistakes in the draft come when you don't take the best player available and you draft based on need, you know, Peters has mentioned that, that was always Bobby Beatherd's line. You got in trouble when you drafted for need instead of the best player available on the board. And look, they're in a position where the best player available on their board as long as it's

not a quarterback or a left tackle. is going to be a player that fills a need. But for a running back, I don't know, man. Like I had Andrew Brandt on the radio show today, and I talked to him a little bit about this. He said, look, the benefit of running backs is that, you know, they're not huge expense, you know, positions. But when you look at it historically,

you get really good running backs in, you know, the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth rounds. And this is a loaded running back draft. I think if there is separation, significant separation between Gentie and Hampton and the rest of their running backs, and they think the rest of the running backs on their board are really good, but not necessarily Genty, Hampton, you know, Barclay, Bejohn, Gibbs, etc., then you don't take the running back there. You don't. You take the running back, you know, on day three. or maybe at 61, or if you trade back potentially with, you know, a Cleveland wanting to get up to take Jackson dart at the end of the first round and you get their first pick in the second round, along with, you know, a third rounder and you still have 61, you know, you can take them in that general range.

There are running backs I like, and I'll talk more about them next week. I mean, I've mentioned them periodically. I do like Gentie. I do like Hampton. I really like Damien Martinez. from Miami. I do like Travion Henderson a lot. I don't know that any of these backs are the next Barkley. Hampton's the one that's really intriguing just because of his size and his explosiveness. I do like Gentie a lot. I think he's really good vision-wise. I think he's tough. I've seen these comparisons to Alvin Camara. That's not the kind of back he is, in my opinion. I think he's a much tougher, a more physical back. But he does have speed, he does have elusiveness. He's got, you know, awesome vision as a running back.

And then he will finish, you know, somebody off. I think one of the most impressive games he had was not the game, you know, he had so many big games this year. But that playoff game where he needed a lot of carries, but he did rush for 100 yards. against Penn State. When they basically had three guys in the backfield on every play, I mean, that said a lot about Ashton Genty. He's going to go in the top 10, more likely than not.

And Hampton may go in the top half of the first round. All right, rate us and review us if you get a chance. It's really big for us on Apple and Spotify. Follow us as well. Hit the plus button, hit the follow button wherever you listen to this podcast. We'll bring on Nick Ackridge and talk. draft next with Nick right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, if you're starting to notice your hair thinning when you look in the mirror, you're

not alone. Life, you know, it gets busy and you can feel like there's not enough time in the day to do something about it. Here's an idea. Try Hymns hair loss solutions. You can avoid jumping through a bunch of frustrating hoops and get access to treatment without even leaving your home. Hymns provides you with convenient access to a range of of hair loss treatments that work, all from the comfort of your couch. Hymns makes treating hair loss simple with doctor-trusted options and clinically proven ingredients. You can choose from personalized chewable, oral spray and serum treatments to find what works best for you. The process is simple and 100% online, so there are no

uncomfortable doctor visits. All you do is answer a few questions, and a medical provider will determine if treatment is right for you. If prescribed, your treatment is sent directly to you for free. No insurance is needed and one low price covers everything from treatments to ongoing care. Hymns has hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers and they can help you get your confidence back too with visibly thicker and fuller hair. Start your free online visit today at Hymns.com slash sheen. That's H-I-M-S.com slash Sheen for your personalized hair loss treatment options. Hymns.com slash Sheen. Results vary based on studies of topical and oral monocidil and phenosterite.

Prescription products require an online consultation with a health care provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See website for full details and important safety information. Hey guys, I want to tell you about this game-changing product. that you should use and I've used before a night out with drinks. It's called pre-alcohol. Let's face it, after a night with drinks, you don't bounce back the next day like you used to. I have to make the choice, and maybe sometimes you do as well,

to either have a great night or a great next day. That is until I found pre-alcohol. Zbiotics pre-alcohol probiotic drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. was invented by Ph.D. scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. It's a buildup of this byproduct, not dehydration. That's to blame for the rough days after drinking. Well, pre-alcohol produces an enzyme to break this byproduct down. Just remember to make pre-alcohol your first drink in the night, then drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow.

Look, I'm not going to stretch this. I was a bit on the fence about pre-alcohol initially, gave it a shot before a night out recently, and believe me, it is the real deal. Spring is here. That means more opportunities to celebrate warmer weather before drinks. You know, out at night on the patio, at a barbecue, on a vacation, after a golf round at a wedding,

don't forget your Zbiotics pre-alcohol. Drink one before drinking and wake up feeling great the next day. Go to Zbiotics.com slash Sheen to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use Sheehan at checkout. Zbiotics is backed with a 100% money-back guarantee, so if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they'll refund your money, no questions asked. to head to Z-Biotics.com, that Z-B-I-O-T-I-C-S-C-S-E-S-H-E-E-H-E-H-N at checkout for 15% off.

This segment brought to you by WindowNation. Give them a call if you've been thinking about new windows, 86690 Nation. Go to WindowNation.com. Mention my name. They'll come out. Give you a free estimate. If you decide to move forward with them before the end of the month, How about four free windows with every four purchased with no money down, no payments,

and no interest charged for two full years? You won't pay for your new windows until the year 2027 all the while, saving big with new insulated, more efficient windows on your heating and air conditioning bills. Get an estimate. That's all I ask if you've been thinking about new windows. It's free. They won't obligate you to anything. They'll leave you with a quote.

you can decide what to do. 86690 Nation, windownation.com. All right. Joining me right now is Nick Ackridge. Nick is a senior data analyst for pro football focus. We've had Nick on the show many times.

Enjoy his thoughts on football. You can follow Nick on X on Twitter at PFF underscore Nick Ackridge. Nick has actually, even though we have no interest in the quarterbacks this year, which is nice. He has done a lot of work on evaluating the quarterbacks. We'll get to that in a moment.

But a week from Thursday night, if they are on the clock at 29 and they don't trade back or they don't trade up, give me a guess, first of all, of kind of the position that you think will be available and strongest. And if you've got a player that you have a player that you have. in mind that they'll take, who is it? Yeah, I think if they do kind of stick there, I think the position that will most likely kind of fall in is edge rusher. I think you can see some of those guys falling.

There's been some noise about, you know, James Pierce or maybe even Mike Green kind of falling due to some off-field concerns. I've seen a lot of Donovan Ezra-Ru-I-Ru. I butcher that name. That's all right. Boston College guy, yeah. Yeah, I've seen him mocked a lot, wouldn't hate that at all. So really for me, I think if they do end up drafting, I think it's edge rusher.

I also wouldn't be shocked if they go corner. I've seen some Trey Amos saw the corner from Ole Miss in that late first round. Same with a guy like Chavon Rebel, East Carolina corner who's coming off an ACL tear. If he didn't tear his ACL, he'd be a much, much higher. pick. So those are kind of the two positions that intrigue me, but we also never know there could be some water receivers at fall if someone like Amika Fulka falls in 29, I would love that as well. So a lot of options. Yeah, a lot of options. You know, you mentioned Mike Green, and I've watched some of the edge rushers. To me, other than Abdul Carter, he's the one that really kind of pops in terms of

explosive, athletic, lean, just like going to be a problem as a pass rusher. But you you also mentioned, which is true, there's some baggage there. I kind of feel like, and I'm wondering if you feel the same way, they're not taking anybody that has baggage. They kind of emphasized team captains and high character guys last year. Why wouldn't they go down that path again this year? Yeah, no, I completely agree. I don't think that he would really necessarily be someone that they would target. Again, I don't. don't really know that the details of what he did off the field and those sort of things. Usually they kind of, like you said, they avoid those guys that have any sort of question

marks or character issues like that off the field. So, yeah, I would be shot. First of all, I'd be shocked to he makes it that far. I still think just based on the town alone, he's a top 15 pick easily. So I would be shocked if he makes it that far. And then again, I would kind of agree with you. I'd be a little surprised if they took them. Yeah, for those that don't know, Mike Green started his college career at

Virginia. He's been accused twice of sexual assault once when he was in high school, and his second time when he was at UVA, UVA suspended him in 2022, and then he entered the transfer portal and ended up at Marshall where he had a very, very productive year last year with 17 sacks. It set the Sunbelt Conference single season record. Not only that, he was. tested, you know, off the charts at the combine as well. To your point, there are plenty of teams that probably will be less concerned about that and he should be gone. Going into this offseason, and I'm sure we talked about this previously, what did you kind of write down as what their priorities should be entering the offseason? I think it's defense first.

There's not a position outside of linebacker that I don't think. think that they need to improve that. I think edge rusher, obviously, corner as well, safety as well, interior guys. I think they just need to, they also need to continue to get younger across the board as well. I mean, they have been bringing in veterans, and that's raised before a lot on the scene, but you need to get younger there. And I think at first it starts with defense. And then from there, you kind of look at some skill position players running back,

maybe another wide receiver, and then you maybe kind of look at shorn up the offensive line as well. For me, I think everything needs to start with the defense. Yeah, I agree with that. And by the way, that's a really good point, because they are in the bottom third, right, of the league in average age? Yeah, I would, yeah, they're very old. And, you know, it worked for them a lot. Obviously, it worked very well for them last year,

but I think getting younger on defense is a huge thing because we've seen what Jane Daniels can do with an offense that really doesn't have a lot of talent around him. And I think that's more kind of a luxury sort of thing then the defense really is a necessity. What did they do in this offseason so far that you really liked, and what did they do that you didn't really like or was a head scratcher for you? Yeah, I think the biggest head scratcher for me was Javon Kinlaw.

At PFF, we've never been a huge fan of him. His production has never really kind of matched the talent or the perception of what he put out on the field. For me, Javon Kinlo was a bit of a head scratcher. And then, you know, I kind of really like Will Harris. Like that type of signing there at safety. I got a chance to watch him. Really good, smart player, physical player. So I was a big fan of that finding.

Is Harris the same or an upgrade to Chin? I think he's around the same. I think I have to go kind of take another look at it. But I think he's a little bit of a better tackler possibly. But I just think that he's a nice kind of replacement, and I believe he's also a little bit younger. So I think that was a good get there at safety and kind of filling that need for, you know, that box safety. Back to the draft. Let's just say that, you know, a week from late Thursday night, it was receiver. Assuming McMillan and, you know, obviously Travis Hunter, if you consider him a wide receiver, are gone,

which one would you want it to be? I think I'd go back to Igbuka. I think he's not as highly rated just because maybe that ceiling isn't as high as some of these other guys. But I think his floor is just, is they just the lead wide receiver too. And I think he's just that good. He's so polished. He gets Ohio State wide receivers come out and immediately can set the world on fire. So I think if it's me, if he's still there, Gouca is a fantastic pick.

What did you, I mean, what does PFF think of Luther Burden? I'm a big fan. I'm surprised that on a lot of boards, he's dropped into the second round. I thought during the season, I thought this guy is easily a top half, if not, you know, certainly top two-thirds of a first round pick. What does PFF think of Luther Burden from Missouri? Yeah, just to have an elite athlete, but you can just, you know, he's the type of guy that he's going to line up in a lot of different spots,

kind of similar to a Debo-Saniel type role. Obviously, the build is not the same, but you know, you're going to line him up in the back heel, you're going to get match-up advantages in the slot with him. He's just the guy that you just get the ball in his hand, and he can take a two-yard pass to the touchdown to the end-done every single time. So that's just the kind of player he is. And again, that'd be another guy that I'd be excited to have with Washington, a type of guy that you can get match-up advantages with.

I know, like I said, he kind of plays that Debo-type, but, you know, you get a guy like this, and it's never a bad thing to have this many weapons on offense. If we fast forwarded to a week from Thursday night late at night, and it was a running back that they took in the first round, and it wasn't Gentie and it wasn't Hampton. Is there anybody after those two that you think would be acceptable to take it number 29 overall? For me, no.

I'm, you know, we're not big running back guys here at BFF. F and like, Gentie, yes. Gentie, yes. Hanson, I could also get behind. I just think that, kind of going back to what I talked about earlier, I think that's more of a luxury pick right now. I'd have to see kind of how the board shakes out and who's there and all that sort of stuff.

But I think at that point you're really reaching for a running back. And again, this class is really, really deep. I think you could get a really good running back, you know, later on in the draft for Washington. Give me a running back in this draft that you really think you'd be excited about. if they picked on, let's just say, Saturday of the draft, rounds four, five, or six, seven. Yeah, the running back I picked this mock draft, I put out, Jane Blue, running back from Texas. I think he would compliment Brian Robinson, you know, really well.

Another guy even kind of Lager, Virginia Tech running back, Bayshall Tutin, another guy that I'm a big fan of. So those are the type of guys that I'm really looking at. I think if they get Jayden Blue in round four where I got, I'd be pretty excited with that. All right. You did a lot of work on the quarterbacks. You know, you have another job other than just following your favorite team. You actually work for PFF, and there's a lot of work you've got to do in evaluating various players for fan bases that aren't, you know, like ours now, which is a fan base that doesn't have to worry about drafting quarterbacks anymore. So overall, do you see the class the way most do, which is underwhelming?

Yeah, I do. You know, at first before I kind of dove into this, I thought it would be a little bit closer to that 2020 draft class, I think. You know, I had picket, Ritter and corral. Obviously, Sam Howell, I think it's a bit better than that. But it comes to nowhere close to what we saw last year. It was hard for me to get into this class this year because usually I'm excited to do it because Washington is usually looking for a quarterback. Obviously, we don't have to do that anymore. So, yeah, kind of diving in, I just think that all three, the top three guys that I have, Cam Ward, Shitter, Sanders, and Jackson Dart, I would put all of them below where I had my quarterback for, which was JJ McCarthy last year.

And I would kind of put them in that Bo Nix kind of tier, Michael Pennix tier. That's kind of where I see those top three guys. Interesting. So Cam Ward would be the fifth quarterback on the board. in last year's draft for you? Yep. Yeah, I just think that's how, that honestly speaks more to how incredible last year's

course that class was. With William, Daniels, May, even Bo Nix is looking a little bit better than what I thought he was going to be coming out, and we still haven't even seen JJ McCarcy. So I just think it really speaks more to how good that class was and how bad this one is. I think it's just a little bit underwhelming.

There's not a lot of guys. that I would really kind of stake my flag and make it plain for, you know, you've got to pick these guys. But, yeah, I think Cam Ward would probably be one of the guys I would have. Yeah, there's something about the way he plays that is so, you know, sort of translatable to today's game. I actually think that there's a lot about Cam Ward that I would like if I had a high pick and I didn't have a quarterback. The rest of them you can have, I did notice you had Dylan Gabriel down at 7. One of the things, I don't know, give me your overall opinion of Dylan Gabriel, the quarterback from Oregon. Yeah, I think if you ignore the fact that he's tiny, I think he's a really good.

Yeah, I just, he is, it's just too small really to play the quarterback position effectively. And I know we've seen guys like Kyle Lerman and Bryce Young, but I just don't think he's got those type of tools. But I do think that he's a really good quarterback. He's a smart quarterback. A little bit risk-averse. Didn't really push the ball downfield as much as I would have liked into. And that Oregon offense does love to kind of keep things underneath. But, I mean, we've seen him for years now in college be a very successful quarterback.

And I think for him, the feeling is, you know, a nice backup spot. I just don't think that – and it's unfortunate for him. I just – because you can't really fix your height. I just don't think that that's going to be someone that will lead to a very, very successful career. It's funny because all during this season, and even going back to when he was at Oklahoma, I'm like, there's nothing impressive about him. He's so small. And then there was a game that they played the Big Ten title game against Penn State. And his processing was off the charts.

Like, he is really smart, and that ball is out quickly. And I'm like, I wonder if he could be Drew Breeze, sort of a left-handed version of Drew Breeze, but that's a stretch. Because he's even smaller than Breeze. I mean, I don't know what his listed height is, but I'm going to guess he's 5-9 or 5-10. And listed it says 5'11, but I don't really believe it. Yeah. I think he's smaller than that.

But, you know, what you kind of mentioned was exactly what I wrote down. I just think he's a great distributor. I think, honestly, if I was picking a perfect spot for him, it would be, you know, an offense like Miami. Kind of plays, like Tua a little bit. Lefty, Hawaii. The comps are all there. Right.

He gets the ball so quickly, but it's almost all based on kind of pre-snap anticipation, and it's not a lot of him kind of manipulating pockets and kind of going from one to two to three. He's just kind of quickly reading pre-snap and knows where he's going to get the ball. And he does it very, very effectively. He's really great in that kind of RPO, quick passing game sort of stuff. I get to see him fitting pretty well with the dolphins who have been looking for backup quarterbacks for a while. Speaking of the dolphins, you know, they did trade for Marshawn Latimore at the trade deadline. that at a corner in Free Agency and Jonathan Jones.

Do you think that there should be any interest in Jalen Ramsey from Washington? I think you ask. I think you kind of see what they're looking for. But again, I kind of already touched on the fact that they've got to get younger on defense. And I think if you kind of take Jailen Ramsey, you've got Jailen Ramsey and Marshall Latimer, both guys who are getting older and Marshall Alamara struggle to stay on the field, that would kind of push Sanders still back into the slot, and then you got Jonathan Joneses.

So it's just a very old secondary right now, and they just really need to get younger. So I think that would not be something I would do, but it never hurts that. Do you like the tight ends in this draft? I haven't got a good chance of really looking at them, but I've heard from a lot of people that I like reading that it's a very good tight end draft.

And, I mean, I could see them kind of double-dip in there. I mean, I wasn't overly impressed with Sinat last year, and obviously, again, Zach Orton is very old. And so it's definitely a position that I could see them kind of maybe taking a swing at and, you know, the Saturday type of pick. Well, like you said from the beginning, like, you know, other than really quarterback and, you know, you mentioned, you know, linebacker to a certain degree, there's really not a position that would surprise you for them. you know, early or late. I kind of feel the same way. I guess I would be surprised if at 29 they took a left tackle, like a pure left tackle after trading for Tunsell. But that brings up just like, what if the best player on their board by a lot is a left tackle and they don't see them as a right tackle? Yeah, I mean, then you get kind of into a tricky situation. I mean, I think at that

point, if they don't see him as a right tackle or maybe even a guard, then I don't think they pick him. That's probably the one position that I don't think that they would necessarily take high. But honestly, they're in a really good spot. I mean, you've got to, you're in a spot where you can pretty much take best player available at almost all over the time. But again, tackle, yeah, I would see it be kind of a hard, hard sell. They, you know, when pick someone, they only see a left tackle. But again, a lot of these guys are really versatile, and They can play left and right tackle and even kind of push them in the guard. Sure.

Great. Appreciate you doing this, as always. We'll talk soon. Maybe right after the draft. Yeah, sounds good. Nick Ackridge, everybody. Up next, some NBA playoff predictions after these words from a few of our sponsors. For those of you that haven't heard yet, Skims now offers men's underwear,

and I'm here to tell you, it's worth the hype. They sent me several pairs when we first started doing these skim spots two or three months ago. I'm now wearing skims primarily. It's great. It is totally worth it. I'm wearing their five-inch boxer briefs. I had worn the same underwear for a long period of time, the same brand, the same type. The skims boxer briefs are so much more comfortable.

They give you the movement that you need when you're working out. They don't ride up on you. By the way, they come in a lot of different shapes and sizes, and they just, I'm telling you, are worth trying. Shop skims men's at skims.com and skim stores. Let them know we sent you. After you place your order, select podcast in the survey and select our show in the drop-down menu that follows. Skims is the official underwear partner of the NBA, the WNBA, and USA Basketball. This segment of the show is brought to you by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie. If you want to bet the NBA in the NHL playoffs, they've got everything you need,

including all of the odds to win the NBA title. The NHL Stanley Cup odds are up, but the playoff field isn't set yet, so I'll give you those later on in the week. but at my bookie right now, Oklahoma City is the favorite to win the title at plus 158, Boston at plus 191. They're the two seed in the east. Cleveland, the one seed in the east, is at plus 580. Then there's a big drop off. The Lakers are plus 1218. The Warriors are plus 1486. Denver at plus 2334. The Knicks at plus 2700. And the Clippers. is at plus 3200.

I'm going to give you my championship matchup, talk about some of the series along the way that I'd like to see here in a moment. But they've got everything you need at MyBooky, including the lines on tonight's playing games. Go to MyBooky.ag and use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. Before I get to a little bit of NBA talk, Alex Ovechkin yesterday went on the Pat McAfee show.

on ESPN. He brought on, started introducing a lot of his teammates and their nicknames. And he really is all about everybody else. It's one of the things that I really like about him. There's not a whole lot of eye with Ovechkin. But anyway, he was asked by McAfee, who is from Pittsburgh and grew up rooting for the penguins about Ovechkin's relationship with Sidney Crosby. And Ovechkin, said, quote, the first couple of years was not that good, but right now we talk, congratulate each other if we hit some milestones. Those relationships in hockey and outside of hockey, it's a totally different thing. We're going to have a game in three days between us and Pittsburgh. That's the Caps season finale at Pittsburgh. And I'm pretty sure it's going to be a battle because

it's still a rivalry. But after the game, we always talk, we have respect for each other. I think it would have been wild had Ovechkin gone to Pittsburgh in the season finale with a chance to break the record there. Like, give me the choice between doing it, you know, in New York against the Islanders or against Pittsburgh. It would have been a pretty surreal scene had he set the record in Pittsburgh against his arch rival and in the same building with Crosby. Joe Beninotti had mentioned to me a few times. others had as well, that there is tremendous mutual respect between the two franchises and that it would have been received really well. Pittsburgh is not having a good season again. In fact, I was looking at this earlier today. Pittsburgh has the worst goal differential in the Eastern Conference.

they're going to finish way out of the playoff race. As mentioned yesterday, the Montreal Canadians and Columbus Blue Jackets are actually competing for that last spot to face Washington in the first round. Montreal got a point last night in an overtime loss. They've got 89 points. Columbus has 85. Montreal's got one game left. Columbus has two left. The fact that Montreal didn't clinch tells me that Columbus, if they win two games and Montreal loses their season finale, that Columbus would likely win that tiebreaker. And Montreal finishes with Carolina.

Carolina's, I think, pretty much locked in to the second place spot in the division. They may be battling with another team in the other division. just in case they were to meet up with that team. But Columbus's final two games are against the Flyers on the road and against the islanders at home. So they will likely be picked to win both of those games, and then it comes down to Montreal against Carolina. I have no idea.

I cannot tell you which of the two would be a better opponent for the caps. It certainly seems like Columbus is surging, though, here. at the end of the season, they've won four in a row, including two in a row over the caps. And I don't know. We'll have somebody on, I'm sure, before Saturday. The caps will probably play Saturday or Sunday. Well, they will.

They'll play game one Saturday or Sunday. I don't know which of the two days they'll play. That schedule, I'm assuming, would be out late Thursday night after the NHL regular season comes to an end. All right. Let's talk some NBA playoffs. First of all, for those of you who don't know how it works, I'm not blaming you. A lot of people don't know how it works. They have this thing called the play-in round.

So the top six seeds in each conference are automatically in the playoffs, but seeds seven through ten have to play their way in to the main draw, into the playoff draw. And so what you have tonight and tomorrow night is you have the seventh through the 10th place teams playing to determine the seven seed and the eight seed in each of the respective conferences playoff brackets. So tonight, the seven seeds are playing the eight seeds. In the east, it's Atlanta and Orlando. In the west, big one tonight, Memphis and Golden State.

Golden State lost to the Clippers on Sunday, which meant they finished in seventh place. So they have to play their way in. Now, the games tonight, between the seventh seed and the eighth seed, the winner automatically becomes the seven seed in the postseason in their respective conference. The loser is not eliminated. They will play as the eighth, as the seven-eight game loser. they will play Friday night against tomorrow night's winners. Because tomorrow night, the ninth place team plays the 10th place team.

It's Miami and Chicago in the east, Dallas and Sacramento in the West. And the winners of those two games will then play the loser of tonight's games for the 8th seed. So if you finish in 9th or 10th place, you have to win two games to get into the main draw. If you finish in seventh or eighth place, you only have to win one game to get into the main draw. I think I did a decent job explaining that. So the playoffs as a whole, if you're just going to start tuning in, are incredibly exciting in terms of the anticipation out west. The West is loaded.

Oklahoma City was the best team in the league this year, as I mentioned on yesterday's show, with the largest margin of victory in the history of the NBA. Yeah, the Oklahoma City Thunder. They're the one seed. The two seed, Houston. You know, these are teams that not long ago were in the same position the Wizards are in right now. Really? And here they are as the one and two seeds, very inexperienced teams as the one and two.

seeds out west. The three seed is L.A. as in the Lakers. J.J. Reddick's first year coaching the team. LeBron James, the trade for Luca. There are a lot of people that like the Lakers chances to win a title. I do not. They're playing Minnesota in a 3-6 matchup. Remember, Minnesota made it to the Western Conference finals last year. And then in the 4-5 matchup, this may be the best first round series out there. Denver and the red hot Los Angeles Clippers. Denver fired their coach Mike Malone last week. They've got Yokic. Yokic finished this year averaging a triple double. Jamal Murray's the key. He hasn't been super healthy. He is apparently now. But the clippers with Kauai Leonard coming back in the second half of the season, they have been on fire.

They've got multiple all-stars in Kauai and James Hardin. And I would also throw Norman Powell into that mix. And Zubats, their center, has played at a very high level. And Tai Lu is a really good coach. I think the winner of this Denver Clippers series will give Oklahoma City in the next round everything. You know, I think Oklahoma's – either one of these two teams is going to to be a much more experienced team going against Oklahoma City. Now, the Warriors, if they win and they're the 7 seed, would get the Rockets in a 2-7 matchup,

and the Warriors are more experienced with Jimmy Butler as part of that team. For those of you that weren't paying attention, Jimmy Butler got dealt to Golden State. Playoff Jimmy is as good as it gets. teamed up with obviously Steph and Dremont and company. I took the Warriors when they made the Jimmy Butler trade at plus 900 to win the West. I don't feel as good about it, but I think if they win tonight against Memphis and they play Houston as the seven seed, I think they've got a really good chance to win that series. And I think a Golden State Lakers second round matchup would be so entertaining.

If you had that and you had either the Nuggets in the Thunder or the Clippers in the Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals, that would be amazing. I'm going to go out on a limb here. The Nuggets have not been playing well. The Clippers have been. You know, you got to rely on Kauai Leonard staying healthy the entire tournament here. If he does, he has proven to be one of the all-time clutch playoff performers. He is still fully healthy, one of the best five players in the game, certainly one of the best three to five as a two-way player.

Hardin's playing at a high level. He's the one I don't trust the most. But I'm going to go Clippers get by Denver and then upset Oklahoma City in the second round. And they end up facing Golden State in the Western Conference finals. That would be a five-seed versus a eight. seven seed. That's how deep the Western Conference is. And then at that point,

man, I mean, Kauai Leonard's one of my all-time favorite players, but I bet the Warriors, I'm going to go experience with Steph and one last run, Steph and

Jimmy Butler's gotten eight seeds and seven seats to the NBA finals before. Golden State goes to the NBA finals before. Golden State goes to the NBA. finals out of the west. In the east, the Cavs are actually the one seed. The Celtics are the two seed, but there were times during the regular season where they kind of coasted. There's a three-six matchup. The Pistons are the six seed, another team that looked like the Wizards a few years ago.

Cade Cunningham, I never thought him as the number one pick. I just didn't believe in him as a potential superstar. He's really good. Don't be surprised if Detroit upsets the Knicks. In the first round. And then you've got Pacers' Bucks. Do the Bucks with Janice and Lillard, do they have a championship kind of running them? I see Cavs Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, and I see the Celtics advancing to the NBA finals, where you would get Celtics Warriors, and the Celtics would get revenge from a few years back when they lost to the Warriors in the NBA finals. And they go back to back Boston as NBA champs. All I need is Golden State to get to the finals, and I win that plus 900 bet from a couple of months ago. I think the NBA playoffs are great. I know some of you

totally agree with me. The regular season stinks. The playoffs are completely different. You get games multiple over the next month every single night, and then when you're down to the final, you know, four teams, the Western and Eastern Conference Finals, then you're getting, you know, one game a night. But the next month is always something I look forward to. So Golden State over the Clippers in the Western Conference Finals, the Celtics over the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Celtics over the Warriors in the NBA Finals.

I think it's just too soon for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the rockets as well. All right. Back tomorrow.