The Kevin Sheehan Show - Blough's '26 Offense

Episode Date: February 20, 2026

Kevin opened with more context regarding Jayden Daniels' comments about Eagles' fans. He then got to what LeBron James and Steve Nash said about the future of the Washington Wizards. ESPN's John Keim joined the show to talk about what he thinks David Blough's offense will look like in 2026 and a lot more. ESPN's Randolph Childress jumped on to talk Kansas' Darryn Peterson, College Hoops, his thoughts on UVA, and plenty more.   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match 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 Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Two guests on the show with me today. John Kimes is going to jump on in the next segment. We'll talk all things in Washington football. And then Randolph Childress will be on with me.

We've had Randolph on the show before. He's a college basketball analyst at ESPN calls games. And Randolph Childress back in 1995 had, had one of the greatest ACC tournament runs ever when he was at Wake Forest. He's a really good guest. I've already

recorded this segment with him, and if you're into hoops, both current and past, I think you'll enjoy it. Window Nation is the presenting sponsor of this show 86690 Nation or Window Nation.com if you need new windows.

This is from Randy to open up the show. Randy writes, Kevin, disappointed in your lax reaction to JD5 bending the knee to Eagles Nation. Eagles Nation, he writes. There was a time when the Kevin She and I knew would show some rivalry backbone and teach young Jaden the do's and don'ts of the NFC East. So Randy's referring to, I would imagine most of you know this by now, Jaden Daniels in an interview with Sports Illustrated, praising Eagles fans.

Tommy and I talked about this on the show yesterday, but we did not have the full context of his comments. Yesterday we didn't. Today, I have the full context. I don't know if it's really changed my opinion a lot, but Jaden did an interview during Super Bowl week with Sports Illustrated, you know, on Press Row, Radio Row, I don't know exactly where it was. And the woman doing the interview asked Jaden, quote,

Yes or no, Eagles fans are the most obnoxious in sports. Here was Jaden's complete answer. I love Eagle fans. You do? Why do you love them? I mean, they just embody what Philly brings and be able to go out there and play against them. It's kind of just that thing. And like their environment is kind of like the closest thing you can get to a college environment. Oh, that's a good point.

Okay. Do they kind of give you more fuel? Yeah, for sure. If you go out there, you can beat Philly and Philly as a different type. But their fans bring it, man. Especially, you know, as we're rivals with them in the NSC in the East. So I love playing against them. So that was Jaden Daniels.

The full answer, you get the tone. You get, you know, him getting a bit animated in his answer. To the question again, which was, quote, yes or no, the Eagles have the most obnoxious fans in sports, closed quote. Randy again writes that he was disappointed in my lax reaction to JD5, bending the knee to Eagles Nation. There was a time when the Kevin Sheean he knew would show some rivalry backbone and teach young Jaden the D.D.5. do's and don'ts of the NFC East. Randy, I do consider myself to be capable of some pretty deep NFC East rivalry conversation. With that said, I'm just not that worked up over this.

A day later, I'm still not very worked up over this. You know, Jaden wasn't expecting that question. And so what you got from him was his... honest, authentic take. And by the way, his take is true. The Eagles fan base is along with, I don't know, another four or five fan bases, Seattle's, Green Bayes, Buffalo's, Pittsburghs. I mean, Philly's fan base in the atmosphere for a game there is intense.

And him having played in Death Valley in Baton Rouge may be the number one football environment in this country, college or pro. I mean, a game in Death Valley at night is unlike any other football experience. You know, I would imagine that playing in Landover for him in these first two seasons, even though 2024 had some really good crowds relative to the crowds we've had, you know, in years leading up to 2024 in Landover, but it's not anywhere near what he experienced in college.

and it's probably not that close to what he experienced, by the way, in his two games in Philadelphia. Remember, he did not play in the game this year in Philadelphia. The two games that he played in 2024 were a Thursday night game, always a night game environment is better than a day game, and the NFC championship game. So his two experiences at the link were intense. you know, and as the quarterback of the road team, what he was expressing there in the answer,

and I think I picked up a little bit more on that after hearing it and understanding the context, is you got the competitor in Jaden, you know, a quarterback of a road team playing in that atmosphere, you love it. You love to compete in that atmosphere, in that environment. And I think that was part of the answer as well. well. As I said yesterday, the one thing that, you know, I would just nitpick a bit, you know,

and maybe had he been expecting a topic like that, he would have, you know, added this. But yeah, of course, it would have been nice had he thrown in, you know, the Eagles fans are great. That's an environment that, you know, as a road quarterback you love to compete in because it's intense. and they hate you, and we had two incredible, you know, games there in 2024, and it felt more like, you know, what I experienced in college. But, you know, our fans are awesome, too, and I love playing at home in front of, you know, our fans as well. He didn't say that.

And I'm not, you know, really hung up that much on it because I think, you know, he was caught off guard and he was just giving you his immediate reaction. You know, what occurs to me about his answer, you know, a little bit as well, and I don't think I mentioned this yesterday is, you know, it's kind of the state of our franchise and fan base for a long time now, you know, and it's acknowledging by not, you know, mentioning anything about, you know, our atmosphere in Landover as compared to Philadelphia, you know, it acknowledges that we just haven't had it great for a long period of time, you know, our actions.

atmosphere doesn't come to mind very quickly. For him or by the way, for any road quarterback who plays here, you know, look, for guys like Jaden who know what a real home field advantage feels like, and I'm not knocking some of the crowds in 2024 or even some of the crowds early in 2025. They were comparatively to what we've had much better. They were comparatively in terms of the breakdown of opponents fans and home fans. better than what we've experienced. But for some of us who go back to, of course, RFK, and even some of the seasons at FedEx, you know, 2005,

late in the season, 2005 was great. Gibbs year two, and they're surging towards the playoffs, and you got home games against the Cowboys and the Giants in December. Those games were incredible. I still think the Cowboy game at home in 2005 may have been, along with the Seattle playoff game, and maybe the Dallas season finale in 2012, those were the three games. I was at all three of those. Those were the three games that really came the closest to RFK. Nothing at FedEx ever actually matched RFK. But I think those kind of felt a little

bit more like RFK. But, you know, 2012 was obviously an electric season, 2016 a bit. You know, remember that Sunday nighter against the Packers when Kirk lit up the Packers. But, you know, some of us know what it feels and looks like, you know, in terms of a great, you know, football atmosphere. And Jaden knows what it looks like and feels like. So it is kind of sad that the Snyder years took that away from us from a time when Washington would have come, you know, top of mind to anybody being asked that question. where, you know, for many decades, 70s, 80s, 90s, you know, that it was the toughest place in the league to play in to where we've been in, you know, the last 20-plus years, where, you know, very few, including our division rivals, would say Washington's a snake pit.

You know, Washington's a real difficult place to play. You know, again, there have been some years, 2012, for sure. but look hopefully it'll change in the future we'll see um but bottom line is not really worked up over jaden's comments in my sense is after a day after this you know topic became a big topic is that the majority feel the same way uh and differently from you randy but by the way if you feel that way randy and for those of you that feel like man i hate that jaden you you know, bent the knee to Eagles Nation. I don't think that's really what he did at all.

But I don't have a problem with you feeling that way. You know, you guys are still super passionate about, you know, what we are and where we are in the NFC East and the Eagles are, you know, there was definitely a time, definitely a time where any player, veteran or rookie, if they had praised Dallas fans, there would have been perhaps a different reaction, regardless of, you know, the experience level of the NFC East, you know, as a young player. But I don't really have much of an issue with it. I really don't.

Two other things I want to get to before we get to John Kime. You know, tonight the Wizards play the Pacers in the first of two home games. Back to back. They play the Pacers tonight at home and they play the Pacers tomorrow night at home. Tank Games extraordinaire. because these are two teams that are playing for the best possible lottery position. The Wizards currently with the second worst record in the league. The Pacers tied for the third worst record in the league.

These are the games that Adam Silver and company are paying close attention to. I have no idea who will end up playing for the Wizards tonight if they'll play any of their key players. Because you don't want to beat the Pacers back-to-back nights. and then end up having a better record than they'd have. You know, you're in very much to the back half of the schedule now. The Wizards have played 53. That leaves, what, 29 left? And they've got to finish in the bottom four.

But I wanted to play something for you. Somebody sent this to me. I forget who it was. But LeBron James and Steve Nash were together on a podcast called Mind the Game. to be honest with you, it might be their podcast together. I probably should have checked this. Yes, it's their podcast together. Mind the Game is a podcast featuring LeBron James and Steve Nash.

This is my first experience with Mind the Game. This was them on their last podcast talking about the Washington Wizards and their future. You'll hear LeBron first, and then you'll hear Steve Nash. But I'm interesting to see, you know, what they do and how it all comes together. You know, with AD, obviously, we know the town level is out of this world. And, you know, Trey with his ability to play pick and roll game, his ability to shoot the ball, his lob threat. You know, I love the young kid from France that they have on their team. So we just played them.

Sorry. We just played them two weeks ago. Great touch, great feel for the game. Love the kid George as well. Young kid, pretty good player. And also the rookie kid that they got from Texas, Trey Johnson. I think, you know, that's going to be tough. You know, they have some pieces.

And I think for the first time in a few years, we can say that Washington has paid to have some pieces. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens. I mean, on paper, Washington's interesting because, like, if you look at, you know, Trey's weakness would be defensive impact. But you have AD and you have SAR, you know, as you're a four and five, five and four, however you can slice it. Sarr can stretch the floor. You know, AD obviously can roll and duck in and do all those things. They got some support.

They got some wing size and length and defenders too. So there's more support for him there. And you know how brilliant he can be offensively. So it is interesting to see if they keep that thing together. I think it's interesting to see it. I'm very interested to see how I come together for sure. LeBron James and Steve Nash from their podcast, Mind the Game. I'm telling you guys, and you can roll your eyes all you want,

and Tommy would be rolling his eyes if you were listening to this, and he'll have a chance to roll his eyes when I say this same thing in the future. But assuming health, you know, assuming that Anthony Davis doesn't step on somebody's foot in a pre-season game in late September and gets ruled out for three months, but if they go into the 2026-27 NBA regular season as a healthy team, the wizards are going to be at the big boy table in terms of the conversation about contenders in the Eastern Conference. I'm not talking about the favorite or the second favorite or the third favorite, but they will be discussed by the NBA pundits as sneaky, sneaky, good.

And a team that by the end of the year, if, if, big if, they stay healthy, they could be in the mix of teams that could make a deep run in the Eastern Conference playoffs. All right. Let's get to John Kime. We'll do that after these words from a few of our sponsors. Guys, I introduced you to Goldbelly about a year ago. It's an amazing site that I order from now all the time. It's a place where you can get the most iconic famous foods from restaurants all across

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No down payment, no monthly payments. and no interest charged for two full years. Again, if this is something you've been thinking about, all I ask is call Windonation at 86690 Nation or go to Windonation.com to ask for your free in-home estimate. Joining me right now is my good friend John Kime. Nobody's been on the beat longer than John. Of course, at ESPN and ESPN.com,

John underscore Kime on X on Twitter. I'll just start with maybe the topic du jour. At least it was in my world this morning. And Tommy and I talked about it on the podcast yesterday, but I'm just curious as to what your reaction was to Jaden Daniels praising Philadelphia Eagles fans. All right. Well, you have to fill some hours on that show. That's kind of my reaction.

I'll be honest. When I heard it, when I saw his comments, like, I kind of like that, because to me, what it revealed about him is he embraces that kind of an atmosphere, right? He was specifically asked about them, embrace the atmosphere, et cetera. And, like, that's the kind of, like, I like that because if you're a competitor, that should be the atmosphere that you live to play in. Because it makes it just more fun. Like, that's how I took. But, you know, I'm not selling three or four.

I mean, no, you're right. And there was more context to it than I knew yesterday when I was talking about it. Because it was actually a yes, no question. And it was yes or no, the Philadelphia Eagles fans are the most obnoxious in sports. But, you know, one of the things that also occurred to me sort of as the days gone on today, and I could have taken calls for two hours if I had wanted to today on this subject, is that it's just, you know, and you know this, and I know this, and people of a certain age know this,

but the fact that, you know, it didn't occur to him immediately that his own fan base and the stadium that he plays in is already an absolute snake pit. Like, yeah, Philadelphia fans are great, but my God, have you been to a game at FedEx at Northwestfield? And it doesn't even occur to anybody to say, that. And yet there was a time, and it's a long time ago now, where if you asked anybody else around the league, you know, what is, are Redskin fans obnoxious? They would say, you may be,

but man, playing at RFK, that place is like a college atmosphere. And we haven't had that kind of thing in decades. Yeah. That's the part that jumps out because like, you're right, Like, they haven't, it's been a long time since they had what I felt was a home field advantage. And I don't even know that they ever had one at FedEx, North World, whatever it is now. Yeah. Like, I don't know, nationwide. I don't know if they've ever, like, have they really had that there? And to be honest, like, the last time I remember being, like, electric all the time was when Robert was here.

And after that, and after that, it slowly started to go down to the point where I remember writing something one time about why, the ratings were going down and wide there was an erosion of fan base. And Bruce Allen got annoyed with me because I mentioned the word erosomers, no eroding. Well, a year later, he's out of a job because a fan base had eroded so much. You know what I mean? Like it was just, you could just feel and see it over the years when you read games. And, you know, the next year in 2020, I think it was, the first game is against the Colts. Exactly.

Yes. Yeah. And there was 57,000. Fifth opening day, September, they had beaten Arizona. own on the road with Adrian Peterson in the opener and Brian Lafamina who they had hired you know a few months earlier

who by the way when they hired Brian Lafamina Tommy said on this podcast hey Brian some advice rent don't buy which Tommy was 100% right about Tommy goes I give it a year max and remember

that's right he said he said it was 2018 yeah he said it was 2018 he said going into that Colts home opener, the Redskins are a sleeping giant in town. And I remember saying to myself, dude, you are done. Dan and Bruce never want to hear anything other than top dog, sold out. You know, remember, and as someone asked La Famina the question,

you know, why did you say that? And he said, well, I just figured that if we had tickets available, it would be best to mention it to everybody. What a concept. But that's what I remember. So, like, that game, you know, the PR guy,

Tony Wiley looked at me in the press, like, this is like eight months later, because I got it called in the office and Bruce was getting mad at me about, the way I worded, I'm like, dude,

like, I can't help what I hear from fans, right? Like, in your own eyes, tell you this. And then they have 57,000 for the opener, like you said,

after winning, and the PR director, Tony Waters, like, looked at me after the game, goes, you were right. Like, well, yeah, I knew I was right. I wasn't worried about that. But now you guys know that there's a problem. And, like, that was always an issue. And they did cling to what they used to be. Yeah. And what they used to be was very, very good.

And I just remember looking at those, the, um, like, excuse me, that 2012 year and watching, like, clips from that year and just seeing how packed and energetic it was. Like, that's really the last time. you remember. Because even in 2015, I think there was a reluctance to believe, like, is Kirk really that good?

Is this team really too many good? And then it was like, and too often after that, every time they start to believe, the rug would get pulled out from under them and mean the fans. So, but like that,

2012 was the last year. And they clearly have a chance to get that back, but they have way more work to do than that year. Like if it had been a normal situation, we would have seen this last year in 2024. and 25 because it would have been a curio, but they still have work to do to get back to that.

I also know, like, they've done things with season tickets, and, you know, you didn't see as many opposing fans behind the bench when they were still competitive or when the, you know, before the end of the season, right, you wouldn't feel like, I can't go. But, like, because, you know, you're not,

you know, getting as many or whatever, so they're trying to do things to correct it, but it really, starts with building a consistent winner that people want, and you do that with Jane Daniels, people are going to go. Yeah, look, I mean, we're covering a lot of old ground here

and we got into it just because of once you brought up that Colt game, I remember saying that week, this has got to be jaw-dropping for Dan and Bruce because it was a beautiful day. It's your home opener. You're 1-0.

Adrian Peterson rushed for over 100 yards. And you drew 57,000 to a stadium that still held 77 or whatever it was. Listen, the game where Alex gets hurt against Houston, that Friday, I am at Dulles Town Mall. I think Tark-Elbyshire and I were both there. We're at Deltestown Mall watching Josh Norman go to stores and go to fans handing out tickets. This is incredible. Kooley did it.

Kooley did it. Yeah, was doing it around town. And couldn't draw fly. Right, but that atmosphere at that game was way better than they had had all year because the fans started buy in. And then Alex gets hurt and they win one more game. Yeah, you know, the 2012, this was not the intention, by the way, of having John on. I'm going to get to what he wrote about today about David Blow and the offense here in a moment.

But, you know, the Seattle playoff game, which, by the way, I had Kirk Cousins on the show Friday. Yeah, that was good. Oh, yeah, you listen to it. He's so good. He's so good, and he talked about the Seattle game, and, you know, without divulging much, he talked a little bit more about it after we stopped recording that he did when we were recording, but that's a whole other story. But, you know, that game, local, yeah, that game, local TV rating did a 50, a 50. Last year, you were basically averaging a 12 or a 13 after, by the way, a 14 and 5 season. and that's how much it's dropped off over the years.

I know that it's different measurements and people consume differently and all of that understood, but it's still very much a long way to go. And look, you know how I feel, and we've had these conversations before, they're going to make up for all of this loss with a much younger fan that doesn't care as much about the brand and the name. Of course, they could fix the problem overnight

if they went back to the old name. they're not going to do that. But, yeah. All right, let's talk about what you wrote about today. The 2026 offense and what it'll look like under David Blow. And I want to start with this. Who will he draw the most from in terms of his experiences? Ben Johnson, Kevin O'Connell.

I think Ben Johnson. I think in that, and I would say in that order, too. Yes, I definitely think some from O'Connell, and then some from Ben Johnson, some from O'Connell, some from Kingsbury. The other thing he has, too, like at his fingertips, he can go into the system and find Sean McVeigh's playbook. You know, Kyle Sanhan's Playbook. Like, he's got all that his disposal, too, but it is, like, Ben Johnson.

And then I talked to someone early, early on in this process who knows, who has worked with Blow and has talked to him. He said that, like, he said it was going to be a Ben Johnson, Kevin O'Connell influence, and someone else, like, what does that mean? because they're not exactly the same stuff, but it's more the emphasis on what they're going to do. And they both believe in there's motion.

There's, you know, under center stuff, a very good play action team, better. But yeah, heavy Ben Johnson. You just said something. I want to make sure I'm clear on what you said. You said he can also go in and pull from... In their system, in their system, like, you know, when those guys had when they were in Washington.

Well, do they have to leave their... Do they have to leave stuff in the system? system? Like, is Sean's playbook still in Ashburn? That, like, what I know is that Blow said he can go, I can just go in here and get the, you're pointing to the computer. So, like, it's all there. Like, I think you can take it, but I don't, I don't know that it's going to be, it wasn't deleted by anything because he can go in there and get it. Right. Yeah. Interesting. Okay. So, uh, let's start with,

I mean, I, you kind of started to say it a little bit, but let's start. with the thing that really, you know, for whatever reason, grabs everybody's attention, and that is under center versus shotgun pistol. So do you expect Washington to be among the league leaders and under center snaps? I don't know about league leaders. I would almost look to like what Chicago did with Caleb, where... They were number two. They were number two, weren't they?

That's right. You're right. You're right. They were pretty high up there, but they still let them operate from the gun and the pistol as well. Right. And I think that I'm almost going to bet that they would not be quite as much than as what Chicago was. So because I think, you know, Chicago is not using Caleb as much I don't think on design runs as I think these guys might still do a little bit with Jayden and do some, you know, he's good with the RPO game. He's good with, you know, with the run game.

Like, so you don't want to take away that element altogether. I think that'd be a mistake. And I think they view that the same way. So, but I definitely think there'll be. way more under center, of course. Like, they've said that, and they want to be that way. And, you know, there's elements that are going to help. They really believe, and Blau believe, that this will really help unlock something more from Jake.

And, you know, I think it's funny because I also think that under-center thing became way over-stated this whole year. But as if it was like, you know, why do you think that? I agree with you, but why do you think that? Because you look at a bunch of teams, and even Blah would say it, like, and Quinn, like the teams that were winning their playoffs this year are mostly under center now. You have Matthew Stafford is a quarter of, right? You know, Drake May was a little bit more in the center, but they also used a lot of gun. But, like, I think so that, you know, Seattle under center a lot, right?

So, but Seattle has a world-class defense in Jackson, Smith, and Jigba. And Kenneth Walker, like, there's reasons, too, in addition to, yes, they operate this way, but a year before, this team was one of the best in the NFL on offense. And there are elements of that when they're in the pistol, when in the gun, that if you want to operate the quick game, the RPO's, the quarterback design runs to incorporate another element into there, you do that from the gun. And, you know, I know, like I've had coaches here would tell me that, yeah, like a lot of

coaches, and then one guy would tell me, like, one time, like, opposing coaches would talk about how difficult it was to defend their run game because they did a lot, including the quarterback designed runs, whether it was, you know, Jaden or Marcus Mariotas. So, you know, there was, that's right. There's definitely a benefit to both ways. Now, I will say, when you're looking at under center, there are definitely some things like, hey, there are some traditional guys, right, like who are like, hey, if you want to run play action, and I agree with this, you want to run play action, and have that be a big part of your game

and have more create more of it, close to plays often. that, well, undercenter is the best way to do it. Because, like, there's always a tepid fake when you're in the gun. Having said that, going back to 2012, and this is how, like, nerdy I would get in 2012, that the best fakes, period, were off the zone read. Yeah, pistol. The pistol zone read, the past, would always fool the linebacker two-tenth of a second more than anything else. No doubt.

But, like, what you wouldn't see, what you wouldn't see what this, offenses, linebackers charging up to stop the run. So they want to they really want to have it look more like, okay, the run looks like the pass, the play action, you know, it looks like this, they all look the same.

The bootleg, they all look the same. And that's the ultimate goal to create more explosive plays down the middle, et cetera. So that's what they're looking for out of this. But I always, like I said, I felt like it was an overstayed thing that I would ask people, you know, about this.

talk to Kurt Warner about this. I talked to others about this, like, you know, people who have coached to play the position. And some people are adamant out, but even Kurt's like, what I see, Kurt was like, I did the opposite of Bruce Brown. Kurt Warner was like, you know, it just depends on the guys. Like, it can matter

here, but it may not matter here. Yeah. And, you know, so I think, but I've done a lot. But I do, you know, hell. I thought they needed to do it to evolve the office to do it more. Like, the problem that I had with, was they did is it was so little of it, so little that it was, that, you know, it felt like you were not maybe tapping into all that everybody could do.

Right. I, like you, I've talked to so many people about this topic in particular, and I've talked a lot about it during the course of the year. First of all, just as a reminder, and I've mentioned this many times to my audience, three of the final four teams in 2024, the Eagles, Chiefs, and Washington were three. three of the lowest under-center teams in the league. But what always gets mentioned by football people is, yes, you know, under-center carrying out play-action fakes

where you turn your back to the defense and the ball is hidden is a major advantage. Same with, you know, what they call, the Shanahan's called QB keepers or bootlegs. But they'll also say the pistol, you can do the same thing. Because with the back, you know, directly behind you, quarterbacks will turn. Matt Stafford's in the pistol a lot. You know, the Rams led the league in under center snaps, but only like 53% or 52% of their snaps were under center. The other 48% were shotgun or pistol. So, you know, there were only two teams, I think the Rams and the

Seahawks that actually took more under center snaps than non-under-center snaps. So when people see these numbers, it's just that they led the league in under-center snaps. It wasn't the majority of their snaps in most cases, with the exception of the Rams and the Seahawks. But the point being at a pistol, you actually, with the back behind you, you can, you know, you can certainly stretch on an outside zone. You can certainly turn and hand off on an inside zone or inside duo or inside gap or whatever. But you turn your back to the defense, which gives it somewhat of the same effect of under center. People have explained that over the years, and it makes sense to them. And it does, and it's really like, and I was talking to Logan Paul from

about the Stewart, like, it's really like triple option football, because you want this to look like this to look like this. Right. And you're right, like, the gun and the pistol have evolved over the years. I just felt like when they were in the gun, like, the fakes were just like never, never did anything, right? Very, again, very kind of pepid. But what it did do, too, in that, and the benefit, like, there's pros and cons to any

offense that you run. And again, there's a lot of pros that under center. I like it. Like I said, not that they had to become only that. It's just that do it more because I think the way you help the offense evolve was to do it more. And I know like Cliff needed that, you know, that offense needed to evolve and this would have been one way to do it. But, you know, with the gun, though, part of it was like the quarterback like playing in it because they could see everybody. You could see all 21 guys, you know, 21 other guys and have a clear picture of it. But then, like, again, the under center, the flip side is, like, or, you know, pistol, fake, you turn your back to it, if the linebackers, like, all right, you turn and look up,

if the linebackers are coming, you got it over the middle. If they're not, then you go to your checkup, you know? Like, so it can be defined by that as well. And then it's also, like, for a quarterback, it's going to be, can you get used to with the footwork? Because, and just turning your back, because it is a different way. You are, you're looking at the game differently when you're up at the line, versus in the gun.

And you're coming out of there differently than your footwork is different. It's not as simple as like, oh, it's a seven-step drop out of center. It's a five-step over here. But it is different. And the good thing is, I'm sure you're in this, but like I was talking to Jayden's quarterback's coach, a guy who's worked with him since he was 11, he's like, I said, well, how often has he done this? You know, that he's, like, he's worked on the Sunday.

He goes, from the time he was 11, like, the first thing they always do is under center footwork. He said that's pretty much like for him setting the foundation for your footwork. Like if you're a defensive player, if you're playing basketball, you're going to start with your footwork, right? And it's like, you're going to do these drills to become better at man to man. But there's a basic drill you're going to do to set that foundation. That's what he does with Jaden, and it starts with under center. So, you know, he's done that in that area, just not as much in game. All right.

So I've said the following about the hiring of Blow versus the line. hiring of Durante Jones. I want to know if you think it's accurate or if you have your own take. For me, they're two totally different hires, even though they're both inexperienced. From this standpoint, the building was all in favor of Blow. Like, there's not, there wasn't a lot of pushback to going with David Blow. They knew him. They knew he was a star on the rise. They didn't want him to leave the building. Whereas with Durante Jones, especially after having a defensive coordinator initially that didn't have the experience of being a defensive coordinator. That's a hire that carries more risk to it.

Agree or disagree? Well, I don't, I would almost disagree from the standpoint of that, now I'm going to say this, and I know, like, Joe Wittner in that spot too, right? Like, he earned, like, you look at the resume, it's like, okay, this is the next logical step, and I would say that with Durante, Joe. and so, like, I think that's where, you know, with, from an outside perspective, people would look at him, well, Blow would be the bigger risk because he's only been a coach for two years, even though we know all the other stuff about him.

You know, like, he was a player getting a Ph.D. level education in playing the position in offenses, right? More so than just like, you know, there's pros and cons, right? But, you know, you're right inside the building. They didn't question that. But I think with Jones, the reason I say that is I just, He has really good experience. He's worked for really good defensive coordinators, and I think he's more than ready to be in that role. So that's why.

So from that standpoint, I don't... Yeah, no, I understand what you're saying. I think my perspective was based on the risk from ownership from the general manager of Dan, if you're going to go in this direction, that's a ballsy move. I mean, Quinn said on my show last week, he felt like both moves were bold on his part. And for me, it's only bold inside the building if people are pushing back on it. And you're saying, no, no, no, trust me on this one. Everybody believes in Blow.

So here's right. And here's the other part of it, too. But I know what you're saying from the outside. Yeah. And Blow's got less experience. Yeah. Right. But from the other perspective, though, is that Quinn is going to bring in a defense that he hasn't run.

Right. And so he's letting, he's a defensive-minded head coach. He is letting a guy come in as a coordinator to run his defense. And it's different than what he's run. So from that standpoint, that's where the boldness, to me, comes in as well. So for Blow, like, this is where Quinn wanted to go. Like, they wanted to run more. They want to be this kind of an offense.

Right. So to me, like, for him, if there's a boldness, it's the defense, which is more. Yeah. So from that point, like that's where I'd say the big change was. And again, because you don't see that a lot. And I will say the last time there was a big bold move by a head coach here was Rivera bringing in the enemy. But the difference was he let the enemy have way too much power in that offense and in the building. And that's where it really hurt him.

Like I don't see Quinn doing that. And I don't see Durante Jones, you know, co-starring is like the enemy part two. But by anything, right? He's not like... Well, it's apples and oranges. Nobody wanted the enemy except it literally couldn't get a job. Right. But the point, right, the point is the boldness of it.

Like, you're willing to go in a different direction than you started with. Yeah. And I think with Quinn, that's where the boldness comes in is that, you know, you don't always see that. Like, a lot of times guys want to stick with it, but I know from, you know, from, you talking to people over there early and maybe you hear the same stuff. Like the whole thing was like he knows, like they know. If it just doesn't work, this could be, this is your last shot as a head coach, period. And so you've got to go in a direction that you're comfortable with.

And if you're not and it doesn't, you know, if you go with what you're comfortable with and it goes down, hey, you did what you thought was right. But if you had not, like if he said, well, I could go with Durante Jones, but you know, this guy over here has been a little bit more experience. I could just stick with that. like that's when you if you go the other way because you want to be safe that's when that's when you kick yourself at the end and I don't think Quinn wants to kick himself at the end of anything at this point I agree with that he said as much

with me on the show here last week all right I got more for John including what's coming up here in the next few weeks and then of course when free agency starts on March 11th we'll get to that after these words from a few of our sponsors Hey guys, I introduced you recently to Thrive Market. I told you it's a product that I use that I think you should use too. Now I want to tell you why membership makes a lot of sense. Thrive Market's a membership-based grocery service where you can shop from wherever you are. You simply just hop on their app. The membership breaks down to just $5 a month. And it gives members access to weekly sales, personalized shopping with filters, auto ship and save, free gifts, and peace of mind knowing there's no junk in any of the products that they carry. Instead of paying fees on every grocery delivery order, you pay just once for the year and benefit from it every time you shop. Thrive Market makes it easier for you and the kids.

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Following the podcast is a big deal for us as well. Just hit the plus button or the follow button. All right, we continue with John. So it's about to get active around here, don't you think? I mean, they've got players to cut. They got extensions to dole out or try to. They've got 29 of their own unrestricteds. They've got three restricteds.

We're less than a month from the beginning of the league calendar and free agency. So just give me kind of an idea of how you see the next few weeks going before March 11th in the beginning of free agency? A lot of activity, you know, because like you said, like they have, with all those free agents, I don't know, they're going to have to bring back some because they just don't have enough guys on the roster, right? I think it's like 54 now, I think it is.

You need to get to 90. Yeah, you have a rate to go. You got to get to 90. Yeah, now they will sign a lot of these, you know, they're going to be a decent number of guys that they signed back. You know, the trade books of the world. Like guys like that, like there's going to be a bunch of those that you can bring back. The question will be on the big name.

And so I think that's it. Marshawn Lattimore still under contract. I certainly don't expect that to be the case when free agency opens. Well, they could cut him any day now, right? Don't you expect that to happen well in advance of the 11th? Yeah. Stories already written. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I do. Because it doesn't make sense to do anything. thing but that. I mean, even if you wanted to bring him back, you're still going to cut him because it costs him. I'm not saying they would bring him back.

I'm just saying, like, it makes no sense for him to keep him around an 18-5 million coming off a torn ACL. Forget the other stuff, right? Oh, he's gone. He gone. We know that, like you said, the story's already written. What about Duran? Do you have a thought about Duran?

I mean, Ben, Ben, you know, sort of reported about two, three weeks ago that it's more likely than not that he's going to be back playing under his current deal? Do you agree with that? Yeah. I do. And there are a couple of, so for a couple reasons, one, if they cut them, they don't recoup all the $28 million. Right. Like, they're only, I think it's like $16.8 is what it would be. In terms of savings, yeah. In terms of savings. So in other words, like, not that that's not significant, it is, but you don't have to replace him with somebody who's making, if you're going to replace him with somebody, that person is going to be making a good chunk of change.

So in other words, so the money, it's not necessarily going to improve something else. It's going to get somebody else at that spot. That's how I view it. So that's one thing. So the money's already there. They don't need at this point to create more space because they have a lot of space. They're going to be top five in cap space. So they have the room to do it.

Now, they also, you know, again, they have to sign a lot of guys. But the other thing for Duran is two other things with it. one, again, their defensive line, they need guys up there. And he's still an effective player. He's not a proble player, and for that money, that's what you want. I get it.

I agree with anybody who says that. But why might they do this? That's part of it. So then you're going, so then you have a guy that if he wants to get another deal, he's got to have a really good year because he's not getting big money if he doesn't. I mean, big money by big, big money. But if you can go,

so does this serve as a motivation for him to go out, have a big year. And then the other part is if they don't sign it or not, you know, if they extend them now, you're going to pay more than you probably want. And how is this game going to age? So that's one thing. And then the other part of it is you don't extend him, he goes and free

and see next year he leaves, you're going to get, you'll probably get a comp pick out of it, just depending on that formula how it works out. But that's so like he could leave and you get a compick in 2027 and you continue building with those. So that's part of why they would do that. Now, the other thing to me, Kevin, is

like, you know, let's say you do sign somebody in free and see, could you trade him? I mean, you know, it wouldn't be the first time they would have had offered him in a trade somewhere. Yeah. Obviously, nobody's bit. And would anybody really take that contract? I doubt it. Don't you doubt it? I doubt it, I doubt it, too.

It's a conditional day three pick, best case. Right. Yeah, exactly. You're not getting a second or a. And the only reason you get that is because you don't want to have to compete as a team that wants a, him, you don't want to have to compete with anybody else for him. So you'll give up a conditional sixth. Yeah, and like I would only do it if like, okay, we can,

we can maybe care if you'll give him a couple years and do this, whatever, right? Right, right, right, right. Or like, but he's also more likely a guy at the deadline if you're not going well, then you could do it because then somebody else can get a comp pick out of it possibly. You know what I mean? Yep. Like, it doesn't make. True.

Exactly. It makes sense to keep him at this. I can, let me say it. I can understand the reasoning why they would do this. And again, if you don't think, if you don't think he's part of your future, you're not going to extend him, but yet you still need him, and you do have cast-based to absorb it. And if you cut him, you have more cap-room, but then you've got to replace him.

And to your point, and it's a really good one, and sometimes we all forget about this, we shouldn't, because we've gone through it before, whether it was, you know, Kirk Cousins or other, you know, comp picks that were gotten back. But let's just say he plays out this final year and he signs a free agent deal in 2027. You're then eligible, depending on how your signings go and your losses go for a comp pick. All right, I'm going to ask the question, here next year or not here next year on the following players. Give me quick answers.

Let's start with Debo Samuel. I don't I'm not here I would guess at this point like and it all these are subject to change so anybody who's listening everything's subject to change it's as of February 19th late afternoon and I would say not here and real quickly like they need speed at the position if you're going to invest more there I think they would want to get some speed there and I don't think his price tag might be higher it would be higher than they'd want at this point Bobby Wagner I don't think he's here either Zach Ernst Not here Marcus Marietta

I'm gonna say here Jake Martin Here I like him Yeah me too Chris Paul Interesting I'd say here And the only reason

I would say here Why would you, why did you hesitate? Do you think they're not as much in love with him as I do? No, no, no. Okay. No, I think, I think, I think, the question I would get with guys like that is, like, what's the price tag? And then they also have Brandon Coleman here. Like, the problem with Coleman is they know that he gets dinged up too much.

Can you trust that? Like, Chris Paul did a nice job for them. So, but, yeah, like, I would, I'm going to say here. Trey Berks. here. They really like him, don't they? Yes. I think what you can't do is,

I think where they made a mistake last year is they relied on certain guys, like the K.J. Osborne's of the world to maybe be more than what they were. Don't do that again. Like, he's a guy, I think, like, Brooks, I thought did a nice job. He makes good contested catches,

but he's not going to be a five-catch, a 120-yard guy. You know what I mean? And which is, obviously, a pro-ball guy. But he's going to be, okay, two or three catches, 45 yards, but they might be really tough catching. There's a value in that.

But he's not, I don't look at him as like, okay, if he answer at number two, anything like that, like he's part of your five, six-man rotation, you're fine. Dietrich Wise. I like him. They want to get younger, more athletic at that spot. Right now, I'd say no. But I like his, I like what he added when he played. I think he's a quiet, effective player, but they are, you know, certainly.

The one thing that they always go back to is what are you looking for, young athletic and edge. Chris Rodriguez. Yeah, he's restricted. I think he'll be back. And then I got one for you that I just have a hunch on. Eddie Goldman. Hmm. I thought he was effective.

So, like, I think at the right price, I could see it because it won't cost anything. It's not going to cost much. No, it's not going to cost much at all. And so you need guys, and right now, you need guys and he's a guy that can fill a role for you. Now they're going to, like, he'll talk about like using a three, four, four, three, whatever, you know, sometimes it just depends on the look. But if you're going to run a three, four at all, you want to have that big fella in the middle.

He can do that. And depending on, like, what kind of look are you giving about it? There's multiple looks you can give. But, but, yeah, I think, I don't, I would have, I don't have the scene. Like, he did a nice job for them last year. I mean, the reason I have just a hunch on him is he actually took more nose tackle snaps in their five-man front or three-four, however you want to describe it last year, than even Kinlawn Payne and far fewer overall snaps.

And even though the base will only get played 20, 25% of the time, I do think their base is going to be a 3-4. Are you going to have, you know, who's going to be your zero technique, you know, nose tackle? I mean. Yeah. And I know they talked about Duran a little bit there, but I think Goldman is more of a pure guy there. It's funny because when Duran is. when Duran plays it, they talk about, like, in the past, since Duran's been here, when he's not, when he's playing those, they'll get a guy and say, well, this will free up Duran not to do that.

And now they're talking about, like, maybe he'll go back there. But I think it's also depending on what are you looking for out of that and what's the situation. That's when Duran, because Duran, you like, you want the versatility and Duran has that. And, you know, so I think he's still an effective player. That's, again, that goes back to why they would keep him at that. He's still an effective player. You know, I don't care about this conversation now, but they are going to have to find a kicker during this offseason because Jake Moody was their last kicker out of the three or four that they had this year. But we can save that conversation for another day.

Yeah. I'll finish up with this. As you've looked out towards, you know, March 11th and beyond with all the cap space that they will have and all of the needs they have, do you think this is going to be a high volume, lots of players, maybe, you know, five or six of them on multi-year deals, the rest of them on one-year deals, or more higher-priced, many-year deals, and less volume? How do you think it'll work?

Well, they need volume because they don't have a lot of guys. So, you know, and here's the other problem, Kevin. Like, when you look at this class, will those guys, how many of those types of players, those high, high-end guys, how many of them will actually be available by the time we get to free agency? That's what we don't know. So last year, there were a handful of guys that they would have been interested in who never made it to the market.

Right. So, like, I like Alex Pierce, like, is he going to be on the market or not? Like, you know, there's a handful of guys like that where, hey, if they're out there and you get them, that's a really good sign to me. It's what they would need. that's what I that's why I say I could see

I think they'll be aggressive but sometimes when people hear that they think all these high guys I think they'll be aggressive getting guys so I felt like they were aggressive two years ago

when they go out and get guys like Dorrance and Frankie Bufu and Jeremy Chins of the world right like those and those guys all helped in their first year especially

so I could I could see and I think what they're I think what I think where they would be aggressive and again And whatever that means, you know, does it mean that high-eyed guys, I think if they're available

and the guy six, yeah, for sure. Like, you should do that. You need impact guys. You need a good players. But I think the focus will be on getting guys who are, and I bring up the arms on the ones like that, who are not, they can be at a higher level, but younger, you know, getting the guys on their second deal rather than their third. Yeah, like Maffei or somebody like that.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Exactly. So like getting guys like that who they feel like, hey, this guy might, you know, maybe, maybe right now he's not this huge name, but he's starting to ascend and now he's got a chance to be that. Like, you know what I mean? And there may be guys that like, you know, because I don't, I'm a big believer too. And like, you don't chase names, you chase fixed. And I think a lot of times here we've heard any time there's a big name that's available, it's like, you know, that's who people want. And I get it. That's who you know. I understand that. But it doesn't mean that that's the best fit. But I would say if there's a high-end guy who's a good fit, go get him. Just give me one name before I let you roll. Give me one name in free agency that you, like right now, would wager on them being interested in and potentially signing. Oh, I mean, the peers from the Colts would make the most sense because of the speed.

That's exactly what they want. I just don't know that he's going to be available. You know, I think Isaiah likely is a guy that I would certainly look at. You know, in a tight end, they're going to need a tight end who can catch. And I think, you know, this is where you work the outside, you get another speed guy opposite Terry. Now the middle is open for a guy like likely. And I think like that I could see that. The question that is like, will they go after a Brandon Iuke?

You know, he's not free yet. But, you know, would they go after him? Do you think they will? I think you have to at least explore it because he's, you know, because, you know, obviously, Jaden knows him very well, and Peter's knows him very well, and he was a very good receiver just a couple years ago. The question is, you know, how is the health?

And then you'd have to say, like, why was this, all this other stuff going on over the last year? And just be comfortable with that. But, you know, so I think, but I think if you do that, Kevin, and again, I'm assuming he'll be cut, because there's no way you can trade for him. To me, like, if you can get him on a one-year-prove-a-deal, that's the way you would have, you would want to do it. It's got to be the deal that he ends up signing.

I mean, nobody's, yeah. No, for the injuries alone, of course. And then all the other stuff got into it, like, it'd be really hard. So I don't know if they will or not. I mean, I'm hoping that we find out more stuff, like, after the combine. That's when the rumors really start to percolate more. so like with some of my answers might be different then. You know, I don't know, like with some of the guys coming back,

like all the guys that we're saying not coming back, they're all older or coming off injuries. And even Bobby, like Bobby's a terrific leader. He was still effective against the run late in the year. And but then he was dealing with a knee injury for the last month. Like when you're older, that stuff is what that's also what people remember, right? And again, the key thing for them is they want to get younger and more athletic. They've said that multiple times.

And the other part of that, too, is if you're Durante Jones and you're running a different defense, there is a linebacker that's available, Eric Wilson, who you had in Minnesota. You know from Minnesota. Veterans, smart, yep. Smart. Great teammate. Bring them back. Right.

And he excelled in this system. And the other part, too, is when they've been giving these multi-year deals, typically they have a tie to this staff somehow, right? or somebody in the organization within the front office or the coaching staff has worked with this guy or been around so they know what they're about so you feel comfortable giving them more years.

So anyway, like that's, that's, you know. You know, some of your stuff could change next. What's interesting, Eric Wilson, when you mentioned that, that's a really good pool, it just brought me back to when Ron signed Thomas Davis, sort of the same thing, you know, a veteran player that knew his system,

Bobby Wagner for Quinn. Yeah, of course. Wilson's coming off a really good year. He had a good year. Yeah. Yeah, and like, so that's what I'm saying. Like, are people going to be jumping up and down for those guys? I don't know, but I think they're good science, right?

Like, if you bring it in Isaiah likely, like, here's the other guy that I think would be terrific. I just don't know that you want to spend this much at the position if he's available is brief hall. Like, they want to add juice to this offense. He's got juice. He's got some juice. He's got some juice. Yeah. But he's like, you want juice.

That's the most... Running backs are a very, very good free agency position this offseason. The running backs, safeties are good. I'm sure they're got to safety. Cornerbacks, there's cornerbacks available. So I think they'll be aggressive getting some of those guys for sure. It's just a matter of like,

are you, you know, who is, how, when you talk to people, like, it's not considered the most deep class. But then at areas of need, edge rushers, there's a lot of quality. edge rushers that are available for them. And I would also pursue it in the draft, too. Don't just stop here. You need youth on that front. But there are good edge rushes available, guys who in that category in that 25, 26, 27-year-old range who are just starting to hit a stride. And like, can you

get one of those guys? That that, to me, is what you need to be looking for. At John underscore Kime read his story today on ESPN.com about what the offense will look like in 2020. John's got a podcast called the John Kime Report. You get it wherever you get your podcasts. I will talk to you soon. Thanks for doing this. Always enjoy, Kevin, thanks. We'll talk some hoops with ESPN analyst Randolph Childress after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, it's time to start banking much smarter than the way we're doing it.

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Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Bank, Bank, credit, and my pay line of credit provided by the Bankor Bank, N.A. or Stridebank N.A. My pay eligibility requirements apply and credit limit ranges $20 to $500. Option. Option.com may have fees or charges. See chime.com slash fees info. Info. Advertised annual percentage yield with Chime Plus status only. Otherwise, 1.00% APY applies. no min balance required. Chim card on time payment history may have a positive impact on your credit score. Results may vary. See chime.com for details and applicable terms. All right now to talk some college hoops. And a little bit of Darren Peterson in the

situation of Kansas is Randolph Childress, who played here at Flint Hill. He's a DMVer. then went on to Wake Forest and had one of the most incredible three-day ACC tournament runs in the history of the tournament back in 1995 when Wake won it. He was the outstanding player. You know, over the course of three days, he absolutely slated and then had 37 and seven along with the game winner in overtime in the championship game against a Carolina team that featured Stackhouse and Wallace. I think I've said this to you before, but that 1995 ACC season is a memorable one for me as a Maryland fan because it was basically like this massive tie for the regular season title.

That was, you know, year two of Joe Smith, Keith Booth, you know, ex-re hip, Johnny Rhodes, Dwayne Simpkins. You guys were good. UVA was good. Carolina was good. That was a hell of a year in the ACC. It was. It was a four-way tie, and we ended up winning the tiebreaker, I think, because we swept Virginia. Oh, that's what it was.

So, I mean, it was a four-way tie, but you guys were the one-seed in the tournament? Is that how it worked out? Yes, we were the one-seat. We got the one-teed and eventually won it, but we everyone else split, and then we swept Virginia, so we ended up getting the tie-breaker because of that. Tim Duncan was what year on that team? TD would have been a sophomore. Who else was on that team? Give me some names.

Rusty Laru was there. Braswell, Tony Rutland, who was out on Lovison's teammate in high school, school to banks, Ricky Peral, that was mainly our rotation. We didn't play, we weren't very deep. Tim and I kind of played 38, 39 minutes a game.

Is it my imagination, or did Rusty Leroux also play football? Yes, he was a starting quarterback. That's what I thought. Yeah. And he was a pitcher on the baseball. That's what I thought. I knew that he was, he played football. I would not have guessed quarterback, but I just remember he played football.

And the coach of that team, was it Odom? Yeah, Dave Odom. Yeah. Yeah. What a season that was, Maryland ended up losing in the Sweet 16 to Yukon. And Marilyn was favored. They were the higher-seated team, and they lost in the Sweet 16 that year. and I'm forgetting what you guys did in the tournament.

We lost to, was it Oklahoma State? Okay. In the elite eight or elite eight, something around that. We, you know, I think obviously, wow, 95, Arkansas won it. Yeah, that's right. Nolan Richards in 40 minutes of hell. 40 minutes of hell won it. So great run, great group.

We lost to big country. Yeah, big country. Oklahoma State. Oh, yeah. Coach Sutton. Well, they went to the next. the final four, so that may have been in an elite eight game. Yeah.

I'm looking at it. I'm looking at it, right, so what, after your unbelievable ACC tournament run, did you play well in the NCAA tournament? Yeah, we were actually there. We were in, I want to say Baltimore. We were the number one seed in the first round of the tournament was in Baltimore. Here it is.

I got it. St. Louis, I think we played A&T first game in the second round. I think we played St. Louis. Very good. And then the Oklahoma City. state game was actually a sweet 16 game. I've got it up right in front of me right now. And that was the final four with big country in Oklahoma State losing to UCLA.

And then Arkansas beat North Carolina. And that's not the year that Arkansas won. Arkansas won in 94, right? UCLA won in the 95. UCLA won it in 95 because Arkansas beat Duke in the final. And I think that's what it was. it was in 94, I think it was Arkansas. They'd be Duke. They'd be Grant Hill, and

you're right, they'd be Grant Hill in 94. Yeah. I got to tell you, man, I miss the ACC so much the way it used to be. Do you, do you, I mean, you were, you know, you grew up here, you played here, you played for Stu at Flint Hill,

you were a legend in the ACC. Don't you miss the way the ACC used to be? You know what? I miss it, but I understand it. You know, when you're around this thing long enough, you see how it evolves, and you just kind of roll with it a little bit. I think there's some things that we've, you know, I do miss the way it was. I miss Maryland being in the ACC. I wish we'd have some type of reset with some of this alignment and allow

football to kind of go off and do their own thing. That way we can get back to some tradition and some games. I think that there's some teams that came into the ACC that probably were better in other leagues and vice versa. so but you know I'm open to a lot of the things that have changed but there are some things I think need to go back to you know the age you know the 26 27 you know whatever year old men I won't call young men or kids they're 27 year old men playing college basketball or athletics in general I think we need to reset on some of those things but there are some things I don't miss I'm glad these guys are getting paid I really am happy for them and I'm glad they're getting paid

there are things that just been that's just different and I enjoy it, but from a robbery standpoint and some of those things, I do wish we could go back to the way it used to be. Randolph Childress calls games for ESPN. Does a great job doing that. You can follow

him on X at R-22 Childress. I actually want to start with, I think it's a big story in college basketball and then we'll talk about some teams and your thoughts on the season, which is been a really good one. But I do want to start with Darren Peterson, in part because, as you know, there's a chance the Wizards could end up with a very high pick in the June 2026 NBA draft.

Darren Peterson at Kansas has been one of those guys that's been mocked as number one overall. For those that haven't followed the story, Darren Peterson's a remarkable talent, but he's now played in 12 of 26 games. And the reason that he's missed games are things like Sprang ankle cramps, flu-like symptoms. Last night he had 20 in the first half and then pulled himself out of the game early in the second half with cramps. There is definitely a lot of red flags swirling around this player. What's your opinion about Darren Peterson? A is a player and then how you would approach potentially taking him number one in the NBA draft. He's the number one player to take. He's one of those guys. You've got to do your homework on and figure out

what's going on. I think medically, I think there's a lot. That's the concern. You've got to figure this out because his talent suggests you don't want to get this wrong, right? You don't want to, I think there's a lot of really good players in this draft. And obviously the freshman class is, from a debt perspective, as good as it is, I don't think there's a generational talent in this draft. But if there was one thing I feel pretty good about, it's Darren Peterson's ability to play basketball,

that if I had the number one pick, it would be hard for me to not draft him. And if, you know, if I had to take and get AJ Devons, I wouldn't be disappointed either, but I do, I see the talent, and there's not many flaws in Aaron Peterson's game. And, you know, the cramping issue, I don't know what it is, what's causing it.

I think there's something, there's an issue going on there. He may have to get some, you know, much deeper dive into his medical history to figure out what's going on. but you're going to have to take a long, hard look, and he's going to be really difficult to pass up. Because his injuries aren't devastated. They're not, you know, they're not, you know, locally. You know, you're looking at Anthony Davis.

He doesn't have an Anthony Davis type of history. And I wouldn't want the Wizards to make a mistake and not draft a player like him. Yeah, I mean, I think the issue that has to be explored is, yes, the medical. but has this kid been load managing through the season as a college player? Has he been, you know, essentially begging out of games to load manage to make sure that he takes care of his body in preparation for the NBA? And what does that say about his true love of basketball when they had the number one team in the country at Fogg Allen, you know, a week ago Saturday when Arizona came in and five minutes before the game, he basically said, I don't feel well. and then sat out the game. That's the part I think that is more concerned.

Yes, the medical, you've got to dig into it to see if he's got any legitimate medical issues. But what if he has been load managing his whole college one season in college? Would that bother you if you were a GM? Yes, it would bother me. Listen, that's the only concern you have to have with him is finding out why he's not available. What's going on? What's his mental makeup? Is he afraid to get injured before the NBA?

the NBA draft process comes up and he doesn't want to ruin his number one pick. This happens more time than not. He's just the number one pick and that's all we're talking about. That's just the landscape of what's happening right now in the culture of Collegian Athletics. People aren't talking about it as much

because Darren Peterson, they're not him and he's the number one pick in the draft. This is happening everywhere. Guys are healthy scratches. I've talked to coaches and I've called games for, you know, here. and I've had coaches tell me we don't have a player

he's a healthy scratch and he's not playing because they're saving the eligibility to be able to play college athletics again. His situation is unique because he's won and done. He's not coming back to college next year. He's not trying to get another payday from college because he's not going to be an NBA player. We're talking about the number one pick in the draft.

Is he, is his representation advising him of doing this? Like sometimes these guys are represented by agents, and they are giving these young men poor advice. Yeah. And that's what I mean when you've got to find that out. Those are the things you've got to dig into. And NBA teams will.

I mean, they'll find out really what's going on. You know, that process to me has already started. I bet you if you were to get behind the closed doors with some, you know, scouting department, some general managers. They're, you know, in that range of looking at him, they're already speaking with his agent and everybody trying to figure out, like, what the heck is going on with this guy? You know, to miss this many games and not be a serious injury, you've got to be concerned.

And sometimes you wonder, right? You get so close to being, you know, reaching your dreams in the NBA. You look at a guy like JT. Top, and I don't think anyone viewed him as a NBA player. Right. But you see he tore his A-C. Yeah. Those are all fears that you have. And I'll go back to my personal experience.

Like, people don't realize that you talked about that ACC tournament run. My shoulder popped out in practice, looking up to that. And anyone who's had dislocated shoulders or anything at that nation, no, when that happens, you can't lift your arm above your head. I did it earlier. My first game was a Friday. I hurt my arm. My shoulder came out on Monday.

I did not touch a basketball all week long. And my first time I touched the ball was shoot around for that day, for the first game, which was against Duke, of that um acc tournament run and so because I was scared

I was like man if NBA teams find out that my shoulders subluxing and it's popping in it out it's going to hurt me in a draft so my thing was try to get healthy get back and not the first question I asked when I walked in a locker room

was just like hey did anybody ask you about guys about my shoulder like that was my thought process and so and I didn't make it to Christmas and my shoulder was out again and I had you know my rookie year was done

I had to go into the night so is there something else that's what I mean when I say is there something else going on that we don't know about that he has some lingering issue and he's afraid for it to get worse because he just wants to get to the NBA

and get through this process we don't know the talent is there that none of these issues are an ACL or anything we would Philadelphia was stunned his growth and development, but you've got to find out what the heck is going on because the talent is so good.

I mean, we're sitting here talking last night. He had 22, 23 points at 18 minutes. I know. He's the real deal. And when I watch him, I'm like, well, obviously he's the guy. I mean, I like DeBonce's ability to create that whole thing. You know, real quickly on Cam Booser, who's been sort of a consensus, you know, if it's Peterson DeBonza in some order,

it's Cam Boozer third. What do you think of Booser as a pro? I would have some concerns in a sense. I think he's a talented player. I think he's going to be a really good player. Really smart. He's growing up around the game. Going to work is kill off.

Like, he's going to get better. He's not a polished product. I've watched him just over the years where he went from being just a true post guy. And now you see him, he's shot over 40%. He's in the mid-30s now. you see him handling the ball, they're running guard, and he's the point four kind of ball screens.

He handles it well enough to initiate office. Like, I've seen his growth, and he'll get better and better and better. Like, he's just sure thing. There's guys like Caleb Wilson who has the athleticism, maybe that you're looking for. But there's no doubt in my mind, you know, Camboos is going to be a really good pro player. He doesn't have the athleticism per se or, you know, like of an A.J. DeBonza or a Caleb Wilson, but he's going to be a heck of a player for somebody for a decade of basketball or more.

Let me just give you one comp for me for Cam Booser when I watch him, and I really notice this, I think, in that game against Carolina a week and a half ago. Tyler Hansbrough had a real issue when he got to the NBA finishing around the rim. He had shorter arms. I'm not saying Booser has the same arm length because I think he's longer than than the than Hansborough was. But he seems to not be able to finish around the rim consistently at the college level. And to me, that's usually a major issue if you're thinking about, you know,

if that's the kind of player he needs to be at the next level. Do you see any of that comp or not? I think he's a better all-around player. I mean, Hansborough is one of the greatest college player, probably the greatest college player we've seen in 20 years. but he was a post guy that was around the rim. Campbell's a little more skilled. Better perimeter skill, handles the ball, can push it, elite passes, big-time pass for the basketball.

I don't know if he'll be how good of a defender he'll be. And it's hard, and I'll say this, it's hard to limit him because he has so much responsibility for Duke. Because this is a Duke team that has struggled with a spot in the secondary guy. Right. have dominated, they have been great. I mean, the game this weekend will be amazing, I think, with them in Michigan.

You can see the respect that he's getting because teams are doubling him, including Carolina, had to double him with a guy like Kayla Wilson. They didn't just leave Caleb. They didn't leave Cambuzon one-on-one. They double-teamed him. It shows you the respect that he garners. I think, again,

I don't think it's upside as, like, all-star elite. I just think he's a really good player that'll get better and better. You know, the stuff that you're questioning and you're worried about with Darren Peterson, you don't have to worry about that with Cambuzer. And I think that's it. You just know what you're going to get.

You're going to get somebody that's going to come in there and work themselves. And that matters. That means something when you start, once you get past the number one or number two pick which you identify certain guys. So I think he's more skilled in a title of Hanseboro, more upside in a sense of that. But, again, I understand your concerns. And I think everybody feels that he's a limited athlete. and, you know, trying to finish at the rim.

But I do think he can play the game a lot better. You'll be able to space him. He'll be able to be an upper 30% three-point shooter and do some other things. By the way, when you mentioned about your rookie year in the NBA, I just went and pulled up your rookie year roster. I love doing this sometimes when somebody says something and it makes me look it up.

Man, the roster that you were a part of in Portland in your first two years in the NBA, I have to ask you a couple of questions about that roster. People will say about Sabonis that if he had come into the NBA as a 19 or a 20-year-old, that we might view him today as one of the three or four greatest players to ever play the game. Did you see that in him when you were his teammate? And he was in his early 30s? He was, I think, 31. We were rookies together.

You know, the perfect cop for him would be Roy Jones. from a boxer standpoint. And I say this, in my eyes, Roy was the best skill set of a poor boxer that ever put on gloves. Yep. Not because of injuries,

but because he fought too long, he wasn't fundamentally clean, per se, and the next generation won't view him the way that people who saw him live will view him. Right.

And that's what you're going to get out of the bonus. He was, He had ruptured both Achilles by the time he had got to the NBA, and he was a problem. I mean, he was giving these guys at 31 years old, ruptured Achilles, nowhere near the athleticism. Back then, this was the era of big. You know, we're talking morning, shack, all these guys.

He was playing modern day basketball before him. He was passing it. He would have been Joker. Yeah, exactly. He was going to say, as a passer, You can make the argument right now. And no one who watched him play would argue against you that he's the greatest passing big man ever. Yokic.

You're saying, oh, you're saying Sabonis, yeah. I think, I mean, I think, I think Yokic for me and Sabonis, lateness career, you could see what a great passer he was. Bill Walton, for me, in terms of, you know, big men was the greatest passer. I think I've ever seen in my lifetime of watching basketball from the center position, but obviously injuries cut his career super short. And Joker is in that Walton class, and you're saying Subonis is in that class as well. Absolutely.

Yeah. Absolutely. He absolutely is in that class. And he did it from everywhere. And again, he spaced the floor. He wasn't able to move as well as he did back then, but he was still, he had it all. It was just pass on the ball. He was the point center.

Yeah. Like if he could play in today's era and he, a healthy version of him, there's no question he wins. If he comes over to the NBA at 20, 21 years old, he's a three or four-time NBA champion. The history books would have changed if he was able to come over. He was that good. I mean, he's a big reason why, you know, pros played in the NBA, you know, had to come over and play in the Olympics. You know, you're talking about a bit of the bonus is a big part of the reason for some of these stuff happening because, college kids couldn't deal with that.

The NBA couldn't deal with that. And unfortunately he comes over. He was already, like I said, I can tell you after practice. He was icing and buckets. He had to put his feet in buckets. Couldn't practice much. You know, he had played a few years here, but we got a limited version of our Vita's supporters.

He was truly a talent, man. He was fun to watch and even better to play with. Speaking of talents, because I'm looking through this roster, one of my all-time favorite college basketball players was Kenny Anderson when he was at Georgia Tech and he was on that roster with you and I know that he was not did not have the NBA career I don't think as a college player when you go back to 90 and 91 that I mean he was

Kyrie as a ball handler in college is that an exaggeration or not not at all not at all I mean again he was different he was different Some people asked me before who was the best college player I ever played against, and Kenny's at the top of the list. I often say Kenny. Yeah. He was just different.

He was different. He was just different. You didn't see guys like him. He got wherever he wanted on a sport, good at handles as he ever was. A good shooter, not great, but he didn't need to be a great shooter because you couldn't stop him from getting to the paint. And it's a reason why Georgia Tech was a final 14 while he was there. Lethal Weapons 3.

I had nowhere with Dennis Scott, lethal weapon 3. And he was a big part of that, obviously, with another DMV-Flay-Hill guy on Dennis Scott. So great player was different. He was ahead of his time, and the lead was real physical back then. And if you take guys like Kenny Anderson or guys like myself and you allowed us to play without the hand-checking the physicality of the 90s, then things will probably be different for us in that aspect. You know, he played Lethal Weapon 3. Brian Oliver was the third, right? I'm pretty sure that's who it was. Yes, it was. They played in that 1990 Final 4 where UNLV blew out Duke in the Final 4 by 30. And they played Georgia Tech. It was in Denver. They played Georgia Tech in the semis.

And another one of your teammates, Stacey Ogman, who might be the greatest defensive guard slash swing man in the history of college basketball. Fair or not? Oh, fair. I mean, that 90s team is historic. That's the greatest team. I actually think the 91 team is that lost a Duke in the Final Four.

That might be the best team I've ever watched in college basketball, the 91 ULB team. We were talking about that guys being undefeated, right? Yeah, they were undefeated. First loss, yeah. So, I mean, listen, that would. Larry Johnson, you know, Anderson was the shoot at the space to phone. Anthony, they were just elite defensively and just scored, just physically beat everybody up.

And, man, what a times, what a, what a team, what a historic team. What a team you were on, man, Rashid was on that team. I'm looking at the various people that were on that team. That was a good team, and you were coached by PJ. I mean, you were around. Yeah. You were rounded. All right, let's switch subjects real quickly. This college basketball season is exciting, and we do have a major showdown Saturday night at Capitol 1, Duke in Michigan, one against 3.

I think Michigan's the best team in the country in terms of the teams that I've watched. What do you think? I think it's hard to argue. I think healthy and whole Arizona is in that conversation. and I'm excited to see the match up because I think you look at Duke and this is a Duke team you know you look at their losses and they've been

they've been up early on teams you know you look at them and you're like wow Texas Tech loss they were up they weren't big and they kind of gave that one away as well Duke has had big leads and kind of squanded those leads you know and it's costing but I think these are this match up this weekend in D.C. is the two best teams in college basketball Well, hard to argue at Michigan.

I do. I do right now. Rather right now. Because Arizona is not healthy. I think Arizona, you know, Arizona is not whole, and you got to just keep that in mind. Coa Pete's out for those guys, and that's a big part of what they do. Both of these teams right now seem relatively healthy. You know, Duke, young kids, got to step up, continue to get better.

They're starting to figure it out. I love the length. I love the size of these matchups. But I think whoever wins this game will be the favorite. I mean, going into the NCAA tournament, I think there'll be the number one overall feed. I'm kind of rooting for Kelvin Sampson to finally get it, because I think he's one of the great coaches of this era,

and I often think that he doesn't get the credit for being that. What do you think of Kelvin Sampson, and do you agree that maybe, I don't want to say underrated, I think everybody realizes how good he is, but sometimes not mentioned among the elite coaches? he's one of those guys you just know now he's not going to how much longer will he be doing it and he's been a great coach for so long I'm with you I'm cheering for him like like secretly privately I'm hoping that Houston wins it yeah you know I kind of felt that way last

year and he's at a point in this era to get the players that he got to commit to him high school all-Americans and talented players I think it's It's special and it's fun to watch with Chris C. Nick and Kingston Fleming, those two freshmen are, or have a, it'll go a long way to determine if he's going to win. I think Kingston Fleming is as good as guard as there is in college basketball. I think he's that good. You're the second person to tell me that today. Oh, I'm telling you, he is.

He's that good. He's as good as everyone else. He's just not in the system that's going to put up and allow him to go for 49 or 40 or whatever. But if he had went to one of those other schools, you know, things will be totally, totally different. And now he plays the game. And you're talking about, you know, a guy that just has to be able to, to find a way to score.

You know, someone else is going to have to help him. But they're talking about a guy that's shooting nearly 50% from 4 and 38% from 3 on that team average of 16. That just keeps the game so close. They don't play at an 80-point-by-game base like some of these other teams do. All right. I've taken up a lot of your time. I've got two quick ones. Because you call a lot of ACC games, how good is Virginia? They're the team, I think, is due to the most damage that no one's talking about it in the CW tournament.

So underrated defensively. Like people are talking about how good they are defensive. Elite rim protection. With Grinlow and no end so, only in so is elite rent protectors. I think they had official rebounders. They think they had nine official rebounds in the Ohio State game. And last night they beat Georgia Tech so bad. I turned it off. I didn't

even bother to watch the second half. They were up over 30. They won't even have a guy on first team all ACC. And they still have a chance to win the ACC regular season title when no one's talking about them nationally. They'll get, in my, deserving of a probably top three seat.

They may not get it. And that's probably better for them. but they're a team that you do not want to face coming in the NCAA tournament. And I think they're, because they're versatile how they play. You know, if you want to play Virginia in the games in the 90s, they'll play me in the 90s. If the game is it grinded out, defensive slug fest for the 70s, they can do that too. But for them, there's not one guy for you to focus on. You have, they spread you out.

Everybody can shoot it. Everybody can score it. They're going to, like Ryan Odom has a really good team. They're not the most athletic team. They're big, they're physical, they're tough. They're going to be a tough out, and they're going to be a team that I think has a chance to knock off one of the favorites, right, that we're talking about,

the Dukes, the Dukes, the, you know, one of the Yukons. I think they're a team that could catch one of them in the Sweet 16 or, you know, maybe at the elite eight and pull off an upset. I would be scared to play Virginia if I'm one of those teams. Well, you answer my last question because I was going to ask you for maybe a team, off the radar that you could see making a deep, deep run, and it sounds like it's UVA. They've won 12 of 13, and I watched the game that they lost. They had a big lead and just blew it against Carolina in Charlottesville. If not, they'd be in the midst of a 13-game winning

street. They played Duke at the end of this month at Cameron Indoor. That will be a test. Thank you so much for doing this. What game do you have Saturday? What's your next game? have Miami at UVA, actually, at 2 p.m. I think it's ESPN 2, 2 o'clock Saturday. ESPN 2, yep, 2 o'clock Saturday, Virginia, hosting a pretty good Miami team this year as well, because I know they beat North Carolina recently. Thank you, Randolph, really appreciate it. Maybe we can do it again before the tournament begins. Sounds good, man, just give me a call. I appreciate the time. Randolph Childress, everybody. I enjoyed that. Hope you did too. Back tomorrow, Logan Paulson

will be on the show with me.