The Kevin Sheehan Show - Deadly Defense

Episode Date: September 26, 2024

Kevin opened with a discussion about Washington's historically bad defense through three games. He also had some additional "game-take" thoughts on Jayden Daniels from Monday night and a player on defense who actually didn't stink. Bram Weinstein jumped on to talk Commanders. And in the final segment of the show, Kevin was joined by one of the greatest Maryland Basketball players of all time, Greivis Vasquez.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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 Cheen Show is Kevin. I definitely understand, like, our fan base has been waiting, you know, for the franchise QB. But I also want Jaden feeling any ghosts, making sure he understands. There's only one name on the back of that jersey, and that's for him. And I don't want any comparison or any of the other stuff. I think it was the Teddy Roosevelt quote.

comparison is the thief of joy. And I agree with Jaden on that. And I don't want to compare him to anybody but him. Because he's still growing. And quite honestly, John, I can't wait to see who he's becoming. He had a remarkable game. Comparison is the Thief of Joy, Teddy Roosevelt said many, many years ago, quoted yesterday by the head coach Dan Quinn during his press conference on the day after,

the day after one of the most memorable individual performances in franchise history. A performance, by the way, that will be remembered even more fondly down the road if Jaden Daniels goes on to have the kind of career that some think he may have, a career comparable to, say, Steve Young's, or Randall Cunningham, or Fran Tarkington, or the career that Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson are putting together. You know, the guys he gets comp to every once in a while. I love you, coach, and the tact you're taking is perfectly fine with me. But comparison is the thief of joy, not for fans in sports talk hosts.

It's more like comparison is the creator of joy, because it starts a lot of conversations. that turn out to be a lot of fun. But I get what he's doing. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, his Windonation, give him a call at 86690 Nation or head to Windonation.com. Mention my name for a free, no obligation, in-home estimate.

Two guests on the show today. Bram Weinstein up next, and then Gravis Vasquez will be on the show. There is a film coming out, a documentary coming out, about the struggles that Gravis Vasquez went through his journey in trying to come back from a very serious injury that ended his NBA career.

We will talk about his Maryland days, though. I promise you that. Bram Weinstein coming up, Gravis Vasquez after that. Follow me on Twitter at Kevin Sheehan, D.C., tweet me if you want. Also, rate us and review us on Apple and Spotify. about 60 seconds to do it. Five stars, if you think we deserve it, with a quick one to two sentence review.

And follow us on Apple and Spotify. You just hit the plus button or the follow button when you're listening to the show. I've got some upon further review of the game. I watched a lot of the offense, and then today after the radio show, I quickly watched some of the defense. and I actually have something to add to my radio upon further review.

We will get to that here momentarily. But on the comparison is the Thief of Joy thing. It's very funny because I was checking out Twitter this morning before going on radio, and there were all of these different tweets from people comparing Jaden Daniels to others. This was from Matt. He's Mahomes, from Dave. He's Josh Allen. From Ed.

He's Lamar with a Josh Allen arm. From Zachary, right-handed Steve Young, from Kevin. Is he a better runner than Vic? I don't think he is a better runner than Vic, although it's close. I mean, Michael Vic was a spectacular runner. So is Steve Young. But he's in that category. He is definitely in that category.

So I'm going to take a moment here to start the show by interrupting the happy, happy talk of the last day and a half. Not that the giddiness of the last 36 or so hours hasn't been justified based on what we watched Monday night. Offensively, of course, Jaden Daniels-wise. By the way, Washington threw three games, 26.3 points per. game. That's fifth in the league. When's the last time they were a top five scoring team? They're going to need all 26.3 points and probably more per game if they're going to win games because of what I'm going to talk about right now, and that is the defense. So I am a subscriber to FtnFantasy.com, not because I'm a big fantasy guy, but because that's where Aaron Shats,

the creator of the DVOA metric, which I've referenced many times in recent years, the defense adjusted value over average metric, which is, I think, the best way of measuring a team or measuring a unit, offense, defense, special teams. It's much different than the traditional rankings. You know, the traditional rankings are yards gained for an offense or yards allowed for defense. We as NFL fans know that sometimes that's very misleading. A defense may give up 150 yards in the fourth quarter of a game that they're up 21. Or an offense may gain 150 or 200 yards in the fourth quarter in a game that they're down 21 in. DVOA doesn't measure the garbage yards in the fourth quarter the same way the traditional numbers do.

They account for the game situation in the context and the opponent, which is why I think it's the best way to sort of view what a team is or what a team's defense offense or special teams unit is. You know, I've mentioned this a couple of times, including when I've had Aaron on the show over the last year. Last year when Philadelphia was 10 and 1, you know, people have them in the power rankings number one, number two maybe. DVOA had Philadelphia as like the 10th or 11th best team in the NFL. What happened? They won one game over their last six and got bounced in the first round of the playoffs. By the way, preseason when we had Aaron on the show, I said,

give me a team that nobody's really talking about that you think has a chance to be good. He said, New Orleans. He said, we've evaluated New Orleans. We evaluated them last year in a way in which most didn't, and they had a pretty decent year, and we're evaluating them the same way. They're going to be a good team this year. probably going to be a playoff team this year.

I mean, they did lose to Philadelphia, but they're two and one, and they looked really good to start the season. We'll see if that holds up. But anyway, I get emailed this morning a summary of the NFL weekend based on DVOA, and Aaron wrote about Washington's defense. And he wrote, Washington has been bad on defense, almost as bad as defense. Denver's defense was last year over the first three weeks of the season. Do you remember when we scored 35 at Denver?

Sam Howell looked like what some of you thought he was going to become, Joe Montana. Remember when Miami scored 70 against Denver's defense? He writes, remember how bad the Broncos defense was last year, historically bad? the Washington commanders have been almost as bad when we adjust for the fact that scoring is down around the league this year. The commanders are just 26th in total DVOA. That's where they rank as a team. 26th. He says, but they're two and one. The reason that they are 26th, but a two and one football team is because of the horrible defense they have. Washington has a top 10 offense right now per DVOA. It's number nine actually, ranked number nine in DVOA, but their defense is way, way behind

everybody else. And then he gives you a list of the teams that have been measured during the DVOA era. He's done an incredible job of going back over the years and watching games and measuring teams per his DVOA. He goes back to 1979 now in his database. That's 45 years of measurement. Washington has the eighth worst defense over the first three games of the season over the last 45 years of football. And something else. Washington on his list of the top 12 worst defenses over the first three weeks of a season of all time. Washington ranks 8th. They're the only team on that list with a winning record. Of the other 11 teams, 10 of them started 0 and 3, one of them, the 2002 Chiefs started 1 and 2. And he writes basically that

none of these teams made the postseason. A few of these teams went on to win as many as 7 games, and most of these teams, with the exception of the 2023 Broncos, played 16 game seasons. But none of them made the playoffs. He actually went on to describe a couple of other teams that were pretty bad defensively in the first three weeks of a season. They weren't in his top 12. They were in his top 30.

The 2021 Chiefs, the 2017 Patriots, and the 2013 Chargers, they made the playoffs. but he writes, you need a legendary quarterback to overcome a really bad defense over the first three weeks of the season. Those teams had Mahomes, Brady, and Rivers. And he writes, Jaden Daniels looks pretty good so far, but I don't know if he's going to be that good. Washington currently 32nd in the league DVOA-wise, not even close to 31. The eighth worst three-game start in DVOA history defensively. They are the ninth-ranked offense in the league, the 26th-ranked team overall.

They've got to make some progress defensively if they're going to end up having the season that I'm hoping they have and that I am optimistic that they can have, although this was a bit sobering, that's for sure. So a couple of things real quickly upon further review of the game. I watched the all 22 of the offense yesterday, and I watched some of the defense today. Let me just mention real quickly, there was one player that stood out defensively to me. I think Juan Martin can play. I also saw what I thought I saw live, and that is they did play with some energy, with some hustle, with, you know, they chase down every play.

Unfortunately, a lot of those plays were six, seven, eight, nine, ten plus yards downfield. But I don't think it was a lack of effort. I don't think it was a lack of hustle. I think it's an issue right now with personnel, and I think it's an issue potentially with scheme, we'll see. But I was impressed with the play that Sanra still made at the end of the first quarter, which was a crucial play at force to field goal, that the Bengals missed. In a game like that, you know, if you can take away a score on one of

their possessions, I mean, it was the difference in the game, pretty much. I thought that that was a real good play in the game. I do like the way San Ristel flies around too. Louvo as well. I would not have San Ristel as he was. I didn't notice this the other night. He was on the outside primarily, not inside. Number one, Noah I was on the inside primarily. Sam Ristel was on the outside. But Kwan Martin was impressive to me. First of all, I think he really understood what Cincinnati was trying to do. I think he's typically in the right spot at the right time, and he's physical, man. Number 20 can play. I don't know that anybody else can play. I still like Duran. In watching some of the defense, I'm a little bit more inclined to agree with a lot of you that neither Duran nor John Allen played particularly well.

I'd love to know what their responsibilities were. They took on some doubles for sure. But I was impressed with Juan Martin. But offensively, I wanted to point a couple of plays out to you. The first one is there's a play on the first drive of the second half of the game. It's drive number four in the game for Washington. They're up 2113. They've returned the second half kickoff 62 yards.

Let's hope Boston Echler gets better. I doubt he's going to play on Sunday. I would doubt that. They're going to miss him for sure. But they were second and seven at the Cincinnati nine-yard line. This was an example of Jaden extending outside the pocket, but not extending to run. extending to throw.

And he makes a really good play off schedule. I think you're going to remember the play when I mention it. By the way, it's prior to the Trent Scott tackle-eligible touchdown pass, the first of Jaden Daniels' career. But what sets that play up is this second and seven off-schedule throw to Noah Brown at the goal line. Jaden goes off-schedule because of pressure. There may have been something open early. McCaffrey spotted up at about the five-yard line. He could have hit McCaffrey in rhythm, and maybe McCaffrey could turn out of it and maybe get

inside the five to the three or the two before he got stopped. I don't think he would have scored. But Jaden got off schedule flushed right, and instead of running, he waited and Noah Brown did a good job of coming towards him, and he fired a dart to Noah Brown who caught it, almost with the ball, you know, breaking the plane, but they marked it at the one yard line, and then two plays later, Daniels threw the touchdown pass to Trent Scott. That was a real good example of him making progress of extending plays not to scramble, not to run, but eyes down the field to make a throw as well. And I bring that play up specifically for this reason. One, it's progress. Two, in the NFL man, when you get into that condensed area, the red zone,

you've got to have a quarterback that can extend and create time for receivers to shake free because it's a shorter field. They can't run by anybody. You know, you've got the end line. So corners have, and safeties and backers have an easier time covering. So you've got to create time. And when you create time, more often than not, not. We've seen it over the years. Mahomes, you know, Alan, all of the great extend Rogers guys,

they end up finding somebody in the end zone. And he did that last night, almost finding Noah Brown for a touchdown. They marked it inside the one, and they scored two plays later. But you're going to need that because absent of that big target, they can go into the end zone, and you can throw a fade to, or he can spot up or box out and you can throw it to, um, absent of that big target, of that kind of a receiver, you don't usually get what you want on the way the play is supposed to, you know, play out originally. You got to get to that second play, you know, when the quarterback goes off schedule. So I thought that that was really encouraging. I wanted to talk about the other Terry McLaurin long bomb catch from Jaden Daniels, the one that's gotten the most attention

is the last one in the game, the 27-yarder that iced the game. But the first connection, big connection of the year between Jaden Daniels and Terry McLaren is vintage Jaden Daniels from LSU as a deep ball thrower. That throw is so perfect. It is a 55-yard connection. It's second and five from their own 41 under three minutes to go. This is the drive that made it 21 to 10 in the second quarter. And Terry's being bracketed. He's got safety help on the corner that's covering him, and Jaden has to throw with the ultimate of trust and anticipation on a deep ball, because the ball leaves his hand when Terry touches the Cincinnati 42-yard line. You know where he caught the at the Cincinnati eight-yard line.

That's 34 yards of anticipation. And he had to throw it to his outside shoulder because the safety was coming over. If he leads him inside, it either gets broken up or maybe even picked. It is so perfect. When we talked all off-season about this guy is a great deep ball thrower. I thought Pennix Jr. was the other really good deep ball thrower. There were people that pushed back and said, yeah, he's got average arm strength. No, he's got the arm strength required to get it to the spot where it's supposed to go.

He throws that ball with some pressure, by the way, with Terry still 34 yards away from the target. And it is in the exact spot that it has to be to avoid any sort of interaction with the safety that's coming over. It's a brilliant throw. The next play is him keeping it on the zone read, skip to the loo into the end zone touchdown. Loved that throw. There's another throw that I really liked as well. And this was another sort of processing quickly anticipation throw.

It's after he missed Terry the first time, which, by the way, I don't know why he missed that throw. I think he got to it late and he just flicked it. There was a little bit of pressure, but Terry was wide open even if the defender didn't fall down. He was running to open space. I hope we don't see that one anymore. But after missing Terry, it goes to second in 10.

And this is on the second drive of the game, all right? The one that ends with the Austin Echler 24-yard touchdown run. It's second and 10 at the Cincinnati 35. and you see him drop back and go one, two, compact delivery. It's out, and there's McCaffrey sitting down in a perfect spot versus zone defense. It looked like kind of cover three with four underneath. He finds the hole. Daniels finds him.

It doesn't look like he's number one in the progression. It doesn't even look like he's number two. He's working right to left and he gets him. And just as McCaffrey starts to sit down, that ball, is on the way right on them, catches it, turns it, 11-yard gain, moves the sticks. The next play is the Echler touchdown. I love that throw, too. What else?

I loved all the formations from Kingsbury. I mean, there's some interesting formations. That offset eye formation with Echler and Brian Robinson, Jr. They're in the eye next to Jaden Daniels, not behind them. They were in shotgun. They were in pistol. center. How about a bootleg under center on a third down with Jaden following Andrew Wiley? I thought that was interesting. You know, a bootleg from under center. Not a naked because he had

a blocker out there. He picked up three yards, moved the sticks. There was a wildcat snap in the game to Brian Robinson, Jr., where they faked the reverse to Jaden Daniels, who was split out wide. you saw two backs, you saw two backs, you know, in the backfield and the snap, you saw Echler motioning both ways. You saw this odd formation where you've got a tight end or Echler lined up directly behind the guard tackle as almost a fullback. A lot of stuff out of that game that I thought Cliff Kingsbury is like, I'm starting to get to some of the stuff that's going to work. I think this is right now, it looks like the perfect marriage. I know that there's been discussion, and I think I brought it up over the summer,

about sometimes his offenses get figured out as the season goes along. And look, defenses are going to start to figure Jaden out a little bit. They got to stay one step ahead of it. I mean, that's what good coordinators do. They evolve. Defensees evolve, and then they come up with a new plan for, what the defense has adjusted to. But overall, yeah, I had some other things in here. You know, the RPO stuff is good. The read option stuff, I still feel even after watching the game,

I think he could have kept it a couple more times as a runner. I would bet that that's an opportunity for them to kind of look at and insert. instruct. I'm assuming these were options and that they weren't straight handoffs to Brian Robinson, Jr. Oh, the one play that they will definitely look at and say, you got to let it go there. And he did a much better job this week than he did last week and the week prior. But on the opening drive of the game, prior to the fourth down that they went for and he finds McCaffrey, On third and two, he took a sack, and he didn't need to take a sack. He kind of ran into the sack, but Noah Brown was wide open, sitting down in a hole versus zone, move the chains, get the ball out quickly.

They went for it on the next play, and he does a good job of finding McCaffrey, but the third down play should not have resulted in a one-yard loss. And that's what it resulted in, a one-yard loss. He doesn't get sacked for big yardage. But that would be the one where, yeah, there was a player who was there with a big sign on his forehead that said, I am wide open, throw it to me, I'm part of your progression. I would assume that he was. So I'm not sure why he didn't throw that. Overall, though, man, incredible.

Incredible night for a quarterback who ended up with, you know, a 95.9 p.m. FF grade, the highest ever for a Washington quarterback, the highest of the year for any quarterback in the NFL. He had a 93.0 QBR, the highest, as I mentioned the other day, for the franchise since Kirk Cousins did it back in 2016. What else do I have in my notes? Oh, for those of you that thought, oh my God, we got a college quarterback. All he can do is. is throw bubble screens. He can only go horizontally. Over the weekend of all the quarterbacks in the NFL and all of them played, because all 32 teams played, nobody's got to buy yet. His average air yards per attempt, which measures how far you're throwing the ball down field, seventh best in the

league over the weekend at 9.2 yards. Yeah, he can go vertical. Trust me. And, you know, Cincinnati kind of sold out to stop Brian Robinson, Jr. in particular. They loaded the box a little bit on Monday night. And yeah, I mean, teams are going to do that, and it's going to open up opportunities for him to go deep, and he can. And look, we saw opportunities for him to go deep in the first two games. He took a shot deep to Terry in the opener against Tampa, just didn't connect on it. By the way, I was thinking about this. he's essentially made one bad throw. It was the first throw of the season, the backwards lateral to Brian Robinson, Jr.

That actually counted as a fumble and lost rushing yardage. Like other than that play, he's missed some things here and there, like all quarterbacks do, but it's basically the only bad play he's made is the first play. of his career in the NFL. All right, let's get to Bram. We'll do that next after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, guys, best time of the year is football season.

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Did he get it? He did. Touchdown! Touchdown watching dead! Unreal! That was Bram's call on Monday night in Cincinnati of the touchdown pass from Jaden Daniels to Terry McLaren from 27 yards out. to basically put the game on ice 38 to 26. Look, this is year, oh, my God, this is year four for you doing these games, right? No, no way, year five? Oh, right. 2020 was the first year, the COVID year?

That's right, yep. Oh, my God. I'm glad they were fans in attendance for that one the other night. Yeah. So your favorite call, is it that one? Yep. Yeah, that and Heidi keep diving for the pylon in a playoff game,

you know, was really incredible. But there was, you know, to the point earlier, nobody was there. Right. Tabio.

We got a couple others, like McClorence catched Indianapolis, when they caught it at the one, and they ended up scoring. And then, like, really my favorite game to call probably until this one was, well,

the Philly Monday Nighter was incredible. Right. Didn't have a moment like that. and the Atlanta one a couple years ago where McCorn had a crazy catch in the fourth quarter, and then McKissick had like a catch of Heineke Magic Day at a catch, ran for the pylon, and they won late. That was a great one, but this is totally different because it's the beginning of something, Kevin.

I think we all recognize that. This is not like, hey, that plucky Heineke guy really pulled one off again. This is, I don't know what we're looking at right now. Honestly, our quarterback is so far ahead of the curve that I think we all kind of feel it that this is different what happened the other night. Yeah, I mean, it certainly appears that way, and yet the NFL plays tricks on us all the time. But let's start there.

What makes you believe that what we're seeing is the real thing? Well, I have never cited since World War II. This happened so many times the last couple of weeks. He has never looked like a rookie to me once, not in the spring, not in camp. There was never a day where I was like, oh, well, that's going to be a problem. And we never really saw, you know, the athleticism because they didn't really put it on display and practice in any of the preseason games. And I don't know.

I mean, I think the play speaks for itself. They have it punted in two weeks. And then instinctually, like we could parse out like week one. I thought he was really sped up and maybe his internal clock was off, but it was his debut against a team that blitzed a ton. Then a week later, the other team doesn't really blitz that much. He handles that. They can't literally stop them.

The only people that stop them in week two is themselves with all the penalties that they took in the red zone. And then last week, I mean, come on, like, who thought they were winning, let alone doing that? And I just, you know, listen, it's just off to as good as start as it could possibly be. because instincts are off the charts. And like, if this is ground zero or a baseline, I can't wait to see what's next and what's beyond that. Yeah, I mean, the other night was really, look, you and I have spent a lot of time watching this team for a long period of time. That ranks up

there. That's going to be memorable. Now, if he goes on to have the kind of career that it sounds like you think he's going to have, and I definitely think he's going to have, we're going to look back and remember, you know, where, where it started. I mean, he was pretty damn good in the first two games. I mean, you know, not like on Monday night, but that was a moment. God, this franchise hasn't had a moment like that in forever. And the hope at that position, like you said, you know, we've had some pluckiness. I love that word at the position. But we haven't had the real thing in a long time and he looks like the real thing. Yeah.

So how excited were you? Because I know you're a big fan of Terry's and have called, you know, a lot of the games that he's had here over the last five years, that he, you know, had those opportunities on Monday night. You know, I'm not surprised they came his way, one, just because you've been around forever, too. You know how this goes? Like, when things get brought out in a media cycle for a week,

somehow they shake out the next week to kind of prove everybody wrong. He was motivated. He waited until Friday to talk to everybody who was around, and you could see that he was determined to be involved. Cliff Kingsbury went out of his way to say, unprompted, it's on me to get him involved. And this past week, I think, you know, there was an opportunity here that was going to be presented

because, and I talked to Logan Paulson about this and some others, you know, for the game, and he's like, look, said that he's really injured on their defense line. Like, they're coming in shorthand at big time. they also can't stop the run with their starters. And this is the one thing that Washington is doing really well. He goes, I know what's going to happen. Because they're going to stack the box.

They're going to demand to find out can Jane Daniels throw from the pocket? And that's what I would do. And they had to find out the hard way that they can. And McClorin really more so than in the first couple of weeks got one-on-one opportunities. And I think we've learned this about him. Like everyone always wants to go back to, he's not Justin or he's not Tyree Kill. Yeah, well, in contested catch situations, I'll take him over just about anybody.

So, you know, run the risk of covering him one-on-one because he wins more often than he loses with a well-placed ball, or even ones that are hard, you know, hard catches to make. So I've seen it through the years. I'm not surprised he got opportunities. He could have a touchdown on the first have you streaking wide open. It was like the one miss Daniel's ad was a miscommunication with the deep ball where he was 10 yards ahead of the corner. I'm glad for him, obviously, for this to continue, they have to be able to stretch the field, and that's him, and I don't know who else.

So, like, for all of this kind of magic that's going on here early, he has to be a big part of it for it to continue. A guy that's been a big part of it here early in the season is Austin Echler, and, you know, I'm assuming that he's not going to play in Arizona. I don't know if everybody feels the same way that I do. we'll get the first injury report coming up here tomorrow. But I think he's been super important to what they wanted to do. Do you think he misses Sunday? And if so, how much do they miss him?

I don't know if you got a player or not because he's in concussion protocol. So it's all about when does he clear through that? And I don't have anything to share about it because I just don't know. So I know he didn't fly with the team to Arizona. So you know what to see. There's two parts to that. one, and I think this is completely underrated in what's going on with this team right now, because I think defensively there's a lot of struggle.

We'll probably talk about that. But not only is the offense doing what they're doing, and Daniel looks really ahead of the curve, like they're one of the few teams that seems to have figured out this dynamic kickoff. They had a kickoff return for a touchdown with him called back on what I thought was a weak call against the Giants. He had a 62-yard return in the game the other night, which kind of flipped momentum in field position and put them in position to score again. Noah had binogity just missed on one, like had a theme on it.

So whatever they're doing to block up the returns, it is working here to the first few weeks. They've sprung to and could have sprung another. I mean, it was a near-miss, and they're covering very well. So that's a big part of it. But then again, like, will this continue if it's not Echler,

who seems to be uniquely skilled at this? And I'm not surprised it's running backs that are good to cut running backs that are good at this the way that it's set up. And that secondarily, like, it would really get to me about him. Like, if you see him, like, walk up to you, like, he looks like he's me. Right. Like, he's built like me.

Yeah. And then he's like, strongest guy on the field. Um, extremely quick. Impossible to bring down. Like, Robinson falls forward never is going backwards. And he's got incredible vision. So all of the, did he lose a step? Clearly is misguided and awe.

And I think really in the end, like what knocked him was one age, but two, he got a high ankle spray, like early last year. The numbers totally fell off for that. And so everyone just assumed washed running back. And we've learned here early it's the complete opposite of it. You know, in talking about the kickoff return, interesting, I'm going to actually look that up to see if it is running backs because it was a guess over the summer that players that are more line of scrimmage positional players would be used because it's a different, you know,

it's a different setup in terms of space. But what I thought it was interesting the other night, they had seven kickoffs. Five of them were returned. Jeremy Reeves had a really big hit and a big tackle. I'm wondering if they really like kicking it into the landing zone because they feel really good about their coverage units and the idea of, you know, being able to stop teams before they get to the 30-yard line, it would seem like they do think that.

Yes. I mean, that's the bet you're making now. I personally don't think that this is punitive enough to dismay people from kicking it out of the end. Right. We've seen that. Yeah. But most teams are, you know, in some case, some teams are doing it. A couple of the guys that made this team, Jeremy Reeves, Tyler Owens, the undrafted free agent,

were because of these special teams plays. They brought in Nick Ballore special teamer, and it's showing up on their coverage units. And, you know, to your point about the running back, like, I'm not surprised it's running backs that are taking these. You know, the old kick return was because everybody's running full steam, it's a one cut and go type of guy. You make one guy miss you get a seam. Not anymore. It's really two cuts because everybody's so close. It's a blocked play at this point.

Yeah. So a two cut running back, like Echler's perfect. And look, I mean, look at Sidney. They're two returns. We're both running back. Yeah. They're both running backs. Like, that's what people are going to use here because they think that the running backs got the vision speed and cutting ability to have a second cutback.

and you can bust one. And that's what the NFL wants. I mean, they want returns. They're almost demanding that it happens. And Washington, at least early year, has been very successful at it. And I think it's a very underrated part of what's going on with them. Well, it's a big deal with, you know, Tell the Truth Mondays, as Coach Quinn describes it, one of the five tenants of Tell the Truth Mondays is starting field position.

And they won that battle on Monday night, courtesy of Austin. Justin Eckler's kickoff return. All right, well, let's talk about what has been troubling here through the first three games. Defensively, right now, they're one of the worst teams through the first three weeks in the history of the game over the last 45 years per some of the advanced numbers. I guess for me, it's like, how does it improve? Because if it does, we got a chance to be good this year. Like I really think that already there is some optimism I have it for winning more games than losing. But the defense would be a massive limiting factor on that.

Do you see it? Well, A, what's the problem? B, how do they improve? I think the problem is, and this is what's different about the offense is we thought the perceived problem. They haven't become problem yet. Like the left tackle situation is not as dire as we thought it was probably going to be. like it seems to be better. The wide receiver situation, although not optimal,

doesn't seem to be holding them back. So like the preconceived notions of what the limitations are, at least on that side of the ball, I haven't hurt them. The preconceived notions of what's a problem with the Washington defense are a problem. They don't have a consistent pass rush. They don't have a dominant edge rusher. And their cornerback situation, this is a position group that's in need of help.

I mean, like, I just, so to the point of are they going to get considerably better? I believe they will. Like, I think they have too many veterans. to post the numbers that they've posted. But the other team is watching this and go, where is their pass rush coming from if they're not going to

bring numbers? And if they are going to bring numbers, do they really like their cornerbacks against top-tier receivers? And so far, the answer to that is Washington's got to be real careful about bringing numbers. Because now they're putting their guys on an island, and that is not their strength

at a position group. So I'd like better? Yeah, I don't think it's going to be like it's been, I think, over time, they will improve, and I trust the coaching on this, that it's going to get better, but will they be a top 10 defense, have a hard time believing it unless they get some help at the cornerback position, or Emmanuel Forbes comes back, and he turns the corner and becomes a playmaking cornerback for them. And I think that that's a tough sell right now. Like, do I buy it could happen? Sure. Do I believe it will happen? You have to show me on that one.

So this is one of those where it screams like, and I think we knew they have a flawed roster. Most teams do, but they really do at certain position groups. And it screams next year. I think you know what's doing in free agency and with the draft is that they're going to have to draft the top-ter corner or get one. And they're probably going to have to pay for an edge rusher. And those are kind of next step things that are going to have to happen. But will they get better? I mean, I like what they have up the middle, Kevin.

Like, I'm a little surprised at really the team's running well on them because of the interior defensive line with the addition of Newton now, too, with the linebackers they have, which is the biggest upgrade they have, and with the safetys they have, and one of them might as well be a linebacker, Jeremy Chin. I'm surprised teams are running the ball as well as they are on them. I figured them being a past defense was going to be a limited, you know, let's have a limited outlook on that, but as a rush defense, I would assume they're going to get better. Yeah, that for me, what you just mentioned, is the biggest surprise.

and I think also in many ways the biggest problem. They can't stop the run. They're getting completely gashed. And that just makes the other stuff even easier than it was going to be when you can get a running game and play action off of it. And the problem is, you know, they got Derek Henry and Lamar Jackson in a couple weeks. Cleveland can run the football. The Steelers love to run the football.

You know, they got some teams on their schedule that love to run the football. So that part to me, you're right. Like offensive line, receiver, certainly receiver depth. It's amazing what an offensive coordinator and a quarterback will do to sort of mask some of those things up front. Anyway, defensively, we knew corner, we knew pass rush. We didn't know that they'd be a horrible run-stopping team with John Allen and Duran Payne. And by the way, when you say middle, I agree with you. It's not just that.

It's Bobby Wagner. And it's behind Bobby Wagner. and that's the part that to me, somehow they got to fix it so that they can take their shot against one-dimensional teams with their weakness rather than a team that's so, you know, multi-against them. Yeah. No, I agree. And one of the things on the run defense this past week, which, and again, like, I don't know how much you've talked to Logan, but I love fucking bad about this team. He watches more, he watches more film than anybody I know. and it could be a scout or a coach, in my opinion.

No doubt. If he wanted to be. And he said this about last week, and I agreed with him on this. In the same way when we were talking about, like, I knew McClory was going to get opportunities because Cincinnati's a weak rush defense, they're missing people. They have to put people in the box or Brian Robertson and Eric are going to kill them, right?

So they had to do it, which meant McCloren and others were going to get one-on-one opportunities in Cincinnati was going to force watching it to show that they could throw the ball. And Jane Gaines has proved that. Well, on the other side of it, this, if you're Washington and you're going against Borough and now Higgins is back with Chase, aren't you just demanding them running the ball? Like, go ahead, check into it. We want you to run the ball. We don't want you throwing the ball. We want to be Mel Kuyper's nightmare. We want to put safeties back so that they force you at a player like Burrow to hand it off. So, and this is what

Logan said. He goes, this is what Joe what's going to do. He's like, I'm not putting anybody in the box in the line to try to stop the run of. Go ahead. Run the ball. The more you do it, gets by a thousand paper cuts, because the last thing we want is giving one-on-one opportunities with our corners and our lack of a pass rush to Jason Higgins. It's a death sentence. So in this past week, I think there was a little bit of, you know, we don't pretend that we're the Legion of Boom yet, but we've got to protect the most vulnerable spots, and I think they did that.

It's Cincinnati ran the ball very effectively because they got formations that dared them to do it and they took advantage of it, but it also kept them, off the board enough that Washington was able to pull it out. Yeah, I think the problem with it is they also hit the deep shots to chase when they got man coverage. But more importantly, the week before Devon Singletary average six yards of carry, and the week before that, Bucky Irving and Rashad White went nuts in the second half. So I think they have a problem, but I totally understand that you're not going to load the box in Dare Joe Burrow to throw to beat you.

I understood. But they got an issue for whatever reason right now, and they got to fix that part of it. All right, hon, what do you think? We're three games into this. For whatever reason, I had this sense before the season started that this was going to be a better year than most people thought because I was just a big believer in Daniels

and watching him so much last year. but I also didn't expect the defense to be this. I thought there would be major improvement just by the environment alone. Last year was kind of lame duck with the coaching staff, et cetera. Three games in, what can they be? So I think their run defense will improve. Like I believe that. Just for the personnel, I think it will.

You know, will they become a really good past defense? You're going to sell me on that. So, like, I think there are areas obviously of concern. Daniels, I, like you, was very optimistic about, but I wanted to be very careful here. He's a rookie. It's baked in that things would be up and down. This is beyond expectation. So, you know, I am also changing my expectations.

I know what's going to happen around here if they win in Arizona. The place is going to go bananas. You know, because look at the schedule from there. There's a lot of home games coming up after that. And I have a feeling like we're going to see quite a partisan crowd in Burgundy, for the first time in a while against Cleveland, if that's the case. So I'm excited about the future. I do think the path to the playoffs is really Dallas cratering.

I still feel that way. And that's possible. They go out and lose tomorrow night, and they're one and three. They get an ignored an amount of attention. Everyone's screaming at them, and they kind of come apart at the seams, and their team isn't as good as it was the last couple of years. Well, then maybe they go the wrong way, and they end up being an under-500 team,

and if Washington could sneak up and get the second, place spot in the NFC East, during a wildcard discussion. So I don't think that that's really out of, out of, out of, at a line to think that that's a possibility right now. Them catching Philly would be more about Philly going the wrong way. And as much as I think everybody wants to see Siriani fail for some reason, I think their roster's just a little too good for that to happen this year. But you know what?

If you score on every drive, it's possible you have a really good record by the end of the year. I mean, I think I mentioned that the other day. I'm like, if you don't punt and you don't turn the ball over, you're probably going to win more games than you lose, no matter how bad your defense is. By the way, somebody tweeted the cadence of Tressway's number and now won't let them feel, which I thought was a tweet.

Right, exactly. Look, so sorry that London's, for those that you don't know this, Bram's been doing the last couple of weeks with Logan Paulson in the booth because London had a tragedy in his family, his wife passed away very quickly and unexpectedly. And so I send you and everybody that spends a lot of time with London my best. It's really sad. Yeah, thank you. He is, this is my third year with him. He is, I heard what kind of teammate he was on the field and he's the same with me.

And this has been very hard. He brings as much passionate energy calling these games as he did on the field. And, you know, we've gotten to know each other really well, and I love working with him. And, you know, we talk about two things, Kevin, like football, because we both love this team and love the NFL and love football. And we talk about his family. He's a big, you know, he loves being a dad. He loves being a husband. He loves his family.

So this was horrible. I just really, and it, his wife was a breast cancer survivor. It came back, but her body was apparently responding to treatments, and then, but she had an aggressive form, and it happened fast, and we're all kind of reeling from it because I don't think anyone expected this to occur like it did, and we're just hoping he's able to get back soon, but we want to give him the time that he needs to grieve with his family because he deserves it. Yeah, really wishing the absolute. best and so much in terms of extended sympathies towards him and his family. All right. Thanks for doing this. I hope you're well and I'll talk to you soon.

All right. Thanks, Kevin. The radio play-by-play voice of the Washington Commanders, Bram Weinstein, everybody, at Real Bram W on X on Twitter. Up next, I'm looking forward to this. Gravis Vasquez will jump on with me. There's a documentary coming out, and there's a screening of that document. that really details the personal journey that Gravis went through after having an injury and his

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Searching for the lead. To the corner, Vasquez. Yes. Pornettity for Gervis Vasquez. That was Brent Musburger back in February of 2009, on the call at Xfinity Center in College Park as Maryland knocked off number two North Carolina, 8885 in overtime behind Gravis Vasquez's triple double, 35. points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists. It would take a while to go through all of Gravis's memorable

games at Maryland, but we will touch on a few here in just a moment. This segment of the show brought to you by Window Nation, if you've been thinking about new windows. All I ask is just give them a call and let them come out to your home and give you a free estimate. There's no risk. Right now, buy two, get too free with no limit, with no money down, no payments and no interest for two full years. Get those new windows in before we hit the cold weather. You could save up to 40% on your energy bills. 86690 Nation, windonation.com. Mention my name. Free estimate, nothing to lose. They won't pressure you. There's no obligation. 86690 Nation windownation.com. So why is Gravis Vasquez,

me on the show today. Well, this Friday, a special screening of the critically acclaimed documentary all I ever wanted. All I ever wanted is a documentary chronicling a seven-year journey through the competitive world of pro basketball. The film offers a rare and personal glimpse into the lives of NBA icons like Kevin Durant, Kyle Lowry, and Manu Janoboli. But at its core, the film tells the poignant story of Gravis Vasquez, whose career was abruptly ended by a devastating injury. It's an emotional documentary that tells the story of Gravis's journey of perseverance, resilience, and self-discovery, making this film a must-see for basketball fans, especially basketball fans like me who loved watching Gravis' college career at Maryland.

joining me right now. Gravis Vasquez, one of the greatest to ever play at Maryland. He was the 2010 ACCC player of the year. His number 21 hangs in the rafters at Xfinity Center. He joins me right now. You know, I was thinking about this before calling you. I think I had you on this show one time, but it wasn't when you were at Maryland. It was when you were playing with Toronto and the Raptors were playing the Wizards in the playoffs and you came on with me. Not that you would remember, but let's just start before we get to the documentary with, how have you been? It's been a while. Man, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here with you right now. And I mean, it's fun to be back in college parks and the DMV and hang out with my Maryland family and, you know, everyone that's supported me throughout my career still support me. So it's been a minute since we talk. I remember that day. No, you don't. You're kind to say that, but you don't. But cool, man. I'm happy to be back. And thank you for the introduction. Unbelievable, man. I wish I could go back to college, man.

There's those days. Unbelievable days. Well, I know how much you loved your days at Maryland. I've heard you speak over the years affectionately about your four years in college park and playing for Gary and what it meant to you and the fans. And you should know, and you know this. I don't need to tell you this. The feeling is mutual. You were a beloved player. You were one of the greatest players to ever play in college park. And we'll go back, you know, to the past here in a moment.

But I want you to kind of update everybody on the injury that ended your career. I think most of you know, Gravis was a first round pick of Memphis back in 2010, played in New Orleans, Sacramento, had a really good run in Toronto on a really good team with Kyle Lowry and DeMarer Rosen on some of those teams, played in Milwaukee, played in Brooklyn. And then you had a serious injury that ended your career. Tell everybody what that injury was and how you're doing today physically. Well, right now I'm fine, thank God.

But it was my right ankle. I ended up being bone-on-bon. And that came out with, you know, the wear and tearing and the many years of me playing basketball since I was in Venezuela. Honestly, unfortunately, it really ended up in my career. And that's the toughest part because when I was, I was. a young kid, I never had a mentor that actually helped me and guide me through injuries. I mean, I remember spreading my ankle many times back home, and I wasn't taking the right protocol, or I wasn't taking care of my ankle the right way, so I got on the court before I was

really healthy enough, and then started becoming chronic. So when I got to college, I played heavy minutes, and also in the NBA, especially my second year, my third year in the league, I was a starting point guard for the New Orleans at the time. Right. So, unfortunately, I was young, and I wasn't thinking, and by the time I was going into my prime, actually playing and doing well,

then my ankle just gave out, and I wasn't be able to play that anymore. And I have six through my career. I have two surgeries. And after that, trying to get back to basketball. I have four surgeries more so in total. I had a total six surgeries on my right ankle. So it was devastated, man.

You know how much I love the game. You know my passion. And it was hard. It was hard. It was sad. And I wanted to people, I wanted to show people that side of myself. You know what I mean? Yeah.

I'm more than a basketball player. and when I was playing for mail, when I was playing for a Montrose Christian school for a school better, I mean, one of my stepfathers did that man really changed my life as well for better. I mean,

I was passionate about it, and I go to Maryland. You know, I had the best four years of my life, and then I ended up fulfilling my dreams, which is, you know, it was to play in the NBA. I got to play in the NBA,

And all of a sudden, like, I'm leaving the dream. But I didn't take care of myself when I was younger. And like I said, I'm a mentor or someone that really was able to help me and guide me through that process. And he heard me at the end of my career, especially at my plan, because I wasn't being able to play the game of basketball, the game I love. So, but I'm here, man. It's been a minute since my last NBA game.

finally I find my purpose and what I can do and what I love doing as well. So it's good to be back. It's good to be back in D.C. And it's good to be back at the DMV. So I try to be a mentor and a guideer for kids, especially for the laughing kids, trying to show them a platform and helping through their career as well. And teaching the right thing. So that's important to me.

I was wondering, did you ever have a desire to coach? I always thought you would be an excellent coach because you were such a high IQ player, you know, clearly a good motivator. Did you, maybe you did coach, but if you didn't, have you ever had a desire to do it? Yeah, I got a job in the G-Lean, and that's the head coach. And it went well, but I was still going through pain with my ankle. so I have to stop it and now I'm getting back

slowly into things I have my basketball academy where I you know coaching my kids the kids I obviously play for my academy and I try to be like an incubator and I just signed a two-year deal

with monumental sport network so I'm going to be doing TV that means I'm going to be watching a lot of games and and that will help you, you know, to continue to learn the game and have a different vision and explain and how, you know, maybe I find a love of coaching that way. So, I mean, I'm, I'm open.

I'm open. Yeah. As a right now, obviously, doing TV for Monumental Sport Network is going to be fun. and we'll see where that takes me. Maybe I get a job again in the NBA as an assistant coach or a player development coach. Obviously, I have to build my way up. Sure. I'm still a rookie as a coach, but I respect the process.

But I'm open for a job eventually. Right now, TV is fine. Yeah, you did some of the TV last year. I remember watching you a couple of times. I think, you know, Wizards games. because I think you were on with Jimmy Patsos a couple of times. Yes, yes. I was actually with him a couple hours ago.

So it's always good to be with him because, you know, he's a great basketball minor. He's minor. I mean, he's his IQ and the way he talks about the game. Obviously, he used to be a coach and a head coach and an assistant coach. So he's experiences. Well, don't build him up too much. I mean, he's got a big enough ego. it is. No, I'm kidding.

I love about him. I love him, too. He's one of my favorite people. He's one of the more interesting people. You know, I have conversations with. So this Friday, special viewing of this documentary, what do you want people to know about the film? Well, it's a film that, like I say, I express the human side of myself. and it's not even about me or being commercial with me. It's about sending a strong message, a worldwide message, you know, that, you know, being human is normal. Like I say, it's normal.

And, you know, I went through a lot, like any other regular person that can go through a lot of different things in life, and life goes on, and you still have to wake up, and you still have to have the will to get better and be a better person each and every day. and just to do the right thing when nobody's watching. So my film, Kevin Rennan, is going to make an appearance. He's on the film. Kyle Larry, managing overly. So it's very universal, and it's something different.

Obviously, when we started doing and filming the documentary, the goal was me getting back to the NBA. And we would try to shape it up, like, okay, this might be, We might be doing this for like a year and a half, for two years. But we ended up spending almost seven and a half years. Wow. And because, you know, you know me, I wasn't going to give up. Right.

I tried to the last, up to the last research. And I went to Italy. I had my last surgery in Bologna. And the whole pandemic came out. And it was like really, really annoying. And it was sad. It was sad for the world. A lot of people were dying, and then unfortunately, you know,

I had to go back home and be with my kids at that time. So I couldn't really do the rehab process the right way. So it was a lot of different things that were hitting my way, but I wasn't the only one. So it's really, you know, an inspirational message. And I'm looking forward to, you know, to my whole. All Maryland family and to everyone from the DMP area to just go to college park Friday night, 6 p.n. We're going to have a special screening where we're going to show my documentary all I ever wanted.

It's going to be unbelievable. It's going to be Q&A. I'm going to be signing an autograph. I'm going to be talking to the fans and everyone in the audience. And I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be fun. And it's always great to be back, man. I love, I love Maryland.

It's not one day past that I don't remember, that everything that I went through, the great times, the low times. I mean, it's funny. It was fun, and it's about a legacy move more than anything else, you know. And the film will show it, and it's going to be an unbelievable time for me. Just to be with my, you know, Coach William is coming. I think Coach Vedder is coming. Scott Van derbytel might come.

I'm sure he's busy, but it's cool, man. I mean, I get emotional because I... I know. I mean, I... I get 30 seconds on the core. I know how much it meant to you, and I've seen, you know, how you have such love for the years that you were there. I mean, Gravis, for those of you who don't know,

Gravis is the second all-time leading score in the history of Maryland basketball behind Juan Dixon. I would say that, you know, Juan and Gravis are tied with Gary in terms of his favorite players of all time. I can't tell you how many conversations we've had Gary and I on the air about you and the kind of player you were. You know, going back to those days and those four years, there are so many games that stand out in my mind. But tell me if there's like one moment or one game that for you, you know, you keep going back to in your mind and you'd love to go back and relive. Man, I remember when we went to Virginia Tech. Oh, yeah. It was my junior year.

And then we were supposed to have an early game and something went wrong with the university. So the game was postponed for like a few more hours. hours and we have to like chill in the locker room and and everyone was like I was really going to have the game or now or we're going to go back home or what is what is going to happen so we ended up playing the game and I have 41 points and we beat Virginia Tech but I remember going into a locker room and I was doing post-game media and all the stuff so I'm going I'm heading to a locker room I see Gary you know, being really emotional. Like, you know, my connection with Gary was unbelievable. So he was talking about, like, I won a national title from 2002, and that was an unbelievable experience. But tonight's game was like it reminds me what a winner and a champion looked like.

So his speech and the way he talked to us after the game, especially to myself, it was memorable. It was unbelievable. Like, I'm never going to forget. He was almost crying as well, but he didn't cry, but he was almost crying, just remembering, like, wow, you guys fought. You guys, you know, played fully hard. And playing in Virginia Tech, he's always being a tough environment.

And especially for me, I used to, like, I used to want to go against them because they used to call me names, and the crowd used to be really tough for myself. Well, you know what I mean? When you used to talk trash, that's when I got. That's what I raised my level up and start doing what I did in college. So those 41 points were special, but I couldn't do, I couldn't done that without my teammates. Land of Melbourne, Eric Hayes, Sean Mosley, Adrian Bowie, Clifford,

man. I mean, it was an unbelievable game, but more so it was an unbelievable run with my school, man. Yeah, I mean, that was your senior year. That was actually, you know, late in that season, right before you guys played Duke for the ACC championship at Xfinity. But, you know, you're right. Like, when you went on the road, people were fired up for the Terps to come to town so that they could get after you. And they got after you at Duke, you know, a lot of. lot, and you had some big games against them in Cameron. But I'll tell you what, I mean, there's so many games like the Carolina game when you had the triple double, and Carolina was ranked number two at Xfinity. That was incredible. The most devastated I think I've ever been for any of

my team's losses was your last game at Maryland in the NCAA tournament against Michigan State. I'm never going to forget that game, man. That was unfortunate. We shouldn't love that game, man. We worked so hard. We came from behind. Two minutes left down, I think, 11 or nine points, and I scored 11 points in a row.

But I made a mental mistake. I shouldn't keep the ball a little longer, you know. And I was, you know, obviously a senior. And I gave them too much time to come back, to come down and get a hit a three-courri losing. I don't even know where he's at right now. I know. Basketball-wise.

But it was sad, man. It was tough. It was tough, you know. And at that time, I really saw Gary climbing the locker room. He couldn't believe that. And you know what? That year, you know, if we wouldn't win that game, who knows?

We probably would have made it to the final four, man. Yeah. We got rhythm. We got rhythm, and we were playing really well. and we've got a great chemistry. So unfortunately, you know, I can't believe. Every time I see Draymond Green, I remind you barely beat me in college, man. I was just going to ask you, you know, when Cory Lucius hit that shot,

you know who passed in the ball. It was Draymond Green. Yeah, in the center, I don't remember the name of the center. He ducked. He was going to hit him right in the head, and he ducked right at the right time. Yeah. And Guantrable pull up three. Delvon Rowe, I think his name was.

I think that's what it was. But you scored 12 of the final 14 points in the game and hit what we thought was the game winner with about six seconds to go. Meantime, by the way, Isso was trying to get a timeout. And they didn't give him the time out, too. That was the other part of it. Yeah, that's another thing. He got really frustrated.

He was really angry about that. Yeah. So, man, he was hurt. Gary calls it the most devastating loss of his career, in part because of what you just said, the field had opened up. Northern Iowa had beaten Kansas, so we would have played Northern Iowa in the Sweet 16, and it probably would have been another Final Four team for Gary, if not for Corey, blanking Lucius.

And that shot at the buzzer. I'm not going to lie to you, Gravis. That one, even for a grown man like me, still stings today. And it wasn't just because there was a chance to potentially go to the final four. It was because your career was over. That was it. And, you know, there was an enjoyment of watching you play at Maryland. And, you know, it's that incredible feeling.

in sports when it just abruptly ends and you're like, it's over. And it just happened in a blink of an eye. But anyway, we could do this, talk about, you know, the old days forever. What do you think of the team this year? I know you follow Kevin Willard's squad and curious as to, you know, what you think they can be in this upcoming season. Well, I think Kevin is doing a great job. I think, uh, I think, uh, that's, um, uh, this upcoming season is going to be very productive for our Terps. I really like his fashion. I think he's more similar to dairy than any other coach that, you know,

with Maryland. So, you know, I just came out from a meeting where you have to have patient and basketball is different now, you know, with NIL and so many other different things. Like, you've got to adjust yourself. So I think Kevin is going to do, oh, he's doing a solid job, and I expect that this year's team is going to be pretty good. I expect them to make the tournament. It's not going to be easy, but throughout the year, I think the team is going to get better

as he goes through the season. It's really good to hear your voice. I'm glad you're doing well. I can't wait to see this film. I'm sure it's spectacular. I wish you and everybody associated with it the best of luck. It's great to have you back in town and hope to see you out at a Maryland

game this year, Gravis. Thank you, man. Thank you for having me. You know, so I see everyone all on Friday, the 27th. I hope Peter at the St.m. Union is going to be a special screening for my documentary. All right ever wants it.

It's got to be fun. I'm going to be there. A lot of good friends, former teammates as well, former coaches of myself. So I'm excited about that. Yep. 6 p.m. this Friday, September 27th, and the Hoth Theater located in the Student Union.

That's the Stamped Student Union right in the heart of campus. The events free, open to the public, space is limited, and an RSVP is required to get that RSVP. It's geo. dot umd.edu.edu slash gravis doc. That's geogog. Umd. Umd. dot edu slash g-re-e-I-V-I-S doc. This was fun. I wish you the best of luck with it. Hope to see you and get a chance to talk to you in person soon. Thank you, man. Appreciate you. Thank you so much. Gravis Vasquez, everybody. Simply put one of the greatest players in the

history of Maryland basketball. And that is saying a lot when you consider the great players that have gone through that storied program. I know in the past I've done, you know, lists, you know, a top 10 or a top 15 list of the greatest players in Maryland basketball history. The top two are easy. It's bias in Dixon. You can put them in whatever order you want. Dixon won the national championship. Bias, of course, you know, not only a two-time ACC player of the year, but probably a top 20, top 25, greatest college basketball player of all time. I go bias one, Dixon, two, John Lucas, three. And then to me, that's where you can start to debate.

You know, it's Tom McMillan, it's Buck Williams, it's Vasquez, it's Albert King, you know, Walt Williams. There's some debate for me when you get to, you know, kind of four through 10 and putting them in order. But for me, it would go, Bias, Dixon, Lucas, top three. But Gravis is certainly in the conversation for what comes next. Fun to catch up with him. And I'm sure the documentary is great.

All right, done for the day. Back tomorrow with Tommy.