The Kevin Sheehan Show - Draft: What Will Washington Do?

Episode Date: April 15, 2022

Kevin with a ton of NFL and Washington Commanders draft talk on the show today. Cole Cubelic/ESPN joined the show with his thoughts on a number of the players Washington may be considering at 11 overall. Kevin gave his two favorites of the players that might be available at Washington's 11th position. Kevin with some info on why the bidders on the Denver Broncos may reveal a huge clue as to whether or not Dan Snyder will be selling his team....forced or unforced. 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 Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. One guest on the show today, Cole Kublick's going to join us. We're going to do some serious draft talk. Cole's one of my favorites.

It was probably three years ago that Scott and Stanford Steve said to me, have you had Cole Kublich on your show yet? And I said, no, who's he? He works for the SEC Network. He's calling games. He's phenomenal. Three years ago, I think we put Cole on the show for the first time. He's a star now at ESPN, part of the SEC network.

He's great at calling college football games. He's phenomenal as an NFL draft analyst. Cole is coming up shortly. Looking forward to that. This from Dr. Cord on Apple, listening to us on Apple, Kevin Sheehan's podcast is fantastic, no matter who's on the show with him, yet I particularly want to rave about his twice weekly episodes with Tom Leverro. Some co-hosts just have an ineffable chemistry, and Sheehan and Laverro are two such people.

I love hearing them discuss any topic and any sport. I encourage them to add a third day to their weekly schedule. No offense to any of the other co-hosts who also bring a lot, but the Sheehan-Lavero Magic, you can't beat it. Thanks for the great entertainment. Thank you, Doctor. You can rate us and review us on Apple and Spotify in particular. a quick five-star rating and a couple of sentences about how much you love the podcast is so big for us.

So if you can get around to doing it and you haven't done it, much appreciated. So this opening segment before we get to Cole is going to be pretty short. I'm going to start real quickly with a long email that I got from Jeffrey. And I got a similar one from Jess. complimenting the last couple of days on radio and on the podcast, the interviews that I did with Neil and Rockville, legal contributor to this podcast and sometimes to the radio show, more often I guess on the radio show,

and Howard Gutman, who was on with us the other day. And both basically said, and I'm going to paraphrase here, because Jess and Jeffrey had similar sentiments, as did many people, but they really got into detail about how essentially people really really jumped the gun on the Jeffrey Friedman allegations, and Howard Gutman and Neil and Rockville really brought, you know, these two individuals and others as well,

kind of back to earth on this thing. You know, while unseemly Jeffrey writes, it certainly would appear that both Neil and Howard believe that these allegations won't lead to much because he's hardly the only one. Yes, that's part of the problem here. Part of the problem is that if he's not unique in not refunding customers on their security deposits,

if he's not unique in skimming a little bit off the top in terms of the money that goes back to the league, then what will the league's owners do? Well, probably nothing. And while the FTC and Congress seem, really serious about this stuff. They can't oust him from this job. Only the owners can.

So yeah, you know, my initial reaction when we had this, remember is breaking news on Tuesday's podcast, I think. You know, I said, I don't know how to feel about this one. It seems like we're getting closer, but I'm not sure. Like this refund thing to me just seemed like something that a lot of businesses do. You know, and while Jason Friedman, you know, gave. a lot of detail, and I believe all of the detail, even though it is, by the way, an allegation. These are allegations at this point.

Nothing's been proven. I still wasn't really convinced that it was going to necessarily rise to the level of the owners ousting him. I hope it does. But then yesterday I shared kind of the hunch that I have, and it's, you know, sort of an educated hunch, but more of it is really just a gut feel. that Dan will end up selling the team. And Tommy said, well, maybe it just comes down to them going to him saying,

you got to sell the team. You're so bad for business. And they would be able to walk away with $4.5 billion, more likely than not. And, you know, that hunch was based on some of the things that we talked about yesterday. The strain on the family, the fear of testifying in front of Congress, if it were to come to that. The fact that, you know, the name is gone. maybe he would hold more tightly the Redskins rather than the commanders.

And then the stadium, you know, all of this stuff, whether it's proven true or not, whether he's truly unique, which my guess is he isn't, and it seemed to be Howard's guess as well, that he's not unique. Neil and Rockville kind of felt the same way, so that they really can't hang him on this. The other owners can't. But still, I think that the stadium stuff is just getting, harder and harder. We already saw the billion reduced to 350 million in Virginia. We already saw, you know, basically Maryland say, we're not offering a dime for the stadium. We'll offer 400 million

for infrastructure. And just the prospect of not getting any kind of significant help, nothing approaching what they got in Buffalo. I mean, not even close. And the fact that building this stadium will probably take every cent of Dan's money to make it how. happen. And given that he really can't go back to the league and ask for money for a new stadium now, why? Because they already loaned him the money to buy out his minority shareholders. I guess he could raise a bunch of money by bringing on new minority shareholders. But the fact that he is so toxic with the fan base, with the league owners, and now with three jurisdictions where the one dream he's had all along is to build this beautiful new stadium that he can give

to his community, to his city. And now it's looking less and less likely. And certainly the location that everybody prefers is out of the question. That's my hunch, is that it's just going to lead him to ultimately sell the team. I don't know if it'll happen or not. But I do want you to keep an eye on a developing story. And I think this is really important. Jeffrey Bezos, the founder and owner and CEO and chairman of the board and everything else of Amazon,

also owns the Washington Post. Jeff Bezos, who all of you believe that if Snyder was ousted or if he were forced to sell or if he decided to sell, that Bezos would be at the top of the list of people to buy the team. Keep an eye on what's going on in Denver right now. The team is up for sale. they are going to start accepting legitimate bids soon. And I believe that this is going to be a huge clue as to what's going on in Washington. If Bezos is a bidder for the Broncos, because it is believed that Bezos wants in on the NFL.

If he's a bidder on Denver, then it's probably an indication that he doesn't believe that Washington's going to be. be available. If he doesn't bid on Denver, it would be the opposite of that. It would be because he believes that Washington is going to be available. It could be a big clue as to what, you know, he thinks is going to happen with respect to Washington. And I think he would have a better sense of most of you and even me as to what is going to happen. Keep an eye on the Denver thing. There There have been stories here recently that Rob Walton, an heir to the Walmart fortune, is going to come in with a blowaway offer. And by the way, the Broncos are expected to sell for about $4 billion plus.

Washington's going to go for over $5 billion if it ever gets sold. You know, there are other groups, and the commissioner during the league meetings really professed a desire for a minority buyer of the Denver. Broncos and Byron Allen could be one of those possibilities in terms of a minority owner. Kanye West has expressed interest. I think there are a couple of others in terms of minorities that have expressed interest. I know that Jose Feliciano, who was a desired participant as a minority shareholder in the Washington franchise, he wanted to buy some of the minority shares from Fred Smith and Bob Rothman

and Dwight Schar. Walton may be the leader, might be the frontrunner. Bezos has both been reported as a potential bidder and also it's been reported that he's not going to bid on the team. But ultimately, if he does bid on the team and we find out that he did bid on the team, it's probably a clue that he didn't think that Washington was going to be available anytime in the near future. If he doesn't bit on the team, it might be an indication that he believes Washington will be available. One more thing before we get to Cole and draft talk. Two weeks from today will be the day after the first round. We'll know who Washington took in the first round of the draft, whether they selected at 11 or traded back, whatever. But we'll know who they added to the roster two weeks

from today. And we'll be talking about that player and then getting you ready for night two of the draft, rounds two and three, and then the weekend as well. I want to take a couple of guesses on who they will take, and I also want to tell you what my preference would be. I think that they are going to take one of two players, Kyle Hamilton or Garrett Wilson, the receiver out of Ohio State, Garrett Wilson, or the safety slash do everything in the back seven player at Notre Dame, Kyle Hamilton. I want to start with Hamilton because the reason that he has fallen in this draft out of the top 10, or people believe that he will fall out of the top 10, is he ran 4-5-9 on his Indy Combine Day

and 4-7 on his pro-day. Anybody that's ever watched Kyle Hamilton play at Notre Dame knows that speed is not an issue. One of the reasons that speed isn't an issue is he's so smart and he anticipates so well. He's a half a step ahead of the 4-4 guy anyway. It doesn't matter. I would not worry about the 40 time. He fills a need for this team too. He's a big, strong 6-4-220-pound, built like a linebacker, can play as the deep safety in a cover 3 or in a cover 1.

can certainly be an in-the-box linebacker, Buffalo Nickel, Landing Collins's position. Watch the tape on Kyle Hamilton. If you watch Notre Dame during the course of the year, it would be hard to see that they wouldn't be in love with him. If he falls to 11, I have no problem with them taking Kyle Hamilton. The other player that I think is high up on their board is at a position where I think a lot of you really believe they should go, which is wide or something. If they go wide receiver and they have their choice of any of them, Jameson Williams, Drake

London, Chris Olivae, Garrett Wilson, I think I would go Garrett Wilson. Now Jameson Williams really, I think, would have been perhaps the number one receiver in this draft had he not torn his ACL in the title game. And there's a lot that's intriguing about him, for sure. Garrett Wilson to me is Stefan Diggs. He's Stefan's size. He's got Stefan's 40 time, actually a little bit faster. He has his separation ability. When you watch Garrett Wilson, he's always open.

I know that's Ohio State, and I know the weapons on the field are amazing, and it's Ohio State and everybody's always open. But even against the best defensive teams, separation right away, such a natural in getting open. I always think of Stefan Diggs is a guy that literally is uncheckable sometimes, and that's what Garrett Wilson is, and that he's phenomenal after the catch. So my preference would be, and subject to change, Hamilton or Wilson.

I think Wilson and Hamilton are high up on their list. What I don't know is I don't know where Derek Stingley Jr. is, by the way, one of the most talented players in the draft, and if they took a corner at 11 and took Stingley Jr., I wouldn't be upset about it. But I think that they probably love Hamilton and love the filling of the need and might take him if he's there knowing that they could get a receiver because it's a deep receiver draft in the second round if they really want another receiver. I've mentioned this to you before. I'm not so sure they have the feeling internally that they're desperate for another playmaker, like many of you feel they should be. They're very, very bullish on

Diami Brown, and they believe healthy with Curtis Samuel and Logan Thomas back and J.D. McKissick back, that they have enough weapons. But if they are interested in a receiver, they can get one in the second round, so if Hamilton's there or Stingley Jr., if they like either one of them, they might pick a defensive player there at 11. I don't think they're going to go linebacker, Lloyd or Dean at 11. I like Dean, actually. I like them both. Not at 11, though.

I think Lloyd's got a chance to be a real athletic star, but I think Dean is just a physical powerhouse and high IQ. But I think they are going to go receiver or Hamilton. And I'm not so sure that they don't have a lave ahead of Wilson. And maybe they're thinking London because they want the big, strong red zone receiver to go opposite. at Terry McLaren. But anyway, my preference would be Hamilton or Wilson at 11, projecting the players that might be there.

My belief is that they'll go Hamilton, Stingley, and then look for a receiver in the second round unless the receiver that they really love is there. And I have this gut feel. It might be a lave. But I think they like Wilson, too. They've been at Ohio State a lot. All right.

Cole Kublich next right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right on the podcast right now with me is Cole Kublich. Cole has been on before. Terrific college football and NFL draft analyst with ESPN and the SEC Network. You can follow him on Twitter at Cole Kublich, C-U-B-E-L-I-C. So, you know, we're two weeks away from this morning. we will know here and in every other NFL city what happened in the first round. And I want to focus on the first round for a moment because there is this perception, Cole,

that this is a draft where a lot of players are liked, but nobody's truly loved. You know, there's no Trevor Lawrence, there's no Jamar Chase, there's no Kyle Pitts like there was last year. Do you agree with that, or is there a player in this draft that you think is truly special? No, I think this draft, Kevin, is more one that will probably define needs, and needs will be drafted as opposed to just best player off the board. And there don't seem to be – I think it will probably do is maybe limit the number of trades because there aren't going to be as many guys that you feel can come in and immediately just completely change your franchise.

So you're going to give up your entire draft for it. I think that might be more planning for the future as far as the next two-three draft by certain franchises. But yeah, you know, I mean, all those guys you mentioned, you also, you don't have a boaster or a Chase Young. Right. You know, Aidan Hutchinson might come off first. You've got a Kvon, Thibod's towards the top. So you have some guys there, Trayvon Walker's now getting some discussion as the number one overall pick. But I don't know if many people view them as generational pass rushers.

So we obviously see what Chase has already done. So, yeah, he was that guy. He's already solidified himself as where he came off the board and what people thought about him. So I would agree with that. I don't think that there are many guys that. people view as will give up too much to go get because of what they think they could do for their franchise immediately. You know, that's an interesting thing that you said because, you know, all of these teams with multiple first-round picks, I think it's a record number of teams. I think there's seven teams with two picks. The Eagles did have three. They traded one of them to New Orleans.

So you've got seven teams with multiple picks, and I think there is this impression that there will be a lot of wheeling and dealing. Like there will be a lot of going up and a lot of falling down. But to your point and to my first question, who are they going up to get? Well, I mean, if we're talking quarterbacks and we're talking Pittsburgh and New Orleans as the teams with obvious needs, unless you consider Detroit at two an obvious need, Caroline obviously has an obvious need. And I think Carolina might go quarterback. What do you think of the quarterbacks? You've been asked probably this 100 times since the season ended.

there's no excitement around the quarterbacks. Do you feel like any of them, you know, have big time upside and a chance? I think there's absolutely upside with a couple of them. I think with Malik Willis, you're going to get a dynamic runner, and we've already seen what different quarterbacks who bring that skill set in the league are going to be able to offer, Tyler Murray and Lamar Jackson. And I think we've gotten away from it being taboo to build a portion of your offense around that aspect of the quarterback's game.

I don't know if it just used to be frowned upon because it was considered rakey dink or high school Harry or whatever. But now NFL teams look at that and say, all right, if that's an advantage that we can add, let's do it, let's become more difficult to defend. And we'll put that in. The issues that you have with Malik are, and I thought to a few frees at the senior bowl, and even he told me, he said, listen, Cole, we couldn't get to everything with Malik that we needed to teach him, wanted to teach him. you know, we were, you know, you only have so many hours in the week, and when it comes to progressions, when it comes to reading defenses, we weren't necessarily able to get to the extent that we wanted to with him on that,

but that's a part of his game that still needs to catch up. But he can make every throw, you know that. He's a dynamic runner. He gives you that a little bit short, but I'll say this, he was thicker and faster than I expected him to be when I got up next to him. So I still don't know if you're looking at a plug-in-play starter immediately without having a lot of headaches, but I think he has a lot of upside

that could be worth it. The next guy for me would be Matt Corral. It's kind of mind-boggling to me the lack of buzz. And you said it, Kevin, there's not a ton of buzz around this entire quarterback class,

but there feels like there's almost none around Matt Corral. And I think he's got the best arm of the group. I think he throws the nicest deep ball of the group. He's got sneaky mobility. You could even design some things for him to utilize his legs.

He's got big-time toughness, and you can say, well, he was hurt. You know, the ball game and came out. But he played on injured ankle in a lot of games. I had the Tennessee game in which Lane Kiffin told me on the field. You know, Matt's got a little bit of an ankle injury. We're not going to run him tonight. Right. Well, Tennessee changes things up coverage-wise.

And Matt Corralins are going like 14 carries for 200 yards. Like, he was there offense, but it was on the ground. And he'll put his head down, trying to run guys over. I think he's got good leadership qualities, and he's the ultimate competitor. If there was one that I could have from this class, for me, it would be Matt Corral. Because I think he's got big-time armed talent. I think he's a super competitor. Obviously, he's played in multiple systems now, so he's going to be able to grasp your offense,

has good enough mobility and escape ability to be able to help you that way. And I think he's proven it against top-level competition. So I'm really surprised at the lack of buzz being generated by Corral. and for me he would be my first quarterback off the board. That's so interesting because, like, in watching him, like, this is what I've said about Matt Corral, and I'm not comparing him to Tuatunga by Loa. Don't get me wrong. But it's like every single Bama game watched during the two a years, at some point during the game, he would be limping badly.

And you'd be wondering, you know, he's hurt, and then he's out there slinging it, but, you know, he's hobbling around. and then eventually, obviously, he had a serious injury. And I kind of felt, not that they're similar in style, I kind of felt like every single time I watched Ole Miss last year in particular, every game Matt Corral at some point was limping on the field and was banged up. And by the way, constantly putting himself into harm's way. Don't you think that has a lot to do with it or not?

I think that's a part of it, absolutely. I think last year in particular that a lot of what you saw was, the same thing, the same nagging injury, you know, with that ankle and then it kind of just got, you know, kind of went Mortal Kombat and finish him. You had that fatality moving the bowl game where he actually had to finally get off and then come out and couldn't continue. But I do think it was a lingering injury that sort of you saw reoccur multiple times throughout the course of the season. So I do get it, and I had to say concerns about Tua. I said when Tua was coming out, I don't know if he's going to be able to withstand the hits that he's going to have to take in the NFL.

I don't see. The best ability is availability, and that was my biggest concern for Tua. I do see a different toughness with Corraldo. And maybe, like you said, he invites some of it on himself, trying to put the shoulder down, put the head down, run over defender. But I also have a lot of respect for that. And a guy that's just not afraid of competition and wants to do everything to help his team win. By the way, back to Willis for a moment, because, like, I don't know, I did not watch a lot of Liberty games. saw a lot more obviously of Pickett and some of the other guys. I mean, saw him in the bowl game and, you know, a couple years ago

and the game this year that was televised that was on against Ole Miss. I watched some of that game. But the thing that I love about him is you just talked about Corral's physicality and his competitiveness. He is, I think Willis has phenomenal vision and not like super speed, but I think he's got the eyes in the back of his head kind of a thing. But then he can also run over you, which I kind of, and by the way, that leads me to this, because I don't want to spend a lot of time in the quarterbacks because Washington traded for Carson Wentz in the offseason, and I think that means we're ruling out quarterback at 11, even though, quite honestly,

I would never rule out a quarterback if I don't have one. And I think, you know, a Willis or a picket could be great. But I think they probably ruled him out. But what I was going to get to is just, do you have, like I said this on radio, morning. I'm curious as to what Baltimore is thinking at 14. Like everybody knows Carolina is a possibility for quarterback and then New Orleans and, you know, obviously Pittsburgh. With the whole contract situation with Lamar Jackson, imagine just going with another rookie contract quarterback with Malik Willis and trying to redo Jackson over the next couple of years

with Willis. What do you think about that? Is that nuts? I think it's, no, and it's interesting, and that would probably, you'd have to go to the ownership front office and ask what's your confidence level moving forward. And the thing that would concern me about doing that is, is you know what you have right now. And even if you're limited in certain spots, either from an accuracy or consistency standpoint, some people are worried about that, I would look at it more from the standpoint of the Cleveland Browns just got a lot better. The Cincinnati Bengals were just in the Super Bowl. Now, the Steelers are going to be in a bit of a rebuild, unless some crazy average average for them. We cannot afford to fall any more behind than we may be right now.

We have got to stay competitive and we've got to try to build around what we now know can go help us win football games. So based on what that division has done in the last six or eight months, I would find it hard to believe that Baltimore is even considering going into some sort of rebuild or redo at quarterback knowing that you have a dynamic playmaker. that can go out and win you games. Now, you have to do it a little bit of a different way. I understand that, and there will be some things that you're limited in.

But you also know what you can build around. And they've drafted to do that. They've drafted tight-ins. They've drafted H-BACs. They've drafted different guys that can help Baltimore be that kind of an offense. So I don't think you would just be resetting quarterbacks. You have a lot more roster resetting to do because you've drafted and selected personnel to help with that type of officers that you're going to run.

And if you wanted to go out and run something a little bit more wide open, it wouldn't just be quarterback that would need to change. I think a lot would need to change, especially on the offensive side of the ball. I think that's fair, and I wasn't necessarily comping Willis's overall game to Jackson's. And by the way, I'm not slighting Jackson. He's a former NFL MVP, and I love him. But I'm looking at the difference between a few million a year in a rookie deal and what Jackson wants, which is going to be 40, 45 million a year.

And a big decision, you know, for the Ravens as it relates to that. And then, by the way, the inability potentially moving forward to build the kind of team around Jackson if he gets that kind of a deal. I think the whole negotiation, by the way, in contract discussions between Jackson not represented and the Ravens is a fascinating thing anyway. All right. So. I think, Kevin, I think it's fascinated that you think teams are concerned about the salary cap anymore. I know. True.

It's almost like we don't even have one. I know. All right. So I'm going to start with one player because there's a lot of discussion here over the last couple of days we've seen. And part of it is because Kuiper and others have mocked Kyle Hamilton to Washington, that there's a possibility that he may slip outside the top 10 and he would be there at 11. What do you think of Kyle Hamilton? I think he's a big time football player. I think he can be an absolutely racer at that position, a little bit bigger and more physical than some other DBs

have qualified for that, I guess, description over the last five to ten years in the NFL. But I like the bigger body. And I think with as versatile and multiple as you have to be defensively these days, Kyle Hamilton almost is an extra linebacker on the field when you're playing Dickel or you're playing dime. Right. Because he can survive in the box. And that's what a lot of safety cannot do.

He's a playmaker. Great instincts. I think a guy that just understands, has a. a knack for just believing where the football is going to be and then finding a way to get there. So I'm a big fan of his game. I think he's going to be exceptional in the NFL because he just gives you right that in between of physicality, being able to play in the box and a good enough runner to be able to keep up with a lot of what he's going to see in the route tree.

So you hate to say can't miss prospect, but I think he's a guy that has a chance to be very special in the NFL. So I want to stay on defense because, you know, they drafted a player your first. familiar with because we talked about him last year, Jamin Davis, who they picked at 19 overall. They pretty much ruled him out of what they hoped he would become, which is, you know, in their base defense, which they're not in a lot. They're 4-3, a middle linebacker.

I still have some hope for Jamie Davis. He's a tremendous athlete, but he's probably not a middle linebacker. But it seems like, you know, linebacker is still a need. And you've got, you know, Nukobi Dean and Devin Lloyd is projected, you know, inside guys in the draft. But what you said about Kyle Hamilton, and I talked about this earlier in the show, they loved Landon Collins playing that what they called the Buffalo Nickel position because God forbid you put, you know, L.B. next to his name. Landon Collins didn't want that next to his name. But Hamilton could literally off the bat replace Landon Collins as that in the box Buffalo Nickel, which is really just, you know, another linebacker on the field.

And let's be honest, what's more important, what's more critical in today's football? And it would be that position. Yeah, linebackers great. And Kobe Dean is incredible. And Devin Lloyd, I love Devin Lloyd's game as well. I mean, he's a guy that he lined up out on the edge, rushed the passer. You know, I had the Rose Bowl for radio. So I studied him a lot this year.

It was really impressed with his versatility. And then a guy that just plays the game absolutely the way that you want him to. And in Kobe, Dene, a tackling machine. The one concerned about Dean, Kobe, be you had a lot of protection in front of you. You've got maybe the number one overall pick on that defensive line and then two others that are coming off the board in the first or the first in the second. And another one that's coming off in the first next year in Trayvon Walker.

So, I mean, you had a lot of guys that were helping you be successful. Will it be the same in the NFL? Not a major concern. Just a nitpick minor concern. I just think the more valuable guy is the one that can play on the back third and come up and play at the second level, just because of what you're going to get. And the quick game has become so much popular, and being able to cover in space is obviously critical. And being able to thump against offensive linemen in the run game, it's not as valuable.

So I think Hamilton probably could fit that spot that you're mentioning, and a guy that gives you you just a little more value with your selection because of all the different things you're going to be able to do. And like you said, you know, and you pick up, you obviously, you pick up on this more than I do, but his instincts, his anticipation. And like, you know, the reason he's falling apparently is his 40-time, because he ran a 45-9 at the combine, ran a 4-7 on his pro day. But to me, in watching him and watching Notre Dame last year and watching a lot of the highlights here, he is so, as you said, instinctual, he's a step ahead of most 4-4-4-3 guys already

with his anticipation. So I have a feeling that's definitely, he's a guy that's very high on their board. Let's flip it to the other side of the ball because receiver is another position. I think a lot of people listening to this podcast are hoping that they add another receiver to go opposite Terry McLaren.

So rank your receivers, you know, of the guys that you think will go in the first round. I think Jameson Williams is first, just because, now first off, this is a deep receiver draft. So the good news, I think, for a Washington fan would be, if you don't get your guy early on at 11, or you don't get a guy just early in general, I think there are great numbers in this draft

where you can get a similar receiver later in this draft. But the thing, when you start to have a bit of a logjam at a certain position, give me the uncoachables, and I'll select them over everybody else. I think it's one of the reasons that Evan Neal is right now being listed ahead of Vicki Iquandu. Evan Neal has uncoastable physical traits. His size, his gert, his math, is just not something you're going to get with a lot of different guys. I think the same thing about James and Williams. He just gives you different speed.

And you can go back to, I mean, I think that's the reason that the Raiders did what they did with Henry Ruggs a couple of years ago. People thought the chief stretched on Miko Hardman out of Georgia a couple of years ago. but when you get that different speed that forces a secondary to play you over the top, stay too deep, respect what you can do at the third level, then that's going to open up everything underneath for your tight ends or your other receivers or your run game. So I just think that Jameson offers you a little bit different gear, and that's super valuable, maybe not even for going out and grabbing 100 balls,

but what it's going to force defenses to do for everybody else on your team. After that, I think probably Garrett Wilson will be next in line for me, I think he's the most well-rounded receiver in this draft. If you're talking about route running, combined with speed, catch radius, physicality, he's B plus A-minus across the board. There doesn't feel

like there's a real knock in his game. And that young man coming out of a high state, you can't complain about the targets or the balls because he's got another first-round receiver that's coming out this year, and he might have two more first-round receivers coming out next year with Marvin Hears and the 3rd in Jackson, and Jeepa. So there were

only so many balls to go around in that offense, and he made the most of every opportunity when he got him. I'm not as sold on Drake London. I do think if a bigger, more physical receiver is where you want to go, he's probably the best of the group. I think Olavet out of Ohio State also very well-rounded. But again, if you're going to get down to those players, I think you have real options in the second or in the third round.

I'm a big Traylon Burks fan. Yeah, why has he fallen so much? I think it goes back to what you said about Kyle Hamilton. There are certain people, Kevin, that are going to obsess about certain measurables, and the 40 is going to be one. But I know I watch Traylon Birx run past Alabama D.D. And I watch the line up in the backfield. I watch them line up as an H-back.

I watch them line up as a tight-in, in the slot, out wide, in motion, hand the ball, catch the ball, run after the catch, run past people, run through people. I mean, he is sort of a hind-ward-mold-type receiver that I think you could put on your roster and literally line them up everywhere. And by the way, he hunts wild boar with a knife. So if you're looking for toughness and that little extra bit of crazy that you might need on the football field, I think Traylon Birch is going to add that. So the good news is you have big-time numbers at that position in this draft.

And I think you could go well into the third round, whether it's a Skymoor out of Western Michigan. I saw Christian Watson at the North Dakota State at the senior ball. It could not believe that he wasn't getting more buzzed. he is smooth in and out of his route, very explosive. What about, what about Dotson? What about Dotson? I'm not as big. I'm just not as big on him because I feel like a lot of where he was successful

was by design. I do think that he's got good speed. I don't know if he's as well-rounded as some of the others that we've mentioned. But if you just need to catch and run, I think Jahan Dotson absolutely could be someone who comes in and gives you something that could help your franchise right away. Jameson Williams would be your number one. I think a lot of people feel that if he didn't tear his ACL in the title game, that he might be the number one guy.

And who knows, maybe he'll end up going number one. You mentioned Garrett Wilson number two. I've got a comp in mind for Garrett Wilson, but I want to hear what yours is first. I haven't really thought about a comp for him. It's funny because I mentioned Marvin Harrison III, and there's a little bit of Marvin Harrison that I've seen. and just in how well-rounded he is

and how he gets in and out of his brakes and he just, everything looks easy. So I might go like maybe poor man, Marvin Harrison. I mean, Marvin's one of the best that do it. So I'm not going to put him necessarily on that level just yet. I think he has a potential to be in the NFL.

I see Diggs and Wilson. The separation, and the way you said, like it just looks so easy to him. And the size and the speed are kind of comparable, the playmaking ability. And I wouldn't mind if Washington took him at 11. I do think what you think, which is they'll have an opportunity at 47 in the second round to get a guy that they can put opposite Terry McCorn. But let me just tell you, I think they still believe that Diami Brown, their third round selection last year out of North Carolina, with a quarterback that can actually throw and make a,

you know, all the NFL throws is going to thrive next year. What do you think? And Diomene was a guy that I really like coming out of Carolina. I remember that. He got super juice and just a ton of electricity. And if you're going to have different type wide receivers, so find you a guy that can take the high percentage throws, turn him into explosive,

and then obviously you need a big physical red zone outside receiver. And I think that's one thing that we're seeing is, you know, We've gotten away from the Megatron, so to speak. And, you know, there was a guy like that on that roster last year in Ricky Seals Jones, but just didn't have the speed to really pull away. But in college was just that big, monster physical wide receiver. And outside of Tampa, there's just not a ton of teams that really offer that anymore. You know, everybody wants to sort of do it all.

Jamar Chase, line you up in the slot, line you up out wide, catch the back shoulder, you know, work the middle of the field, motion you around, do different things. everybody's looking for matchup receivers now. And that's why I think that speed is so valuable, because if you're able to find ways to get those matchups, the speed is the one thing the defenses don't usually have an answer for. So to be well-rounded, I think is more valuable now than where five, eight, ten years ago,

you just wanted that monster with the seven-and-a-half-foot catch radius that could just out-bodied everybody. And that's not the type of receiver that most teams are looking for these days. Yami Brown is going to be not necessarily, in that Jamar Chase mold, but somebody who could give you your other receiver, say, you know good and well on a couple of quick throws. You get in the slant, you can take it to the house. Give it a quick screen, you can take it to the house.

And that's something that I think every team is going to have to have something like. All right, a couple more for you, and I know you've got to run. So sticking on offense, they've had four running backs already come through for, you know, for visits. Spiller, Walker, Hall. and I'm forgetting who the fourth one is right now. I mean, none of these backs are first round backs, but who do you think? I mean, if they're, and I'm a little bit confused because I like Gibson, although apparently the analytics people don't love Antonio Gibson.

Look, he had a fumbling problem, Cole, but at the same time, the analytics people say he's left a lot of yards on the field. I love his power. I thought his vision got better and has improved. McKissick really is an outstanding, versatile kind of, you know, alternative back and third down back. But they're looking at backs, I think.

So who would they be looking at in the second round at 47? Because that could be a surprise for Washington. Who would they be? I mean, who of these backs do you like? To me, Walker's ahead of all of them, but that's just, that's my opinion. What do you think?

Actually, I like brief hall more than any of them, and I think there's a good chance you can pick about in the second round. And, you know, Washington has had some success with some later-round picks of running back over the last decade or so. But I think Breece Hall, the last two years, has been the most underrated of running back in college football.

I mean, all the guy does is run for 100 yards. Yes, he had Brock Purdy. Yes, he had a nice group of tight-ins, but you had no separators at wide receivers. So you know you're going to have a crowded box. You know linebackers and stage is going to be creeping down towards the tackle box, and you're going to have to make more guys than this. He did not have a

dominant offensive line, maybe one offensive line, that he played with the last two years has a chance to be an NFL starter. So I think Brise Hall has the speed to pull away and enough toughness, durability, physicality to be able to live between the tackles if he needs to. So for me, Brie's Hall is running back one in this entire class for me, and I think there's a great chance you can take him up in the second round. I'll give you one other kind of sleeper running back that not a lot of people were talking about. Tyler House here out of BYU.

Oh, my God. What a physical player. Two years ago, had to moving back to Limeson. backer. He goes out against Boise State and leads the team in tackles. I think he had like 11 tackles that case. Go watch the Arizona State game last year on an interception early fourth quarter and he trails the defender down, jumps over his shoulder, pops the ball out, and BYU regains possession. That was a three-point game at that time with less than a quarter of football left to play. The guy just has great awareness. He's played multiple positions, as tough and physical of a runner as you're

going to find and a great kid as well. So I think Breece Hall's number one. I do think it's a, I don't think any of these running backs are A plus NFL running back. But I think you've got a crowded group of probably B minus C plus running backs. And Tyler Alger would be the sleeper that I don't think anybody's talking enough about. He was so good in the game. It was a late night game, late in the season. They beat SC, but they didn't cover, which was good for me on that night. And he was in and out of the lineup because he was banged up and he was exhausted. And I'm like, my God, is this guy just, he is a warrior, he's physical, he makes people miss and then runs people over. God, I forgot about him.

I love him. On the corner front, you do a lot of SEC games. How good is Stingley Jr.? He's legit. And probably the most underrated player in this draft right now. and we know why because let's just be real the last two years you know hadn't played a ton of football right but we saw what he did when he did play a ton of football and he knows how to attack it he knows how to go get it he knows how to take it away and he might be the best football player in this draft to be quite honest with you

now because he doesn't have the snap in as much film as some of these other guys that we've talked about I can understand why some people would shy away from him and maybe he doesn't fit that deal with a lot of different people but Derek Stingley can flat out play. I mean, he's an early enrollee, goes out there in the spring at LSU, and is grabbing interceptions and returning kicks for touchdowns right out of high school. So I think that, you know, there's a few people gotten in the year that affected his play, and then obviously he was dinged up, but if you're getting a healthy Derek Stingley, you're getting a plug-and-play lockdown corner.

And there's people who are going to bring up the Devonte Smith game, in Tuscaloosa a couple of years ago. Right off Devonte did that to everybody. He did. Every single person that he played, he smoked him. One of those was a fake snap where he looked to the sidelines. And then the other, like, don't watch the other catches in that game.

Kevin, they're all contested, all of them. I mean, he's in phase on every ball. And people act like he was 11 or 12 yards behind DeVonti on every ball that he caught in that game. And he just wasn't. That wasn't what it was. So I think very highly of Derek Singly. I kind of hated the way last year went,

because I was excited to see him play and see what he could do, but I think he's a pure talent, and I think he's going to be a long-time NFL starter. All right, last one, because you're a football guy, and I just want, you know, everybody is weighing in and has been since the Wentz trade as it relates to Washington. You know, they gave up two draft choices, more likely than not a second and a third.

They moved five spots back in the second round, swapping within Indy. They took on his whole contract, $28.3 million. Obviously, his last two stops in Philadelphia and Indy, we know what happened there. So what is your opinion of Carson Wentz and the deal that Washington made for him? I didn't love the deal for Washington, honestly. And I think any time you're going to make that kind of a deal with a team that's looking

to get out from a guy, there's a reason they're looking to get out from him. But the reality is that's where we are with that quarterback position now. People are willing to pay a high price. if he was willing to take extra risk because it is that important. And I think Carson Went has shown some good football. He's shown some quality football. It's just been a while since he's done it. I think he changes the franchise?

No, I don't. But if you can put enough pieces around him, I think he can be more than serviceable and be a guy that can help you win games. So I didn't love it, didn't hate it. It may have been the only option on the table to try and upgrade that position. And if he's healthy, I do think from a talent perspective,

you've upgraded that position. So therefore, it could end up being a win in the end. But I did feel like the price was a little high. You know how much I always enjoyed doing this with you. I really appreciate it. Cole does radio in Birmingham. So you can listen to him on WJOX 945. He's on the SPN.

He's on the SEC network. You can follow him on Twitter at Cole Kublich. He was a college football player. He's a phenomenal analyst. I forgot that you had. done the Rose Bowl game, which really was, I think, the most spectacular of all of the bowl games that Utah Ohio State game was phenomenal. Thanks so much for doing this. I hope all as well. Everything's great, Kevin. Obviously, always good visiting with you anytime you need me.

Just let me know. I'll do it. Thanks, Cole. Appreciate it. Thank you. Some Wizards and NBA talk when we come back right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Plenty of NBA playoff action this weekend. And if you want to bet it, go to my bookie.ag or my bookie.com. Use my promo code Kevin D.C. They'll match your first deposit, dollar for dollar all the way up to a thousand bucks. They've got all of the series prices right now. Still, we've got two more playing games tonight to determine one versus eight matchups. The sons are the overall favorite right now to win the NBA title at plus 230 on my bookie. Milwaukee is at plus 420, and then you get Brooklyn at plus 690, Golden State at plus 720, the Celtics at plus 730,

and the heat at plus 810. For those of you not paying attention, the Miami Heat finished as the number one seed in the East, and they are the sixth favorite overall to win the title. What is interesting is that the Nets are favored over the Celtics to win the NBA championship. They're ahead of them, but the Celtics are favored in the series against the nets. So essentially what they're saying is if the nets come out of this series, they've got a better chance to win the title than the Celtics do, but they don't expect the nets to come out of the series. They expect the Celtics to come out of the series. The Celtics are a slight minus

145 favorite. The biggest favor right now, before we get the one versus eight matchups, bucks over the Bulls. The Bulls are one of those teams I'm actually rooting for a little bit because I'm such a big DeMar de Rosen fan. Here's a team that's not going to be on any sort of gambling board, odds board, and that's the Washington Wizards. They did not make the postseason. So I want to finish up the show with two to three minutes on the Wizards. Tom Levera the other day, Tommy, on the podcast, reported that Bradley Beal's going to sign here and stay here for $250 million roughly over five years, the big contract extension, that Tommy Shepard then in his season-ending press conference the other day confirmed that he believes that Bradley Beale will re-sign here.

Tommy Shepard, by the way, held this season-ending press conference the other day. I didn't even know it was happening. That's my fault, but it was a busy week with the learners and with Snyder stuff, et cetera, But the real truth is the wizards have really dropped in pecking order in terms of importance in this town. That bothers me. That upsets me because most of you know, I really do love this team. They're one of the teams that I truly love and adore and have my entire life, and I would love it if they were good again.

But if Bradley Beale does, per Tom Levero and now per Tommy Shepard, sign the $250 million five-year extension, that will make him the second on average annual value, highest paid player in the league behind Steph Curry. Now, you know, there may be other deals coming. I haven't been following all of the other deals. And if it's not exactly 250 and it's more like 248 or something, he could be close with Embed. But he's going to be in the top two to three highest paid players in the NBA.

The question that you have to ask Tommy Shepard, and when I went and looked to see, you how Tommy Shepard's press conference went, and I read through some of his answers and some of his quotes on NBA.com. I probably didn't get the entire transcript on NBA.com, so maybe someone did ask this, and he did answer it. But the question that you have to ask Tommy Shepard is, is he worth it? And how is he worth it? Bradley Beale's not even a top 15 player. And if you think he's a top 15 player, He's closer to 15 than he is 10 in the 10 to 15 range. I like Bradley Beal. I love that he loves D.C.

I love that he wants to stay here. He's a great NBA score and would be a phenomenal number two on a team with a legit superstar top five, top 10 kind of player that could put you into the mix of contenders. But he's not. And then on top of that, he doesn't play most of the season. every year. He's only had two seasons in his 10-year career where he's earned, by the way, $177 million so far. It's amazing. He's only had two years in which he's played all 82 games. He's an elite score. He is. He's a really good player who's gotten better and he loves D.C. He is not as your number one player going to give you a chance to contend for a title.

So why is he going to be the second highest paid player or third highest paid player in the game? for the next five years. Like I do think their roster next year with Porzingis and Hachamura and KCP and Kuzma and, you know, Abdiah and Gafford and if they can add a point guard and Hachamura, you know, is a playoff roster even in the loaded east. I do. I think it could be a top five, top six, you know, five or six seed kind of a roster, 44, 45 win kind of a team.

But they're not going to contend for a title. That's a lot of money for Bradson. Badly Beal, they should have traded him. And I know they love him, and I know they're loyal, and they love that he's loyal to them. But this is a business. And the Wizards, if they're ever going to make a dent in this town, they've got to at least pose, like legitimately pose where we buy it at least for a minute, that they're a contender. And they're not. They've pulled off some great trades, getting rid of the wall deal and getting rid of Westbrook.

but, you know, they're not going to contend for an NBA title. Even if they come back and Porzingis and Beal make a great one-two combo, the odds of those two playing enough games to win 55 are slim and none. And then even if they do play enough games to win 50 to 52, I don't know, could they be an Eastern Conference finals contender with those two players being your best two? Nah, not in the East anymore. It's a lot of money for Bradley Beal.

I think the best, and I know that they're loyal and they love Brad as a person. And I, you know, I'm sure I find him to be thoughtful and interesting and love the fact that he loves D.C. And he's a really, really good player. He's just not a number one on a contending team. And he's going to get paid a deal that's going to land him in the top two or three. All right, that's it for the show today. Back on Monday, enjoy the weekend. Happy Easter, Happy Passover.

over to everybody.