The Kevin Sheehan Show - Jayden's "Supporting Cast" Ranked

Episode Date: May 21, 2026

Kevin opened with the amazing Knicks comeback last night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Fox Sports ranked NFL offensive "supporting casts" and Washington's didn't rank very well. Kevin talked about that as well as the possibility that Steph and Trevon Diggs could become Commanders. Also on the show, ESPN's Heather Dinich jumped on to talk about the big conference showdown debate between the Big 10 and the SEC over the future of the College Football Playoff. She had some thoughts on Maryland Football too.       For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match       Get 20% off your first order at www.FastGrowingTrees.com with code [Sheehan].       So if you are looking to make Mother’s Day perfect, or just want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal next time you host, go to www.GOLDBELLY.com and get free shipping and 20% off your first order with promo code sheehan.       Ready to do your own spring reset? Join Thrive Market with my link www.ThriveMarket.com/SHEEHAN for $20 off your first three orders plus you’ll get a FREE $60 gift. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it, but you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Brunson brought by Hardin, wants it clear out. Fakes. Drive gets inside, pull-up jumper. Got it.

Daly and Brunson has come alive in the mix of Backwood and 10. Brunson against Hardin. Almost pokes it away. Shot clock at 10. Brunson drives. Pulls up, shot is out. Back shot is good. The Brunson burner has been lit.

It's an eight-point game. Guys might want to time out if he scores. Brunson, three-parter, puts it in. Clutches come alive. One of the best in the business, ESPN's Mike Breen on the call last night of the Knicks' incredible comeback win over Cleveland in game one of the Eastern Conference finals. You heard him describe Jalen Brunson torching James Harden over and over again. You heard Richard Jefferson on the call with Mike Breen and also Tim Legler.

Richard Jefferson suggesting that Cleveland might want to call a timeout. Yeah, that was a pretty good idea. And you heard a Madison Square Garden crowd go full-on delirious during a run that was all time in the conference finals or later. This show's presenting sponsor is always, Windonation. 86690 Nation, WindowNation.com, if you need new windows. I've got one guest on the show with me today. ESPN's Heather Dinnich.

Heather does a great job for ESPN as a college football reporter and analyst. She's going to join me later on in the show because college football's two heavyweight conferences, the Big Ten and the SEC, are arguing over the sports future, playoff format. Heather's always great looking forward to that. Plenty of football talk in the next segment, but let me start with this from Matt. Matt writes, Kevin, I hate the NBA regular season, but I am all in on these playoffs. The game wons, the last two nights, totally off their rockers.

This from Jerry. Jerry writes, I really don't love when you talk NBA, Kevin. But I watched Wembe last night, meaning Monday night, and the Knicks Cavs tonight, meaning last night. And as the late Jim McKay might say, spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports, the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat. He writes, amazing sports drama the last two nights. I'm in for the next few nights at the very least. Jerry, of course, referencing the open to one of the signature sports shows of the 70s and 80s, maybe the 60s, 70s and 80s, wide world of sports on ABC. And yes, the great Jim McKay was the host of that show.

Yeah, Monday night was crazy. The game won between San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Last night, for a different reason, it was crazy because it was so unexpected. It was not as good a game as game one of the Western Conference finals, and the Wembe performance was all time. Last night's comeback was all time. The Knicks down 22 with 7 minutes and 39 seconds left in the game, and they went on a run of 44 to 11.

They outscored Cleveland by 33 points. over the final 739 of regulation and the five minutes of overtime. And they won the game 115 to 104 in overtime. It was the first time, by the way, that game ones of both conference finals were overtime games. That comeback was the biggest in 56 years in the conference finals or later. It was the second biggest comeback this century in the postseason. In 2012, the Clippers came from 24 down in an early round series to win a playoff game. And that comeback last night in the arena known as the most famous arena in the world, Madison Square Garden.

That crowd, as the comeback developed and then reached a crescendo, the crescendo, the crescendo, The crescendo was the Landry-Shammett corner three that bounced on the rim two or three times before dropping through the net to tie the game at 99 with about a minute to go. It was total pandemonium. It was a madhouse at MSG. It's one of my favorite things to be either a part of or to watch on TV when it comes to sports. a crowd that just loses its collective mind. That place was total bedlam. You know, in basketball,

the most insanely loud and raucous environments are usually when the home team is trailing and makes a big time comeback late in the game. You know, in football, it's kind of the same thing. The most charged atmospheres are usually when the home team is behind, and then they're on defense in the midst of a comeback, and they need a big series defensively, and then maybe a big third down stop.

That's usually when you hear and reach as a crowd the loudest, you know, decibel levels. And you were at that last night at Madison Square Garden. I love those moments in sports. Let me also say that I also love when a road team silences a raucous home crowd with, you know, great play. That can be thrilling to watch as well for a different reason. But man, it was crazy last night in Manhattan.

That's for sure. Let me get to just some thoughts on this game, because when an epic comeback, and last night was epic, when an epic comeback takes place, it's usually because of a combination of two things. The team that was behind played really well, you know, played out of their minds, and the team that was leading imploded.

I personally think last night was much more about the team that was leading, Cleveland, imploding, more so than it was about the Knicks playing great. Look, Jalen Brunson went off. The Knicks reverted to their isobasper. basketball and Jalen Brunson went off and he went after James Harden. New York went after James Harden. It was embarrassing for James Harden. But for me, give the next Knicks credit. Don't get me wrong. Cleveland allowed for it and New York took advantage of it. But this was one of the

worst coaching malpractice situations I can remember in a basketball game. Kenny Atkinson is the coach of Cleveland. I actually called Scott this morning, Van Pelt, and I said, just tell me real quickly, what do the NBA people think of Kenny Atkinson? Because I did not have a strong opinion one way or the other, and he said he's highly regarded, very well regarded. So what I'm about to say about him, and by the way, if you've been following this since last night, every basketball pundit is saying the exact same thing, that this was coaching malpractice. that this was one of the all-time coaching choke jobs in the history of the game. It was that bad because there were so many things that were so obvious and he just froze.

But what I'm going to say about him is not an indictment on him as a coach overall. It's an indictment on his coaching last night. You know, you can't be defined by your worst moment. I would imagine last night was his. worst moment. So let's start with this. When you're up 93 to 71 with seven and a half minutes to go roughly, and the other team starts to go on a bit of a run, you know, a 5-0 run, a 70 run, you're pretty much guaranteed to catch a time out in there somewhere. When a team goes four minutes on an 18 to 1 run and not one timeout is called until three minutes and 30 seconds left

when a 93 to 71 lead has been cut to 94 to 89. That's malpractice. You know, I've heard a lot of people say, look, Cleveland just ran out of gas, man. They played game seven Sunday in Detroit. It was their second straight series of going seven games. Well, that's an even bigger reason to use your timeouts. and he had plenty of them. Four of those timeouts.

And if you don't know the rule in the NBA, it's a use them or lose them situation for two of those timeouts if you don't use them by the three-minute mark. So he had two to use before the three-minute mark. He did end up using one of them with three minutes and 30 seconds left. He took two of them home with them last night. I don't know if he knows this. He does not get the benefit of those two.

timeouts in game two. That's number one. I mean, what are you doing? Like, I'm going to go back and watch sort of those last seven minutes to see that, to see if at any point in time when the Knicks hit another shot, you know, and it's now you're in the midst of a, you know, 10-0 run, 11-0 run, 12-0 run, if like the Knicks were like walking back to their bench just assuming that a timeout had been called. Because anybody watching that game, anybody that watches basketball knows that, yeah, you don't let an 18-to-one run go by without a timeout.

I don't know. Maybe I thought at 93 to 71, the Knicks ran off five quick points to cut that 22-point lead down to 17. I think you hit a timeout right there. And you say, hey, guys, you know, let's not, you know, long. way to go in this game. These games can turn. We got to have a really good possession here.

We got to, you know, and come up with some strategy. Stop the momentum. You know, give your guys who may be tired some rest. And let's put together a really good offensive possession, which would include, by the way, getting Donovan Mitchell, their best player, the ball, probably going downhill a little bit to create a play, either a shot or a pass. but let's get something to stop this little 5-0 run. Nothing for four minutes, 18 to one run. Coaching malpractice. You can't do that. You cannot do that at any level, by the way. At any level.

Number two, in terms of Kenny Atkinson completely blowing it for his team. By the way, Kenny Atkinson said, after the game, he was asked, why didn't you call a timeout? He said, I like to save my timeouts for the end. Yeah, you use them or lose them by the three-minute mark. So he had to use two before the three-minute mark, or he was going to lose him anyway. Sure, you'd love to have a timeout or two at the end of a game. I mean, you certainly want to have one for a challenge.

If there's a bad call, you certainly want one to advance the ball. But the game wasn't at the time a game that was going to be close. you know, you weren't thinking even after a 5-0 run or a 7-0 run, oh, then the Knicks aren't coming back from 22 down. So the timeout issue was number one. Number two, James Harden, I've said this for years now. He to me is the least enjoyable superstar or star player in team sports to watch. I've just never been a James Harden fan.

For so many reasons, I'm not going to sit. here and go through all of them over and over again. But it starts with, you know, he seems to not know the difference between regular season NBA and playoff NBA. He plays as casually in a playoff game as he does in a regular season game. And that's why he is now at 32 career playoff games with more turnovers than made shots. What's interesting is I said on Monday's show that I actually thought Harden in game seven at Detroit on Sunday night, even though his stat line would not necessarily say this. He had nine points on two of ten shooting, O for six from behind the arc Sunday night in game seven in Detroit.

I actually said, I thought he played pretty well for him in a big spot. He didn't turn the ball over. He defended as well as he can defend. he's not a good defender. He made some really good decisions with the basketball. So I didn't kill him for a terrible stat line in a game seven, which is basically his MO during the course of his career. But for me, the bottom line is the reason he has failed over and over and over again in the postseason

is at 36 years old, he still has not come to the realization that the opponent plays harder. they play better defense. The games are more urgent. He's still just kind of exposing the ball, thinking nobody's going to try to steal it, throwing lazy passes. And it's just, it's infuriating to watch. Infuriating to watch.

I said when the clippers traded him mid-season to Cleveland, who absolutely, you know, thinks that this is going to turn into the move that's going to put the calves in the championship series. And I answered it by saying a lot of people think that that's what it did for the Cavaliers. And I'm like, that just, that means you haven't been paying attention to James Harden. Because he's not very good in the postseason. And last night, we really showed up was, yeah, he had six more turnovers.

He only made five shots. He was one of eight from behind the arcies. Now, one for 14 on three's. in his last two games. But he's just an absolute terrible defender when you have to have it. I do think that's another thing Atkinson said at the game. He said, I didn't think about, he was asked about why didn't he pull Hardin from the game and put somebody else on Brunson.

And now he wasn't on Brunson. He just kept getting switched onto Brunson, more on that in a moment. But he said Hardin's been one of the more reliable defenders for us. he's got quick hands. He does have quick hands, actually. You know, he's the guy, you know, that Olaes the player he's guarding by him, but then tries to do the reach around and try to knock the ball out from behind. And he is able to do that every once in a while.

But he doesn't play good defense. He's got terrible feet. He doesn't play low enough. He can't stay in front of really good players. And so what the Knicks did over and over and over again, down the stretch is they came down the floor and whoever Hardin was guarding, that person went and set a screen for Brunson and Cleveland switched. And Brunson ended up being guarded by Hardin and he absolutely destroyed him. It was embarrassing too because he got by him so easily.

It was too easy. And they searched him out. They found him. And I put that blame on Atkinson as well. Number one, take Harden out of the game. If you want to leave Hardin in the game, don't switch. And, you know, for those of you who are basketball people, you know what switching means. It means you're guarding somebody who is setting a screen for the player with the ball, let's just say.

And instead of going with your guy, you then switch onto the guy with the ball. Because it's easier because he's coming off that screen. So instead of trying to, you know, what we call drop and recover or go over the screen, you just switch. By the way, it's such an advantage when teams have five really good defenders who are really versatile and can guard any position to be able to switch every single screen. Not just ball screens, just any screen. It's a nice way to be able to play defense, but you've got to have five versatile. Defenders. James Harden isn't a defender, and he's certainly not versatile. And so, and the Knicks were not setting great screens to begin with. It would have been easy to not switch.

So if you're not going to pull them from the game, then don't switch and let Brunson work against somebody else. That's number two. Number three is that Donovan Mitchell, was missing in action over that final 739 in regulation in the five minutes in overtime. Now, there is some news out there that maybe he had been banged up a little bit, but you've got to call a time out, you've got to get your best player the ball, you've got to run stuff for your best player. He took six total shots in the fourth quarter and in overtime. That's it, six total over the final 17 minutes of the game.

and he was literally missing in action as Hardin did a lot of the ball handling down the stretch, which was not good either. That was a mistake. You know, Cleveland's offense was culpable down the stretch. I put that on Atkinson. And then lastly, Brunson, before that run started, he had four fouls. He picked up a fifth on an offensive foul during the comeback. you got to target him because he's not a good defender either.

So you got to get him into a switch. You got to get Mitchell against Brunson, Harden against Brunson, which actually did happen once or twice. But you got to go after him and you got to foul him out and get him out of the game because he's killing you on the other end. It was, it's truly one of the worst and his comments after the game about, you know, wanting to save his timeouts and talking about Hardin as a solid, you know, reliable defender.

We're embarrassing. You know, that's one of those games, too, that, and he hasn't said it yet, I've been looking for it today. And I don't know if there's a presser in the in-between days because game two is tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden. That's one of those where, look, if he froze, If he just, you know, completely went brain dead over those final 12 and a half minutes, the five minutes of overtime included in that, you come back the next day after you've looked at it

and you say, this one's on me. It's not Mitchell's fault. It's not Hardin's fault. It's not nobody's fault, but mine. I could have done things that were obvious and I didn't. I can't explain why, but it's on me. I got to be better. Maybe we'll get that from him, but that was truly one of the worst coaching jobs down the stretch of a basketball game I've ever seen.

And sometimes, you know, when you criticize coaching, it's like, oh, God, do I really know? I mean, maybe he was hurt. Maybe there was something going on that we didn't know. No, you got to call timeouts. You're going to lose two of them anyway. You've got to call timeouts to stop the run, to give your guys a breather. to call something, to change your strategy on defense. And they did it when it was too late.

The Knicks. They had a good look at the end, though. You know, they actually had a good look. Their guy Merrill, who's been a phenomenal shooter, was great in game seven at a Utah State, Kooley School, by the way. He had an open look. Hardin made kind of a very casual behind-the-back pass on the final possession of regulation is a good pass.

I mean, it was effective, but it would have been hysterical if they had gotten picked and somebody had dunked it on the other end to lose in regulation. But Sam Merrill had an open three, and that thing was halfway down and out. I mean, it's interesting because, you know, Oklahoma City had opportunities to win the game the other night and just missed a couple of key shots.

And then Sam Merrill, despite the meltdown, had a chance to save him at the end, but that shot went halfway down and out. I don't think this series, I picked the Knicks in five anyway. I don't think Cleveland's like just going to wilt and go away, shrink and go away. It's possible that they will, but they've actually been pretty resilient in this postseason. They had R.J. Barrett for Toronto knocked down a three at the buzzer that hit the rim three times and fell through. They came back and won game seven. after that. They, you know, dropped the first two to Detroit and were able to not only win game

five in Detroit, but then after blowing it at home in game six, come back to Detroit and win game seven. So, look, they've got talent. You know, their talented basketball team, but last night was truly one of those disasters. You know, because it's a game one, it won't be as remembered as if it had been like a game seven. But that was, to me, you know, mostly about Kenny Atkinson and Cleveland. I had, there was another tweet that I wanted to read because I actually thought it was a good point

that I didn't make on radio and I didn't just make now. It comes from Dwayne. Dwayne writes, the difference in this game was coaching. Caves were totally out-coached. Brown, Mike Brown, the Knicks coach, taking Hart, Josh Hart, out of the game

for Shamet, was so underrated and would have never happened under Tibbs, under Tibido, the coach last year. Anyway, that's a good point because Shamit hasn't necessarily been

any kind of go-to guy, and he made three for three from behind the arc. I mean, huge, huge moments. for Shamit, who ended up playing 17 minutes last night. I think it's the second most minutes he's played in a playoff game so far this postseason. All right, let's talk some football next after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, guys, listen up.

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This might be an inside-the-park home run. Three runs and scored. What a circle? in the bases. The pro haul is not in time. Woodland at first slide. That's an inside the park. Grand Slam, home run. He brings them all in, including himself,

going crazy here at Nationals Park. It's now 5 to 4, New York. Dave Jagler on the call last night for 1067, the fan, James Wood with an inside the park grand slam in the bottom of the second inning. The Nats rallied from a 5-0 deficit to beat the Mets 9 to 6. It was the first inside the park grand slam in the Biggs since 2022. And the second time it's ever happened in Nationals history in Washington, Michael A. Taylor did it back in 2017. The Nats continue to produce offensively. They are the highest scoring team.

in the major leagues. They are within a game of 500 with two more against the Mets at home, one tonight and one tomorrow afternoon. This segment of the show is brought to you by, my friends at My Bookie, My Bookie's got everything you need for these NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, all of their NFL futures and prop bets are up. If you use my promo code, DC Reload, my bookie will give you a 50% cash bonus. DCR-E-L-O-A-D, it doesn't matter if you're a first-time customer or a returning customer. Use that promo code, and whatever you deposit, half of that will be added to your account in the form of a cash bonus. By the way, Oklahoma City tonight, a seven-point favorite in game two at home.

against San Antonio. I think the Thunder pretty much have to win tonight, or they are in deep trouble. I would say the series is over if they lose the first two to San Antonio at home. All right, a couple of things before I get to a story that is out on Fox Sports about quarterbacks and their supporting casts. I will get to that shortly. But first things first.

Washington minority owner, Doug Ostrover. Doug Ostrover is actually the owner of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning. He is also one of the many limited partners in the ownership group of our football team, the Washington commanders. He sold his stake in the Washington football. franchise, back to Josh Harris, according to the Wall Street Journal, for a valuation of $9 billion. Now, I don't know what stake he had. Whenever you sell a stake, even if it's a private sale, you have to value the franchise at that point. Three years ago, it was just over $6 billion.

That was the sale price. For the purposes of this private transaction, Doug Ostrover, who was one of the many limited partners, remember Josh Harris and buying the football team in 2023, raised a bunch of money. He put in the most. He is the lead owner of the franchise. Mitch Rails put in the second most. I think Magic Johnson, the third most. And then there were over 20 limited partners that invested with Josh Harris to buy the commander. in 2023.

Doug Ostrover was one of those people. His financial firm co-owner, Mark Lippschultz, was another limited partner. Lipschultz is actually keeping his stake in the football team, but Ostrover sold back his stake to Josh Harris. Now, I don't know that Josh Harris or anybody else has to buy it back if he's interested in selling it, but Josh Harris did. and for the purposes of that private transaction, you have to value the overall entity.

And according to the Wall Street Journal, it was valued in this transaction at $9 billion. That's a 50% increase in value since they purchased the team back in 2023. We've talked about this periodically. I guessed that $6 billion was going to look like a deal eventually, especially after the Lakers were valued at $10 billion in their most recent transaction. I mean, the Lakers are the Lakers understood, but it's an NBA team and NFL teams are worth a lot more. And just the prospect, the future prospect of foreign money, of hedge fund money,

potentially being allowed in NFL ownership was going to make the purchase, even though in the moment it was hard to raise the money, it was a very expensive price, the most ever paid for a North American sports franchise. But one of the limiteds and the one of the lead owner of the, the lead owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Doug Ostrover, sold his stake back to Josh Harris and he did it for a $9 billion value. Yeah, Seattle, I guess, is for sale right now. And apparently they're not, you know, they're dealing with some of the same things Washington dealt with, which is the audience. willing to pay $6, $7 billion is not that large if you don't include hedge fund and foreign investment. Oil money in particular.

So there you go. So that was one football-related story. The other is that Stefan Diggs and Trayvon Diggs brothers, both grew up in the area. Stefan went to good counsel, as you all know, and then on to Maryland. actually went to the Avalon School. I think he went to Wooten in Montgomery County first and then ended up at a very small private school, the Avalon School, and then obviously ended up playing college football at Alabama, played for Dan Quinn in Dallas.

They were together in town, I think yesterday or the day before. And they were interviewed by, I want to make sure I get this right, Michael Sade, Sade, via TikTok. She asked them how long it would take for them to be both playing together and wearing commanders jerseys. And Steph answered the question saying, quote, that's what everybody is talking about right now. We're going to talk about it real soon, though. Closed quote.

So this really took off on social media with people saying, ooh, Steph is telling everybody, we are interested and we're going to be talking about it real soon. I don't know if that's true or not. I don't know if that answer can be taken literally. I don't know. Here's what I want. I want more really good players on the team. I want another really good receiver or two.

Understood that Adam Peters and Dan Quinn and Lance Newmark and the entire front office, it's their responsibility to do the due diligence and to find out whether or not they're getting somebody that will fit into the revamped culture that they've created. I don't want crazy in the locker room, but I'm willing to take on short-dose personalities, short-term personalities when they are very productive on the field like Stefan Diggs is. As far as Trayvon, Trayvon got hurt at the end of last year in Dallas, and I had forgotten. Green Bay signed him after he was waived by the Cowboys, and he played in their playoff game against Chicago.

And, yeah, ended up with three tackles in that playoff game against the Bears. Remember the Packers had that lead in the postseason against the Bears. It was one of Caleb Williams, you know, incredible moments. Man, those playoff games in Chicago last year, that first one against Green Bay and then the second one against the Rams, they were exciting football games. The weather had a lot to do with it, obviously. But I had forgotten that Trayvon Diggs had been picked up at the end of the year and ended up playing in that playoff loss to Chicago

when the Bears came back in the fourth quarter and won that game. I don't know. You need a corner, you need a wide receiver. It's their job to make sure that the personality, culture, fit, et cetera, is right. I want to win games next year. I want more good players. They've done a nice job in this offseason. They have. They've added a lot of defensive players. They need another playmaker for Jaden. That's for sure. I think we would all agree with that. By the way, NFL news real quickly. Aaron Rogers announced today that the 2026 season would be his final season in the NFL,

playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Basically said the reason he's back is Mike McCarthy, reuniting with Mike McCarthy. All right. I want to get to a story that came out today. Longtime NFL reporter, columnist, Ralph Vacchiano, wrote about the 32 supporting casts offensively in the NFL. I'll tell you where Washington came in.

on that list after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, I introduced you recently to Thrive Market. I told you it's a product that I use that I think you should use too. Now I want to tell you why membership makes a lot of sense. Thrive Market is a membership-based grocery service where you can shop from wherever you are. You simply just hop on their app. The membership breaks down to just $5 a month, and it gives members access to weekly sales, personalized shopping with filters, auto ship and save, free gifts and peace of mind knowing

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pays for itself anyway with their discounts and sales. Ready to do your own spring research, set, join Thrive Market with my link, Thrivemarket.com slash Sheen, for $20 off your first three orders, plus you'll get a free $60 gift. If you get a chance and you haven't done it and you don't mind doing it, rate and review this podcast. It's big for us. Following this podcast, too, is a big deal. Just hit the plus button or the follow button. Fox Sports.com's Ralph Vaciano today with a story titled which NFL QBs have the most help, ranking all 32 supporting casts. He writes, which NFL teams have the best support systems in place for their quarterbacks

heading into the 2026 season? We spoke to a handful of NFL scouts to help determine how all 32 teams stack up on offense when the quarterback's taken out of the equation. So where did Washington rank on this list? Before I started scrolling down and it was listed 32 to 1, I was guessing Washington was going to be pretty low on this list. Like I was thinking they're going to be in the 20s somewhere. I don't know if they'll be 32, 31 or 30, but they're going to be somewhere in the 20s.

I was not disappointed. The worst supporting cast, especially considering that Jalen Waddle's now gone along with obviously to re-kill, the Miami Dolphins. Second worst in the league is Cleveland. Third worst in the league is Vegas, the Raiders. Then it's Tennessee at 29th. And then at 28th,

the 28th ranked supporting cast offensively in the league is Washington. Here's what's written. There seems to be a belief in Washington that the return of a healthy Jaden Daniels will make everybody

better. Well, they better be right because the commanders didn't do a lot to improve his supporting cast in the offseason. Their best weapon by far is still wide receiver Terry McClorn, who will be 31 in September and coming off an injury-plagued season. Their offensive line improved last year, but they haven't replaced their center who left in free agency. He actually didn't leave in free agency. He was cut and then signed with the Chargers as a free agency. The only weapon the commanders added in the passing game was solid and underrated tight-end chigacanquo. They did add veteran running back Rashad White, who could make a potent duo with

Jacori Kroski Merritt, who had a surprisingly good rookie season after being drafted in the seventh round. Don't underestimate the loss of offensive coordinator Cliff Kingsbury, though. He got a lot of credit for helping Daniels post arguably the best rookie season ever for a quarterback. He's now replaced by former quarterback's coach David Blow, who has been an assistant for two seasons and has never called plays before. So they include as part of the supporting cast, I guess, the offensive coordinator. So they're 28th in the league. That seems right. I mean, I'm looking at some of the teams in front of them. I mean, the Jets have a much better receiver and a

better running back. They're 27th. I mean, the Jets are 27th with Garry. Wilson and Brees Hall. And remember, they drafted Omar Cooper and Kenyon Sadiq, the tight-in from Oregon. So if that's the next in line, that's better than Washington. And then you just kind of scroll through all of them and you realize, yeah, I mean, that when I have discussed recently, the outside the market opinion on Washington is pretty low. And I've suggested that it's a result of multiple things. Number one is I think they, people just sometimes are lazy. They look at the record and they say, oh, wow, that team

sucked last year. They really regressed. And they don't look into why. And the why is they were the most injured team with their front line starters of any team in the league. And they didn't have their quarterback for the significant majority of the season. That's going to doom any team. But I think the other part of it is, is that they don't have weapons. remember the offseason leading up to the draft, it's like, are they going to draft Jeremiah Love? Are they going to take Carnell Tate? You know, they tried to sign Alec Pierce. They tried to sign Romeo Dobbs, but they didn't land those guys. They landed Antonio Williams in the draft in Diami Brown and Van Jefferson and Rashad White and Free Agency, Jeremy Ford, too, the running

back. I do like Chig, you know that. And I do think that if everybody's healthy on offense, they'll be a really good offense if they don't add anybody else. But I also think they're not done. So if, you know, Stefan Diggs, even more so than IUC, because Iuk's a real wild card because he hasn't played since 2023. But if they had added Stefan Diggs before this rankings was put out, I think they would be higher than 28th. If you're curious, number one in the league for supporting casts,

the Los Angeles ran. with Puka Nakuwa and Devante Adams and Kairn Williams and all of those tight ends, Colby Parkinson, Tyler Higby, et cetera. That's number one. Number two, Dallas. CD Lamb, George Pickens, Jake Ferguson at tight end, Cavante Turpin, you know, their running game with Javante Williams,

who I loved in Denver and really, you know, looked at him as a possibility last year. He really, because he stayed healthy, had a big year. Chicago, by the way, is third, you know, of the young 24 quarterback. Chicago's got the third best overall supporting cast. Philadelphia, even projecting that A.J. Brown won't be there as fourth. Detroit's fifth, Cincinnati, 6th, San Francisco 7th, and then Denver. Bo Nix has the eighth best supporting cast.

Ninth is Indianapolis. 10th is Seattle. Just going through like the other young quarterbacks in that draft, Pennix Jr. Atlanta's got the 12th best supporting cast. I mean, you know, Drake London, Bijon Robinson, Pitts, etc. And then where are the other young quarterbacks who are we forgetting? Caleb Williams. Oh, Drake May, where's New England's?

New England's can't be very high. It's 16th. Oh, because of the expectation of adding A.J. Brown. so they projected A.J. Brown already there. I don't think they're wrong. I think if you add, you know, Diggs or Iuke, you're not 28th, but you're still probably in the 20s. And that's probably where they were two years ago.

And they were one of the top three or four offenses in the NFL. If you told me it's, you know, 28th among supporting cast, but let's just say top 10 among quarterbacks, I'll take the quarterback situation. All right, we'll finish up the show with Heather Dinnich from ESPN next after these words from a few of our sponsors. This segment of the show is brought to you by Window Nation. If you've been thinking about new windows to replace your older windows because your older windows don't work as well, or you just want your home to look nicer, how about Window Nation's current buy-for? get four free sale. For every four windows purchased, the next four are free. Imagine replacing

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but has been one of the real stars covering college football for many years now at ESPN. You can follow Heather on X at CFB, Heather. I reached out to you because you wrote a story this morning about the battle that is taking place right now in college football about the next iteration of the playoff system starting in 2027. Let me just mention Heather to everybody that's listening. In 2026, it's going to be the same 12-team format that we had last year. Seated based on strength, four teams with a buy, eight teams and four first-round games, a 12-team field in 2026.

but there is a real debate as to where college football goes with its playoff in 2027 and beyond. So we'll start there, explain to everybody the debate, the battle that's taking place right now about the future of the college football playoff, and then, you know, how you think it'll ultimately play out in terms of what it's going to look like starting in 2027 and beyond. So the battle for the format for 2027 is the Big Ten strongly supporting a 24-team field, while the SEC remains in favor of a 16-team field. And there are multiple people that I've talked to on both sides who agree that even in a 16-team field, a conference championship game would likely have to go away.

That would definitely happen in a 24-team. field. And so in order for it to happen, the Big Ten and the SEC have to agree on it, which they obviously don't at this moment. And if they don't, then it would stay at the current 12 team model. And look, as you ask me that question right now, that would be my guess, is that it stays at 12 because I just don't, I don't get a sense that any side is budging, but I will say. say that if the SEC gets more information, they might be swayed. Because there are people in that conference at the coach level, at the athletic director level, who are in favor of a 24-team playoff.

But unless they can convince Greg Sankey and the presidents and chancellors in that conference, they're going to stick with 16 is their preference. So let's just talk. So where do you think it lands? Do you have a hunch at this point or not? Just a hunch. Not going to hold you to it. My hunt is that it stays at 12 because I've spent a lot of time reporting a stalemate.

Yeah. And I just don't know. And every time I ask them, is there a compromise, is there some way that you guys can figure this out? The answer is it's 24 or bust. It's 16 or bust, you know. So I've yet to hear someone come up with. with an alternative solution that would make everybody happy.

Quite honestly, I talked to some athletic directors here this morning out in California at Big Ten Spring meetings who said, look, we're not buying a car. It's not like you go to the car salesman, and he says, hey, how about 24? And you go, no, how about 12? And everybody settles on 16. He's like, that's just not the way these conversations are working. You know, what's interesting is that, you know, for years these conference championship games were so crucial, not only from a revenue standpoint, but, well, it was always from a revenue

standpoint going back to the early days of the first conference championship games, the SEC, etc. Would the incremental revenue from an expanded playoff field make up for the revenue that would be lost by not having conference championship games? So no one, not one person, and I have talked to dozens of people in both leagues, has been able to tell me definitively what the amount would be of revenue from a 2014 playoff and if it would compensate for the loss of all of those power-for conference championship games. I was told yesterday by Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petiti that he does not believe that in a 16-team field

that revenue would make up for the loss of conference championship games, because he doesn't believe that those two extra games that would be required for that would create enough value. What's the feeling about rendering the regular season less meaningful with more expansion? Well, in the Big Ten conference here, there is a lot of candid pushback on that notion. And their justification for that is that the 2014 playoff would be, a tiered reward system. You would have the top

two teams have the best path in. You would have the bottom of the barrel, the 20 to 24 or whatever, constantly trying in November to make sure they're in the playoff. And then you have the, I can't forget what it was, the home

games. Home field the home game, the home field advantage. And so there is, their argument is it's not the Philadelphia Eagles where, you know, you're resting your starters at the end because you can't improve your seed or your placement or whatever, these teams are still jockeying for position because there is still a selection committee that's ranking them.

Yeah, I mean, there would be more likely than not some teams that would get to the very final regular season game with not a lot to play for. In a 24-team field, more likely than not some teams would, but there would be a lot more that would still be alive for either qualification for the field as an at-large team or home field advantage or buy week. You know, one of the things I've always thought about as it relates to this is if you go to 16 or 24, that first weekend is going to be eight games, not four games. Because in a 24-team field, you're going to have eight teams with a buy-16 are going to play in the first round. 16 teams. Everybody's playing in the first round. And I'm curious as to whether or not you have any idea how they would play those eight games. Would it be eight games on a Saturday where two are going on simultaneously? Or would it be two on a Thursday night, two on a Friday night, and another four on

Saturday? Have you, has anybody sort of laid out what the actual schedule would be if they went to eight first round games. And by the way, then eight quarterfinal games in the in the 2014 format. Right. No, to my knowledge, nobody has broken it down into that much detail because there are still conversations going on right now about when to start the season and when to end it. Right. And there's also still a push to have those quarterfinals on. New Year's Day. Meanwhile, you've got a whole contingency of coaches out there saying they want the whole season wrapped up by the second Monday in January. So that combined with competing against the NFL schedule, I don't think that they've narrowed it down to when exactly those games would be

played. What about Army Navy? Like if you went to 24, Army Navy's owned that Saturday by themselves with the Heisman trophy ceremony at night. It's always been like a big college basketball, you know, Saturday in terms of sports TV. If you go to 16 or 24, you're pushing it back a minimum of a week, then conference championship games, I guess go away. I guess it would be played during that conference championship weekend now, you know, that same weekend, that first weekend in December. Has anybody even wondered about Army Navy?

Yes, they are talking about them extensively. and I have spoken to both athletic directors at both schools, and their main concern, one, is still owning the window, obviously, the exclusive window, but equally as important is being included in the college football playoffs if they're deserving of it. And look, if you've got a 24-team playoff, they absolutely have a shot at competing for the national title. I was shocked, quite frankly, that Navy was not ranked last year. That was one of the best Navy football teams I've seen in a long time, and it wasn't that long ago that Army was one of the best teams and ranked in the top 25.

So that's certainly not out of the realm of possibility. So they're saying, look, you've got to protect this venue, this window, but you also have to acknowledge that we deserve a spot, and how do you do that? and they have not come up with a solution to how to do that. But I think what you could see the most likely scenario unfold is to have playoff games around Army Navy on that weekend. But that's where it gets tricky. Because how do you start the playoff without Army Navy if one of those teams is in it? Yeah, no doubt.

The NFL, I had somebody on earlier this week from the NFL schedule-making group out of New York. He was one of the analytics guys involved in putting the whole schedule together, which got unveiled late last week. And my biggest gripe with it, because I love Saturdays as much, if not more than Sundays, is, you know, I understood two years ago with Christmas Day on Wednesday and they were playing NFL games on Wednesday, why they needed to play the games on Saturday. The teams that were playing on Christmas Day needed the ample rest. They couldn't play on Sunday and then Wednesday. But Christmas last year was Thursday, and Christmas this year is Friday. And yet they're putting two NFL games on that Saturday this year, December 19th, where there will be a triple header of first round games.

And quite honestly, Heather, that's one of my favorite days. It's become one of my favorite days of the year because of the home venues. I love these playoff games in the home venues. And I'm curious as to whether or not you think college football, what the reaction of college football is to the NFL. We know the NFL is going to outright college football head to head. The answer, by the way, let me just say is, well, we didn't play a game early. We moved the start time back to 5 o'clock.

So two of their games sort of mask two playoff games of the three. But is there a reaction from college football to the NFL playing on a day that I think should be, you know, sort of solo college football? Yes. And, but the reality of the situation, I have so many comments on this because, first, my biggest gripe as a Steelers fan is the fact that they're playing the Ravens so close to each other at the end of the season. Well, that's another conversation. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. But also, as a Steelers fan, to the point of what you're talking about two years ago, when Texas was playing Clemson, my Steelers were on.

Yeah. My job is the wise of college football playoff. I'm sneaking, sneaking the flashback, you know, and flop in between channels trying to, watch both games. So that's a real thing. That's a conundrum for NFL and college football fans. And, but the reality is as the playoff increases, this is only going to happen more and more because both have just extended their seasons, right? And it's, it's unfortunate, but they're going to continue to compete. And the reality is the NFL is, is the strong arm. You know, that's, that's it. And that's, there's really not much.

much anyone can do about it, to be honest, in terms of the timing of it. But I do understand, certainly, how fans would be frustrated with it. Yeah, I just think, look, college football is still the feeder system for the NFL. It's not like, you know, the NFL's been infiltrated with foreign players like the NBA has. And, you know, they benefit from these players coming in as highly exposed players, and that's a high exposure spot. But, you know, the explanation from the guy on the schedule-making team was, look, that's a Saturday that we've played on for 38 years, and college football's new to that Saturday with playoff games. And we're going to stick there.

We're not putting up three games against their three. We're putting up two and staggered start times, et cetera. Anyway. But there was one, they're not playing on Thursday because of an NFL game. I do remember talking to CFP Executive Director, Rich Clark, about that specifically because they did that specifically to avoid the NFL. So if they can do it, they do try to do it. Yeah, they didn't have to, I mean, there's no rest requirement like there was when they were playing two Christmas Day games in 2024. You couldn't have them, those four teams play on Sunday.

Like you said, your Steelers were part of that. and they played on that Saturday and then played on Christmas Day. But when Christmas is on Thursday, Sunday to Thursday is normal. Sunday to Friday this year is normal. So it's not like there was a rest requirement. They just wanted, they didn't want that Saturday to go without NFL football. Look, college football, when they get to the quarter final round, they're going to play a game on Wednesday night, December 30th.

and then the other three on New Year's Day, and they're going to avoid Thursday night New Year's Eve because the NFL is playing that night. I think it's Ravens Bengals. That's what I was talking about. That was a Thursday night that I was talking about. That's what you're referencing. Got it. Yeah.

The New Year's Eve game. Thank you. Yep, that's right. But that's college football's decision to steer clear of going head to head with the NFL. And look, Wednesday night, December 30th during that holiday week is. has always been a bowl night anyway, you know, in a bowl day. So it's not unusual to have, you know, a college football game that week on a Wednesday. Let's talk a little bit about the upcoming college football season.

What's going to happen with Brendan Sorsby at Texas Tech? Wow. Well, right now he's embroiled in the lawsuit to try to get his eligibility back. But I've had a recent conversation with Joey McGuire, the head coach there, who is focusing at least right this second on, one, Sorsby's health and wellness and making sure that he's okay. And two, his backup quarterback, Will Hammond, who was out with the torn ACL. And the timeline for him is encouraging and positive because if Sorsby cannot play, Hammond is capable of it. He started two games last year before he hurt himself.

and he should be completely cleared. I want to say by August 21st for full contact, but he should be game ready, I'm told, by week two at the earliest week three for that Big 12 opener against Houston. But that's a big deal because they are a college football playoff contender. But do you think Sorsby will end?

If he's cleared health-wise, mental health, et cetera, do you think he's going to be suspended or perhaps not allowed to play? How does that get resolved if he's healthy enough to play? Yeah, I don't know. I think that depends on how this whole lawsuit unfold. I mean, eligibility is his first thing, but if he's cleared to play and all of that, my guess is you're going to see him play.

If there's nothing left that is keeping him off in terms of a suspension, I mean, I don't think that Texas Tech would do that, but he's ineligible because of the NCAA right now. Here's something I don't know anything about in terms of players who have been paid the most entering 2026. It was Sorsby among the highest paid in NIL, et cetera, money heading into this season? Or was it Dante Moore? Do you know who's the highest paid player in college football entering next season? I don't. I don't know off the top of my head.

I'm sure Soresby and Moore were among them. for sure, but I don't know what the breakdown was of it. All right, you're at the Big Ten spring meetings, and you mentioned to me before we started to record, you had a chance to meet both Maryland athletic director, Jim Smith,

and head coach Mike Loxley. So what do you think of the Maryland football program these days? Loxley is sold on improvement this year. We talked about how young the team was last year, a lot of close games, and he gave me the sense

that they should be on the upside. Eight wins, at least. And he thinks it's because Malik Washington and he has a lot of confidence in the defense. And he knows he's under pressure. He knows. He knows the writings on the wall. But I think if he could have another successful season,

he would like to get another contract. He's very competitive. And he's not done yet internally. That's for sure. Are you impressed with Jim Smith? You know, having covered Maryland for the Baltimore Sun and living in Annapolis, I understand the challenges of building a program there on the football side that can compete consistently. I mean, especially when you're in the pro market and you have such a transient fan base. But, you know, in talking to Jim Smith, he's really encouraged about trying to find some other ways and other ideas to get there.

donors and boosters involved so that they can up the ante and get some more talent in there on a more consistent basis and compete at a high level. So he's bought in in terms of financially investing more. And I think that if they are able to do that, Indiana is a blueprint that anyone can do it. Yeah. I mean, you understand the challenges of Maryland football. It's really one of the unique challenges because they're not just really in one pro market, they're in two because they've got two cities

with pro, you know, littered with pro sports teams, Baltimore and Washington, which they sit, you know, essentially in the middle of closer to D.C. than Baltimore. But we know the challenges of that. And they're one of the, I don't know, half dozen

to dozen Big Four conference schools that is all about basketball first. not football first. And so the fan base is very fleeting and very fickle. They have to win and win early in a season to really kind of get any momentum. It's hard for Maryland. There are very few situations around the country similar to it, right?

No, you're right. But I'll go back to Indiana, which has traditionally been a basketball school, right? Yeah. And I think that's the, that's like the grand experience. of 2026-ish and beyond is with schools can compete at that level in both sports. Is there enough rev-share to go around to get those players? But it's just, it's really different in football because there are so many more of them, right? But if you get the right players and you have the right schedule and you have the right coach,

then you can absolutely do it. Mike's certainly been really good at getting players. That's for sure. Thanks for doing this. Hope you're well. And we'll be following all this stuff with the playoff conversation over the next few weeks and few months. Thanks, Heather.

Yeah, you bet. Thanks for having me on. ESPN's Heather Dinnich, everybody. That'll do it for today. Back tomorrow with Tommy.