The Kevin Sheehan Show - Mock Magic!

Episode Date: May 11, 2023

Kevin takes a bow in the open because he got Washington's season-opener against Arizona correct! He's got the latest on the Commanders' sale as well. Ben Standig/The Athletic jumped on to discuss some recent Ron Rivera remarks about Sam Howell and his own future. Ben talked rookie mini-camp and NBA Playoffs with Kevin as well.  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 Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. So for those of you who have mocked the mock, you can suck it. Because guess what? I got the season opener right.

Just a few minutes ago I learned from a really good source, and I tweeted this out at Kevin Sheehan, D.C., that Washington will open up its 2023 season, at home against the Arizona Cardinals, exactly the way I mocked it. If I sound proud, happy, I am because I don't think I've ever gotten a season opener right. I think I've had the opponent right, but the venue I'm wrong.

I think I had the Giants as the season opener one year in the Meadowlands, and they played it at FedEx Field. But I don't think I've ever gotten a season open or right. And the truth is, more thought goes into the season. the season opener than the rest of the mock schedule. So I gave you the reasoning the other day. I mean, netting it out, you know, to begin the Dan Snyder era, it would have sucked to have a home game against the Cowboys, Eagles, or Giants, Cowboys and Eagles in particular,

where the opponent's fans overtook the stadium. And I thought that even though they had opened up at home three straight years, maybe the NFL would say, hey, beginning of a new era, let's let Washington play a home opener. they can sell it out and let's give them, you know, the least imposing fan base as an opponent, as a road opponent. And Arizona kind of fit that bill. I have no idea if that's the reasoning they used. I don't even care. I got it right.

The rest of the mock schedule could be completely wrong. I do not care. Happy NFL schedule data, all of you, those of you who enjoy. Many of you don't. I do. Obviously, I do. I have a mock schedule. anticipation of this. The whole schedule in its entirety will be out tonight. Many of you may

already have it at this point. But some of the Washington games are out already, and I think it was JP Finley who tweeted out earlier today that Washington is going to play on Thanksgiving Day this year against the Cowboys in Dallas. That'll be five times since 2012 at Dallas on Thanksgiving Day. Also, I had earlier that they're going to close the season at home against the Cowboys. And that'll be a second straight year of doing that. Again, by the time you get this, you'll probably know a lot more games. I'm not going to sit here and do a lot on the schedule here in the open because we'll do more of that tomorrow when it's out completely and it is official.

But yeah, Washington and Arizona in the opener in FedEx Field and Washington at Dallas on Thanksgiving Day and Washington versus Dallas to close the season. A couple of other games that were out there, Washington and Chicago on Thursday night football in week five at FedEx Field last year. They played that game at Soldier Field in week six on Thursday night football. And I think it was also JP who had Washington at the Jets on Christmas Eve. There's a site that I follow at nerding on NFL. Yeah, it's kind of apropos, at nerding on NFL. That's a good site to follow

because a lot of these Twitter sites leak out a lot of bogus stuff and at nerding on NFL kind of gets it right a lot. But anyway, enough on the schedule. Plenty of time for that tomorrow. Ben Standing's going to join me shortly. We will talk some Ron Rivera.

We will talk also about minicamp, starts tomorrow. And there will be a missing rookie from minicamp. Then with Ben, I will talk some NBA because Ben covered the NBA and covered the Wizards forever. I'm not going to do the NBA playoffs and talk about Warriors, Lakers, and Anthony Davis right here in the open. I will save it for the final segment to do with my good friend Ben standing. The show today is brought to you by my bookie. Go to mybooky.orgie.com. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C., and they'll allow you to cash in and cash out quickly. What does that mean?

Well, if you want to just bet the NBA playoffs tonight or for the weekend, whatever you deposit once you've wagered that amount in aggregate, you'll be eligible to cash out right away. A lot of sites don't let you do that. MyBooky does. Go to mybooky.com or mybooky.orgy.org. You must use my promo code, Kevin D.C. If there's something written in the promo code section, erase it and write Kevin D.C.

By the way, my bookie's already got some point spreads up for week one. You know, we know now the opener will be Detroit at Kansas City. The chiefs are six and a half point favorites over the Lions in the first game of the year. We know that the first Monday night game will be the Jets with Aaron Rogers hosting Buffalo. What a Monday night opener, that'll be. Buffalo is a three-point favorite. All of your NFL prop bets up at my bookie as well. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C.

Before we get to Ben, I did want to talk briefly about this story that appeared in the Washington Post last night, written by Mark Maskey and Nikki Javala, titled NFL Finance Committee has concerns about Josh Harris's commander's deal. I had Dan Kaplan from The Athletic on the radio show yesterday, and I think I talked about that with Tommy yesterday. Or maybe I didn't, I forget. But anyway, he had written a story that said that the Harris deal is very complex and that right now the league is trying to wrap their arms around the structure of the deal. That there's more debt in the deal. In fact, Snyder may be seller financing part of this deal by loaning the Harris group $200 million.

That's crazy. But Maski and Nikki Jabala wrote after the league held its, finance meeting in New York yesterday, and I'm going to read from the story. Members of the NFL's finance committee raised concerns about Josh Harris's tentative $6.05 billion deal to purchase the Washington commanders from Daniel Snyder, slowing momentum for the approval of the potential sale and dimming the prospects of a ratification vote by the league's team owners later this month, three people familiar with the NFL's inner workings and the owner's views said. The reservations expressed during a meeting of the eight-owner finance committee

do not mean Harris's deal will be rejected. They said the committee must spend more time examining the financial aspects, and one of them said it seems increasingly unlikely the owners can vote to approve the transaction even on a conditional basis during their May 22nd, May 23rd meetings in Minneapolis. A quote in this story, the Masky Nikki Javala story. Quote, everyone wants to get it done. I'm not saying it can't get done.

I don't know we'll have to see. Closed quote. According to that person, questions were raised during the meeting about some aspects of the deal. That person said the agreement is complex and the financing includes an unusually large number of limited partners.

They're 17. add parenthetically, that's been reported before. Another person said the Finance Committee, excuse me, the Finance Committee emerged from Wednesday's meeting with less clarity and certainty about the deal than it had beforehand. If no ratification vote is taken this month, and that means a vote of all of the owners, where they have to get three quarters of the owners to approve the deal, the NFL could schedule a special meeting for the owners to take an approval vote over the sub. summer, the owner's next scheduled meeting is in October.

There's more to this story. Others connected to the process still remain confident that the deal will eventually happen, but others are more uncertain now. The major obstacles to the completion of the deal in their view, in the people that they talk to, remain the NFL's dealings directly with Snyder, not with Harris. but we know that the deal with Snyder and Harris isn't finalized. It's still a non-exclusive deal. So what does all this mean?

It means that Dan's got his issues with the league, okay? The Harris deal is the only deal in the table right now that is being taken seriously. It doesn't mean, I guess, that Apostolopolis or somebody else could be out of it until this thing is done. I think more than anything, it means that Josh Harris would not be able to buy another NFL team, but they want Washington sold, the league does. They want Dan out of the league, and they are trying to work with this more complex structure of a deal, which includes not only the $1.1 billion in allowable debt against the team, but perhaps, as it was reported yesterday by the athletic and Dan Kaplan, Josh Harris may be taking debt out on his other sports teams to afford this purchase,

and that has the NFL concerned. I asked Kaplan point blank yesterday, do you think he'd be able to buy another NFL team if it wasn't this one? And he said no. They want Dan out. They're working with Harris. I have no idea what it means in terms of. of timing, but it certainly seems like it's going to happen later rather than sooner, as I've been

saying, the opposite all along. I wouldn't be concerned. I still think Harris is going to buy the team. I still think Snyder's going to sell the team, but the league just has to get more comfortable with the structure of the deal. And at the end of the day, what it really means is if Harris ends up buying this team, it was a stretch for them to buy this team to a certain degree. And what does that mean when it comes to things like the stadium where they're going to have to pluck down two to three billion dollars to build a new stadium, if not more, to build everything around it? And does that mean DC is less of a possibility if Virginia offers more money? All of that, I think, is an issue or at least a legitimate concern. All right. Ben Standing right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

This segment of the show with our good friend Ben Standing is presented by Window Nation. You can modernize and reinvest in your home today with new windows from Window Nation. All with their best deal of the year. Get 0% financing for five years. That's unheard of. Zero percent interest for five years. If you finance your new window purchase, you won't pay interest until the year 2028. On top of that, you get two free windows with every two you buy, meaning you're paying half price.

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How excited are you on scheduled day? I mean, look, I'm excited to know what I'll be doing, where I'll be over the next, you know, for the month of September through the beginning of January, the leaking of it isn't my favorite aspect of it. But, you know, it is what it is. But, yeah, I mean, I'm, I think it's interesting. And I think it's essentially a big factor in what happens to the team this year, the order that is at the schedule. But, you know, we'll get there eventually. Why is the leaking of it not your favorite thing?

I don't know. I mean, I just doesn't, like, we already know the opponents, so it's just, you know, like when they leak the pick of the draft, like, you know, like, you know, a couple minutes before the actual pick. I don't know who the team is going to pick here. We know they're going to play Team X on day Y, or sorry, Team X, we just don't know when, but whatever. It is what it is. Yeah, look, that's the thing, and that's the fascination that some, like you have with people like me who are fascinated by this schedule release. It's like, well, wait a minute, you already know who they're going to play. Like, I remember the first few years I did the mock schedule, people would say, I don't get it. You already know the teams they're playing. Yes, but you don't know when they're playing them and whether or not it's a prime time game and how. it'll lay out.

But I remember in those early days, people would say, I don't really get what you're doing here. I remember there was a lot of that. It's like, you're just taking the games that we all know and you're just putting some order to it. And I'm like, that's what I'm doing. Exactly. And now everybody does it.

Now that now, and I've already talked about this in the open, now there are all these Twitter, you know, accounts dedicated to leaking schedule rumors, many of which are confirmed. In fact, I have found, and I talked about it in the open, a site that's been pretty much right about all of the leaks it's had for the last couple of years. But anyway, I'm not going to bother you with schedule talk. I've already talked about that in the open. And by the time many people listen to this, it won't matter anyway, because they'll know what the schedule is. We've got Ben on the show. Of course, Ben writes for The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at Ben Standig, and you can listen to his podcast. It is called Standing Room Only. Ben does a great job

covering the team. I want to play a soundbite for everybody. You've heard it, but I want to play it for everybody. This was John Kime interviewing Ron Rivera out at the Arizona League meetings. Ben was out there for that, and a lot of the beat reporters ended up talking to Ron. And this was a soundbite in which Ron is asked about, you know, what he will say to new ownership once new ownership takes over. I want everybody to hear it. And then we will comment. I'll be very clear about, hey, my first three years, these were the things that we wanted to do. Well, what happened this year?

This year, I made decisions to do certain things. Made a decision. This is why I made decisions to change my coordinators. These are decisions that we're doing right now. And this is what we really feel is this opportunity to roster build. Okay, pure roster builds, saying this is about going forward. This is not about now. I don't even think I'm trying to do anything because I'm desperate.

I'm doing things the right way. Okay? Because at the end of the day, if they're not happy and they want to let me go, great. But at least the roster is in the position that if you come in with this philosophy saying we've got to build what we got right now, the quarterback is the right guy. The running game is in place. And we've got five playmakers. Okay, and when I say that, I talk about three wide receivers are tied in and a running back.

Those are your five playmakers on the field at time, you can feel good that this team is going forward. That's what I'm doing. Okay, I'm not worried about what the decision is after a year. What I'm worried about is making sure that this roster is being built. It's in place, and if I leave, I leave it in a good position. So what are you hearing in that soundbite and talking about, you know, right now, like when he says specifically, this is not about now. This is about, you know, the roster building thing that we've heard about and implying that it's really about the future and the roster that even if he's not here,

that he will leave for the next group. What do you hear? You know, Ron, much better than I do. Yeah, I mean, he gave me a similar story. I don't know, I lost track of time here, but at some point during this offseason about how, hey, look, if, you know, he's going to present his case, Oh, I know. He said to me that he's got to be able to present his case, his vision to ownership, because they need to be on the same page. And if they're not, then he's probably going to be out of here, you know, after the season. And, you know, I think a lot of us probably would agree with that. And, you know, look, I just wrote a story the other day,

observing what Rivera and others were doing during the draft about how they're already pitching themselves to the new ownership group. They're showing them, you know, their process, you know, a play. on the words with Josh Harris, of course, overseeing the 76th process early in his tenure, which we all get, I mean, you know, job preservation's a real thing. I think when he said it's not about job preservation.

I mean, maybe it's not technically. He has come to us every year with some sort of a sales pitch about whatever it is they're trying to do. You know, there was at one point, right, that very first year, the very, not 2020, but going to 2021 where he said, well, after they didn't get a quarterback, you're like, hey, you know, you don't always have to get a quarterback. You have to build the pieces around the quarterback,

and then you get the quarterback and cause them in. That was that year. Now we're getting the roster build because they're going with Sam Howe, who obviously, you know, in a perfect world, he starts, he plays well, and now you have a quarterback on a rookie deal for a couple more years. That is ideal. But this idea of just starting the roster build, like, that's not really what this means. it just means he's trying to present the best case for what he has,

and that is a guy on a rookie deal, and you're hoping for the best. They've been roster building this whole time. It's just a different way of phrasing. You're just not having it with a rookie quarterback salary. By the way, they haven't had – I mean, the first two years they – well, I guess technically you had Alex Smith. So he wasn't an expensive quarterback, but you didn't have an expensive quarterback in 2021.

you did last year by choice with Carson Went, and now you're going this year, with Howland Berset. You know, look, I think ultimately it is, I hate to say it to clear, but I mean, it is essentially another sales job, and I think the part that just gets sort of tires him

at a little point is we get it. It's kind of transparent, to be honest, and, you know, just go out there and play. I mean, you know, not, you don't have to, Like, there are a lot of things to sell on this team that are legit without having to make some things up. I mean, the defense was really good last year. There's a lot of playmakers on offense. Jacoby Burset is arguably the best quarterback they've had.

I'm not saying that's the best quarterback in the league, but arguably the best quarterback they've had. And they've been, you know, basically a 500 team this whole time. It's reasonable to think that with a possibly Eric Bieneming here now, too, that these pieces together could be a 10-win team without having to, to say things like we're roster building for the first time or whatever. It's like, all right, I guess, but not really. So I don't know. That's kind of what I hear. I just wish sometimes it would just be straightforward and not feel like you're having to

sell anybody, which is kind of what his, you know, his MO is. Yeah, there's this line and I don't know where it came from. But it goes something like, if all you ever have to say is what you think, then you don't have to remember your lines. And I feel like, you know, every time he sits down in front of anybody, and it's typically, you know, you guys as a group or individually or some sort of national show, he's coming up with new lines. And I think that, you know, I would hope that the new ownership group will be able to see through it

and identify what's good about him, what's bad about him, because I think Ron's probably a really good guy. I think there's some really positive things. that Ron has done. But like your point, and I've made this point with respect to the roster building narrative many times. It's like, wait a minute, that's what you told us in 2021. This isn't a new thing. And oh, by the way, like, you can really make the case that you've done a good job roster building. Like, that should be something that you say, look, you know, one of the things we've been doing here since we got here is we've been building up a roster. To act like,

this is a new development is just a he just talks and we've we've discussed that before but I think that for him and I was thinking about really the right case that he could make for the new ownership and I don't know what his motives are here you know I callers telling me this morning look he's pitching for the GM job you know this is what he he wants to talk about the roster building philosophy he has and what they've been able to put together. And look, if I'm not here, look at what we've left you. And he actually talks about the quarterback. Like, how does he know he's leaving the new group, a great new quarterback?

But I think what he could actually say is, I came in here and it was a shit show of the highest order. It actually got worse because there was a pandemic. We had major organizational issues with our owner and with investigation after investigation. But what I focused on was getting higher quality people into the locker room, good football players and good people and changing the culture of the side of the building that I could control. And I think I've done a really good job doing that. We have really good leadership in our locker room, and the leaders happen to be really good players.

See John Allen, see Terry McLaren. And even though I didn't draft those players, we kept those players. They may have had options to go elsewhere, but they wanted to stay here. And then on the field itself, the results, I wish they were better. But the truth is, I've actually overachieved with this group to a certain degree. We had a quarterback that we had to go to that was on one leg and we won a division by winning, you know, five out of six games down the stretch. And it wasn't a winning record, but we got into the postseason and we nearly upset the eventual Super Bowl champions. In 2021, we missed on a quarterback trade that we were excited about. Matt Stafford, he went on to L.A. and led them to a Super Bowl.

And the quarterback we signed got hurt in the first quarter of the first game. And we were, you know, forced at that point because of injuries to play a guy that was a backup quarterback in the XFL for much of the year. And yet, we put together a four-game winning streak through that season, got ourselves to 500. We were in the thick of the postseason race. And then we were ravaged with COVID absences. And then last year, we had a rough start to the season. We probably made a mistake with the quarterback that we ended up getting. He wasn't our first choice, but we ended up winning six out of seven games from the middle of October until early December.

And we were in the playoffs, a playoff race. We were actually the sixth seed at one point going into the end of our schedule. But the bottom line is we just didn't have good enough quarterback play. But as we've been looking and searching for that quarterback, we've been playing competitive football. And we've been building out a roster that is capable. of winning once we find the quarterback answer. That's, I mean, all of that is true. Now, if you want to describe the coaching job as overachieving,

I know a lot of people are throwing up in their mouths when I describe it that way. I'm not necessarily saying that I would describe it that way, but I'm saying that you could get away with presenting it that way, as Ron Rivera, the coach, to new ownership. Because there is some truth in that. They haven't had a quarterback at all. In fact, they've had rough quarterback play, and yet they've been a competitive team in all three years

with a chance to make the playoffs in mid to late December of each one of those three seasons. Instead of coming up with all of this talk about, you know, we're approaching it philosophically from a different standpoint. We're going to roster build and, you know, and like, stop. just tell the truth. The truth isn't that awful. That would be what I would say to Ron in terms of what he should present.

You say what? Yeah, yeah, I agree. You didn't even mention that in our three years twice, we've had a top 10 defense. Right. In the year we didn't have a top 10 defense, our two edge rushers. One got lost for the year because of a knee injury, and the other one was out for a stretch, because of an injury and then also had a family tragedy that kept him away.

All that's true. They also look at the receivers. Yeah, we had Terry McCorn. We didn't have anybody else. And now we have one of the better wide receiver trios in the league. The running back room we inherited was an aging Adrian Peterson and a kid in Darius, guys who would ultimately find himself in some trouble. And now we have two guys we drafted in the third world.

round got good value on Antonio Gibson and Brian Robinson looks like. So, yeah, I mean, we've done a good job of adding playmakers. And, you know, I mean, look, you can always, you know, with the quarterback, you know, we know how to believe works. You have to kind of have, you know, one of the top picks in the draft to have your best shot to get one. And, you know, we've been competitive enough. We haven't always been in that position.

But with Jacoby Brissette right now, you know, he's probably the best guy we've had. And, yeah, I think to your point about the culture in the locker room and things like that, I think that's a huge point. The guys are staying before they just all wanted to get out. And now these guys are staying. So, you know, I think that's a pretty good move. And heck, you know, the one guy that we lost, Brandon Sheriff, I mean, no offense. But, you know, I don't want to pay $16 million for a guard.

Right. So, yeah, I think all these things make total sense. And it just makes, you know, it's just. works. And to your point earlier, but the saying, you know, it does just like, just speak the honest truth. And then you don't have to sort of try to, you know, talk your way out of things later. And, yeah, I agree. I agree. It's, you know, even like Sam Howe. I mean, just say he's interesting. Don't have to tell me you to look it to write on him. Yeah. Hold on to that thought on him because I want to play another piece of sound from

the interview with Kymout in Arizona and respond to that because I totally agree with that sentiment. But, yes, like there is this, like, first of all, when I say and refer to the line, you know, all you have to ever say is what you think and then you don't have to remember your lines, as a head football coach, you don't have to do really either if you don't want to. I mean, it's a competitive business. I think he talks way too much to begin with. But that aside, you know, if he pitched honestly what's happened here, and obviously, you know, the overachieving as a coach, I think he could make the case for that, given what they've been able to do. But I think that the one question as the new owner, I would say, well, here's what you keep bringing up.

You keep bringing up quarterback, and you were in charge of picking these quarterbacks. And then Ron could say, and he should be honest, I made a mistake when I first got here. Because really, of all, they tried for Stafford. They tried for Russell Wilson. I personally don't consider either one of those to be a mistake, even though maybe Russell Wilson would have been a big mistake in hindsight. But in the moment, I didn't consider that to be a mistake.

Look, getting desperate in going with Carson Wentz was a mistake. But getting desperate in going with Ryan Fitzpatrick, maybe, I don't think that was nearly the mistake that Carson Wentz was because there weren't the red flags on the deal and the money wasn't what it was with Wentz. But I think he could, you know, if he were humble enough and certainly honest enough say, you know, I, because I believe this to be true, I didn't really believe in Dwayne Haskins as the long-term answer at quarterback, and I should have done something right away when I took over. And I didn't. And I didn't because I didn't, you know, we looked at, if Joe Burrow had been there, we would have taken Joe Burrow. But we had

two off our board because of the hip injury. And we didn't evaluate Justin Herbert as a franchise quarterback and somebody worthy at number two. And there was a transcendent talent at number two on defense that really we thought we were making the right decision on. He could admit that mistake. Because, you know, by the way, a lot of other people would have made that mistake, too, of not selecting Justin Herbert and selecting Chase Young. I don't know how many others would have made the mistake of moving forward with Dwayne Haskins, but Haskins had talent. It's not like Haskins didn't have talent. He did. But I think the word was already out, God rest his soul, that this was not the most mature of players.

And Ron wanted to change the culture, and it didn't take them long before he said, I've got 52 other guys to answer to here. He's not only not going to start. He's our third string quarterback. I wish he had figured that out three months earlier. Yeah. No, I mean, 100%, there's a, like, you know, your point here is there's an easy story to sell without selling anything.

Right. You just have to just say what the reality is. And, you know, look, I mean, it's not like doing the search for quarterback. Every team in the league, for the rare circumstances like Green Bay, where they had Brett Barb and Aaron Rogers for 100 years. Like, everybody has misses going for that. The 49ers are viewed as great shining light in the league. And obviously, last year they hit on big with Brock Purdy in the seventh round as the last pick.

But they're the same organization that traded up a bunch of stuff to take Trey Lance to two years in, we have no idea if he's any good or not, and they, you know, that's looking like a big whip for them. So, you know, this is another team, you know, Bill Belichick is, you know, has Matt Jones looking for him right now. I don't know, not so hot.

So, you know, Sam Donald, et cetera. So, you know, things happen. You do the best you can. But the reality is, we have built up a pretty good roster overall, even going to this off season. I said, as in Ben Sandik said, I don't

see that many places that they have to get right other than the offensive line, you know, in terms of like a major problem, everything else is like, you know, pretty reasonable. You know, so like, that's a good that's a good sign, but yeah, it's

you know, it's, yeah, it just gets to be a lot at some point, especially, you know, now that we're going to the fourth year of this, you know, it's, you know, it's, it just becomes more transparent when the more obvious story is sitting, you know, right there for him.

All right, I want to play something else from Kimes' conversation with Ron out in Arizona. This was on Sam Howell. This is what he said. Do you remember specific times when you saw that growth, like specific plays or moments? We'd be in practice. And the first thing you would hear from the defensive guys is, I was trying to make that play. I just couldn't get to the wall. Really?

You know, I mean, and it's that old saying that players know players. Right. And so as you listen to them and talk about, you know, God, his ball was so catchable. Man, he threw that to the only spot. So two things sort of, you know, struck me in listening to this. Not that we haven't heard this many times already since the end of the season. But it's like, number one is if it was so obvious, then everybody knew it. You know, players know players, which is,

you know, kind of where Kime wrote that story from this interview last week. Well, what took you so long to play him? And why did you hesitate to play him in the finale? We've been through that. Number two is this. Stop doing this. You know, this is my, you know, 15-year description of this franchise, you know, over-promising and under-delivering. Like, Gibbs would never do this to a young player. He would never talk about, you know, players, no players, and he's making the throws. I mean, my God. I mean, it's like we've got Marino, you know, out there with the practice squad and everybody knows it. Like, I mean, I just wish he would say something like Sam Howe his, you know, we like him a lot. We like the kid. You know, he's got a ways to go.

He's got a new offense to learn. You know, this isn't year two of the same thing. We got a new offensive coordinator. He hasn't played a lot of football at this level. We like what we saw last year, you know, in practice. We like what we saw in the one game that he played at the end of the year. But, you know, this is a, you know, we like the kid. We're going to give him a chance. And hopefully he can really earn it here in the offseason. But, you know, who knows? You don't really know until you get into the games and you see what he's made of when the live bullets start to fly. And they've only flown once for him in the NFL. So I'll be able to tell you more about him, you know, probably in mid-October. You know, come back to me then.

But it's not the way he approaches it. It's like the opposite of Gibbs, and I always use Gibbs. Gibbs would never put this kind of pressure on a young player, and he wouldn't ever give anybody else out there the feeling that they've got it all figured out. In fact, he'd say the opposite. This drives me crazy to hear this discussion of Sam Howl. I'm not suggesting he's lying, although I'm suspicious about all of this Sam Hal stuff, and how it got started and why we're here with him.

But I just wish he would not over promise. And if anything, under promise and then wow us when we get to September. Remember Griffin, we were already all fired up about Griffin, but we had no idea until the New Orleans game what they were rolling out with pistol formation and a dual threat attack. And it was like, whoa, we didn't see any of that in preseason. Nobody was talking about that. Like, he just talks too much.

And this to me is not wise to try to pump your young quarterback who's thrown 19 passes in the NFL to try to gin everybody up about him. Because, you know, there's another direction it could go when we get. to the games. Yeah, I mean, what's the old saying, you know, under promise and over-deliver, you know? Yeah, my mantra, that they're an organization that's over-promised and under-delivered for 25 years. Right. So, yeah, I mean, this is a case, I mean, you know, you could have, you could have ended up with the exact same Jacoby Brissette Sam-Haus scenario, but if instead, like, you know, ahead of getting Berset, it was just, you know, hey, we're going to obviously explore our options is the drafting for agency.

And, you know, we think Sam Howell is certainly interesting. That's why we gave him a start at the end of the year. And we'll see where we're at. And then they get Preset and be like, well, look, I mean, Brissette finished 8 and QBR rating last year. I know that he hasn't had starter success in terms of wins and losses when given opportunities. We also played for lousy teams.

I don't know if any of those teams had a top. He was playing with what had a top 10 defense or Terry McCorn, a wide receiver, and things like that. So we have Bresset. We feel pretty good about him. no disrespect to all the other quarterbacks we had, but honestly, we may be entering this season with the best quarterback room talent we've had entering a year. And, you know, in terms of Sam Howell, look, you know, I think everybody understands having

a quarterback on a rookie contract is a pretty good deal. Look what the Bengals were able to do with Joe Burrow admit they could sign other guys. Look at our own division. The Eagles just last year had Jayhunter Hurt on a rookie contract. and because of that they were able to add a bunch of veterans. And, you know, that would be amazing if we could do that. Now, I don't know. We'll see if Sam Howe's going to get a shot.

I think we want to explore this. But if not, we feel really good about Percette. If he just says that, and doesn't start it in January, he does say it more recently after, for agency at least, then it's a whole different view. And let the outsiders say whatever they want about that. You know, if you lined up all the quarterbacks in the league, I think Jacobi Perced is somewhere in the top 32.

We know not every team can have a star or even a, you know, or a first-round pick because there's only so many in a given year that are good. And go from there. But, yeah, I mean, and we've talked about this before, you know, my contention that the reason they started pumping up how, when they did, was to change the subject from the late-season collapse and Carson Wentz not working out do something positive, which is totally reasonable from a PR perspective except for the fact that now it has led to this story with legs for three months about how, wait a minute,

is why you can't really put all their eggs in the Sam Howe basket? I don't necessarily know that they are, but that's now how it's being framed because of what they did. And, you know, when you throw one thing out there, it's, you know, think about how much it would have been different if they had just let it die out, let the Carson went. Like it worked like Ron was going to be getting fired. Right. Healy or anything.

So what was the point of having to do all that other than just purely not wanting to see negative headlines or whatever about it? It's like, all right, well, people will get over it. Yeah. No, it's the don't look in, you know, what's in this hand, which is we lost to Cleveland starting Carson Wentz. And I didn't even know that we could be eliminated from the playoffs at the end of that day to look over here and look at what we have. You see him in the Dallas game. He's got a chance to be our franchise quarterback. He's QB1.

No, it's totally reasonable to come to that conclusion, especially when you have the context of they literally weren't sure about playing him or playing him a lot in the season finale. But by the way, it's worked. I mean, it hasn't worked on me. I don't think it's worked on you. But I think there are, you know, a set, there's a segment of the fan base that is really excited about Sam Howl and forgot all about the Carson Wentz debacle against the Browns. Like, you know, I've said this in more recent years.

We do have, you know, a portion of this fan base that has been kind of easy for the team. And, you know, it's the same group that, you know, I don't want to get into it. But the bottom line is, to a certain degree, it's worked. And even people who are somewhat skeptical, you know, if they liked Sam Hal at North Carolina, they kind of like this idea more than drafting a quarterback or more than, you know, looking at anything that they could have looked at, you know, other than the draft. So the strategy has actually kind of worked for them. To a degree, I mean, I think, you know, it's a tie.

all into this the same interview and the same story and all that. You know, go back to the year before and, you know, we're, sorry to mention this with Kine, but it's his story and we're talking about it. In 2022, the story

was that Kime put out there with one source, says that they contacted all 31 other teams in search of a quarterback and had a list of over 40 people. Now that subsequently has been dialed back to teams of the available quarterback, but, you know, that that still was out there.

And, you know, who reads this stuff beyond you and me? The other teams, and the other teams, like, there's no hiding how desperate they were to figure this out. So when the time comes and they can't get Russell Wilson and their other options are fading and the Colts are like, all right, well, we have Carson Wentz. Instead of, it's one thing to take on Carson Wentz. They could have given up the draft picks they did, but not take on the full salary. or vice versa, taken on the full salary, but only given up a much, much lesser pick value.

I mean, you know, you could be like, all they're taking a shot. But to do it to take it all had to be on some level because the Colts were very aware how desperate this team was because they kept telegraphing everything for weeks on end. And, you know, that's the thing. So even if the Sam Howe thing is working, which I don't disagree with you on, to a degree, with some parts of the fan base. It's the point of how you're choosing to make these decisions that somehow the public relations aspect is more important

than just the actual doing. You know, like other teams, you know, I mean, look, as a reporter, I'm happy for all for him saying a lot of things. It obviously is interesting to a degree, but in terms of the actual running of the franchise and the team, what's the point of saying all this stuff when it just, what,

you know, why do you have to say we contact all other teams? I would hope so. I would hope, I mean, not the Chiefs or the Bengals, but I mean,

I would hope he would call, isn't that a given? Like, the shocking, more shocking thing would be to find that, yeah, we didn't bother calling anybody

to see if they had a quarterback available because we just didn't do that. Like, of course, I mean, you don't have to tell us these things. Yeah, I mean,

no, you're 100% right. I talked about this last week with the luck stuff, it's like, you know, when you talk as much as they do, and you telegraph as much as they do, the telegraphing last year basically resulted in getting absolutely robbed by the Colts on the Wendst deal, and they didn't even know it. Like, they couldn't even figure out how badly they were taken to the cleaners on that deal. And then on top of that, you know, running their mouth as much as they did to try to tell everybody how, you know, focused and

dialed in they were on trying to find their new quarterback. They may have suggested something about Andrew Luck that could, I don't think it will, but could have put them in jeopardy of losing a draft choice. Again, like, at some point, new owner, new culture, shut up and win some games. I mean, it's just been, I know I repeat this line all the time from Doc, but Doc many years ago saying nobody does Monday through Saturday better than this franchise, Sundays are the problem. And that hasn't really changed in a lot of ways with this particular group. And it really speaks to this level of insecurity and being unsure.

Even though, again, I can say that and also recognize and acknowledge that, you know, Ron has done some things with kind of the culture of the locker. room in the players that are involved that I think you can give them some kudos for. All right. I kind of talked about in the open briefly the story from Kaplan in the athletic yesterday. I had them on radio yesterday and then talked about the Maskey story as well with Nikki. Do you have a sense right now? Like where's your sense on the Harris bid, the timing, etc? Yeah, I mean, I think as this has progressed, you know, I think when they first came to an agreement,

and we heard this could be, could take some time. I think a lot of our thought was, all right, well, you know, sure, of course, me, Dan Snyder is Dan Snyder. It's, of course, going to be a flying the ointyment. And, you know, if he's pushing for indemnity, whether it's for the Mary Carol White investigation or anything else that could come up, okay, that could be a problem. But, you know, as time went on and we see that Josh Harris has reportedly around, you know, 17 partners overall.

You know, you say, okay, well, does he have the goods to the money to get this over the finish line? And, you know, in the days prior to these reports, you know, we definitely started to hear more questions about that. And, yeah, I mean, I think, I think this is a little nerve-wracking. I think that if you're, you know, for the standpoint of wanting Dan Snyder to sell, I think that Kaplan, in his story, you know, made a couple of points about maybe that the league seems to be willing to bend over backwards to get this done. So I think that that's a positive sign. I guess I would ultimately say I still think they figure out a way that come too far for this thing to not get done. But, you know, I do think this is taking longer.

I mean, it's so funny, right? I still remember Maryland playing in the NCAA tournament almost two months ago at this point and that was the night that everybody was coming out saying they're close, this thing's almost done, and here we are all these weeks later, not only that's

done, it's feeling like it's almost regressed a bit. So, you know, I don't want to, I don't want to, like, send off too many alarm bells in part because I just don't know, and I don't think most people know definitively what is really going to happen, but I think there has to be

some question. And by the way, I think there is another question here, and that is even if they now push this over the line, what does this mean if Dr. Harrison having this much difficulty getting there, what does this mean for things that come after this, namely like the stadium? Of course.

You know, that's going to cost huge money. So what does that mean? Not just in her getting it done, does it mean it's going to be delayed five years, more? You know, who knows? So, yeah, I think there's a lot of questions still now, and some that are being raised more so now than they were a few weeks back. So it's a little alarming, but hopefully the league is willing to bend over,

the change of their guidelines a little bit, to willing to alter something that they viewed as, you know, must have previously in terms of debt limits and whatever to get this done. All right, last one on the football team. Mini camp, rookie minicamp this weekend. You just reported that Kwan Martin, their second round pick out of Illinois, is not going to be present for personal reasons. I'm just curious, in addition to rookies, you know, showing up, you know, their draft choices, their undrafted, free agents, etc. Are there veterans that show up for this?

not veterans like guys that you know who play a lot but there'll be some guys who are on certainly on the practice squad from last year who will be there you know if he told me a guy like christian homes or seventh round pick last year who played a lot on special teams but not a lot on defense he told me a guy like that was there or you know that wouldn't surprise me or it's Jared Patterson or something like that I haven't got plausible for sure but yeah it's not going to be anybody who you you know overly familiar with unless there's some circumstance of like somebody's been kind of rehabbing from an injury, and this is a chance to get out there

and do some things in a control setting with another other players. But yeah, it's just basically going to be rookies, undrafted free agents, players coming in for tryouts who maybe get lucky or show off their wares enough to get an invitation to join the 90-man roster, things like that.

But, yeah, I wouldn't expect any bets or anybody of note out there. Any word on YQuahn? Martin specific to the reasons? I mean, is everything okay? Or do we know? No, we don't know. They just told us that he's what you said, the personal matter. Okay. So, yeah. Just so everybody has an idea of what's coming. So this is rookie mini-camp, you know, this weekend. There's a mandatory mini-camp June 6th through June 8th. and then you've got three sets or at least three, two sets of OTA days. I think the first ones...

No, it's two sets this year. They lost one. Oh, because they lost one because of the hitting. Yeah. Yeah. And I think the first set of OTAs is end of May, right? No, the, well, I guess end of May, it's the same week that their league is meeting in Minnesota. Right.

22nd. Right, that's 23rd through 25th, I think. Right. That'll be the first OTA session is overlapping with those dates, and then the next one will be basically a week later. And then I think they skip a week, and then they have mini-camp, better mini-camp, everybody will be there. All right. Ben covered the NBA and the Wizards for many years before he took over the Washington football team beat. So I asked him to stick around for just one short, I promise, NBA playoff segment to finish up the show. We'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. The Warriors stayed alive last night beating the Lakers 121 to 106.

Anthony Davis was grazed with kind of a forearm and then ended up in a wheelchair. as he exited the arena with concussion-like symptoms. The reporting today is that he does not have a concussion, will not enter concussion protocol, and therefore be available for tomorrow night's sixth game in L.A. I just want Ben's staying up and watching all these games as well. And so I wanted to say this about last night, night's Golden State game. I loved Draymond Green last night. And I, I, sometimes Tommy, Tommy laughed at

me recently because I called them a basketball genius, which was a bit embellished, understood. I was trying to make the point that, you know, beyond the loose screw that he clearly has, the loose emotional screw that he clearly has, he's a great basketball player. He's a Hall of Fame player in the future. And last, night with their season on the line. His energy level and his competitive level was off the charts. And, you know, Steph was really outstanding in the game. Wiggins played really well for them. I thought Looney played her really good game, the best game he's played after being sick for a few games, Ben. But Draymond Green ended up with 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals, one block.

and he was the catalyst and the energy all night long. And I just thought I was really, really impressed. As I have been many times in the past, no matter how nuts he is with Draymond Green. What was your takeaway from the game last night? Yeah, I mean, in terms of Draymond, you know, there are so many, I had someone to ask me this the other day, if Grahamond had put saying on the Wizards,

there's really almost any other team from the start of his career, and with the way he plays, in terms of the antics and the anger and the, you know, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, what he's got in a second contract, you know, like that would he have gotten a second contract, you know, like, would he have actually stayed? And I suspect in most places, other than maybe Miami with Pat Riley, the answer might be no, because too many places don't understand how, what he, would, what he is, or how he deal with it, that, like, like, the, yes, as you pointed out, there can be, there can be much frustration, but the good is so unbelievable. You know, when they had the death lineup, right, the original version of this Golden State team that became problematic for the rest of the league, of course, Steph Curry and Clay Thompson shooting was the highlight, but the reason they were able to pull this off, meaning going with this small lineup, the Smith-switchable lineup, was because of Draymond Green's ability at 6'8 to defend big men, but also serve essentially as a point guard.

or a point forward or whatever you want to say, and distribute the ball. And that was the missing piece. That was a piece that there's so few players in the league that could pull that off. I mean, when I say few, I mean, like, I don't even know how many. Two, three. I mean, there's not many guys who could do that. And, you know, like you said, last night was a reminder.

Not that he was as good necessarily as he was, or maybe he was from those early days. But it's a reminder that his highs or very highs, the multiple ways he could, impact the game. And, you know, last night was a really good example. His score ring, you know, he's not known to score a point these days. But, you know, the first, like, three minutes, he hit a three and had like six or eight points pretty quickly. And I think, like you said, that was a sign that he was going to be aggressive throughout on both ends of the court. Yeah, I mean, he's just, he is one of those dudes when, you know, when backs are against the wall, he is a big-time fighter and a big-time competitor. And they all,

all are. I mean, that is the definition of a championship group that they have there. But I just, I was, you know, it's not the first time I felt that way watching him and it probably won't be the last, although who knows with this group and where it's headed. But I thought he was just outstanding. By the way, I thought LeBron played one of his better games, certainly shooting the ball. For those that thought that the Lakers were going to come out and lay down like they did in game five against Memphis, they really didn't. You know, they lost by 15. points. They were down by 11 at halftime, but it was a very competitive first half. But I don't know, Anthony, they can't win this series without Anthony Davis. You agree with that, right? They lose the

next two if he doesn't play. Yeah, I mean, I think if Anthony Davis is playing at, you know, the all, you know, the all pro, all-star level, whatever, that he's capable of. I mean, it's not just an all-star. Like when he is on, you know, I agree with like Yokic or at beat or are the best players in the league probably at this point or Yannis. But Anthony Davis is right there when he's playing it as best. His problem is he's just not between the injuries and just his own inconsistency. It's not there all the time. But, yes, they don't have enough elsewhere, you know, to get it done. On the flip side, I would say, I don't see how Goldfay's winning the last two games of Clay Thompson and Jordan Poole keep shooting miserable.

you know, from the field. But they are not making any shots. Unfortunately, for Golden State last night, it was a Draymond Green performance, and Andrew Wiggins stepped up. Of course, Steph is always going to put up points. But they're going to need those guys to do more because if they're not, you know, like I don't imagine Draymond's going to have the same game again,

and Wiggins is up and down too. So they're going to need Clay Jordan Poole because, yeah, if Anthony Davis is able to play and can do what he's, we often expect from him, then they're going to be. trouble. I mean, Pool shot made some shots last night. He was non-existent

the two previous games. There's clearly a problem with Jordan Pool and that group there. But beyond that, I've actually been, you know, confused by Kerr's, you know, starting lineups and substitution patterns. I mean,

Jamichael Green had two great games in a row. He hasn't played since. And I understand they want to play Peyton more. You know, Luni was sick. there for a while. They can really use him on the boards, but he can't guard Davis. And then getting to Davis for the Lakers, I mean, look, I'm not suggesting that he wasn't concussed or there wasn't a concern of a concussion because I understand that concussions aren't always the biggest

blows. They can be glancing blows, which that appeared to be last night. That was not a big time blow. But Anthony Davis's reputation of being soft, you know, precedes all of this. And And I hope for his sake, he doesn't have concussion. He doesn't enter concussion protocol and he plays. Because if he doesn't, no matter what anybody says, if it's legitimate or not legitimate, it is going to be another thing that starts to define him as a player that you couldn't count on, as great as he is. I think, you know, it looks like he'll be available and we'll see how he plays.

I definitely think the pressure is back on L.A. I think the pressures on them to end this tomorrow night at home. And if they don't, that's going to be a tough ask for them to win a game seven on the road. I'd like to see that, actually. I'd really like to see the Warriors going and win tomorrow night. As far as tonight goes, you know how I think. The Celtics are two and a half point favorites after getting blitzed in game five at home and playing in Philadelphia tonight.

They're a bigger favorite on the road than they've been the entire series. That one reeks to high heaven for me. I'm going to be on the Celtics tonight. And then the sons are only two and a half point favorites at home over the Nuggets. I think Denver ends it tonight. I like both Denver and Boston tonight. But, you know, as it relates to Denver, you know Yokic, I know Yokic.

I want him, Ben, to make the NBA finals. because I want people who don't really know his game to see him in that spotlight. Oh, I mean, 100%. I, you know, the older I get and you get more responsibilities and I've got to cover this team and all that, like I don't have the patience to watch as much NBA regers season as I did. I try to stay on top of the Wizards, which is, you know, a chore in itself. But then other than that, you know, it's kind of hard. But if I'm aware that Steph Curry and Yokic are playing on a team,

TNT or ESPN game or whatever, I do try to make an extra effort because it is just a joy to watch them play basketball. And for Yokic, like, I think on some level, you know, you and I are from the same generation. I think there's like two ways to how you look at basketball. There was the Michael Jordan way where it's a lot of, you know, obviously dynamic one-on-one athletic play that people aspire. or they want to be like Mike. And then there's the pass first, see the court, the court vision with bird and magic. That, to me, is how I prefer my basketball. And there's not a lot of that these days.

But Yokic, it is from that era. It is from that lineage. His ability, his passes are insane. And he's doing it. It's not like he's coming up with, like, you know, some magic Johnson trickery on the fast break. He's just standing at the top of the key, looks around the court, and somehow sees every angle, no matter where the player is, it's breathtaking to watch. But then when you're taking away the passing lanes, he scores like you can't believe.

So efficiently, he's seemingly never rattled. And obviously, you look at him, he is hardly some dynamic athlete relative to other NBA players. And it's almost like, how is he doing this? But he's doing it over and over and over again. and you know he is you know he's been carrying this franchise the last three years

you know people you know knocked him for having not advanced deep into the playoffs previously well I mean last year they had a you know a massive injury they shouldn't even have been where they were yeah without his dynamic yeah without his dynamic play so

yeah I mean I think you know when you can be a player like there's a lot of excellent players in the league but not all of them show up at all all times and are fairly consistent. And that's one of the things I will always give LeBron credit for or Jordan or guys like that is every game you come to see them play. Even if they have an off-shooting night, they show up.

And Yokech, I think, is one of those guys. That, to me, is about a high compliment as I could give anybody. And, yeah, it would be great if he's able to make the finals just from what you said. So people, you know, the more casual fan can really get a look of his artistry out there. Tonight should be another good night in the NBA playoffs. By the way, John Orand, who was on with me this morning on radio, said the NBA ratings are through the roof in these playoffs, which does not surprise me. I was hoping to hear that I wasn't the only one that had been captivated by these games and these superstar performances. It's been great, and we're only halfway through it.

So, all right. By the way, at somebody who pays attention to the Wizards, here's how I also spend part of my time. Every time it looks like somebody needs to get traded after whatever happened here, whether it's like DeAndre Aiton or maybe Julius Randall, I go to the trade machine to see what can you accomplish here with Beal? Can you make a deal where you make a move here? Because, you know, there's a thing with the Wizards.

It's like, yeah, I'd like it one time to be there, you know, back in this mix and, you know, so far removed. Well, I said this the other day that it was the game the other night that the Knicks, the game on Sunday, I guess, that the Knicks lost, or the game on Monday night that the Knicks lost to the heat. And they fell behind 3-1. And I was sitting there the following morning and I'm watching all of the coverage of the NBA playoffs on ESPN primarily. And I actually found myself, you know, desiring the Wizards just to be part of the mix because it was, kind of fun there for those years when they were in the playoffs.

They weren't an eight seed. They weren't playing a play-in game. They were a five-seat. They won first round series each of those years, you know, beating Chicago, beating Toronto, you know, beating Atlanta, having a seven-game conference semifinal series against Boston. You know, you're part of the – this is a sport like the other basketball sport, college basketball that people don't pay attention to it until the games matter. College basketball has become a one-month sport, and this is like a two-and-a-half-month

sport during the postseason. Nobody really watches a lot of NBA regular season anymore except for the diehards. I'm an NBA fan. I don't watch a lot of regular season except for the Wizards. But, man, you get to the playoffs, and it is a completely different sport in the way the games are played, and then everybody's paying attention. and I liked when the Wizards were a part of the mix, even though I knew they couldn't win a title.

I would prefer that. I mean, I would prefer being a legitimate contender. But those four to five years or four years out of five, whatever it was, they were actually a part of the story this time of year. And they haven't been for a while. And I kind of wish that they were. But whatever. And by the way, when they were Ben,

they were with two very young players. that you could be legitimately excited about for, you know, looking ahead to the next five to seven to eight years. Didn't work out that way. That's why it's so frustrating that Ted Leontas seems to be so insistent. I mean, if he has said on the record, we will never, ever tank. And obviously, their actions continue to say that. They're trying to forget the A.C. or the play-in game,

or I guess maybe it can't be the play-in game because they punted on that this year. but like they're trying to get that to get that playoff revenue or whatever when as you said the john wall bradley beale era was because they were horrendous and got the first pick of the draft and the third pick of the draft and made some good selections and that's how they got back to being good it's not complicated you either get the star free agents to come to your place which they never do or you put yourself in the in the in the lottery position and give yourself a chance to get these young guys from the jump and you know with the contract situation you can have them on your roster for basically, you know, eight years or so, and see what happens. You know, the funny thing is the guy who we think is going to buy the commanders, this is exactly how that team got into this by going with the ultimate tank with the process, and they ended up, you know, they were some misses, which is the point.

You're never going to be perfect, but they got a chill and beat, and, you know, here they are, one game away from the Eastern Conference finals. Yep. But let me just finish up by, once again, emphasizing Boston and Desmond, Denver tonight. Boston laying the two, two and a half, Denver plus the three, three and a half. I haven't liked many sides here in recent days. I'm glad I wasn't on on Sunday because I loved Denver and had them Sunday night, but those are the two sides tonight that I like. All right, thanks for doing this, as always. Absolutely. Every time I come on your show, people tell me they heard me on

your podcast far more than I do on mine, so I appreciate. Oh, stop it. The point of time. No, Standing room only is Ben's podcast. And as I've told you many times before, people, subscribe to the athletic. Totally worth it. I mean, literally, you can get it now for like a buck to two bucks a month. And Ben writes really well and does a great job covering the team. All right, I'll talk to you soon. All right, that's it for the day.

Back tomorrow, we'll obviously have the NFL schedule and the entire Washington schedule, the official schedule for the show tomorrow.