The Kevin Sheehan Show - QB Richardson Mocked to DC

Episode Date: February 6, 2023

Kevin opened the show with thoughts on the Kyrie Irving trade, the Wizards' meltdowns over the weekend, Florida QB Anthony Richardson being mocked to Washington, the latest on the Commanders' OC search, and some college hoops including Maryland continuing to roll. Reuben Frank/NBC Sports Philly jumped on from Arizona with the Eagles' perspective heading into Super Bowl 57. Josh Robbins/The Athletic talked Wizards with Kevin to finish up the show.  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 Chean Show. Here's Kevin. First Monday show since September 12th, where we're not talking about football games on this show. No, I did not watch the Pro Bowl.

I didn't watch any of it. I heard about some of it, but I did not watch it. But no real football yesterday for the first time. since September 12th from an NFL perspective. First Sunday yesterday without football since Labor Day weekend because there were college games on Sunday over Labor Day weekend. I hate when football season is over. But we do have a game to talk about,

and that would be Super Bowl 57. And my first guest on the show coming up next segment will be Ruben Frank. Ruben's covered the Eagles for years for NBC Sports Philly. he'll be my guest next. We'll get the Eagles perspective as he'll join us from Arizona. After that, Josh Robbins, who covers the Wizards for the Athletic, he will be on this show. The Wizards blew a 20-point lead Friday night in a loss to Portland, and on Saturday night they blew a 23-point lead against the Nets and lost that game. first team in 25 years in the NBA to lose back-to-back games after having 20-point or greater leads in both of those games.

I had Wes Unsell Jr. on the show radio show Friday. He was really good. You can still go back and listen to that at the team 980.com. But I really, and Friday night watching the Portland game, the first half, I really thought this is a pretty good. good team. And I know Tommy was mocking me last week. And yes, they were in the midst of a six-game win streak. And those wins weren't, you know, over the most impressive lot of teams. But still, I thought Friday night, I'm like, I'm watching a team that's going to win 42, 43 games. And they're going to be a six-seat. They're going to, they're going to avoid the playing round. I really thought that that was going to happen on Friday night in the first half. And then it didn't happen, and so I feel differently. So that's enough on them. I'll have Josh on the show

because we can talk about what's next almost. We'll talk a little bit about what happened over the weekend. I'm going to start the show, though, today, and we do have some football coming up here shortly. I'm going to start the show with Kyrie Irving, all right? And I want Joe and Kevin and Basel, or Basil, however you pronounce that name. Kristen, four people who reached out to me this morning after the radio show and kind of put their own spin on my Kyrie Irving take. I want the four of you and everybody else to listen very carefully because I'm going to spit out exactly what I spat out this morning on radio. Kyrie Irving professionally is despicable. Professionally, Kyrie Irving is despicable.

There are other words that fit, you know, unaccountable, selfish, greedy, narcissistic, narrow-minded, a few of the ways that you could describe his lack of professionalism, which is what I'm describing. I don't know him personally. of the worldviews he espouses makes me believe that I wouldn't think much of him personally. And I'm not talking, by the way, about the vaccine stance that he had. I've always been in the camp of your body or decision. But as I said about Kirk Cousins last year and Kyrie Irving last year, I think their specific positions, their jobs, being a part of a team, being paid

ungodly sums of money. Their absences impacting the livelihoods of many others in their business, in their company, on their team, I think he should have gotten a shot. It's the same thing I said about Kirk Cousins, so don't shoot back at me inaccurately. That's exactly what I said about Kirk Cousins. I said he should have gotten a shot last year. He's paid a lot of money, and there are a lot of people that rely on him, and he wasn't there. I'm not talking about this past season, the season before.

He wasn't there in their biggest game of the year at the end of last year when they were still in playoff contention and they had a game at Green Bay on Sunday night football and he was out because he tested positive for COVID. Now, of course, he could have gotten a vaccine and still tested positive for COVID. Understood. Trust me, you don't have to get started with me on the vaccine and whether or not it was really a vaccine or whether or not it was really a therapy. All right, to reduce the chances of getting very, very sick. That was the benefit. I'm all four. I'm pro-vaccine.

I've been vaccinated and boosted twice, I think, boosted. I think I got that second booster shot. But Kyrie Irving professionally, this guy is a joke. He is blown up. He is sabotaged every situation he's been in. Cleveland, Boston. and now Brooklyn. He's someone who just doesn't care about the rules,

but more than that, just doesn't care about commitment. He has no sense of the professional quid pro quo, something for something. I give you something like a big contract, and you give me something back, like, how about let's just start with showing up for work? Is that too much to ask? You're getting paid at the very least to just show up. It's probably too much to ask someone like him for best effort, you know, best behavior. But just show the F up for work.

He's not the owner. He doesn't sign the checks. He cashes them. Few of us, few of us are our own bosses. He is not his own boss. He's behaved like he is. He's completely detached from, I think, what most reasonable people are. would believe his professional behavior. You've got a job. You're getting paid. Don't you have to show up for work?

Not him. He played 143, 143 out of a possible 318 games in Brooklyn. 143 out of 318. And yes, I get it. Some of those were because of the vaccination issues and him being prevented from playing. But other times, he just didn't feel like it. He was really, really in a mental mess after various events, January 6th and other things. And I got to take the day off. Actually, I'm going to have to take a couple of weeks off. Let's be fair, too, about this. It's the adults that have let him get away with this. And by the way, they'll let him get away with it again in Dallas. You watch. He's not going to just change overnight.

And that's what happens when you're as good as he is. and my God, is he a good player? He's one of the most gifted basketball players when it comes to ball handling and scoring in one body that I've ever seen. I've often said that Steph Curry to me is the greatest ball handler in shooter in one body that I've ever seen in the NBA.

Kyrie Irving is certainly one of the two to three greatest ball handlers and scores in one body that I've ever seen. But the adults, you know, the adults have enabled him. Now, recently they've pushed back. I mean, the Nets, justifiably so, did not give him what he wanted last offseason, which was the massive extension. How could you? You know, even considering the talent, you can't give someone like that commitment.

When he's already proven to you that he won't reciprocate the commitment, he's not reliable. He's not accountable and he doesn't give a shit about being reliable or accountable. He doesn't care about anybody but himself. The Nets finally said no last year, show us you've changed, and we'll address the contract down the road. Down the road for him meant the trade deadline. Like, hey, have you seen me playing recently? Forget that anti-Semitic thing that I, you know, that I got myself into a mess with and got suspended for earlier in the season. I've been playing great, pay me. They didn't want to do it. They hadn't seen enough. It was only, we're not even at

the All-Star break. And he's played well. He's missed 12 games this year, but he's played well in the games that he's played in. 27 plus points a game, you know, 48% shooting. I mean, he's carried Brooklyn to being competitive with Durant being out, hurt. But it's not even the All-Star break yet. He hadn't led them or contributed to a championship yet since arriving in Brooklyn. In fact, as most of you know, they've only won one playoff series with him in Brooklyn. One. It's one of the biggest flops in American team sports history. Kevin Durant, James Hardin at one point, Kyrie Irving, they combined to win one playoff series. You know, they were the huge favorite, huge favorite, overwhelming favorite to win the title in 21-22.

They were the favorite to win the East in 2020, 2020, 2021. And they won one playoff series. It is an all-time bust of a team. Kevin Durant is not Kyrie Irving. He dies to play. He's had injuries, but he wants to play. He wants to win. He plays when he's supposed to play.

But man, is his judgment, you know, poor? It's been misguided. He left Steph Curry to play with Kyrie Irving. Imagine making that choice. Most people, you know, don't get to choose who they work with. Kevin Durant does, did. and he chose Kyrie Irving over Steph Curry. Ouch.

The fallout of this, of course, as it is whenever Kyrie Irving goes into a place, blows it up, and then heads to another place, is kind of the mess left in his wake. Although really, I would imagine when he goes for the team that sees him leave, it's probably a relief on some level. But what will Durant do now in Brooklyn? I mean, you know, he asked to be dealt last summer, and they said no.

Does he ask to be traded again? Will they make a move with Durant before the deadline? Hey, D.C., Durant, how about coming home? I don't think he wants to. And then the Lakers apparently weren't interested in reuniting Kyrie with LeBron. I don't know if you saw this. The L.A. Times reported that while LeBron wanted it, of course, They ignored LeBron because after all, he's not a very good GM.

Hell of a player, but the Lakers didn't want the Kyrie nonsense around their hallowed halls. So LeBron, as he gets ready to set the NBA all-time scoring mark, passing Kareem this week, you know, will he be salty that he didn't get what he wanted and look to get out? Meantime, Dallas, good luck with that one. from a basketball perspective, I can't wait to see how Luca, who by the way, dominates the ball as much as any player in the league, I can't wait to see how he coexists with Kyrie Irving. Anyway, I want to read a quick Apple review and remind everybody to rate us and review us wherever you can, especially on Apple Podcasts where they give you an opportunity to rate us up to five stars and write a quick one-to-two-sentence review.

It's very helpful. keeps our advertisers and prospective advertisers really interested in the show. This from JF1, as a subscriber from the beginning, the podcast is intelligent, entertaining, and informative. A lot of sports programming is guys just yelling at each other with repetitive takes. Kevin, Tom, their guest, Ben,

I'm assuming standing, Kooley, and others provide the thoughtful analysis, other than the exception, Kirk Cousins being top of the league QB, he writes in parentheses. He writes, I find it hard to find intelligent conversation in sports media. This podcast provides that while being funny and consistent with relevant local content. Thank you, JF1. By the way, I think there is a lot of intelligent conversation in our sports media. Not every market has as much, but I think there is a lot of it.

By the way, Kirk Cousins, I've never said, is a top of the league QB. I've said he is a top half of the league QB. And I want to amend that, not because of the performance in the Pro Bowl, where he brought the NFC back apparently in the flag football game. I didn't watch that. I mean, look, that's all he did this year was bring his team back at a record eight fourth quarter comebacks this year. I think he's a top third of the league starting quarterback.

That would be top 10 to 11. Yeah, he's somewhere in that range. Maybe 12. But I don't know. With the quarterback play this year, he's probably easy, 10 to 11. Be hard to find 11 guys or 12 guys that are definitely better as a starter than him. There was some Washington news that I want to just mention real quickly before we get to Ruben, Frank, from NBC Sports Philly. there was a report today from Washington Business Journal that Dan Snyder's Potomac estate is on the market for $49 million.

By the way, that would be a record sale in the D.C. area if he sells it for $49 million. I know for a fact that this property has been on for a while now. They've been trying to sell this property for a while now. It's been on privately for a while. It's been on publicly before. So it's been on the market, taken off, put back on. but they've been trying to sell this property for a while now. The news really would be if he puts his Virginia residence up for sale,

the one that he bought back in 2021 for $48 million. If that one goes up, that's new, and that would suggest that maybe they have moved on from the area as well. You know, there was some of that reporting about them taking up residence in the U.S. I also want to mention something that Ben Standig wrote in his column this morning. He wrote a story that Eric Bianamy and Washington have mutual interest in the offensive coordinator position here. Here's the specific part that he wrote that speaks to, quote, multiple people with

direct knowledge of the situation told the athletic that the team hopes to interview Eric Bienomi, and that mutual interest exists. So, look, the people that they've already interviewed, nobody's been hired from that group. So there's not a big-time rush. They'll wait for this Super Bowl. They'll interview BNami, I'm sure, early next week. But the fact that there's mutual interest, you know, Bienemy, we've talked about this, okay?

Why would he move from Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes to Washington? because he'll have the opportunity to design offensive game plans and call plays, something that he has not done in Kansas City. So that's why he would move laterally. Now, will there be other opportunities that are better than Washington where, you know, he's not going to work for potentially a lame duck head coach? Yeah, that's, you know, possible. We'll see. I don't know what opportunities are going to exist for Eric B. Enemy.

But if they meet with him and he's got a better offer and he goes somewhere else, or they interview him and they decide not to offer him, they've got other guys that they've offered that clearly it's not like the league is, you know, foaming at the mouth to hire. None of those people have been hired yet, and they always have Zampezee that they can turn back to in the event that they get shut out everywhere else. Scott Turner got hired by the Las Vegas Raiders to be their passing game coordinator. Remember, Josh McDaniels, for all intents and purposes, is the O.C. in Vegas and calls plays.

Now, Scott Turner will have passing game coordinator as his title. Didn't take long for Scott to find a gig. Many of you have reached out to me to say, is Taylor Heineke going to go to Vegas? I don't know. I have no idea. They've got Jarrett Stidham. That was Josh McDaniel. Daniels guy in New England. And, you know, Aaron Rogers is a possibility to Vegas, I would think. A couple of other quick things, and then we'll get to Ruben Frank and talk Eagles in advance of Super Bowl 57.

Matt Miller, I think, covers the draft for ESPN, and he put out his first mock draft this morning on ESPN.com. 16 Washington on the clock. They select Anthony Richardson quarterback Florida. So I've talked a lot about Anthony Richardson. Nick Ackridge from Pro Football Focus was on the show. I would urge you to listen to that if you haven't. Nick was great on Friday's show. He's already started to look at some of the quarterbacks.

He likes Richardson as well. I do. I watch a lot of college football. I watched a lot of Anthony Richards. I think he is flawed. He's got bad mechanics. He throws inaccurately, I think, because of those bad mechanics, but he is a freak athletically. He's 6-4. He's 2.30. I don't know what he's going to run, but he's not going to run any less than 4-4. He's got the strongest arm, more likely than not, in the entire class. And he was brilliant at times on a very bad team, a bad Florida team,

Not a lot of weapons, terrible defense this year, had to kind of carry them. I don't know if he's the right guy or not. I don't get to sit down and have the conversations with Anthony Richardson that the team does to find out if he loves football, if he's a quick study, if he's going to be coachable, all the things that are so important, especially in that position. I don't know anything about him. But I would continue to look at quarterbacks until I know I have the answer for the next. 10 years. And when I'm talking about the answer, I'm talking about the guy that's good enough

to produce more years than not over a 10-year period, call it six out of the 10 years, maybe seven out of the 10, something approaching double-digit wins and a playoff berth. That's a franchise quarterback. You're in the tournament six out of 10 years over a 10-year career, seven out of 10 years. You win double digits, you know, half of those years. And in three or four of those years, you're a legitimate threat to go super deep and win it all. I'm swinging until I land on that guy and I know that I have that guy. That means this draft. That means this 16th pick in the draft. That means trading up if I'm in love with Anthony Richardson or Will Levis or trading for Justin Fields if I think he's the answer. Because I'm not sure it's Sam Howell. I can't

imagine that they're sure that it's Sam Howe. It might be Sam Howe, but more likely than not, it isn't going to be Sam Howl. Also, I wanted to talk real quickly, I promise, college hoops. First of all, I wish I had had a smell test on Saturday because Indiana was favored against Purdue. Indiana had just lost to Maryland by double digits, and they were favored by a point over Purdue. Yes, I had Indiana. I also had Virginia Tech. That was a pickum against Virginia who was ranked fifth in the country. The Indiana Purdue game was great.

Indiana won. Purdue remained number one. I just saw the rankings just came out moments ago. Real quickly on Maryland, they blew out Minnesota, a 35 point win at Minnesota. The Terps really have it together right now. By the way, their Ken Palm number is 23. net ranking number this morning, 27. They're not just in the tournament. They are safely, safely in the tournament as we speak right now. Now, they play at Michigan State tomorrow night,

and Izzo's team has lost two in a row, not the best spot to get Michigan State in. But Maryland's really figured it out. They really have played good basketball. They've been a good defensive team all year long. Once they stopped turning the ball over, and I think that's really just about getting more time together, because this really is a new team, new coaching staff, obviously. Jemir Young's been huge, the fact that they got him from Charlotte in the transfer portal, and he's turned out to be much better than I think even Kevin Willard thought he would be. But now that everybody sort of understands their role,

including the guys off the bench, they're not turning the ball over. When they were getting blown out there for a stretch, I mean, they got blown out a couple of times. They beat Minnesota the other night, 81 to 46. They lost to Michigan on New Year's Day, 81 to 46, a game that they were down in 44 to 13 at halftime. Against UCLA, I think they were down by 39 or 40 in that game. They took a couple on the chin big time, but they were still figuring it out. And what they were doing even as I was watching those games is they were really still giving the effort defensively.

They were just a mess offensively. You know, I think Willard told me this when he was on the podcast last week. And if he didn't tell me this on the podcast, he's told me this off the air, that getting used to the Big Ten took some time. You know, he said, well-scouted league, grinded out league, hard to run in this league, because teams really, do, you know, they scout you well, they get back on defense, they're very well coached. But, you know, they've now figured it out. And they actually turned a bunch of turnovers against Minnesota into points. Minnesota is terrible. They lost their game before losing to Maryland by the same margin of loss, 35 points to Rutgers. But that doesn't

take away from the fact that Maryland's now won five of its last six, four in a row. Tomorrow night won't be easy. But I'm really happy. I've got something right now to really focus on. This is for me and for some of you, you know, when the football season ends and you head towards March, you want your team to be a part of March. And for seven out of eight years, they were a part of March. We weren't always so sure how they would do, I understand, and they didn't, you know, do enough in March.

We've had that conversation before. But they were a part of March, you know, seven out of the last eight years. or six out of the last seven, six out of the last seven. And of course, one of those years, the tournament was canceled because of the pandemic. But they're going to the tournament, barring an absolute collapse. They are going to the tournament. And they're going to be interesting when they get there because if they can really finish strong down the stretch here and say, you know, they're third in the big 10 right now, tied for third in the big 10.

If they finish in the top four in the big 10 and they end up with, let's just say, an 11 and 9 record, You know, they've got eight games left if they go four and four. Let's say they go five and three and they're 12 and eight in the big ten and finish in the top four. And they've got 21 wins. You know, they're going to be pushing the outer edges of like a five seed. We're not talking about, you know, they'll be favored in a first round game. So good job by my Terps. It's been fun to watch them.

All right. Let's get to Ruben Frank. Oh, I wanted to mention I've been watching The Last of Us. I'll talk about it tomorrow with Tommy. I'm all caught up. I watched episode four last night. Episode three. Wow.

Emotional. I did not see that one coming. For those of you that have asked me to watch it because you know that I was looking for a show, I'm into it. I think it's good. I wouldn't call it great yet, but we're only four episodes in. Last night was good, too. All right, Ruben Frank, Philadelphia's NBC Sports Philly Eagles, a reporter, longtime reporter, will be our guest next right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

Super Bowl 57 on Sunday Eagles and the Chiefs Ruben Frank from NBC Sports Philadelphia in a moment. First, though, I want to tell you about My Bookie's unique deposit bonus offer that lets you cash in and cash out quickly. It's a unique deposit bonus for sports betters who want to focus on what to bet and not sweat the payout. Make your first deposit today using my promo code, Kevin D.C. Wager your deposit amount once and you're eligible to cash out. If you want a sports book that gives you the most for your money, bet on the big game with MyBooky. They've got everything you want for the big game. All of the pregame stuff, all of the live in-game action, all of the prop bets.

Just go to my bookie.ag. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. Where you can bet anything, anytime, anywhere, and you'll get your first deposit out after you've wagered that deposit just one time. MyBooky.orgie.ag promo code Kevin D.C. All right, let's bring on Ruben Frank from NBC Sports Philadelphia. We've had Ruben on the podcast and the radio show many times in the past. You can follow Ruben on Twitter at R-O-O-O-B NBCS. He has covered the Eagles for a long time.

And, you know, I wanted to start with Nick Siriani, Rubin, because he's a bit of a mystery figure, I think, for a lot of NFL fans. He isn't for you guys. I mean, a lot of us just remember the introductory press conference, which did not go smoothly for him. But you wrote about him here recently. Tell us about Nick Siriani and why he's been able to not only win over the fan base and the locker room, but in year two put his team into a Super Bowl.

Yeah, it's been really interesting watching it. And I remember that night after that press conference writing a story about how press conferences don't win games, press conferences don't really have no meaning in the big picture. And I was remembering that Chip Kelly's press conference is probably the slickest, smoothest one I've ever seen by a new head coach. And Andy Reed kind of, you know, stumbled and muttered under his breath. You can even hear him. And, you know, he's now a Hall of Fame coach.

And you just, you just never know. And, you know, I think he came in and it was interesting because none of the players knew who he was. But he immediately made an impression by his enthusiasm, his energy, his knowledge of football, ex and O's and his authenticity. I have trouble with that word, but he's so genuine. And he just made it a point. I mean, his big word is connecting,

and he made it a point to get to know everybody on the roster, know all about their lives and how they were raised, and he's just big on everyone kind of getting to know everyone else. And his theory is that you're going to play harder for people you care about. And the more you know someone, the more you know someone, the more you're going to no care about them. And it's really worked. And it's kind of a, it's almost like a high school approach,

but it works because he's so smart, such a terrific offensive coach and surrounded himself with a great staff. And he's just so real. And he comes across when, I don't know how he comes across to outsiders, but when you just talk to him, I mean, he's so dynamic and enthusiastic and authentic and genuine. And this kind of stuff falls out of. face if a guy is not

genuine, players will see right through, especially veterans. And once you lose them, it's over. You have no shot. So I think he kind of came in and just impressed everyone with his football knowledge and his realness right from the get-go.

And they realized that he was going to make them better and they're going to have a chance to win and they all fell in line and here we are. Before the season started, I think the number one question about your team was, is Jalen Hertz the answer at quarterback? Can he take a big step forward? Because the team around him looked, you know, very good. He made, he took that step. He's in the Super Bowl. You're going to have to pay him in Philadelphia. When do you think they knew?

The team knew that Jalen Hertz was the right guy? Yeah, it's a great question. I think they knew last year. And I think this year, to people who saw him every day and how he was working and learning and growing, how obsessed he was with getting better, knew that. I mean, he had the physical tools. So he has a big arm. We knew he can run. It was just a matter of learning the NFL game. And, you know, I think he, you know, there were moments last year where he were like, you know, just wow moments. If he could do that consistently, the guy's going to be a star.

And so, I mean, I, I, you know, I. I think from the outside, it looks like he, you know, kind of this came out of nowhere, but he's been working toward this for a couple years. And he was in his first year under a new coach last year and still played at such a high level as a 23-year-old that, you know, you could see that the work ethic was there. He was getting better. He was going to have better pieces around him.

I think in training camp, we all watched him and were like, this is going to be special. And, you know, even before the season started, we kind of had a feeling. Look, I didn't know they're going to win 14 games and go to the Super Bowl, but I did pick them to win 12 games and get to the NFC championship games. So you could tell just watching the kid that he was going to be a star. Talk about what he is in the locker room. I've had Merrill Reese on the show multiple times this year before the games with Washington.

I think I had you on one week. He said that he's one of the best locker room leaders this organization. had in a long time. Do you agree with that? Yeah, there's no question. And it's, I'm not, I think leadership is, is just kind of an overused, overrated thing. Well, describe it any way you want to describe it. Yeah, well, I think with him, it's real because he does it so effortlessly. And he doesn't try to be a leader.

I mean, we've all seen, I can think of one quarterback who played for Washington and the Eagles, who I can think it too, who talked about leadership. and then, you know, and then maybe it's about themselves in the big picture. They say all the right things, but then they don't live it. And Jalen doesn't say it. He just goes about his business. And I think his work ethic is so off the charts that players are like, you know, if he's doing it, I'm going to do it because, well, I mean, this is the quarterback.

And he just does it effortlessly. And, you know, there's a couple moments you see, you know, post-game and, you know, where he's kind of letting his guard down. But for the most part, he's just very quiet and driven. And I think that rubs off on people. If you're around someone who's, if you work with somebody in any business, who's that obsessed with getting better and doing a great job and making the people around them better, you're going to want to do that too.

And that's really what leadership is. How healthy is he? Bringing out the best out of everyone else. How healthy is he? It's hard to tell. He doesn't really let on much. He's not 100%. You know, they didn't throw much in either,

even the first two games of Giants and 49ers, but they didn't need to. So they had such a big lead in both games for different reasons so early that they were kind of close to the vest after the middle of the second quarter. So he wasn't throwing much. He wasn't running much.

He was just kind of out there managing big leads. So it's really hard to tell. He's definitely not healthy, but he's functional. I think he's in some discomfort, but he's been able to make the throws. I don't expect him to be pre-injury Jalen on the next Sunday, this coming Sunday, but I do think he'll be able to play at a high level. I would guess he's like in that 85% range somewhere around there, but he's very guarded. It doesn't even talk about the injury.

And I think it's been, gosh, it's been about six weeks now. So he's had a chance to heal. He's had two buy weeks. He didn't take many hits at all in the two games he played. So he's getting better, but he's definitely not all there. We're talking to Ruben Frank, NBC Sports, Philadelphia. Did any of the off-season acquisitions that you guys made from Reddick, Bradbury, Gardner, Johnson, J. Brown. Did any of them not perform at a high level?

They all played well. I think Kaiser White kind of got off to a slow start. He's played better over the last month. But no, really, every single guy they brought in, there was a safety. They signed to Quisky Tart, who they ended up releasing. So I guess that was the big, I don't think they even gave him a bonus. So that was the big swing and a miss, I guess. but it was really a remarkable offseason for Howie Roseman. Finding talent in different ways, trades, waiver claims, free agents, and they got Brad, they waited until the Giants released Bradbury and snapped them up.

And they, you know, a guy like Chaunty Gardner Johnson, that was like the end of training camp. That was after training camp. I mean, that was like the last week of August. So Howie is so good at being creative and building a roster. And, you know, his thing is the offseason is not over until the trade deadline. And he's going to look under every stone. And when you combine that with his improving, I guess, scouting instincts,

you have a really effective GM who knows how to build a championship roster. I mean, we really didn't even see the best of what we think is going to be an absolute mountain of an interior defensive lineman. and Jordan Davis this year because they really didn't need him. Yeah, Jordan played pretty well, and he didn't play a lot of snaps. I think he averaged 17 snaps a game, but he's going to be a monster. He's a young kid, and he's a long season for a rookie. Expectations were really high.

I think people were down on him because they expect him to come in and play 50 snaps a game as a first round pick. But, yeah, when you have the talent they have on the interior. the D-Line, you don't need to do that. And when he has played, he's been effective. I mean, I still think he's going to be a Pro Bowl Interior Alignment in a couple of years. He's just, he's so talented.

But, you know, he'll learn the NFL game. He's got great guys to learn from. And you look at Fletcher Cox and Hargrave and Sue and Linvald Joseph. I mean, it's quite a group of interior alignment. And I had a long talk with him on, I guess, it was Friday before we came out here. And he's just, you know, he feels like

next year, when he's probably his snaps will probably double, he feels like he's going to be ready to make a huge impact. God, it's quite a team this year, Philadelphia is. But with that said, you know, there is discussion about the schedule that they played, even though the division turned out, as we both know, to be much better top to bottom than anybody sort of anticipated. And then, you know, the break of playing basically no quarterback in the second half in the NFC. championship game and playing an overwhelmed Giants team in the divisional round. Is that a concern for you in terms of the opponent on Sunday being the Chiefs,

the best opponent that Phillies faced all year? I don't even think it's close. Yeah, I mean, they're 9-1 against winning teams, so they play well against good teams, but obviously the Chiefs are in a different class. I look at it, I mean, you can only play who's on the schedule, and, you know, so I don't think they have anything to apologize for. I do think that the way they beat the Giants and the 49ers with really a minimum of effort on either side of the ball

is a good thing. You know, it's almost like they've had a, you know, like four straight byweeks. It's like they just, you know, they're healthy. They got to rest starters late in both those games. So, yeah, I mean, it's the way it worked out. I mean, they don't know if they had a walkover in the 49ers game, but, you know, that was because Shanahan decided to try to block Hassan Redick with a tight end.

It wasn't like, you know, they got lucky. I mean, they made a play that they made place to knock both their quarterbacks out of the game because they couldn't block the Eagles defensive front. So, you know, they made those breaks. It wasn't like, you know, whether like Brock Purdy got hurt running down, onto the field and found a tunnel or something. So both games were easy because they played well. So look, this is going to be a huge challenge Sunday.

The Chiefs are so well coached. They're so dynamic on offense. But, yeah, the Eagles are pretty good too. So let's talk about Sunday. What are, as you've looked at this game now for a week already, and it may change by the time you get to Sunday. But right now, how do the Eagles? Eagles beat the Chiefs?

For me, the key matchup is the Eagles D-Line against the Chiefs O line. And the Chiefs O-Line is pretty good. They're really good. But I do think there's some advantages the Eagles have on the edge with Redick and Sweat against Wiley and Wiley. Brown is a really good player. But I really like that Reddick and Wiley matchup. I think that I like Reddick against anybody.

And Sweat is a guy who's going to get pressure. against anyone. So the interior, they're really good up front in the middle of their guards and center. Crete Humphreys, kind of like the heir apparent to Jason Kelsey is the best center in the league. But I think that if they pressure Mahomes, and if you don't pressure Mahomes, you have no shot. I mean, that's just a given. But I really think, especially with his ankle, I'm not sure how his escapability is at this point, which is such a big thing for him, kind of buying himself time and fighting open guys down the field. If they don't pressure him, they're in big trouble. If they do,

they're going to be in the game. And that's how they've, you know, that's how they've gotten this farm. And they had, what, 72 sacks, including the postseason. I mean, it's a crazy number. They're 29 all last year. So if they can keep that up and they just bring waves of guys, you know, five guys

with, you know, seven and a half sacks, four guys with 11 sacks, first team ever to do that. So if they can pressure them, they'll be in the game. That's to me, that's the key matchup. Does this one Ruben feel different than 2017 because of, you know, Foles having to come in in the postseason after Wentz got hurt out in L.A.

And you're facing Brady. I mean, you're facing Mahomes and the Chiefs. It's a daunting task, but you're the favorite. Philly's the favorite in this game. Does it feel any different than it did five years ago? Yeah, I mean, they're not underdogs. I mean, that was like their big mantra, the underdogs. They had the underdog masks.

And they don't have that mentality this year. You know, that whole nobody believes in us, you know, that they kind of, you know, rode in 17. But there's such different teams. There's only only three starters who are left from, you know, or four starters who are left from that team and a couple of kicker and a backup. So they're just totally, totally different personalities. This team doesn't have that underdog edge to them.

They just kind of very methodical. I think that team was a lot in 17. It was really emotional. They thrived on the emotion of Nick replacing Carson. And this team just kind of very methodical, and this is just another game to them. They really have this approach that, you know, we have a game against the Chiefs Sunday.

Let's go out and play. It's different from that standpoint. And, of course, a lot of that is Doug Peterson versus Nick. They're very different personalities, but two great coaches. All right. last one. The discussion this week will be a lot of the, you know, Andy Reed against his former team. What does Philadelphia think of Andy Reid today? You know, it's a funny stat that the Eagles and Chiefs are three and three against each other in their last six games.

And Andy Reid is the winning coach on all six games. I'm a little quirk there. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, I think, you know, people in Philly appreciate Andy. He kind of put the Eagles back on the map, even though he never won a Super Bowl in Philadelphia. He really created the atmosphere for the success that Doug and even Nick had just by, well, A, he brought in Harry Roseman. I mean, that's the guy who built two Super Bowl teams.

But also it was Andy who really first introduced the whole notion of building along the two. lines and everything else will fall in the place. He kind of brought that to Philadelphia, and they've won with that philosophy ever since. So I think people appreciate him and like him, but it's also been 10 years since he was here, which makes it crazy that three of his guys are still starting, Kelsey, Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox, guys that he drafted. Wow. You know, it's, it's, I think time has,

has kind of taken away a lot of the, you know, by the end, people were not, you know, there weren't a lot of Andy Reid fans, you know, it went bad. You know, a lot of people thought he was, he was, he overstayed his welcome, I guess. And so I think a lot of the hard feelings and the, you know, have gone away, but people like them, but they certainly hope he loses Sunday. Enjoy the week out there. Thanks so much for making time for me, as always. appreciate it. I'll talk to you soon.

Sounds good. Enjoy the game. Ruben Frank from NBC Sports Philadelphia, covering a second Eagles team in five years playing in a Super Bowl. Up next, Josh Robbins covers the Wizards for the Athletic. We'll talk about the complete meltdowns of their last two games, and look ahead to the trade deadline. Are they going to be buyers or sellers? We'll find out with Josh right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, let's bring on to the podcast, Josh Robbins. Josh covers the Wizards for the Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at Joshua B. Robbins, as I do with all of our guests from the athletic.

I encourage all of you to subscribe to the athletic. It's totally worth it. Everybody understands that Ben does a great job. Josh does a great job covering the Wizards, David Aldridge, everybody else that's there. So go do that. So we've got Josh on the show because of just what was a disastrous weekend. I mentioned it in the open of the podcast. But I get tricked into this, Josh, all the time because they got a six-game winning streak.

I understand they're not playing great teams and they're playing teams that weren't playing well. But still, it's the NBA. You play who's on the schedule. They've got a six-game win streak. They looked good doing it. And then Friday night when they took a 20, you know, a 20, you know, a 20-point lead, I'm like, wow, this is going to be seven in a row. And then they proceeded to blow a 20-point lead against the Blazers.

And even worse, in a game against the Nets on Saturday night, where they could have scored 50 in the first quarter. They were at 39, and there were still three and a half minutes left in the first quarter, and they had a 23-point lead. And they became the first NBA team in back-to-back games to lose a 20-point or larger lead in 25 years. What in God's name happened on Friday night? and Saturday night. Well, I could go into the X's and O's.

Please. And I'll do so quickly. It just could not guard the other team's guards. Not even close. Lillard and Anthony Simon for Portland. And then the next night, Cam Thomas, Cam Thomas scored over 40 points. Career high for the Nets.

And Edmund Sumner, you know, they look like all four players who I'm, who I'm mentioned, play, perform like All-Star. They just could not guard those guys. But beyond that, beyond the exes and O, and then offensively, they couldn't handle the switching that Portland did, which is a recurrent theme with this team, the ball movement ground to a halt. But beyond that, they are who they are.

They are in a middle of the road team. You know, people would use the word mediocre, and mediocre teams in this league are prone to huge oscillations. Sometimes they look great, sometimes they look atrocious. The wizard managed to do both within single games, and they do it one after the other. That was, even for an old man beatwriter like me, that was amazing to see. Yeah, I mean, I talked about it in the open. I mean, Cam Thomas, 29 minutes, 44 points off the bench for a guy that was averaging

you know, seven point something per game. So we have a trade deadline that's coming up. The Wizards obviously already moved Rui Hachamura. By the way, Kendrick Nunn has yet to meet a shot that he doesn't like since coming to Washington. I actually really like the way he's played, but he's able to get up some shots in just a few minutes. So let's talk about what you think they'll do. do because I know that two games shouldn't change their mind. I had Wes Unseld on the radio show Friday, Josh, and I came away from that thinking, you know what? They think they're pretty good.

They think they can go win 42, 43 games, finishes the sixth seed, and push somebody in a best to seven first round series. And that's what they're going to go for. And they're going to keep everybody here. And then at the end of the year, deal with Kuzma and deal with the others. I'm not suggesting that two games should change their mind, but what do you think they're going to do? Are they going to be buyers or sellers? So David Aldridge and I go into this in a piece that published Monday morning in the athletic, and I think it's fair to say that we agree with you. They're not going to be selling is the word.

I hate to use the word, but that's the word, I guess that's applicable. They're not going to sell their core pieces unless they bring aboard better players. So they might, they would love to trade Will Barton. they would love to, as long as they don't have any long-term salary commitments coming back, they would like to trade, but they might like to trade some other small, like rarely used players. But I think they're going to try to improve along the margins. It's not that they say, oh, we want to improve along the margins.

They would love to bring in an all-star caliber player, but the combination of the young players on their roster and, the contracts that they have, and the lack of first round picks to trade make it more likely that if they make moves, these will be moves that will be kind of incremental in scope. So let's just say that they take that course, which is doing very little other than maybe, you know, a smaller piece at the end of their roster, and that they're not able to buy any sort of significant upgrade. Where do you think this season goes?

How many wins do they have in them? I know you'll tell me it's contingent who's healthy and who plays. But let's assume the health that they've been at. Beal misses some games, Kuzma misses some games, Porzingis misses games, but they're all around for the majority of the remainder of the season. Do they win enough games to qualify for the postseason play in or not? They can. I think they'll wind up without 38 wins, which might be enough this crazy year.

If Toronto winds up selling, which they could, that they're one of the swing teams in the days ahead. They could go either way. And Chicago, potentially, I don't think they're going to have a massive rebuild, but they could make a move to move off salary. So it's possible. But what we're talking about here, we're not, I cannot envision any circumstance in which they finish in the top six of P.D.

I don't think I can't envision a circumstance in which they finish within the top, even seven, and seven through ten is the play-in. So I think there is an opportunity to get into the play-in, but I think the Wizards and probably the majority of the league disagree about how good the team would be, even if it's fully healthy. I mean, I'm telling you, in the first half of the Portland game the other night, I was like, this team's going to, this team's on a run, this team's going to win 42, 43 games, and they're going to end up being the six-seed.

You know, I really felt that way Friday night, and then 24, 26, or 27 hours later, I did not feel that way. Let's just talk about a couple of the players on the team. What do you think the chances are that they're able to resign Kuzma at the end of this year? They appear to be strong. They don't seem all that concerned, not even the slightest bit concerned, that they would be able to resign. Now, they're not going to – they're never going to tell any reporter. They're not going to tell any report. I don't care who it is.

Hey, we're worried about resigning this guy because that would hurt their leverage, both to resign him and in the trade market. They're not, but they would have to be really good poker players here if they're feigning confidence. And I just find it impossible to believe. I know there's a lot of skepticism about the wizard's front office in the DMV. I know that. I see it and hear it every day.

I read it every day. There's no way they keep him beyond 3 p.m. on Thursday if they are not convinced that they will resign him. And if they do keep him and he signs elsewhere, well, then that's organizational malpractice. Right. I just cannot see a circumstance in which if he's around at 301 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, I think that they will resign him. I think they would have a deal in place, in unspoken. kind of wink-wink steal in place where they would have him. And then if he signs elsewhere, well, then that's probably a huge problem,

unless they somehow work out a sign and trade. But I think he stays. Josh, what could they get back for him if they did deal him because they weren't confident they could resign him? So the kind of team that would be looking for him now would be a team that's trying to elevate closer to contender status or a team

really that doesn't have the cap space. They would want to take in his bird rights in a trade right now. At most, I think it would be a late first round pick and maybe a pretty good young player. But not a young player

who would be destined for stardom. Let's put it like that. Not like the deal Oklahoma City got for Paul Georgian which they got Shay Gilgis Alexander and Gallinari and a boatload of picks. This would be a first-round pick, maybe a protected first-round pick, and a pretty good young player, but not a great young player. That's how I view it.

All right, I want to talk about Bradley Beale. He's played 31, I think, of the 52 games this year. He's in, as we know, in the first year of a $251 million deal. And by the way, the last year of that deal is a player option for $57 million in the year 26, 27. Do you think it's impossible to think that the wizards now know that they made a mistake with this deal and they could look potentially to deal him to a contender for a lot back? Or do you think that his contract is untradable? No, the contract is not untradable considering how John Wall was injured

and hadn't played for a long time and was traded. Contracts can be traded, and one of the hallmarks of Tommy Shepard's general managerhip is this creative trading. They could unload it. But the fact that there's a no trade clause limits the number of teams where they could ever trade into to only the teams that he would want to go to. Really what it would take is, is Bill going into the office of either Tommy Shepard or more likely Ted Liannis and telling them, hey, I want out. They wouldn't have to trade him then, but that would set things in motion. Do they feel like they made a mistake?

No, because it's very difficult to determine how people really feel. People in the league would argue, and they told me this, that this is only their guest. This is only their guess. This is just them reading Tee leaves that if Tommy Shepard had full autonomy to make any move he wanted, that he would have traded deal at some point in the last two years. but it was Ted Leonis who wanted to take this so-called middle-build strategy.

We'll never know. We'll never know where Tommy's goals started and ended and the degree to which they overlapped with Leonis. Because ultimately the owner of a team calls the shop. But it can get moved, but when and if it ever does,

it would only be to a limited number of teams, that Brad would want to go to. And if they don't surround him with enough talent, that's somewhere down the line that really may occur. I mean, what do you think Bradley Beal is? Is he a number two or is he a number three on a championship contending team? Because he's not a number one, clearly. Yes, I concur with that, especially now.

He's only 29, but he's not going to, get inherently better. He's not going to show elements to his game that he hasn't shown so far. With the caveat being that he plays alongside a guy like an envy or a guy like a LeBron or Anthony Davis, the guys who play alongside can bring out the very best in you. And here he's asked to be the number one player. He is, depending on how good the number one player is, he would be a number two or a number three.

Like a number two in the way that say Chris Middleton is the number two in Milwaukee. Not in the way to say Anthony Davis is the number two with the Lakers. Understood. Yeah. Yeah, I just, I think it's clear, and I think it was clear at the time, not that they had a lot of other solutions there, other than to just clean the decks. but they're not going to win as long as this contract is there, unless they get very lucky and draft somebody in the first round that turns out to be the next, you know, Kauai Leonard or Janus in the middle of the first round.

Like that's going to have to be their path to championship contention is to identify and kind of get lucky with a mid-first-round pick. Do you agree with that? To an extent I agree with that. The two scenarios you say are accurate, but it's not the only avenue. Another avenue would be for some sort of distress, a player in a distressed situation along the lines of Kyrie wanted out. Now, it's not Kyrie.

It's a bad example. What about Katie? What about Kevin Durant? Well, yes. Well, Kevin Durant, I don't think would ever want to come play for Washington for reasons that have very little to do with the franchise. But, yes, but like a Kevin Durant. if Kevin Durant goes into Joe's office and Sean Mark's office and demands out.

That would be what I'm talking about. Or, let's say the Chicago Bulls, after a season in which they miss even the play in, which could happen this year, and they lose Butchovich and their center is likely gone. Maybe they've determined that they want to start a rebuild, and maybe they are eager to move off the contract of Zach Levine. in that case, perhaps the Wizards somehow could trade the one pick that they're able to trade or eventually two picks that they're able to trade, and a young player for Levine. Now, I don't think the Levine-Beal pairing would be a good one, but that's the kind of route

they could take. Admittedly, I understand why Panthers would not be optimistic. Because, yes, that contract for a number two or at-best player on a championship team is an albatross. That's true. All right. One more before I let you go, because I know you've got to run. You've got practice to cover in players to talk to before tonight's Cleveland game. So your reaction to Kyrie Irving and the trade to Dallas, and then just explain, if you will, because I don't know the answer to this, why these picks are so far out into the future now?

In that trade? Probably because they have picks, up for other obligations. There's a rule in the NBA where you can't trade your own first round pick two years in a row, which is the crux of the wizard's problem on the trade market now. They have a commitment to what is now the Knicks, where they might have to convey one of their picks as late as 2026, which means the earliest they can trade, one of their first round picks is 2028. But you asked about the Maverick. That deal is all about Luca Donchich, and the Maverick's kind of existential dread that one day in the not too near future, Donchich walked into Cuban's office and Nico Harrison's office, he said, hey, I want out. You haven't surrounded me with a quality

enough supporting cast. And so this is kind of their hell merry move to take a very problematic personality, but an incredible talent, on hoping that they can then say, hoping that it will work or beyond that say hey we know this didn't work Luca but we did we moved heaven and earth to get you a star we'll try and do that again you know give us a mulligan on this one that's what this is that's what that trade is really about but you think Luca had to say yes make the trade for Kyrie I can't imagine that they don't keep him informed every step along the way do you think that they'll pay him that they'll pay Kyrie yes but not for a long-term deal the two the two year 80, 2 million or whatever, they'll do that?

Yes, and even that's risky. Exactly. But, but, you know, they apparently feel like they're desperate. And that's the way it is when you have a near-generational talent, an MVP candidate like Luca. You've got to keep these guys happy. You know, it's the player empowerment era, man. And it's different than it was in Dr. Jay's talking.

time different than it was well dr jay had a great supporting cat but um you see where i'm going with this it's all about keeping luca for the long term yeah i just think that what durrant and kairi did in brooklyn um that josai and and in sean marks allowed them to do i think it'll make it'll make it difficult uh at least in the immediate future for players to try to to basically call all the shots because it was such a disaster there um i know you got to run but real quickly, in a wide open NBA right now, give me the two finalists. You said the two finalists?

Yeah. To me, it's wide open, as wide open as we've seen it in a while. So give me the Eastern Conference finalist and the Western Conference finalist. So I think it's going to be Boston in the East, and in the West, I'm hedging here.

I would say Denver is now the leading candidate. They could use a little bit more help there. and they'll be interesting to track over the next three days. But I would say Denver is the most likely key to advance, especially if they finish the regular season with home court advantage. Josh, thanks. Appreciate it. Get to work.

I appreciate you making time for me. I'll talk to you soon. Pleasure is mine. Good to speak to you, Kevin. Thanks to Josh. Thanks to Ruben Frank, who joined us on the show today. I'll be back tomorrow with Tommy.