The Kevin Sheehan Show - Redskins' Draft Recap

Episode Date: April 27, 2020

Kevin recapped the Redskins' draft as well as the Trent Williams trade. He had a few thoughts on last night's episodes of "The Last Dance" too. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. All right, it's me solo today. Aaron's producing from home. Tommy will be with me tomorrow. And I'm pretty sure we'll have Cooley one day this week as well. And we'll get his entire recap of the Redskins draft. I'm going to get to that momentarily. Also, obviously, the Trent Williams trade, which was big news on Saturday. I'm going to start with it. a bit of a surprise, and that is Denver's off-season. And I bring it up here at the top, because if you're looking to give your second-year quarterback the best opportunity to succeed, you do what Denver's done in this off-season, both through free agency and then in the draft over the weekend. If you recall, Drew Locke last year was their second round pick. A lot of people had Drew Locke going in the

first round. Locke got to play towards the end of the year and really look the part at times. It really does look like a guy that has a chance to become a pretty good NFL quarterback. But what they did, Denver did in this offseason, is one of the best jobs I've seen a team do to give themselves a chance to truly evaluate their second year quarterback. Now, this is not a way to criticize the Redskins. It's more. of a way to compare what Dwayne Haskins has at his disposal and what Drew Locke has at his disposal. The Redskins didn't really have the ability in many ways to do what Denver did, and they did make an attempt in free agency to make a splash, an offensive splash, by trying to sign Amari Cooper

and even Austin Hooper to a certain degree. And I think if Kenyon Drake, and I've mentioned this before, had been available, I think they would have gone after Kenyon Drake as well. here's what Denver is done in this off-season. First of all, they went out and hired Pat Schumer to be their offensive coordinator. Schumer did a great job with Case Keenham, if you recall, in Minnesota. And, you know, in New York here the last couple of years with Eli, and then not a bad job with Daniel Jones. A lot of people like Pat Schumer's ability to develop quarterbacks, young quarterbacks that are inexperienced in particular. But how about what Denver's done offensively here in the offseason?

They signed Melvin Gordon as a free agent. They also added, in the draft, they added Jerry Judy in the first round. Many thought the number one wide receiver on the board out of Alabama. They added K.J. Hamler in the second round, one of my favorite players in this draft. To me, he looks like the next coming of Deshawn Jackson. And then on Saturday, they added Albert O. Gabunum, all right? Albert O., as most people call them. the Missouri tight end.

By the way, a guy that played with Drew Locke, a guy that Cooley really liked and had highly evaluated at the tight end position. They drafted him in the fourth round. Let's not forget that already Denver had Philip Lindsay, you know, a pro bowler, his rookie season two years ago. They had Royce Freeman. They still do, although I wouldn't be surprised to see them move on from Royce Freeman now that they've got Melvin Gordon and Philip Lindsay.

They drafted Noah Fant last year, the tight end out of Iowa, the first round. And, you know, in his second year last year, Cortland Sutton, the wide receiver from SMU, really started to look the part. This is what you do. You know, if you want to get a true evaluation of your second round quarterback, you put weapons around him. And Denver added Judy, Hamler, Albert O, and Melvin Gordon in this offseason to a group that wasn't complete, but had some talent already in Philip Lindsay, Cortland Sutton, and Noah fan. You could argue that Drew Locke has the best group of young weaponry around him of any young quarterback in the NFL.

They're going to get, and by the way, they also added Pat Shermer to be the offensive coordinator from New York. So Shermer comes in, worked very well with Case Keenham and Daniel Jones last year, case Keenham in Minnesota in 2017, and they are giving Drew Lockewarm, every opportunity to succeed. Now, I'm not doing this for the purposes of criticizing the Redskins, but comparing to the Redskins. And I think it's one of the reasons that at the end of next year, we can't guarantee ourselves as a fan base that we're going to have enough to evaluate Dwayne Haskins.

First of all, he will be on his third offense before his eighth start. The next start for him will be his eighth as a professional. it'll be his third offensive coach. Secondly, there's not much of an off-season here to prepare for that third offense. And thirdly, even though they did attempt to go out and sign Amari Cooper and Austin Hooper, so Cooper and Hooper and Hooper were attempts to add some weapons around Dwayne Haskins, and we'll get to what they did in the draft. The truth of the matter is they didn't have the ability to do what Denver did.

You know, they didn't have a mid-first rounder, an early second-rounder, and, you know, and free age, and they went after Melvin Gordon and got Melvin Gordon. But, man, Drew Locke, you gave him everything you needed to make sure that at the end of 2020, you know if he's the guy or not. With Dwayne Haskins, again, not critical of the Redskins. They didn't have nearly the same ability. They tried with Amari Cooper. They tried with Austin Hooper, okay, but they weren't going to pass on Chase Young to draft, you know, to trade down and draft a bunch of playmakers that may or may not make it. But when we get to the end of 2020, even though many will make 2020 a referendum on Dwayne

and his performance, it may be hard to evaluate him. They still do not have a lot offensively around him. All right, before we get to the Redskins and the Trent Williams trade and everything else that happened over the weekend, including other things that happened in the NFL draft, I do want to talk about quickly the last dance and episodes three and four last night, which this is a spectacular documentary four episodes in. It really is. I'm not going to sit here and go through the whole thing. I think we spent a lot of time on it last week, and I'll save some of it for Tommy. Hopefully Tommy's watched it as well. But last night's two episodes, which focused a lot on the Pistons Bulls thing. the first title against the Lakers, and a lot on Dennis Rodman in particular. One of the more intriguing figures in the history of the NBA, and truly one of the great players in the history of the NBA,

when it came to being a defensive star and one of the all-time great rebounders in NBA history. But the story about Dennis Rodman, in the middle of the 1997-1998 season, going to Phil Jackson, and asking him for a, vacation, telling him he was in need of a vacation. And what prompted that was the return of Scottie Pippin. When Pippin was out in the first part of that 97-98 season, the last dance season, Dennis Rodman stepped up and he was Michael's number two. And he performed well and the Bulls got it into gear after a slow start. And when Pippin returned, Rodman realized he wasn't number two to Michael

anymore. And Rodman, who was clearly teetering on the brink of mental breakdown many times during the course of his career. You know, we heard this story last night of him being, you know, in his car with shotgun loaded and all sorts of moments in his life where he could have gone the other way and he might not be with us right now. I mean, Dennis Rodman was unstable. He had mental, you know, issues. He had anxiety issues. He had depression issues, you know, if you go back and read about what he was going through. He had a very difficult upbringing. He was booted out of his house by the mother without a father around, lived basically as a homeless person from 18 to 19 years old, and somehow found his way to

Southeast Oklahoma State University where his life took off as a basketball player. Good person, and I've never thought anything differently about Dennis Rodman. I think he's so well-intentioned, and always has been. But he was in the midst of that 97-98 season. He went to Phil Jackson said, I need to get away from this. I need a break. I need a vacation. and Phil calls Michael Jordan into the meeting

and Jordan says, what are you talking about you need a vacation? We're in the middle of a season. And then the two of them, Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan essentially agree. It made it out to be sort of this consensus decision among the two most important people in the organization, at least non-management members, to let Dennis Rodman take a vacation. Rodman said he wanted to go to Vegas

and Jordan and Phil Jackson said 48 hours. That's it. Michael Jordan knew there was no chance he was going to be back in 48 hours and warned Phil about that. But Phil turned him loose in Vegas for 48 hours. And there you get video. And I don't know if it's that trip to Vegas or another trip to Vegas. But there he is with Carmen Elektra, who by the way, today looks even better than she did back then.

She is spectacular. looking. And he went on a bender in Vegas, drinking, partying, gambling, the whole thing, in the middle of the season. And when he wasn't back in 48 hours, Michael Jordan went to get him. Now, what is a little bit vague to me is whether or not Jordan went to Vegas or he fished him out of his place in Chicago. Because part of Jordan's, you know, description of retrieving Rodman and going to get Rodman to bring him back, is that, hey, we got to get to practice. And it seemed like there was the possibility that maybe he was getting him from his place in Chicago. I think most believe that Michael Jordan got onto a plane, went to Vegas, found Rodman in his hotel room,

and Carmen Electra picks up the story. Jordan's knocking on the door. Come on, Dennis, we got to go. Carmen Electra is back there hiding behind a chair. as Michael Jordan, the greatest player on the planet, a five-time world champion, is basically the guy asked if he didn't volunteer to go recoup tennis Rodman after a mid-season Las Vegas vacation. That was an incredible story. And the best part of that story is watching Rodman, Phil Jackson, Scotty Pippin all sit there and watch the video of Jordan telling the story and to see the smiles on their faces as if to say, yep, it's exactly what happened.

It was really, Zabin was on with me on the radio show this morning, and he actually put it in a way that I think many can relate to. It is sort of the essence of team, you know, and what you go through when you're part of a team. I can tell you, and some of you can relate to this, you know, sometimes in business, people who hire, whether they're headhunters or, you know, personnel people and companies, they look for people who have been a part of a team already. You know, looking at someone's athletic achievements on a resume is actually very helpful in my view. Somebody who's competed before, you know, in sports, and somebody who's been a part of a

a team, it's, you know, it's something that not everybody has experienced in their life. And I think it's a very important, you know, part of growing and maturing as a human being. And it ends up making you, this is my opinion, you don't have to share it. It ends up, especially if you really became a solid member of that team and a, and you're a competitor, you know, deep down. I think there's an edge that those people have over those who have. Who have a solid member of that. And a, and you're a competitor, and a, and you're a competitor, you know, you know, deep down. I think there's an edge. I think there's an edge that edge that those people have. I think. I think you really competed and haven't really been a part of a team. But anyway, to watch the three of those reminisce and to see the smiles, you know, come across their faces and to know that they were all

in it together and they all remember it. And it's just, you know, whether you've been in companies and worked with other people or, you know, played sports on teams with other people, you all share, like in these, you know, sort of connected experiences where, You know, only those of you that were there can really appreciate it. I think we saw that moment when the three of them were looking at that video. It was fascinating. The story, a new story altogether. I loved the episodes last night.

Dennis Rodman, such an intriguing figure over the years. Boy, that rivalry between the Bulls and Pistons. What I remember, you know, in watching these, in watching the last dance and watching these four episodes, so far. I do remember all the games, and I remember a lot of the circumstances around the games, because that's what I love. I mean, I have loved the NBA and the NBA playoffs for years, and, you know, the Bulls having to get past the Pistons was similar to the Pistons needing to get past, you know, the Celtics. And, you know, there's something about the NBA that's so unique. It's this sort of step-by-step ascension to eventually, you know, having a chance to compete for a title.

It rarely happens early without being tested, without losing and going through the process first. It's why the NBA, even though the most athletic and the most highlight, you know, inspiring players are typically younger players. This sport is typically won in May and June by veteran players who really know how to play, who have been through it all, who know how to get it done. I think more so than maybe any other sport that that's true. I enjoyed it. The Isaiah Michael Jordan stuff was great. Isaiah, to me, for his entire post-playing career, has always struck me as a first-rate asshole. And I don't know any other way to describe it.

I think that a lot of former players feel the same way about him. and, you know, the explanation he gave for the pistons when they got swept in 1991, excuse me, by the Bulls, when the Bulls finally got through the Pistons after losing two straight Eastern Conference finals to the Pistons, and they finally got through them by sweeping them in 1991 on their way to their first title against the Lakers. Isaiah Thomas tries to tell the story that, you know, they were, they were, they shouldn't be criticized for doing it. It's the way it was done back then, and he cited the Celtics walking off the court when the Pistons finally got through them in a game six in Detroit. Well, it wasn't apples to apples. And I remember this. The Celtics did, and Byrd in particular, try to get out of Dodge early at the end of

game six in Detroit when the Pistons finally got through in 89 against the Celtics. But that's in part because the court was about to be stormed by Detroit fans. And the Celtics were trying to protect themselves from a Detroit fan base that was beside themselves that they had finally beaten the big bad Celtics. And I think it was more protective then. What the Pistons did, they did in their own home arena. It was classless. Just horrible sportsmanship.

And yes, tensions were higher and relationships were nastier and more distinctions. back then than they are in today's game, but I tend to agree with Michael Jordan. It was an asshole classless move when they walked off the floor in 1991. And the other thing, just as a matter of pointing out something that didn't get pointed out last night, when they won that title against the Lakers, that wasn't the Lakers, Lakers, Lakers. All right, Kareem was gone. All right? James Worthy was compromised in that series. Byron Scott didn't play a lot. in that series. It was Magic Johnson, Vladay DeVat's, A.C. Green and Sam Perkins. They were not the better team. They weren't the best team in the West. They had gotten through Portland, but Portland was

the best team in the West that year. Portland had been in the NBA finals the year before, and they had lost to Detroit. So the Bulls got that first victory, first championship over the Lakers, and it was Magic against Michael, but it wasn't the Lakers. of the 80s, you know, against those, that Jordan team. The Lakers of the 80s, in my opinion, and we had Michael Wilbon on the radio show last week, in my opinion, were a better team than the 90s Bulls. I think the 80s Celtics, certainly the 86 Celtics, were better than the 90s Bulls. That's the way I see it. I think the Lakers of the 80s were better than the Bulls, and I think if those teams with Kareem and Worthy and Magic and Cooper and Scott, and, you know, if those

teams had played the Bulls in both of their heydays and both of their primes, the Lakers would have been a much superior team. And I think many of those Celtic teams were the same. But what we're learning in some of this stuff about those Bulls teams has been incredibly entertaining. It's been a great watch. All right, let's get to the Redskins. And we've got to start really with Trent Williams, because we'll get to all the picks, I promise you, and I've got some other things just on the draft from over the weekend. But we've got to start with the Trump-Williams trade. And the way the whole thing sort of came together because it really was quite a Friday and Saturday after, you know, the last podcast that we recorded. There was a lot going on on Friday

and Saturday. And if you go through it sort of chronologically, on Friday, there were all of the reports that the Redskins and Vikings were talking and that there was a deal that potentially could get done between Minnesota and Washington, but the problem at that point is that the Vikings were offering only one pick on day three. And the Redskins were saying that's not good enough. And I was totally with them. I would never have traded Trent Williams for one day three pick. You know, a fourth, fifth rounder, and that was it. Now, Courtney Cronin, who writes for ESPN and covers the Vikings, she is the John Kime equivalent for ESPN. I had her on a special. I had her on a draft show on radio on Saturday. And she and John actually co-authored a story that day, and I'll get to that in a

moment. But basically, the reports were that the Vikings did up their offer for Trent to two-day three picks. My guess is it was probably a fourth and a fifth rounder, but that was the most they were going to offer for Trent. There were other reports that Trent and the Vikings had discussed contract. And then came a report from Ian Rappaport late on Friday. Ian Rappaport had a video out, or I guess made an appearance on the NFL network and then tweeted out the video, that Trent Williams had basically nixed the deal to Minnesota. He didn't want to play in Minnesota, and that put the kibosh on a Redskins-Vikings deal. that ended up being supported in that story by Kime and Courtney Kronin,

where they had a quote from Trent Williams in the story saying Trent Williams denies that he nicks the deal to Minnesota. But Kime and Kronin both said they had information that supported what Ian Rappaport had reported, and that was that Trent Williams had decided he did not want to play for the Vikings, and that killed the deal. Then the Vikings selected Ezra Cleveland in the second round, of the draft, a tackle in the draft, and Courtney Cronin reported that the Vikings were now out of the Trent Williams trade sweepstakes. In the meantime, and this was late Friday, Laramie Tunsell

signed the largest deal ever for an offensive lineman. By the way, he negotiated that deal by himself without an agent. He negotiated that deal with Bill O'Brien in Houston, and he signed a deal that guaranteed him $50 million and $66 million in aggregate over three years, $22 million a year, $50 million of it guaranteed. Laramie Tunsell becomes the highest paid left tackle in the history of the game. So all the while, what we didn't know is that Joe Staley out in San Francisco was on the verge of retiring. Kyle Shanahan's got a relationship with Trent Williams, and so now the 49ers become a player.

By the way, I heard also that the Rams, even though they didn't have much salary cap space or much powder, dry powder to make a move, that they were interested as well with Sean McVeigh, reuniting with Trent Williams. But anyway, sticking with sort of the news chronologically, Saturday morning Trent's agent, Vincent Taylor, puts out a letter denying Ian Rappaport's suggestion that Trent had nixed the deal to Minnesota. vehemently denying it. And then Rappaport comes back and says, Trent's agent, Vincent Taylor, you're a liar. This is true. Trent nicks the deal. And then moments later, like within an hour,

after Rappaport essentially called Vincent Taylor a liar, we got the report that Trent had been traded to the 49ers. And the deal was for a fifth rounder in Saturday's draft, and a future next year third rounder. Now, whether or not he backed out of the Minnesota deal at this point is meaningless. It would not surprise me if the way it went down is as follows. Trent was totally fine with being traded to Minnesota, was in the midst of negotiating a deal with the Vikings,

which was also reported. And then when he saw the Tunsell deal said, oh boy, I don't want to sign a deal. with Minnesota. I want to, now at this point, with all that money that he just got, I'm willing to bet on myself that I can play really well in this upcoming season and strike the mother load next year as a free agent. And so I think that weighed into now all of a sudden maybe Trent doesn't want the Minnesota

deal to go through. And then sort of simultaneously, or in the works simultaneously, I'm not suggesting that he and his agent didn't know that San Francisco was a player in this, with Joe Staley retiring and him having a chance now to go to San Francisco to play for Kyle Shanahan, whose father drafted him, in a place where they've got a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl next year, that became more attractive. And maybe at that point, they made it clear that Minnesota wasn't what they wanted. They wanted San Francisco. Now, what did the Redskins get? They got a third. They got a third.

rounder next year and a fifth rounder this year. The fifth rounder was the 11th in the fifth round. And the third rounder next year, you would have to assume is going to be a late third rounder, unless you think San Francisco is going to take a major step back. They should be a good team next year. Just so you know, I mean, without getting too much into the weeds on the draft value chart and next year's draft relative strength compared to this year's draft, basically next year's third and this year's fifth for Trent Williams is the equivalent of like a mid third round pick. All right. So if you're trying to do the math on that, you know, is that equal to a second round pick? Is that equal to a late second? It's equal roughly to a mid-third rounder is what it is.

Now, if next year, San Francisco is the worst team in the league and they've got the first pick in the third round, well, now it becomes, you know, closer to like an early third or late second. next year's draft is not supposed to be as strong as this year's draft was, which is sort of factored into it as well. So mid-third is essentially what San Francisco had to give up for Trent Williams. And interestingly, Kyle Shanahan said that Trent is not right now looking for a contract extension. The 49ers were not in the best cap situation, but Kyle Shanahan said late last night, quote, Trent has been out of football for a year and a half, and Trent, made it clear to everyone. He wants to come back and didn't want to do a deal right away.

He wants to play and try to get back into it and see where he was with the rest of the league and pick up where he's left off. That's one of the reasons we were able to get him and get him for what we did. I think it really helped us in the situation we were in. The 49ers salary cap situation not as attractive as the Vikings. The 49ers situation after Staley is like in the 15 million range, and I think that's sort of comparable with Minnesota, somewhere around there. Anyway, I think the reason that Trent is now less enthused about doing a contract extension now is because of the Tunsell deal. That makes sense. The Tunsel deal essentially puts Trent into a position now where if he plays well, if he plays really well next year and makes it to free

agency, and he can get a Tunsell-style deal next year. Now, Tunsell's 26. Trent will be 32 when the season ends next year. So he's not going to get the Tunsell deal. But now he and his agent can get them back into a position where they feel they're recouping some of the money lost in 2019. And I think that has something to do with it. By the way, the Redskins, they play at San Francisco next year. Don't forget about that. I don't like the deal. Now, part of that is because I have a hard time getting past what they could have gotten for them. And I'm not going to forget that ever. You know, this was botched, like the cousins thing was botched, no matter what you think of the player, no matter what you think of the organization, Trent should have brought back

close to a first rounder, and maybe could have been Cleveland's first rounder this year, and the Redskins could have had not only number two in the draft on Thursday night, but number 10 in the draft as well. If they had played their cards, right, if they had made him available, if they had aggressively tried to move him, there would have been a compensation package a lot higher and a lot more valuable than the one they were able to get from San Francisco on Saturday. You know, even if you think it was a second and a fourth or a second and a third, still much better than what they got from the 49ers.

So I don't like it. Now, if you're, if it's based on everybody's perspective. If you had the perspective that you were ready for the Redskins to move on from this, and they, you know, and you're like, great, we'll take the fifth and we'll take next year's third. That's awesome. Let's just end this thing, which by the way, Kyle Shanahan and Ron Rivera sort of refers. heard to when they were asked about it on Saturday. You know, sort of they were glad to put it behind him.

And look, Rivera's starting his, you know, starting something new, trying to build a culture. You know, it's been very clear he doesn't want people that don't want to be here, Quentin Dunbar and now Trent Williams. But I just didn't think they got enough. And I would have rather seen him play. I would have rather approached him and said, look, we're not trading you for, you know, next year's third and a fifth. It's the best offer we've gotten. We're not doing that.

If somebody gets in trouble with an injury in training camp or preseason or early in the season and wants to offer us what we think you are worth, we will consider it then. In the meantime, play for us. Let's work this out. Your guy, Bruce, is gone. Your other guy, Larry Hess, is gone. Ron, and the people here are new. Let's see if we can make this work. Play your ass off. And as I mentioned on Friday, I think the quid pro quo would have been for me, we promise not to franchise you at the end of next year. You know, the compensatory pick because of Trent Williams' standing in terms of the number

of years he's played in the league wouldn't have been a third rounder, as it turns out. It would have been closer to a fifth rounder. I would have said, I'll take next year Trent Williams playing for us and keeping him with the opportunity to maybe get somebody desperate to pay more over the fifth rounder. You know, let's let them go next year in free agency. I just, I don't like the deal. I think there probably was a way and that there could have been a way to make this thing work. I don't think the owner, I don't think the VP of player personnel, Kyle Smith, wanted, you know,

Trent Williams on this team. That's my guess. I think because of it, Ron Rivera was probably fine to do his best to move on from Trent. and all context of, you know, essentially, potentially not having any trading partner. You know, if Joe Staley doesn't retire, maybe they don't have any trading partner for Trent. I just don't like the deal. That's the bottom line. And Bruce's legacy, my God, it just gets more infuriating when you think about it. You know, after this Trent trade, it's even worse.

Because ultimately, for Kirk Cousins and Trent Williams, two of the biggest botches in recent franchise history. They got two-thirds and a fifth for cousins and Trent. And they could have gotten a first, maybe number two overall from San Francisco for Kirk. And they probably could have gotten a first or like a second and a third, worst case for Trent had they made him available much sooner, had they had real vision. By the way, if Bruce were still here, they wouldn't have made the deal with the 49ers. They did not, he didn't want to deal with the 49ers. The pettiness over the Shanahan's, Kyle in particular, is why they didn't trade Kirk to the 49ers. The bottom line is, you know, the Trent Williams trade here over the weekend is sort of the last

of the, wow, the damage that was done to the organization here in recent years because of just the lack of anything from an intelligence standpoint, a self-awareness standpoint, leadership standpoint, the arrogance, the constant self-congratulation and dismissive way they've treated others over the years. The lack of any sort of vision, I mean, how did you not see that this draft was going to be loaded with left tackles? You know, it just all was wrong, you know, and I'm hopeful that Ron Rivera is not only the latest to give this thing a try with Dan Snyder, but that maybe he's the one. You know, maybe the 50,000 plus empty seats week in and week out last year at FedEx Field

was the epiphany for the owner. That in combination with the horrible local television ratings. Maybe, just maybe, you know, he had the epiphany we were all hoping for. Les Carpenter reported yesterday last night that A, Kyle Smith could get the GM title, which I wouldn't be surprised at, and B, that Snyder, with the exception, of making a congratulatory call to Chase Young on Thursday night was completely out of the draft. What a big change from a year ago. I mean, you want to look at progress? Last year we were sitting here on the Monday following the draft or the Friday following the first round saying we had a coaching

staff, a personnel group, and then front office that were on different pages, completely different pages. This year, it appears as if Kyle Smith and Ron Rivera were on the same page, and they were given the complete authority and autonomy to do what they thought was in the best interest of the organization in this draft. And over the weekend with Trent Williams even, I'm going to, I mean, I'm never going to forget the way this Trent Williams thing was handled. I'm never going to forget the way the Kirk Cousins thing was handled. These were major damaging, you know, handlings by an organization. organization because their default was petty. Their default was emotional and not, you know,

business driven and not what's in the best interest of the organization. It was what's in the best interest of making us feel good. And it just didn't work out. It rarely does. But anyway, so Trent Williams ultimately, the next year's third and this year's fifth, who knows, maybe with that third next year, they will get a star. player. And we can look back and say, thank God they didn't get the first because the first turned out to be a bad player and the third rounder turned out to be this guy and he turned out to be great. Whatever. I just, as Redskinned fans, we don't have to bathe ourselves in the past dysfunction. I understand that. And I am glass half full on the team. If you've been listening, you know that. Like I like Ron Rivera. I like Kyle Smith. I think he's smart. And I am choosing right now to believe that the owner is going to steer clear this time and is going to let football people make football decisions. And I like the football people in the organization right now. I do. I mean, I'm not going to be displeased if Ron Rivera doesn't

hire a GM from the outside and instead elevates Kyle Smith. I think that's fine. I mean, I'm all for giving them a chance. I know Ron Rivera hasn't had the additional player and personnel responsibility. But Kyle Smith's a good evaluator of talent. You know, Kooley has never steered us wrong on this, has never steered me wrong anyway, on guys in that organization that were really smart, and then guys, many of whom he's never mentioned for obvious reasons, but he's mentioned those names to me over the years who aren't so good and aren't so smart. And he has publicly always said about Kyle Smith, this guy knows ball. He's smart. He's a good evaluator. He's going to be the lead decision maker for an organization someday. And it looks like it could be here. After a couple

of really good college drafts, and let's hope this is another one. All right, that gets us into the draft choices of the weekend. And let me just remind everybody that I I am on radio, Team 980, Team 980.com, the Team 980 app. Also on Alexa and Google Home, you can shout out to Alexa or Google Home Kevin Sheehan Show podcast or Kevin Sheeonshow on Team 980. I start 6 a.m. weekday mornings and go to 9 a.m. before we record this podcast and make this available as well. All right, let's get to the draft. We talked on Friday about Chase Young and then the Redskins. got into more of their draft they had. Ultimately, the pick in the third round, they didn't trade into the second round. They stayed there at number 66 overall in the third round. They had

two fourth rounders, two fifth rounders, two seventh rounders. So, Chase Young, you know how I feel about Chase Young. I think it's a home run pick. I think the Redskins got the best player in the draft, one of the best players that's been in the draft in many years. And to me, I think number one in terms of the potential influence that he will have on the franchise of any pick they've had in a long, long time. I think I felt that way about LaVar Arrington back in 2000, and I felt that way to a certain degree about RG3 in 2012. But Chase Young is actually a higher evaluated prospect than either one of those two players. I love Chase Young. I had him on the radio show. If you didn't hear that interview, you can go find it on the Team 980 app or the team 980.

and you can listen to it from over the weekend. Nice young man. All right, the rest of their draft. I want to start with the third rounder. Oh, I want to start with this, actually. I don't have any idea really, and you don't have any idea really, and the experts don't have any idea really, and the people that really do this for a living and get paid to do it for a living that work for teams, they're wrong 60 to 70% of the time in this draft as well. It is the one conversation, and I say this, or I have said it for many years running, it's the one conversation that we have together, you know, via this podcast or the radio show or social media or whatever. It's the conversations we have together that are the least informed.

We all watch games, we all watch players, we all watch seasons, we all have definitive opinions on a Monday after games or, you know, after a season or during a season or other teams, because we're watching those games and we're watching them every week. When it comes to the draft, most of you, me included, haven't seen most of these players ever play. Now, the big school players and the first round guys and the skill position guys, we have opinions about, especially if you're a big college football fan and watched a lot of them, and I understand that, and so do I. And you know, and you've heard some of those opinions. But for the most part, you know, what are we doing here? It's the least informed conversation. And, you know, it's obvious to most of you that this is true, but I'm just saying it as,

I'm not going to give you a grade. I don't think I've graded the draft in a while. Maybe I have, I can't even remember at this point. I don't want to grade it. It's not really what I want to do. I want to talk about the players that I have an opinion on for the reasons that I have an opinion on them, and the others I'll tell you why I don't have an opinion on them. I have an opinion on Chase Young, you heard it, okay?

We all watched Ohio State a lot. You get to watch LSU a lot and all these Alabama. And some of these teams that the Redskins drafted players from Liberty University, Memphis, San Diego State, you don't get to see very much. But I'll start with their third round selection, Antonio Gibson from Memphis. He is, according to them, Jack of All Trades, Swiss Army Knife, receiver, running back, can put him all over the field. He can be a kick returner. He's six feet, 228 pounds, ran a 4-3-9-40. He's very exciting.

He's McCaffrey, Ron Rivera said. He's not physically the same as McCaffrey because he's bigger, but he likens him to what he had with Christian McCaffrey in Charlotte for the Panthers. Well, that would be incredible. If Antonio Gibson is 60% of Christian McCaffrey, I think we'd take it and run with it right now. Now, a couple of things about Gephy. Gibson. Number one, I didn't see him really play much. I saw Memphis play much more in previous years. That's

why I had a strong opinion about Anthony Miller and on Darrell Henderson last year. I didn't see Memphis a lot this year. I saw them in the bowl game, the Cotton Bowl game against Penn State, which was a shootout game, mostly because I had Memphis plus seven in that game, and it didn't work out. They lost 53 to 39. But here's the thing that you need to know about a guy like Antonio Gibson. A lot of what was discussed when it came to Gibson on Friday night and on Saturday were his statistics. It was all about these incredible statistics that he put together. Here they are. The statistics that he put together at Memphis are eye-popping.

They are. In his senior year, 11.2 yards per rush. 19.3 yards per catch. He only caught 38 balls that was fourth on his team. He only rushed the ball 33 times that was also fourth on his team in terms of the number of carries he got. And he was a great kickoff return or average 28 yards per kickoff return. And so people saw 6 feet, 228 pounds, 43940, and then they saw the stats and they said, wow, Redskins got themselves a player. You know, is he a running back? Who knows? You put him out there. You know, he's positionless. I watched a lot of the highlight stuff from Gibson this weekend.

And the first thing that, before I get to sort of my impression of him, that you have to understand if you don't understand this. And unless you're a big college football fan, you probably don't understand this. And that is the conference that he played in was the worst defensive conference in America and has been for a few years. It's not the Big 12, the American Athletic Conference, the AAC, has been the worst defensive conference for several years running. If you watch the games in that conference, and I do, especially when I have wagered on a certain game, basically you see

the same thing. You know, UCF against East Carolina. It's, you know, 70 points in aggregate combined, sometimes 80, sometimes 90. You see, you. see four-hour games, you see a thousand yards of offense, and you see big chunk plays one after another. You know, SMU against Houston or Tulsa against

South Florida. All these games just seem to sort of, you know, they're sort of the same. The Big 12 has a lot of that going on. The PAC 12 has a lot of that going on. But the American Athletic Conference, all right, the numbers on Gibson or eye-popping,

UCF's leading receiver, average 23.6 yards per catch. Houston's leading pass catcher, average 20.4 yards per catch. Navy, who doesn't even throw the football, their leading receiver who had 18 catches to the 38 that Gibson had, average 21.1 yards per catch. Everybody's team in this conference, they've all got players whose averages are big. You know, eight yards a carry, seven yards a carry. Look, the 11.2 yards of carry was the highest. I'm not going to tell you that it wasn't. It was. However, he only rushed the ball 33 times. Three players on his team had more carries in Mike Norville's offense. Norville's now the new head coach at Florida State. This league has been known for not being able to stop anybody. Now, Temple's had a couple decent defensive teams at times.

last year, four of the bottom 20 teams in points allowed and total yards allowed were American Athletic Conference teams. On the flip side, three of the top eight teams in the country were scoring teams in the country, excuse me, were American athletic teams, and three of the top 10 in total offense were out of this league. This is a league that doesn't check anybody. So when you're watching the highlights of Gibson, understand that there are other players in that league that have the same looking highlight packages. Now, what separates him? 6 feet, 228 pounds, 43940. I think his style is a bit upright.

I don't see as much wiggle in explosiveness as, you know, I thought I would see when I watched him on tape. But again, I don't know. I don't know what Scott Turner's going to run. I don't know how Scott Turner and Ron Rivera and Kyle Smith and all these people project him. There were a lot of players in this draft skill position players that I saw a lot more of, a lot of them that I really, really liked. And I talked about a lot of those guys. The wide receivers, I love KJ. Hamler.

In terms of guys that maybe the Redskins would have a chance to take, well, they didn't have a chance to take KJ. Hamler. You know, I really loved Brian Edwards out of South Carolina. I love Tyler Johnson at a Minnesota. And I'm going to compare them more to Antonio Gandy Golden when we get to him here in a moment. You know, of the backs in this draft, I mean, the ones that the Redskins may have had a chance to get, you know, potentially. A lot of those guys, a lot of the backs, and they're only 17 taken, they were all gone by the time, you know, the good ones by the time the third round came around. I like Zach Moss.

He was there for the Redskins in the third round had they chosen to take them. I liked P. Ryan a little bit out of Florida. I liked McFarland a little bit out of Maryland. But most of you know, I like Javon Leak Moore. He signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent. I think he's going to be spectacular. You want to talk about a guy that was as much a runner as he was a pass catcher was the guy that I talked about on Friday or Thursday of last week,

Jonathan Ward out of Central Michigan. He didn't get drafted. He signed with the Cardinals. And, you know, on these backs, fit is everything too, right? So, you know, we don't even know what kind of offense that Scott Turner is going to run. I'm not knocking the Gibson pick at all. I think it's an exciting pick.

I mean, that kind of size and that kind of speed together is exciting. You know, this guy looks like he can definitely play. And by the way, he was a great kickoff for Turner. So we'll see. But again, don't get carried away with the statistics because there are a lot of players in that league. that looked like him, you know, in terms of the big chunk plays. That's what that league was made, was essentially all about. So now we get to the Redskins moving on on Saturday, the day three picks. I think the pick, other than Chase Young, that I'm most intrigued with is their first fourth rounder,

Sadiq Charles, the offensive lineman from LSU. And the reason that I say that is right after he got picked. I got a text message from Cole Kublick. Cole is an SEC network guy. I've had him on the radio show. He's excellent. He just really knows college football, played at Auburn, really knows college football, really studies the draft, really knows the SEC. Scott and Van Pelt and Stanford Steve basically told me a couple months ago, if you have not had Cole on any of your shows, you have to get Cole on. And I had him on the radio show like two weeks ago. He was excellent. When they picked Sadiq Charles, he texted me and he said, the Redskins are getting a potential starter in Charles. And he and I went back and forth with a couple of texts, and I said,

what about the maturity? What about the suspension? And he said, there's a lot of stuff there. There's a lot of maturity issues. He's 20 years old. And he got in trouble. And there's some weed and there's some other things that have been reported. And there's some overall maturity things. It wasn't just necessarily the things he got suspended for at 20 years old, 19 years old. But Kublick said, talent-wise, without all the baggage, this guy could have been a first-round pick. Definitely no worse than a second round pick. And he's got a chance if he gets his act together to be a legit NFL starting offensive lineman. Left tackle, right tackle.

He's shorter armed, which I always think is a problem, especially with your blind. side tackle. But Kublick loves him. And others felt the same way about him. Others believe that the Redskins got a guy that without all the baggage, and we see this every year in the draft, obviously there are guys who fall because teams don't want to take a chance on the character stuff or the maturity stuff. But if you watch this guy on tape, he's a road grader man when he plays. And you're talking about the SEC, he's playing pro players on the other. side for six, seven, eight games a year. So I'm very intrigued with Charles, not to mention the fact that it fills a need. You know, right now the Redskins, who do they have? Cornelius Lucas

and Jaron Christian. Will they make a move on Donald Penn? They have plenty of cap space. You know, the Redskins right now, after unloading Trent Williams, have the second most cap space in the NFL right now. They got 36 million bucks. You know, and there are players, by the way, that get turned loose today without the risk of losing compensatory picks that the Redskins could potentially be in the mix for. So tomorrow there could be some news on an additional player or two or three that they've signed in free agency. But I like the Sadiq Charles pick because of what Kublich told me.

Now, on Antonio Gandy Golden, their second fourth round pick, I saw the ESPN profile, perhaps many of you did as well. I enjoyed it. He's an eclectic kid. A lot of interest was a gymnast. He's a bowler. He's bowled a 300 game. He's learned how to play guitar. He's a Rubik's Cube expert. He's a juggler. He just seems like a kid that's got his act together, you know, at Liberty University. I didn't, I watched Liberty. I'll never forget watching him against Syracuse in the opener because I bet him. But I don't remember. I'd be lying if I told you that I remember Gandhi Golden playing for Liberty this year. Hugh Freeze is their coach. Hugh Freeze, you know, early in the season, was coaching from a hospital bed in the, in the coach's booth, coaching from the booth off of a surgery.

He was, it was probably for three or four games that he had, he had basically a life-threatening staff infection thing that led to sort of a back thing. and he was like coaching from a wheelchair in the coaches box early in the season. Actually from a hospital bed, you can find pictures of that. Hugh Freeze had coached at Ole Miss for a while. But this guy's big. You know, he has size.

He can run. He's got great hands. In fact, in that ESPN profile, you can see the hands that he has. They're like OBJ-style hands. Somebody called in this morning and compared him to Plaxico-Buris. That is style. watch him on tape, there is a little bit of plaquesigo bursts there. I would agree with that. He doesn't have burning speed, but the size at 6-4, 220, something like that with the hands.

And he's a natural hands catcher, by the way, not a chess catcher. He can go up and snag it with one hand. Good timing, good, you know, spatial sense. You know, this is an intriguing pick because the Redskins have an opportunity there, too, at wide receiver. And I figured that the Redskins from a receiver standpoint were going to take an outside guy, not another slot guy. I think they like Sims Jr. I think they like Drake Quinn. And I think they were looking at an outside guy to really push Kelvin Harmon. We've also heard some possibilities of Kelvin Harmon playing tight end, which is interesting. But anyway, Gandy Golden, okay.

I mean, again, fourth rounders, they got a third rounder last year that looks like a player, and maybe they struck gold with Kyle Smith finding a fourth rounder in Gandy Golden here. A lot of people, a lot of the people that cover this draft and make it their business to cover the draft, really liked the pick. Really liked the pick. So I am happy about that and excited to see what he has. Now, the player that they didn't draft that they had a chance to draft was a player that I really would have, first of all, I would have loved to have seen him draft Brian Edwards. He went in the third round. And the Redskins had already drafted Gibson at number two. I would have taken Edwards in the third round, even at number two. I think he's really going to be a good NFL player, the kid from South Carolina. And he's an outside guy too. Tyler Johnson was taken basically a half round, about a half round later in the fifth by Tampa, the kid from Minnesota, who I really, really liked and was one of those people who I'm like, I hope the Redskins, if they add an outside receiver, you know, to be on the opposite side of McLaurin,

I would love it to be somebody like Brian Edwards or Tyler Johnson. Johnson went to Tampa, so he'll play with Brady on a team that's loaded with wide receivers. But the Redskins got Gandy Golden about a half round, almost a full round actually prior to Tyler Johnson being picked. The other picks just straight up have no idea about Keith Ishmael, the center from San Diego State, Kaleek Hudson, the linebacker from Michigan. I sort of remember him and watching him a little bit. Cameron Curl from Arkansas, James Smith Williams from NC State and the seventh rounders. like you get to the seventh rounder, you're just hoping to find somebody that can play at this level

and that maybe you keep around on your practice squad. I mean, defensive ends not a position of need, we know that. I read a couple of things about Smith Williams from some scouts that say he's got some real, you know, length and some real talent, and he was a team captain at NC State. But, you know, those guys really fifth, seventh round, the four guys they got there at the end. much about. Now, Thaddeus Moss, they signed as an undrafted free agent. And so we all, you know, who are college football fans, know that he is the son of Randy Moss, and that he played tight-ended LSU, and he played in some big, big games for the national champions this year. So you get

two guys that both played on LSU. You get Charles in the fourth round, you get Moss as an undrafted free agent. I always thought watching him that he was slow. But he's a tight end. I think he's a competitor. He's got good hands. He made some big plays and big games, and the Redskins have a need there. But if Thaddeus Moss were so obviously a tight end in this league, you would have been drafted. So that's a long shot there.

But then again, this is a team where a long shot at that position has a chance, because you've got two guys that you added in Rogers and Logan Thomas to go with Sprinkle and Henthes. So there's a chance there. Redskins also added Stephen Montez, the quarterback from Colorado, who I saw play a lot. You talk about a playmaker. He's kind of exciting. I mean, it's funny that watching Montez at Colorado, it sort of reminds me a little bit of Kyle Allen, the guy that they traded for. But the Redskins are going to need a third quarterback in camp because they don't have one right now.

They've got Kyle Allen. They've got Dwayne Haskins. So they're going to have to sign an undrafted free agent. So Montes, who started at Colorado, is going to be their third quarterback because it's certainly not going to be Alex Smith. By the way, it's just an aside, if you guys didn't know this. That documentary on Kyle Smith airs this Friday night. Remember the Jeremy Schap E60 piece on Alex Smith was sort of a preview of a documentary that's coming. Well, it's going to air Friday night.

It's called Project 11. and it focuses on the life, the injury. 18, 18 surgeries it said that Alex Smith had. I didn't know it was 18. Tommy broke the story that it was a lot. I don't know if he had the number 18. Maybe he did. We know that he was in septic shock,

that he nearly died, then he nearly lost the leg via amputation. And this is on Friday night. So that will be an interesting thing to watch. So that's sort of my overall thoughts on the draft and what they did with the undrafted free agents. I would have liked to have seen them take a shot on one of those running backs that I really liked that I mentioned on Friday weren't going to be there at the end, that we're either going to be there in the sixth or seventh round or as an undrafted free agent. Javan Leak signed with the Giants, the Maryland guy.

I think McFarlane's got a chance. Turp fans in Pittsburgh definitely. I think Leake's got a really good chance, even though he's behind Sequin Barclay and they've got other guys like Wayne Galman there. And then Jonathan Ward from Central Michigan, who was a favorite of mine on Tuesday and Wednesday night's matchion games, he got signed by the Cardinals. I think he's going to have a chance as well. One of the things I wanted to mention is on Saturday I put out a poll four months since the 2019 season ended. Bruce is gone. Ron Rivera, new staff in. Free agency pretty much over. The draft just ended. how do you feel about the direction of the Redskins right now?

And I gave four potential answers that this is the most optimistic you've been in a while. That was answer number one. Answer number two is, hey, we've got a chance now. Option three, or answer three, was you're in wait and see mode, and the fourth option as an answer was same old, same old, that this team didn't be very good. I was surprised by the results.

Nearly over 3,000 votes, and the leading answer with 40.4% of the vote was you're as optimistic as you've been in a while. I would have chosen the second option. I think we've got a chance. Rivera, Kyle Smith, Snyder for the time being, taking a step back, you know, a defense that could take a major step forward with a potential star added and free in the draft. obviously the big question mark is going to be Dwayne but I you know I have some hope that he could be the answer there and so we we will see on that but I was surprised that the biggest you know the number one answer was that this is the most optimistic that many of you have been in a while the second most answered of the

options was wait and see which I think is a reasonable answer you know for For me, I do believe that Snyder's going to steer clear for a while. I believe in Ron Rivera, the coach. I do believe in Kyle Smith as a college talent evaluator. So I'm in a more optimistic, you know, sort of mode right now than I've been. But even though I like Dwayne, it's got to be right. He's got to be the answer there because if you don't have the quarterback, then what are you doing? Like if you don't have the quarterback, it's going to be tough to compete for anything meaningful.

I don't expect them to be a playoff contender this year at all. But, you know, in 2021, 2022, I think the arrow is, you know, tilting at least a little bit upward right now based on what they're doing. One other quick thing, too, before I get to some other thoughts just on the NFL draft, Trent Williams put out a statement after being traded. He said, I'm thankful this is over. I thank Dan and the organization for all they've done for me. Still a lot of love for the fans and for that locker room. Now I'm focusing on being the best player I can possibly be for the San Francisco 49ers.

You know, you take that and remember it was a few weeks ago maybe where the agent said Trent hopes to come back one day and be inducted into the ring of fame. and I was just thinking how many of you would want Trent Williams to come back and be inducted into the Redskins Ring of Fame? I don't think the feeling

about Trent Williams is that favorable anymore. I'm projecting here and I like, I always like Trent, by the way, great guy. I mean truly smart with it, gets it, always

pleasant. And by the way, a really good player. No matter where you think he ranks, he's a really good player. He's one of the Redskins' best all-time offensive linemen. But I think after the last year, I thought it was handled poorly by his side. He was certainly botched by the Redskins. I think they should have been aggressive and should have traded him. I don't think it would have been precedent setting. I don't think it would have been something that the organization would sort of lay out there as a way to get out of town if you wanted to get out of town. But ultimately, you know, I think people are going to look less favorably on the Trent Williams stay here because of the way it ended.

All right, a couple of other things about the NFL draft, and then we will wrap it up for the day. LSU, the first team in history we mentioned to have a quarterback running back and wide receiver picked in the first round. The other day, LSU also had 14 players selected in the draft. most since Ohio State had 14 taken 16 years ago. So the national champion juggernaut LSU team, 14 players taken in the draft, third most since Ohio State in 2004. The SEC in total, for the 14th straight year, had the most players taken from their conference. 63 were taken. Last year, they set the record for a seven-round draft with 64 players taken from the the SEC last year. But how about 14 straight years the SEC's led the way with NFL talent in its

draft? I mean, it's so obvious watching that league that you're watching a lot of players that will be playing in the next year or two on Sundays. Minnesota drafted 15 players. It's the most for a team in the NFL draft in 26 years. Now, they actually had at one point 17 total selections, but they traded a couple of them and acquired more picks for next year, but they acquired 15 players over the weekend, and they needed them because they lost a lot of their defense in particular. They ended up adding, you know, a terrific wide receiver,

I think went a little bit behind where he should have gone. Justin Jefferson at number 22 overall and a real physical corner in Jeff Gladney out of TCU at the end of the first round. They also added that tackle in the second round, Ezra Cleveland, which took them out of the Trent Williams situation. But they ended up drafting like four cornerbacks, I think, in the draft. And they lost three of their corners. They lost Trey Wains. They lost Xavier Rhodes. They lost Alexander. So they've got to remake that whole defense, which has been a really good defense. An excellent defense last year was a pass rushing defense. Gave up a lot of penalties, though. Xavier Rhodes didn't have a good year. Minnesota, 15 picks the most for a team since 1994.

How about Carolina? Carolina had seven picks in the draft the Panthers did. And in Matt Ruhl's first year as head coach, they drafted seven defensive players. seven picks, seven defensive players, first team to draft all of its players on one side of the ball in 35 years. Last time it happened was 1985. All of their players, defensive players, do you think they sort of recognized where their weaknesses were? Also, just a couple of things from over the weekend, draft related and not draft related. The Patriots did not draft a quarterback. I believe that they are all in on Jarrett Stidham. I think this is a pick they made.

I think it's one of the reasons they were sort of okay with Brady leaving. I think they're ready to start the Jarrett Stidam era. I loved him at Auburn, and Josh McDaniels will get the best out of him. But I know they've mentioned Brian Hoyer, and I know they signed a quarterback as an undrafted free agent. They didn't draft a quarterback. They didn't sign one in free agency. They didn't trade for a quarterback.

I guess they could still make a move for somebody like Andy Dalton. I guess they could still bring in Cam Newton. I guess they could still potentially bring in a James Winston, although the reports yesterday were that Winston's going to sign in New Orleans, which, by the way, I love that for him. Love that for him. I really want James Winston. I can't explain it.

I want him to succeed. And I think sitting behind Drew Brees for a year could really, really be helpful. At the same time, which was weird, is that New Orleans also signed Tassum Hill to a contract extension. But anyway, Stidham in New England, to me, seems like, you know, what they're going to do. That makes, that to me, makes a lot of sense. Of course, we'll probably be in here tomorrow talking about how they sign Cam Newton. Mel Kuyper's final rankings on the draft, if you want some grades, because I didn't give you my own, because I don't like doing that. He had Dallas with a B plus, the Giants with a B, Philly with a B minus, and the Redskins

with a C plus in terms of the NFC East teams. And I always find it interesting this weekend when the draft is over. Just like when the seasons are over in college, you get the all too early rankings for the following year. Well, you get the all too early mock drafts. And a lot of the mock drafts that I looked at, the Redskins had, you know, anywhere from the second to the fourth pick. expects the Redskins to be very good next year. We've been talking about that for a while. And apparently, in one particular mock draft that I haven't seen, I was just told about, they had the number one pick and picked Trevor Lawrence. I don't think they're going to have the number one pick next year. I really don't. I think they'll be so much better defensively

that that will keep them in enough games to up their win total from last year. Also, last thought on the draft and the record numbers of people that watched it. I mean, 55 million. and viewers over a three-day period shattered the record, previous record. I mean, the coverage on Thursday night, the first round was way up like 37% over 2019, 40% on Friday night over 2019, and it was 32% increase over 2019 for the Saturday rounds 4 through 7 coverage. I thought they did a really good job. I thought it was a really good watch.

I think a lot of their features were excellent. I didn't have a problem with it not being outdoors in some city. I certainly didn't have a problem watching guys, you know, put on a hat and walk up to a stage and fake bro hug, you know, Roger Goodell. And I got a little sick of Roger Goodell, you know, turning to the big screen with all the fans of the team saying, come on, you know, Charger fans, let's go. I mean, enough of that. I thought it was well done all weekend, though, the coverage. I thought it was first rate. But it wasn't what some people were saying. I got, you know, I'm not going to sit here. and read you all the tweets, but there were just, there was a level of praise for the NFL's draft weekend from people that I thought nearly was over the top, people calling it the NFL's finest moment, you know, during this pandemic to offer us three days of draft coverage and of, you know, of clear, you know, empathy pieces for our health care workers, which is all great, and I think it totally connects. I'm not criticizing that, but it wasn't

the NFL's finest moment. Come on, man. I mean, the NFL's finest moment comes almost every Sunday afternoon, and certainly when you get to Saturdays and Sundays in January. It's such a great product. By the way, there was some news from John Orand, who actually I'm going to have on the radio show tomorrow. John Oran's been a guest on the podcast before. He writes for Sports Business Journal, and he put out a story earlier today about what the NFL is considering doing as a plan, as a contingency plan, if they can't start the season in September. He said a contingency plan for a delay in the start of the season includes a Super Bowl that would be pushed back to February 28th, and a regular season that would, would start as late as Thursday, October 15th. The NFL's putting together its schedule. There's actually now some concern that the NFL has that putting together a schedule now

will prompt people to plan based on that schedule when the schedule may not be able to actually be executed, to actually be laid out and take place the way they're planning it. And that's why they've got a contingency plan. And Oran spells the whole thing out. He says they've essentially created, in the process of nailing down, a regular-looking schedule that would start, you know, in the first week of September, and play 16 games over a 17-week period with the Super Bowl scheduled for February 7th in Tampa. And then they've got a contingency schedule, which I don't know if we'll get a look at that, necessarily, that pushes the season back to October 15th to start in the Super Bowl. back to February 28th, and it would eliminate the buy week. So basically, you're talking about three weeks, it would eliminate the Pro Bowl and would eliminate the buy week, so you'd only

have one week between the championship games and the Super Bowl, you wouldn't have a buy week. So essentially that makes up for the September, second weekend of September start and the second weekend of October start. It would basically equal like four weeks of a delay. And so the schedule will be designed with some of that in mind in terms of being able to take some of those first few weeks that are scheduled, and if they don't get played, just pushing them to the end. So you would take the first two or three or four weeks and make them the last three or four weeks. So you'll see maybe more division matchups, maybe all division matchups in week four as an example. That is a possibility when we get the schedule. But anyway, plenty of time to get ready for that and plenty of time for me to put

my mock schedule together. All right, that's it. Thanks. Back tomorrow with Tommy.