The Kevin Sheehan Show - Trade Old, Draft Young

Episode Date: April 23, 2020

Kevin and Thom today with an NFL Draft preview. Plenty on news relating to Trent Williams and Kevin spends time on a few of his favorite post-1st round guys in the draft. Credit in-advance to Cooley for something he predicted yesterday as well. <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. You're listening to The Sports Fix. And welcome to the NFL draft. Come on, Philly. Come on. Draft Day 2020, and it's going to be a different one. We won't hear that tonight, Tommy, will we? We won't get the annual booing of the commissioner. And nobody booed louder than the Philadelphia fans when it was in Philly. few years ago. I'll miss that tonight. I will miss that tonight. There will be booing from homes all over America, but the commissioner won't hear it. Well, we don't know. Look, if the commissioner has a sense of humor, he's going to have his family booing him in the background. Yes. Actually, you know, somebody sent me something a few days ago that the NFL had some sort of self-deprecating ad about that. I haven't seen that. Aaron, maybe you can find it, and we can play it back at the end of

this show, that it had something to do with the commissioner being booed and maybe. You know what, at this point, if they actually did something like that, it would be a wonderful sort of expression of self-deprecation, but it would almost be too obvious. But if it was his family, even if it would be obvious, if it was his family, if it was his family, if it was his family booing him. I agree with you. That would be a step over.

That would be one step to make it a totally different atmosphere. Yeah. I think that would be funny. Then just manufactured booze from NFL, you know, workers or ESPN workers or whatever. You know, look, I mean, people hate the authority, authority figures.

They just do. And, you know, nobody, nobody ever, like David Stern might have been the most beloved commissioner of our lifetime. Maybe Roselle was earlier. He was also beloved, but most people hate commissioners, you know. And so, and look, Goodell, you know, has certainly made it easy sometimes to dislike him, but I never quite understood the whole, you know, booing and all the vitriol against commissioners of most boys. I mean, they work for the odor.

All the commissioners work for the owners. They don't work for the fan. Roselle had a very good way about him. He was likable in the way he communicated. And by the way, I'm not so sure David Stern was early on necessarily. But the increase of the league's popularity, some of the decisions he made as a commissioner, you know, eventually I think people came. to respect him. But I think Roselle, I mean, at least my memory, Tommy, is that Roselle was well

liked by everybody other than Al Davis. He was the only person that didn't like Pete Roselle. And I actually think that Adam Silver has a way about him that's likable as well. But you're right. They work for the commissioners. They're the ones that are on the front lines of all of the bad news typically. And so, you know, they're sort of a built-in disadvantage for him. I think. But Goodell, for the most part, has been a bit of a rube as a commissioner, you know, and a bit of a dunce as a commissioner, really. Yeah, I grant you the whole, the whole bounty gate, the way they handle it. Deflate gate's the worst. Ray Rice is terrible.

And the videotape, the Patriots videotape scandal where they destroyed the tape. Yeah, there's a lot of reasons to boo Roger Goodell. And, you know, for the $40 million he gets a year, his family can boo him. That's true. I think actually, you know, if his family was just booing him in the background and it didn't look completely staged and sort of in concert, I think it would be pretty funny. By the way, was Paul Tagliabu liked or not. I think he was fine. He was sort of, he was a smart guy, really smart guy.

I lived here, you know, very locally in Bethesda here in close. A Redskins season ticket holder. And a Redskins season ticket holder. Yeah. Yeah, went to play basketball in Georgetown, I think. I think that's right. I think that's right. Yeah.

I think he was, look, I tell you where he was disliked in Baltimore. Right. They hated him in Baltimore, where he told them after he gave a franchise to Jacksonville, go spend your money on libraries. Yeah, exactly. All right, so tonight is the NFL draft. First question for you, and then I'll answer it as well, my own question. Is there anything unseemly about this draft taking place tonight in the midst of a world pandemic?

No. Yeah. No, I mean, not to me. It never seemed that way to me. I always felt that you could operate this without creating an image of, you. of lack of safety while you were doing it. I mean, that's the only, that, I mean, and in terms of money involved, I, I just think that, you know, on the list of being offended in terms of what kind of money

these guys will make, you know, the rookies don't make the same amount of money as the veterans. No, I just think that the idea, the thirst for anything, other than a list of your 10 favorite actors, trumps any feeling of resentment over the draft taking place. I mean, because this is it. Look it. This is Selma and Louis, driving off

the cliff, buddy. Yeah. Once this car goes airborne the night and for the next couple of days, then it's a long, then it's a long way down. No, we've got, we've got the Jordan documentary, the Bulls documentary over the next four weeks.

It's all manufacturing. We have, we We have a major league golf showdown between Peyton and Tiger as one team, Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady, the other team, made for TV Memorial Day weekend. Well, that's a ways off. That's a month from now. Yeah, no, you're right. I mean, I think we've all sort of pointed to getting, you know, having free agency, having the NFL draft to be excited about. And then we are really into, you know, truly some, some days. sports days with a major void, I mean, with no live sports.

Look, you and I have been doing this for a long, long time. The fact of the matter is most of our audience over the years haven't really been immersed in the NBA playoffs. The NHL playoffs, when the, you know, the caps are playing or the NBA playoffs when the Wizards are playing, yes. But once that ends, you know, it can be, it's a dead period from, you know, call it, you know, early to mid-May, through really, I think, Labor Day weekend. Now, we have a lot to talk about when training camp starts in August, but the high season for sports talk radio in most places, you know, not all places, most places,

is September through essentially the Super Bowl with an extension because of free agency and then in the NFL draft through the end of April. And then May, June, July, you pretty much have to make it up, You know, regardless of... Well, that's not true. You got a baseball game to talk about every day. Tommy, how many times did we come in doing a show together and break down the game from the night before? First of all, that's not what you do, even though you're a bigger baseball guy than I am.

You don't watch games every single night start to finish. And it's not, there's not a significant audience for a recap of a May 17. game, you know, in Philly between the Nats and the Phillies. There just isn't. I mean, unless something happens. Unless something happens. And there's more of a chance that something happens. There's always the possibility of something happening

when you've got a game almost every day. That's true. And it doesn't matter. I mean, our material is not necessarily based on whether or not people will listen. This is just two different arguments. What people will listen to and what material you have to talk about are two different arguments. Well, like we always said, you know, in our post-show meetings when we were doing a show together,

all right, we got a couple of ideas here, but something more likely than not will happen today or tonight before the show tomorrow. And it didn't have anything to do with a game that was played more often than not. Anyway, whatever. Back to what I asked you, no, this is totally, totally fine. And by the way, for so many of us necessary tonight, it's going to be. be a great diversion. It's been a great diversion in the lead up to it. Tonight, tomorrow night, you know, Saturday all day will be nice. And I'm not taking a shot for those of you that heard Adam Schaefter with me on the radio show last week or the week before. I can't remember now.

I've said this a few times. People in those hot spots, New York in particular, they have a different perspective of this, a totally different perspective. And I know this, because I know this, because I have friends that live in New York, New Jersey, family in New Jersey, one of my best friends in Connecticut, in Fairfield County, Connecticut, in New York suburb that, you know, they know people that have this. They know people who have gotten very sick. They know people who have died from this. And maybe some of you do too living down here, but up there it was, you know, it's been just a completely different situation. So his perspective was that of someone who was living in the middle of the worst of it. when he thought that it was unseemly in bad optics for the NFL to move forward with the NFL

I'm fine with it. I'm excited about it tonight. Redskins will be on the clock pretty quickly. Pretty quickly. Although speaking of Schefter, just a few hours ago, this was his tweet. Over the last couple of weeks, the dolphins called the Bengals on more than one occasion to see if Cincinnati would be willing to trade the number one overall pick. The dolphins were told in no uncertain terms. No, Cincinnati would not trade the pick and would stay put at number one. That is a clear reflection that Joe Burrow is the quarterback in this draft and that Tua and Herbert are major risks for the dolphins at five. And by the way, even if Tua were healthy, I think Burroughs better. Not everybody agrees. But the dolphins willing and trying to be

aggressive to trade all the way up to number one to take Joe Burroughs. Burrow is a reflection that Joe Burroughs the quarterback in this draft. Now, I think I read somewhere from, I forget who tweeted it, but it was a credible NFL reporter that the Dolphins see Joe Burrow at Joe Montana. They think that he has that kind of impact moving forward. And if you're talking about Joe Montana, you're talking about future Super Bowl, you know, down the line. So, yeah, I think the dolphins, you know, have Joe Burrow far ahead of any other quarterback

that they've gotten this draft. Well, I think that that makes sense, to me anyway, as a football fan. But it also brings this into the conversation because I was going to use it as a way, I was going to talk about it with respect to the Redskins, but I'll start with the dolphins. You know, there was that period of time where the dolphins were. not only bad, but historically bad to start the season. They were 0 and 7, and it appeared as if they were truly trying to tank this season.

You know, they lost by ungodly sums, like 59 to 10 to the Ravens. They got beat by the Patriots, 43-0-Thing. Teams were killing them until the Redskins came to town and barely beat them. You know, they put Ryan Fitzpatrick into the game, and Fitzpatrick nearly beat the Redskins, and they ran a two-point conversion play that was really sketchy because they put the guy that hadn't practiced the play into the game for the two-point conversion. It was off kilter and the Redskins held on for a win. But the dolphins all of a sudden started trying to win games, and they did win games. You know, they ultimately finished the season over their final, I think, 10 games, five and five.

Actually, over their final nine games, they finished five and four. They beat the Bengals and the Patriots in their last two games. Remember, they knocked the Patriots out of that two seed. You know, by beating them in Foxborough. The Bengals game was an all-time crazy comeback. They were down, they won the game, but they gave up a big lead, nearly lost it, and then won an overtime. It was a crazy comeback by the Bengals. But the point is that Miami, you know, they could have been in a position to take Joe Burrow.

They were there. It was there for the taking, but they didn't continue to lose. And instead, they were trying, they were trying to win and they had Fitzpatrick. They should have put Josh Rosen out there and should have benched Fitzpatrick. I can only imagine what they offered the Bengals to get up to number one. You know, it really, it must have been a boatload. I used that as a way to get into what I talked about a little bit earlier on my radio show, which was this. the people out there that I argued with in November and December when I was saying, God no, don't win games.

The best way for this to roll out the rest of the way is for Haskins to play well and to keep growing, but for the Redskins to lose games. And when we got down Tommy to the final three games, and they were playing the Eagles and the Giants and the Cowboys to close the season, do you know how many people called or tweeted or whatever and said, Dude, this is ridiculous. This is division rivalry time. You've got to try to win these games.

There's no guarantee in the draft, yada, yada, yada. They wanted to beat the Eagles. They wanted to beat the Giants and the Cowboys. And the Redskins are at two. If they had gone out and won those games, which, by the way, they nearly did against the Eagles and the Giants in particular. If they had, you know, they could have finished 5 and 11 or, God forbid, 6 and 10. and, you know, Bruce leaving, Bruce staying could have been back on the table. Callahan staying could have been on the table.

And the Redskins could have been sitting there with the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, if they had gone 10th and 6. For those that really got after me and do it every year when we have these conversations, you've got to think about it on a night like tonight. You've got a chance to take Chase Young at number two overall. You're getting offered according to a lot of different people, packages from teams like Atlanta. You know, you're not in that position if you're drafting six or seven or eight. And oh, by the way, then you've got to watch the Giants draft Chase Young.

Those wins mean nothing in the NFL. There's nothing that translates year to year anymore. Very little in this day and age in the NFL. Next year, if they're four and eight, and the Redskins, you know, and by the way, Haskins stinks, I don't think that's going to happen. Trevor Lawrence is sitting there as the obvious number one picker. The Redskins are two in ten. Don't start telling me that you want them to win their final four games. At that point, it's time to go get Trevor Lawrence. You know, Miami's in a bind.

The guy that they want, they can't get because they went out and won a bunch of football games. They did not matter. Let me tell you some. I am not in favor of manufacturing a wrong. roster and going into a season to tank. I am not in favor of that. But once the season is underway, and you're halfway through the season, and you know it's not going anywhere, and then I am in all in favor of saying,

let's not win these games, let's not win the rest of these games. But I am not in favor of starting the season and actual manufacturing a team that for all intents and purposes is built to lose, which some teams do. I am not in favor of that. But if you're going to lose and you find that out there in the season, then you might as well lose big. I'm really referring much more to the fan perspective on this than I am the team perspective, because as a fan, first of all, I wanted anything that guaranteed that Bruce Allen got fired, and that the coaching staff was gone and we could start from scratch.

Secondly, I knew that Chase Young was potentially going to be the first or second pick in the draft, and I wanted a chance at Chase Young. But when it comes to teams, look, the practical discussion here is that when you hear that teams are tanking, the players that are playing in these games aren't trying to perform badly and lose the games. for the franchise. Tanking is more of the franchise, the executives in the franchise, choosing to play their weakest players to influence the outcome or to enhance the probability of losing. You know, Miami could have done that by starting Josh Rosen instead of Ryan Fitzpatrick down the stretch, you know, and I agree with you going into a season, especially in the NFL, because anything

can happen. You don't go in thinking about tank. But it's really, like even the NBA discussion, do you think any player in a game at the end of an NBA season on a team that is perceived to be tanking, you think that player's going to like dribble it off his leg on purpose? He wants a job next year. He wants to get paid next year. All the players in the game are trying their best. But tanking comes from an organizational decision-making standpoint of we're not going to play our best players. You know, we're going to sit our best players. Our best players are going to find their way to injured reserve,

or we're going to talk about playing younger players to see what we have to increase the probability of losing. The Dolphins, the way they started that season, it really did appear like no other team in recent memory, that they were terrible and they didn't care. Because they weren't just losing NFL games. They were getting their ass kicked until, of course, the Redskins came to town.

and they nearly won that game. But even after that game, they got beat badly by Buffalo and Pittsburgh, and then all of a sudden, you know, they beat a bad team in the Jets, they beat the Colts, and they started, you know, Fitzpatrick, you know, Fitzpatrick, you know, Fitzmagic was making magic happen. Yeah, it was. But, you know, the position it put him in tonight is to have to probably offer, you know, an ungodly sum to move up to get the player that maybe had they played Josh Rosen,

they would have had the chance to draft without moving up. But Cincinnati is going to... Do you think that, and we're just guessing on this, at a season like the dolphins had, where they could have easily coasted to a much worse season, and nobody would have blinked an eye since they had started off so poorly to begin with. Everyone was already prepared for the dolphins

maybe losing all 16 games, That was the discussion at the time. Do you think at some point when you've got Orion Fitzpatrick as a backup, the players in the locker room, they look at the coaching staff and they say, you know, we can't keep going on like this? Is there a point where the dolphins change their direction on the field because of the players in the locker room sort of demanded? Yeah, and you know what?

I think there may have been something about that. When you just started saying that, I think there may have been a story about the dolphins pushing back or maybe their own coaching staff and the players sort of recognizing that Fitzpatrick gave them a better chance and they all of a sudden decided to become more competitive. Yes, I think the answer to that is yes. Yeah, I think that's a big problem for teams.

If you've got a guy sitting on the bench who the players recognize, and the players usually recognize this, that can help you win more than the guy you've got in the game, it's hard to manage a whole season like that. You might be able to manage one or two games like that, but not a whole season. Well, remember, they traded Minka Fitzpatrick, a young player, a really good player early in the season, which was really a head scratcher, because even if you're tanking, you know, you're not going to trade your really good players.

But last year, and I forget exactly which week the Dolphins traded Fitzpatrick for the Steelers. You know, they got a bunch of picks, including the Steelers' first rounder this year. But Fitzpatrick was a really good player that they had drafted in 2018, I think it was. And, you know, middle first round, you know, high first round. that was surprising, but that was another indication. It's like, oh, man, they are really thinking long term. They're just accumulating picks now. Yeah, look, when you only have 16 of these to play

and anything can happen in the NFL, and that team's looking around going, man, this dude Fitzpatrick lights it up in practice, you know, with the scout team or whatever. They're probably like, we got a shot with him. And the truth is they did. You know, they actually made some progress there at the end of the year. They were a competitive team.

You know, even the games they lost, you know, towards the end of the year. They had, you know, chances, I think, in some of those to win them. But anyway, Miami isn't going to get the number one pick. Cincinnati is going to do the right thing. They're going to take a, you know, a quarterback that I, I mean, I personally love. I think he is, you know, I think he is a playmaker. You said Joe Montana. You know, in today's game, to me, he's, you know, a bigger version of Russell Wilson.

You know, he may not have the arm strength of Aaron Rogers, but he makes plays like Aaron Rogers. He's a gamer. He's a competitor. You know, he went through the gauntlet like no college quarterback has ever gone through what LSU went through in terms of their schedule this year. To win a national championship, he threw for 60 touchdowns, accounted for 65. Nobody's ever had a season like Joe Burrow just had at LSU. Again, the best conference in the country against one of the great schedules of all time. They beat, they ultimately beat, I think it was five teams that were ranked in the top five, seven teams that were ranked in the top ten during the course of the year,

went to Tuscaloosa and beat Alabama, beat Clemson in the championship game, crushed Oklahoma in one of the great, I mean, one of the great performances by a quarterback that we've ever seen burrow through seven touchdown passes and for 493 yards in a semi-final game against Jalen Hertz in Oklahoma, like a good team. He was spectacular. I've thought all along that he was the best quarterback, even if Tua were healthy. He's going to get taken number one overall, and that's going to lead to the Redskins on the clock. at number two. And I think the Redskins at number two tonight, despite, you know, some of the reporting of the last 24 hours about Atlanta being interested in trading up to number two and teams making offers. I think there's like a 99% chance at this point. The Redskins stand pat,

stay at two and take Chase Young, which I think is the right move. What do you think they do? I think they do too. I think they stay where they are. I've always thought all along, Ron Rivera is going to draft the best defensive player that he can get his hands on in Safe Young. But I think this is the second biggest story for the Washington Redskins for their fans. If anything illustrates to you how screwed up this franchise is, is that more fans care about trading, getting rid of Fred Williams than they do drafting, Jake Young? Well, that's because Chase Young is pretty much a lock. There's no controversy around Chase Young. There's no, I mean, other than understanding, in my view, that there's no real

analysis needed on this player, he's the best defensive talent they've had on their roster, or they will have had on their roster since Sean Taylor. He's a dominant pass rusher. Todd McShay says he's the best pass rusher. He's evaluated since Von Miller. The Redskins haven't had had a defensive player that have kept offensive coordinators up at night for years. He's a freak athletically. He's a producer at the highest level in college football. He's versatile. He can play almost anywhere along the defensive line of scrimmage.

He'll elevate. And more people care about getting rid of Trent Williams. But everybody knows what I'm just describing about Chase Young, and they know the Redskins are going to take him at number two. The Trent Williams thing is more of an unknown. like what are they going to get for him? Who are they going to deal him to? I think people are very excited about Chase Young. I just don't think that there's much to talk about. Everybody knows what he is. What are you talking about? Half the conversation leading up to the draft

as whether or the Redskins are going to draft to us? No, that's that. Oh, it was. Oh, it wasn't. You're talking about people talking. That's what people were talking about. You know why people may have been talking about it because the bottom line is over the last couple of months, people like you and me and others needed to sort of create some conversation. And there are people that would take Tua right now. There are. I'm not disputing that. But I would say, I don't know that I've ever seen, well, first of all, you rarely have a number two pick overall. And so when you're drafting, you know, John Allen at 17 or Duran Payne at, you know, whatever he was 18, There's more of a conversation.

Vita Vaya, this guy, that guy. This is obvious. I think the Redskin fan base, significant majority, are absolutely fine and excited about Chase Young being picked at number two, and that's what they want. You think it's a majority, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been debate and conversation. There's been just as much conversation as to whether or not they should trade back. they should trade that number two and get more picks.

Yes, but I still. This idea that Chase Young was this no-brainer, and so Redskins fans didn't really, you know, weren't care as much as they did about getting rid of Trent Williams because Chase Young was a lock. I mean, that's not the case. There's been just as much debate about drafting two, or there's been just as much debate about trading the number two pick

and getting more picks. Okay. First of all, I concede that there's been conversation about all of those things. Okay. I disagree with you that it's somehow like a, you know, a polarizing conversation. Trade back or take Chase Young. Draft Tua or take Chase Young. I think a significant majority of Redskin fans want the Redskins to stay at number two and take Chase Young.

That's number one. Number two, as we've gotten closer to tonight, it's become, I think, more clear to everybody, even those that would prefer to a or would prefer a trade back, that it's going to be Chase Young at number two. That's why the Trent Williams' conversation of the last 24 hours has become more interesting and perhaps more prevalent among Redskin fans. I don't think that if there was a true debate as to whether or not the Redskins were going to trade back or draft Chase Young, Like there were wild reports like the Redskins are in discussions with multiple teams about a deal to move back. That would be the number one conversation if that were real right now. Listen, I'm just telling you, I don't know how you can measure it, but the Trent Williams debate, not just in the last 24 hours,

but the Trent Williams debate about trading him has been going on since May. No, for me, it's been going on for a year and a half. We've not been discussing. Well, you've been talking about it for a year and a half. Once Redskins fan, once he didn't report for mini-camp, then it became a source of debate among Redskins fans. I mean, nobody was debating who they should draft with the number two pick because I didn't even know they were going to have the number two pick back then.

But they've been talking and debating about trading Trent Williams for almost a year. I'm just telling you that the last 24 hours, which is sort of how you started this particular segment of, conversation. The reason that the Trent Williams stuff is being discussed more and debated more among Redskin fans is because there is this foregone conclusion that they're going to take Chase Young at number two. So that ends that conversation. The reason the Trent Williams debate has become more prevalent is because this is a fucked up franchise. That's where you wanted to go with this from the beginning of bringing it up. Well, of course.

we're here because they're a fucked up franchise. I mean, remember 10 years ago, people were dancing in the streets about drafting Trent Williams. Now you can't wait to send them packing. The best player on the roster, and I believe me,

I'm with you, I would have traded him a year and a half ago, but he is the best player on the roster. He's the best player on the roster and fans are more excited about saying goodbye to him than they are saying. hello to Chase Young. All right. Let's get to the Trent Williams conversation here in a moment

right after I tell you about Stamps.com because the Trent Williams conversation in our rundown today came second to the Chase Young conversation and the draft tonight. Quick word about Stamps.com because we've been promoting Stamps.com on the podcast periodically over the last year and a half or so. but now is really the time. If you're a small business and you're operational or if you're an individual, you can avoid crowds, you can socially distance, you don't need to go to the post office, you can send out letters and packages from your own home.

We've been doing Stamps.com, the Kevin Sheeonshow podcast, small business for a long time now. Stamps.com and this pandemic is here to help. Anything you can do at a post office, you can do at stamps.com. You can print postage on demand, skip those lines and crowds at the post office, and save money with discounts that you can't even get at the post office. Stamps.com has a new offering here. I'm going to get to in a moment. They bring all of the services Stamps.com does of the U.S. Postal Service right to your computer in the safety and comfort of your own home office or anywhere else

you're hunkering down right now. If you're a small business or you're an individual right, now, Stamps.com handles it all with ease. You use your computer, you print official U.S. postage any time of the day, for any letter, any package, any class of mail, anywhere you want to send it. Once your mail is ready, just leave it for your mail carrier. Schedule a free package pickup or drop it in a mailbox. No human contact is required. It's simple. And like I said, with stamps.com, you get great discounts, five cents off every first class stamp, and up to 40% off USPS shipping rates. And now, in addition to offering discounted U.S. Postal Service rates,

Stamps.com's teamed up with UPS, and you can get discount rates from UPS of up to 62%. Stamps.com, if you use stamps.com, you don't even have to pay UPS residential surcharges. Stamps.com's a no-brainer, especially now. It saves you time and money, and it keeps you safe in these crazy times. My listeners right now get a special offer. It includes a four-week trial plus free postage and a digital scale without any long-term commitment. Go to Stamps.com, click on the microphone at the top of the homepage, and type in Kevin, D.C. That's Stamps.com, enter Kevin, D.C.

Stay safe and get huge discounts, whether you're a small business or an individual at home with Stamps.com. All right, let's get to the Trent Williams stuff in more detail, because this is, according to Tommy, the story for Redskin fans. And it is right now. Like, I'm very into what the Redskins end up getting for Trent Williams. I think it's becoming more likely than not, like significantly more likely than not, that they get this deal done with somebody this weekend. Now, the recent reporting, like over the last, you know, call it 12 hours anyway, less Carpenter. reported that the skins are still seeking a second rounder. He says there are four teams that are interested. The Browns, Vikings, Eagles in Jets. Pro Football Talk says the Eagles are not interested in trading for Trent Williams. The Browns have gotten the most attention here recently. Burgundy Blog, who, you know, most of you know, okay, Burgundy Blogs gotten some big things right,

you know, he has. And I know Burgundy Blogg really well, and we can. communicate all the time. And I know that he's got decent sources. He's gotten some things wrong. He's gotten some things right over the years. He put out this tweet last night, you know, late last night. Tommy, how about this one? The following is a fringy, unconfirmed rumor. So take it for what it's worth. I'm told by a new source with a convincing connection to the Browns that a trade for Trent Williams is done with Redskins expected to receive a third or fourth rounder in this draft and a second rounder in 2021. Now, he updated that this morning saying that he thought it would be reported by now,

but he doesn't have an update. That was as, I don't know, an hour or so ago. I did work tirelessly, and you know this because we. started the podcast late this morning, trying to find out where the latest on Trent Williams was. I was briefly under the impression that they were close to a deal. I do think that a deal is going to get done before the end of this weekend. I would love it, you know, personally. If the Redskins got a second and next year's draft and a third in this year's draft from Cleveland as an example, I would take it and run with it at this point. I would. I still think

that they've messed this thing up, and I think they could have gotten more, you know, had they traded him last year, last summer, you know, early in the season, whatever, way back in early 2019. But lots of reporting on the Trent Williams stuff, but nothing at this point looks like it's done as we're sitting here recording right now. But I think something will be done. What do you think about this whole thing? I think something will be done. I don't think it will be necessarily what the Redskins hoped for. Because contrary to you, I think that the scene that wants Trent Williams is the one that has the leverage.

I don't think the Redskins want to go into the rest of next season with Trent Williams, but you think it's no problem. So we have a real disagreement about that. No, no, no, no, no, no. Let me be clear. I don't have a problem with it. And I don't think that it would be the problem that you think it is. is. I don't know what the team thinks. I have no idea whether or not the team feels the same way.

I think the Redskins should hold out for the absolute best deal. If they are demanding a second rounder as compensation, then I wouldn't take anything less than that. And I'd be prepared for him to be on my roster and play for me next year. And I don't think it would be that big of a deal ultimately in terms of a disruption. That's what I've said. I don't know how they feel, though. Okay. I think the trade is going to get done because I think the Redskins, when push come to shove, are going to feel the pressure to trade them and are going to feel foolish that if they hung on to them for not taking a third round pick instead of a second round pick. I think they'll feel like idiots if they wake up tomorrow morning and know they could have had Trent Williams out of their hair for just one round difference. So I just think they're going to I think the pressure is on the Redskins as it gets closer to make a deal. If they get a second form, I will be happy about that.

If they get less than a second form, I won't be happy about it. You won't be happy about it. Why? Because it's not what you would have done? Yes. Or it's because it's not the best thing for the team? Both. Okay.

What? Okay. I mean, usually what's best for the team is what is sort of what my opinion is, you know. Really? Yeah. I didn't know that. Well, you should have known that after as many years as we've known each other. I want them to do well.

I'm a fan. I want them to do well. Yeah, but what you want may not necessarily be what's the best thing for the team. No, but it usually is. I can't think. I know. You just told me. Yeah.

Well, I mean, can you think of an example where I wanted something that wasn't what was best for the team? I can't think of anything off hand. Me neither. I don't know why you're making a big deal out of this. I mean, has it ever been anything other than I want the Redskins to win and I'm a fan of the team lifelong? No, no, not. That's not my point. My point is the decisions that you think they should make are the decisions that you think are the best for the team. And if they don't make them, then they're not the best thing for the team. Right. I think the Reds...

I think Trent Williams is... Okay. Let's tell everybody's clear on that. I think, yes. I absolutely believe to take it maybe, you know, a half step further, that I could have been making decisions for this franchise over the last 20 years that it would have been much better for this franchise. If I had been the lead voice and decision maker,

of the Washington Redskins for the last 20 years, they wouldn't have sucked as much as they have for the last 20 years. Whenever I've thought about what was best for the franchise, it hasn't always aligned with what they've done, clearly. But I was always thinking what was best for them. And I still am, even though I've been very frustrated at times in recent years. Let me ask you a question. Don't you think that me in combination with maybe a solid football guy,

Could have done a better job than Dan and the people that were involved here over the last 20 years? Kevin, that's such a low bar. Of course. That's such a low bar that you can't even see air between the bar and the floor. How many people do you think could have done a better job over the last 20 years? A lot of people. And I would have been in that group with a lot of you that are listening, that we could have all done a much better job.

I don't even know where this conversation is going or why it got started. All I know is that for Trent Williams, a third I'd be disappointed. A second, I'd be happy. A second plus at this point, like a second and a fourth, second and a third. I'd be thrilled and I'd take it and run with it and not even think twice. I will always think if they don't get a first rounder in this draft or next year's draft, that they didn't get as much as they could have gotten had they been more decisive and smarter with more vision early on.

But at this point, with the current context, second I'll be pleased, second plus I'll be thrilled, anything less than those things, I'm going to be a little bit disappointed. Trent Williams is too good to accept a third rounder or less for him. A second rounder, by the way, could be a third, you know, two thirds. And by the way, Cooley said yesterday for the second time, and I think it's smart, that they might end up taking a third now with a conditional second rounder based on that player signing, based on Trent Williams signing with that particular team that trades for him. Because that's the problem right now, Tommy, is a team doesn't want to spend a second rounder and maybe even a third rounder for a player they're not sure they're going to have more than a year. That's part of the problem. I get that.

I understand that. If they'd done this last year, they would have had the player for two years under contract, even though he wanted more money. But go ahead. I'm sorry, what? Was there a way, do you think, to manage Trent Williams by this team going back a year or two to keep him under contract for your organization for the next couple years? Or did you have to get rid of him?

No, I would have extended him. Well, I would have traded him, number one, because I thought they needed to reboot the whole thing. But before that, with two years left on his deal, just so you know, it would not have been unusual at all for a team wanting that player to play for them for more than two years to extend them at that point. It would not have been like this crazy thing, which is, hey, you've got two years left on the deal, we're going to create it, we're going to give you a contract extension and give you more guaranteed money. that would not have been crazy at all. But Bruce had this thing about he signed this deal, he's going to live up to the deal that he signed.

It was sort of front-loaded with guaranteed money so he knew the back end of it would be a little bit light. But still, Trent Williams has, you know, for most people believe he's got a few years left of high-quality football, minimum. Yeah. And, I mean, Scott McCleman has said on the radio that, Tread Williams is better than anything that you could get in this year's draft. He said that to me on the radio two days ago. Yes. I know.

So I just think, you know, for a really good organization, there would have been a way to keep Trent Williams happy and manage your salary caps too. So, I mean, this screw up even goes back beyond the point where you should have traded him. You know, it's funny because there were a couple of players that well before their contract was up. They extended, and I thought it was smart. They did it with Ryan Carrigan. They did it with Jordan Reed.

I thought it was smart at the time because Reed at that particular point would have been a huge free agent, you know, target and would have gotten a massive contract. And they never let them get to that point. There's something about the relationship with Trent Williams that's been bothersome to the franchise for a while now. and they decided to play hardball with them. Again, if you had been very realistic and more self-aware about your organization, at the end of that 2018 season, it was time to reboot the whole thing. Nuclear option with Alex Smith, trade any pieces that you have that can bring back future picks and future, you know, contributors when you were ready to win,

Ryan Kerrigan and Trent Williams would have been at the top of the that list, you know, in terms of players that you could have traded. You know, Ryan Carrigan's not tradable now, really, with one year left on his deal. And after the first season of his career where he got injured and wasn't as productive, at the end of 2018, you probably could have gotten a second rounder for Ryan Carrigan. You definitely, in my opinion, could have gotten a first plus for Trent Williams, right at the, you know, at the beginning of the 2019, you know, NFL calendar. But we know what they were thinking at the time.

They were thinking that they were close and that they had a chance for a quick turnaround. And that's why going back to, thank God, they didn't win some of these games at the end with Callahan coaching his ass off, which he did. He really did. He coached his ass off. The team was better with him coaching it than it was with Jay Gruden. I don't think that there's any way to debate that. I agree. But imagine if they had somehow beaten the Packers, they were in that game,

beaten the Eagles, beaten the Giants. And all of a sudden they got a five-game winning streak going into the season finale against the Cowboys. You know, how different it would have perhaps felt to Dan Snyder. You know, with the quarterback playing pretty well and all of a sudden the coach, because you know, at 0 and 5, it wasn't Dan's fault and it wasn't Bruce's fault. It was Jay's fault. So they fired Jay. And they had high expectations that Callahan would prove them right.

And to a certain degree, Callahan proved them right in terms of more discipline, simplify things, you know, and definitely the more discipline part. And you could be a better team. But, you know, the bottom line is 3 and 13. And the games they did win, they could have lost two. But if they had beaten, you know, Green Bay and Philly and New York, and they had a five-game winning streak, and all of a sudden, you know, it could have been a completely different story because they wanted to believe what they believed

at the end of 2018. And that is, they believed what they saw at 6 and 3 with Alex Smith was a playoff team, an NFC East contending team. And they couldn't get off that until finally they were, you know, getting blown out by, you know, the Vikings and the jets at home late in the season, and finally they realized it, and Dan realized it, and got rid of the bad man, Bruce Allen. Anyway. So what happened?

Okay. So what about the draft overall for the Redskins? Well, finish up with Trent Williams. Finish up with Trump Williams. What's your prediction? Well, I mean, my prediction is he's going to be traded. For what? Two-thirds.

A third this year and a third. next year. Okay. That seems pretty reasonable. By the way, Dan Patrick said this yesterday on his radio show. Trent's going to cost you a lot, but you might look at doing both. I was just told that the Redskins will trade Trent Williams and get a number one pick and then use that pick on an offensive line. And my source said that still believes Chase Young is going to Washington. I hope Dan Patrick's right. I don't think he's going to be right. Boy, he sounded definitive. there, though, didn't he? He sounded like he had a source that told him Trent Williams was going to go for a first rounder, and they were going to use that first rounder to take an offensive lineman after they had taken Chase Young at number two.

It would be great if Patrick was right on this. I don't think he's going to be right. Your two-thirds is in the realm. I hope it's a second. I hope it's a second in this draft. I really do. I hope it's a second-plus, like a second-and-a-third or a second-and-a-fourth. It wouldn't surprise me if it's two-thirds. It wouldn't surprise me if it's a third rounder with something in next year's draft that might be, you know, a second rounder could be contingent on Trent Williams signing a long-term deal with that team. But I think something's going to happen before the end of this draft. I do. I'd be really surprised if we get to Saturday night and a deal. I'd be surprised if we get to the end of tomorrow night and a deal hasn't been done. I was pretty convinced that we were going to be able to start this podcast with a deal done, but we weren't able to do that. So stay tuned to Team 980 and to everybody on Twitter because I think something might happen even today. I'm ready for it to end, Tommy. I just don't want them to take peanuts for a player of his caliber.

And maybe Rivera's like, I don't really give a shit. This guy's a pain in the ass. Dan doesn't like him. and, you know, a third and a future third, done. Let's move on. He may be at that point. I don't know. If Ron Rivera can start off with the first significant move of his franchise to draft Chase Young

and get a first round pickback for Trent Williams in the same day, that would be caused for celebration for Redskins fans. No doubt. And I'd give Kyle Smith some credit on that, too. You know, I do believe, let me just mention this one thing. I don't know if I've mentioned it before. I think that there are definitely players, most of the players, who are rooting for Trent, who respect Trent, who really like Trent Williams, including players in that locker room,

guys like Morgan Moses, who really think that Trent was speaking for them in some ways about the Redskins, training staff, medical, whatever it was. I also think that there are people in the front office. that can't wait to see him gone. I think they felt betrayed by what happened last year, especially for a player that they were loyal to when he was going through suspensions and weed problems. So there's sort of a mix there,

but I think it would lean because I think people in management are ready to move on from Trent to them getting a deal done this weekend. Even though they want to get top price for him, I think ultimately it's that that wins out. And there's interest, too. There should be interest in Trent Williams. You know, if you're a team that is close to contending, like if you believe in Cleveland that you're a left tackle,

you need a left tackle, and you've got a chance to compete for the playoffs. Look, Tampa needs a left tackle. I think I mentioned this yesterday, the report from Jenna Lane at ESPN about the bucks, you know, wanting to trade OJ Howard to Washington, and that was on the table two months ago, it's just not likely to be on the table now. Tampa just doesn't have any salary cap space to add

Trent Williams to their roster. Minnesota would be interesting. I've mentioned this before. Trent Williams was one of Kirk Cousins' most vocal public supporters, and the Vikings have a left tackle in Riley Reif, who's a good player, but isn't Trent Williams. But they don't have a lot of cap space either. So we'll see. Anyway, The news could break while we're sitting here recording the podcast. Who knows? I mean, that would be a great day for the Redskins general manager. Huge.

Huge. Except they don't have a general manager. Well, okay. So, yeah. But they do, because Kyle Smith is the de facto general manager right now. Really? Well, Doug Williams, I thought, was the de facto general manager before. I know he's not anymore.

He doesn't have the same job title. But he had the job title that Kyle Smith had. Well, he does, but Bruce Allen was in the organization. Okay. And now Bruce Allen isn't in the organization. So Kyle Smith. It's a GM, but he's not really a GM. He doesn't have a general manager title.

No, he's got a vice president of player personnel title, which is, you know, the title that others have had in other organizations that have been that, you know, sort of de facto GMs. Now, we heard last week that. Kyle Smith could get the GM title after this weekend. But we also heard in that same story written by the post last week that up until a month ago, some people around the league thought that Ron Rivera was going to hire a general manager after the draft from outside the organization, but that he's been more impressed with Kyle Smith working with him here over the last couple of

months that more likely than not, Kyle Smith will get that title. You do know that most general manager hires take place after the draft. It's hard to get that done if you don't get it done right when the season ends. Right. I get that. I understand that. Maybe when the Redskins do hire a general manager, it could at least not be the son of somebody. It could at least not be somebody who's related to somebody who works for the team. Right. They might want to try to avoid the relative's route, just for once. Exactly. Very good.

All right. What else? What else you got on Trump Williams? Is that it? You were going to ask me another question. I don't remember. Something about the draft. Well, again, the rest of the Redskins draft.

I know you live by the notion that you draft the best player available, although I think somebody, some GM was on your show. I think, or someplace where it said sometimes you draft for need and not the best player available. If the Redskins – if at the end of the day, at the end of the Redskins draft, you're adding up the side of the ball that you want them to pick talent on, wouldn't it be better if the Redskins draft the majority of offensive talent rather than defensive talent? Yes, yes. However, you are right. I want a team that has as many needs as the Redskins have to draft the best player on their board.

But in the event of, say, you know, a player that has a slightly higher grade over another player, and that player with the slightly higher grade is a punter or a player defensive tackle. and the other one that is slightly lower is a cornerback or a safety or a left tackle, then it's fine to take that player if it's that close. But I do not want them to reach for players that are much lower on their board to fill a need. Because the Redskins, here's the bottom line, Tommy, with the Redskins organization and roster. They have had a desperate need over the years to have great. players. Let's call them A players. They just haven't had many of them. Trent Williams has been

one of their A players over the years. They need A players. Who are the A players right now on their roster? On offense, they don't have one A player. Brandon's Sheriff might be as close as you could get to an A player right now offensively. Defensively, you do have, I think, potentially an A player in Allen in pain and sweat, but you wouldn't say they're there already. I think Landon Collins is close to an A player. You need really good players. There isn't a position on the roster where you can't really upgrade for the most part. Okay.

I agree with all that. I think there's some place in between slight and significant grades where you can draft a place. and I just don't see how they're going to be able to make any kind of judgment on Dwayne Haskins this season with the roster of offensive talent they have now. It's funny, did we talk about that on Tuesday or not? Because I talked about that yesterday with Cooley a little bit. I think you're right about that. And I've changed my mind a little bit on that.

Like I've said over and over again, I want to see Dwayne next year. I want to see him start 16 games, and I want to know at the end of 2020 if they have. something there or not. And I think what you're saying is what I've sort of come to the conclusion on a little bit. And that is, if they don't give him more weapons, it's going to, it could, we could be sitting here at the end of the 2020 season talking about not knowing. And it not being fair to have a real conclusion on Haskins, unless he's super great or super terrible. But think about it. No weapons offensively. A third offensive coordinator, essentially, for his eighth start and no off-season ability, potentially because of what we're going through. So, yeah,

if that's what you were saying, I think I agree with you on that. Yeah, I just think it's going to be awfully difficult to determine if Dwayne Haskins can play at an elite level or at least a winning level without more, I mean, they have less, it seems like they have less offensive weapons now than they had, you know, last season. I mean, so they better get awfully lucky in this draft on the offensive side of the ball. Well, they don't have less than they had last year. Where do they have less? They don't have a tight end. Well, they didn't really, I mean, Vernon Davis really wasn't playing anyway. Yeah, but now they don't have anybody. Okay. They have nobody.

No, but theoretically, McClorn and Harmon and Sims Jr. in a second year, you know, if they grow and they're better, you know, you could potentially get some improvement there. You may get some improvement just, you know, based on coaching. And on a quarterback, you know, entering his second year, maybe. I don't know. You're right. I mean, Geis, if he were healthy for 16 games, could make them much improved. but no, they don't have a lot offensively. They are really, you know, Cooley said yesterday on the podcast,

he said, Terry McClorn's a number two. You know, he's the number one here, and he might be a number one down the road, but they need a receiver. And it's one of the reasons they went after Amari Cooper because they probably agree with his position. Now, McCorn does seem to check off a lot of boxes, you know, speed, hands, playmaking.

ability, yards after the catch, and by the way, not your typical diva wide receiver. There's a lot to like about Terry McClure, but, you know, we get wrapped up into this because we're comparing them against what they have and what they've had recently. But, no, you're right. Offensively, it would be best if they came out of this with, you know, a left tackle answer. And by the way, if they trade Trent Williams, I still think that they will, you know, that the starting left tackle will be a free agency signing like a Donald Penn or potentially a Jason Peters. I don't think that they're going to start Jaron Christian at left tackle. I don't think Cornelius

Lucas is necessarily a starting left tackle, although I don't really know about Lucas. I would think that the Redskins have held off re-signing Donald Penn or going after a Jason Peters because they want the Trent Williams thing resolved. I doubt that they're able to draft they're starting left tackle, you know, and they've got major offensive line issues. You don't know who your left guard is for sure, you know, and Morgan Moses is, you know, he's okay. They've got offensive line issues. They've got tight end issues. They have, you know, the biggest issue is you still aren't sure a quarterback. Most people aren't. And, you know, even me being optimistic about Dwayne, I'm not sure about Dwayne. Right. So hopefully the general

manager will be very successful when it comes to drafting offensive talent. They don't have a general manager. Oh, okay. By the way, one quick thing about number two overall. Jay Glazer had this report yesterday that Atlanta was, you know, very interested in trading up 14 spots to get to number two. Josina Anderson spelled out a team didn't mention the team that had made sort of a bona fide complete offer. So the Redskins have heard offers for number two, and I'm glad they're listening.

Now, Glazer's report essentially was that the Redskins weren't interested. But it does reflect an interest from Atlanta, I would think, given that they have Matt Ryan and that Joe Burrow would be gone. And that you don't have to go up to number two to get Tuatunga by Lua more likely than not. that they're going up to get Chase Young. And we've talked about that a couple of times over the last month. Like, why aren't we hearing more about teams wanting to trade up to number two to draft Chase Young or even to trade up to number one to draft Chase Young? And Atlanta, you know, you'd have to trade a hell of a lot to move from 16 to 2.

And the fact that they were into doing that, you know, according to reports, and I think it would have been to get Chase Young. You know, that tells you just how much a team and a guy like Dan Quinn, who's a defensive guy, what they see in Chase Young. You know, it's enough, you know, that most of the draft experts have Chase Young is one of the highest evaluated defensive ends ever. But when you got an NFL team that, you know, is willing to move up 14 spots and probably trade three or four number ones to do it,

it says something I think about it. young. And it's sort of the first indication that we've had from other teams, at least based on what we know, that, you know, there's that kind of interest in Chase Young. And it's, well, there should be, based on what we've read and seen about Chase Young. I mean, you know, and he, I mean, they should change his name to generational talent, because that's usually the description you hear. Why is that a problem with everybody? I'm curious.

It's not a problem for me. Okay, yeah, because I don't know why people seem to be like. Zabe asked me about it the other days. Like, do you have a problem with the generational talent description? And I'm like, no, why? And he said, well, a lot of people seem to have a problem with it. I didn't know that. It's an easy way to describe how good he is.

Yeah. Or how good people think he's going to be. Well, this is how the people who do this for a living, that analyze drafts that come up with, you know, that are asked and get paid to analyze drafts, that's essentially the way they've described their evaluation. They haven't evaluated somebody this high in many, many years. So that would be, you know, what's a generation, 10 years? I think it's more than that.

I think it's 25. Is it generation 25 years? Well, then maybe it isn't inaccurate, Tommy. How much is, what is a generation? I thought it was. Oh, you're asking. I'm asking you. I don't know.

I'm looking it up. Oh, you're right. Average period, 20 plus years. In some cases, depending on what you're describing, it can be up to 30 years. The average period for a generation is considered to be around 30 years. years. Okay, so when we describe the Redskin fan base of losing generations, that's inaccurate. It's only lost one generation more likely than that. Right. Yes, it has. One generation. Okay. They haven't lost generations. Well, they have because some of those generations have died.

Yeah. All right. I'm going to give Cooley some credit here. You heard him if you were listening to the podcast yesterday. Say this about the tight ends and one tight ends. And one tight end in particular in this draft. The two names to know are Colt met out of Notre Dame. He'll be a first rounder. He can go higher than people who think. He's not projected to go first round. Just, you know, there's not one mock draft that I've seen with Cole Comet in the first

round. In fact, I have... He's going to go in the first round. I've seen several mocks with him lasting all the way to the Redskins pick in the third round. I promise you that's not happening. Okay, so that's one of those things I'm going to write down right now. Cole Commet, you've got no worse than what?

Mid-second? Yeah, Kmetz going in a second. That's that worst. Okay. Who else? He's good. It's just amazing for me to watch a guy like Kmetz play at Notre Dame. And then what happened last year where the kid in Detroit now from Iowa went all the way,

Hawkinson, went to seven. to have the better player than talking about this. Cooley, I think he may have been right about this because Mel Kuyper this morning put out his final mock draft, and one of the players he moved into the first round of his mock draft was Notre Dame tight end, Cole Komet. He's got him going 30th overall to Green Bay, and he writes, commets the only tight end with a chance to go in the first round, and he sees it as being a perfect guy for Aaron Rogers. Coolie's done this before with players that he's evaluated that have flown up the board,

you know, on draft day and have gone higher than sort of the mock drafters had it. So if you had sort of hope that Cole Comette, the Notre Dame tight end, would be there for the Redskins in the third round. If you believe Cooley, if you believe Mel Kuiper, there's no chance of that happening now. There are a couple players that I want to mention before this draft starts, because I usually do it every year anyway, that I sort of like and that I think are going to be good players. You know, starting with the true, you know, wide receiver players that I think are going to be much better than where they get drafted. I've been mentioning K.J. Hamler for a while now. I just think that he's, you know, every time I watched him play last year, he looked like the next coming of Deshawn Jackson. He had a high drop rate as a pass catcher at Penn State, played on a bad offense, too, with not a very good quarterback last year.

So, you know, that may have been part of it. But to me, he looks like a guy that's going to be a difference maker at the pro level. I don't think he'll be there in the third round. But if he were sitting there at 66, man, would I be excited if the Redskins had a chance to draft KJ Hamler? I love Tyler Johnson from Minnesota. I've mentioned him many times. You know, in a draft where you don't have a chance on pro days and you don't have a chance on interviews and all that stuff and you're just going by the tape, if you just go by the tape with Tyler Johnson, there's no way he should go in the fourth or fifth round, which is where he's projected to go. He should be much higher than that.

But if the Redskins have a chance for him somewhere in the third round, that would be exciting to me. He's big and he's a producer, big-time producer. in a tough league with tough defenses over the last couple of years. And in every big game from Minnesota he produced, we talked about him a little bit yesterday. All right. Cooley always asks me about the running backs. I know I talked a little bit about them yesterday,

but let me be more definitive today. Because in the last few years, there are backs that I have really liked and wanted to see the Redskins select. Last year, it was Singletary from Florida Atlantic. I was on him before the draft, and he turned out to be a really good player as a rookie in Buffalo. The year before that, I loved Carryon Johnson. And the Redskins wanted to draft Carry on Johnson in the second round,

but the Lions picked him, and then the Redskins traded back and got Geist. Now, Johnson's been injured a lot, and that was a concern with him coming out of Auburn. But when he's been healthy, he's been a pretty productive guy in recent years. The guys this year in the draft, like, I don't agree that DeAndre Swift should be the first back taken. I don't think Jonathan Taylor should either. I think J.K. Dobbins or Clyde Edwards-Hillard should be the first back taken. I think Dobbins is a star. By the way, unbelievable games and big games for Ohio State.

And Edwards-Alair was the same thing for LSU. But looking further down the board, you know, mid-rounds where the Redskins late in the draft might have a chance. By the way, before that, I like Zach Moss out of Utah. I really like A.J. Dillon at a Boston college, too. But looking further down, I want to give you a name of a player. I like Jalen Reger, too, as a receiver if I didn't mention that before from TCU in the same way that I like Hamler. But he's going to be gone. A lot of people now projecting him to be a first rounder.

So college football gets played pretty much Tommy every day of the week except for Sunday and Monday. You start on Tuesday night with a Mid-American conference game, and then Wednesday night you usually get another mid-American. American conference game. The Mac has been the league that's played on television on Tuesday and Wednesday nights for years. And if you bet football like I do, you watch a lot of Mac football. So I'm going to give you a name of a player that I think is going to be a pro running back and a much bigger contributor on a team than his projected draft status, which is fifth, sixth round, or undrafted free agent. His name is Jonathan Ward. He played for Central Mission. again. I think he had a pretty good indie combine as well. But if you just Google Jonathan Ward,

you'll be able to find his highlight reel somewhere. But Jonathan Ward was a dynamic back in that league that has a lot of offense and not a lot of defense. I understand that. Okay, if you know the Mac, you know you get a lot of 48, 42 games. And Jonathan Ward's a bigger version of like Alvin Kamara. I'm not saying he is Alvin Kamara. I'm not saying he is Christian McCaffrey. He plays like the two of them. He's just bigger because he's probably six feet. Maybe he's not exactly six feet.

He's well over 200 pounds. But he has that kind of speed, that kind of vision, and that kind of pass-catching ability. He's a phenomenal receiver. He's a big-time yards, you know, average yards per carry guy, and just scored from everywhere on the field when you watched him play. So Jonathan Ward, Central Michigan late in this draft, somebody's going to get a guy that's going to play in the NFL and contribute.

And then real quickly on the two Maryland guys, I think I've spent a little bit of time talking about them. I do like McFarland. A couple of you guys tweeted me and said, So you really don't like McFarlane. It's not that I don't like Anthony McFarland. I think McFarland's got a chance to be a big time back. And by the way, he's got redoubt.

ridiculous speed and had some of his better games when he was healthy and he wasn't healthy a lot against good teams like Ohio State in 2018 where he had that ridiculous 270-yard game or whatever with all those touchdowns when Maryland nearly knocked off Ohio State. I think McFarland's got a chance. He's been injury prone. It's part of his problem. But the guy that I've really liked now for two years is Javon Leak. Leak is one of those guys. Ty Johnson, who came out of Maryland played for the Lions last year as a back and a kick returner as well. Leak is similar to Ty Johnson, except he's a much better vision runner. I mean, if you watched Maryland football, and most of you didn't, Leak was basically, you know, a good bet to get a chunk play every

single time he touched it against anybody. He averaged 7.2 yards per carry last year and had eight touchdowns on a bad team. He also was a redone. ridiculous, one of the best in the country, kickoff returners. Now, I don't know what he would be as a punt returner. I don't even know if Javon Leake's going to get drafted. I would tell you that Mike Loxley, I think agrees with me on Leak. He wouldn't say it, you know, and he wouldn't, you know, pick one over the other with McFarland and Leak. But every time I brought up Leak, he said, there's a guy. And I talked to him the last time I had him on the show and he said, he's a pro football player. I think Javon Leak, you know, it's interesting about Maryland, Tommy, because of, you know,

what they recruit from. They haven't had good teams. They haven't had good offensive lines or defensive lines. Offensive lines in particular have been a real problem for them in the Big Ten. And quarterback play has been a big problem for them too. But they've had a lot of skill position players, you know, over the years because of, you know, the area in which they recruit from. I mean, the WCAC in particular, you get these players. and they end up becoming NFL players. And Ty Johnson last year, most people thought he was an undrafted guy, or free agent at best.

I think he got taken in the seventh round by Detroit. He made the roster. They've had talented skill position players over the years. And Leake and McFarlane are the two offensively that I think are going to be in the league next year. And I think Leake's ultimately going to be a better pro than McFarland. I like McFarland. I like Leak more. Jonathan Ward, though, out of Central Michigan, just remember his name.

I think he's going to get picked in this draft and maybe earlier than most people think. All right. What else you got? Anything? I got nothing else. I'm looking forward to watching this TV show tonight, this NFL draft. And let's face it, we're rooting for things to get screwed up, not for it to go right. That's what we're rooting for.

Yeah, that would be kind of fun. funny if like, you know, I don't know how they get screwed up when you can just use your cell phone and call in the order. Like, I don't, that doesn't make any sense to me. So, you know, the Red Ski, the Lions are on the clock at number three and we don't have their pick and the times run out. They, they're having technical issues. Well, do their phones work? Because if their phones work, can't you call in the order? Can't you call in the pick? I think you can. I agree. I would be surprised if we have any major tonight. But it would be fun if we did. Yes. And let's hope the

Godell family give Roger sound booing. That would be great. That would be great. The Patriots sign, I'm just looking to see if we missed any stories here while we've been doing this. Patriots sign Marquis-Lee, the Jacksonville wide receiver. That's it. Doesn't look like much of anything else. And big stories about, you know, the Bengals getting offered a ton from Miami. Miami clearly, you know, is looking at Tua and Herbert and saying we'd much rather, much rather have Joe Burrow.

Can't blame them. I think if players fall, like if there's, you know, an Aaron Rogers situation or a Warren Sapp situation tonight with the draft with a player, you know, that starts falling, it wouldn't surprise me if it's Tua because of the injury concerns. wouldn't surprise me at all. All right, man. Have a good weekend. Okay, boss. I'll talk to you. All right. Everybody back tomorrow, obviously recapping night one of the draft.